Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: Nefarious on June 21, 2010, 06:06:12 PM
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I am going to buy a system from magicmicro.com after a colleague recommended them...
I am thinking about this:
http://magicmicro.com/smoreinfo.asp?iid=2761
or even this:
http://magicmicro.com/smoreinfo.asp?iid=2331
Should I go with Windoze 7 or keep XP? Would appreciate any input. I like XP and I could always upgrade to 7 down the road...
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As always prebuilts , even custom ones, lack on the video card. IMO I'd get at least a GTX260/HD5770 (depending if you want ATI or Nvidia).
But as the custom person in me I must ask. Would you consider building your own? It's quite simple to do...
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I knew your question would arise. I have never tried and really don't feel comfortable in doing so. I've put new 3D cards in my old compaq presario, that's about it.
As for 3D cards... What would be good for running Aces High and the Silent Hunter Series at full blast with hi-res textures?
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power supplies will barely run the vc that comes with it. if you update vc then ps must be updated too. look at these site too. heard good things about it from a couple of guys and their puters seem a little better for the same money.
http://www.ibuypower.com/
semp
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I knew your question would arise. I have never tried and really don't feel comfortable in doing so. I've put new 3D cards in my old compaq presario, that's about it.
As for 3D cards... What would be good for running Aces High and the Silent Hunter Series at full blast with hi-res textures?
Believe it or not putting it together is sort of like Legos. Intel's can be a bugger with the heat sink fan, but AMD's are simple and I put together a system in about 20 minutes. The 'hardest' part is getting the parts compatible with each other (which we'll help with). There are many walk-throughs online and you get a sense of accomplishment when you look over and say "I built that!". But that's MHO.
When I had my single HD5770 it ran AH full bore with no problems, but when I turned full shadow textures on at 8000, it started to dip from 60 to 57...but hardly noticeable. I've never tried hi-res graphics, but I'm sure it wouldn't be too much worse. I now run two 5770s and it flies in any game. But I'd assume that's out of your price range by then. Never played SH but Im' sure it's in the ballpark of AH yet a bit better graphics wise.
But I seriously suggest considering doing it yourself. You can save a bit of money, and the guys here can walk you through it.
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What compounds my problem is that I don't know anything about Motherboards or the internals enough to actually select what I need.
If I had a parts list, that would build specified computer it may be easier and less confusing for me.
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Should I go with Windoze 7 or keep XP? Would appreciate any input. I like XP and I could always upgrade to 7 down the road...
Except... you can't. There's no in place upgrade from XP to Windows 7 - it's a full re-install to go from XP to 7.
<S>
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What compounds my problem is that I don't know anything about Motherboards or the internals enough to actually select what I need.
If I had a parts list, that would build specified computer it may be easier and less confusing for me.
With a budget I'm sure a few people on here can help you out with a parts list. Also just some general info if you'll need monitor, keyboard, etc. as well as if an OS will also be included in the price.
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What compounds my problem is that I don't know anything about Motherboards or the internals enough to actually select what I need.
Well your in the right forum to find out. Some real good help to be found here.
If you ever put together a model as a kid. You can put your own rig together. As someone mentioned. the hardest thing is the heat sink fans for the Intel CPUs. Can be a bit frustrating. But even that is more then doable. After that its justa matter of this plugs in her and that plugs in there and putting it in the case.
Most motherboards are pretty well documented these days. If you can read and follow directions. you shouldnt have much of a problem
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With a budget I'm sure a few people on here can help you out with a parts list. Also just some general info if you'll need monitor, keyboard, etc. as well as if an OS will also be included in the price.
$1000... Would like to stay with XP.
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$1000... Would like to stay with XP.
This meaning you already have XP? I doubt it is 64bit XP however, which isn't great considering such a system can only handle 3gb's of Ram. The system I've got spec'ed has 4GB's and another 1GB video card.
I will get you a part list by tomorrow evening for sure. I've got it mapped out a bit right now and here is what I'm looking at:
i5 750 Quad Core - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215
Evga P55 LE mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188054
A-DATA 4GB DDR3 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211423
Gigabyte HD5830 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125317
Spinpoint F3 500GB hdd - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181
Corsair 750TX - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006
M59 case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146058
This is just a quick list I put together in 5-10 minutes. This is 934 total w/o extra fans, cables, etc. I will refine it tomorrow when I have some more time....if anyone else wants to add or subtract to this list please do so. The more thoughts the better. :joystick:
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This meaning you already have XP? I doubt it is 64bit XP however, which isn't great considering such a system can only handle 3gb's of Ram.
No. I would have to buy this separately. I meant I would like to stay with XP, as everything I play/use works in my current setup.
My main problem now is I have to play Aces High on the most Min settings and Silent Hunter III craps out on me constantly. This didn't happen until recently.
