PC Upgrade

[Mick_Berg]

Hi.
My PC is giving terrible performance with TC3. I cannot run any of the Settle-Carlisle routes in either Surveyor or Driver. In my own much more modest route, if I change from one driver to another in Driver, it can take up to 30 seconds for the train to appear!!

I'm thinking of getting a AMD Phenom ll x2 550 CPU, does TC3 take advantage of dual cores? And will Windows XP support dual core operation?

Can anyone comment on this video card, XFX GeForce 9600 GT Video Card - 512MB GDDR3, PCI Express 2.0, SLI Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV, Recertified (TigerDirect $59)

I'm using TC3 and Windows XP and plan to stick with them.
Thanks,
Mick Berg.

 

[saintjimmy]

I would recommend getting these things to have an easier upgrade path as they are from AMD/ATI (well the chipsets are, anyway):

$89.99 Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-UD2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G Motherboard <- Has AM3 processor socket & full support for the Phenom II X2 550 processor, if you still want to upgrade the motherboard, that is.

Good sub-$100 performance that doesn't require a separate connector
$69.99 Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4670 512 MB

Or for even better performance (the best card guaranteed to be under $100 currently)
$89.99 Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4830 512 MB

They might be a little more expensive than you might like, but they will definitely be worth it!

Also, try to avoid buying recertified or refurbished or reconditioned items, as often times the product(s) either arrive with a defect, have strange problems or burn themselves several months later (as did my old HP m8300f computer...).

Hope this helps

Kyle

 

[johnwhelan]

Hi.
My PC is giving terrible performance with TC3. I cannot run any of the Settle-Carlisle routes in either Surveyor or Driver. In my own much more modest route, if I change from one driver to another in Driver, it can take up to 30 seconds for the train to appear!!

I'm thinking of getting a AMD Phenom ll x2 550 CPU, does TC3 take advantage of dual cores? And will Windows XP support dual core operation?

Can anyone comment on this video card, XFX GeForce 9600 GT Video Card - 512MB GDDR3, PCI Express 2.0, SLI Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV, Recertified (TigerDirect $59)

I'm using TC3 and Windows XP and plan to stick with them.
Thanks,
Mick Berg.

TC3 will take advantage of dual core and runs better with 2.5 gigs of memory. What is your current machine perhaps there are other options to increase performance. AMD cpus are not currently the highest performing ones according to tomshardware.com.

Cheerio John

 

[Stagefright]

Hi, Mick!

There's a lot of very good hardware out there and sometimes it's pretty confusing what's the best 'bang for the buck.' I just put together a new system, so here's what I've learned:

1. The motherboard should support the latest & greatest, plus be expandable/upgradeable to about 3/4 years out. I settled on the Gigabyte MA790XT-UD4P, based on the AMD AM3 chip and DDR3 RAM up to 16 Gb. I started with 4 Gigs and will add another four next month. BTW, I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate Release Candidate and it's rock-steady. If you're sticking with XP, I sure hope you got a 64-bit version.
2. I decided on the AMD Phenom II 720 X3 Black Edition with three cores. It's clocked at 2.8 ghz and easily overclocks to 3.2 using the stock heatsink/fan. True, the Intel I7 outperforms it in every test you find, but the I7 is horribly expensive. Note that Benchmark Reviews said, 'Phenom II processors can perform so closely to the Core i7-920 in real-world computing that the added expense seems a waste.'
3. The graphics card is the heart and soul of every gaming system. That said, I don't have an unlimited budget and simply want good results at a decent price. I got a GeForce 9600GT with 1GB for $50.00 cash (I had some Staples rewards). My motherboard supports Crossfire, so I can upgrade later on if I want.

Bottom line is: I'm real happy with my new system, but I made a mistake in letting my wife use the 19" widescreen lcd monitor hehe. I'm stuck with an old CRT 17" until early next month. I've got my heart set on a 22" I found at Newegg for $140.00. I can't wait!

Good luck in your build and be sure to let us know how things are going!

Darrel

 

[whitepass]

Stagefright you can not use a GeForce 9600GT in Crossfire, that is for ATI only you need SLI witch may not be supported on that MB.

