Hi all I keep having problems with Trainz either locking up or kicking me back to my desktop. My computer is several years old and I want to bu one that can handle Trainz without strain. I prefer to buy from Dell. They have a reasonable deal on their Alienware X51. Will that work? What would you buy? Thanks for your advice. Mac
What computer would ou buy?
- Thread starter macclarke
- Start date
PortLineParker
UK Route Builder
I bought the Dell Inspiron 660 and highly recommend it. Quiet and pretty fats with 3rd gen core i5 3.0GHz it's value for money. I also equipped it with the ATI Radeon 7750 graphics card, and let me jus say, wow. Nothing I have puts a strain on it, just amazing. PC is £399 and card is about £70.
PortLineParker
PortLineParker
cascaderailroad
New member
Why would anyone actually prefer to buy a Dell, over all the great PC's on the market ?
Is Dell just a reputable name brand that you trust ?
Some Dell PC's on QVC sell for $1800, but are in actuality just a $379 PC (overpriced).
First of all ... I would by a desktop PC ... and put Harbor Freight inflatable rubber wheeies on it !
Is Dell just a reputable name brand that you trust ?
Some Dell PC's on QVC sell for $1800, but are in actuality just a $379 PC (overpriced).
First of all ... I would by a desktop PC ... and put Harbor Freight inflatable rubber wheeies on it !
Last edited:
johnwhelan
Well-known member
I'd start with Newegg.com, then look at tomshardware.com at their gaming builds to get some ideas, then read through their words on CPUs and GPUs. Basically look at the hierarchy charts so for the GPU look here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html and the CPU here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html
Personally I'd go i5 but check the chart some i5s are faster than some i7s. So then check Newegg.com computers and stick in i5 CPU and see what comes out. A Radeon HD 7850 2 GB should be enough performance for most users of Trainz and its about the fifth level down on the hierarchy chart, the top couple of levels you get diminishing returns for the dollar.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229469 is something to compare. Dell Alienware you're probably paying a bit for the advertising, and Dell normally update their machines once a year so it depends a little when the machine was last updated, also Dell make their profits on when you upgrade one of their machines, so they'll nudge you into a better graphics cards or more memory etc and that's where they make their cash.
Cheerio John
Personally I'd go i5 but check the chart some i5s are faster than some i7s. So then check Newegg.com computers and stick in i5 CPU and see what comes out. A Radeon HD 7850 2 GB should be enough performance for most users of Trainz and its about the fifth level down on the hierarchy chart, the top couple of levels you get diminishing returns for the dollar.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229469 is something to compare. Dell Alienware you're probably paying a bit for the advertising, and Dell normally update their machines once a year so it depends a little when the machine was last updated, also Dell make their profits on when you upgrade one of their machines, so they'll nudge you into a better graphics cards or more memory etc and that's where they make their cash.
Cheerio John
ccowan2126
Member
Partpicker.com is another source for pricing components for a "build your own" computer. You can mix and match components to "build" a system on their website and see who has the best deals on the components. It is constantly updated. Even if you don't build your own, there is a lot of good info there. Also, check out Walmart website. There are some pretty sweet deals thru Walmart and iBUYPower and cyberpower. I personally was looking at Walmart last Christmas until I found a sweet deal on my iBUYPower gaming desktop on Amazon for $509.00 total (NO tax and free shipping ! ). Plenty of room for upgrades thru the years to come. Just my $.02
I too would avoid any OEM like Alienware, etc. Build your own, and if you're not comfortable with that, go to an independent shop and build to order. I'd get an i7-4470k-based system, perhaps a Gigabyte motherboard, and a GTX760-based card, plus a 750w or later power supply. Below is a barebones
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8509938&CatId=333
I'm not a big fan of barebones kits and the power supply on that one is kind of on the weak side (especially since it's basically a generic brand...good in my experience, as long you buy one rated substantially higher than your expected needs.)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8509938&CatId=333
I'm not a big fan of barebones kits and the power supply on that one is kind of on the weak side (especially since it's basically a generic brand...good in my experience, as long you buy one rated substantially higher than your expected needs.)
I had my computer built for me from www.jncs.com I see that you live in GA but check out their web site and you'll be able to se how much the different components cost. These people have built my last three computers and I have nothing but good words for them. Best of all, when you call you actually talk to some one who you can understand and knows what they're talking about. Good luck.
