Pinball FX 3 Steam - System Requirements for Maximum Settings

[karussellbremser]

I'm planning to buy a new PC or laptop and want to be able to perfectly play Pinball FX 3 (and TPA, for that matter). So can you give me a rough estimation for what hardware you think is necessary to play either of those games with all settings maxed out?

 

[Jeff Strong]

The video card is the most important spec and you don’t need a whole lot if you just want to get by. TPA can run on just about anything, while FX3 requires a bit more horsepower, but any fairly modern gaming PC can do the job. I’m running FX3 on two PCs: my older has an nvidia GTX 960 which was a mid range card 4 years ago and it can still run max settings at 1080p @ 60 fps. My newer PC has a GTX 1060, but it’s not much of a difference as far as FX3 is concerned. Other games are a different story though, so if you ever plan to play anything else go with a 1060 or higher. Plus there’s always the real possibility that Zen will upgrade their engine in the not-so-distant future, so it’s best to plan ahead and future-proof a bit if you can afford to do so.

 

[Narc0lep5y]

1060 and up will definitely be no issue. Even a 750ti runs it with no issues driving 2 monitors. My advice, depending on how long you have, is to wait and watch for sales on the 10 series Nvidia cards as they go on sale all the time. Especially with the RTX/ 20 series line out now. I picked up a 6GB 1060 EVGA SC on Cyber Monday for $199. My other suggestion is, before you buy, look at the surrounding cards before making a purchase. You might be set on a 1060 that is'nt currently on sale, but the 1070 might be on sale for a very similar price or a nominal difference given the differences in performance. Same is true within the same family. 1060 3gb vs 1060 6gb. 1060 is also the baseline for VR support if you're planning anything there too. I bought the 1060 for my cab for that reason.

edit - Re-read your question and, I should amend that. unless you're building instead of buying prebuilt. in prebuilt, laptops a 1060 is pretty common in gaming laptops and you'll want a laptop that has a dedicated gaming card instead of using the stock Intel Graphics. If you buy a prebuilt PC you can either look for that in the system specs or get something that gives you the option to add your own video acard and then my statements above would apply.

 

[wilbers]

I ordered a laptop on black Friday (should be arriving in a few days) partially as a secondary gaming system (wanted it to be able to run most games at high settings) and went with a 1060 max-Q. There are 3 versions of the 1060; 1060 3Gb, 1060 6Gb, and 1060 max-Q with the latter being same as a 1060 6Gb but clocked slightly lower. Went with a i5-8300H, the i7 8th gen is overkill for gaming at present. The i7 7th gen is OK as well (similar to i5 8th gen) as there seem to be some of these left in the market. Helps to include a SSD - many have a small SSD and larger hard drive, some have a somewhat bigger SSD and no hard drive.

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

I'd recommend a 1060 also, but don't get the 3Gb version, get the 6Gb.

The 750ti is okay for TPA - if you can still find one - I'm not sure how it will be for FX3.

 

[jaredmorgs]

I've got the 1060 3GB in my surface book 2 and I can't run Zen FX3 maxed. So I definitely recommend more graphics RAM if you can afford it.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[Narc0lep5y]

I ran a 750ti in my cabinet mode test system driving 2 monitors at 1280x1024 and 1920x1080 with an i5-4690 and 8gb of DDR3 ram and FX3 full detail had no issues. Only reason i upgraded was for VR support.

edit I think i was running it in my old Q6600 desktop with no issues either. Both systems used SSD's for OS and was the only drive on the i5 system.

 

[Narc0lep5y]

I've got the 1060 3GB in my surface book 2 and I can't run Zen FX3 maxed. So I definitely recommend more graphics RAM if you can afford it.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

I think surface book 2 runs at a 3240x2160 resolution to compete with Apple's "retina display". That's a lot of pixels jammed into a 15" screen, most of which is probably not even noticeable. Since it's native resolution is just shy of 4k, the 3gb of video memory would definitely impact that. I'm guessing it could run FX3 at 1080p or maybe even 1440p with no issues.

 

[Jeff Strong]

Yeah, 1080p would be no problem with a GTX 1060. I have a GTX 960 in my arcade rig running FX3 maxed, 60 fps at 1080p. Any higher res and I start getting fps drops. 4K is playable if I turn off AA, but it’s not a consistent 60 fps.

 

[jaredmorgs]

I've set FX3 to run in 1080. It still chugs a bit. Maybe I've got to check again. I found out with the surface book 2 you have to run it with the power plugged in otherwise are graphics card doesn't get enough power

I think surface book 2 runs at a 3240x2160 resolution to compete with Apple's "retina display". That's a lot of pixels jammed into a 15" screen, most of which is probably not even noticeable. Since it's native resolution is just shy of 4k, the 3gb of video memory would definitely impact that. I'm guessing it could run FX3 at 1080p or maybe even 1440p with no issues.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[Narc0lep5y]

I remember seeing some posts where people were having an issue with the surface book defaulting to intel graphics instead of NVidia too. I think there’s an app in the control panel that lets you select the GPU. Might want to check that too if you haven’t already


edit - aha
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-force-your-surface-book-use-its-dedicated-gpu-games

 

[jaredmorgs]

I've already done that after scratching my head at just how terrible it was playing most games. It was playing FAR worse than what it is now with that little "feature" activated.

I remember seeing some posts where people were having an issue with the surface book defaulting to intel graphics instead of NVidia too. I think there’s an app in the control panel that lets you select the GPU. Might want to check that too if you haven’t already


edit - aha
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-force-your-surface-book-use-its-dedicated-gpu-games

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[karussellbremser]

Thanks a lot for your comments! This will help me a great deal with my decision. Once I have made the purchase, I will get back to this thread and share my experience