Bioshock hardware requirements revealed

Author: Joe Martin
Published: 10th July 2007
Comments (43) Stumble
Bioshock is the spiritual successor to the System Shock series and will be DX 10 compatible.

Bioshock is the spiritual successor to the System Shock series and will be DX 10 compatible.

It can't come quick enough really and, with Bioshock dated to hit shelves on the 24th of August, you can be sure that at least one member of bit-tech staff (Read: Me) is marking the days on his Bioshock calendar.

No, really.

The spiritual successor to System Shock 2, which is often considered to be one of the best PC games ever, Bioshock is still in the late stages of development over at Irrational Studios.

Casting players as a stranger in the vast, art-deco isnpired underwater city of Rapture, Bioshock allows players to investigate and interact with their surroundings in a variety of ways as they try to discover just what went wrong in the ocean metropolis which was previously believed to be a paradise run by the intellectual elite.

Available for both Xbox 360 and PC, the hardware requirements will be critical in helping a lot of gamers decide which platform they want to play on. Games this gorgeous don't run on just any old PC, you know?

Handily then, 2K games has released the finalised PC specs for the game - both minimum and recommended - so that gamers can see just what level of graphical grunt their PC will need in order to render what promises to be this years masterpiece of gaming.

The specs are as follows:

Operating Systems: Windows XP (with Service Pack 2) or Windows Vista

Minimum System Requirements:
CPU: Pentium 4 2.4GHz Single Core processor
System RAM: 1GB
Video Card: Direct X 9.0c compliant video card with 128MB RAM (NVIDIA 6600 or better/ATI X1300 or better, excluding ATI X1550).
Sound Card: 100% direct X 9.0c compatible sound card
Hard disk space: 8GB free space

Recommended System Requirements:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo processor
System RAM: 2GB
DX9 GPU: Direct X 9.0c compliant video card with 512MB RAM (NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GT or better)
DX10 GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 or better
Sound Card: Sound Blaster X-Fi series (Optimized for use with Creative Labs EAX Advanced HD 4.0 or EAX Advanced HD 5.0 compatible sound cards)

Important Note: Game requires Internet connection for activation.

Internet connection required, aye? Is it possible that the game will somehow be linked to Steam or is there something else going on there? We'll have to wait and see.

How does your gaming PC stack up against those specs? Got the power to push the settings to the max, or will you pick up the 360 version instead and cope with less-smooth controls? Let us know in the forums.
Quote iwog 10th July 2007, 11:24
ooo internet connection for activation. Really trying to cut down on game piracy then as securom and the other obviously dont work. And min req 1gig of ram, poo. Looks like server plans are going on hold again for another ram upgrade.
Quote will. 10th July 2007, 11:30
woo :D although, biggest game this year? Crysis not included in that statement perchance? or has that been hit by the delay hammer again without me knowing?

also, teeny speeling mishtape; isnpired
Quote oasked 10th July 2007, 11:35
Bah, I won't be playing that one then. No SM3 here. :)
Quote iwog 10th July 2007, 11:38
After reading the announcement again what worries me is that they're recommending intel for both min and recommended specs. Does this mean that performance will suffer for us AMD users?
Quote Dr. Strangelove 10th July 2007, 11:39
well I certainly will not be playing that game, not with my current rig anyway :(
Quote Seraphim Works 10th July 2007, 11:42
They normally use intel specs because everyone understands them to be honest. Plus, an amd that's worse than a 2.4 P4 would be poor indeed... If you've got dual core, you'll be sorted to be honest.
Quote CardJoe 10th July 2007, 11:51
To me it's even bigger than Crysis. :)
Quote DougEdey 10th July 2007, 12:00
/Hugs 360, see baby, you're better then the PC, you work easily.

For me to get reccomended specs I'd need to invest around £300+, to get it to run as well as the 360 on my 2405 I'd need to invest a lot more.
Quote will. 10th July 2007, 12:07
Quote:
Originally Posted by CardJoe
To me it's even bigger than Crysis. :)

Blasphemy!

There is no doubt that they will both be pretty damn special like, but Crysis is the reason I got my new PC so my love is reserved for nano suites and ice loving aliens for the time being :p
Quote CardJoe 10th July 2007, 12:11
I await Crysis eagerly too, but System Shock 2 was a classic and Looking Glass Studios were my favourite developer. I just have a soft spot for FPS/RPG hybrids I guess.
Quote Phil Rhodes 10th July 2007, 12:22
As with Far Cry, I think I'll simply wait a year and then play it once the system requirements are a bit more in the realms of sanity.

