Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: Westy on October 09, 2009, 11:50:51 AM
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I ask as I won't be able to install AH until some time later this weekend but I'm
hoping the pc I put together from parts and pieces a few months ago will handle
it. I'm thinking a new video card may be an option (it's circa '03-'04) but a new
pc is not. If a new card is a must it would have be AGP
Any input as to if this rig will play the game ok or not as well as any video card
recommendations would be truly appreciated.
Info culled from DXdiag:
OS: XP Pro with Service Pack 3
DirectX Ver: DirectX 9.0c
Processor: Pent 4 2.40GHz
Memory: 1.5 GB RAM
Page File: 331MB used, 2593MB available
** motherboard is a non-overclocked ASUS P4800-E
** ASUS manual says AGP is "8X (0.8v, 1.5v only)"
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 w/ 256 MB
Driver Ver: 6.14.0011.7519 (English)
Audi is onboard: Realtek AC97 Audio
Driver Name: ALCXWDM.SYS
Driver Ver: 5.10.0000.5510 (English)
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Your CPU is the weakest link right now... May seem okay, but it's one of the older P4s. If you can get even a low-end C2D to fit into that, it'll smoke your P4 "6 ways from Sunday".
Your memory is okay. I've run everything from 512mb to 2GB. You notice a big jump in performance with 512 -> 1GB, but there's almost no noticable gain from 1 -> 1.5 or 1 -> 2GB. You should be set there.
Your sound card is onboard, not the best, but it WILL work. The issue is that it's using your CPU to process the sounds, where a standalone sound card has its own onboard chips to do stuff.
Video is your second bottleneck. I say this because if you want the "details" on you cannot do it with this card. I have an equivelant ATI card. It WILL run, and with decent framerates, but you cannot turn on the new terrain details. Not as bad as it used to be with the first release of the new terrain, they've tweaked it and it actually looks okay with "bump" and "water" on, but "detail" off. Not the best, but flyable. Smoke, fires, GV level trees, etc, still make you bottom out in FPS, but otherwise playable.
So, do you know the make and model of your motherboard? With that info you can check to see what socket it uses for the CPU. If it's recent enough, you can put higher CPUs in that socket. If it's too old, you won't gain much and will waste money.
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Seeing as it's an older Pentium, I'd bet it's a Socket 478. In that case, I recommend this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116027) as a replacement. Though I'd much more highly recommend the Northwood core version; highly stable for the five years or so I've been running it, runs extremely cool and seems to work faster (elven magic?) than other comparable chips.
My computer comes from around the same era as yours. I have a vanilla AGP XFX GeForce 6800 and it too runs like a dream(considering its age)...even though I'd like to smash the head in of whoever made the heatsink on it. That just comes from being an engineer-type.
This rig (http://docs.google.com/View?id=dc3smcbq_147g6dnzdhd) will run the game just fine when she's kept nice and clean. 40~75 FPS with mostly-full sliders and advanced water/terrain enabled at 512 textures.
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Many P4s, including my old one, and one in my sister's rig, are Socket 775. They kept making them for a long time.
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I thought Socket 775 was the replacement for 478...eh, I have no idea. :D
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The majority of Pentium 4's produced were 478's. The specs for the Asus P4800e are that it is a 478.
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The majority of Pentium 4's produced were 478's. The specs for the Asus P4800e are that it is a 478.
Correct.
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Thanks guys. Advice well taken and I've saved the links that were put up. It is an ASUS socket 478
and with cpuz it shows as a dual core cpu. I forgot what intel name it is at the moment.
I had a few minutes last night to load AH and with default settings found I was getting 50-70fps -
but that's offline. I'm sure that'll tank online around activity. Guessthere's no easy patching with
this one - like another cpu or vidcard to buy a year or two. I'll try to see what I can do along those
avenues and look toward a total rebuild after the first of the year.
I appreciate the input! Very much so. Thanks!!
<S>
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Thanks guys. Advice well taken and I've saved the links that were put up. It is an ASUS socket 478
and with cpuz it shows as a dual core cpu.
<S>
It's really not a dual core. There is physically only one core on the processor. It's what they call Hyperthreading. If it was a real dual core, your processor would hold up much better in aces high.
"A processor with hyper-threading enabled is treated by the operating system as two processors instead of one. This means that only one processor is physically present but the operating system sees two virtual processors, and shares the workload between them. Hyper-threading requires only that the operating system support multiple processors, but Intel recommends disabling HT when using operating systems that have not been optimized for the technology.[1]"
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Hyperthreading was one of the neatest stunts Intel ever successfully pulled - and they've tried some doozies (remember RDRAM?)
