Let's skip ahead of any "Can it run Crysis" introductions for this news piece, and instead state it as it is: Crysis 3 can absolutely run when installed directly on a graphics card's memory subsystem. In this case, an RTX 3090 and its gargantuan 24 GB of GDDR6X memory where the playground for such an experiment. Using the "VRAM Drive" application, distributed in an open-source manner via the GitHub platform, one can allocate part of their GPU's VRAM and use it as if it was just another system drive. After doing so, user Strife212 (as per her Twitter handle) then went on to install Crysis 3 on 15 GB of the allocated VRAM. The rest of the card's 9 GB were then available to actually load in graphical assets for the game, and VRAM consumption (of both the installed game and its running assets) barely crossed the 20 GB total VRAM utilization.

As you might expect, graphics memory is one of the fastest memory subsystems on your PC, being even faster (in pure performance terms) than system RAM. Loading up of game levels and asset streaming from VRAM "disk-sequestered" pools to free VRAM pools was obviously much faster than usual, even more than the speeds achieved by today's NVMe drives. Crysis 3 in this configuration was shown to run by as many as 75 FPS in 4K resolution, with the High preset settings. A proof of concept more than anything - but users with a relatively powerful (or memory-capable) graphics card can perhaps look at this exotic solution as a compromise of sorts, should they not have any fast storage options, and provided the game install size is relatively small.

The Crysis Twitter account today once again became active, after almost four years of inactivity, to post a two-worded tweet - "RECEIVING DATA". The tweet is an indication of something happening and the current industry rumors are pointing to a nonother then a remaster of the beloved title. Yes, we are talking about a remaster of one of the Crysis games, possibly the last entry added in 2013 - the Crysis 3. Originally developed by a German developer Crytek and published by Electronic Arts, the game is powered by CryEngine. The game is being worked on by both teams of EA and Crytek, however, the possible launch of the game is determined by EA, as it has rights to the game still. During the Q2 earnings call, EA's CEO mentioned that they are working delivering "some exciting remasters of fan favorites" for the fiscal year of 2021, so we can expect the game in a timeframe close to us.

It seems like the popular question "but can it run Crysis?" will gain traction again, as the game will likely be a real treat for the eyes. Implementing Crytek's latest CryEngine 5.6, it will feature all the latest bells and whistles of computer graphics. That means that Ray Tracing and support for 4K textures are going to be present. Meant for next-generation hardware of PCs and consoles like PS5 and Xbox Series X, the remastered Crysis game would need a powerful system to run on, however, judging by rumors of next-generation hardware it should be enough to power it without a problem. To see more about CryEngine 5.6, please check out the video below.

One of AMD's lead testers, Jason Megit tweeted these pictures of a gaming PC build running Lichdom: Battlemage at "super high resolution." How high? 11520 x 2160 pixels, or a 3-display Eyefinity setup using Ultra HD (3840 x 2160 pixels) monitors. You might think the system must be running three or four top of the line cards, given that Lichdom: Battlemage is driven by CryEngine 3, the same one that powers Crysis 3, from the makers of some of the most GPU-intensive games; but it isn't. The game was running on a single Radeon R9 295X2 dual-GPU graphics card. Lichdom: Battlemage is currently available as a pre-alpha, if you pre-order the game for $19.99 on Steam. From the looks of it, Lichdom: Battlemage is shaping up to be a modern-day Hexen.

AMD released a WHQL-signed version of its Catalyst 14.4 software suite, its first in four months (the previous one being 13.12 WHQL). The driver builds on the Catalyst 14.4 Release Candidate the company shipped out a little earlier this month, to lend immediate support for Radeon R9 295X2, which hit the shelves on the 21st. The four highlights of Catalyst 14.4 include support for the R9 295X2, CrossFire frame-pacing improvements for a number of games, full support for OpenGL 4.4 API, and bug-fixes for AMD Mantle API.

