Can my computer handle this game?

R

redbarron4

New member
Hey everyone.
Sort of a newbie to this game. I have the old Driver Eddition and enjoyed that but would like step up to the full game.

I am looking at this game or railworks2. I like the fact that there is a ton of user generated and 3rd party content for this game. On paper though it seems a bit hefty to run.

My computer stats are as follows.
AMD64 X2 4400+ (2.4GHz)
3 Gigs ram (4th one fried)
Nvidia Geforce 7800GTX
DX 9
Win XP x64

I was going to buy this from steam which is where I buy most my games these days. Steam says the requirements are a pentium D 3.4 GHz and 15GB HD space? That seems like quite a jump in power and resources from the 2009 version.

Let me know what you guys think.

Thanks
 
Only ?? I can see is maybe your 7800gtx, has it 512mb, if so should manage. XP needs to be SP3.
Get the box set from Auran if you can afford that bit extra, hotfixes+patches available.
 
Just as long as you understand that most of that "ton of user generated and 3rd party content" would have to be tinkered with to work in the 2010 version, then you should probably look at a system with a Core 2, and at least a 8800 series card.

Of course, this is my opinion, and will no doubt be refuted in this thread shortly. Good luck.
 
I was only making recommendations based on my rig and it's performance. I don't know how an AMD compares to a given Intel chipset, but I've read that 2010 performs better than the older platforms on the same hardware, and my Core 2 Duo handles 2009 and below quite well when I decide to use them.
 
Do not buy from Steam or any third-party, but direct from Auran. Steam installs all sorts of licensing junk in the background. With Trainz, you need all the memory and CPU cycles you can get.

That said, your system looks fine. You should see a performance benefit by unplugging your internet and disabling your antivirus when running.

I assume by "4th one" you mean you have more memory but it isn't installed due to being faulty; if you have memory installed that is testing faulty then Trainz (or any other application that uses that much memory) probably will have a problem with it. Your graphics card is old but should still do the job.
 
Sorry my comment wasn't meant to shoot you down, just to give an idea of where the chip ranked performance wise at the time of purchase.


So are you saying that 2010 will run better on old hardware then say 2009?

ALso how much tweaking is needed for all that dlc?
 
Yes, I've read here that 2010 will run better than the older versions on the same hardware (to a point, I'm sure). The older content can take quite a bit of noodling to repair for use in 2010, but there are software programs that have been released just for that purpose, and no shortage of advice here. I "fixed" over a thousand items when the versions changed from 2004 to 2006, and then more when they changed from 2006 to TC and then to 2009, but I refuse to go at it again....

Just don't fall for the old come on that there are endless amounts of 2010 ready third party content for the game, because that's simply not true.
 
That is good to know.

My real hobby is gardenrailroading. Two of my favorite locos that I run are two CP SD45s (5493 &5494). I saw a page dedicated to SD45s and they had a skin of 5494 which was really making me want to go for it.

Visually speaking the videos for railworks look better, but its mostly european routs and locos which has much less appeal to me.

Has anyone compared the two? What are the advantages of Trainz over RW?

As for steam installing junk in the background I think you might be mistaken on that. Although I know that some 3rd party services like it do. I have been running steam since it first came out. Steam manages licenses but is different from DRM. With all the games I have thus far, steam checks your account when you install a game to make sure you have rights for it. Some software it also checks upon start up of said software. Once the software is running however steam goes dormant. Before steam, software piracy was rampant and PC gaming was dying. Through the steam client Valve has single-handedly helped revive it.
 
My system is very similar;

Model: Dell DXP051
CPU: Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 2.80GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 2046MB RAM
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp.080413-2111)
DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)

Video: NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT 512.0 MB
NVIDIA Driver Version: 6.14.0012.5721

Sound: SigmaTel Audio
sthda.sys Driver Version: 5.10.4823.0000

Hard Drive: Maxtor 6L160M0 147.8 GB

The "3.4ghz or equivalent" refers to a single core, my 2.8 duo core runs about the same speed as a 3.4 single core, so it just makes it. Any route with speedtrees tanks the framerates, but any route with older trees runs pretty good on my system. Since you live in the US I would suggest buying the boxed set from here;

http://www.fspilotshop.com/product_info.php?products_id=2563

Since I've heard reports that it takes less than a week for delivery.

For Railworks;

http://www.fspilotshop.com/product_info.php?products_id=2425

Same shop, you can get it for only $20 bucks along with a bonus Challenger. I couldn't tell you about Railworks2 other than it's a free upgrade to Railworks, actually more of a patch than a new version. I didn't bother reinstalling Railworks to check it out since my main requirement for any trainsim is intelligent versatile AI traffic, which Railworks don't have and never will. Railworks AI traffic takes a long time to set up simple movements, requires perfect timing and a good bit of luck, and falls apart like a house of cards if the player deviates even slightly from the schedule. For those who just like to drive alone in free roam it's actually a better game IN MY OPINION - gotta qualify that because many disagree, it's a matter of taste. On my system Railworks looks better and runs smoother, got a better graphics engine. But, again for me Railworks is useless due to the AI traffic limitations.
 
redbarron4 said:
Hey everyone.
Sort of a newbie to this game. I have the old Driver Eddition and enjoyed that but would like step up to the full game.

