What extra do I need to run Trainz?

B

Beekeeper55

New member
I am thinking about buying Trainz. I don't know which flavour yet. My computer might not be able to cope though so I would like advice on what I would need to add to get a part way reasonable performance.

Here are the relevant details taken using Belarc Avisor:

Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 3 (build 2600)
Hewlett-Packard HP d230 MT(DK601AV)
2.67 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
8 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache
Board: Lite-On Tech. 0884h
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 1.09 11/14/2003
2040 Megabytes Installed Memory
Slot '0' has 1024 MB
Slot '1' has 1024 MB

There is nothing listed in either the Display or the Mulimedia sections, so I suppose that there is no video card.

It was a computer that was given to me so if it will not do I con't complain!

.TIA

BK55
 
It should run Trainz not too badly with the addition of a video card. Its either got an AGP slot or perhaps a PCI express slot if you are lucky. WWW.crucial.com has a scanner that I think shows the video card slot. See if you can pusth the memory to 2.5 or more gigs. 2.5 is the optimum, 3+ gets you the same performance.

www.ebuyer.com is a useful place to look for video cards. ATI 3850 or roughly similar might be appropiate www.tomshardware.com.

Which version well, either TRS2009 in native mode or a mixture of TC3 and TRS2006. TRS2009 gives better frame rates but there are some compatibitiy issues with some content, TC3 is much more mature and stable. You need TRS2006 for the built in content. I'd go TC3 / TRS2006 for the moment. Wait for TRS2009 to settle down. TRS2004 actually is more demanding on the PC than TC3.

Cheerio John

Cheerio John
 
First off you will need to up your ram to at least 2Gig, add a graphics card , either nVidia or ati, and a sound card to hear the wonderful sounds in Trainz.
What size is your HDD.
 
Stationbeem said:
First off you will need to up your ram to at least 2Gig
Click to expand...

Did you do your maths beforehand? He has got 2GBs already :)

Slot '0' has 1024 MB
Slot '1' has 1024 MB
Click to expand...
1024(mb)+1024(mb)=2048(mb)/1024=2(gb)


He doesn't say what video card he has though, googling, this seems to be his/her computer:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00335209&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&product=346019

Now, the graphics card is either (Taken directly from the site)
  • Intel Extreme Graphics (integrated with chipset)
  • NVIDIA GeForce2 MX400 32MB DDR w VGA AGP
  • NVIDA GeForce4 MX440/8 64MB VGA wTV ALL
  • Intel DVI AGP Digital Display (ADD) Card (rev B)
Click to expand...

So we are looking at an old system, about 4 or 5 years old, yes it WILL run Trainz, but only with the right video card.
These will most likely not play it:
  • Intel Extreme Graphics (integrated with chipset)
  • NVIDIA GeForce2 MX400 32MB DDR w VGA AGP
  • Intel DVI AGP Digital Display (ADD) Card (rev B)

The GeForce4 MX440 will play it, as I have done it, but it can be unstable as one of my laptops demostrated (the only one with an MX440, all the rest have nVidia GFG7600x2/8600/9650s/intel GMA950 or ATI Radeon 9700x2).

A new video card to run TRS correctly is a MUST. Look at the 2nd reply for this.


Anyway, just for fun, lets see what you have, if you press the Windows key and the R key on your keyboard at the same time, you should get the run dialogue, in this dialogue, type "DXDIAG" and then enter, you should be presented with either a box asking you about WHQL drivers (click no and afterwards a window) or a window with tabs on the top with things like system/display/sound/input/files, etc.
Click display and it should show you what you have. It'll look something like this:
dxdiag.jpg


HTHs
 
Hm...

Thanks for the replies everyone. They make a lot of sense.

I Have tried the Windows key+R and all I get is the CMD prompt.

BK55
 
I am sure that I don't have a graphics card. None of the slots in the back is occupied and Belarc Adviser did not list anything in the Display or Multimedia sections.

In reply to stationbeems enquiry I have 2 internal HDDs. The C drive has 28GB free and the E drive has 58GB free. I can, if necessary bring in my external USB HDD with loads of space on it. I usually use this as a backup and keep it outside in the workshop, just in case...

