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There are 9 chapters, so yes, you're almost there. Co-op really doesn't spoil anything in the singleplayer.

After you beat the singleplayer, I recommend going through and finding all the Easter eggs Valve's thrown in there that others have found (and uploaded to Youtube or wherever). There's just so many! :laugh:

I did Co-op first then SP. Didn't really have that much of a tie in to be fair expect for one short cut scene right at the end.

Yeah, it's not much, but as coop is designed to take place after sp, it can give away some clues.

There are 9 chapters, so yes, you're almost there. Co-op really doesn't spoil anything in the singleplayer.

After you beat the singleplayer, I recommend going through and finding all the Easter eggs Valve's thrown in there that others have found (and uploaded to Youtube or wherever). There's just so many! :laugh:

Also, chapter 9 is the boss fight which isn't very long. Chapter 8 is really the last big chapter. Once you get close to chapter 8 you are getting close to the end.

How is everyone finishing the single player so quickly? I've put in a good number of hours in the single player so far (granted a few of those hours are inflated to get achievements) but some puzzles really require me to take my time and think about what's going on with a lot of trial and error. I guess some people have more of a natural knack at these puzzles than I do.

the loadings are so short, though. don't have any problem with them :p

but when there are games like call of duty or medal of honour where yuo dont see loading (its done through briefing screens i think), valve could have done something like that as well...ride in elevator with some nice music :D

but when there are games like call of duty or medal of honour where yuo dont see loading (its done through briefing screens i think), valve could have done something like that as well...ride in elevator with some nice music :D

I'd take a source engine loading screen over a mass effect elevator scene any day :D

Cool thanks for the heads up. (Y)

I would only have about 2 hours to play if I can indeed play, so as you said not much to worry about as far as beating it, at least speaking for myself :laugh: . The most important thing to me is playing the CoOp with someone who has also not played it so we both have fresh eyes so to speak, so if I take the risk of ruining some of the story in order to play with someone else who has not played it yet, I can live with that. But again thanks for the heads up, it is good to know.

tonight probably won't work. finish SP, i got hockey playoffs to watch anyways...

How is everyone finishing the single player so quickly? I've put in a good number of hours in the single player so far (granted a few of those hours are inflated to get achievements) but some puzzles really require me to take my time and think about what's going on with a lot of trial and error. I guess some people have more of a natural knack at these puzzles than I do.

one puzzle toke me almost thirty minutes to figure out, i was getting CHOKED

the one you were you have to up the giant high rise to get narrow tunnel with the moondust, chapter 8 i think, that entire sequence toke me a while

I'd take a source engine loading screen over a mass effect elevator scene any day :D

lol yeah me too

How is everyone finishing the single player so quickly? I've put in a good number of hours in the single player so far (granted a few of those hours are inflated to get achievements) but some puzzles really require me to take my time and think about what's going on with a lot of trial and error. I guess some people have more of a natural knack at these puzzles than I do.
Maybe because playing #1 gives you are head start in terms of portal thinking. I mean, I don't think about puzzles anymore. I just do and experiment. I find if I start to let myself think about a particular puzzle, I get stuck in trying to fix it in my head. This is no good. I just open a portal and do it.

Maybe because playing #1 gives you are head start in terms of portal thinking. I mean, I don't think about puzzles anymore. I just do and experiment. I find if I start to let myself think about a particular puzzle, I get stuck in trying to fix it in my head. This is no good. I just open a portal and do it.

I finished the first portal more than 5 times. On xbox, PC, and Mac. Did nothing to prepare me for some of the puzzles in portal 2 though.

Honestly, sometimes I get "stuck" in "Portal 1" mode. If I think too hard about how I would solve the puzzle in the first game I might end up being stuck. Then I have to turn off the game, step back, and approach it in a different perspective.