Buggered if I'm spending enough money on a graphics card to buy a complete 360...

Phil
Quote Hugo 10th July 2007, 12:26
Shh you.... Damn I hope saying an 8600 is recommended for DX10 means they've got a lot more optimisation on that codeline than COH and Lost Planet
Quote BioSniper 10th July 2007, 13:25
Hmm, PC or 360, I can do both but I almost feel it'll be a better experience on a 32" screen on the sofa on a dark windy night with the curtains drawn and lights off than it will be on PC.
Quote CardJoe 10th July 2007, 13:30
Even without a mouse? Never been.
Quote Amon 10th July 2007, 14:18
Wow, my (best and current) video card doesn't even meet the documented minimum requirement for Bioshock.
Quote Omnituens 10th July 2007, 14:58
gimme!

im actually suprised at the fact that only a few people have pre-ordered this game where i work. had more interest in the 360 version though.
Quote Tim S 10th July 2007, 15:31
/me strokes system... bring it on
Quote Amon 10th July 2007, 15:49
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim S
/me strokes system... bring it on
/jealous
Quote will. 10th July 2007, 15:54
Quote:
Originally Posted by BioSniper
Hmm, PC or 360, I can do both but I almost feel it'll be a better experience on a 32" screen on the sofa on a dark windy night with the curtains drawn and lights off than it will be on PC.

Why not hook up your pc to your TV?

That's what I've done. All games run on full settings too because the resolution is so teeny compared to my 21 inch widscreen.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim S
/me strokes system... bring it on

I shall join you in the subtle boasting :p

All games are mere pestilences as far as my computay is concerned!
Quote CardJoe 10th July 2007, 16:00
I think I have the best deal here: paid to play, with a system guarenteed. Booyah!
Quote Bindibadgi 10th July 2007, 16:01
Quote:
Originally Posted by CardJoe
I think I have the best deal here: paid to play, with a system guarenteed. Booyah!

You can play the 360 version, I get PC :D
Quote CardJoe 10th July 2007, 16:34
I don't have a 360 though...
Quote Tim S 10th July 2007, 16:36
Quote:
Originally Posted by Amon
/jealous

I just bought myself a new 215TW to play the latest crop of games... Until this week, I had little want to play PC games because I'd got a 1280x1024 Dull screen that looked, well, pants and there was no immersiveness associated with it. Nothing in comparison to the 30" Dell I have for testing graphics cards at work.

The Samsung is right up there with the 30... sure it's not as big, but I also don't need the world's fastest PC to enjoy the latest crop of games at 1680x1050. This year is one of the years that I've been most excited about gaming since I started really caring about release dates. There are some top games coming out and I want to find the time to play them all.
Quote Bindibadgi 10th July 2007, 16:48
Quote:
Originally Posted by CardJoe
I don't have a 360 though...

Then you'll have to watch me play both
Quote CardJoe 10th July 2007, 16:56
Sure, I'll watch until the red mist falls over my vision and I slaughter you all, quit my job and run away to live in the alps with a solar powered PC. I shall reside in a cave, consuming manna from heaven and emerge only to scavenge Bioware and Bethesda games from my various PR minions!
Quote Ghys 10th July 2007, 17:06
yet another game my X850XT can't run....

Pixel Shader 3 are freaking BS
Quote specofdust 10th July 2007, 17:16
Ah well, I'd been needing to upgrade my graphics card anyway.

I like that bit about internet activation...I wonder how long it'll take Reloaded to fix that....
Quote Hugo 10th July 2007, 17:58
Quote:
Originally Posted by CardJoe
Sure, I'll watch until the red mist falls over my vision and I slaughter you all, quit my job and run away to live in the alps with a solar powered PC. I shall reside in a cave, consuming manna from heaven and emerge only to scavenge Bioware and Bethesda games from my various PR minions!

Not when I construct a giant "sun-shade" over your cave you wont
Quote pendragon 10th July 2007, 18:30
yet another game I need to upgrade for...
Quote TomH 10th July 2007, 18:49
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim S
I just bought myself a new 215TW to play the latest crop of games... Until this week, I had little want to play PC games because I'd got a 1280x1024 Dull screen that looked, well, pants and there was no immersiveness associated with it. Nothing in comparison to the 30" Dell I have for testing graphics cards at work.

