Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: Rufnek on August 20, 2005, 08:36:11 PM
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If you were going to dedicate a machine for Aces High and wanted maximum optimum performance, what would you build?
Thanks for the help. I'm using a Dell D600 latitude laptop and the game slows down to a crawl and time lapses on me whenever an enemy is present. I have no idea what the problem is at this point.
One more question: Is there a way to turn off the backgrounds (like in the old air warrior) to improve performance?
Thanks for the help!
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None lol..
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Commodore 64 with a 1541 floppy drive and 300 baud modem:)
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Originally posted by DREDIOCK
Commodore 64 with a 1541 floppy drive and 300 baud modem:)
Well then I guess I'll upgrade Thanks:D
Crims
479th Raiders FG
Computer with a crank handle in the back
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LOL......C-64....
LOAD"*",8
Anyhoo....a good computer for online massive multiplay would incorporate the fastest of everything. Processors, vid card, internet connection, etc.
However, that could run into a figure that would rival NASA's budget.
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Originally posted by Blooz
Anyhoo....a good computer for online massive multiplay would incorporate the fastest of everything. Processors, vid card, internet connection, etc.
However, that could run into a figure that would rival NASA's budget.
Any hard examples? I'm trying to put a config together will max the efficiency here online.
Thanks!
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This works for me
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Originally posted by Blooz
LOL......C-64....
LOAD"*",8
Load"*",8,1;)
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*RUNSTOP ERROR
*PRESS PLAY ON TAPE
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Just upgraded mine. Runs smooth as silk except for the odd stutter when trees come into view (and once in a while when a plane with a custom skin comes into view, but I'm still DLing skins).
ASUS P5P800 (1xAGP 5xPCI, no PCIe, SocketT)
Pentium 4 2.66GHz (no O/C)
512MB RAM (CL3, but 2.5 would be better for you)
Geforce 4400Ti 128MB (non-Dx9 card but still kicks major arse)
I have a Sound Blaster Audigy 1, but insert sound card here.
NIC of your choice (but the P5P800 comes with integrated gigabit)
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what frame rates do you get Krusty?
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My pc is an Intel Celery 1800, no O/C.
I have 512mb RAM.
64mb GeForce3 Ti200.
40GB 7200rpm HDD.
Windows 2000 SP4.
Have only 18 processes b/ground when on AH.
Firewall running only, no anti-vir.
Get 40/60 FPS's in air (sum maps better than others), shift f1.
20/30 on ground detail shift f4.
I use NVhardpage to o/c GFX card.
Works well enough for me!
Smiggy.
:aok
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This should be in the hardware/software forum, plus there are a lot of other similiar hardware discussions over there.
Here's a nice gaming rig. I'll only throw in a few brand names because if you're not tied to one specific item, you can find equivalent ones in package deals for less.
Cpu - socket 939 Athlon 64. Get the best you can, but an A64 3800 "Venice" or 4000 "San Diego" would be great choices for under $400. Any faster and you'll spend double for 10-20% speedup.
If you get the retail cpu, you won't have to worry about an aftermarket heatsink and fan. The stock AMD ones are just fine unless you want to overclock.
Motherboard - Any SLI capable socket 939 nvidia nforce4 based mobo. ASUS is good, so are ABIT and MSI. Avoid ECS unless you're on a budget and willing to experiment. I'd probably go with ASUS if I was buying now.
Memory - 1 gig (2 512 meg sticks) of high quality PC3200, PC3700, or PC4000 DDR. You can get a bit of a speedup by going for "extreme" memory and even the best stuff has dropped in price, but you can get good crucial memory for under $45 per 512 meg stick, or go for some high quality stuff for about $75 per stick. Even crucial ballistix pc3200 is only $75ish per 512 meg stick. PC4000 is about the same price so if you think you may try overclocking, get pc4000 memory instead.
Vid card - Nvidia 7800GTX is the absolute fastest right now but it'll cost over $500. Get two and run it in SLI, although I don't think SLI works too well in AH2 yet. There is also a 7800GT that is up to $100 cheaper than the GTX but it runs almost as fast. For less money, get a 6800GT for around $300 and it'll run everything pretty nice, however a 7800GT is more than twice as fast in certain games according to the reviews I've read.