Among the games AMD worked to improve CrossFire performance of, include Crysis 3, which sees improved frame-pacing; Far Cry 3, which sees improved 3-GPU and 4-GPU scaling; Anno 2070, which sees an overall CrossFire scaling improvement of 34 percent; Titanfall, which sees reduced game flickering an micro-stutter; and Metro: Last Light, which sees 10 percent improvement in CrossFire scaling. The driver also addresses bugs related to 3x1 Eyefinity setups using three Ultra HD displays. For gamers running Battlefield 4 with its Mantle renderer, AMD addressed the performance slowdown seen when switching windows using Alt+Tab; and fuzzy textures when playing the game on rotated displays.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Catalyst 14.4 WHQL for Windows 8/7/Visa 64-bit | Windows 8/7/Vista 32-bit | Windows XP 32-bit and 64-bit

Linux fans could soon cross the biggest checkbox on their lists, which reads "can it run Crysis?" Game developer Crytek is poised to reveal a variant of CryEngine 3 with native support for Linux, at GDC 2014, slated for next week. The move should pave the way for Linux (catalyzed by Steam OS) ports of games such as Crysis 3 and Nexuiz. It remains to be seen how its publisher EA handles the development.

While Nexuiz developer IllFonic won't have problems distributing their game over Steam, perhaps even with SteamPlay support, Crytek has to deal with EA. Crysis 3 is distributed over EA's Origin platform, and the publisher has no concrete plans for an Origin client for Linux. So what's the big hurry in porting CryEngine 3 to Linux? Perhaps Crytek's other, non-gaming clients hold the answer. CryEngine 3 powers "serious games," military combat simulators, civil aviation simulators, etc. Of these, the military would want to run simulators on open-source operating systems (so it could scrutinize the code). It could hence help Crytek to have a Linux version of CryEngine 3.

Radeon R9 290X is looking increasingly good on paper. Most of its rumored specifications, and SEP pricing were reported late last week, but the ones that eluded us were clock speeds. A source that goes by the name Grant Kim, with access to a Radeon R9 290X sample, disclosed its clock speeds, and ran a few tests for us. To begin with, the GPU core is clocked at 1050 MHz. There is no dynamic-overclocking feature, but the chip can lower its clocks, taking load and temperatures into account. The memory is clocked at 1125 MHz (4.50 GHz GDDR5-effective). At that speed, the chip churns out 288 GB/s of memory bandwidth, over its 512-bit wide memory interface. Those clock speeds were reported by the GPU-Z client to us, so we give it the benefit of our doubt, even if it goes against AMD's ">300 GB/s memory bandwidth" bullet-point in its presentation.

Among the tests run on the card include frame-rates and frame-latency for Aliens vs. Predators, Battlefield 3, Crysis 3, GRID 2, Tomb Raider (2013), RAGE, and TESV: Skyrim, in no-antialiasing, FXAA, and MSAA modes; at 5760 x 1080 pixels resolution. An NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN was pitted against it, running the latest WHQL driver. We must remind you that at that resolution, AMD and NVIDIA GPUs tend to behave a little differently due to the way they handle multi-display, and so it may be an apples-to-coconuts comparison. In Tomb Raider (2013), the R9 290X romps ahead of the GTX TITAN, with higher average, maximum, and minimum frame rates in most tests.

AMD updated its "Never Settle" game bundles for all graphics card models upwards of Radeon HD 7700 series. The update adds a game to each of the three product families - HD 7700, HD 7800, and HD 7900 series. The offer covers new purchases made after the 15th of May. Buyers of single-GPU HD 7900 series graphics cards no longer have to choose between Crysis and Tomb Raider; while buyers of HD 7800 series get Crysis 3 Hunter Edition. In essence, single-GPU HD 7900 and HD 7800 series buyers get the same bundles.

You get Crysis 3 Hunter Edition, Bioshock: Infinite, Tomb Raider (2013), and FarCry 3: Blood Dragon; with both single-GPU Radeon HD 7900 series, and Radeon HD 7800 series. Buyers of Radeon HD 7700 series will get an addition, too, Tomb Raider (2013). This is a limited offer that runs while supplies last, covers only new purchases made after May 15, and only targets North America, EMEA, Australia, and New Zealand.

Do you want to play Crysis 3 on a high resolution notebook that offers a smooth gaming experience? Want to experience the awesome graphics performance by AMD's latest Radeon HD 8970M with the super wide angle view that only three screens can offer. Now, it is available with the MSI GX70, officially recommended for Crysis 3.

