£550 PC Budget....can i run tz 2006...2009...2010

[hotgrove]

I'm not exactly a fund of knowledge on computers.....i shove in the game and play.....that's it.

For my budget can someone in the know give me a set of specs to aim for.....i'm getting lost in a myriad of techno speak on here......what are the main specs i need to run this software ?

Good advice will be appreciated.....before i buy a pile of useless junk.

 

[SuperFudd]

I don't know the pound/USD exchange rate but I presume a Pound is still worth more than a Dollar so 550 pounds should do well.
For TS2009/10 any quad core should be plenty of CPU. Dual core is OK.
Win7 with 4G of RAM is plenty. 6G is best.
NVidea 220 video card is cheap and plenty fast and needs little power from the power supply. Any built on the main board audio should do well. A 200G hard drive is good. Bigger is better. Don't forget a DVD drive.
Even if you must also get a monitor and cheap speakers, 550 should be enough, even at Dell.
I could be wrong but it would be a first.

 

[hotgrove]

I don't know the pound/USD exchange rate but I presume a Pound is still worth more than a Dollar so 550 pounds should do well.
For TS2009/10 any quad core should be plenty of CPU. Dual core is OK.
Win7 with 4G of RAM is plenty. 6G is best.
NVidea 220 video card is cheap and plenty fast and needs little power from the power supply. Any built on the main board audio should do well. A 200G hard drive is good. Bigger is better. Don't forget a DVD drive.
Even if you must also get a monitor and cheap speakers, 550 should be enough, even at Dell.
I could be wrong but it would be a first.

When you say DVD drive will that be the basic cd /dvd compartment that comes with almost all computers now.

 

[DaveW]

Hi hotgrove

Get a custom built PC
I would suggest you contact

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/

You can get email or telephone advice and they are no more expensive than an 'off the peg' equivalent computer and come with a good guarantee.

DaveW

 

[john259]

Avoid integrated graphics, they aren't powerful enough for Trainz. If possible opt for a desktop, and one which allows a separate video board to be fitted.

John

 

[ColPrice2002]

Hi,

This company is also helpful:-

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/

I'm suggesting a "bare bones bundle" - about £250 (Max) should get you a good base system. You'll need to add in a modern graphics card (guess £100) for the display.

Add an internal hard drive (£70 or so), keyboard, mouse & DVD burner (another £70 or so).
Then you'll need the Operating system.

For Trainz, you may be able to economise on the Motherboard, but don't get a cheap graphics card - Trainz is hard on the graphics cards!

For info,
There's a general view that TS 2009 and TS 2010 are smoother (i.e better display rates) than TC 3 and TRS 2006 (my experience as well), TS 2009 and 2010 will use a multi core processor (CPU) so it's worht getting one.

If you can "salvage" bits from the old PC, the cost will reduce - e.g. mouse, keyboard, monitor, DVD drive, possibly hard disc (but they're cheap).

Colin

 

[johnwhelan]

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/189241 but it would need a copy of win 7 64 oem.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/186619

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/179437

these should all work fine. ebuyer lets you select machines by video card.

Cheerio John

 

[hotgrove]

Thanks to all who posted for the valuable feedback.

 

[SuperFudd]

Yes, any CD/DVD drive so you can install TRS2009/10. Probably standard on all PCs these days.