Okay, what Equipment would work???

[rickintucson]

Hi guys,

A lot has been said about ts2012 being a computer hog, and a lot of testing has occurred.

For me the novice, if you were building a computer to work with RW, what would be your equipment choices?

I dont own the mint, but im not afraid to spend some extra to get good frame rates, so what would be the best equip recommendations?

Thanks guys,

Rick

[arizonachris]

Hi, Rick. Let's start off with what system you already have. Could be that just adding a better video card and some more RAM can make a big difference. Also what version of Windows. I think at this point, Win 7 64 bit is your best bet. it can use the 8Gb of RAM you should have.

Now, a little advice I have said many a time. DO NOT upgrade just for RW. You may or may not get a boost in performance. I was lucky on my newest rebuild, got a nice increase in frame rates, but I also spent about $800. But, as I say, I upgraded because it was time. New motherboard, CPU, DDR3 RAM, video card. All in all worth every penny.

[rickintucson]

Hi Chris, thanks for the reply.

Here is what Ive got:

Windows Vista
4 gigs of ram
500 gig hard drive
400 watt power supply that is changing speeds up and down-not sure why....
Internal card reader not working.
NVIDIA Geforce 9600 GS card
I do operate with two 28" I-inc monitors, 1920 X 1200, but I don't use them both for the game. I use them for Excel programming. One monitor is fed by the digital output, the other by the analog output. I would like to continue with this ability.

Let me know what you would advise.

Thanks!
Rick
rickintucson Posts: 32Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2012 2:48 pm


Top

[arizonachris]

OK, need a little more info about your system: CPU type and speed, RAM type and speed. Run this program: http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Sys ... ndra.shtml (click on the arrow next to Download) Post the motherboard info here.

You should dump Vista, get Win 7 64 bit. Hard drive should be OK, depends on how full it is. Terabyte drives are fast and cheap. Video card could use an upgrade, I got a GTS560Ti for $250 and it's nice. Adding more RAM could be a problem. You could just add 2 sticks for 8Gb total, but mis matching memory can cause instability. 2x4Gb sticks would be best. Do you need an internal card reader? You could get one that mounts in like a CD/ DVD drive in the front.

Power supply is being worked pretty hard, what you hear is the cooling fan kicking up speed when the PSU heats up. I would get at least a 600 watt PSU. Rule of thumb with power supplies: don't get the cheap one, the heavier they are the better built they are.

[rickintucson]

Thanks for the response Chris. It seems I have 8 gigs of ram, and 750 gig HD, didn't remember that.

Here is the info, probably more than needed but Ink here is cheap.

Computer
Model : HP Pavilion NC695AA-ABA m9515y 103C_53316J
Serial Number : MXU9070B8J
Chassis : HP Desktop
Mainboard : MSI Aspen
Serial Number : OEM
BIOS : Phoenix Technologies, LTD 5.09 12/23/2008
Bus(es) : ISA X-Bus PCI PCIe IMB USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
Total Memory : 8GB DIMM DDR2

Processors
Processor : AMD Phenom(tm) 9850 Quad-Core Processor (4C 1.8GHz/2.5GHz, 1.3GHz IMC, 4x 512kB L2, 2MB L3)

Chipset
Memory Controller : HP RS780/880 Host Bridge 2x 1.3GHz (2.59GHz) FSB
Memory Controller : AMD F10 Athlon 64/Opteron/Sempron HT Hub 2x 1.3GHz (2.59GHz) FSB, 2x 4GB DIMM DDR2 2x 288MHz (576MHz)

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : Samsung M3 78T5663QZ3-CF7 2GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-6400U DDR2-800 (5-6-6-18 3-24-6-3)
Memory Module : Samsung M3 78T5663QZ3-CF7 2GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-6400U DDR2-800 (5-6-6-18 3-24-6-3)
Memory Module : Samsung M3 78T5663QZ3-CF7 2GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-6400U DDR2-800 (5-6-6-18 3-24-6-3)
Memory Module : Samsung M3 78T5663QZ3-CF7 2GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-6400U DDR2-800 (5-6-6-18 3-24-6-3)

