Hardware & Technical Early for a computer spec check?

Erimus Kamzel · Jun 27, 2013

Pazmeister said:
Will I need to upgrade? I want to run this game on MAX with a resolution of 1920 x 1080.

I have at the minute:

Windows 8
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5870 Vapor-X OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 @3ghz
Asus Rampage Formula Intel X48 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2
Kingston HyperX 8GB (4x2GB) DDR2 PC2-6400
Sandisk Extreme SSD

I know people have moved onto Core i7 BUT if I do change CPU my motherboard and RAM will need renewing as well unless I just change my graphics card! Please give me IDEAL machine and what YOU suggest thanks

I would also appreciate some advice on what specs to aim for. I don't have room for a desktop, so it'll be a laptop I'll be getting. Budget would be no more than £600 - £700 unfortunately if I start saving for it now in time for February/March 2014

. I'm not too concerned about playing ED in full max details, medium to high would be nice. Smoothness of game play would be my priority.

Edit:

I've seen these in my price range but really don't know which would suit an Eve Dangerous type game the best...

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Products/cat/Laptops/refine/max~700$min~600$46567~59712

Would be very grateful if someone could offer guidance and their opinions on the listed laptops.

Cheers!

Lestat · Jun 28, 2013

Jaitinder Singh said:
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer...ng-battlefield-4-and-call-of-duty-performance

I read the above article. What I found interesting was the final paragraph which suggests that as there are AMD bits in the Xbox one and PS4 that games designers might optimize more toward AMD hardware. Does anyone have any thoughts how/if this affect Elite?

I think the best idea is wait and see. Before quoting any URL. Until we see facts it hard to go which is good.

Jaitinder Singh · Jun 28, 2013

Erimus said:
I would also appreciate some advice on what specs to aim for. I don't have room for a desktop, so it'll be a laptop

I also am aiming for a laptop. I'm holding fire on any purchase until the last possible moment. My thoughts at the moment run along three lines of thought.

1. Probable low/medium res outcome with Intel integrated graphics Iris Pro 5200
2. Probable medium/high res outcome with intel CPU and Nvidia/AMD GPU pairing.
3. Likely Hi res outcome using something like the MSI GX70, AMD CPU/GPU based system

1 is only a option if the system requirements are not high. I can see the attraction of an AMD based system in terms of bang for buck. An example of something that might fit scenario 2 would be:

http://www.trustedreviews.com/samsung-series-7-ultra-np740u3e_Laptop_review

I think it best to wait til the last possible moment unless you desperately need a laptop now for other purposes.

SnowGhost · Jun 28, 2013

Jaitinder Singh said:
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer...ng-battlefield-4-and-call-of-duty-performance

I read the above article. What I found interesting was the final paragraph which suggests that as there are AMD bits in the Xbox one and PS4 that games designers might optimize more toward AMD hardware. Does anyone have any thoughts how/if this might affect Elite?

AMD designed the both the CPU and the GPU for both Xbox one and PS4.

And it makes very little difference for Elite : Dangerous.

Calebe · Jun 28, 2013

I just built a new gaming rig, the specs are:

i7 4770K Intel CPU (Over clocked to 4.3 GHZ)
Asus Z87-Plus Motherboard
16 Gig of 1600 Corsair Ram
256 Gig Samsung Pro SSD
Corsair 128 Gig SSD force Series Drive
WD 1 Terabye Drive
WD 750 Gig Drive
Corsair 850(HX) Watt semi modular Power Supply (7 year warranty)
Corsair 600T Case
and using a GTX 580 Video Card awaiting the 800 series next year.
Samsung 27 inch 1920x1080 1MS refresh rate monitor.

I think that should max out Elite Dangerous.

Calebe

Slopey · Jun 29, 2013

If you're running multimonitor/tripleheaded for surround/eyefinity gaming, then ATI is the better bet.

Nvidia can now do surround with one card with the 6xx and better series, but in my experience it has a few issues whereas ATI is rock solid.

I've gone from ATI to Nvidia 680 just recently, and the card has a habit of dropping out of the native resolution on one or more monitors, giving odd outputs after reboots etc.

Eyefinity is miles better than the Nvidia surround support so if you want to run triple headed, I'd go ATI every time.

Hopefully that situation will improve otherwise I'll have to swap out the 680 as it's getting to be a real pain in the neck having to take 2-3 mins fiddling with resolution settings everytime I want to play as the card has screwed about with the resolution of the surround screen.