BK55
 
Wessex_Electric_Nutter said:
Wierd! Winkey+R should be the run prompt, you could try start> Run and then type Dxdiag in the run box.
Click to expand...
That worked.

It is as I thought. there is a list of n/a's in the Device box. All three items in the Direct X Features box are Not Available.

So I need to get a graphics card. What are my options here?

I have speaker outputs on the back of the computer but, it appears, no dedicated sound card. What do I need to do about this?

TIA

BK55
 
Beekeeper55 said:
That worked.

It is as I thought. there is a list of n/a's in the Device box. All three items in the Direct X Features box are Not Available.

So I need to get a graphics card. What are my options here?

I have speaker outputs on the back of the computer but, it appears, no dedicated sound card. What do I need to do about this?

TIA

BK55
Click to expand...
Since I would like this to be as cheap as possible I am looking at really inexpensive graphics cards.

What about this: http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NOV-84GS5

or this: http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NOV-84GS

or this: http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NOV-95GT5

As you see I have really no idea about what makes a good graphics card but all these are relatively inexpensive. The first two between £20 and £30 and the third at about £40.

TIA

BK55
 
Beekeeper55 said:
Since I would like this to be as cheap as possible I am looking at really inexpensive graphics cards.

What about this: http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NOV-84GS5

or this: http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NOV-84GS

or this: http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NOV-95GT5

As you see I have really no idea about what makes a good graphics card but all these are relatively inexpensive. The first two between £20 and £30 and the third at about £40.

TIA

BK55
Click to expand...

tomshardware.com http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2118-2.html cheapest recommended card is


Novatech ATI Radeon HD4650 512MB DDR2 TV-Out/DVI PCI-Express - Retail £48.29

Double check you have a pci express slot before purchasing. I'd go with the 1 gig card that is 6 quid more. These are 55 nm cards so lower power demands than the nVidia cards.

You could buy nVidia but at this part of the market you get less for your money.

Cheerio John
 
johnwhelan said:
tomshardware.com http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2118-2.html cheapest recommended card is


Novatech ATI Radeon HD4650 512MB DDR2 TV-Out/DVI PCI-Express - Retail £48.29

Double check you have a pci express slot before purchasing. I'd go with the 1 gig card that is 6 quid more. These are 55 nm cards so lower power demands than the nVidia cards.

You could buy nVidia but at this part of the market you get less for your money.

Cheerio John
Click to expand...
How will I know if I have a pci express slot?

Sorry about all the elementary questions.

BK55
 
Beekeeper55 said:
I have speaker outputs on the back of the computer but, it appears, no dedicated sound card. What do I need to do about this?
Click to expand...

You shouldn't need to worry about this too much. You DO technically have a soundcard, it's just onboard.

The only reason you may want a dedicated card is because these usually provided better hardware accelleration for the audio end of things, whereas onboard sound often uses an AC'97 Codec, which were (not sure about nowadays) known to be utter poop.

I doubt a basic soundcard (SoundBlaster Live! or equivalent) would set you back more than $20CAD nowadays.

Oh for the days when we had 3 choices : Adlib, SB16, or PC Speaker.
 
Beekeeper55 said:
That worked.

It is as I thought. there is a list of n/a's in the Device box. All three items in the Direct X Features box are Not Available.

So I need to get a graphics card. What are my options here?

I have speaker outputs on the back of the computer but, it appears, no dedicated sound card. What do I need to do about this?
Click to expand...

You do have a graphics card, its probably a graphics chip, or IGP (Intergrated Graphics Processor). They are possibly the worst things to run Trainz on, but they can do it (just!). The reason it isn't displaying, is because you are probably using the Standard VGA drivers, which won't allow you to play any game.

You don't need to worry about sound cards, unless you want to go full 5.1 surround sound or higher.
 
Since you have an AGP slot you basically get to pay more.

Novatech ATI Radeon HD 3850 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI 8xAGP - Retail
91 quid.

