Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: OldNitro on December 18, 2016, 07:54:53 AM
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Heya AH players.
I have been away from PC gaming for quite a while, 8yrs or so. Just kinda burned out on it, politics, hash n trash, constant updating equipment. It eventually overwhelmed the enjoyable aspects, so I bagged it all, and directed my attention to other hobbies. Now, I guess that I have come full circle, back to the beginning, so here we go again, lol..
My old game machine has been collecting dust in the attic. XP pro, Intel Dual Core E7300 OC'ed, DDR2, 9800GTX+. was a pretty good rig back in those days, but now only marginally adequate. So now I am building a new machine, using the recommended AH3 specs as a starting point. Right now I am selecting parts for my new rig, it will be assembled and tuned by a local Computer shop who i have done biz with over many years. Less trouble for me!
While browsing computer parts, I am looking at hardware that I have no experience with. I have some knowledge but it is out of date as well. Cut me some slack if my questions seem a bit elementary. I know there is a steep learning curve around here.
Format is ATX full size. Wifey has posted my build budget at $1,200.00. This computer will run AH3 only. I have other machines for regular browsing and personal business etc.
Is it really worthwhile to step up to DDR4 system RAM, over DDR3???
Browsing Intel i5 processors, found 2 that seem to fit my desires, same price even. Outwardly they seem very similar: i5 6600K 3.9Ghz 1151 socket -VS- i5 4690K 3.9Ghz 1150 socket.. What is the diff, and which would be better suited to work in AH3?
Browsing Vid cards, GTX 1060 and 970. would the 3g DDR5 be adequate? Or would it be worth the extra $75-100 for the 6g DDR5 and OC'ed cards?
Thanks for any info and looking forward to playing AH3..
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Hi Nitro, and welcome back!
Both DDR3 and 4 work well enough for any games. It's more a question of longevity. For the same reason I'd rather get LGA 1151. The game won't be bottlenecked by any of the possible combinations there.
From the video cards I'd choose the 3 GB 1060. The amount of RAM is sufficient by a margin and it runs much quieter and uses less power than the 970. Again, both are well up to the task if you're going to use one single 1080p 60 Hz monitor. OC'd cards... Well, one might think they're chosen ones so they may last longer. The performance boost is marginal, though. If you think you'd need more power, then the next better model is the answer.
One hint: Don't skimp on the power supply! Some 600 W is adequate, heavily overdoing the power will cause issues. What I mean, get quality. Seasonic seem to be making solid ones both under their own brand as well as for some others.
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There are a number of build outs posted in this thread as long as you don't mind doing some reading. Im sure you could find a half dozen in the first few pages of the "Hardware and Software" thread. From $650 build that run the game well to a number of sites that build good systems with guarantees and burn in testing.
Good luck, and welcome to our world!
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Done! :rock Now I wait..... :cry
I ended up with.
Corsair Carbide Spec3 mid case.
EVGA Supernove G2 650 80+ Gold PSU.
MSI Arsenal series H110m Grenade miniATX Mobo.
Intel i5 6600K 3.3ghz unlocked.
8gig DDR4 2132 G/skill Aegis RAM. (later I'll bump it to 32max)
EVGA GTX1060SC 6gig GDDR5 VR ready.
250GB Crucial BX200 SSD.
1TB Toshiba SATA3 HDD.
ASUS 24x optical drive.
Plus Assembly and tuning, $1250 out the door.
Now I need a nice big monitor for my old eyes..
40" 1080p 120hz should do nicely!
Thanks for the Advisos.. Probably overkill, but WTF..
I'm not the "old" Nitro guy.. New meat for the grinder!
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That power supply is made by Super Flower. A good quality power supply manufacturer. Right there with Seasonic.
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Glad you are here OldNitro. Hope to see you in the Arena soon.
FYI, I provide situational awareness training. I dive in from the "Zoneysphere", (30k) and kill you when you aren't checking your high 6!
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Yes, my computer guy recommended the PSU, it had great reviews, and a good price too. Plus the modular system leaves no cables laying around. Makes for a cleaner machine.
Downloaded the game onto my general service PC. WOAH MAN, looks frickin cool! Just pokin around a bit offline. So many buttons to remember, not an easy game, wouldn't be fun if it was!
I need a stick and a headset, my kids claimed that game stuff, years ago.
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I would reccomend against getting a mini atx mob. will limit your choices for future upgrades.
semp
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I would reccomend against getting a mini atx mob. will limit your choices for future upgrades.
semp
It's done, too late to change up now. Well I could, but it would delay the process.
I know a full size mobo is better, more PCI slots and will accept 64gig of memory, but I was pushing my budget to the limit, and this miniATX saved me about $100.
I had to give a little bit, so I'll just update it later. This setup should Rock this game anyway.