By coupling two instruction queues to a single core, they essentially forced the entire industry to ready themselves for multicore processors before they were economically feasible for general computing, ensuring that multi-core processors would almost literally be plug-and-play when they arrived.
<S>
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I wouldn't call RDRAM a doozie. It was initially ahead of the game and was faster than SDRAM. Eventually dual-channel DDR matched it, plus it was a lot cheaper. Though one can argue (and has been in the courts) that the price fixing by DDR manufacturers really kicked RDRAM out of the market because of its premium price.
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Don't worry about that processor in your system. I have a 2.4GHz P-4 (Northwoods P-4 Extreme) that runs AH very well, but my video card sucks. Toss 2 gigabytes of something like Kingston HyperX DDR PC-3200 in that thing and grab one of these video cards:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048%201069609639%201305520549%201068320729&name=1GB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010380048%201069609639%201305520549%201068320729&name=1GB)
Make sure that system has a "barebones" load on it...i.e. use the system only for gaming and you should be good to go from there.
1. No anti-virus
2. No anti-spyware
3. No internet surfing (just what you need for gaming)
4. No email client (outlook, outlook express, thunderbird, opera...etc)
5. No other programs.
6. Kill any process that isn't absolutely necessary to run the system and connect to the internet.
If that is your only pc and you must use it for something besides gaming....just be very careful what you choose to put on it.
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AH is far more CPU intensive than vid-card intensive. The RAM won't help, he already has more than enough.
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I wouldn't call RDRAM a doozie. It was initially ahead of the game and was faster than SDRAM. Eventually dual-channel DDR matched it, plus it was a lot cheaper. Though one can argue (and has been in the courts) that the price fixing by DDR manufacturers really kicked RDRAM out of the market because of its premium price.
I wasn't meaning to infer that it was inferior from a technological point of view - I was referring to the behind-the-scenes maneuvering associated with it, given that Intel had a significant stake in the only company (or was it companies???) licensed to produce it. Like the allegedly "accidental" release of the flawed MTH which resulted in the "recall" of nearly a million Intel 820-based motherboards - mostly at the expense of the motherboard manufacturers.
<S>
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Ok, Westy... Check it out.. Not to knock all these guys, but I doubt most (if any) of them even looked up your mother board to see what it'd support...
You can make this system play AH very well.. But it may cost you a little.. You'll have to be smart about it.. Stick with 2nd hand stuff because anything you get new in the package is going to be outrageously over priced.. You can occasionally run into deals at places like Fry's Electronics if you have one near you.. But most places will rape you blind on older stuff from some stupid reason.. There are deals all over for older hardware, but you have to look.. Craigslist, Amazon,Ebay come to mind.. Some one recommended a processor... Yeah, don't get that P4.. You can find P4 3.2ghz HT 800FSB 1meg cache for 40 bucks or less.. The most your board will support is the P4 Extreme Edition 3.4ghz)the fastest Socket 478 processor produced).. Not much of a boost from the 3.2 I mentioned... Your board supports an 800mhz Front Side Bus, and is especially good at overclocking..
First off, you'll have to ditch the ram you have as it's holding you back.. You need some high performance PC4000 DDR 500 Dual Channel that will allow you to take advantage of the performance available.. IF you can't find any PC4000, you can use PC3200.. Just get something decent(Crucial Ballistix, OCZ, Geil, etc).. Right now, you're not even using Dual Channel mode with the two different kinds of memory in there.. You can find Kingston HyperX PC4000 or more brands all over eBay.. Get one gig (usually around 40 bucks or so). If you can swing 2 gigs, I'd advise that.. Anything more is a waste of money.. By the way, if you go with 2 gigs, you'll need two 1 gig sticks(or if you go with 1 gig, you need two 512's) to take advantage of Dual Channel mode.. I also would like to stress that it is better to have 2x1 gig as opposed to 4X512 sticks if you want a total of 2 gigs.. Your timings will be off and your board will actually clock the ram and your FSB slower than what it's rated at(ram buffer and memory management issues will arise using 4 sticks)..
The stuff is sold in pairs..
Third, you need a better video card.. Straight up.... Even if you got the fastest Socket 478 processor, it wouldn't make much difference.. That card is seriously holding you back.. You could do so much better.. If you like Nvida, stick with anything like a 6800GT/GS or a 7800GS/GT if you can find one.. You are obviously limited to AGP but you still have some very viable choices!
