Just Cause for Upgrading to Vista, 7 for DirectX 10

Still gaming on a Windows XP machine? It may be time to move on to Windows 7 if you're interested in playing Just Cause 2.

Eidos today revealed the system requirements for those who wish to play Just Cause 2 on the PC. They are:

Minimum:
- Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista or Windows 7 (Windows XP is unsupported)
- Processor: Dual-core CPU with SSE3 (Athlon 64 X2 4200 / Pentium D 3GHz)
- Graphics Card: Nvidia Geforce 8800 Series / ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro with 256MB memory or equivalent DX10 card with 256MB memory
- Memory: 2GB RAM
- DirectX: Microsoft DirectX 10
- Hard Drive: 10GB of free drive space
- Optical Drive: DVD-ROM drive
- Sound Card: 100% DirectX 10 compatible sound card
- Internet Connection: Internet connection required for product activation
- Input: Keyboard and mouse (Microsoft Xbox 360 controller optional)

Recommended:
- Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista or Windows 7 (Windows XP is unsupported)
- Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.6GHz or AMD Phenom X3 2.4GHz
- Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce GTS 250 Series with 512MB / ATI Radeon HD 5750 Series with 512MB or equivalent DX10 card with 512MB memory
- Memory: 3GB
- DirectX: Microsoft DirectX 10.1 with Vista SP1
- Hard Drive: 10GB of free drive space
- Optical Drive: DVD-ROM drive
- Sound Card: 100% DirectX 10 compatible Dolby Digital 5.1 sound card
- Internet Connection: Internet connection required for product activation
- Input: Keyboard and mouse (Xbox 360 controller optional)

The latest system hardware survey conducted by Steam showed that more 43 than percent of gamers are still using Windows XP. The requirement for DirectX 10 could potentially alienate a huge portion of gamers – though it was inevitable for one developer to eventually make the newer operating systems a requirement.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
  • xenol
    I wonder if this means Just Cause might actually work nicely under DirectX 10 since by these requirements, it might be developed purely for DirectX 10, instead of DirectX 9 with DirectX 10 extensions.
    Reply
  • Xzar
    Nothing wrong with the game being DX10 only. This means they put more man/hours on improving graphics at the top end, and less on ensuring backwards compatibility with older hardware.
    Reply
  • Trueno07
    I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing...
    Reply
  • FlayerSlayer
    For a game that REQUIRES a dual core cpu, 2 gigs of memory, and an 8800 or better video card, asking for users to have an OS from the last three years? That's pretty reasonable to me.
    Reply
  • curnel_D
    How could this be a bad thing. I can't believe studios have still been stuck on 6-8 year old technology. For finally being the first dev to grow some balls and finally require DX10, they've found a customer in me, even if the game isn't that good.
    Reply
  • MrCommunistGen
    I wonder if it actually uses SSE3... I didn't think much used that except for OSX's Rosetta.

    -mcg
    Reply
  • drowned
    joeman42If they're still on XP, they're not true gamers.
    I use XP as my primary OS but dual boot 7 for situations like this when a game might not support DX9. I also run Ubuntu for academic work but that's not important.
    Reply
  • carlhenry
    thank you finally! nuf with the xp already and let it rest peacefully.
    Reply
  • anamaniac
    We've put DX10 on XP...
    Reply
  • cloakster
    Other than saying that an 8800 is equivalent to a HD 2600, i see nothing wrong with this. Crysis came out 2.5 years ago with requirements that were nuts at the time and they finally come out with another game that will completely stress your hardware.
    Reply