Battlefield 3 Performance: 30+ Graphics Cards Tested 171
New submitter wesbascas writes "Have you ever wanted to play a new PC game, but weren't sure where your PC falls between the minimum and recommended system requirements? I don't have a whole lot of time to game these days and with new hardware perpetually coming out and component vendors often tweaking their model numbering schemes, knowing exactly what kind of experience I'm buying for $60 can be difficult. Luckily, somebody benchmarked Battlefield 3's campaign on a wide range of hardware configurations and detail settings. If you've purchased a system in the past few years you should be in luck. The video cards tested start with the AMD Radeon HD 4670 and Nvidia GeForce 8500 GT, and go up to the brand new Radeon HD 6990 and GeForce GTX 590. I hate it that my aging Radeon HD 4870 isn't going to cut it at 1080p, but am glad that I found out before buying the game."
If you're curious about the game itself, here's a detailed review from Eurogamer and a briefer one from Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
I can't decide... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Not sure I like this game much (Score:5, Interesting)
I'll give you some pointers from my experience. Right now I heavily play Recon and Assault. I don't touch Engineer or Support right now.
As assault I use the first Assault weapon unlocked from MP Co-op. As Recon I used the Recon weapon unlocked from MP Co-op. This has actually gotten me accused of being a hacker because I was Rank 3 at a time I was using them and the idiot thought I was using weapons too advanced for my rank. One other thing to note is that as more and more players on a team start to operate by methods of warfare the efficacy of their action collectively increases.
With assault, I always weapon an optic scope and have a suppressor equipped. On rush my style is one where I will find a nest that is at a low to medium elevation (compared to the surrounding terrain) usually a decent distance ahead of the M-COM stations. I go prone, watch one of the common pathways, and wait. I shoot people as they pass by me. Last time I did this I went 8 kills before I was found out. So basically, I utilize the surrounding terrain in order to minimize my visual profile. There's a lot of stuff going on and picking out unmoving targets can be very difficult. It is, in essence, a version of Patton's idiom "Grab 'em by the nose and kick 'em in the pants." The M-COMs have the attackers attention (grabbed by the nose) and I'm kicking them in the pants (flanking action). The nice thing is that battlefield objectives tend to grab players by the nose, so flanking is a lot easier to pull off without coordination. On the other hand, guarding against flanking is almost non-existent. I have on numerous occasions been killed to flanks while trying to deny pathways to the defenders. In fact, that's one of the biggest things I do when playing recon is watching the flanks. I find that most objective areas are heavily crowded which reduces the number of sniping positions you can take to defend them. Flanks aren't as crowded and really open up the opportunities while more often than not denying enemy snipers the ability to target you without moving along the same flanks you're defending. I have many times held off multiple attackers trying to flank my team as a single recon. If I don't, they end up spotted so that teammate's are aware of them. All I can say is learn the classes and leverage the advantages within your kit and how your outfitted yourself. Flashlights are both a boon and a bust. They give away position but they also mask your position as well. It's difficult to frag someone with a flashlight that is on when they're facing you because you can't make them out. Laser sites are worse though. I laugh at snipers that use laser sights.
I hate some of the urban environments because of how painful taking certain objectives can be. Here's a slight overview of some maps I dislike.
Market/Bazaar: The alley control point on conquest is a bloody nightmare for an attacking force. Three players can effectively control that point and the only way to dislodge them is to use grenade to get them to flush out of their holes long enough that you can gain ground. This is partially offset by the fact that the other two control points are much easier to swap hands.
Metro: Metro is a nightmare. Each section of the map, except the first and last, on Rush is a nightmare to take over. Most times I see the attacks fail Rush at the 2nd set of M-COMs. Conquest is worse. It can be summed up as "US rushes to B and hopes they get it and establish a bridgehead." Every time I've played that map except once the PLC got B and the US lost. In such instances I end up sitting as medic and revive people for points as the get killed over and over trying to get B. I often end such matchs with something like 2 kills, 1 death, and around 4000-5000 points.
My biggest issues with BF3 are the same as with any other BF game. Idiots. Idiots make the game experience worse. Let me list the ways of idiots. Here's a hint, most of these deal with people looking out for themselves rather than the team.
1. John Rambos. These are the players t