Video System
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GS (48 SM4.0 1.25GHz, 768MB DDR2 998MHz 192-bit, PCIe 2.00 x16)
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GS (48 SM4.0 1.25GHz, 768MB DDR2 998MHz 192-bit, PCIe 2.00 x16)

Graphics Processor
OpenCL GP Processor : NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GS (48SP 6C 1.25GHz, 768MB DDR2 998MHz 192-bit)
Compute Shader Processor : NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GS (48SP 1.25GHz, 768MB DDR2 998MHz 192-bit)
CUDA GP Processor : NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GS (48SP 6C 1.25GHz, 768MB DDR2 998MHz 192-bit)

Storage Devices
AMD 1+0 RAID Ready (750GB, RAID) : 698GB (C:) (D:)
EPSON Storage (USB2) : N/A (F:)
Generic-Compact Flash (USB2) : N/A (G:)
Generic-SM/xD-Picture (USB2) : N/A (H:)
Generic-SD/MMC (USB2) : N/A (I:)
Generic-MS/MS-Pro (USB2) : N/A (J:)
HL-DT-STBDDVDRW GBC-H20L (686.9MB, RAID, BD-R, DVD+-RW, CD-RW) : 655MB (E:)

Logical Storage Devices
HP (C:) : 685GB (NTFS) @ AMD 1+0 RAID Ready (750GB, RAID)
FACTORY_IMAGE (D:) : 14GB (NTFS) @ AMD 1+0 RAID Ready (750GB, RAID)
(E:) : (686.9MB, RAID, BD-R, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Removable Drive (F:) : N/A @ EPSON Storage (USB2)
Removable Drive (G:) : N/A @ Generic-Compact Flash (USB2)
Removable Drive (H:) : N/A @ Generic-SM/xD-Picture (USB2)
Removable Drive (I:) : N/A @ Generic-SD/MMC (USB2)
Removable Drive (J:) : N/A @ Generic-MS/MS-Pro (USB2)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : HP IXP SB600/700/800 SMBUS Controller
LPC Hub Controller 2 : HP SB700/800 LPC host controller
LPC Legacy Controller 1 : T0 B0-73
Audio Device : HP IXP SB600 High Definition Audio Controller
Audio Codec : Realtek Semi 888 High Definition Audio
Audio Device : Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1290 (Model 85xxx, Combo ATSC/QAM, 888 DIF, SW Encode)
Disk Controller : HP SB700/800 SATA Controller [Non-RAID5 mode]
Disk Controller : HP SB700/800 IDE
USB Controller 1 : HP SB700/800 USB OHCI0 Controller
USB Controller 2 : HP SB700/800 USB OHCI1 Controller
USB Controller 3 : HP SB700/800 USB EHCI Controller
USB Controller 4 : HP SB700/800 USB OHCI0 Controller
USB Controller 5 : HP SB700/800 USB OHCI1 Controller
USB Controller 6 : HP SB700/800 USB EHCI Controller
USB Controller 7 : HP SB700/800 USB OHCI2 Controller
FireWire/1394 Controller 1 : HP IEEE 1394 Host Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : ATI SB700 SMBus

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows Vista Home 6.00.6002 (Service Pack 2)
Platform Compliance : x64

Windows Experience Index
Current System : 5.6


Let me know, and THANKS!!
Rick

[rickintucson]

Okay here is more. I wasn't sure what all you needed, but this was more on the CPU etc.

SiSoftware Sandra

Processor
Manufacturer : AMD
Model : AMD Phenom(tm) 9850 Quad-Core Processor
Speed : 1.8GHz
Minimum/Maximum/Turbo Speed : 1.25GHz - 2.5GHz
Peak Processing Performance (PPP) : 28.8GFLOPS
Adjusted Peak Performance (APP) : 8.64WG
Cores per Processor : 4 Unit(s)
Type : Quad-Core
Bus : HyperTransport
Package : Socket AM2r2/AM3
Multiplier : 25/2x
Minimum/Maximum/Turbo Multiplier : 25/4x - 25/2x
Front Side Bus Speed : 144MHz
Generation : G8 / T15
Name : M2 Phenom X4 (Agena) 65nm 2.2-2.8GHz
Revision/Stepping : 1623 : 2 / 3
Stepping Mask : DR-B3
Microcode : MU1F020383
Core Voltage Rating : 1.200V
Min/Max Core Voltage : 1.050V - 1.200V
Core Current Rating : 18.600A
Min/Max Core Current : 12.400A - 18.600A
Maximum Power : 111.600W - 111.600W
Maximum Physical / Virtual Addressing : 48-bit / 48-bit
Native Page Size : 4kB
Large Page Size : 2MB

