Hardware & Technical Computer Build to run Elite Dangerous

Black Omega

Black Omega
Well at the moment im waiting for the Mac version to come out so i can play it natively so im going to have to base my statements on other games that i have played on Mac

The MacMini we own (2012 i5 2.5gnz 8gb and HD4000 gfx) will play WoW at 45 frames a second with the detail levels set to 'fair' and 30 fps when set to 'good'

There will be a lot less clutter in the background on ED so it should be able to manage it without issue i would have though :):)

Just for comparison the Mac Pro will run at 120fps with the same settings which is pointless as the monitor can't display that many FPS!
 
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Majere

Majere
DavidTCB said:
I am hoping that I can get some opinions on what the currently known recommended PC specs [For Alpha] would be equivalent to in an APPLE MAC.

I have little understanding of all the specifications being quoted by everyone here - and zero as to how these would translate in to what would be needed in a Mac to efficiently play this game.

The reason is that I use a Mac as my music hi fi [server] system and need and want to update this now, not in six month -- preferably.

The thing is that for playing music I don't need a top level graphics card nor even the fastest processing speed but if it would work to get a slightly better Mac so I can also use that to play ED then I would like to do so.

For the purpose of playing music I only need a Mac Mini, say with Intel HD Graphics 4000 -- but I have no doubt this integrated card would not be sufficient and I assume also insufficient would be the Intel Iris Pro graphics card in the base iMac 21".

So looking to see is it worthwhile / will it work if I go the extra step up [or two] in iMacs.

And finally to the point ...

1/ Firstly, I would like to hear opinions on will a Mac be just as good as a PC in playing this game - either as a Mac program, or even as a PC program running Windows via 'bootcamp' [something I am yet to even try!!]

2/ If a Mac is fine what specs/model do I need/should I be getting? {I don't want to be spending 4k on a new Mac Pro!}

3/ Do the following specs for a 21" iMac look like they would be ample for ED?

--- 2.9GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz) with 6MB L3 cache

or --- 3.1GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 (Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz).

With --- NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M graphics processor with 1GB of GDDR5 memory.

Or would something like either of the following be considered essential

--- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 775M graphics processor with 2GB of GDDR5 memory

or --- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M with 4GB of GDDR5 memory ... ?
Click to expand...

Pure speculation at this point as we are a long way from native support.
Additionally, initial estimates for specifications were over what seems to be required. The native version might well have totally different requirements as things like memory are handled completely differently in OSX.
At a guess, I would say that any modern Mac would be enough but don't make any buying decisions based upon what I say, apart from one...
I am certain that you will not have to get a Mac Pro. Frontier would be wasting their time on making a Mac version if it was restricted to that, the install base is so small.

Hopefully someone in Alpha will be testing with a iMac and bootcamp* soon - Allen Stroud did mention he would be doing it.

* bootcamp is basically software that provides windows drivers for Mac hardware and allows you to dual-boot (have OSX on one partition and Windows on another) although you will have to pay for Windows - about £70-£80 I think.
 

Dr Wookie

Dr Wookie
I am about to try something really crazy... I'm going to see if I can get it going on my netbook :D! Wish me luck :p!

EDIT: it totally works!
 
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Thexx25

Thexx25
Dr Wookie said:
I am about to try something really crazy... I'm going to see if I can get it going on my netbook :D! Wish me luck :p!

EDIT: it totally works!
Click to expand...

Hello,

is it true ? You run te Alpha version on your notebook ?:eek:

My actual PC is a 2 years-old ASUS notebook, and i wonder if i can run the Alpha version on it, or if i better have to wait and buy an ASUS R.O.G. in a couple of weeks..
 

NeilF

NeilF
Anyone run the alpha on a older/lower power CPU yet? I'd love confirmation my Q6600 is going to run this thing smoothly...
 

Pyros

P
NeilF said:
Anyone run the alpha on a older/lower power CPU yet? I'd love confirmation my Q6600 is going to run this thing smoothly...
Click to expand...

well, Dr. Wookie (above) that run the alpha in a netbook :eek: and it worked - even was smooth at low res.

The Q6600 should be over 8 times more powerful than the Atom powered "thingy" (exact processor was not specified).

Caveat: it only tested alpha, you should also consider your GPU. But.. damn! :D
 

PvtTUX

P
NeilF said:
Anyone run the alpha on a older/lower power CPU yet? I'd love confirmation my Q6600 is going to run this thing smoothly...
Click to expand...

COSMOS has a Q6600 and appears to be running well on high settings but with a slow down on the last mission I seem to remember reading somewhere else.

I built my brother a cheap system for £200 around the Q6600 hence my curiosity, I think it will cope for the few times he gets the chance to play it.

Here is what Cosmo said "I've yet to watch the dev diary.. been running the game

First off.. I want to say I've had it working and got to the second scenario..

The game looks great. On my meager system with everything on high, v sync off, 1080p AA etc.. I am getting 40fps+ Thats a Q6600 and a HD 6790..

edit: fps varies with 25 fps with lots going but usually 35+

THis is great guys

I'm trying to learn to fly.. first impressions are that I need a HOTAS or controller. mouse is hard to use.. gonna try to get keys sorted.