Check it out

That's my kind of merchandise :heart:

thats awesome. now if it was made of glossy plastic instead of fur i might get one :D

I'd take a source engine loading screen over a mass effect elevator scene any day :D

haah but if it takes the same ammount of time tehre is no diffference. besides valve could have made some cool sequences during elevator rides...like showing more of the crumbling facility. + you would get a more streamlined gameplay.

I'm in space.

"yes we know, you are in space"... SPAAAAAAAAACE

I was thinking about picking up this game but I don't know which platform I should buy Portal 2 on. I have a PC that is suitable for higher end gaming, a 360 as well as a PS3.

ps3, then you get it for both PC and PS3 via steamworks. i just got it for PC because i found it for 40ish canadian :) and if you don't care about morals, buy it for PS3, link the account and sell the ps3 copy.

Finished it.

Maybe it's because I'm not a huge Half-Life and associated alternate future fan but I thought it was only ok. I can see why people would love it but it's just not my style of game. Thought the last puzzle of chapter 8 was easily the toughest of the game, imo, but other than that not many actually puzzled me for too long.

How is everyone finishing the single player so quickly? I've put in a good number of hours in the single player so far (granted a few of those hours are inflated to get achievements) but some puzzles really require me to take my time and think about what's going on with a lot of trial and error. I guess some people have more of a natural knack at these puzzles than I do.

I've been the puzzle solver in my family since I was young, not trying to say I'm great at puzzles (though I have more of an interest in them and am quicker at solving them than my own family), but the longest I was ever stuck on any one puzzle was 15 minutes or so, all the others took less than 10.

tonight probably won't work. finish SP, i got hockey playoffs to watch anyways...

one puzzle toke me almost thirty minutes to figure out, i was getting CHOKED

the one you were you have to up the giant high rise to get narrow tunnel with the moondust, chapter 8 i think, that entire sequence toke me a while

lol yeah me too

Okay cool man, that works out anyway it turns out. If anything hit me up with a PM one of these days when you can maybe play and I will let you know.

As far as getting stuck, I can say only 1 puzzle stumped me so far, and it actually did not stump me, I knew what I had to do, just was not executing it correctly. I am actually pretty shocked at how I have not really been stumped yet, I thought the first Portal was more challenging overall.

Okay cool man, that works out anyway it turns out. If anything hit me up with a PM one of these days when you can maybe play and I will let you know.

As far as getting stuck, I can say only 1 puzzle stumped me so far, and it actually did not stump me, I knew what I had to do, just was not executing it correctly. I am actually pretty shocked at how I have not really been stumped yet, I thought the first Portal was more challenging overall.

I think 2 is much easier than 1, but after doing the Advanced Levels in 1, everything is pretty easy.

I got stumped on the level with the three turrets behind the glass on the right (as you enter the chamber) where you had to

use the goo to drop on them to take them out

but other than that, no problem.

For me the game play and story were too easy and short, add a few elements and some

Bioshock -> the "70's stuff and Cave's dialog" and some really simple plot twists which you see coming a long long LONG way away.

Okay cool man, that works out anyway it turns out. If anything hit me up with a PM one of these days when you can maybe play and I will let you know.

As far as getting stuck, I can say only 1 puzzle stumped me so far, and it actually did not stump me, I knew what I had to do, just was not executing it correctly. I am actually pretty shocked at how I have not really been stumped yet, I thought the first Portal was more challenging overall.

sounds good.

honestly i approach this game like i'm troubleshooting ish in real life. when i get stumped somewhere for like 10 minutes. i turn off the game, do somehting else, shoot back in there and usually figure it out in the first three seconds because i realize something that i missed before.

i love this game, i can't wait to hit up coop. game of the year from me so far.

Okay cool man, that works out anyway it turns out. If anything hit me up with a PM one of these days when you can maybe play and I will let you know.

As far as getting stuck, I can say only 1 puzzle stumped me so far, and it actually did not stump me, I knew what I had to do, just was not executing it correctly. I am actually pretty shocked at how I have not really been stumped yet, I thought the first Portal was more challenging overall.