GX70 gaming laptop offers gamers the best of both worlds--performance and affordability. It packs the latest AMD platform with A10-5750M quad-core architecture and the top-end HD 8970M, supporting DirectX 11.1 for superior video resolution, as well as MSI's Eyefinity triple-screen output. This GX70 also comes with the limited Crysis 3 bundle, including Crysis 3 serial number, so you can download a legal copy. In addition, the GX70 comes in a limited edition of Crysis 3 box.

They may be titans, but we are Gods. Meticulously engineered for extraordinary DirectX 11.1 performance with 6GB of GDDR5 and two of the fastest GPUs on the planet. The XFX AMD Radeon HD 7990 break records without breaking the sound barrier, thanks to a massive heatsink backed by three whisper-quiet axial fans.

Finely tuned for the highest DirectX 11.1 gaming performance, the XFX AMD Radeon HD 7990 and Graphics Core Next is the best solution to prep your rig for extreme performance and blaze through the hottest graphic intensive games of the year. From browsers to image editors, experience faster and smoother performance in everyday apps with AMD App Acceleration. These elements incorporated in the new XFX Radeon HD 7990 allow it to be the top performing graphics card for a long time. No competitor comes close to this performance and if any one wants a true competitive gaming edge, the XFX Radeon HD 7990 is the best and only solution on the planet. And YES. It can run Crysis 3 in 3840 x 2160 with max settings.

ASUS today announced the Radeon HD 7990 graphics card, a dual-GPU offering derived from 28nm AMD Radeon graphics processors. With twin GPUs based on AMD Graphics Core Next technology and 6GB GDDR5 video memory, the ASUS Radeon HD 7990 easily handles the most demanding DirectX 11.1 PC games in ultra settings and resolutions above 1920 x 1080.

It is also ready for ultra HD 4K video, delivering the finest graphics performance and the convenience of a standard 2-slot height. With two GPUs factory-paired on the board, customers only require one free PCI Express 3.0 slot without needing to use AMD CrossFireX multi-GPU bridging.

TechPowerUp and GIGABYTE bring you the latest Facebook Giveaway! Up for grabs are some cool pieces of hardware that can tag along on your Crysis 3 hunt; including a GIGABYTE G1.Sniper 3 socket LGA1155 Z77 chipset-based motherboard; a GIGABYTE Aivia Krypton dual-chassis gaming mouse; and a GIGABYTE Aivia Osmium mechanical gaming keyboard. As always, to participate, all you need to do is "Like" our Facebook pages (if you haven't already), and fill up a short entry form (or make Facebook do that for you). Winners will be announced after March 12. Good Luck!For more information, and to participate, visit this page.

AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced the North American launch of its Gaming Evolved title "Crysis 3". Working closely with Crytek, elite AMD engineers optimized "Crysis 3" to enable incredible performance on AMD Radeon graphics cards, powered by the award-winning AMD Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture. The AMD/Crytek alliance accelerates "Crysis 3" with the world's fastest1 graphics processing unit (GPU), the AMD Radeon 7970 GHz Edition. This announcement comes just two weeks after the launch of the highly-acclaimed "Never Settle: Reloaded" bundle from AMD.

"'Crysis 3' is designed and optimized to be played on AMD Radeon graphics. No other GPU delivers the visual experience or next-generation features of AMD Radeon," said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager, AMD Graphics. "Our close collaboration with Crytek means the robust AMD GCN architecture is fully exploited by 'Crysis 3' code paths. We set out to deliver the best gaming experience possible for enthusiasts, and frankly we've accomplished this through the Gaming Evolved program. The best way to enjoy it is through the 'Never Settle Reloaded' bundle."

Specifications of NVIDIA's upcoming high-end graphics card, the GeForce GTX Titan, which were reported in the press over the last couple of weeks, are bang on target, according to a specs sheet leaked by 3DCenter.org, which is allegedly part of the card's press-deck. According to the specs sheet, the GTX Titan indeed features 2,688 out of the 2,880 CUDA cores present on the GK110 silicon, 6 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 384-bit wide memory interface, and draws power from a combination of 6-pin and 8-pin PCIe power connectors.