IF you want to go all out get the ATI/AMD HD 3850 which is (to date) the fastest AGP card available IIRC.. A power supply upgrade may be in order, though.. I would use something closer to 500 watts, atleast.. And a decent PSU at that..
If you are interested, please PM me and I will help you further.. I can attest to the performance potential of a properly set up Socket 478 machine.. I use one to play AH on occasion and runs the game just great with almost everything turned up all the way (besides shadows) at a resolution of 1280X1024(on an Nvidia 6800GS modded a bit for more performance)..
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AH is far more CPU intensive than vid-card intensive. The RAM won't help, he already has more than enough.
Actually, it will help.. Right now, he's not even utilizing Dual Channel mode which his board is capable of.. Seeing that he's got 1.5 gigs, he doesn't even have a matched pair of sticks(memory)..
To add to that, if he get's a CPU that supports HT(HyperThreading), he'll be much better off performance wise and take more advantage of HT capability..
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Dual channel isn't going to make or break his ability to run AH.
Trust me I've done it all over the years in regards to AH. Dual channel, non dual channel, single stick, slow CPU, slow vid card, and upgraded to many different stages of CPU, GPU, and RAM.
His ram is perfectly fine. Going from single channel 1.5 GB to dual channel 2 GB (edit: and changing nothing else along with it) would be a fart in the wind as far as AH is concerned.
P.S. He said his current CPU already supports HT. I had one that did as well, really not a fast CPU. the 3 GHZ plus range of P4 chips are okay for AH, but even the lowest end Conroe chip will smoke a 2.4GHz Pentium4.
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If your going to throw money hand over fist why would you bother upgrading using the same mobo in the first place......
if you have to replace the cpu, ram, psu, and video card, your $50-$75 away from replacing the mobo as well and having a MUCH better system
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Yep AGP systems are a dead end. Time to move on if you got the dough.
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I wasn't meaning to infer that it was inferior from a technological point of view - I was referring to the behind-the-scenes maneuvering associated with it, given that Intel had a significant stake in the only company (or was it companies???) licensed to produce it. Like the allegedly "accidental" release of the flawed MTH which resulted in the "recall" of nearly a million Intel 820-based motherboards - mostly at the expense of the motherboard manufacturers.
<S>
Gotcha
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AH is far more CPU intensive than vid-card intensive. The RAM won't help, he already has more than enough.
Sorry Krusty...no it's not. It's a pretty even spread for resource usage, but what's supposed to be using processor power is DirectX (although I've never had more than 76% processor usage with the game running using teamspeak and gamebooster). A P-4 2.4Ghz is more than adequate for AH right now...the video card and memory are the weak links in his system right now.
Yeah, don't get that P4.. You can find P4 3.2ghz HT 800FSB 1meg cache for 40 bucks or less.. The most your board will support is the P4 Extreme Edition 3.4ghz)the fastest Socket 478 processor produced).. Not much of a boost from the 3.2 I mentioned... Your board supports an 800mhz Front Side Bus, and is especially good at overclocking..
That's a hot processor, gonna need a really good cpu cooler in that system...and really good socket 478 cpu coolers are hard to find. His current processor is most likely a hyperthreading processor...pumping it up to a 3.2Ghz is going to get a very nominal performance increase.
Third, you need a better video card.. Straight up.... Even if you got the fastest Socket 478 processor, it wouldn't make much difference.. That card is seriously holding you back.. You could do so much better.. If you like Nvida, stick with anything like a 6800GT/GS or a 7800GS/GT if you can find one.. You are obviously limited to AGP but you still have some very viable choices!
IF you want to go all out get the ATI/AMD HD 3850 which is (to date) the fastest AGP card available IIRC.. A power supply upgrade may be in order, though.. I would use something closer to 500 watts, atleast.. And a decent PSU at that..
Even though I'm an Nvidia fan...the fastest Nvidia AGP card isn't as good as the ATI4670 or 4650 which are the fastest available for AGP...but he will need a better power supply, a really good 500w would be the minimum.
Dual channel isn't going to make or break his ability to run AH.
Trust me I've done it all over the years in regards to AH. Dual channel, non dual channel, single stick, slow CPU, slow vid card, and upgraded to many different stages of CPU, GPU, and RAM.
His ram is perfectly fine. Going from single channel 1.5 GB to dual channel 2 GB (edit: and changing nothing else along with it) would be a fart in the wind as far as AH is concerned.
