Aces High III new compter recommendations

[Gard06]

all ears

[Bizman]

How about this, based on the Z97 i5 Configurator? The prices within parentheses indicate modifications to the original:

    *BASE_PRICE: [+755]
    CASE: ZALMAN Z3 Plus Black ATX Mid-Tower Gaming Case w/ USB 3.0 & Side-Panel Window [-72]
    CD: 24X Double Layer Dual Format DVD+-R/+-RW + CD-R/RW Drive (BLACK COLOR)
    CPU: Intel® Core™ i3-4360 3.70 GHz 4MB Intel Smart Cache LGA1150 [-100]
    CS_FAN: Default case fans
    FAN: DeepCool GAMMAXX 400 CPU Air Cooler 4 Heatpipes 120MM [-7]
    HDD: 1TB SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 32MB Cache 7200RPM HDD (Single Drive)
    IUSB: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports
    KEYBOARD: AZZA Multimedia USB Gaming Keyboard
    MEMORY: 8GB (4GBx2) DDR3/2133MHz Dual Channel Memory (G.SKILL Ripjaws X)
    MOTHERBOARD: GIGABYTE G1.Sniper Z97 ATX w/ Killer GbLAN, 2 PCIe x16, 3 PCIe x1, 2 PCI, Creative Sound Core3D / AMP-UP, 6x SATA 6Gb/s (All Venom OC Certified)
    MOUSE: AZZA Optical 1600dpi Gaming Mouse with Weight Adjustable Cartridge
    NETWORK: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network
    OS: Windows 8.1 Pro (64-bit Edition) [+135]
    POWERSUPPLY: 650 Watts - Corsair CSM Series CS650M 80 Plus Gold Certified Modular Ultra Quiet Power Supply [+64]
    RUSH: Standard Process Time: Ship within 8 Business Day
    SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR [3 Year Labor, 1 Year Parts] LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT

    SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
    VIDEO: EVGA Superclocked NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 2GB GDDR5 PCIe 3.0 x16 (Maxwell) [+114] (Single Card)
 
    _PRICE: (+889)   

You can cut the price down to $803 by changing the processor to Intel® Pentium™ Anniversary Edition G3258 3.2 GHz (overclocks amazingly well, up to 3.8 or so).

[Gard06]

Now that sounds like an excellent buy...Bizman      I will be ordering this very soon.

[SlipKnt]

I was giving my computer to my son so he could play and just upgraded.  My ONLY complaint is WIN 8.1.  I just haven't caught up to the times of Windows navigation yet.

If you want to spend a little more, this computer rocks. 

I was disappointed it didn't come with a keyboard, monitor, mouse, etc...   But, this thing flies and I don't even hear the fans.  I dust her every week just to be safe...

http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-x51-r2/pd?oc=dpcwxy03s&model_id=alienware-x51-r2

And I was able to set up an account with Dell.  Since I sold my bike I was able to pay it off in a month...

But it is as sweet deal.

 
SlipKnoT

[hgtonyvi]

Check out digital storm models. They are great computers for the price.

[mikev]

I would not go below a 3GHZ CPU.  We still need the CPU for a lot of the non-graphic work.  If you are dead set on running with all the eye candy enabled (sans environment mapping), I would not get a video card with less than 2GB of dedicated video RAM.

If you want to run with real time environment mapping, consider an NVidia 980 Ti as the slowest card to get. It seems to do okay with full environment mapping, as long as anti-aliasing is off.

An NVidia 970 is probably the best bang for the buck video card in the 1920x1080 resolution marketplace.

kinda surprised the 980 ti is the slowest . about the only card to compare was the titan unless you want to 2nd mortgage the house

[Chalenge]

I think he meant lowest.

I was finally able to get my GTX 980s to do full environment by overclocking the cards, and that still holds 4k at 60fps.

[Skuzzy]

kinda surprised the 980 ti is the slowest . about the only card to compare was the titan unless you want to 2nd mortgage the house

A better way to say it.  If you want to run with full environment mapping and still maintain good frame rates, then the NVidia 980 Ti is what you are going to want to get.  The 970 will struggle.

That one feature is the most intense graphic feature any video card can do. 

All the other graphic features can be done with much slower video cards and done quite well.  Kicking the environment mapping slider to 1, or None will usually give a great boost in performance.