The GeForce GTX Titan core is clocked at 837 MHz, with a GPU Boost frequency of 876 MHz, and 6.00 GHz memory, churning out 288 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The chip features a single-precision floating-point performance figure of 4.5 TFLOP/s, and 1.3 TFLOP/s double-precision. Despite its hefty specs that include a 7.1 billion-transistor ASIC and 24 GDDR5 memory chips, NVIDIA rates the card's TDP at just 250W.More slides and benchmark figures follow.

NVIDIA posted its newest WHQL-signed GeForce software suite. Version 314.07 is the company's first WHQL-signed version after R310 (310.90). The new drivers boost single-GPU performance by up to 5 percent, and SLI performance by up to 65 percent, compared to 310.90 WHQL. In terms of features, 314.07 adds GeForce Experience profile for Crysis 3, and performance boosts for Assassins Creed III, but in terms of performance-optimizations, 314.07 WHQL bundles everything recent R313-series beta releases have been coming up with. So 314.07 WHQL really is R313-series beta driver with a bit of Crysis 3 optimization, and the WHQL signature. Find details after the break.

DOWNLOAD: GeForce 314.70 WHQL for Windows 8/7/Vista 64-bit, GeForce 8/7/Vista 32-bit, Windows XP 32-bit, Windows XP 64-bit

AMD rushed out a new beta version of its Catalyst driver suite, which addresses the issue of improper performance scaling on the new 3DMark, on CrossFire multi-GPU setups. The new Catalyst 13.2 Beta 5 adds a CrossFire profile for 3DMark v1.00 launched on Monday (04/02). Along the way, it also introduced a couple of performance improvements in some highly specific scenarios. For systems running Far Cry 3 at 2560 x 1600 pixels, with 8x AA, performance could go up by 10 percent. With a refined profile, the driver could dole out up to 40 percent higher performance in Crysis 3, on CrossFire setups.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Catalyst 13.2 Beta 5

AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced the arrival of its "Never Settle: Reloaded" game bundle, the sequel to last year's monumental "Never Settle" bundle. "Never Settle: Reloaded" delivers by bundling up to four of this year's most anticipated PC games -- "BioShock Infinite" by 2K Games and Irrational Games, "Crysis 3" by Electronic Arts, "DmC Devil May Cry" by Capcom and "Tomb Raider" by Square Enix -- with select AMD Radeon HD 7900 and HD 7800 Series graphics cards. The bundle highlights the continued commitment by AMD to ensure an incredible gaming experience on the world's top PC titles optimized for AMD Radeon graphics cards

"AMD knows gaming and in 2013 we plan to make a huge mark on the industry. Today we begin that journey by showing the world that the best PC game developers are AMD Gaming Evolved partners," said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager of AMD Graphics. "The 'Never Settle: Reloaded' bundle clearly stands apart from anything else in the market. Gaming has always been, and will remain, the core of the AMD Graphics strategy and success. In 2013, we plan to forge greater inroads into the gaming industry and it begins with packaging this year's biggest games with the best graphics hardware from AMD." The "Never Settle: Reloaded" bundle offers the following games when purchased with select AMD Radeon HD 7900 and HD 7800 Series graphics cards:

AMD stumped PC gamers last October by announcing its first Never Settle game bundle that sees its various AIB partners bundle 2~4 AAA game titles with their performance-thru-extreme segment graphics cards. In a bid to overcome post-X'mas slump, and build the brand in the run up to summer, the company released its Never Settle Reloaded bundles.

Based around games that launch within Q1, the bundle covers four new AAA titles: Tomb Raider (2013); Bioshock Infinite, DMC: Devil May Cry (2013); and Crysis 3. That's right, one of the biggest PC games of this season will be freely distributed with AMD Radeon graphics cards. Those buying a single Radeon HD 7900 series graphics card get Crysis 3 and Bioshock Infinite; a single Radeon HD 7800 series card gets you Bioshock Infinite and Tomb Raider (2013).