Put me in the "Let someone else do the work for you " camp as well. I had my machine built here:http://www.maingear.com/index.php
I chose them based on their record and also that they are less than an hour drive from my home. I was able to pick the computer up myself and meet the tech who assembled it. I was very happy with the entire experience.
I chose them based on their record and also that they are less than an hour drive from my home. I was able to pick the computer up myself and meet the tech who assembled it. I was very happy with the entire experience.
Not owning a car is a good thing. Just think of how big a computer you can have.
Building a computer doesn't take up very much room for perhaps an hour or two. I've put them together at the kitchen table or even in my bedroom when I've had to. Once you've got things assembled, you can toss the packaging. In fact the boxes in most cases take up more space than the actual computer its self.
John
I bought the Asus G750JW (base model) for 1500 bucks. It has the Intel Haswell i7 processor, 8GB (soon to be 24GB) of Ram 1TB HDD (there is a second HDD bay on board that I plan to place a SDD inside) and the Nvidia GTX 765M Graphics processor. I run Trainz 12 maxed out with hell a lot of locomotives, cars and pretty much anything I want in sight and this laptop runs seamlessly! I love this computer and this will defeat the rumors of laptops not being able to run Trainz software!!!
Here is my experience.
Last October(2012) I bought a Cyberpower comp through Newegg. The computer worked fine for the first couple of months. It was January, IIRC, that the unit started to BSOD for no reason. After several trips to the local Computer Repair (Bestbuy-Geeksquad) and the problem was still not fixed. I got with the manufacture and ended up having to replace the Harddrive twice. The second time I had to buy my own copy of Win7Home only to have that HD fail. I asked for a refund/credit towards a new build and still have not heard anything back from them. This was mid August by the time that I sent the last email.
I ended up just building my own computer. Newegg has a great bundle system of giving you compatible parts to choose from. I highly recommend building your own computer. It is a great skill to have. Its like knowing everything about your car and knowing what exactly is wrong (hardware wise) and being able to diagnose it instead of having to take it somewhere to be repaired. My build (estimate) was around $1300. Large case that can be carried, water cooled heat sink, 2TB HD (2x 1tb drives) 5 internal fans + fan controller, decent graphics, decent mom-board, decent optic drive, 16GB RAM. You can make a system that fits your needs better than buying one and customize it from there. I've had no problems with mine so far. It travels ok (its a big computer so its a bit bulky to carry sometimes). I take mine to my friends house about once a month. Before with the Cbyerpower Comp I bough, just moving it from one room to the other caused it to BSOD with no way to start in safemode.
Also, USE WINDOWS 7 PRO SP1 64BIT. Trainz(TS10 and 12) will work just fine with this and is more stable than Win 7 home. This is my opinion too.
These are just my 2 cents. If you want to buy your own and then customize, thats fine. This is just my experince.
Last October(2012) I bought a Cyberpower comp through Newegg. The computer worked fine for the first couple of months. It was January, IIRC, that the unit started to BSOD for no reason. After several trips to the local Computer Repair (Bestbuy-Geeksquad) and the problem was still not fixed. I got with the manufacture and ended up having to replace the Harddrive twice. The second time I had to buy my own copy of Win7Home only to have that HD fail. I asked for a refund/credit towards a new build and still have not heard anything back from them. This was mid August by the time that I sent the last email.
I ended up just building my own computer. Newegg has a great bundle system of giving you compatible parts to choose from. I highly recommend building your own computer. It is a great skill to have. Its like knowing everything about your car and knowing what exactly is wrong (hardware wise) and being able to diagnose it instead of having to take it somewhere to be repaired. My build (estimate) was around $1300. Large case that can be carried, water cooled heat sink, 2TB HD (2x 1tb drives) 5 internal fans + fan controller, decent graphics, decent mom-board, decent optic drive, 16GB RAM. You can make a system that fits your needs better than buying one and customize it from there. I've had no problems with mine so far. It travels ok (its a big computer so its a bit bulky to carry sometimes). I take mine to my friends house about once a month. Before with the Cbyerpower Comp I bough, just moving it from one room to the other caused it to BSOD with no way to start in safemode.
Also, USE WINDOWS 7 PRO SP1 64BIT. Trainz(TS10 and 12) will work just fine with this and is more stable than Win 7 home. This is my opinion too.
These are just my 2 cents. If you want to buy your own and then customize, thats fine. This is just my experince.