Minimum to Intermediate Requirements (Alpha)

[800nate800]

As title Says. Looking for a new computer at local shops. Shooting for Something that was Win 7 64 bit. What All else should i try to get. All help is appreciated.
 

[Easyscor]

If you can wait, there will be a new terrain coming to the AvA in the next couple of weeks. It's all trees and water, so if what you buy will run that, you should be pretty good for a long time. My advice is to wait and find out what will run on it before you buy.

Remember the days when the hardware guys bragged their systems would run MS Flight Simulator? This will be the current version of that concept. I already know I'll need a new video card to run it well.

[Bizman]

Will this be a custom computer built by either yourself or the local shop?

If so, there's tons of information in the hardware section.

As Easyscor said, wait if you can. No requirements for AH3 haven't been carved in stone yet.

If you want an intermediate AH3 capable computer, there's some basic advice applicable to most anything.

A quick and rough compilation using www.partpicker.com:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yFKfTW
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yFKfTW/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($64.88 @ OutletPC) upgradeable to i5-4690K (+165) or i7-4790K (+263)
Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($82.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($46.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card  ($296.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($90.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer  ($16.45 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 OEM (64-bit)  ($86.75 @ OutletPC)
Total: $750.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-29 07:03 EDT-0400

[Chilli]

Bizman and 800nate,

I offer an analogy.  I could spend extreme amounts to buy a "good" set of golf clubs.  I would first consider, what would be my total expense¹ / and budget² (must include cost of maintaining course memberships or fees), how much practical use³ I would get from the clubs, what level⁴ golfer am I (or plan to be), customization or benefits⁵ of specialized construction materials or design, long term value⁶ (how soon will I need to upgrade, due to future advances in materials or design, in order to maintain my competitive edge, or relieve physical stress on my body).

If I already own a set of "suitable" clubs that were once considered "premium", should I only replace the pieces that would more likely improve my game performance (say putters, cutting edge drivers and / or long irons)?  Or do the sum of the replacements outweigh the "trade in" and "upgrade" cost?

I personally, almost entirely use this computer for AH.  Are there other games, or hobbies like film editing that also need to be considered in your decision?

[Puck]

The biggest cost, by far, is time.  How much of that are you going to spend on this (or other) applications that need the horsepower?  Alpha took me from ~80 to ~10 FPS.  I haven't done any graphic tweaking to see how that can be improved yet, but the cold hard fact is it's not worth a ton of money for how much time I plan to invest. 

Right now I limit myself to one off-line sortie at a time.  After I stagger back from re:Invent I'll get an account and the sortie time will be limited by how long I live.  If you plan to camp five hours a night you can justify more hardware.

[Bizman]

Chilli, I highly agree with your point. Hadn't I been in somewhat of a hurry, I might have added a few thoughts. So here they come:

'Need' and/or 'urge' along with 'budget' are the key words in any purchase. Speaking solely about AH, at the moment there's no 'need' to upgrade a system that can run AH2 at an acceptable level.

Less-than-stellar systems serve the purpose of testing better than top notch ones.  But since the Alpha is so good looking, one might get the 'urge' to get one that can show the full beauty of it.

The setup in my previous post is a rough sketch of a 'budget' gaming computer that should be capable of running most any current game at a good pace using mid to high graphics settings, including the current Alpha and likely the final AH3, too. Something like 'if you really have to get it now, this won't make you grit your teeth in the near future' -thing.

As I said, nothing has been carved in stone. Thus, generic ideas are the only ones to give to those who feel the 'urge'.

[800nate800]

Will this be a custom computer built by either yourself or the local shop?

If so, there's tons of information in the hardware section.

As Easyscor said, wait if you can. No requirements for AH3 haven't been carved in stone yet.

If you want an intermediate AH3 capable computer, there's some basic advice applicable to most anything.

A quick and rough compilation using www.partpicker.com:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yFKfTW
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yFKfTW/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($64.88 @ OutletPC) upgradeable to i5-4690K (+165) or i7-4790K (+263)
Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($82.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Mushkin Silverline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($46.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card  ($296.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($90.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer  ($16.45 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 OEM (64-bit)  ($86.75 @ OutletPC)
Total: $750.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-29 07:03 EDT-0400

i dont have 750$ bucks tho

[800nate800]

Right now in the MA. i run at most 25 frames. I cant even get the the menu of the Alpha at all. right when i click on the icon from my desktop "AHalpha.exe has stopped."

[BuckShot]

Wait till the new version comes out.

I bought what I thought was a good machine just over a year ago. I can run the current game with the graphics maxed out.

My pc runs the alpha like crap. I have to turn everything way down.

[800nate800]

Wait till the new version comes out.

I bought what I thought was a good machine just over a year ago. I can run the current game with the graphics maxed out.

My pc runs the alpha like crap. I have to turn everything way down.

yeah. but as of now i cant even get into the alpha.

[Bizman]

yeah. but as of now i cant even get into the alpha.

In your other post you were told the reasons why (no dedicated video card, not enough video memory), along with some possible solutions (get a video card with at least 512 Mb of memory, rather 1 Gb).

i dont have 750$ bucks tho

The cheapest solution I can think of is getting an abandoned computer with a Windows 7 license sticker and refurbish it. I'd be glad to give you one including a Socket 775 motherboard, E8400 Core2Duo processor and 4 GB DDR2 memory for the price of come-and-get-it, but I suppose the cost would be more than the price of a brand new computer. Anyway, equipped with a decent video card better than an Nvidia Geforce 9800 GTX that combination can run both AH2 and the Alpha. How well, depends on the video card.

[49Dallas]

Wait until AH3 is released. The longer you wait the better the computer you will be able to afford.

[Snork]

Like BuckShot says above, I bought a hot new computer a year or so ago planning to get back on line with AH. The critical aspect in the past was to insure you had enough RAM. I was concerned the 8 gb might not be enough but I went ahead knowing I could always add more if necessary. Big numbers with all the toys! Yay! Then I downloaded the alpha and got numbers not so big with everything turned up. Come to find out AH3 is more vid card memory dependent and the 2 gb I thought were overkill are marginal. After everything has settled down I'll determine just how much vid card I will need going down the road. I'm retired now and like to look at the pretty scenery on my way to get shot down.