oggy1953 Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 hi All, Advice please. My son wants to 'play' Train Simulator and other similar games. My laptop is not powerful enough and our desk top is cream crackered, so will need a new computer. We have been told its down to the graphics card, BUT what are we looking for ? Also how much ram/ Hard drive GB would we need ?.....from confused Oggy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 The biggest HDD you can afford to have installed. MSTS and its add-ons (and there will be many!) take quite a bit of HDD space. A graphics card of 512Mb runs MSTS fine on my "old technology" AMD Athlon-powered PC, but for something like Trainz or Rail Simulator, I'd need a dual-core / quad-core CPU and motherboard, plus a graphics card of at least 1Gb. RAM? As much as the motherboard will allow you to cram in - I think the current dual-core/quad-core setups will permit at least 4Gb RAM, if not more. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium skipepsi Posted February 17, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 17, 2012 Best idea I think is to get hold of the game and read the ideal spec off the back at the bottom. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oggy1953 Posted February 17, 2012 Author Share Posted February 17, 2012 Best idea I think is to get hold of the game and read the ideal spec off the back at the bottom. Hi, Yes we did that, and our desk top should have been fine, BUT it would take an age to load and the scenery would form up slowly as the train went along. To be honest we got rid of the game but the boy wants another one and keeps on. Dont want to put him off as he leaves school next year and eventualy wants to be a driver. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oggy1953 Posted February 17, 2012 Author Share Posted February 17, 2012 The biggest HDD you can afford to have installed. MSTS and its add-ons (and there will be many!) take quite a bit of HDD space. A graphics card of 512Mb runs MSTS fine on my "old technology" AMD Athlon-powered PC, but for something like Trainz or Rail Simulator, I'd need a dual-core / quad-core CPU and motherboard, plus a graphics card of at least 1Gb. RAM? As much as the motherboard will allow you to cram in - I think the current dual-core/quad-core setups will permit at least 4Gb RAM, if not more. Thanks Horsetan, we guessed we would need about 4GB of ram, the info on the graphics card will help, I'll start trawling the internet. PC World do one about that spec, but its £980...OUCH Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Thanks Horsetan, we guessed we would need about 4GB of ram, the info on the graphics card will help, I'll start trawling the internet. PC World do one about that spec, but its £980...OUCH On my PC, MSTS is still smooth with 2Gb RAM, but the far more complex (non-Microsoft) train simulators which have been released in the last few years demand much more. My PC was built years ago by "trebor" of this Forum - it was built with an eye to lasting as long as possible, so a lot of capacity was put in. I think he comfortably achieved that aim, and it still works to this day (a decade later) on XP, with only the odd upgrade / addition of bits of hardware here and there. Mind you, its weak spot has been the PSU - I'm on my fourth one. Buy the biggest spec / capacity PC you can afford, on the basis that you're not going to touch it internally for years to come. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldgunner Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I play Train Simulator 2012 regularly at 1920x1080, I get an average framerate of 20fps+ My specs are as follows: Intel Core i5 760 @2.80ghz 8GB DDR3 AMD Radeon HD 6850 1GB I built it myself, and for the base pc (without speakers and 24'' monitor) it cost me £600. I plan to go up to 16GB ram in the near future as well as swapping out for better graphics. HDD is only about 500gb. Avoid PCWorld like the plague, as they make their systems worse with the guff they supply. Get a friend to build a machine for you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 ..... Get a friend to build a machine for you. I did! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katier Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 its NOT the graphics card memory that matters so much as the processor on it. when it comes to gaming computers its actually best, and pretty economical, to build your own. I would look for a AMD based system as they are cheaper than Intel and plenty powerfull enough. I run a triple screen racing simulator on a AMD processor and ATI graphics card and see 100+ fps.. which is well over a minimum level (50-60 is roughly the ideal minimum). when I get home tonight I will figure out a sensible spec for you but you should be able to get sorted for about £400-500, maybe a little more if you need new monitor, keyboard and rodent. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Ian J. Posted February 17, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 17, 2012 I built my own PC back in 2006, had an SSD upgrade and maxed out the memory to 8GB, got a second hand top end CPU from that period on eBay and it's still able to knock the stuffing out of most off the shelf machines today. Mind you, it wasn't cheap. A good-ish site for help and info on custom builds is Toms Hardware Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewC Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Until this last one I've always built my own. May sound strange but keep your eye on Aldi. They sometimes have discounts on Medion PCs. They're a good starting point and for what I wanted about £200 cheaper than building the same spec. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted February 17, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 17, 2012 I enjoyed building my own PC's but now they are so much cheaper plus as Andrew says, often cheaper ready built than buying all the components, I havent built one for some years now. Asso I am tending to buy the smaller PC's which generally have bespoke motherboards etc in them. Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Torper Posted February 17, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 17, 2012 PC World do one about that spec, but its £980...OUCH As others have said, avoid PC World. There are lots of small specialist PC companies - for example, Arbico (no connection other than a satisfied customer) will sell you a PC with an Intel i5 processor, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, 1GB graphics card, and Windows 7 installed for a pound under £500. But no monitor, keyboard or mouse which is fine if you already have these - otherwise they're extra. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted February 17, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 17, 2012 My last few PC's came from Amazon an were about the cheapest around but you do have to watch out as sometimes they can be the dearest. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dutch_Master Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 +1 on building your own +1 on using AMD as your basic platform Intel may have the name, and reputation, but AMD delivers much more bang for your Pound then Intel does. Simply said: if you compare similar spec CPU's, the AMD one is significantly cheaper then Intel's offering. Besides, the latest AMD CPU's have a GPU (videocard) onboard, and this being rebranded by AMD as an APU. With an ATI videocard (ATI is owned by AMD) you can get high-spec performance out of the set if you use an A6 or A8 APU. I build a new desktop last year, with an A6 APU and 16 GB RAM on a Gigabyte M85M-US2H mainboard. I did use an nVidia videocard, as it has better Linux support. You can re-use the old PC case, monitor and peripherals and be done for (significantly) less then 400 quid. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oggy1953 Posted February 17, 2012 Author Share Posted February 17, 2012 Hi All, Thanks ever so much for your replies, it has given me a much better idea of what we will need. I think i may visit our local Computer repair shop next week. They have seemed reasonable in the past and do build pc's. At least i wont look a complete numpty now and may even come across as actualey knowing what i want. I may as well get a quote. Cheers Peter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katier Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Now I'm home and have remembered!!!! Important bits :- RAM - get 4gb minimum. Graphics Card - ATI 6850 or 6870 - simply mention the model - doesn't matter which specific version of them you get. 6870 would be the better choice. Power Supply - Make sure he puts at least a 550, preferably 650W in it - Get a brand named one - NOT a cheap one ( cheap ones tend to underperform, be unrealiable and have a nasty habit of destroying stuff when they go bang). Processor - AMD FX-4100 Things like hard drive, these days doesn't really matter, all will have plenty enough capacity. DON'T be persuaded to go Intel, many places offer it saying they are better.. not in the same price bracket they aren't and the FX-4100 will be perfect. Quick basic system to give you an idea :- MSI ATI Radeon HD 6870 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card AMD Bulldozer FX-4 Quad Core 4100 Black Edition 3.60Ghz (Socket AM3+) Processor Antec High Current Gamer 620W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply Asus M5A78L-M LX AMD 760G (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard Corsair Value 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Low Voltage Dual-Channel Kit Subtotal £387.92 Rest of the PC can probably be had for around £120 - not including monitor, keyboard or rodent. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Torper Posted February 18, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 18, 2012 Hmmmm.... You could buy a ready built fully guaranteed PC to these specs for less than £400. That would also include the "rest of the PC", eg case, HDD, DVD writer, cabling, fans, etc., but not monitor, keyboard and mouse, or, for that matter, the operating system - for Windows 7 64-bit, you'd have to add £90. Yes, it's tempting to build your own - but if you don't know much about it, buy something ready built. IMO, you'll frequently find it cheaper and you'll have someone to turn to if it goes wrong. DT Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenBR Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 What operating system are you going to use? 32 bit os is only capable of reading 3 gig of memory 64 bit os is something way over 16 gig This includes Windows 7 Vista and XP. Ask yourself these questions before you jump Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katier Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Hmmmm.... You could buy a ready built fully guaranteed PC to these specs for less than £400. yes but that would a system completely useless for gaming. gaming systems are more like double that. Guarantee is no different between build your own or pre built.. well with the exception that you can repair a self build yourself. You can RMA A part in a few days typically while a complete system can take weeks.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Torper Posted February 18, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 18, 2012 yes but that would a system completely useless for gaming. gaming systems are more like double that. The specs are those that you yourself recommended as a "Quick basic system to give you an idea" - only difference is that the ready-built one works out at over £100 cheaper than the DIY one. Guarantee is no different between build your own or pre built.. well with the exception that you can repair a self build yourself. It seems to me to be hugely different. Buy a ready build and it goes wrong - send it back, have the fault diagnosed, and have it repaired and returned working. DIY and it goes wrong (or doesn't work at all) - puzzle out what the fault might be, get a replacement part, see if it solves the problem, if it doesn't..... I appreciate that the scenario muight be different if you know all about computers - if you don't, I still recommend the ready-build. DT DT Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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