P.S. He said his current CPU already supports HT. I had one that did as well, really not a fast CPU. the 3 GHZ plus range of P4 chips are okay for AH, but even the lowest end Conroe chip will smoke a 2.4GHz Pentium4.
Dual channel does make a difference on the software performance end...but it's not like going from SDRAM to DDR2. With dual channel boards it is best to use the dual channel setup to ensure the memory channels are being utilized to their peak performance. I've done the bench testing, there is a difference in performance...some of it depends on the chipset being used on the mobo.
You're assuming that he's using a Prescott and not a Northwoods processor. You shouldn't underestimate the Northwoods hyperthreading processors. If he has a mobo that will handle the 800Mhz front side bus speed...adding a 3.2Ghz extreme edition Northwoods processor on there will give a really nice performance increase without spending a lot of money.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-Pentium-4-3.2GHZ%2F512%2F800-Northwood-SL6WG-478-pin_W0QQitemZ380163050967QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20090929?IMSfp=TL090929149001r38769 (http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-Pentium-4-3.2GHZ%2F512%2F800-Northwood-SL6WG-478-pin_W0QQitemZ380163050967QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20090929?IMSfp=TL090929149001r38769)
I might jump on one of those myself.
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The previous AH version was more GPU dependent. This version is CPU dependent.
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The previous AH version was more GPU dependent. This version is CPU dependent.
actually you have that backwards
this version still relies heavily on the CPU yes......... but its alot more GPU dependant than the previous
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Sorry Krusty...no it's not. It's a pretty even spread for resource usage, but what's supposed to be using processor power is DirectX (although I've never had more than 76% processor usage with the game running using teamspeak and gamebooster). A P-4 2.4Ghz is more than adequate for AH right now...the video card and memory are the weak links in his system right now.
That's a hot processor, gonna need a really good cpu cooler in that system...and really good socket 478 cpu coolers are hard to find. His current processor is most likely a hyperthreading processor...pumping it up to a 3.2Ghz is going to get a very nominal performance increase.
Even though I'm an Nvidia fan...the fastest Nvidia AGP card isn't as good as the ATI4670 or 4650 which are the fastest available for AGP...but he will need a better power supply, a really good 500w would be the minimum.
Dual channel does make a difference on the software performance end...but it's not like going from SDRAM to DDR2. With dual channel boards it is best to use the dual channel setup to ensure the memory channels are being utilized to their peak performance. I've done the bench testing, there is a difference in performance...some of it depends on the chipset being used on the mobo.
You're assuming that he's using a Prescott and not a Northwoods processor. You shouldn't underestimate the Northwoods hyperthreading processors. If he has a mobo that will handle the 800Mhz front side bus speed...adding a 3.2Ghz extreme edition Northwoods processor on there will give a really nice performance increase without spending a lot of money.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-Pentium-4-3.2GHZ%2F512%2F800-Northwood-SL6WG-478-pin_W0QQitemZ380163050967QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20090929?IMSfp=TL090929149001r38769 (http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-Pentium-4-3.2GHZ%2F512%2F800-Northwood-SL6WG-478-pin_W0QQitemZ380163050967QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20090929?IMSfp=TL090929149001r38769)
I might jump on one of those myself.
The 3.2 I have overclocks easily to 3.7 and I use the stock cooler... Processor temps don't go over much above 50-55C under heavy load.. It's quite stable and there's not way I could do this without having good memory in there (2 gigs of Crucial Ballistix pc4000).. My bad on the vid card.. I haven't looked up at regarding AGP in probably more than a year.. The 3850 was the best AGP card at the time.. I'm sort of surprised they went even further than that!! Just goes to show that AGP systems are in fact NOT dead..
As far as memory: I messed around with memory, using different configurations, speed/voltage settings.. Obviously, some are better than others and it's always advisable to have a matched set for compatibility and performance reasons.. On average, I saw a 15% performance increase on some apps and games.. Even a 5% increase in performance is noticeable especially if you have bottlenecking issues.. Anyway, kids are yelling for stuff.. I'm done with this one.. <S> Gyrene for backing up most of what I said...<S> :aok
Edit: If you can find that processor with 1 meg cache as opposed to 512, all the better....
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actually you have that backwards
this version still relies heavily on the CPU yes......... but its alot more GPU dependant than the previous
This is contradictory to what I have been told by Skuzzy himself, when I built this machine last year. The only thing you're describing would be "bottlenecks".
Also my previous post is spot on btw.
