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CPU

We tested Unreal Tournament 3 across a broad range of CPUs. We also tweaked the CPU frequencies to see how clock speeds affected performance. The game scaled accordingly at lower resolutions, where the game is more likely to be CPU-bound. Faster clock speeds produced better performance; however, more cores didn't yield large performance gains. All but the slowest of our CPUs became video card-bound at high resolutions. Unless you have an older CPU, your best bet is to upgrade your video card if you’re looking for better performance.

CPU Performance Tests

(Longer bars indicate better performance)

1024x768, Maximum Quality

Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 @ 2.93GHz
149
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 2.40GHz
131
AMD Phenom 9600 @ 2.3GHz
122
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 @ 1.86GHz
105
AMD Athlon 64 FX-60 @ 2.6GHz
96
AMD Athlon 64 FX-60 @ 2.0 GHz
83
AMD Athlon 64 4000+ @ 2.4 GHz
80

2048x1536, Maximum Quality

Intel Core2 Extreme X6800 @ 2.93GHz
85
Intel Core2 Duo E6600 @ 2.40GHz
85
AMD Phenom 9900 @ 2.6GHz
85
Intel Core2 Duo E6300 @ 1.86GHz
84
Athlon 64 FX-60 @ 2.6GHz
83
Athlon 64 FX-60 @ 2.0 GHz
79
Athlon 64 4000+ @ 2.4 GHz
76

System Setup: Intel Core 2 X6800, Intel Core 2 QX6600 Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, Intel Core 2 Duo E6300, Intel 975XBX2, AMD Phenom 9900, Asus M3A32 MVP Deluxe, AMD Athlon 64 FX-60, AMD Athlon 64 4000+, ASUS A8R32-MVP Deluxe, 2GB Corsair XMS Memory (1GBx2), 160GB Seagate 7200.7 SATA Hard Disk Drive, Windows XP. Graphics Card: GeForce 8800 GTX, beta Nvidia ForceWare 169.09.

Memory

The Unreal Tournament 3 system requirements list recommends 512MB of RAM in Windows XP and 1GB of RAM in Windows Vista. The 512MB minimum barely ran the game at maximum-quality settings. Overall, we didn't see any measurable performance gain once we went past 1GB in Windows XP. We highly recommend going with 2GB of RAM on Windows Vista, given that the load times with 1GB of RAM weren't exactly stellar.

Memory Performance Tests

(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Windows XP, 1600x1200, Maximum Quality

512MB Corsair XMS
10
1GB Corsair XMS
124
2GB Corsair XMS
124
3GB Corsair XMS
124

Windows Vista 32-bit, 1600x1200, Maximum Quality

1GB Corsair XMS
100
2GB Corsair XMS
105
3GB Corsair XMS
105

Windows Vista 64-bit, 1600x1200, Maximum Quality

1GB Corsair XMS
104
2GB Corsair XMS
107
3GB Corsair XMS
107

System Setup: Intel Core 2 X6800, Intel 975XBX2, 3GB Corsair XMS Memory (1GBx2 + 512MBx2), 2GB Corsair XMS Memory (1GBx2), Corsair XMS Memory 1GB, 1GB Corsair XMS Memory (512MBx2), 160GB Seagate 7200.7 SATA Hard Disk Drive, Windows XP Professional SP2, Windows Vista 32-bit, Windows Vista 64-bit. Graphics Card: GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB, Nvidia ForceWare 169.09 and 169.12.



286 Comments

  • bboyart

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 5:39 am PT

    Maybe not the right thread but have u thought to make a PhysX games comparison with/without dedicated nVidia hardware (secondary or third card maybe)?

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  • hash94

    Posted Oct 1, 2008 1:28 am PT

    I have Core 2 duo 2.0Ghz ,Nvidia Geforce 8500GT (512MB),1Gb ram will it work?

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  • matmat07

    Posted Aug 9, 2008 10:56 am PT

    Mine is core 2 duo 2.0Ghz, nvidia 9500M GS(I heard it's the same as a 8600 GT), 4 Ghz ram with vista. What should be the best setting that still keep at least 35 fps?

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  • Sam_Fisher_932

    Posted Aug 7, 2008 8:30 pm PT

    ninty57:

    It wouldn't run at all even on medium settings. A lot of people think that the 8400/8500 cards are strong because they are a part of the Geforce 8000 series, but they really aren't. They're the low budget cards of that generation. Consider an upgrade or you won't be playing this game.