I am looking at this game or railworks2. I like the fact that there is a ton of user generated and 3rd party content for this game. On paper though it seems a bit hefty to run.

My computer stats are as follows.
AMD64 X2 4400+ (2.4GHz)
3 Gigs ram (4th one fried)
Nvidia Geforce 7800GTX
DX 9
Win XP x64

I was going to buy this from steam which is where I buy most my games these days. Steam says the requirements are a pentium D 3.4 GHz and 15GB HD space? That seems like quite a jump in power and resources from the 2009 version.

Let me know what you guys think.

Thanks
Click to expand...





should be fine , but i would buy it from auran online shop... teh steam need you to be online,, when you play teh games,,,, plus when you buy from auran you will get the latest version of the game
 
redbarron4 said:
As for steam installing junk in the background I think you might be mistaken on that. Although I know that some 3rd party services like it do. I have been running steam since it first came out. Steam manages licenses but is different from DRM. With all the games I have thus far, steam checks your account when you install a game to make sure you have rights for it. Some software it also checks upon start up of said software. Once the software is running however steam goes dormant. Before steam, software piracy was rampant and PC gaming was dying. Through the steam client Valve has single-handedly helped revive it.
Click to expand...

If it checks your account via internet than it's worse than I thought; having background processes, running briefly or continuously, is enough. You are best off with no internet, A/V, A/S, etc. running for performance and security reasons.

As for PC gaming dying, while I may not be a hardcore gamer, gaming seemed be doing fine a few years ago, and a quick look at binsearch suggests piracy is alive and better than ever. I doubt Steam's DRM/licensing made even a serious dent in anything.
 
well game is downloading now....

Can you guys recommend good sites for 2010 ready content? For now I would like to stick with stuff that doesn't need fixing.

Railroads I like are B&M, Providence & Worcester, CSX/Chessie, CR, CP, CN. That said I will gladly take recommendations for other good downloads too.
 
I run all my games and other software while connected to the net. I see no difference in performance running this way or while offline. If don't know what's on your machine that runs in the background.

As for steam, I think you misunderstand the point. Yes it does validate your license but any electronic software store does in some form or another. It doesn't run continuous checks the whole time you are playing and it doesn't do it for every game. There is an offline mode which will allow you to skip this for most games if you so chose.

No steam didn't stop software piracy. It did however revive pc gaming. I AM an avid gamer and there was a very noticeable decline in PC games about 6 years back. Developers were pushing for consoles like playstation or xbox because pirating was becoming a huge issue. Valve offered steam to the community. Any game purchased through steam is harder to pirate then a boxed game. While it is easy to download the software to a cd, the problem comes when another user tries to install it. On top of that people who pirate software that is available on steam miss out on updates, patches, dlc and other such content. Since its release many console games have been brought to the PC, something that was happening less and less before hand. I remember when steam first came out my local game shops had reduced their pc games to about 1 4x8 ft rack. Compare that to entire store walls covered in console games. Some stores stopped carrying PC games all together.

One other thing I should mention. Some games come with their own built in DRM. Two examples would be Bioshock and SPORE. Spore was so bad its not even funny. If you didn't have a working internet connection you couldn't even launch the game. Anyhow games with DRM like that are often launched without their DRM through steam. Bioshock did this.

Steam keeps all your games up to date with the latest patches. For those of you who don't like that you can disable that option. Valve also has a whole set of developer tools, many of which are free hosted on steam. It allows you to message friends, invite them to multilayer games, chat while in game, manage hardware drivers, and you can transfer settings from game to game. It can even repair bad installs and corrupt files without deleting custom content. There are tons of free mods, demos, and previews.

I actually like the fact that steam keeps track of my games for me. I reformat about once a year or so. When I do I install steam which brings up a list of all the games I own rights to. I click on the ones I want installed again and let it do its thing. An hour or so later my favorite games are ready to go, no updating required either.

Total memory footprint is about 32 Mb and when playing a game CPU usage for steam.exe is 0%. When in game all downloads and updates pause to minimize strain on the system.

Most pc gamers and techies support steam. It is not the DRM monster that other online stores (EA) have turned into. I will admit I was against it too for many of the reasons you are now when it first came out. But it has never caused a performance issue for me, and has enhanced my overall gaming experience across the board.

Again, not trying to shove it anyone's face, but there are a lot of misconceptions about steam. As someone who has used it from day one I can tell you its really not bad at all.

Anyhow back to trainz.


Is there a way to restart a session without going back to the menue?
 
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