Ubisoft is ending support for 32bit

Minimum and recommended specifications for games often initiate one of two feelings from PC gamers: either they're indifferent, or they're horrified. You either look at them and think, “is that it?” and move on with your day, content in the knowledge that your hard working gaming rig is going to breeze through anything this game has to offer, or you realise that unless you want drop a few hundred on a new GPU or CPU, you're going to be stuck playing whatever it is, with considerably sub-par graphics. With Ubisoft's dual announcement for Assassin's Creed IV and Watch Dogs minimum specifications, it seems likely a few more will find themselves in the latter category, as the developer/publisher has made it quite clear, the 32bit operating system is dead.

One of the big limitations with 32bit, is its lack of memory support. Compared to its 64bit cousin with masses of memory headroom, 32bit operating systems, can only support around 3GB of RAM (known as the 3GB barrier), so even if you're running more than that, it just won't be registered. I'm sure you've all seen it, back in the day, before you started using a more modern OS.

And that was always the big reason to upgrade too, because you wanted more memory. 64bit processors have been the norm for almost a decade now, but for gamers, they offered little improvement. It was always about the memory. Which is why anyone still running a 32bit OS is going to be emoting a sad face when they read the requirements for Watch Dogs and Assassin's Creed IV.

‘Time to upgrade your memory mother F*%*$r'

Watch Dogs

Minimum

• CPU: Quad core
• RAM: 4GB
• GPU: DirectX 11 graphics card with 1 GB Video RAM

Recommended

• CPU: Eight core
• GPU: DirectX 11 graphics card with 2 GB Video RAM
• RAM: 8GB

Ultra

• CPU: Latest Eight core or more
• GPU: Latest DirectX 11 graphics card with 2 GB Video RAM or more
• RAM: 8GB or more

You see? With a requirement of at least 4GB of RAM, it's no surprise that Ubisoft has ruled out any support for 32bit operating systems here. While Watch Dogs will run on Vista SP2, Windows 7 or Windows 8, they'll all need to be 64bit versions.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

While AC IV is similarly quite hefty, it doesn't require such an impressive hardware set up. In-fact, you might even get away with less than 4GB of RAM, but you'll still need a 64bit OS (unless it's Windows 8). I think. The leaked specs from 3Djuegos are a bit contradictory.

Minimum 

• Operating System: Windows Vista SP or Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8 (both 32/64bit versions) -Note that we only support 64 bit OSs.
• Processor: Intel Core2Quad Q8400 @ 2.6 GHz or AMD Athlon II X4 620 @ 2.6 GHz
• RAM: 2GB for Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8
• Video card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 or AMD Radeon HD 4870 (512MB VRAM with Shader Model 4.0 or higher)
• DirectX: DirectX June 2010 Redistributable
• Disk Space: 30 Gb
• Sound: DirectX Compatible Sound Card with latest drivers

Recommended

• Operating System: Windows Vista SP2 or Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8 (both 32/64bit versions) Note that we only support 64 bit OSs.
• Processor: Intel Core i5 2400S @ 2.5 GHz or AMD Phenom II x4 940 @ 3.0 GHz or better
• RAM: 4GB or more
• Video card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 470 or AMD Radeon HD 5850 (1024MB VRAM with Shader Model 5.0) or better -Supported video cards at the time of release: Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 or better, GT400, GT500, GT600, GT700 series or AMD Radeon HD4870 or better, HD5000, HD6000, HD7000 series

If you're not sure if your OS is 64bit or not and are a little worried, check out your System tab (right click “computer” and hit properties), it'll tell you there.

KitGuru Says: I'm sure at this point most of you are well beyond the days of 32bit and sub-4GB of RAM, but how do your rigs stack up against these specs? Are you nonchalantly awaiting the release of these games? Or did you just realise you need to find some money for an upgrade?

[Cheers PCGamesN]

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