Patch Notes and PC System Specs

I've read that cards with bigger VRAM requests more VRAM simply because it is available, not because they are actually using more. Apparently, all the tools to check how much VRAM a game uses only reports the requested VRAM so it is hard to say how much is too little.

But I agree with you. If you are going to upgrade, upgrade to a card with as much VRAM as your budget allows, but make sure the upgrade is worthwhile. Buying another version of the same GPU but with more VRAM is generally a bad deal. Not always, but most of the time.
 

For what it's worth, I'm having the MSI 1060 Gaming X card and it is... quiet. In fact, it is dead silent as long as the temp is below something like 65C because the fans don't spin before that. The cooling solution on my card should be the same on the 480. I hope you will be happy with it!

I like Adored. That said, I think he made a mistake by cherrypicking a few examples from Joker's video when it seems like nobody else can reproduce those results, at least not with the 7700K running at 5GHz.

Wonder if anyone could offer some insight ... I'm in a weird spot system requirements wise.

My system is an Intel Core 2 Quad q6700 @ 2.66ghz (ancient cpu), 8 gigs DDR2 RAM (yes.. DDR2.. also ancient) @1033mhz. Video card is a brand new Geforce GTX 1050 TI 4gb (was on sale, got it while I save up for a whole new rig later this year, probably black friday this year).

Currently I can run Witcher 3 at 1080p settings with a mix of High & medium settings at a steady 40fps (never drops below 30fps and I am content if any game keeps 30fps or higher.. 60fps is merely a bonus but not a necessity for me). I can run Dragon Age Inquisition at 60fps rock solid. However, the newest Deus Ex mankind divided game struggles to stay at 30fps unless I drop resolution to 720p (and even then it barely keeps 30fps on medium / low settings).

Since I have Origin access I decided to try Battlefield 1 and Mirror's Edge catalyst since you can play them for free as a member. Mirror's edge ran at 50fps on a mix of medium / high settings, sometimes dropping to 30fps but not often.

Battlefield 1, to my shock, ran at a very nice steady 40fps on mostly high settings 1080p. Visually was stunning but I was more stunned how smoothly it ran at relatively high detail levels (never dropped under 30fps, but would sit at 30fps during some heavy battles.. which is fine for me).

Is it safe to reasonably assume that since Battlefield 1 / Mirror's Edge catalyst and Mass EFfect Andromeda use the same base engine (frostbite), that I'll likely be able to run Andromeda decently well also? I'm optimistic anyway that I can.

It's just super weird because my CPU is significantly below the minimum requirements for Andromeda, Witcher 3, & Battlefield 1. In fact, all 3 games, if taken at face value by minimum requirements, suggest I shouldn't be able to run the game even... yet I can.. and at 1080p medium / high settings. I suspect this is due to the sheer brute force of the GTX 1050 ti I got recently (which I know is being terribly bottlenecked by my ancient cpu).

I was running DAI at 1080p on mostly high settings with a few things turned down (namely tesellation). Lowest it ever droppped after was 45fps for a few seconds and that was always when I was loading a new map / zone where my slow cpu was trying to catch up to the video card I suspect.. but once a map was loaded, within 10 seconds of waiting for it to settle down it was smooth sailing from then on. 

I've also recently read on steam about the nightmarish optimization issues with Deus Ex, so probably best I not consider it since it seems even with people exceeding the recommended system are having performance issues. Just hoping Bioware then has made a decently optimized game then and I should be fine as none of the other Frostbite engine games seem to have caused me issues (though as you say, those were made by DICE who designed the engine in the first place, so they're undoubtedly more skilled at optimizing their own engine).

Thinking of putting together a brand new system using a AMD Ryzen CPU + AM4 motherboard + Windows 7?

Then get ready to encounter difficulties. Below is an excellent explanation and solution(s) from Anandtech.

link: www.anandtech.com/show/11182/how-to-get-ryzen-working-on-windows-7-x64

My specs are

Intel Core i7-6700 @ 3.4GHz
16 GB DDR4 RAM
Nvidia GTX 1070 8GB

I should be more than set. I just bought this new computer recently. Still making payments, but it's worth it, lol.

Well I know what I will turn off immediately... Film Grain. LoL

I have the same specs, cool!

I hope I will be able to turn up that DSR (Resolution Scalling) to 140-150% on my system.
I still use 1080p monitor, but I noticed using DSR really makes things look extra crispy.

My specs are:
i7-4790k 4.1 Ghz
2x4GB RAM on dual channel
GTX 1080 8 GB VRAM
SSD 256 GB (I will install ME:A on it)

Everything looks great, only the memory is at minimum specs, but I think it won't cause much trouble.

Not only the resolution but the requirements are for expected 30FPS game-play. help.ea.com/en/help/mass-effect/mass-effect-andromeda/are-you-ready-for-mass-effect-andromeda/?sf53085265=1#pc LOL i hope they are joking there is no way GTX 1060 at 1080p produces only 30fps in frostbite.