Need a new AH PC....on a budget

[guncrasher]

his website has a Jul 19 start up date .

Semp

[Tigger29]

My point is that the most intensive thing you're going to be using this system for is Aces High.  Everything else you plan on using this for can literally be done on the cheapest processor available right now, and 2GB is more than enough system Ram for this same reason.

With that being said, it all comes down to how much money you want to spend.  If you want to be cheap, cheap, cheap... you can definitely find a system that is more than capable for Aces High for $400-500 ($300-400 if you build it yourself).  Now, if you want performance, of course you're going to pay for it... If you want something that you can turn on EVERYTHING then obviously it's going to cost more.

Gyrene, making blanket statements like "You're not going to like that video card" is hardly beneficial and downright confusing.  I had its virtually identical brother, the 9800GTX+, and NEVER had any problems with it.. including with Aces High updates.  Reinstalling Aces High should have nothing to do with the dependability of the video card and its drivers are FAR from flaky.  Perhaps you had a defective card.. or perhaps another hardware issue going on.. or maybe Nvidia drivers don't work correctly with your WinEnterprise version... who knows?  There are plenty of people playing Aces High with that exact card not experiencing those kinds of problems.

I personally believe that the system I posted is more than enough for everything you plan on using it for... and maybe just a tad better than barely enough to run Aces High at full boat (with shadows off).  Yes for another $200 more you can get a much better system, but if you want a pre-built system on the cheap (especially one that comes with an operating system) that is capable of running Aces High reasonably well, what I posted is going to pretty much be the norm.

[gyrene81]

Actually Tigger, I don't make blanket statements. Fact is, I sent the first one back for a replacement within the first 30 days thinking it was the card causing the problem...second card has been doing the same thing out of the box. Two different operating systems and four different sets of drivers, two differenty hard drives...same behavior. Have to reinstall AH to get stability and even then with no shadowing enabled and only 512 texture size, frame rates are not stable and once in a while there is a slight stuttering effect when objects render. No such issues in any other graphics intensive game, even the ones that used to bog my old 9600GT down. If a 512MB 9800GTX runs like the 250GTS, then in my book, for AH it's lacking some, either that or EVGA makes crap video cards and the Nvidia drivers are porked.

I've tweaked a fresh install of Windows7 Enterprise 64bit to run as lean as possible without disabling needed functions and my paging file size is 674MB where a lot of people average 800 - 1000+, and this is on an E6600 2.4GHz dual core, Nforce 680iLT mobo, 4GB Corsair Dominator 800MHz DDR2.

If the 9800GTX performs as well as you say, then that would be the card he should go with.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130339

Kinda strange that an older video card is not only still on the market but is more expensive than it's replacement and has a better warranty.

[guncrasher]

I have the 9800gtx+ and it performs everything maxed except for self shadow, it drops some frames on that not much but I dont really like that option so i never use it.

semp

[230G]

  I really appreciate all the input, guys. I feel a little more comfortable ordering a system. And if course, any more input is greatly appreciated.
  230G