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What should be the specs for my new computer?


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I'm considering replacing my 12-year-old desktop gaming computer, which barely meets the minimum specs for running SF2. Although I'm a longtime player of the original CM trio of games, I've never owned or played SF or SF2.

My question is whether the "suggested" specs for SF2, or perhaps something a little bit better, would make a good gaming computer by today's standard. I frankly don't foresee ever playing anything more demanding than the SF2 series of games. (I can't play first-person shooters because they make me nauseous, nor do I even want to.) My new computer would be custom built, so I could go with whatever specs I needed or wanted.

The suggested specs for the FS2 base game are (taken from the product page):

Windows 10 or MacOS 10.13.x (High Sierra)
Pentium IV 2.8 GHz or equivalent speed AMD processor or better
1 GB VRAM or better and must support 1024x768 or higher resolution in OpenGL
DirectX 12 compatible Sound Card (Windows only)
8 GB RAM or more
12 GB Hard Drive space
The game does not work in a virtualized environment (virtual machine)

Edited by Rob2020
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Those are probably bare minimum specs.  There are many here who are pros at computers so am sure they will help you.

But, I recommend as minimum:

High 3-4GHz, 12+GB RAM (my systems have 24-32)

You'll want to get at least 1920x1200 res.  If you have a large monitor you may want higher.)

A fast 1TB SSD for HD speeds loading and running. 

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19 hours ago, Erwin said:

You'll want to get at least 1920x1200 res.  If you have a large monitor you may want higher.)

I suggest not too high resolution actually. The CM interface doesn't scale, so if you go hi-res, you'll end up having really small text and buttons on the screen. 1920x1200 should be fine, unless you have an enormous monitor.

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Others are more knowledgeable...but, here's my .02.

CM responds better to cpu speed than cores.  Having said that, I've swapped from Intel to AMD for my gaming rigs. Running 3700x cpus. They do great. Modern cpus running in the 4+GHz range do very well.

RAM: 3200-3600 MHz; 16GB minimum, 32 GB better. 

GPU: I've had Nvidia and I've had AMD.  Currently, 3 of 4 are running AMD gpus. 

Monitor: running in both 2560x1440 and 1920x1200. Honestly, it looks better 1920x1200. Plus, that makes it cheaper to get a good gpu at that resolution. You will NOT get CM to run at high refresh rates. I recommend a gsync/freesync monitor and a gpu to match. (If you're unfamiliar with the technology, it prevents tearing. Ask if you're unsure. Gsync (Nvidia) is more expensive than freesync (AMD). Plus, nvidia has put pressure on monitor manufacturers to hide their support of AMDs tech. Now they use the term "adaptive sync" to show AMD support. As well, it seems like Nvidia can now work on "adaptive sync" monitors.)

SSD: as mentioned above, this is a key piece of speeding up any computer. A 1TB drive is not very expensive these days and will do fine for most purposes.

 

Post the specifics of what parts you've picked. 

Edited by c3k
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Thanks for your responses, although some of it is Greek to me.

Okay, I Googled GPU, which used to be called a video card.

My current, 12-year-old system:

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q9300 @2.50GHz  2.50GHz

Installed Memory (RAM):  4.00 GB (3.00 GB Useable)

System Type: 32-bit Operating System

Video card: AMD Radeon (TM) R7 360 Series

My monitor is 24", with a resolution of 1920x1080. I don't see an option for a higher resolution.

In order to get resolutions of 2560x1440 or 1920x1200, would I need to get a physically larger monitor? I would prefer not to.

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The monitor need not be larger, but it has to be capable of the higher resolution that you want. 

I have an old (10 years+) 24" monitor that does 1920x1200.  I have a 30" monitor capable of 2560x1600 but even with 30" it's hard to read the text at that res so generally I run CM2 at 1920x1200.  I suspect one would have trouble reading UHD/4K res CM2 text on a 40" monitor.

Why BF has never bothered scaling the CM2 text is a mystery.  Maybe it's harder than it sounds or they have other priorities.

What C3K suggests is about right

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10 hours ago, Rob2020 said:

Thanks for your responses, although some of it is Greek to me.

Okay, I Googled GPU, which used to be called a video card.

My current, 12-year-old system:

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q9300 @2.50GHz  2.50GHz

Installed Memory (RAM):  4.00 GB (3.00 GB Useable)

System Type: 32-bit Operating System

Video card: AMD Radeon (TM) R7 360 Series

My monitor is 24", with a resolution of 1920x1080. I don't see an option for a higher resolution.

