Is this a reasonable replacement?

R

rjhowie

Active member
I need to replace my main pc which ran TRS2006 well until it started dying on me. My second pc isn't quite up to Trainz and I am looking for a needed replacement for my Trainz (06). I have found a company that can give me a pc with XP Home still and just over £500. Or should I go for a more routine Vista with an upmarket Graphics card - GTX, etc., It has...

22" TFT MULTIMEDIA
INTEL CORE DUO E8400 - 3-0GHZ (4MB CACHE)
ASUS /GIGABYTE MOTHERBOARD 775
4.0G DDR 2 800
500G SATA 11 ULTRA FAST MAXTOR
WIRELESS INTERNET READY
SAMSUNG MULTIMEDIA DVDRW ± 20
DVD 16 X ROM
512 MB PCI EXPRESS 9600GT GDDR3 DUAL DVi
10/100/1000
8 USB 2.0 PORTS
7.1 CARD READER & FIREWIRE
MULTIMEDIA WIRELESS KEYBOARD & OPTICAL MOUSE
5.1 SUB WOOFER SOUND SYSTEM
WINDOWS XP HOME OR VISTA HOME BASIC
ULTIMATE GAMING CASE - SUPER COOL
12 MONTHS PARTS AND LABOUR ON A RETURN TO BASE WARRANTY WITH AN ADDITIONAL 4 YEARS RETURN TO BASE LABOUR ONLY, ALL MONITORS COME WITH 3YR MANUFACTURERS ONSITE COVER.
SEE UPGRADE OPTIONS BELOW FOR LOW COST ONSITE PC COVER.
FREE 2-0G USB FLASH PEN OFFER APPLY TO COMPLETE SYSTEMS ONLY
 
Vista

Vista really has very few problems with my TRS2006. Vista runs Trainz excellently, with 2 Gig RAM, and a 500 Hard drive, with a 8600 video card. I am not aware of any Vista problems with TRS2009, because I don't have any experience with TRS2009.:cool:
 
Fi fran1,

I can get the pc in a choice of either XP Home or Vista. My alternative with another company (this time Vista only), is briefly...

  • <LI style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px" type=disc>Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q8200 Quad Core Processor(2.33GHz,4MB Cache,1333MHz) <LI style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px" type=disc>Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium with Service Pack 1, 64-bit - English <LI style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px" type=disc>MESH Midi-Tower ATX Case + 550W PSU - 190mm(W) x 420mm(H) x 480mm(D) <LI style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px" type=disc>ASUS P5QL Pro Mainboard - Intel P43 - Intel Core™ 2 Duo/ Quad/ Extreme - ATX <LI style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px" type=disc>4096MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM - (2x 2GB) <LI style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px" type=disc>750GB Serial ATA 2 Hard Drive with 32MB Buffer <LI style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px" type=disc>Samsung 22x Dual Layer DVD Writer Super Format +R/-R/RW/RAM <LI style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px" type=disc>1GB ATi HD4670 Graphics accelerator - DVI, DirectX 10.1 PCI Express 2 <LI style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px" type=disc>22" Widescreen LCD TFT Digital Display (DVI, 5ms) <LI style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px" type=disc>7.1 High Definition onboard sound card - for 8 Channel Cinema sound <LI style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px" type=disc>Logitech Desktop Keyboard & Optical Mouse <LI style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px" type=disc>Free Microsoft® Works® 8.5 + Limited Microsoft Office Trial <LI style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px" type=disc>Free Cyberlink Video Editing Utility Suite - 7 titles (oem)
  • 52-in-1 Multi-format Memory Card Reader (ATX)
I am no expert either but this one may sound a better one??
 
The second one sounds the better option. I myself have just upgraded to similar specs. Running TRS2004 with no problems at the moment. The choice is really up to you.
 
I still advocate dual core, as there has yet to be anything that truely takes advantage of any quad core. And at least for games (especially Trainz) you'll benefit more from the higher clock speeds than the actual number of cores.

I'd also HIGHLY you stay away from any ASUS motherboard. The majority of every motherboard I've seen in the last year has been uder trash and usually has problems straight out of the box. I'd recommend getting a Gigabyte, DFI, ABIT, or Biostar motherboard instead.

I'd also recommend a better video card, the 9600GT is a decent card but considering all of the other extras you're listing you might as well build proper the first time around and invest in a high-performance video card. a 9800 GTX+ GTX 260 or GTX280 will fit the bill.

I'd stick with Vista, if you're planning on spending the money on components that benefit from Vista you might as well use it. Otherwise with XP you can save a bit of cash and just get 3GB RAM
 
I did notice that PC World do that Pakcard Bell so will keep that is a thinking option too. The more I look the more confusing it gets although I do understand that the graphics card is vitally important (I'm on TRS2006). Much to think about but thanks for the replies even if I am still undecided which way to go!
 
Thats where I got my comp from it cost £700, the sound card had to be fitted by them to keep the warranty. Mind you that cost another £50 for the sound card and £30 for fitting. It was well worth the cost cause I can now run Trainz with no stutter on fps. The graphics can be upgraded to 1Meg by fitting another ram chip.
 