Lestat · Jun 30, 2013

I think that very Slopey. Depending on the people and the Which make the best Graphics card at the time.

Now in your case. I would suggest play around with Different drivers and research on that problem. Which programs do you have issue with.

SnowGhost · Jun 30, 2013

Erimus said:
I would also appreciate some advice on what specs to aim for. I don't have room for a desktop, so it'll be a laptop I'll be getting. Budget would be no more than £600 - £700 unfortunately if I start saving for it now in time for February/March 2014 . I'm not too concerned about playing ED in full max details, medium to high would be nice. Smoothness of game play would be my priority.

Edit:

I've seen these in my price range but really don't know which would suit an Eve Dangerous type game the best...

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Products/cat/Laptops/refine/max~700$min~600$46567~59712

Would be very grateful if someone could offer guidance and their opinions on the listed laptops.

Cheers!

Laptops always suck for games, unless you buy a high end alienware type of machine. WHich is out of your budget.

Of them, I like the Asus n56vz (it wasn't listed but it's the n56vm with a better video card)

I'd recommend looking into a MiniITX based system for a small neat sized unit.

Cody · Jun 30, 2013

Erimus said:
... but really don't know which would suit an Eve Dangerous type game the best...

What? Eve Dangerous? <chortles>

Lestat · Jun 30, 2013

SnowGhost said:
Laptops always suck for games, unless you buy a high end alienware type of machine. WHich is out of your budget.

Of them, I like the Asus n56vz (it wasn't listed but it's the n56vm with a better video card)

I'd recommend looking into a MiniITX based system for a small neat sized unit.

Not everyone has the room for a desktop and a monitor. Some people might want to move around. Now for Erimus. Go on Notebook review and find the pros and cons of the laptops you are looking at and ask questions there. Like what type of games can you play on a laptop and such.

Now for my laptop even at 3 years old it can still play Crisis 3.

Aewarin Jameson · Jun 30, 2013

If you're thinking of buying a laptop to play ED upon it then 2 things spring to mind:

(1) The Intel 5000 series integrated chipset, whilst reasonable at what it does, will suck really badly for ED. It just lacks the power that dedicated graphics cards have

(2) Upgrading a laptop once you have bought it will be incredibly difficult so I would strongly urge you to wait until the game is out and buy something then (as what you can get now that will run it - like Alienware - should be cheaper then). If you need a laptop now though buy something cheap and "not designed for games" and buy something else next year.

I have a Samsung Series 7 laptop that I use for work / gaming and it's perfect for all modern games .. come 2014 I expect there to be more powerful and cheaper laptops out there to upgrade to ... best things come to those who wait

Lestat · Jun 30, 2013

LOL I found upgrading a laptop pretty easy. As long as the graphics card is dedicated and you do your research first. We can take my laptop.

Alienware M17x r2. I have Dual ati 5870 Crossfire mode It 3 years old. I can buy a dual ati 6970 or a Single ati 7970. If I was really bold I would modify my Power brick or under volt the graphics cards and run Dual ati 7970.

There are issue. Like you might have to manually control your fans. using programs like speedfan or might lose function of the hdmi. Now if my system was still the Dual ati 4870 yes I would of upgraded to Dual ati 6970 or a single 7970. I am debating Ati 7970 It only US only 380 Euros. Which is $494 US dollors.

I only know of 7 Manufactures systems that can be upgraded.

Aewarin Jameson · Jun 30, 2013

Lestat said:
I only know of 7 Manufactures systems that can be upgraded.

Which is great if you happen to purchase one of them

Erimus Kamzel · Jun 30, 2013

SnowGhost said:
Laptops always suck for games, unless you buy a high end alienware type of machine. WHich is out of your budget.

Of them, I like the Asus n56vz (it wasn't listed but it's the n56vm with a better video card)

I'd recommend looking into a MiniITX based system for a small neat sized unit.

Cheers SnowGhost :smilie:

That Asus n56vm is an I-5 dual core. I see the Acer Aspire V3-571G is £20 more but is an I-7 Quad Core Processor and a better card (I think). There's also the MSI CX61 Haswell for £650. What do you think of those two?

Erimus Kamzel · Jun 30, 2013

Cody said:
What? Eve Dangerous? <chortles>

You know what I meant LOL

Erimus Kamzel · Jun 30, 2013

Lestat said:
Not everyone has the room for a desktop and a monitor. Some people might want to move around. Now for Erimus. Go on Notebook review and find the pros and cons of the laptops you are looking at and ask questions there. Like what type of games can you play on a laptop and such.