Sound card - Audigy2 ZS is fairly cheap and will work. Get the OEM version for about $50-$60 if you don't want all the creative labs software, otherwise buy the one with the features you want. There is now a newer one (Audigy 3 or 4?) that is a bit better but also more expensive. You can also get a motherboard with built in sound but it may slightly reduce your framerates. If you save money by going with mobo onboard sound instead of a sound card, you can use some of that money to get a better motherboard.
Network card - use the onboard one that comes with most nforce4 motherboards. It works great and is "free".
Hard drive - Almost any will do but the Seagate ones tend to be nice and quiet. The price point to aim for is 300 gig for about $130. Go with serial ATA. Don't worry about going with RAID 0 or buying a 10,000 rpm drive. Any reasonably new 7200 rpm drive will be more than fast enough.
Monitor - entirely your choice. 19" LCDs are getting much cheaper. If you can find a coupon code, the dell 1905 LCD is supposedly pretty good for gaming and will cost between $260 and $450 depending on if you find a valid coupon code or not. Do a google or yahoo search for the codes.
Buy a new license of winXP home to go with all this. Get winXP pro if you already know what the difference is, but if you have to ask what's the diff then you're probably better off with winXP home. My game rig uses winxp home even though I'm a geek, and I don't ever wish it had XP pro.
Case - I have a Lian-Li PC60 case and I really like it. It's pricy because it's all aluminum but it's very nice. A bit lighter than a steel case, and it has removable mobo tray and removable hard drive cage plus places to put fans to blow over the hard drives. Take a look at the Lian Li PC7 and PC65 cases at http://www.newegg.com, and do a google search for those cases for reviews. Expect to pay anywhere from $90 to $130 for a decent aluminum case.
Power supply - most cases come with only a cheap 300 or 350 watt power supply, and that's just not sufficient for reliable operation with the best hardware anymore. You want at least a high quality 400 watt PSU for the parts I've listed. PC-Power and Cooling is awesome but expensive. Antec ones are good, so are enermax. I have a thermaltake quiet purepowr 480 and it's ok. Expect to spend anywhere from $60 to $210, and I'd personally aim towards 500 watt especially if going for a 7800GT or GTX video card. As a rule of thumb, several reviewers have noticed a direct relationship between power supply weight and quality. The heavier the power supply is, the more likely it is to be good quality. There are very logical reasons why quality power supplies will usually weigh more than cheap ones, so it's something to think about.
As for your old laptop, there are a lot of things you might want to try. Set the texture size to 128. Run all the sliders down to the lowest setting. There is a visual range key, something like shift-f1, shift f2 and shift f3 (?) that can help too. Run a lower resolution. Anyhow, read through the documentation files on how to set the graphics settings for better framerate.
You should be able to put together a rig like this for under $2000 if you don't go crazy on extras. You can save $100 by going for a slower cpu, but do NOT go with a socket 754 cpu and motherboard just to save money, because you'll only save about $50 and then be unable to upgrade in the future. Do not go with an AGP motherboard and vid card, as the new vid cards are all pci-express.
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Originally posted by Slash27
what frame rates do you get Krusty?
60+ normally. On a CV on my old rig (just sitting on a CV) I used to get 5fps. 2 CVs in the same area = forget it. Now I get 59fps sitting on a cv deck. I upped offline and over a CV deliberately set a B24 on fire. I still have 20+ fps (I used to get 1 fps).
Thats at either 1024 or 1152 screen res, 1024 tex res, all default settings, but watter off.
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rgr that Krusty.
Cpu - socket 939 Athlon 64. Get the best you can, but an A64 3800 "Venice" or 4000 "San Diego" would be great choices for under $400. Any faster and you'll spend double for 10-20% speedup.
eagl, great write up and thank you. I getting ready to get a new rig and you answered a few question I didnt even know I had yet.
