GAMINGPLATFORM PC

Bernd Jaekel

DAP02

Table of Contents

• Introduction

• History of PC-Games

• Different types of Games

• Hardware

• Pros and Cons

• Questions and Answers

• Opponents Part

History of PC-Games

• Grand Prix Circuit ( from 1988 )

• Aces of the Pacific (1992, 1990 Red Baron)

History of PC-Games

Point and Click

Adventures• Kings Quest I (1984)• Monkey Island (1990)

History of PC-Games

• Comanche (1993 with “Vortex-Engine)• Civilisation (1993)

History of PC-Games

• Lemmings (1990)• Wing Commander

(1990)

History of PC-Games

• Wolfenstein 3-D (1992)

• Doom (1993)

Different types of Games• Simulations

• Adventures

• RPG

• Strategic Games

• Ego-Shooters

• Jump ‘n Run

• Flash

• Combined Games

Simulations

• Sports games• Flightsims• Other Vehicles• Economic Simulations• Real-Life Sims

Adventures

Complete missions by finding items and using them in the right place …..

RPG

Role Playing Game

Kill the evil

Gain experience and levels

Find better equipment

Strategic Games

• Build and Rush• Round based Games• Chess

Egoshooter

• Single Player• Multiplayer

Jump ‘n Run

• Super Mario…..• No games nowadays

Combined Games

• CB’s have elements from different types of games

• There are no further “fields” of computer games

Hardware

• What do I need?

• Prozessors

• Graphics Accelerators

• RAM

• Problems by buying complete PCs

• Upgrading your system

What do I need?

• PC Mainboard CPU RAM HD Mouse Keyboard OS DVD/CD-ROM

• Internet• Soundcard• Speakers• Graphics Accelerator• Monitor• Joystick

CPU

• What is the best CPU for my PC?

• Different performances between AMD and Intel

• Different “Names”

Graphic Accelerator

• Technology

• DirectX

• Performance and Quality

• Categories

• Conclusions

Technologies

• DirectX : Standarts for 3D and music effects

• API – interfaces : Direct3D, 3DFX, OpenGL

• Shader : Mathematical definition of a certain effect, e.g. a wet and reflecting stone

• Textures : can be wrapped around any 3-dimensional object

DirectX 7

• Use of textures• T&L (Transform and

Light)• Counterstrike and

Unreal

Battlefield 1942

DirectX 8

• Programmable Graphics Chips

• Pixel and Vertex Shader

• More realism• Pixelshader1.0-

1.3 with DX8.0• Shader 1.4 in

DX8.1

DirectX 9

• More complex shaders

• Shader 2.0 and 3.0

Compare of Shaders

• Same or similar effects

• The lower the shader version the less intensive in calculations

• Compatibility downwards

OpenGL

• Comes from professional workstations

• Most Direct3D effects can be made with OpenGL

• For not predefined effects OpenGL extensions can be used

• Not only for Windows

Performance and Quality

• Performance is measured in FPS

• For most applications 25 FPS is enough

• For First Person Shooters at least 35 ( more is better)

Effects on performance

• Resolution : 640*400 , 800*600, .. 1600*1200• The higher the resolution the lower the

performance

Effects on performance

FSAA: "Full Scene Anti Aliasing“

Effects on performance

AF: “Anisotrope Filtering”

Image Quality

Because of “improving” the drivers to get a higher FPS-rate in Games, the image quality suffered.

Benchmarks ( Programs to analyze your system performance) like 3dMark were the main influence on customers buying decisions.

Cheating in Benchmarks was common during the last years.

Categories

• Low-Budged : 0-150$

• Mainstream : -200$

• Enthusiast : 300$-

• DirectX 7 8 9

• Shadercompatibility

CategoriesAGP or PCI-Express?

PCIx or AGP?

• Most Cards do have enough RAM (128 – 256 MB), so that a datatransfer via AGP Bus is not necessary

• Cards do have a bandwith of up to 30 GByte/s

• PCI just 4GBytes/s

Conclusion

• Nowadays it does not matter if someone uses/buys AGP or PCIx

• Never buy a enthusiast category accelerator

• The CPU and the graphics accelerator should be “equal”, otherwise the slower component would reduce the faster components performance too

RAM

• Differences in FSB-Speed: 133,166,…533

• Rule : the more RAM the better, but today 1GByte of RAM is enough for all Games

• Compatibility problems with “no-name” RAM

Problems by buying a complete PC

• No exact description for all components

• Often “no-name” components in use, which can cause troubles after upgrading a system

• A lot of great sounding components, which are not so great

Upgrading a System

If you want to upgrade in order of getting

better performance in your games:

1. Check out your system, where to invest into a new component/s

2. If you have chosen a new component, check out if your system needs other upgrades ( ATX-Power-Supply)

3. Define your demands

Upgrading a System

4. Check out your budget

5. Compare products and prices by using the WWW

6. Never buy the newest, because of stability and price

7. Hope that everything works after installing

( 8. Overclocking)

Pros and Cons

PRO• If you already have a PC, why

not use it for games• Best looking games, because

of most developed technologies

• CONS• Price• Stability• Compatibility of games to

certain hardware components• Some PC knowledge

demanded ( compared to X-Box)

• New games need high-end equipment to be played

Appendix

• www.Webopedia.com• www.archive.org• www.tomshardware.com• www.tomshardware.de• www.pcgames.de• www.hardware-mag.de• www.microsoft.com• www.google.fi

Questions?

Opponents part