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Yep should be fine. :rock
I just ordered my new system too. :x
Same thing, compromised in places that I can upgrade later.
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I was going to mention the mini-ATX, too. Instead of expandability my concern is in the cooling. A full size board has more copper within, spreading the heat on a larger area. Your case looks like a well breathing one, so a couple of large fans will most likely take care of any heat related issues.
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I was going to mention the mini-ATX, too. Instead of expandability my concern is in the cooling. A full size board has more copper within, spreading the heat on a larger area. Your case looks like a well breathing one, so a couple of large fans will most likely take care of any heat related issues.
I agree, heat dissipation, another good reason for a Full ATX Mobo. I will definitely do that in the future, take advantage of a better chipset and higher memory speeds too, Just wasn't possible for me to drop 2+ G's to get ALL the goodies this time around.
Case will accept up to 6 fans, 2 in front, 2 in top, one in back, and one bottom. I have 4 120's specified, 2 (in) front, 1 (out) top, and 1 (out) rear. Stock intel cooler on the chip, which should be OK unless I overclock it. No plans for that, don't think that will be needed anyway. I do plan to boost the memory soon, to the full 32gig that the Mobo will accept.
From my reading, it seems that AH3 won't work this machine as hard as other games do.
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AH is relatively easy on machines.
As for overclocking, it's good to know you aren't into it since the H110m chipset doesn't allow it.
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AH is relatively easy on machines.
As for overclocking, it's good to know you aren't into it since the H110m chipset doesn't allow it.
Ah, didn't even know that about H110 chipset. Not that it matters.
Last time I did this kinda thing, none of that stuff even existed.
Learning as I go!
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That power supply is made by Super Flower. A good quality power supply manufacturer. Right there with Seasonic.
I have the Supernova G2 750w and knew they were Super Flower. 10 warranty says a lot and EVGA has always been fantastic in regards to RMA's if need be.
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Just have to be careful. The EVGA G1 series is not made by Super Flower and are not of the same quality.
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Question:
When I connect the 1060 vid card to monitor via HDMI, is audio also transmitted to the monitor thru the HDMI? Last time, I still had to use the PC audio outputs.
Has that changed?
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If you want to hear audio through the HDMI port you have to allow the NVidia HDMI audio pass-through driver to be installed and active. If you do this, then be sure to disable our onboard audio device as the HDMI pass-through drivers do not play well with other audio devices.
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If you want to hear audio through the HDMI port you have to allow the NVidia HDMI audio pass-through driver to be installed and active. If you do this, then be sure to disable our onboard audio device as the HDMI pass-through drivers do not play well with other audio devices.
Wow, fast answer for so early in the morning.
Sounds like more trouble than it is worth, software conflicts are not welcome.
If there is no real advantage to it, I'll just stick to what I know works..
Gratzi!
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I braved Walmart, friday afternoon, 2 days before Christmas, and survived, woohoo :banana:
Got a 55inch 120hz Sanyo on sale for $389, new, not refurb. Maybe not the best in the world, but will do me nicely.
Question:
Have been perusing sticks on Newegg. Was looking at system requirements in the specs. It seems that only the very top of the line sticks list Windows10. While most list XP Vista & W7. Is there some backward compatibility in these stick options? Or to work with W10, do I have to buy the $400-500 option.
X52 looks pretty good, reasonable price and good features. If it will work for my rig?
And what is the diff between an X52, and X52 pro? The specs are very vague.
Merry Christmas All, and soon you can kill me all you like!
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took a few minutes to find a review for the 52 versus the 52pro.
Most are saying better quality and more 'feel' / 'tension' in the stick with the 52 pro.
It also sounds like there was an intermittant quality issue with the 52 and slop in the middle.
http://www.simhq.com/_technology2/technology_104d.html (http://www.simhq.com/_technology2/technology_104d.html)
and p.s. I have the 52 pro. I went through 3 other sticks and this is the first one that is acceptable for me.
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took a few minutes to find a review for the 52 versus the 52pro.
Most are saying better quality and more 'feel' / 'tension' in the stick with the 52 pro.
It also sounds like there was an intermittant quality issue with the 52 and slop in the middle.
http://www.simhq.com/_technology2/technology_104d.html (http://www.simhq.com/_technology2/technology_104d.html)
and p.s. I have the 52 pro. I went through 3 other sticks and this is the first one that is acceptable for me.
Thanks for the link, another source of info. Exactly what I needed, W7 or better, that "or better" part makes all the difference! Yeah, I like the Pro too, sounds like it would be more durable, and the black finish looks better to my eye.
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YAY, my parts have arrived and work is proceeding on my machine. :rock
55" monitor is in position on my desk. Reminds me of a line from the movie Dirty Harry, "My, that's a big one!" :grin:
X52pro is ordered from Newegg, that'll get here next week maybe.
