I can no longer ignore the fact that my trusty work computer is getting on in years. With a self-deceptive “oh, he can still do it”, I have repeatedly saved my i5 6500 with meanwhile 8 GB DDR4-RAM and AMD Radeon R9 380 graphics card from the ebay classifieds for the last two years. But after my visit to the new Mifcom showroom near Munich, my decision for the new year is clear: I need a new gaming PC.
CD Projekt Red invited, who presented the next-gen update of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and the raytracing overdrive mode in Cyberpunk 2077, which is expected to be released in January 2023, on current PC hardware. And just like Benjamin recently, I’m excited about The Witcher 3: Complete Edition, in which I’m drawn into the open world stories that still serve as an RPG reference.
And now also as a real feast for the eyes using raytracing calculated reflections and in an impressive level of detail, which can only be realized on really powerful hardware. I asked Matteo, the store manager of the Mifcom showroom, what needs to be installed in a gaming PC so that the next-gen updates can be displayed without restrictions.
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For potential customers like me, he recommends a setup with a 13th Gen Intel or AMD 7000 series processor, an Nvidia 4080 or 4090 graphics card with DLSS 3.0, 32 to 64 GB of RAM, and a high case with seven fans to avoid heat build-up . The hardware not only handles the presented next-gen updates, but also has performance reserves for future generations of games. Of course, it’s not exactly cheap, currently I have to strain the budget with 4,500 to 6,000 euros. For the PC alone, you should of course not save on a suitable 4K monitor.
If I had had the necessary small change with me, there would have been time to have my desired configuration assembled for me right next door in production. But I didn’t. Nevertheless, I took the opportunity to take a look behind the scenes of the computer factory, where around 250 packages of computers leave the warehouse every day in December, when sales are strong. Around 50 employees take care of the warehouse, the assembly and the tailor-made configuration of the customer’s wishes as well as testing the finished computers before the orders are shipped. By the way, Mifcom offers a 3-year warranty and lifetime technical support.
Even though the showroom with an impressive selection of gaming PCs and notebooks is located in a commercial area in Forstinning near Munich that can hardly be reached by public transport, the shop, which only opened in November, is well frequented. The opportunity to get advice on site and to personally inspect the desired PC is used extensively, Matteo explains to me. Sure, all devices can also be configured and ordered via the website, but sitting in front of a high-tech PC in the gaming area and taking a look at a water-cooled power machine, that arouses desires.
At least that’s how I felt when I sat at a gaming PC with a powerful RTX graphics card and admired the next-gen updates with all DLSS features for the first time. DLSS stands for “Deep Learning Super Sampling”, an AI-supported graphics technology from Nvidia. I was able to talk to Lars Weinand, technical product manager for Nvidia GeForce in Europe, who explained the technical background in more detail to me.
Ray tracing ensures photorealism, for example with global lighting for authentic light and shadow effects. The calculations are complex and cost performance, which is why ray tracing cores are implemented in the current graphics cards from Nvidia, which specifically take over this work. At this point, the already mentioned DLSS comes into play to increase performance, in which an artificial intelligence extrapolates an image in a lower resolution such as 1080p or 1440p to 4K or more.
So that the scaling does not deliver pixel mud, the AI is fed with previously rendered scenes and thus generates a crisp, high-resolution image. In the current version 3.0 of DLSS, frame generation is added, in which every second image is created by the AI. In this way, 50 frames/second becomes double the number if the same amount of images is added using DLSS 3.0. The previous and the following image serve as a template for the AI-calculated frame.
The immersion in the game worlds was only topped by the 77-inch 8K TV, which delivered an almost unbelievably brilliant picture of the world of Cyberpunk 2077. I always thought: 8K? You only see a small difference to 4K, if at all. That’s true synonymous, if the material is spent on a medium-sized TV. With large devices of 70 inches and more, things are quite different in the truest sense of the word. In these dimensions, the difference is clearly visible, because even if you get very close, with 8K there are no pixels to be seen, with 4K they are clearly visible. Time will tell whether 8K will prevail, with a high-tech PC you can at least supply a compatible display with the corresponding image material.
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If you want to get into the technical details, be sure to check out the interviews with CD Projekt Red’s Lars Weinand (below) and Lead Level Designer Miles Tost (above) for some exciting insights into the development of the next gen updates Offer. My decision is definitely made: My next major purchase is finally a new gaming PC.
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