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This is contradictory to what I have been told by Skuzzy himself, when I built this machine last year. The only thing you're describing would be "bottlenecks".
Also my previous post is spot on btw.
Current AH version was not released last year.
And to Anodizer: AGP is by all means a dead end. You can't get upgrade paths for any of your components in AGP motherboard. CPU, RAM, display, peripherals.. all a dead end. Even if you could continue getting AGP cards you will come severely CPU bottlenecked. All you can do is give expensive CPR to a dead end system.
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Not that expensive Ripley and not that hard to do.
The most expensive part is IDE drives...SATA drives are a lot cheaper per GB...PSU could get expensive if he went higher end...the high end ATI AGP cards are at a very good price and fairly competitive in performance...used higher end CPU is not out of the question and very inexpensive.
Obviously the OP doesn't have and or doesn't want to spend money on a new system right now...so rather than tell the OP to spend money needlessly...CPU upgrade (used or new) is not necessary but could have benefits if he got an 800Mhz FSB processor (not the Prescott chip)...video card is definately needed...better power supply is a pre-requisite to video card upgrade...new memory chips to take advantage of dual channel timings and improve memory performance...under $200 if he chooses well.
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Not that expensive Ripley and not that hard to do.
The most expensive part is IDE drives...SATA drives are a lot cheaper per GB...PSU could get expensive if he went higher end...the high end ATI AGP cards are at a very good price and fairly competitive in performance...used higher end CPU is not out of the question and very inexpensive.
Obviously the OP doesn't have and or doesn't want to spend money on a new system right now...so rather than tell the OP to spend money needlessly...CPU upgrade (used or new) is not necessary but could have benefits if he got an 800Mhz FSB processor (not the Prescott chip)...video card is definately needed...better power supply is a pre-requisite to video card upgrade...new memory chips to take advantage of dual channel timings and improve memory performance...under $200 if he chooses well.
The point is I'd rather save money for a complete overhaul than spend money trying to delay the inevitable. Get a new AGP card? Fine. But leave it at there.
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This is contradictory to what I have been told by Skuzzy himself, when I built this machine last year. The only thing you're describing would be "bottlenecks".
Also my previous post is spot on btw.
I bet if I searched hard enough I could find 50 threads before the release of the updates in which skuzzy says the game is more CPU dependant......... and since the updates he has not commented either way
and while its still CPU intensive since the updates..... because of the eye candy and the way it loads now its also very GPU intensive
you can still run this game full out with a slower processor as long as you have a smokin vid card............. but you cant run it very well at all the other way around
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I agree with whatever Ripley says.
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Current AH version was not released last year.
And to Anodizer: AGP is by all means a dead end. You can't get upgrade paths for any of your components in AGP motherboard. CPU, RAM, display, peripherals.. all a dead end. Even if you could continue getting AGP cards you will come severely CPU bottlenecked. All you can do is give expensive CPR to a dead end system.
I've never said it was and it is still the same situation, CPU over GPU.
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The point is I'd rather save money for a complete overhaul than spend money trying to delay the inevitable. Get a new AGP card? Fine. But leave it at there.
In that case Ripley, you will never be saving money...because the "inevitable" occurs much faster these days...you will always simply be "putting it off".
$200 to get a borderline system another possible 2 years vs $1000 to have to do it all over again in 4 or less...for a hobby, not very economic.
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no the point is why spend $200 on a deadend system that might get you by for a couple more years and then you cant upgrade it anymore........ when you can spend as little as $300-$350 that will smoke this game for a few years and has a great path for upgrade down the road
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no the point is why spend $200 on a deadend system that might get you by for a couple more years and then you cant upgrade it anymore........ when you can spend as little as $300-$350 that will smoke this game for a few years and has a great path for upgrade down the road
You're not going to get a system that will "smoke this game" for under $500...the video card required is $100 minimum just to play the game with decent frame rates.
This is what I would do if I had that system and wanted to "push it" for another couple of years:
Radeon HD4670 - $125
Raidmax Hybrid series 530W PSU - $50
DDR PC3200 GSkill 2GB Dual Channel Kit (1GBx2) - $65
Optional
Used P-4 3.2Ghz 800Mhz FSB 1MB L2 - $45
Definately not worth anymore money than that though.