As I've said, I think I might've taken way too long on puzzles because I was most likely thinking of how I would solve it in the first Portal. Maybe because I've played the first portal way too many times, especially since they gave it away for free a few months back. And honestly it's not more stuck, than finally achieving an "ah-ha" moment of how to pull them off. And a lot of the times it was because I just didn't notice a spot to shoot a portal at. I just know I didn't really have to think too hard with solving the puzzles the in the first game. I just know I'm well past the "4-6 hours" everyone is saying they completed the game in.

Also, I know trying to complete Test Chamber 8 in 70 seconds took me well over an hour.

These were the ones I was having trouble with:

1. The one where you have to line up the light markers from two different levels and the aerial plate in the middle

2. The one where you had to fall down the elevator shaft

3. The one where you had to use the blue repulsion gel from a few rooms back to bounce up the bridge

3. The one where you had several platforms and had to use blue and orange gels in a specific order

I did spend about 10 minutes wondering how to get the "Preservation of Mass Achievement" and trying different things I knew wouldn't work. At some point I looked up the solution and I rarely felt more dumb.

However, getting through the levels was overall quite easy. Portal 1 had tougher levels (and easier ones). The only place I really got stuck is

the large room where I think you hear Cave Johnson for the first time, and you have to make a momentum jump to a particular platform to continue. I just didn't see where you were supposed to place the exit portal.

I find that sort of puzzle rather frustrating.

I did spend about 10 minutes wondering how to get the "Preservation of Mass Achievement" and trying different things I knew wouldn't work. At some point I looked up the solution and I rarely felt more dumb.

However, getting through the levels was overall quite easy. Portal 1 had tougher levels (and easier ones). The only place I really got stuck is

the large room where I think you hear Cave Johnson for the first time, and you have to make a momentum jump to a particular platform to continue. I just didn't see where you were supposed to place the exit portal.

I find that sort of puzzle rather frustrating.

their were some puzzles that the way i figured out an escape route is by shooting all over the room at anything that was white...