Co-Processor (FPU)
Speed : 1.8GHz
Type : Integrated
Revision/Stepping : 1623 : 2 / 3

Memory Controller
Integrated in Processor : Yes
Speed : 1.3GHz
Multiplier : 9x
Minimum/Maximum/Turbo Multiplier : 9x - 9x
Core Voltage Rating : 1.200V
Min/Max Core Voltage : 1.200V - 1.200V
Maximum Power : 22.320W

L1D (1st Level) Data Cache
Size : 64kB, Synchronous, Write-Back, 2-way, Exclusive, 64 byte line size
TLB - Translation Lookaside Buffer : 4kB : 48 255-way (192kB); 2MB : 48 255-way (96MB)

L1I (1st Level) Instruction Cache
Size : 64kB, Synchronous, Write-Back, 2-way, 64 byte line size
TLB - Translation Lookaside Buffer : 4kB : 32 255-way (128kB); 2MB : 16 255-way (32MB)

L2 (2nd Level) Cache
Size : 512kB, ECC, Synchronous, Write-Back, 16-way, Exclusive, 64 byte line size
TLB - Translation Lookaside Buffer : 4kB : 512 4-way (2MB); 2MB : 128 2-way (256MB)
Speed : 1.8GHz
Multiplier : 1x

L3 (3rd Level) Cache
Size : 2MB, ECC, Synchronous, Write-Back, 32-way, 64 byte line size, 4 threads sharing
Speed : 1.3GHz
Multiplier : 1/9x

Upgradeability
Socket/Slot : Socket AM2
Supported Speed(s) : 3GHz

Processor Power Management
1.8GHz 25/2x Engaged : 1.200V 18.600A 89.280W
900MHz 25/4x : 1.050V 12.400A 52.080W

Power Policy(es)
Name : High performance
Processor Throttling Support : No
Throttle Range : 100% - 100%
Minimum/Maximum/Turbo Speed : 2.5GHz - 2.5GHz

Sensor
Model : Winbond W83 627DHGA LPC
Version : 12.01
Mainboard Specific Support : No

Sensor
Model : AMD K8 F10M2 CPU [P0]
Version : 2.03
Mainboard Specific Support : No

Sensors
CPU Core Power : 89.280W
CPU Temperature : 49.00°C
Auto Fan Speed Control : Yes
2766rpm
CPU DC Line : 1.200V
CPU DC Line : 18.600A


Performance Enhancing Tips
Tip 223 : CPU speed, under load, lower than rated speed. Check power management settings.
Tip 210 : Mainboard supports faster CPUs, so the CPU can be upgraded when needed.
Notice 224 : SMBIOS/DMI information may be inaccurate.
Tip 2 : Double-click tip or press Enter while a tip is selected for more information about the tip.


Let me know if you need anything else.

Thanks,
Rick

[PapaXpress]

TMI

The basics of motherboard, CPU, memory, HD and GPU would have do it. Its been years since I worked with an AMD chip so Chris will need to chime in.

[rickintucson]

LOL! Consider me soundly rebuked with class!

Wasn't sure how much was needed.

Thanks,
rick

[arizonachris]

Well, that Phenom is an early one but it's a good quad core. 2.5Ghz is a little slow, but to run a Phenom II you need a socket AM2 board. 8Gb of RAM is fine. Any of the GTX500 series above 540 are good quality cards, will run circles around that 9600.

Then a PSU at least 600 watts. And I recommend Win 7 Home Premium 64 bit, you can upgrade direct from Vista and keep all your "stuff" intact.

Oh, you could have stopped the report after the graphics processor. The rest is truley way geekier than I can speak.