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  • ninty57

    Posted Jun 30, 2008 1:21 pm PT

    im P4 3.4 ghz, 2gb ram, and nvidia 8500GT, windows xp. How would it run on medium/ high settings? please reply

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  • battlestar_555

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 5:27 am PT

    @ savanta your CPU is brilliant but you might have to upgrade your video card as your video card isn't a good card as my old pc used to have that... upgrade it to another cheaper better card and you'll have better performance... hope this helps

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  • tinkiwinki1

    Posted Jun 22, 2008 11:52 am PT

    WOW!!
    I got:
    IntelCore duo 2.66Ghz
    Nvidia geforce8500GT 256mbit
    2GIGABIT RAM
    Vista 32 home premium

    My framerate is very bad on high settings altough i have way pased the "recommended system requirements" I have all new drivers up to June 2008 and overclocked my computer.
    My framerate is stil bad!!!!!
    Can anybody hellp ME PLEASE???????!!!!!!??????!!!!!!

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  • pinkyfull

    Posted May 30, 2008 2:50 am PT

    i do hope gamespot start to put the nvidia 9000 series and radeon 3000 series in these tests i'm getting quite annoyed trying to figure our were my 9800gtx is fitting (and yes i am aware most of the tests were made before they came out but would like to see it in the future)

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  • savanta

    Posted May 26, 2008 5:45 am PT

    what about my cpu:
    intel celerion 3.0ghz
    ati radeon x300 256 mb
    memory 800mb

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  • kuwakcai

    Posted May 21, 2008 10:18 am PT

    Just get a core 2 duo , 8800Gt gfx and 4gb ram. evrything will look fine.

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  • waxtodonte15

    Posted Apr 25, 2008 5:10 pm PT

    Hey subz3ro what type of cpu u got there cuz i got a PENTIUM DUAL-CORE e2180 1.8GHZ
    which is overclocked to 3.1GHZ Crazy!!!! 680i board 2GB ram 80GB and a lame 7300LE > and i manage too play it at 800x600 At med stings and no lag. yay

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  • GamerErman2001

    Posted Apr 18, 2008 4:58 pm PT

    This game runs great on recent computers. Unreal Engine 3 is well made for good computers, which is what it is aimed towards.

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  • JazzVoid

    Posted Apr 17, 2008 10:48 pm PT

    Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 + 2x1GB Kingston DDR2 PC6400 + Forsa GeForce 8600GT (256 Mb)
    Windows XP + UT3 1024x768 High Quality ~100 fps
    I love optimization of Unreal Engine. Don't tell my that Crysis has better graphics - if UE had such terrible system requirements, we could see much better graphics that Crysis. Also, don't forget about crossplatform feature of UE. It was used even on PSP.

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  • ReConstructor

    Posted Mar 9, 2008 1:56 am PT

    ("how will dual 8500 gt's with 1 gb each handle it though? ") beast, sorry bud, but there's no such videocard. a GT suffix card doesn't have a gig of ram. 2 together doesn't even have a gig! a GT has 256 mb. i'm currently running duel 8600 GT's in SLI mode on an ASUS mobo. if you have 2 GTX's then you have a gig of video ram combined. but, no, sorry. GT's don't. hehehe

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  • dvros

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 10:47 am PT

    "Man Unreal's game engine never seizes to amaze me..........They optimized it so even a normal computer can play this game fast with really good settings...All the other games you need beefy requirements to get good graphics and good performance.... Companies should really take after unreal.........."

    I highly agree with you on that d-DanGerous, even with my modest setup and a self over-clocked AMD X2 3800+ and XFX 7600GT I currently am able to play UT2004 at max visuals. This is because also I built my rig from the ground up and didn't wimp out and buy a "ready-out-the-box" system. This game was also meant for the PC as all the previous Unreal titles were made for... you will only rob clarity if you play it on any console.

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  • subz3ro999

    Posted Mar 2, 2008 8:20 am PT

    Shees, i got a 7600GT and UT3 keeps on freezing!!! cheap dual cre 1.86ghz

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  • d-DanGerous

    Posted Feb 27, 2008 11:38 pm PT

    Man Unreal's game engine never seizes to amaze me..........They optimized it so even a normal computer can play this game fast with really good settings...All the other games you need beefy requirements to get good graphics and good performance.... Companies should really take after unreal..........