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We will be pitching it against the data we already have for the RX 9070, and RX 9070 XT, but also the Nvidia 5070 FE, MSI GeForce RTX 4070 VENTUS 2X 12G, and Gigabyte Radeon RX 7800 XT GAMING OC 16G as they are in a similar price class, but also because we do not have a comparable 5060 Ti card lying around here that we can compare it against. Before we get underway, this is a collaboration between Sayan Sen and Steven Parker, who lent me his test bed. Also, there was no editorial input from AMD. First up, the specs of the RX 9070, 9070 XT, and 9070 GRE, which were given to us by AMD: Radeon RX 9070 GRE Radeon RX 9070 Radeon RX 9070 XT Boost Clock: Game Clock: up to 2.79GHz up to 2.20GHz up to 2.52GHz up to 2.07GHz up to 2.97GHz up to 2.40GHz Stream Processors 3,072 (48 CU) 3,584 (56 CU) 4,096 (64 CU) Ray Accelerator 48 56 64 AI Accelerator 96 112 128 ROPs 96 128 Texture Mapping Units 192 224 256 Memory 12 GB GDDR6, 18Gbps Clock, 192-bit Bus 432 GB/s 16 GB GDDR6, 20Gbps Clock, 256-bit Bus Effective Memory Bandwidth: 640 GB/s Infinity Cache 48 MB (3rd Gen) 64 MB (3rd Gen) Card Bus PCI-E 5.0 X16 Output 2x HDMI 2.1b 2x DisplayPort 2.1a Power consumption 220W 304W Recommended PSU 650W 750W Slot width 2x 3x Price (SEP) $549 $599 As you can see from the specs above, it is less than the standard RX 9070 in every way that counts, except for slightly higher Boost and Game clock speed. Design Moving on, the RX 9070 GRE we were given is an XFX Swift triple-fan, dual-slot design with two 8-pin connectors. At 30cm (self-measured), it will fit in most systems easily. There is no RGB either. The AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE by XFX from all angles. Test system Our test system consists of the following: Lian Li O11 Dynamic Mini V2 Flow (Amazon|Newegg) ASUS Z890 ProArt Creator WiFi (Amazon|Newegg) Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus (Amazon|Newegg) Thermal Grizzly KryoSheet - 44x37 (Amazon|Newegg) 2x 16GB G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB (7200 MT/s in XMP) (Amazon|Newegg) Sabrent Rocket4 Plus 2TB SSD (Amazon) Windows 11 25H2 (Build 26200.8246) AMD shared a press driver based on the recently released Adrenaline 26.5.2 that we were required to use. We now move on to our benchmarks. First up, we have Geekbench AI running on ONNX. For some reason, the 9070 GRE does exceptionally well here in both half-precision (FP16) and single-precision (FP32). It manages to beat the RTX 5070 and RX 9070 non-XT, and is only behind the 9070 XT. Since Geekbench runs in short bursts instead of continuously hammering the graphics card, it seems the GRE's faster boost clocks are helping here. Next up, we move to the UL Procyon AI test suite, starting with the image generation benchmark. We chose the Stable Diffusion XL FP16 test since it is the most intense workload available on Procyon. The Nvidia cards do very well here, as even the 4070 out-muscles AMD's best fairy easily. The positive thing about the GRE is that it gets quite close to the 9070 non-XT in this test; this indicates that the VRAM does not play a very big role here, as SD XL relies on float16 (FP16). So this is something to keep in mind again. If you wish to work with float32 AI workloads, graphics cards with larger than 12 GB buffers would likely emerge as victors. Regardless, the gains are still massive on AMD's 9000 series compared to the 7000 series. Following image generation, we move to the text generation benchmark. This is one test where the 9070 GRE struggled, quite a lot. It seems that the 12 GB VRAM and lower memory bandwidth of the new Radeon 9070 GRE are hurting it quite a bit; the split is massive, especially in a test like Llama2, which packs 13 billion parameters. As such, in all the tests, the 9070 GRE is the slowest of the lot. Next, we tried Blender, and here the AMD GPUs were beaten by Nvidia. Rendering is something the Green team has always had a lead over the Red side, and it has not changed so far. On the positive side, though, the 9070 GRE shows significantly better results than the 7800 XT, which means AMD is on the right path. Catching up to Nvidia, though, will require a lot more effort. And we hope HIP and ROCm can keep improving. Wrapping up AI testing, we measured OpenCL throughput in the Geekbench compute benchmark. The RX 9070 GRE alongside the 9070 did not fare well here at all, even falling behind the 7800 XT. Interestingly, even the RTX 5070 could not beat the 4070 on OpenCL, so perhaps this suggests that OpenCL optimization may not have been a priority for either AMD or Nvidia in the modern era. Conclusion We reached the end of our productivity performance review of the 9070 GRE, and we have to say it's a mixed bag. Unlike the 9070 and 9070 XT, the GRE excels in some areas while losing ground fairly easily in others. Similar to how it happened in gaming, any time the card's memory subsystem gets hammered, it tends to fall behind the others. This was the case with text generation, wherein we saw the VRAM sometimes hit its maximum available 12 GB of usage with larger model sizes. So what do we make of the RX 9070 as a productivity hardware? It can certainly be used, but you have to know it has its limitations. For those looking for a GPU that can deal with more, AMD recently unveiled the Radeon AI PRO R9700, which is essentially a 32 GB refresh of the 9070 XT with some additional workstation-based optimizations. On a similar note, the new Ryzen AI Halo platform is something you can consider if you want to set up a local AI processing station. Considering everything, we rate AMD's Radeon RX 9070 GRE a 7.5 out of 10 for its productivity performance. Price is less of a factor for those looking at productivity cases compared to those considering the GPU for gaming, and as such, we felt it did quite decently on many occasions and can be handy if you need a 12 GB GPU and, for some reason, don't want to get Nvidia. Purchase links: RX 9070 / XT / GRE (Amazon US) As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
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