Today or tomorrow I will have to decide on which OS to use, W7 or W10. After reading various posts about that on these BB pages, and discussing it with my machine builder, I am still undecided. At first I figured W7, because of the Spyware and control issues in W10. But my computer guy says that, since I am not super savvy about computers, MS update problems in W7 could be a concern for me. From what I have read here, about having to sort thru older updates to solve problems, that has been on my mind. The Builder can install either, doesn't matter to him, but he says that "10 is the future", and would likely be less trouble for someone who is not very experienced like me. He can disable the Spyware, but when 10 updates, it will turn the spyware back on again, and I will have no control over when it updates. So I will have to turn it back off every time. :rolleyes: oh man, what ever happened to simple old XP? Man, I just want less hassle, less trouble with the machine. And if they happen to spy on me, I hope they can see me Flippen em the Bird! Just the thought of them stealing and selling my info, sure makes me grind my teeth! :mad: And I know the nosey buggers at MS are counting on me accepting the violation, just to avoid the hassle! That makes it even worse!
So, even tho I hate it, I guess I am leaning toward 10, dammit!
Question: Is it possible to map a PS style USB hand controller to Aces high?
Seems like it would be more handy for driving tracked vehicles than an X52.
Question: Which is the most effective Headset set up, giving the best SA in the game? A USB type, or the onboard Realtec 7.1? Also would appreciate opinion on the Headsets that have the multiple speakers inside the ear enclosures, are they worth the trouble in AH3?
Thanks for any info
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If Windows can see the PS style USB controller, AH can use it.
There's pros and cons for both the onboard and USB headsets. The USB ones process the sound signal outside the box, thus reducing hum caused by electromagnetics. Then again, they add to the USB power consumption which can cause power loss related issues with your gaming gear. If you're not going to get an audiophile level DAC, game sounds will deliver well through the onboard Realtek circuit. A dedicated sound card doing the sound processing would take some load off your processor, so that's also an alternative worth considering. Notice that not all sound cards include a sound processor, the cheapest ones may even perform worse than the Realtek.
I've been using 5.1 headphones for about a decade now and to be honest I can't aim by ear. How the multiple speaker earphones work may even depend on the shape of your ears. People with protruding ears might benefit more by having one speaker in front and another behind the ear in the ear cups. Simulated multi-speaker systems in a (USB) stereo headset sounds like a gimmick to me.
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Thanks Bizman.
I really don't need super audiophile type sound system.
My only real concern is making sure I get the "directional hearing" through my headset.. Say a vehicle starts it's engine out in the woods, I want to be able to tell which direction the sound came from. Not having that is very disorienting, and a major handicap in gameplay.
Just trying to save some time and trouble by getting the right equipment the first time around.. It's not just about wasting money on stuff that doesn't do the job. The nearest Bestbuy is hours away, and delivery takes a week+, that greatly drags the process out.
So a simple headset/mic from Wallyworld, plugged into the on board Realtec 7.1 will yield the 360 directional effect?
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Yes, a basic stereo headphone set should tell you at least rough dimensions. Left and right for sure, front and back are always questionable unless you can set the front and back speakers far enough. However, these things evolve all the time, getting a realistic 3d sound from two speakers seems to be easily doable at least based on the current sound bar systems for TV sets.
Many people have been totally happy with a €15 headset, the main issue with them is to find a model that fits your head and feels comfortable.
As has been said in another thread, gear screaming "Gaming" on their label are overpriced for the most part. For headsets that means that something suitable for "Voip" might be exactly the same as the "Gaming" version for a fraction of the price.
Caution: When buying a headset for your PC, check the plugs! PC headphones use two (or more for the 5.1) stereo plugs, i.e. Tip-Ring-Sleeve whereas smartphones, some laptops and Mac/Apple tend to have an extra ring for the microphone in a single plug.
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Get to pick up my Machine today, :x
Yesterday the builder was running tests on it, said it's a pretty good combo, runs smooth. Will play any game I want at high resolutions with no problem, and it stays cool under load. :cheers: Still waiting on the X52pro. :joystick:
Need to get a couple HDMI cables from Wallyworld, will look for a cheap headset when there. Just an ersatz set, to move forward, while I search for my best longterm option.
Was looking at the HyperX cloud 2, very high ratings with large numbers sold. It has some nice features at $99 new, reasonable price. Ebay has them for $50 refurb, direct from Kingston. The Ebay vendor has sold 500+, with very high satisfaction rate. Hmmm, tempting option!
Since such high numbers have been sold, was thinking that there might be some Cloud 2 users here on this BB. Would appreciate any in game function report, good, bad, OK, etc.
Thanks for all the advice, it has helped me get squared away.
Happy New Year All :salute