In order to get resolutions of 2560x1440 or 1920x1200, would I need to get a physically larger monitor? I would prefer not to.

 

Here's a good site: https://pcpartpicker.com/

The prices it shows may or may not be accurate for where you live.  (click on "system builder" tab)

Your monitor is fine. (1920x1080 is "standard" 1080.) 

You may (should?) be able to keep your case and power supply (psu: power supply unit).  You could use the existing video card and, after building your new computer,  then decide whether or not to swap it out. 

What is your budget? 

 

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3 hours ago, c3k said:

 

Here's a good site: https://pcpartpicker.com/

The prices it shows may or may not be accurate for where you live.  (click on "system builder" tab)

Your monitor is fine. (1920x1080 is "standard" 1080.) 

You may (should?) be able to keep your case and power supply (psu: power supply unit).  You could use the existing video card and, after building your new computer,  then decide whether or not to swap it out. 

What is your budget? 

 

Both my power supply and video card are only about 6 years old, after my original ones crapped out. Wow, I thought the video card would be the first thing that would need replacing.

I was hoping to keep the cost under 1k.

Would I be able to run SF2 at all on my current computer if I "upgraded" from Win7 to Win10?

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There is the serious issue that at least some of us are having where CM2 will not run when we acquire new Win 10 machines or CM2 suddenly stops running after an update. 

Am still trying to work around the issue, disabling Windows Defender, installing AVAST or AVG and seeing if CM2 will run with those other security softwares.  There is something weird going on in that some folks have no problems running CM2 using Win 10, and some of us have frustrating time-wasting issues trying to get CM2 to run, and despite their best efforts tech support seem to have no idea why or what to do.

It would be good if BF spent some effort figuring why is there a periodic/unpredictable incompatibility with CM2 and Win 10.  One would have hoped that these bugs would have been sorted out in a 13 year old program.

 

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1 hour ago, Erwin said:

There is the serious issue that at least some of us are having where CM2 will not run when we acquire new Win 10 machines or CM2 suddenly stops running after an update. 

Am still trying to work around the issue, disabling Windows Defender, installing AVAST or AVG and seeing if CM2 will run with those other security softwares.  There is something weird going on in that some folks have no problems running CM2 using Win 10, and some of us have frustrating time-wasting issues trying to get CM2 to run, and despite their best efforts tech support seem to have no idea why or what to do.

It would be good if BF spent some effort figuring why is there a periodic/unpredictable incompatibility with CM2 and Win 10.  One would have hoped that these bugs would have been sorted out in a 13 year old program.

 

I know that must be very frustrating. I have CM running on...5 computers. All have had significant hardware and software upgrades and multiple install/uninstall of CM. Part of the Beta thing. 

This thread is, however, a build/hardware thread. Let's keep it focused. (I've seen your thread where you raise your issue. Refresh it, so it comes back up top...or edit your post above to include a link.)

Let's not get off-track.

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It might be better to focus on what to NOT do because CM is happy on most-everything except for a few 'bad apples'. What seems to come up most often is laptops defaulting to the wrong graphics card or overzealous security protocols. Just recently I ran an exe to hunt for malware and it automatically deleted my Photoshop! YIKES! What the heck was THAT? :o:wacko:

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3 hours ago, Rob2020 said:

Both my power supply and video card are only about 6 years old, after my original ones crapped out. Wow, I thought the video card would be the first thing that would need replacing.

I was hoping to keep the cost under 1k.

Would I be able to run SF2 at all on my current computer if I "upgraded" from Win7 to Win10?

Cost: under 1k...what? Bhat? US Dollars? 

CM runs very well under Win10. Irwin has a vexing issue. That's very rare. I know of him (possibly one other?). Otherwise, the most common issue is having to re-enter your license and that's it.

CM is not very video-card intensive. You can get a very good upgrade with a new CPU, motherboard, and RAM for ~$500 US...assuming your case and power supply are still good. (Case will fit an ATX motherboard? That's the most common.) Add another $100 for a 1TB SSD and you'll really see a difference.

Here's a couple of specifics:

Motherboard: https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B550-AORUS-PRO-AC-rev-10#kf

RAM that will work with that motherboard: https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-16gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820232194   

(see https://www.gskill.com/configurator?page=1&cls=1529635169&manufacturer=1524715126&chipset=1592295085&model=1592295736&adSearch2=Memory_Type§DDR4,Capacity§16GB (8GBx2),Tested_Speed§3600MHz, )

The CPU: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SQBFN2D?tag=pcpapi-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1

The above AMD cpu comes with a pretty good cooler. The ram is a 3600MHz set. You don't want to go much above that speed with the latest AMD processors.