I'll be gone most of the day on this but Frontier.. this is fantastic from what I have seen. "
 

NeilF

NeilF
PvtTUX said:
"The game looks great. On my meager system with everything on high, v sync off, 1080p AA etc.. I am getting 40fps+ Thats a Q6600 and a HD 6790..

edit: fps varies with 25 fps with lots going but usually 35+"
Click to expand...
That's very good news then!

Is the Q6600 overclocked? Mine's running at 3.4ghz so that's a reasonable boost there. And then I also have a high spec 7870 graphics card too...

So I'm hoping I'm good to go on this machine :)
 

PvtTUX

P
No idea I'm afraid, drop him a PM ?

3.4 is a good overclock indeed, I set my brothers to 3.0 just to be safe, too many options in the bios and I got scared I fried something :eek:
 

Vingtetun

Vingtetun
AMD Phenom II x4 (3.4GHz)
4GB Ram
Lowly ATI Radeon 5700
OCZ Vertex 2 SSD
Logitech Attack3 Joystick (might need to improve that one)
G15 Keyboard
Razer DeathAdder Mouse
Twin monitor setup

Should be OK.
 

xyphic

X
I noted this in the SLI thread in the PBF, but thought it worth noting here. I created a custom SLI profile for my dual GT650M cards (laptop) and found that forcing AFR2 seems to give a good performance boost, and I haven't noticed any graphical glitches. SLIAA and SFR appear to work, but without much of a performance increase. AFR cripples the frame rate.

Obviously YMMV, but it works for me and allowed me to play all scenarios smoothly with all graphical settings on high. The frame rate dropped on the final scenario, but didn't drop below 30 FPS. I'm happy with that!

This is on a Lenovo Y500 laptop.
 

Dr Wookie

Dr Wookie
Thexx25 said:
Hello,

is it true ? You run te Alpha version on your notebook ?:eek:

My actual PC is a 2 years-old ASUS notebook, and i wonder if i can run the Alpha version on it, or if i better have to wait and buy an ASUS R.O.G. in a couple of weeks..
Click to expand...

The framerate isn't great, but it's consistent. You would definitely be better off with a beefier machine (definitely upgrade at some point!) but you could run it to get an idea of the controls and potter around the first area.

I am trying it on 3 machines right now :). My new pc (3dmark firestrike score 3980, a bit better than a gaming laptop) runs it at 1280x720 with high settings at 30 fps (and looks great on my 40" tv). It will run 1920x1080 at something like 15 fps which feels fine (if a like bit sluggish); it should be ok for single player but not multiplayer. I've been trying out other resolutions and settings to see what I like best.

By the way, combat is totally viable using just the 360 gamepad (it is fantastically well thought out rather than simple). So console ports should be very doable without losing anything. This is a marvelous achievement in my eyes!
 
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NeilF

NeilF
Vingtetun said:
AMD Phenom II x4 (3.4GHz)
4GB Ram
Lowly ATI Radeon 5700
OCZ Vertex 2 SSD
Logitech Attack3 Joystick (might need to improve that one)
G15 Keyboard
Razer DeathAdder Mouse
Twin monitor setup

Should be OK.
Click to expand...

Sorry, and this is running it well?
 

Squicker

S
NeilF said:
Yep, I still recon my 5yr old Q6600 (3.4ghz) with a 7870xt graphics card will run this in highest detail a more than adequate frame rate :)
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I certainly hope it runs it, as we want everyone involved and the rig is no slouch, but I'd be disturbed if it ran in it highest detail, as that would imply highest detail is not in fact very high.

I reckon the latest PCs ought to be capable of double (SLI'd GTX780Ti even more so) the gaming throughput, and if FD aren't offering options to consume that, then the game will have a rather short life-span.

Graphics aren't the be all and end all, but people do expect modern games to test their kit (for all the right reasons).
 
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Dr Wookie

Dr Wookie
NeilF said:
Yep, I still recon my 5yr old Q6600 (3.4ghz) with a 7870xt graphics card will run this in highest detail a more than adequate frame rate :)
Click to expand...

I am also running the alpha on a new midrange pc (i7 4770 and gimped gtx 660). Here is a video I made at 1920x1080 with settings on high, and it's definitely struggling! It is very pretty though!
 

Pyros

P
Squicker said:
I certainly hope it runs it, as we want everyone involved and the rig is no slouch, but I'd be disturbed if it ran in it highest detail, as that would imply highest detail is not in fact very high.

I reckon the latest PCs ought to be capable of double (SLI'd GTX780Ti even more so) the gaming throughput, and if FD aren't offering options to consume that, then the game will have a rather short life-span.

Graphics aren't the be all and end all, but people do expect modern games to test their kit (for all the right reasons).
Click to expand...

Yes, but also depends on resolution. The top cards (290s and 780s) are "overpowered" for anything below 1440p/1080p120fps+
 
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