Hot on the heels of NVIDIA's GeForce 313.95 Beta drivers, AMD launched Catalyst 13.2 Beta, targeting EA's release of Crysis 3 multiplayer open-beta. The driver improves performance by up to 15 percent, but in highly specific scenarios, vaguely put by AMD as "in high MSAA cases." There is no general performance improvement announced, but that future Catalyst releases could address performance. Catalyst 13.2 Beta also addresses frame latency issues related to three titles, TES5: Skyrim, Boderlands 2, and Guild Wars 2. Single GPU performance for Devil May Cry is improved by up to 50 percent. CrossFire systems running Crysis 2 could see a 10 percent performance improvement. Lastly, a texture-flickering issue seen with DirectX 9.0c applications is resolved.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Catalyst 13.2 Beta

For those interested in taking Crysis 3 Open Beta (multiplayer) for a spin, NVIDIA released the new GeForce 313.95 Beta drivers, which addresses known issues, and is features optimizations for the game. NVIDIA expects performance increments as high as 35 percent. The driver also packs performance enhancements for other AAA titles, such as SLI and single-GPU performance gains of up to 27 percent with Assassin's Creed III, up to 19 percent for Civilization V, up to 14 percent in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, up to 14 percent in DiRT 3, up to 11 percent in Just Cause 2, and up to 10 percent each in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, F1 2012, and Far Cry 3.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 313.95 Beta

Unlike Crysis 2, which felt rushed in due to the lack of DirectX 11 support and mediocre-looking textures at higher display resolutions, Crysis 3 will come with every feature PC enthusiasts can feed their hardware with, including high-resolution textures. PC Gamer discovered that the retail version of Crysis 3 Advanced Graphics Options menu includes a texture-resolution setting, something the very first version of Crysis 2 lacked, and was made available after a 2-odd gigabyte high-res texture pack add-on was installed. Given its post-apocalyptic urban/tropical setting, we expect the game to have generally high texture variety, especially to make objects such as foliage, natural outgrowth, and destroyed buildings, not to mention worn out urban elements, to look organic.

The seemingly age-old question 'Will it run Crysis?' is back with a vengeance as EA has provided the system requirements for the third installment of Crytek's first-person shooter. Set for a February 2013 release, Crysis 3 'demands' the following:

Minimum

• Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8
• DirectX 11 graphics card with 1 GB Video RAM
• Dual core CPU
• 2 GB Memory (3 GB on Vista)
• Example 1 (Nvidia/Intel):
  o Nvidia GTS 450
  o Intel Core2 Duo 2.4 GHz (E6600)
• Example 2 (AMD):
  o AMD Radeon HD5770
  o AMD Athlon64 X2 2.7 GHz (5200+)

Electronic Arts Inc. and developer Crytek GmbH, today announced that fans who pre-order Crysis 3 will receive a free digital download copy of the original Crysis game for Xbox 360, PS3 or PC*. Lauded by GameSpot as "One of the greatest shooters ever made" and universally hailed upon its release for breaking new ground with jaw-dropping visuals, industry leading technology and sandbox gameplay, Crysis thrusts players into the middle of a global conflict between the U.S. and North Korea over a mysterious artifact that turns out to be extraterrestrial in nature. In Crysis, players are outfitted with the series signature Nanosuit and an arsenal of fully customizable weapons that provide a wide array of options not only for the games story missions but also every single objective and individual encounter. In addition, those that pre-order Crysis 3 will receive the Crysis 3 Hunter Edition, giving fans a head start in multiplayer with immediate access to the powerful new Predator bow and the Hunter Nanosuit module and more**.

NVIDIA is giving away keys to play test Crysis 3 Alpha multiplayer (pre-beta). All you have to do is like the giveaway page on Facebook, fill up a form (or make Facebook do that), and get your key, which can be redeemed on EA Origin. There are a limited number of keys, so hurry!Get your key here!

EA Crytek's blockbuster title for spring 2013, Crysis 3, promises to be equally visually intense for DirectX 11 PCs and consoles, not because the PC version will be running, strictly speaking, a "console-port", but that the console version will be running a "PC-port". Crytek is developing ways in which visual effects possible with DirectX 11 PC graphics hardware can be reproduced on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, by making the console hardware work in a way it's normally incapable of. This could be coming up with custom code for each new kind of visual effect.

Following a juicy debut teaser, EA posted an even more engaging gameplay trailer. The trailer reveals the premise of the single-player campaign, where New York is overrun by the Ceph and vegetation, and is cordoned off from the rest of the world by a giant dome. Prophet lunges on a mission to take back the city. Towards the end of the 2 minute video, the box-art is revealed, with a bitter fact that you'll have to wait another year before being able to play it.The trailer video follows.