Now for my laptop even at 3 years old it can still play Crisis 3.

Yeah unfortunately a desktop is out of the question for me so it has to be a laptop. I'm not too bothered about being able to upgrade it as I'm not a big gamer these days. Elite Dangerous and Football Manager will probably be the only games I'll play.

I'll check out that site, thanks

Beachlight7 · Jun 30, 2013

The next generation of games will use lots of VRAM, best get a video card with 6GB+.
Or get a PS4 which is the cheapest way to guarantee optimisation for playing a next gen game.

Lestat · Jun 30, 2013

Beachlight7 said:
The next generation of games will use lots of VRAM, best get a video card with 6GB+.
Or get a PS4 which is the cheapest way to guarantee optimisation for playing a next gen game.

I did see your post on Star Citizen. The mod there said they will not be making that game for consoles. Not sure about Elite Dangerous. But you might want to find out. I don't think you want to give people in Elite false hope. Unless your 100% Positive they will make Elite Dangerous for Consoles.

Liqua said:
Which is great if you happen to purchase one of them

That why you use website like Notebookreview.com To find out and then you do A lot of research.

Erimus said:
Yeah unfortunately a desktop is out of the question for me so it has to be a laptop. I'm not too bothered about being able to upgrade it as I'm not a big gamer these days. Elite Dangerous and Football Manager will probably be the only games I'll play.

I'll check out that site, thanks

I hear you. I am looking to upgrade my current unit or buy a new unit.

Other things you can do not sure in UK. See if they family member who going to school see if they can get a Student discounts or wait until at the end of the year. Current models tend to be at a lower cost. The best way to find this out. Look at the oldest review of that current laptop. To help determine when the new release will be out. Because they tend to have sells of older units or on refurbished units. This could help lower the cost so you can buy a faster system.

My other Option for a setup will be Clevo P570WM
Intel Core i7-3970X Processor Extreme Edition 3.5GHz (Max Turbo Frequency 4GHz), 15MB Smart Cache, 6 Cores 8GB, PC3-12800/1600Mhz DDR3 - 2 x 4GB, Dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M w/4GB GDDR5 (total of 8GB) in SLI mode*, 750GB/7200rpm 16MB Cache Buffer SATA-300.
*What I found out. Each graphics card use it own memory frame buffer memory to render a 3D application.

Beachlight7 · Jun 30, 2013

Lestat said:
I did see your post on Star Citizen. The mod there said they will not be making that game for consoles. Not sure about Elite Dangerous. But you might want to find out. I don't think you want to give people in Elite false hope. Unless your 100% Positive they will make Elite Dangerous for Consoles.

The hardware mod was an idiot, he banned me, he is not a staff member he just states his own opinion and enforces it. But he did point out I could get a refund, and I did, i'm no longer a backer of SC, and don't want to be with a community rep like that.
I think both games will be on consoles, perhaps Elite sooner, and it would raise more funds from game sales.

Lestat said:
Dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M w/4GB GDDR5 (total of 8GB) in SLI mode*, 750GB/7200rpm 16MB Cache Buffer SATA-300.
*What I found out. Each graphics card use it own memory frame buffer memory to render a 3D application.

For a normal PC game it can only use the total memory of 1 card though yes?
IE it would be a 4GB GDDR5 graphical game, but in 3D it would use both cards to render 4GB quality graphics at twice the frame rate, one set for each eye.
To get next gen (PS4 type) graphics in 3D and high resolution you would need 2x6GB cards in SLI.

Lestat · Jul 1, 2013

Beachlight7 said:
For a normal PC game it can only use the total memory of 1 card though yes?
IE it would be a 4GB GDDR5 graphical game, but in 3D it would use both cards to render 4GB quality graphics at twice the frame rate, one set for each eye.
To get next gen (PS4 type) graphics in 3D and high resolution you would need 2x6GB cards in SLI.

Well then it looks like this company doing false advertisement. Pro-Star

But I did get this from Nivida Geforce Q/A.

How much of a performance increase will I see with SLI technology?
The amount of performance improvement will depend on the application and its ability to scale. Several of today's hottest games see a full 2x increase in performance when using SLI technology with two graphics cards. 3-way NVIDIA SLI technology enables up to 2.8x performance increase over a single GPU. In general, applications running at higher resolutions with higher image quality settings will benefit most.

So as you can see it not all about Ram. It could be more about sharing work load while doing one project.