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if you dont think you can build a system that will smoke this game for less than $500 then youre done talking
the VC being $100 is the most expensive thing youd have to purchase in order to max settings on this game
as I said for about $350 you can max settings this game and still have a big upgrade path for the future
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if you dont think you can build a system that will smoke this game for less than $500 then youre done talking
the VC being $100 is the most expensive thing youd have to purchase in order to max settings on this game
as I said for about $350 you can max settings this game and still have a big upgrade path for the future
Well Batch, without hijacking this thread any further...I happen to disagree, from experience....unless you're talking about used/refurb parts...$350 to $500 is going to get you an "adequate" system (i.e. not max settings anywhere). There is a huge gap between "adequate" ($500) and "smoking" ($1000+)...ask your buddy Ripley.
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Good morning! first I'm deeply appreciate all of the input and the time folks
took to reply. This topic has been truly a big help. Not only with tips and
suggestions on what I could do or buy to help out but also with bringing me
a bit up- to-date on current technology!
In the past I'd always leap frogged my pc updates so as to be able to play with
decent fps but not having to put out a huge outlay at any one time. However not
having playing ANY online games for over three years I've really fallen behind with
current technologies as well as being able to do minour upgrades to keep current.
This pc (built only a few months ago) has been superb for what we've needed if for
- mainly video conversion work and word processing.
But unfortunately with Christmas coming up (and other $$$ expenses that two
sports orientated boys require) a complete or major refit/rebuild is out of the
question. At least until early next year.
I've taken down ALL the suggestions on how to either upgrade or where to start
with a new build. I'm sure now that I should save my $$$ and go with a putting
a new machine together some time after the New Years.
In the meantime I've got my eyes on ebay for one of the recommended gfx card
which could be a nice help for a few months and I found the Northwood cpu in this
machine overclocks nicely to 3ghz. I can do that just for when I'm playing AH
which performs pretty smooth (not max gfx settings of course heheheh ) and the
fps is decent enough to enjoy some air time online at the boosted speed. Since
I "fly" for 30-45 minutes at most I think no harm will come. I have a back up pc
in cae that jappens anyway. Also built from spare parts so no major loss if I fry
the cpu or memory. The gfx may be tamed down for AH-II but they are much
better than AH-I were and I can live with that :).
I owe all of you one! thanks !!
<S>
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Dual channel isn't going to make or break his ability to run AH.
Trust me I've done it all over the years in regards to AH. Dual channel, non dual channel, single stick, slow CPU, slow vid card, and upgraded to many different stages of CPU, GPU, and RAM.
His ram is perfectly fine. Going from single channel 1.5 GB to dual channel 2 GB (edit: and changing nothing else along with it) would be a fart in the wind as far as AH is concerned.
Wrong. I had mis matched memory on my board for a year or so with no issues. Then came the changes and new terrain. My frame rates were crap and really couldn't play.
When I matched two sticks of 1gig there was a huge difference. I also was looking at Graphics cards and found that my card needed atleast a 400 watt PSU. I didnt have that so I needed a swap and bought a 500 watt and everything runs great. I run AH with everything up except shadows.
P4 2.4
2 gig ram /3200
Xi soundcard
nvidia 7600gs
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Your P4 2.4GHz is more likely the cause of bad frames per second than your RAM is. Especially considering you're running PC3200.
Real question is: what did you have before the 2GB that was so bad it tanked your system?
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Your P4 2.4GHz is more likely the cause of bad frames per second than your RAM is. Especially considering you're running PC3200.
Real question is: what did you have before the 2GB that was so bad it tanked your system?
Same pc 3200
If you have two sticks evenly matched you are running dual channel if they are mismatched your not running dual channel. It makes a big difference.
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In that case Ripley, you will never be saving money...because the "inevitable" occurs much faster these days...you will always simply be "putting it off".
$200 to get a borderline system another possible 2 years vs $1000 to have to do it all over again in 4 or less...for a hobby, not very economic.
Computer games are not economic unless you're prepared to do serious compromises in quality. Maybe it's just me but I wouldn't spend one dime on a system that's based on a motherboard that won't take current cpu, ram or sata peripherals. That would be sinking money good for a true upgrade into a system that can not be updated to past 2005 level hardware.
I'd try to find a preowned agp gpu upgrade for basically nothing and keep saving money for a new system.
By making the AGP to PCI-E jump you open your options for GPU upgrades wide open. By making the PATA to SATA jump you open your peripheral options wide open. And by making the jump to Core2Duo or preferably even i5 you open your options for easy overclocking. The options being left stuck with a GPU thats already dated even after spending the money, peripherals that are dated and a CPU that can't be upgraded or even overclocked easily. And all this after spending 50% of the cash required to get an upgrade path for future.