 

[Stagefright]

Stagefright you can not use a GeForce 9600GT in Crossfire, that is for ATI only you need SLI witch may not be supported on that MB.

You are absolutely correct, sir. I didn't intend to infer that. Upgrading will necessitate scrapping the 9600.

Thanks for clearing that up!

Darrel

 

[Mick_Berg]

Thanks for the comments.

My present system is AMD Sempron 2600 (1.83GHz), ECS KT600A motherboard, ATI Radeon X1050 256Mb and 3 Gigs RAM.

How quickly things change! Every motherboard I looked at has only one IDE connector! To use my HDD and my CD/DVD drives, I have to get a IDE-SATA adapter for the HDD!

I have Windows XP-32bit. I don't like the thought of Vista, but maybe I'll go to Windows 7 when it has settled down.

I'm thinking of getting;
CPU: AMD Phenom ll x2 550 Black Edition Callisto 3.1 Ghz,
Motherboard: ASUS M4A78 Plus, or maybe one of the ones you chaps suggested,
GPU: Geforce 9600 1 Gig (if I can find one for $50-ish)
Would this be a significant improvement over my previous setup?

I've had good luck with refurbished items, e.g. an excellent Phillips 19" CRT monitor, and a Zen 30gig mp3 player, both running splendidly.

Thanks,
Mick Berg.

 

[saintjimmy]

Those upgrades will definitely be worth the money & will be a significant improvement over your current setup. Just be sure if you do get the nVidia 9600 GT that you clear ALL of the ATI drivers off to prevent conflict. There are programs that will do it for you, too. Just Google "ATI Driver Removal" (without quotes). That is, if you actually go for the 9600 GT. I recommended the ATI cards above so there would not be driver troubles for you.

Take Care,

Kyle

 

[Stagefright]

Two last thoughts, lessons I learned the hard way:

1. Make sure you have PLENTY of power available. The old 'standard' 350 watt power supply is no longer adequate. Go for at least 500w.

2. Provide adequate cooling for your shiny new stuff.

Enjoy!

Darrel

 

[Mick_Berg]

Stagefright - I have a 550w PSU.
"Crossfire X capable! you can pair the Onboard VGA graphics with a PCIe Crossfire capable card."
I saw this in a review for the Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM motherboard that is being recommended - what do you think, would this be a good idea with the Sapphire 4670 GPU? Should it be a factor in my decision making?
Thanks,
Mick Berg.

 

[saintjimmy]

Sorry, but I'm pretty sure that Crossfire X will only work with a slow ATI 3450 or 4350 or 4550, or something, because I've seen reviews on Crossfire X that weren't promising or worth the money. Better off going for a higher performance card like the 4670, 4830 or 9600 GT.

Kyle

 

[Tiger313]

I myself severely dislike ATi video cards. They do have fancy graphics, but I've had 3 gone *poof* on me already, one even to the point of literally melting. And I don't overclock my system + I've got an aluminium Lian-Li case with plenty cooling. So nVidia all the way for me, never having any problems with that.

 

[Mick_Berg]

Stagefright - I have a 550w PSU.
Here's my latest list, I have to stay within budget;
Motherboard; ASUS M4A78, has Crossfire if I ever want to do that, also has easy overclocking feature, might be fun!
GPU; Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4670, has a VGA output, which I still need for my trusty Philips CRT monitor.
This card comes from Newegg with a 6ft HDMI cable that they effectively charge $14 for. This is annoying, as you can buy a HDMI cable for 5 bucks, and I don't need it. However they still have the best price I can find.
CPU; AMD Athlon x2 7850 Kuma 2.8 GHz.
This keeps me within my $200 limit. I'll get it all from Newegg, they seem like a good outfit, except for the silly cable business.
Would appreciate last-minute thoughts!
Thanks,
Mick Berg.

 

[johnwhelan]

I myself severely dislike ATi video cards. They do have fancy graphics, but I've had 3 gone *poof* on me already, one even to the point of literally melting. And I don't overclock my system + I've got an aluminium Lian-Li case with plenty cooling. So nVidia all the way for me, never having any problems with that.

