Low settings because I play on the Xbox360.

I've got a decent computer though but I'm not much of a PC gamer, but the PCs got some nice games that I enjoy.

50000x50000 resolution on a 40ft monitor, 700AF and 1400AA with max settings.

Is GLaDOS your gaming rig?

Ah, that makes sense.

I haven't played Crysis 2 in awhile, but I play all of my games at native 1920x1080. In my eyes, resolution always comes before other settings.

I go for the highest settings my PC can handle, obviously. When I can't handle it maxed out, the first graphical feature to be ditched is usually SSAO (when available), since it's rather performance heavy but the effect is fairly subtle. After that usually AA.

Yep, I agree, resolution comes first, I really dont see a point to go above 4x AA. I http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125408 hopefully it will be in Tuesday. Cannot wait!

Medium.

I did have games like Skyrim on high but decided to just lower it to get more performance.

I wish I had that kind of money to spend on a GPU . I bought my 4870 brand new back in the summer of 2008 for $300...of course, less than a month after they bought it they released the 1GB version, and like two weeks after that they came out with the 4890, both cheaper than the 512MB 4870.

If you're looking to get rid of that crusty old HD 6970, you can feel free to send it my way .

I bet you're the kind of person who runs their air conditioner in the winter.

Considering that I only play Bethesda/Obsidian games, I play with everything maxed out. I also have the option of running 32x CSAA in my NVIDIA control panel, but I really don't see the point in running it that high.

Or sometimes opens the window

Sorry, someone else already bought the 6970 off me. Actually it was an odd trade of sorts. Anyway, I cant wait to see what games look like with this new card.

Probably about the same.

I'd rather run on medium with 60 fps than ultra with 30 fps. I hate jittery framerates. Skyrim's not too bad, but it was better pre-patch. It's currently running a mix of ultra graphics and staggered view distance to compensate.

Well yeah, but I mean what FPS I get. The extra memory should help at this high resolution. And there have been benchmarks showing it getting 30%+ higher performance than a GTX 580.

To add to me previous post, I find it barely noticable when my texture settings are at medium in Skyrim,

I guess it is all how you see it and feel comfortable.

I wouldn't call 30fps "jittery" to be honest.

Maybe he meant 30 FPS max (flucuating)

I don't have the best computer but I'm running Skyrim on HIGH settings.

AMD 64x2 dual core 4800+ @2.49 GHz
2 GB RAM
Win XP
(1) 7200rpm 150Gb HD
Antec 450 watt PSU


I just upgraded from a GeForce 9600GT 512Mb...and I could run Skyrim on LOW settings and it would choke after about 5 min...I found that by hitting Esc and letting the game sit in pause for 2 ro 3 minutes, my fps was restored...until next time. As you can imagine, that made for a very slow and frustrating gaming session.
I upgraded to a EVGA GeForce GTX 560 2Gb, and I'm a happy camper and am able to run at:
HIGH settings @ 1600 x 900
Antialiasing = 4 samples
Anisotropic Filtering = 4 samples
With FXAA

In addition, I use Game Booster 3, so background junk is shut down during the game session.
I run it at ULTRA settings sometimes for the eye candy, but I do get a little better fps by notching it down to HIGH.
One of these days I'll get a quad core, more RAM, WIN 7, etc....but the dual core seems to serve the purpose for now.
The GTX 560 was the best investment I could have made at this time.

maximum, all the time. i dont buy the newest graphics card everytime one comes out but as soon as i get a game and i cant play it on maximum i immediately get a new graphics card. fortunately that only happens every 2-3 years so its not a huge moneysink.

As low as they possibly go just to get ~30 fps.

This. Provided you have sufficient cooling, there shouldn't be any reason to dial back the graphics any further than the computer can handle.

The game I used to run with a lower res was WoW, back with my last computer. That was only because I used to have something else running (usually The Big Bang Theory or Rules of Engagement) on a second monitor, and the FPS would jump on full. With my recent build though, I run it on full, with full shadowing, full AA and all the trimmings, and still watch Bones

I agree, with the exception being highly competitive games. Often, even if you don't have input lag or framerate problems, certain graphics settings make things more "clear". The only game I really do this is in Starcraft 2 where I turn some settings down that just make it harder to see everything.

If you're going to go all-out on a PC I'd wait for the Ivy Bridge CPUs...they should be coming out in the next four months or so. That's what I'm waiting for, anyway.