Custom built PC: good enough specs?

[FLWBStrainman]

Hello. I am getting a computer custom built for me. I showed the builder the specs to many particular games, Trainz 2004 included. With the given specs, how well would Trainz 2004 probably run on a scale from 1 to 10, performance-wise?

Thanks.

AMD Athlon 64 x2 +4800 Brisbane
2 GB memory DDR2
Onboard GeForce 8 series (8200)
260 GB HD
DVD-RW

 

[BLueNeon]

how well would Trainz 2004 probably run on a scale from 1 to 10, performance-wise?

Thanks.

AMD Athlon 64 x2 +4800 Brisbane
2 GB memory DDR2
Onboard GeForce 8 series (8200)
260 GB HD
DVD-RW

For your scale = 1 .. cruddy onloard gfx :n:

Find a builder who wants to help .. not one who wants to rip you off :n: :n:

.

 

[R701Rusty]

Most here will tell you that you need to get a dedicated graphics card to use instead of the on-board chipset and that you might need to consider using 4 Gig ram, especially if you are going to use Vista.
On the subject of graphics cards a lot has been written here and a search will bring up probably more information than you need but it might help.
The rest of your gear looks like it might perform quite well enough to keep you happy!

Cheers
Russell.

 

[johnwhelan]

Hello. I am getting a computer custom built for me. I showed the builder the specs to many particular games, Trainz 2004 included. With the given specs, how well would Trainz 2004 probably run on a scale from 1 to 10, performance-wise?

Thanks.

AMD Athlon 64 x2 +4800 Brisbane
2 GB memory DDR2
Onboard GeForce 8 series (8200)
260 GB HD
DVD-RW

About minus one. Ignore the stated requirements on the box. Look for dual core Intel cpu, 3 gigs memory, ASUS or Intel motherboard, video cards are in a state of flux check here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-cards,1965.html

In particular check on this page.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-cards,1965-6.html

Ignore anything lower than an ATI 3850 video card. That doesn't mean stick with ATI but that should be your minimum video card.

Cheerio John

 

[FLWBStrainman]

I may not be able to afford much else. My old specs were REALLY crappy, so any improvement would be nice. The cost is around $400 right now. How much would said improvements cost, and would they really be worth it? I make maybe $220.00 a week working as a cashier at Goodwill, most of which goes toward gas, insurance, and savings. Needless to say, it takes me a while to accumulate more than a couple hundred dollars to spend on hobbies.

P.S., my OLD specs:

2800+ (2.08 GHz) AMD Athlon XP processor
512 MB DDR SDRAM memory
120 GB Ultra DMA Hard Drive
NVIDIA GeForce 4 MX graphics w. 64MB DDR shared video memory

 

[GP_38-2]

Despite what other say it's not a half bad mid-range computer. The only thing you will want to change is the video card, simple as that. You'll want either in the ATI HD48x0 range or nVidia 8800/9x00 series. Avoid the onboard graphics.

Trainz does not take advantage of dual core however so don't expect a huge increase in performance from the CPU upgrade.

2GB of RAM is fine for XP 32-bit though , but if you get Vista 32-bit you'll want 3GB, Vista 64-bit will work as well with 3GB, but you might as well bump it up to 4GB since Vista 64 will utilize all 4GB.
Now I would watch the price on it.

 

[poppins122325]

my system runs trainz fine the only thing about your specs it that a graphics card would probably be a good addition

my specs
intel core 2 duo 2.20Gzh
asus p5kpl-vm motherboard
2X Wd 160gb Hdd's
2X dvd Burners
gainward 8400gs graphics card w/ 256mb
2gb ram

its not top of the line but it gets the job done i edit and burn hd video to disc but it handels it well

nathan

 

[Captain_Collins]

Personally, as trainz only uses one core, I would try and go for a larger processor, as half of 4.8 is 2.4GHz, which is not much.

 

[overmars]

Nope lol check my specs lol

 

[johnwhelan]

I may not be able to afford much else. My old specs were REALLY crappy, so any improvement would be nice. The cost is around $400 right now. How much would said improvements cost, and would they really be worth it? I make maybe $220.00 a week working as a cashier at Goodwill, most of which goes toward gas, insurance, and savings. Needless to say, it takes me a while to accumulate more than a couple hundred dollars to spend on hobbies.

P.S., my OLD specs:

2800+ (2.08 GHz) AMD Athlon XP processor
512 MB DDR SDRAM memory
120 GB Ultra DMA Hard Drive
NVIDIA GeForce 4 MX graphics w. 64MB DDR shared video memory

Well your cpu is better than mine. So if you upgrade the memory and video card you should get quite reasonable performance for well under $400.

Logon to Crucial.com and download their system scanner. That should pin down the memory, 2.5 gigs if you can get it in if not 2 gigs is fine. We need to sort out the video card slot, it could be PCIe or AGP, the crucial scanner should tell you the motherboard and from that we can work backwards. Look up the motherboard on Kingston.com to see which memory modules they recommend, sometimes they have better options than Crucial. Newegg.com is probably the place to buy the memory and video card by the way.

Cheerio John