Is the fastest AGP card available and it doesn't do too bad a job. Set the aa and af high to get the best quality image, your system will probably not be fast enough to keep the video card stretched but it will give you the best performance out of your system.

Sound card I'd add one in, it will off load the cpu by about 15% and you want to off load that cpu as much as possible.

Novatech 7.1 Channel CMI Audio PCI Sound Card is 13 quid, sound blasters are about thirty quid it doesn't matter which you buy they will all do the off load bit. Currently the onboard sound works by stealing cpu cycles.

Cheerio John
 
Thanks for the advice chaps.

I think that I am gradually moving towards a solution. I do not have any version of Trainz at the moment. I am trying to discover what I am likely to have to pay to get me something that will work reasonably well.

The sound card seems, from what you have said, to be something without which I can do.

The graphics card I need, because I don't have a PCI express card, needs to be an AGP card. Have I got this right? Since I want to keep the costs down I have sought out this one: http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NOV-GF6225

Will it work OK?

Lastly, having got ll that I need in the way of graphics cards what is the best version of Trainz for me to get?

Many thanks for all the advice so far and thanks in advance for any more!

All the best

BK55
 
Beekeeper55 said:
Thanks for the advice chaps.

I think that I am gradually moving towards a solution. I do not have any version of Trainz at the moment. I am trying to discover what I am likely to have to pay to get me something that will work reasonably well.

The sound card seems, from what you have said, to be something without which I can do.

The graphics card I need, because I don't have a PCI express card, needs to be an AGP card. Have I got this right? Since I want to keep the costs down I have sought out this one: http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?NOV-GF6225

Will it work OK?

Lastly, having got ll that I need in the way of graphics cards what is the best version of Trainz for me to get?

Many thanks for all the advice so far and thanks in advance for any more!

All the best

BK55
Click to expand...

Go here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-radeon,2151-6.html

There is a table that ranks practically all graphics cards. I suggest you go with at least something of 6800 GS or above, and even at that I personally would have some doubts.

Trainz unfortunately depends on content creators who build things that run on their machines. Often they don't have lower end machines. So yes you can carefully select items and build a route that will run on practically anything, reality is finding such items will be difficult.

The other thing to take into account is the power draw on your power supply, video cards are built in a variety of fabrication methods basically the newer designs especially the ATI ones draw less power. Do a web look up and see how much each card requires then have a look at your power supply and see how much reserve power you have.

Version of Trainz, it doesn't matter too much these days, TRS2009 in native mode has the best frame rates or the lightest load on the machine, TC3 comes next. If you go TC3 buy TRS2006 or possibly TRS2009 as well, you'll need the built in content. TRS2009 is very new and has some issues with content compatibility.

I suspect there is not a solution that would work reasonably well in your price range.

Cheerio John
 
johnwhelan said:
Go here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-radeon,2151-6.html

There is a table that ranks practically all graphics cards. I suggest you go with at least something of 6800 GS or above, and even at that I personally would have some doubts.

Trainz unfortunately depends on content creators who build things that run on their machines. Often they don't have lower end machines. So yes you can carefully select items and build a route that will run on practically anything, reality is finding such items will be difficult.

The other thing to take into account is the power draw on your power supply, video cards are built in a variety of fabrication methods basically the newer designs especially the ATI ones draw less power. Do a web look up and see how much each card requires then have a look at your power supply and see how much reserve power you have.

Version of Trainz, it doesn't matter too much these days, TRS2009 in native mode has the best frame rates or the lightest load on the machine, TC3 comes next. If you go TC3 buy TRS2006 or possibly TRS2009 as well, you'll need the built in content. TRS2009 is very new and has some issues with content compatibility.

I suspect there is not a solution that would work reasonably well in your price range.

Cheerio John
Click to expand...
That's disappointing. I suppose that the newer laptop that I have got coming back from repair might be better.

I'll be back!

BK55
 
Beekeeper55 said:
That's disappointing. I suppose that the newer laptop that I have got coming back from repair might be better.

I'll be back!

BK55
Click to expand...

Lap tops in general are built for low power consumption not performance. There are sliders for Trainz that let you trade off appearance for performance.

Cheerio John
 
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