I was considering moving my current 3D card to my Sony Vaio, which is dated itself but at least it has 2 Gigs of Ram.
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what is going to happen to your current computer, u gonna sell it? give it away? u can reuse some components depending on conditions. somethings, like sound cards/cd, hd or the xp os can be installed on your new computer. that might save you some money. and if they dont work, well u can always buy another later. except for the hd buy one now, use your old for extra junk storage.
semp
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Actually if he set it up properly (with a spare partition) for a dual boot, yes he could add Win 7 at virtually any point he desired. AND maintain the ability to go back to XP.
Except... you can't. There's no in place upgrade from XP to Windows 7 - it's a full re-install to go from XP to 7.
<S>
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Actually if he set it up properly (with a spare partition) for a dual boot, yes he could add Win 7 at virtually any point he desired. AND maintain the ability to go back to XP.
:aok this is a great route to take....... ( or at least plan for by making "2" partitions before loading the WinXP OS, and keeping the 2nd partition for future instal of win 7 64 bit OS )
it even saved "me behind" this past weekend, I was cleaning up some folders using the "DOD 5 times stripping /erasing method" ( <--- or whatever it is going by memory ) and I was like only 1/4 way awake friday morning... I accidently highlited (2) complete seperate AH game installs and even my AH backup folder on my WinXP install of my dualboot system.....
to keep it short.... I never realized what I did until I went to logon for FSO friday night..... thank goodness I had Windows 7 installed on the same HD set in dualboot mode.. I was able to reboot and logon to Win7 and play FSO friday night.... ( actually I have 3 HD's and can boot to 4 different installed OS's depending on what I am wanting to do, along with an extra "hotswap HD set up" as well )
and I even have most of my backup files I can copy back over to my WinXP OS after I re-install the game..... ( lost nearly 7 gigs worth of stuff with a very simple mis-click of the mouse.... on that particular partition )
if you going to have at least 4 gigs of memory & a dual core CPU....... you will really benefit with windows 7 64 bit..... even if though most everything the majority uses is 32 bit oriented
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I like XP and I could always upgrade to 7 down the road...
I just wanted to make sure that he was aware that it's a full install to go to 7 from XP, since based upon the above statement, it seemed as though he might be trivializing the change over.
And dual-boot is a great solution to allow the use of both.
<S>
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I'd like to make a couple of notes to clarify, as I'm sure the people that mentioned these didn't clarify simply out of being used to the facts themselves.
As I've heard it, XP 64-bit is a bit of a pig. It's somewhat half-assed and drivers can be a bit...wonky. I've never used it, personally, but I have read such things in multiple places.
A 32-bit OS can address a maximum 4GB of system-wide RAM. That means all of the memory RAM and any RAM on expansion cards. I think it may include the little caches on the CPU, too, but don't quote me on that. Basically, if you install a 512MB video card, you'll have a rough maximum of 3.5GB of system RAM. If you install a 1GB video card, you can have 3GB of system RAM. You can install all you want, but the maximum amount of system RAM you can use is 4GB minus any other memory in the computer.
A 64-bit OS, however, has some (at this point, can't wait for the future!) ludicrously high limit of the same type that isn't matched in consumer electronics.
Even then, you run into some problems sometimes...a good example being the game X3:Terran Conflict. The game runs a massive number of scripts and chews the hard drive to pieces using the swap file because the game engine was designed back in the 32-bit era and the program itself has been limited to using 2GB of memory (even though a 32-bit OS will force the same limit). Now that 64-bit has donned and people want their games to be able to use huge chunks of RAM, that game has become a bit...tricky.
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Is Windows 7 64 Bit going to give me any problems with Aces High?
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no
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Is Windows 7 64 Bit going to give me any problems with Aces High?
I get better performance using windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit running AH than I do running Aces High in winXP Pro SP3
frame rate is always pegged at 75 with everything maxed out and others shadows set to 4096? in Windows7 using hires pack.......in WinXP I have to set my other shadows textures down to 2084? or 1024 and my FPS is droped to 70/68 range 99% of the time..... ( unless like mass launch Scenarios and FSO's )
same PC for both OS's...... windows 7 blows XP away
YMMV
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Yeah it looks like I was worried over nothing... I went over to Subsim.com forums and Win 7 is ok for SH3 and SH4. :aok
I think I put together a comparable RIG at magicmicro... I used the ATI 5770 as recommended by Spikes. Everything look ok? I just can't see myself putting one together right now.