Winterpaw said:
careful with the nvidia 9600's as theyve been reported as having voltage issues (older ones, anyway).
Click to expand...

Which cards (upto which date) have the issue? I know 7 series to 9 series cards can fail rather abruptly, because the connections on the bottom of the chip separates. I've had a nVidia GFG 7600 which I suspect has failed like this.
 
Wessex_Electric_Nutter said:
Which cards (upto which date) have the issue? I know 7 series to 9 series cards can fail rather abruptly, because the connections on the bottom of the chip separates. I've had a nVidia GFG 7600 which I suspect has failed like this.
Click to expand...

id have to dig on the nvidia forums for the date they corrected this in the 9600 series. i can make a guess it 3rd quarter 2008 roughly.

only reason i know this is because i actually had a voltage issue while using 3d studio max+vray. i was getting severe artifacting while using the gpu to render gbuffers mostly realtime.

ok, i found the quote:

Nvidia has informed the partners regarding the changes required to be performed to the GeForce 9600GT card in order to reduce overall transient. The NVVDD is change to 1.15V by placing a 0 ohm resistor at R587 and remove R561, R566, and R570. To enable load-line feature, a 0 ohm resistor is placed at R522 and 2.2nF capacitor is placed at C519 and R527 is removed. The cards are already fixed and launch date is set at 21st Feb 2008.
Click to expand...

so.. just look for a gt after that date
 
Last edited:
Have now discovered a company that can give a pc with XP Home instead of Vista. And for £599 so narrowed it down to eithe this or that Packard Bell.....
Microsoft Windows Vista Home (or XP Home)
AMD PHENOM Quad Core 9950 Processor
4096MB Corsair DDR II Memory
750GB SATA II Seagate Ultra Fast Hard Disk Space
NEC 7200 Multi Format DVD/CD ReWriter
nVidia GeForce 9500GT 1024MB Performance Graphics
5.1 High Definition Surround Sound
Intel Deluxe Motherboard
10/100 Ethernet LAN
8x USB2 Ports
Hanns G 22” Widescreen TFT 5MS HDMI Flat Panel
Logitech Wireless Multimedia Keyboard
Logitech Wireless Optical Mouse
Logitech S220 2.1 Speaker System
12 Months Classic Warranty
 
The AMD PHENOM Quad Core is a dog, has a bad bug and is being replaced with a PHENOM II witch is good but just out.
 
Pc innards are a foreign territory to me but I see that the Asus isn't getting good vibes. Came across an ad in a magazine for a Vista pc (64 bit) with the following Motherboard??

ASRock Penryn1600SLI-110DB 650i SLI Chipset, 3xPCI-E Slots, 4 x DDR800 Slots

The pc also has an nVIDIA GTX260 896MB which sounds a good card?

??
 
Thanks for that added info Winterpaw. I can get it in Vista and note that it can also be configured for XP 32 or 64. So now I have to decide whether to stick with XP or get the Vista version! Want to get this pc soon as due to my previous pc going belly up and the laptop is a bit limited. Oddly if i choose XP rather than the advertised Vista it is £20 extra! The cars seems okay though?
INTEL Core2Duo E8500
3.16Ghz Per Core With 1333Mhz FSB & 6MB L2 Cache
​
MOTHERBOARD​
ASRock Penryn1600SLI-110DB
650i SLI Chipset, 3xPCI-E Slots, 4 x DDR800 Slots,
​
MEMORY​
SAMSUNG 4GB DDR2 800Mhz PC6400

​
HARD DRIVE​
MAXTOR 500GB SATA2/7200RPM/8MB Cache

​
OPTICAL DRIVE​
SONY 20XDVD+/-RW Dual Layer & Dual Format With Lightscribe
​
GRAPHICS CARD​
nVIDIA GTX260 896MB 16XPCI-Express SLI

​
CONNECTIONS​
6 x USB2.0, Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000
7.1 HD Audio, Firewire, 3 x PCI-E Slots (2 For SLI)

​
SOFTWARE
&
EXTRAS​
MICROSOFT Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit Edition
AVG Anti-Virus Package
Open Office Suite Inc Word Processing/Spreadsheets
Nero Burning Version 7.0 Inc Lightscribe

​
 
just remember that if youre using SLI with that motherboard then youll only get 8x and not full 16x, which is pretty standard operation for most cheaper motherboards.

otherwise, i dont see anything wrong with this configuration
 
Mine came with a 640Gb hard drive and Nero 8 Essentails a card readers and Trail Norton Antivirus. Plus Microsoft Office 2007 full OEM.
 
Hello rjhowie2,

Do you need to buy your monitor screen with the PC, can you not get one independently instead and save hundreds of pounds??
Also, are you purchasing this in-store or getting it delivered to you directly to your home??
Have a look on this site for some great accessories, I use them regularly, they're very good....And no, I don't work for them...:hehe:

http://www.misco.co.uk/

Cheerz. ex-railwayman. :wave:
 
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