As much as I love my consoles, I tend to be jealous of PC gamers. Specifically, the rich ones who have enough cash lying around that they can use graphic cards from the previous generation as drink coasters. Look, PC gaming is expensive, costly stuff. But there’s a certain visceral satisfaction that comes from mortgaging your home for the latest hardware to have the latest games running at the silkiest and smoothest of frames on the highest of resolutions.
That feeling of pride when you can move your mouse across the main menu and it doesn’t perform like it has movement programmed by Christopher Walken’s speech habits. DOOM is looking to be one of those games this year, that does just that. Like most gams available in the PC market, DOOM will be leveraging the hell out of Nvidia cards specifically. Last week, id Software showed the game off with a 200fps demo that was meant to be a showcase of the Vulkan graphics API. Here’s the actual video then of that direct feed, which was uploaded a few short hours ago.
Provided that you’re one of the tens of people around who have a monitor capable of refreshing at that rate, here’s the actual raw file which clocks in at over 2 gigabytes for the download. The rest of you will have to make do with just plain ol’ 60fps action that Google Chrome maxes out on with YouTube. Uuurgghhhh, my privilege hurts.
Nvidia says that the uncompressed footage was captured on “a GeForce GTX Titan X after the event, because id Software ‘accidentally’ left their GeForce GTX 1080 at the event when packing up.”
If you’re unfamiliar with Vulkan, it’s a new graphics API renderer with a simpler, thinner driver, and efficient CPU multi-threading capabilities. Compared to DirectX or OpenGL, Vulkan has less latency and overhead, and can help your system reach new levels of performance. In simpler terms, Vulkan can help developers avoid CPU bottlenecks that limit performance, and can improve performance elsewhere, too.
It looks massively pretty as well, especially with that 120 degree field of vision option chosen for the action. Nvidia boasted that on a GeForce GTX 1080, a Vulkan-accelerated DOOM will “run even faster, and be capable of running smoothly at higher resolutions, delivering an even higher quality experience that will further enhance fidelity on your PC”.
I’m no expert, but I kind of believe them. Remember, you’ll need the following PC specs to run DOOM at recommended levels alone:
- Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-bit versions)
- Intel Core i7-3770/AMD FX-8350 or better;
- 8 GB RAM
- 55 GB free HDD space
- NVIDIA GTX 970 4GB/AMD Radeon R9 290 4GB or better
Listen guys, quick question: Do you think my Pentium II 400MHZ PC with a Voodoo 3000 graphics accelerator card will be capable of running this at 620×480 resolution at least? I don’t mind sacrificing a few resolutions for more frames. Asking for a friend. DOOM is out this Friday, on console as well.
Last Updated: May 12, 2016
Grid10ck
May 12, 2016 at 08:09
Now if only i could switch weapons like that in the Multiplayer….
Greylingad[He Charges!]
May 12, 2016 at 08:24
HAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! If only…
Raptor Rants
May 12, 2016 at 08:27
Maybe you will be able to. Maybe there will be a mode where it’s just run and gun with pick ups? I can’t see them not including a mode like that. It would be silly
Pariah
May 12, 2016 at 08:28
O_o What do you mean? That’s how the MP is currently.
Raptor Rants
May 12, 2016 at 12:24
You start with a specific loadout. You can’t pick up weapons as you play like original ones. You can’t run around with 9 or so weapons. Only 2 or 3 or something like that.
Pariah
May 12, 2016 at 12:27
But there are still pickups. In fact, that’s the only pickup change that exists, and I think it’s a good change personally. If you want 50 weapons, that’s what the SP is for. MP is about fast-paced brutal carnage – and most people only played with 1 or 2 weapons anyway. I know I used only the rocket launcher and rail gun in Q3, literally nothing else, besides the gauntlet. And I can still do the same now. Just without the hassle of fighting off people for the Railgun spawn point – ruining my game because fuck off I only have a machine gun you prick.
Raptor Rants
May 12, 2016 at 13:25
I reckon the choice for a more standard arena style should be present because it’s a format many people enjoy. Including myself. I don’t enjoy the loadout management and perks stuff. It’s just not my style.
Pariah
May 12, 2016 at 13:31
You choose your 2 weapons. And like Overwatch, can change which 2 during the match. There are no other loadout selections to be made. You can customise how you look, but if you don’t care and want to shoot things – you try out all the weapons, find the 2 you like most and would end up collecting every match anyway, and you play with those. It’s much more streamlined around getting you into the action, NOW, rather than “Wait let me go see if my gun has spawned”.
HairyEwok
May 12, 2016 at 08:21
They used a Titan X…. I know the new cards being released are on par and stronger than a Titan X but honestly not every person out there will be able to afford per said cards. I think they should have used a 970 to show what that card can do since it is the recommended one.
Alien Emperor Trevor
May 12, 2016 at 08:33
The 970 is the most-used card according to Steam’s hardware survey results… at just under 5% of users. 😀
HairyEwok
May 12, 2016 at 09:06
And 5% is a lot if you think of how many cards are available to buy on the market… I think this Friday we’ll have some good bench stats being released by Digital Foundry.
Alessandro Barbosa
May 12, 2016 at 09:06
Well the new 1070 is going to be coming out for just $379 (so around what the 970 retails for), and that’s on par with a Titan X apparently. So I guess it’s accurate to what could be the new mainstream card 🙂
Pariah
May 12, 2016 at 08:24
Someone please donate this game + a new Nvidia card? To me, of course. To me.
Admiral Chief in New York
May 12, 2016 at 09:23
Whoa, that’s intense!
Guild
May 12, 2016 at 09:38
Looked awesome. Still not sure on Doom and waiting for reviews to drop first.
Skyblue
May 12, 2016 at 10:38
In terms of gameplay speed, that is how DOOM is meant to be played, not on console ;-p Best compliment I can give this game right now is that it looks like a modern version of DOOM and that is pretty cool.
William Fenton
May 12, 2016 at 16:38
I wonder what kind of res a 980 ti can do at 60fps. Probably 1440p, possibly even 3k.