Whats your opinion on the dual core stuff? This is one of my sticking points so far. Im looking at a 4200 or 4400 X2 but a buddy of mine recomended the 4000. Basicly I want the machine to run AH2 as best as possible being that I dont play much else. But I would like the option to do whatever I want and make sure I plan ahead so I dont need to upgrade too much for about 2 years. Any thoughts?
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Slash,
if u want max AH, the fastest single core u can afford is what u want. AMD FX 55 or 57. if u want to plan for future, then a X2 is what u want, 4400 is the best bang for $ in those right now.
not much out right now for dual core, but will later.
whels
Originally posted by Slash27
rgr that Krusty.
Cpu - socket 939 Athlon 64. Get the best you can, but an A64 3800 "Venice" or 4000 "San Diego" would be great choices for under $400. Any faster and you'll spend double for 10-20% speedup.
eagl, great write up and thank you. I getting ready to get a new rig and you answered a few question I didnt even know I had yet.
Whats your opinion on the dual core stuff? This is one of my sticking points so far. Im looking at a 4200 or 4400 X2 but a buddy of mine recomended the 4000. Basicly I want the machine to run AH2 as best as possible being that I dont play much else. But I would like the option to do whatever I want and make sure I plan ahead so I dont need to upgrade too much for about 2 years. Any thoughts?
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A single-core cpu will run games faster than an equally priced dual core cpu... At least for now. A dual core A64 X2 will run you a minimum of $500-$700, but you can get a single core cpu that runs 200-300 mhz faster for the same price, and the faster core speed means it will run single applications faster.
For gaming, get single core now. Maybe later on the dual core cpus will be better suited for gaming but they're not the fastest right now.
That's not to say the dual core cpus aren't great and also very fast, but AH2 certainly won't benefit from a dual core cpu right now so if you're going to spend that much money on the cpu, get a faster single core one. Either a fast San Diego core, or an FX. The socket 939 cpus will be around for a while so there'll be plenty of time to upgrade to dual core later on when the price drops. That's why I would cap your cpu price at $400 or less... Save the money you'd spend to get the absolute fastest and use it for an upgrade cpu in a year or so. By then, another $300-$400 will get you much more than spending $800 now would.
Aim for the 90% speed because it costs half as much as the absolute fastest, and spend that other half a year later when it'll buy you waaaay more than the 10% it would have gotten you if you spent it today. That advice goes for video cards, cpus, and hard drives. Motherboards are commodity items so spend whatever it takes to get the mobo features you want because they're all within $30ish of each other. But you can get 90-95% speed on a vid card and spend $450 instead of $600, get 90% on the cpu and spend $400 instead of $1100, and get a 300 gig hard drive for $130 instead of spending $250-$300 for a 400 gig drive. Then buy what is the 90% solution a year from now, and it'll probably net you a 30 to 50 percent speedup over what's available now, especially in the vid card.
If I had unlimited cash, I'd go for the 7800GTX because the 7800GT is one of those "crippled" versions and I hate those. If they released a lower clocked 7800GTX that had the full number of pipelines instead of lower clock AND fewer pipelines, then I'd say get that one, since that's essentially what they did with the GF4-4200 and 6800GT. But since nvidia isn't offering that sort of enthusiast option this time around, I'd say either save the money and go for a 6800GT or go all out and get a 7800GTX. Of course, I'm probably just being unreasonable because the 7800GT is a very very fast video card right now even with the reduced number of pipelines and some of them overclock rather well so you can get back up to the same GPU speed, just with a couple of fewer pipelines. According to many benchmarks using today's games, the 7800GT and 7800GTX post nearly indentical scores so you won't miss much getting a 7800GT but you'll save $100-$150 vs. a 7800GTX.
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MB: GIGABYTE GA-8IPE1000PRO-G
CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz, Northwood core
GPU: nVidia XFX 6800
Sound: SB Audigy 2 ZS
Gives me around 50 FPS in a 10 person fight with sliders ALMOST maxed.
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Thank you very much Whels and Eagl. That helps alot.:aok
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plug your stick into the server.