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  • beast____

    Posted Feb 25, 2008 11:19 am PT

    how will dual 8500 gt's with 1 gb each handle it though?

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  • theR34p3R

    Posted Feb 25, 2008 5:57 am PT

    AMD X2 6000+ , 2048mb DDR800 , XFX GeForce 8800GTX , Win XP SP2

    All details on highest with resolution on 1280x1024 runs VERY smoothly.

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  • beast____

    Posted Feb 25, 2008 4:30 am PT

    I just ordered a new computer from ibuypower.com ande i'm wondering how well it will run this game. i've got an amd 642x 6000+ 3.0 ghz processor and 2 gb RAM with two GeForce 8500+ 1GB video cards. i doubt i can play on high settings but can i do ok with medium?

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  • User651

    Posted Feb 23, 2008 11:04 pm PT

    u.t.3. requires a fast and great video card.

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  • Rhipz

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 12:12 pm PT

    Jocarl you should be able 2 run on max .. but it depends on your resulution..
    zyox a 4600+ is alright to play ut3

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  • jfpl138

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 8:39 am PT

    Check out www.systemrequirements.com

    this site will analyze your system and tell you whether or not you can run stuff.

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  • Jocarl1215

    Posted Feb 16, 2008 12:43 am PT

    Can the game run at maximum settings at this specs
    Pentium Dual-Core E2140@1.60GHz GeForce 8600GT 1.5GB of RAM

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  • --ZyoX

    Posted Feb 9, 2008 4:22 am PT

    I have an AMD Athlon 64 4600+ X2 (4.6GHz). Is it enough to play UT3?

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  • ShadeofChaoS

    Posted Feb 6, 2008 7:07 am PT

    I'm with an Intel Pentium 4 3.06 GHz 2 CPUs - GeForce 8600 GTS 512 Mb RAM - 2G RAM - Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2

    I'm probably gonna purchase a new CPU but i want to know how much fps i could get on 1280x1024 resolution with my actual settings with High/Very High settings.

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  • IceEmpress

    Posted Feb 5, 2008 1:22 pm PT

    wow im pleased to see it will run well on my new laptop. This is very usefull information . Now im definatly going to get this game.

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  • ktdc_lb

    Posted Feb 3, 2008 10:06 am PT

    I played UT3 on a AMD 3500+ @2.42Ghz - 1Ghz Corsair VS Memory - MSI Geforce 7800GTX not overclocked - Max detail @ 1152 x 720 = 40ish steady FPS for anyone whos looking to play the game with a similar spec.

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  • Hellknight13

    Posted Feb 3, 2008 9:49 am PT

    AMD 1.8ghz, ATI Radeon Pro 9250, 512mb RAM, Windows XP SP2
    Im guessing the system performance will definately be negative XD
    This is why im getting the XBox360 version instead.

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  • PimpiNbananas

    Posted Feb 2, 2008 2:17 am PT

    will my M1530 XPS laptop 4Gb ram, T7500 2.2ghz, Geforce 8600M GT 256mb run this game all maxed out 1600 1200 smoothly?

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  • gla300

    Posted Jan 30, 2008 6:35 am PT

    great

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  • AzharAzz

    Posted Jan 26, 2008 10:11 am PT

    Oh man!! This looks embarrasingly primitive in comparison to Crysis!! Look at the framerates, just look at them!!!!!

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  • zeroxin

    Posted Jan 25, 2008 4:04 pm PT

    Man this makes me mad I'm A Xbox 360 fan and when I hear that ps3 has a game made by the makers of Gears of War that makes me mad. (opionion)

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  • Adam_the_Nerd

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 8:18 am PT

    lol the only thing my 6 year old computer meets is the minimum 512MB RAM requirement. hahahaha I got owned. :'(

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  • megadisc

    Posted Jan 21, 2008 12:16 am PT

    this is so cool !