[Bizman]

kinda surprised the 980 ti is the slowest . about the only card to compare was the titan unless you want to 2nd mortgage the house

It's not as surprising as it first looks. Environment mapping is the hardest task for a video card. When the slider was introduced in AH a few of years ago, there was no card that could run AH with Environment Mapping on full without sacrificing FPS. Now there's a couple of them. Back then we had a lengthy thread about running everything on max. Most of those saying they could do that had to admit they still had Environment Mapping off or at 1/4.

And while I was typing, Skuzzy and Chalenge explained the thing I first thought you were asking about.

[DREDIOCK]

From what I can tell and what I have read is, the frame rate in AHIII is horrible because it now depends on GPU more the CPU.   Those of us that have playing for almost two decades will have to buy new equipment just to play at the lowest level of settings.

The minimum requirements for the new AHIII is far greater then it is today, understandably.  What is needed is some guidance on buying new systems and links to them, that would possible meet those standards.

I have some unresolved issues with the alpha with regards to water. But I can tell you right now my current system was built in November of 2008. Here is my AAR at the time
http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,253159.msg3120878.html#msg3120878

The only change I've made is to the video card which is now a  GTX 650 Ti.

The ONLY issues I have and have had had  running the alpha is with the water rendering PERIOD. And even that isnt always consistant
The only real frame rate issues I've had over land was with everything turned all the way up while using 4096 textures where FRs would drop into the low 20s and then usually only over the field. Which given the system specs and the age of the system combined with the fact Im still running XP
As a matter of fact. I just gave it a try to confirm this.

Using lower texture settings I can run the game pretty good even with most of the graphics turned up though it does seem to run best at its default settings (minus the water issue) In fact if it wasnt for the water issue I'd say this machine runs the game pretty damn good for its age and specs

[DREDIOCK]

At 2048 textures, the environment set at 2 and all other graphics set to high .I can get frame-rates over the field and surrounding area ranging from the upper 30's to the mid 40's.

Which IMO is well within playability

[Gman]

Question regarding the 980 ti and Titan-

Despite performing very similarly with many games/tests, will the Titan be a better performing card due to having 2x the RAM (I know I've read that the RAM will be important for AH3/whatever it's called)?  Just trying to figure out what to keep and move around with a new build.  Not an issue of bang/$, I'd just like to know if the Titan would outperform the 980ti with the environmental cranked as was mentioned, due to the extra RAM or not.

[mikev]

Question regarding the 980 ti and Titan-

Despite performing very similarly with many games/tests, will the Titan be a better performing card due to having 2x the RAM (I know I've read that the RAM will be important for AH3/whatever it's called)?  Just trying to figure out what to keep and move around with a new build.  Not an issue of bang/$, I'd just like to know if the Titan would outperform the 980ti with the environmental cranked as was mentioned, due to the extra RAM or not.

most test i have checked out rate the titan and 980 ti pretty even . my first thought was the titan until the 980 ti came out. i have run the alpha at full graphic setting with my ti and held solid 60 fps. my only concern was heat as it ran it to 83 c which is to high for me . but i solved that problem installing msi afterburner where i could set the fan speeds. in your case its a choice you have to make . i have a you tube video posted with graphics at full maxed setting . to me the $400 saving with the 980 ti was the better choice.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqwICWzx3JI

[Chalenge]

I have already tested 4k in surround on the Titan Z (11520x2160). Frame rates dropped to less than half of what a GTX 980 can do on a single monitor (8-15fps versus a solid 60). Memory was not an issue.  It might do better with the settings adjusted, but I just wanted to see if it would do it. If you used two Titan Zs and the EVGA X99 Classified you might even be able to squeeze in a SBZ for better audio, but after using 144Hz by comparison I doubt you would do it for long.

[mthrockmor]

Give me about two weeks...(I know, I know...everything is two weeks away.)

I am part of the Beta test team, though I run into the issue of 10-15 frame rate with no one else near by and eye candy turned off. I have an older, small tower Dell Optiplex 760 with a weak video card, though I get 60 frame rate in AH2. I double checked and I can upgrade to a 1G video card for about $60. Now I need to find the time, thus the two weeks.

Once I upgrade my older computer with a new video card I'll let you know what it's like. I'm hopeful this is the simple requirement for nirvana. Regardless of results, I'll post.

boo