Interesting as ATI cards typically are built with smaller sized dies or use less translation in the Direct X side of things so produce much less heat than nVidia cards. I'd expect the nVidia cards to produce much more heat and thus be more unreliable.

Cheerio John

 

[Tiger313]

Interesting as ATI cards typically are built with smaller sized dies or use less translation in the Direct X side of things so produce much less heat than nVidia cards. I'd expect the nVidia cards to produce much more heat and thus be more unreliable.

Cheerio John

Maybe I've had three flukes, who knows. It ticked me off, that's for sure.

Although I have to admit that that one time it was sorta funny seeing smoke come out my puter. :hehe:

 

[saintjimmy]

Stagefright - I have a 550w PSU.
Here's my latest list, I have to stay within budget;
Motherboard; ASUS M4A78, has Crossfire if I ever want to do that, also has easy overclocking feature, might be fun!
GPU; Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4670, has a VGA output, which I still need for my trusty Philips CRT monitor.
This card comes from Newegg with a 6ft HDMI cable that they effectively charge $14 for. This is annoying, as you can buy a HDMI cable for 5 bucks, and I don't need it. However they still have the best price I can find.
CPU; AMD Athlon x2 7850 Kuma 2.8 GHz.
This keeps me within my $200 limit. I'll get it all from Newegg, they seem like a good outfit, except for the silly cable business.
Would appreciate last-minute thoughts!
Thanks,
Mick Berg.

That sounds like it should do you well. If it isn't fast enough for you, you can always crossfire down the road, and you can have AM3 processor support on some models of the Asus M4A78 on Newegg.

Kyle

 

[Mick_Berg]

That sounds like it should do you well. If it isn't fast enough for you, you can always crossfire down the road, and you can have AM3 processor support on some models of the Asus M4A78 on Newegg.

Kyle

Yes, thanks, I think it should work well, and it is upgradeable in several ways. The motherboard is the M4A78 Plus, it has AM3 support. Hopefully the days of 1 FPS (or less) in TC3 are over!
Mick Berg.
PS I avoided the cable issue by substututing a slightly different video card, no cable but 1meg videoRAM and ten bucks cheaper!

 

[YNER]

I'm thinking of getting a new PC to run TS2009. It's a Custom Configuration PC found on Ebay. Here are the specs:

CPU: AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core Processor 7750 AM2+ at 2.7GHz

Motherboard AM2: ASRock N68-S Socket AM2+/ GeForce 7025/ DDR2/ RAID/ A&V&Gbe/ MATX Motherboard

Memory: DDR2: 4GB STT DDR2-800 128x8 Memory 2x 2GB sticks

Hard Drive(s): 160GB SATA2 7200rpm 8MB Hard drive

Optical Drive(s): 22X SATA Lightscribe DVD+/-RW Internal Drive

Video/Graphics Card: nVidia GeForce 9500GT 1GB VGA/DVI/HDTV PCI-Express Video Card

Power Supply: Logisys 480W 20/24 Power Supply

Case (don't know if you need to know this): Logisys CS305, Black Case

Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic 32-bit w/ SP1, OEM

There was also an option fo 3.5" Drive, but I don't know what that is. Do I need it?

What say you? Any advice? This can be reconfigured. Thank you. -YNER

 

[itareus]

The hard drive seems way to small to me. I bought a new machine in January and this has 110gb of used drive space already. There is very little software installed on the machine and no music, photos etc. My Trainz installation alone is using 16gb (admittedly with lots of downloads). That said, if the budget is tight at the moment, you can always add another hard drive later.

Forget the 3.5 drive (3.5 was the last generation of the old floppy drives - now long since superceded by CDs/DVDs/Memory Sticks etc).

I will leave it to others more knowledgeable than myself to comment further on the more technical aspects of your proposed configuration.

 

[SuperFudd]

Looks good to me.
I don't know anyrhing about the mother board and that is the most important part.
As for the 3.5 inch "floppy" drive, why not. they are cheap. On the other hand you can easily add one latter if you chose. they are about $10. My first floppy drive cost me $450 in 1984 and that was cheap.