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  • unknown-racer

    Posted Jan 19, 2008 7:20 pm PT

    I have a Intel core2 x6800 2gb corsair ram running at 800mhz Nvidia 8600gt and i still have alot lag on my computer at 1280x1024 that my monitor max resolution

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  • DeadParrot145

    Posted Jan 19, 2008 3:46 pm PT

    I had a bfg geforce 6200 pci card in my old rig before I upgraded. Its pointless to try to run it on medium settings (2 i take it?), even so it didnt matter since theres no way the card could render the full pixel size. But it DOES run, even says so on the box under minimum system requirements.

    On a happier note, Im Pentium D 3.0ghz, 2 gigs of ram (ddr2 667) and xfx geforce 8500gt, game runs max settings, 1360 x 768 at approx 20-40fps

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  • neo_aeolus

    Posted Jan 16, 2008 9:14 pm PT

    "I play this game with a Nvidia 6200 and I can run it at medium graphics but my computer freezes up during the intro vid of the campaign. Can someone possibly help me??!!"
    It's because your VGA card is too weak. The game required at least geforce 6800 with 256Mb
    You should upgrade your system to play this game. I'm using P4 3.2Ghz, 2x1Gb ram, and the sapphire x1950pro 512Mb DDR3 AGP8x to play this game at high settings. It's amazing.

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  • DacooXD

    Posted Jan 16, 2008 11:20 am PT

    I play this game with a Nvidia 6200 and I can run it at medium graphics but my computer freezes up during the intro vid of the campaign. Can someone possibly help me??!!

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  • User-

    Posted Jan 13, 2008 6:26 am PT

    this game is amazing

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  • eric7233

    Posted Jan 11, 2008 8:53 am PT

    crazy.. the newest nvidia drivers are forceware 163.92 or something but there is a different beta driver that specific to ut3 and the versions number is 169.28 and you can get it at nzone .com .. or just type forceware beta driver 169.28 in your browser to find it elsewhere.

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  • crazyfullhouse

    Posted Jan 9, 2008 1:39 pm PT

    @Sammojo, I tried the new drivers but it seems to have made little impact. Think it may be Vista slowing the system down ?

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  • Sammojo

    Posted Jan 6, 2008 8:54 pm PT

    @crazyfullhouse, read what eric7233 said, do you have the newest NVidia drivers?

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  • crazyfullhouse

    Posted Jan 6, 2008 7:15 am PT

    I am having a hard time getting the game to run smooth on my laptop, T7300@2.0Ghz Duo, 2GB ram and 8600GT video card, any ideas how to speed it up please ?????

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  • Sammojo

    Posted Jan 5, 2008 5:17 am PT

    Hey I am wondering if there was something wrong with the demo. It completely crashed my PC. I have a pentium 4 2.4ghz, 1GB DDR1 Ram, and a 7600GS and when I tried to play the demo my screen went black and the computer stopped working. Does the demo version do this, and if so would it happen in the full game?

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  • vtss120204

    Posted Jan 4, 2008 8:28 pm PT

    I am curious,with the ps3 version of this game,what level from 1 to 5 would the graphics be set at on the Image Comparison page,surely it wouldn't be on the lowest detail 1,I am thinking it might be level 3 or 4.

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  • eric7233

    Posted Jan 3, 2008 12:36 pm PT

    Wow.. my problems have just been solved.. I downloaded the forceware beta driver 169.28 and i tripled my resolution and upped all the settigns and get no more crashes.. any who are having crashes or forced to use low settings i highly recommend downloading that driver.. its an absolute miracle . i was just about to throw in the towel on this game cus my computer sucks but that driver made the game very playable.

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  • neo_aeolus

    Posted Jan 3, 2008 5:59 am PT

    I have a AGP system ( I know it's old ) ^_^ :
    -VGA sapphire x1950pro AGP 512 Mb
    -CPU intel P4 3.2Ghz
    -Ram 2gb (2*1gb kingmax)
    Can I play this game at high setting??

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  • foddle

    Posted Jan 3, 2008 5:08 am PT

    copkill your specs dont make anyone jealous, as apart from the sli'd gtx's theres nothing too special there. in fact you should be jealous of everyone else, as the dont need to post that kind of thing to get theis kicks in life. .
    now grow up.

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  • fuchuzz

    Posted Jan 2, 2008 12:47 pm PT

    i have a e6600 and a 8800gt proverclocked and i run it at 1200 by 1600 with everything maxed out completely, no lag what so ever, i also get unbelivibly good load times, like 3secs for the loading...

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