The Samsung is right up there with the 30... sure it's not as big, but I also don't need the world's fastest PC to enjoy the latest crop of games at 1680x1050. This year is one of the years that I've been most excited about gaming since I started really caring about release dates. There are some top games coming out and I want to find the time to play them all.

Amen to that!

Sadly though, I think I'm going to struggle with a 2.4GHz (12*200) Athlon XP, 1GB DDR400 and an aging 7800GS. And yes, it's running on an NF7-S Still, the GFX card is comfortably above the minimum spec. I might just have to source another GB of RAM (which I've needed for FEAR for a while...)

The system works for most things I do, but I can't wait till I've got some money together to built a new machine. I'm spoilt now though - I want it all
Quote GoodBytes 11th July 2007, 00:31
Do you think my Socket 939 AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ with 1MB of L2 cache per core, and a Geforce 8800GTS 640MB will hold up the game in near max settings at 1280x1024 or 1600x1200?
Quote capnPedro 11th July 2007, 00:39
Ha, I'm all set! Eat my dust, suckers.

I'm actually surprised by the number of people on a website for computer enthusiasts that are running fairly old hardware. I suppose not everyone's a hardcore games who HAS to have the latest kit.
Quote GoodBytes 11th July 2007, 01:14
no, simply some of us are not freaking rich like you. ;)
Quote Amon 11th July 2007, 02:39
Tuition, insurance, petrol, etc are problematic. If I'm in a squeeze for cash, I'll just do my income tax return and pinch out a hidden $4000. But yeah, I can't justify all the new gaming hardware unless I'm megatasking and juggling something more than I usually do of just desktop apps and folders. Some of us are just not feeling the whole gaming craze anymore.
Quote SPQQKY 11th July 2007, 04:13
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoodBytes
no, simply some of us are not freaking rich like you. ;)

LOL, considering you can get a 6600GT (minimum required card) for $40 US, I don't think you need to be rich to play the game. I bet a lot of you spend more than that on liquor each week (in a single night maybe.)
Quote GoodBytes 11th July 2007, 04:49
I don't drink nor smoke, thank you. Same applies for clubbing and theaters and coffee... and drugs.
Quote SPQQKY 11th July 2007, 05:47
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoodBytes
I don't drink nor smoke, thank you. Same applies for clubbing and theaters and coffee... and drugs.
And you have an 8800GTS. I wasn't aiming my reply directly at you, but making a point that you don't need a $500 video card to play the game.
Quote Bladestorm 11th July 2007, 08:14
Quote:
DX9 GPU: Direct X 9.0c compliant video card with 512MB RAM (NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GT or better)
DX10 GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 or better
Sound Card: Sound Blaster X-Fi series (Optimized for use with Creative Labs EAX Advanced HD 4.0 or EAX Advanced HD 5.0 compatible sound cards)

So close, yet so far

- Overclocked 7800GT being fairly close to stock 7900GT for grunt, but lacking that 512mb ram (256mb) and audigy 2 instead of X-FI.

Still I guess it backs up the thinking that I want to go to 8800GTS 640mb and one of those newer x-fi gamer extreme gamer cards with an oem copy of vista home premium 64 later this year, just need to scrape the cash together, though with my birthday a week or so before, maybe that will help :D.
Quote CardJoe 11th July 2007, 09:30
Quote:
Originally Posted by Archangel
Not when I construct a giant "sun-shade" over your cave you wont

NOOOOOOOOOO!

Still, I can always just steal two of Tims spare 8800s
Quote mardukph 11th July 2007, 09:35
i need a vid card upgrade ...
time to rummage the stock room and have a garage sale...
honey do we need the sofa? hyukhyuk
Quote cjmUK 11th July 2007, 15:23
Quote:
Originally Posted by CardJoe
To me it's even bigger than Crysis. :)

Seconded.

Am I allowed to say that I found FarCry a bit boring after a while? Or would that class me as a Heretic?

Reckon I got 2/3rds through but got bored.
Quote cjmUK 11th July 2007, 15:26
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoodBytes
I don't drink nor smoke, thank you. Same applies for clubbing and theaters and coffee... and drugs.

Remind me not to come to one of your parties... :D

[Do I win some headphones?]
Quote Bungle 13th July 2007, 18:04
Hope I have the will power to not be seduced by other titles whilst playing this, looks like there could be quite a bit of mileage to cover in this baby.
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