For an SSD:

https://www.newegg.com/samsung-860-evo-series-1tb/p/N82E16820147673?Item=N82E16820147673&quicklink=true

(There are others out there. This is a very decent one for $140.)

That's a very nice budget build. There are many other options. But that's a start for you to compare and shop.

Edited by c3k
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2 hours ago, MikeyD said:

It might be better to focus on what to NOT do because CM is happy on most-everything except for a few 'bad apples'. What seems to come up most often is laptops defaulting to the wrong graphics card or overzealous security protocols. Just recently I ran an exe to hunt for malware and it automatically deleted my Photoshop! YIKES! What the heck was THAT? :o:wacko:

One reason to start with a brand new vanilla machine is that there should have been no problems.  There was nothing that I am, aware of that was "done" so no idea as as to what "NOT" to do.  I mentioned on another thread the possibility that there are different versions of Win 10 out there due to local laws and requirements esp in EU. 

Have been busy and not much time to deal with IT issues, so have no yet tried to install AVAST or AVG and see if CM2 runs with them.

When one installs something like AVG or AVAST is Defender automatically disabled or does on have to still disable it manually?

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Did you just disable all anti-virus?  Just to see if it works.

I have had at least eight recent laptops with windows 10.  No issues  CM, other than constantly having to get to install licenses.  All used defender.

Edited by Thewood1
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18 hours ago, Erwin said:

There is the serious issue that at least some of us are having where CM2 will not run when we acquire new Win 10 machines or CM2 suddenly stops running after an update. 

Does it refuse to even start the game at all, or does it crash during gameplay? What graphics card do you have?

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3 hours ago, Thewood1 said:

Did you just disable all anti-virus?  Just to see if it works.

Yes tried disabling Defender.  CM2 still won't run.

 

3 hours ago, Bulletpoint said:

Does it refuse to even start the game at all, or does it crash during gameplay? What graphics card do you have?

nVidia GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER.  The game seems to load for a fraction of a second.  The box appears at the bottom of the screen briefly.  Then it all disappears as if nothing ever happened.  I have yet to have time to install AVAST (or AVG which I have used on my other Win 10 and Win 7 machines and ran CM2 with no problems).  My own IT guy is baffled as are the good and helpful guys here.  There must be something in the latest Win 10 (US release at least) that is incompatible with CM2 and prevents it from loading.

After the 13 years that CM2 has been released and updated it's ridiculously frustrating (and embarrassing) that some of us at least have to ask professional IT folks to helps us run a simple entertainment product on a brand new machine.  At least I can run CM2 on my older machines Alhamdulillah!

 

.

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1 hour ago, Erwin said:

The game seems to load for a fraction of a second.  The box appears at the bottom of the screen briefly.  Then it all disappears as if nothing ever happened.

What is the resolution of your monitor?

I'm asking because I had a similar problem with a completely different game that expected the monitor to have a different resolution and refused to run because of that.

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The new system is temporarily (for testing) hooked up to a old 24" monitor with 1920x1200. 

(Max res of my 30" is 2560x1600.  But, I generally run CM at 1920x1200 so the text is readable.)

As I said, when time allows I will load AVG or AVAST and see if CM runs on that.  I know CM2 runs fine with AVG on all my other Win 7 and Win 10 systems.

Edited by Erwin
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Its not a Win10 US thing.  I have a one month old Win10 with a 2080 Super all up to date windows and nVidia drivers.  Make sure you don't have a second Intel GPU trying to drive CM.  The symptoms you describe is what I get when I forget to force the nVidia GPU as the primary GPU.

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Sigh.

I really wish that you had taken my advice and gotten your own thread up here. Instead, you've hijacked someone else's.

Your issue is very unique. Yes, we'd all like to help you resolve it. How about we reserve THIS thread to resolve the OP's issue?

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Open up nVidia control panel.  You will have to go to the 3D settings and you can set default GPU from the drop down.  If you only have the nVidia GPU, you won't see any other option.  That means you can eliminate this as an issue.  When I get a new laptop, its the process I have to go through every time.  It has nothing to do with Win10.  If you feel brave, can create a custom profile for each application or game and choose the GPU for each.  For some reason, the CM games always default to the Intel GPU that is part of the Intel chipset.  

If you have a laptop,  you most likely have both GPUs.  If its a desktop, its depends on how the system was built.  You can also google how to set your default chipset.

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