Hardware & Technical Will my (old) PC do the trick?

moky · Oct 3, 2014

Hi there!

I am not a big gamer.
Using my PC mostely for office and internet.
I have an intel duo core 8500 with a radeon HD 6850 (1GB) and 4 GB RAM.

And now i found elite. The game i played for so long on my C64, back in the days. Will Eilite dangerous run smoothly on my PC with low detailed grafics?

I cannot buy the game and invest on my PC for playing it.
Thanks for your help.

HDRhineland · Oct 3, 2014

These are the (current) minimum hardware requirements:

Direct X 11
Quad Core CPU ( 4 x 2Ghz is a reasonable minimum)
2 GB System RAM (more is always better)
DX 10 hardware GPU with 1GB video ram
Nvidia GTX 260 or ATI 4870HD
Internet connection
Windows 7.x or Windows 8.x

Source: https://www.elitedangerous.com/about

Since you don't own a quad core cpu, this might be getting close. On the other hand maybe there is someone with a dual core, who has already tried it and it worked. Only such a person can give you 'true' feedback...

MajorEpeen · Oct 3, 2014

My guess is that it will run. Your experience however will not be optimal. The 6850 is not all bad to be fair but the CPU is somewhat older with only 2 cores. The clockspeed of your CPU is over 3Ghz however so that is a bonus.

As another mentioned perhaps someone who currently runs a dual core CPU will be able to provide more insight as to how well it will run for you, you will however need to take into account the differences in clockspeed and architecture between their PC and your PC as not all dual core CPU's are created equal.

Edit: If you are PC savvy enough you could look into changing you CPU. Older CPU's change hands for peanuts on Ebay. For a very low price you may be able to swap your CPU for a Q8400 or Q9500 or similar which would give you 2 extra cores. Of course you will need to check to make sure your motherboard supports the CPU you intend to fit.

Others may well disagree however and say that that money would be better saved up and put toward a brand new system but for the approx £30GBP that this upgrade would cost you are not going to get much these days.

Patrick_68000 · Oct 3, 2014

When the planetary landings will be released, perhaps consider a small upgrade ?

Shorn · Oct 3, 2014

moky said:
Hi there!

I am not a big gamer.
Using my PC mostely for office and internet.
I have an intel duo core 8500 with a radeon HD 6850 (1GB) and 4 GB RAM.

And now i found elite. The game i played for so long on my C64, back in the days. Will Eilite dangerous run smoothly on my PC with low detailed grafics?

I cannot buy the game and invest on my PC for playing it.
Thanks for your help.

Hi moky,

I'm playing on a core 2 duo - E8400 @3GHz with 8Gig Ram and an HD5750 -Seems to play well for me (obviously not with all the bells and whistles, but certainly enough to enjoy the game).

How long that will last as the game adds features requiring more cpu power I'm not sure - I'm kind of hoping optimisations will help to level that out!!

I'd say go for it, it's a wonderful experience and seems to have the soul of the old Elite running through it.

Shorn

Zephyriel · Oct 3, 2014

I have a Core 2 Duo 8400, 6Gb RAM and a Radeon HD7870, the game runs at max settings in 1680*1050 with FXAA on, 50-60 in space 25-30 FPS in stations, very playable, no problem. I don't know how the Radeon 6850 is but I expect you'll be able to play just fine, maybe tone down the AA and some graphic options

Sayouti · Oct 3, 2014

I'm in a similar situation to you - couldn't afford to upgrade many components of my computer but couldn't miss out on playing the game I remember so fondly from my youth.

My pc has a dual core cpu, a Radeon 4850 graphics card and is running 32 bit Vista with 3gb ram. I can't remember exact spec at the moment as I'm at work but can post it later if wanted.

It runs ok in my opinion with graphics set to medium, there are crashes, especially when jumping into system or dropping out of supercruise but I think that's not an uncommon problem and since beta 2.0 the star field sometimes doesn't load until I jump into a new star system which can make maneuvering problematic but I'm enjoying the game and it's eminently playable.

I chose to upgrade from the kickstarter package so the cost of it didn't run well was minimal (£15) but I've been pleasantly surprised.

Hope this helps.

chassumner1 · Oct 3, 2014

You should be fine. I think it will depend on your video card. Many others stated that my system would not run ED. But I have been playing for a couple of months and everything works fine. Graphics look great, good fps, no problems at all (even I was surprised). So the minimum specs that are listed for ED are simply not correct.

I am using: Dell Inspiron - Purchased new 12/2011 for $325 : AMD x2 250 Processor (Dual Core), 8 GB of ram, 3.0 Ghz, and of course I did add a Nvidia GTX-550TI video card and that is what makes the difference. Without that card this system cannot even play World of Tanks at all. So max your RAM out, and check on the video card you have or upgrade it and have fun!!!

moky · Oct 7, 2014

Thank you all for you informations.
I bought elite yesterday and it works fine.
Only in dockingstations, i have some issues, but in space, there are no problems at all. Even with high details on.
I am so happy!
Now i have to go and play...

Thank you again!

Patrick_68000 · Oct 7, 2014

Perhaps change the motherboard and take a processor AMD Athlon or Phenom X4 ? Should not too much be expensive. And powerful to play

Surfinjo · Oct 7, 2014

moky said:
Thank you all for you informations.
I bought elite yesterday and it works fine.
Only in dockingstations, i have some issues, but in space, there are no problems at all. Even with high details on.
I am so happy!
Now i have to go and play...
Thank you again!

Excellent.

I upgraded my old GPU for Elite as the one I had was a £20 210.

While Elite just sniffed contemptuously at it, I did however manage to play a number of graphical games by going into the game options and turning off or down everything. The graphics were often a bit lame but that's the price I paid for being poor.

I don't know which OS your're running but you can save a huge load of power and resources by turning off the unnecessary services.

BlackViper.com is the place to start. But remember, his set up is designed for an office admin. If you don't network, then there's loads more than can be safely turned off if you can take the time to research it.

Zeeman · Oct 7, 2014

HDRhineland said:
These are the (current) minimum hardware requirements:

Direct X 11
Quad Core CPU ( 4 x 2Ghz is a reasonable minimum)
2 GB System RAM (more is always better)
DX 10 hardware GPU with 1GB video ram
Nvidia GTX 260 or ATI 4870HD
Internet connection
Windows 7.x or Windows 8.x

Source: https://www.elitedangerous.com/about

Since you don't own a quad core cpu, this might be getting close. On the other hand maybe there is someone with a dual core, who has already tried it and it worked. Only such a person can give you 'true' feedback...

I'm running an AMD Athlon 2 920 X2 (dual core), 4GB ram, and a Gigabyte GTX750 (low profile) which will be getting upgraded to the TI version (about s good as it gets in a low profile case).

It runs well at 30fps, 1080P, with mid level settings. It does drop a tad in asteroid fields when the battles heat up, but it's still playable in those situations.

the problem with the specs requirement, is that the CPU requirement is VERY vague. What is a 4 core CPU? They have been around for a while, and there are plenty of newer dual cores that will outperform an older 4 core...

Anyway, I think the graphics card will be a larger factor than anything else...

Z...