General Jack Ripper Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 I've saved up a chunk of money, and I've decided to buy a new PC for Christmas. The only problem I have, is I'm not exactly familiar with the new hardware these days, it being about six years since I last went computer shopping. I want to buy a machine that can run CMBN at something like above average settings and 1920 x 1080 resolution with some processor power left over to FRAPS some videos. Should I go for Windows 7 or 8? Which is more friendly towards games? Is there a pre-built machine that could cover the basics, or should I piece one together from a website? Any advice would be great, I don't want to screw this up. Oh, yeah, reliability is a must have. I'm looking to buy a computer that I can run for a few years. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 Buy a Mac. Sorry, couldn't resist 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzz Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 A new MacPro would qualify as costing a chunk of money for sure "a machine that can run CMBN at something like above average settings and 1920 x 1080 resolution with some processor power left over" CM CPU's single-threaded performance is probably one of the bigger 'bottlenecks' of sorts. That said I play CMFI-GL & CMBN-CW-MG & CMSF Mac Bundle .. all on an older Mac Mac Pro 2 X 2.26 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 18 GB 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC ATI Radeon HD 4870 512 MB DELL U2713HM Display 2560 x 1440 Resolution Phil 1st 2nd is correct that adjusting the settings helps and the recent Market Garden 2.10 optimizations helped the game play smoother and faster IMO. Do a search and you will get some good tips. Look at the min / max spec recommendations for the games. Per: Schrullenhaft - The following will have little-to-no impact, STRICTLY of the performance of CM: 1. Multiple-cores. 2. Greater than 4GB of RAM 3. SLI/Crossfire multi-video card setups. 4. SSD loading performance. Phil Culliton CPU and GPU load. CM does more stuff than most games per frame. Way more than most. .... reduce your model quality to, say, "Improved", which adds frames and smooths play quality, and looks great to boot. Turn it up to "Best" for closeup screenshots or smaller scenarios. If you're playing a nasty scenario turn it down a bit to give your CPU and GPU some breathing room - that's why the settings are there... Good Luck 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Jack Ripper Posted November 7, 2013 Author Share Posted November 7, 2013 Well, thanks, but I couldn't live with myself if I bought a Mac. I heard about a custom computer store in Hudson NH, I'll take a ride down there sometime. I just don't trust a website to really deliver the goods. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzz Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 Good Luck. I am still considering a Hackintosh myself. Pretty sure I could build one and get it running fine for less than a Mac but it would require tinkering. Never mind Moon's Mac jab. He was probably just expressing new Mac Pro cylinder envy That and the thunderbolt spaghetti he would get to hide behind the jar 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 ...reduce your model quality to, say, "Improved", which adds frames and smooths play quality, and looks great to boot. I'm wondering how much tinkering with the texture quality effects frame rate and smoothness. Seems to me that it might be important for those vid cards with less than .5 GB VRAM. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwolf Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 I find the Mac annoying as a gaming machine, starting from the keys that are in the wrong position and not easy to remap. In general for games like CM you buy hardware along these lines: CPU: fastest per-core speed you can get, Turbo does count. On a desktop the Turbo will usually kick in fine for single-threaded workloads like CM.Main memory (RAM) speed: doesn't matter.Graphics card: buy the highest memory bandwidth you can afford. Keep in mind that the bandwidth requirement depends strongly on your monitor resolution.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Nvidia_graphics_processing_unitsOS: oldest that does what you want but 64 bits is a much if you don't want to deal with running out of virtual address space with 32 bit programs.PSU: get only the best, regardless of whether you can afford it or not. Bad PSUs are a really annoying sources of trouble. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzz Posted November 7, 2013 Share Posted November 7, 2013 I'm wondering how much tinkering with the texture quality effects frame rate and smoothness. Seems to me that it might be important for those vid cards with less than .5 GB VRAM. Michael I think you are correct Michael. Most modern GPUs will have more than .5 GB VRAM. Thanks Redwolf. Always appreciate your technical input. Mac works for me and many others who want to work with Mac OS/Applications and play w/o rebooting into Windows. As I noted I may build a Hackintosh. Like the form factor and features of the Cooler Master HAF XB EVO. Good Luck SLIM. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 I think you are correct Michael. Most modern GPUs will have more than .5 GB VRAM. And as it happens, I am stuck with a 256 MB. As I noted I may build a Hackintosh. If you do, I hope you will keep us informed of your progress as you build and use it. BTW, are there any problems licensing the OS with a Hack? Seems like Apple is pretty uptight about that since their debacle of the late '90s. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Jack Ripper Posted November 8, 2013 Author Share Posted November 8, 2013 I'm also wondering as to the general reliability of liquid cooled systems. My house is a high dust environment, which probably contributed to the destruction of my last PC. How easy is it to run two operating systems on a machine these days? I'm thinking about taking the hard drive from my old computer, and putting it in the new one to run old games with windows xp, and also running a hard drive with windows 7 to take advantage of the hardware, and run stuff like CMSF, CMBN, and Kerbal Space Program. Is that sort of thing still possible nowadays? I had a look at the hardware list at newegg.com, and it read like the Greek alphabet. I think I'm going to have to buy a new machine pre-built, because I have no idea what hardware is compatible with what motherboard anymore. How I do miss the days of PCI expansion slots! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wicky Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 Just after reading your post just happened to read this. http://www.wired.com/reviews/2013/11/high-low-gaming-pcs/ My advice get a Mac Pro desktop second-hand… 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwolf Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 I'm also wondering as to the general reliability of liquid cooled systems. My house is a high dust environment, which probably contributed to the destruction of my last PC. This is mainly dependent on your own handywork. Pre-sealed units are available but usually useless. You will have to run tubes to a radiator outside your case and you control whether it's tight. Your first one will not be. There's also the problem of various microorganisms growing in there, namely algae. That, again, is something you learn to control as you go. How easy is it to run two operating systems on a machine these days? I'm thinking about taking the hard drive from my old computer, and putting it in the new one to run old games with windows xp, and also running a hard drive with windows 7 to take advantage of the hardware, and run stuff like CMSF, CMBN, and Kerbal Space Program. Is that sort of thing still possible nowadays? I had a look at the hardware list at newegg.com, and it read like the Greek alphabet. I think I'm going to have to buy a new machine pre-built, because I have no idea what hardware is compatible with what motherboard anymore. How I do miss the days of PCI expansion slots! PCI express (PCIe) usually works these these days, as long as you have a slot of the required width (e.g. you have a 8x slot and 4x controller). PCI-X is not PCI express. Don't buy. In the Intel world each CPU generation has it's own socket but it should be easy to identify on Newegg. In the AMD world the board live a lot longer but might need BIOS updates for CPUs newer than the board. Multiboot is easy, unless you use windows or similar garbage. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadgerDog Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 Buy a Mac. Sorry, couldn't resist +1.... Changed our entire household over to MacBooks, iMacs, iPhones and iPads over the last several years... Really happy with all the integration for every device and I still get to play this game!!! Regards, Doug 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iMolestCats Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 Really if you want something for gaming, PC is the way to go. Windows 7 just works so nicely and smooth i just can't go to anything else. Combine a mid-range PC with a i53570k and you will have a computer that runs for years. Water cooling is also really cool, most don't actually use water but instead a form of plasma and are very reliable and convenient. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wicky Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 Mineral oil cooled PCs I've heard of, but never "plasma". *scratches head* 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 Mineral oil cooled PCs I've heard of, but never "plasma". *scratches head* He broke into the local Red Cross one night. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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