Before I start my rant, I was and still am among the ones that buy Microsoft products and will continue doping so in the near future. With that been said, Gears of War PC port’s leaked specs should not be near anything that we saw. I know these are the leaked version but something tells me the end result will look the same. Before going any further, let’s take a look at the current specs:
Recommended for 1920X1080P
- OS: 64 bit Windows 10 – version 1511
- Processor: Intel Core i5 @3.5GHz+ or AMD FX 8-core
- Memory: 16 GB RAM (4 GB VRAM)
- Graphics: GeForce GTX 970 or Radeon R9 290X
- Hard Drive: 60 GB available space
- DirectX 12
Recommended for 4K
- OS: 64 bit Windows 10 – version 1511
- Processor: Intel Core i7 @ 4Ghz or AMD FX 8-core
- Memory: 16 GB RAM (6+ GB VRAM)
- Graphics: Geforce GTX 980 Ti or Radeon R9 390X
- Hard Drive: SSD + 60 GB available space
- DirectX 12
Minimum Requirements
- OS: 64 bit Windows 10 – version 1511
- Processor: Intel Core i5 @ 2.7Ghz or AMD FX 6-core
- Memory: 8 GB RAM (2 GB VRAM)
- Graphics: Geforce GTX 650 Ti or Radeon R7 260x
- Hard Drive: 60 GB available space
- DirectX 12
Starting right off the bat, the game is Windows 10 only with Direct X 12 as the main reason forcing you to upgrade. This is no secret, Microsoft is doing everything they can to make people upgrade and it makes sense since Windows 10 is considered a service. Spying and disabling pirated software aside, Windows 10 is a good OS but greatly exaggerated. The Windows store is nothing to write home about and forces all apps to run with Vsync on and full screen which in turn affects people with Gsync monitors like myself.
Windows store is no Steam or even Origin so forcing players to use it while it’s still maturing is dumb considering Steam has the majority of PC gaming market share. I have a strong feeling this will end up Games for Windows 2.0. Forcing me to buy the game from Windows store is the first red flag.
Moving on to the CPU. I am no expert in the processors department but having an i5 is somehow reasonable although the clock speed of 3.5 is still higher than normal, at least, that’s how it looks to me.
Now comes the surprising part, 8 GB of Ram is the minimum amount required to run the game with 16 GB as recommended for both 1080p and 4K gaming? This is a Xbox 360 game running at higher resolution with a few tweaks here and there not to mention that it runs smoothly on Xbox One so why 16 GB?
I can understand the 4K requirement but even that is too much for an old 360 port. Smells bad optimization all over this.
Surprisingly enough, GTX 970 for recommended seems reasonable but again, this is just a remastered 360 game so yeah. Note that GB of VRAM is required but judging from previously released games, a normal 750 would handle the game on low just fine.
And lastly, 60 GB of hard disk space is kinda standard and with the game having 4K textures (I assume) its not so unusual to require.
. . .
In conclusion, requiring Windows 10 as well as 16 GB of Ram for recommended for a 360 remastered port is not acceptable. Forcing people to use your store (when it’s not ready and have problems) is not the smartest move. Not after Microsoft admitting that Games for Windows was a mistake and promised to treat PC gamers better as well as working with Valve. I will hold out till more information is available and the game hits the shelves on march.