$1,121
CURRENT CONFIGURATION
PARTS : CPU : Intel i7 CPU
Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz (Quad Core) 8000K
PARTS : Cooling Fans : Intel i7 CPU Fans
Intel Socket 1366 CPU fan
PARTS : Motherboards : Intel i7 Motherboards
MSI X58M, DDR3, SLI & Cross Fire, GB LAN, IEEE
PARTS : Memory : DDR3 Triple Channel memory
6GB (3x2GB) PC3 8500 DDR3 1066 Triple Channel
PARTS : Video & TV Cards : PCI-Express Video cards
ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB PCI Express 16x dual head, HDMI
PARTS : Video & TV Cards : TV Tuner & Capture cards
NONE SELECTED
PARTS : Hard Drives
500.0GB Hitachi 7200RPM SATA2, UDMA 300 8m cache
PARTS : Cooling Fans : Hard Drive Fans
NONE SELECTED
PARTS : Hard Drives
NONE SELECTED
PARTS : Cooling Fans : Hard Drive Fans
2nd Hard drive Fan NONE SELECTED
PARTS : CD/DVD/R/RW Drives : DVD Recorders
Lite On 22x DVD Recorder Dual Layer +R/RW -R/RW
PARTS : CD/DVD/R/RW Drives : DVD Recorders
NONE SELECTED
PARTS : Media Card Readers
NONE SELECTED
PARTS : Sound Cards
Realtek HD digital audio (onboard)
PARTS : Modems
NONE SELECTED
PARTS : Networking : Network Cards
Ethernet network adapter (onboard)
PARTS : Controller Cards
USB 2.0 Adapter Card 4 port PCI
PARTS : Cases / Power Supplies : Cases
Cooler Master Elite 310 black, Side Window, front USB
PARTS : Cooling Fans : Case Fans
Dual Case Fans 80 mm DC fan (two fans)
PARTS : Cooling Fans : Power Supply
Ultra LSP 750W ATX Power Supply, SLI & X-fire ready
PARTS : Keyboards
NONE SELECTED
PARTS : Mice
NONE SELECTED
PARTS : Speakers
NONE SELECTED
SOFTWARE : Operating Systems
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit DVD
SOFTWARE : Office Software
NONE SELECTED
PARTS : Monitors
NONE SELECTED
PARTS : Assembly and Test
Standard assembly and test 3-5 business days
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You will absolutely love Win 7. Many use it here with 0 issues.
Build looks good!
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Send me $1121 and I'll build you a better system than that!
But still... everything looks good.. and you'll love Win7. I use it and never looked back ('upgraded' from windows XP). If you have to pay for an operating system anyway, then definitely go with 7. Also with XP you'd only be able to use 3 to 3.5GB of your 6GB of ram.
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Nefarious, Windows 7 64bit is a dream compared to Windows XP. Took a few hours to tweak it so it's running as lean as possible while maintaining needed functionality but, the difference in the way AH performs on my system now is so much better than before.
Might also want to order another drive from newegg or somewhere to store files you want to keep. It doesn't have to be huge but, it's a good failsafe to have in case your main drive crashes.
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In looking at the site, you can add the 320GB Western Digital for 51 bucks. Or opt for a second 500GB Hitachi for 53.
I'd add one of them.
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Hard drive space isn't so much of an issue with me. I simply don't keep a lot of files. I'm not so much of a music/movie buff that I have to constantly keep downloading large files.
I have a 150GB Velociraptor drive with Windows and my programs installed on it. I also have a 320 GB WD Blue drive on which I keep a backup image of the velociraptor, and I use it for 'miscellaneous' files and storage.. etc. Anything 'critical' I keep backed up on CD.
BTW, if you purchase (or already have) a Western Digital hard drive, you can get a free version of Acronis by clicking on this link (http://support.wdc.com/product/downloaddetail.asp?swid=119&wdc_lang=en).
It's pretty cool software...
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I am going to buy a system from magicmicro.com after a colleague recommended them...
I am thinking about this:
http://magicmicro.com/smoreinfo.asp?iid=2761
or even this:
http://magicmicro.com/smoreinfo.asp?iid=2331
Should I go with Windoze 7 or keep XP? Would appreciate any input. I like XP and I could always upgrade to 7 down the road...
Ive used Win 7 for a while now and have no problem with it so far. I would go with that ,but get the win 7 ultimate . it has a nifty option to run XP as well !
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it has a nifty option to run XP as well !
This is true, but it doesn't load any actual device drivers. It's a bit like a more fancy booting of XP's safe mode.
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Not bad but I would spend a little extra on two parts.
I have had really good experiences with the Thermaltake power supplies and am running a TR2 750W in one system right now and have been for a while with no trouble. Also on the CPU cooler I use a Coolermaster...they don't offer mine (V8) but the Hyper212 that they offer from Coolermaster is a good one from my experience building stuff for other people as well.
Oh and just to echo others....Win7 64bit Ultimate here on my machines at home and they all run it flawlessly. As well as going with at least a GTX260 type card on the video.