new computer

Ive been away from trainz for a while because my computer freezers if i try to open almost any game ive been looking around and found 1 that im interested in but would like some opinions from other people if it will be right for trainz

specs

AMD Phenom 9500 Quad-Core Processor
Gigabyte MA770-DS3 Motherboard
4GB DDR2 Memory (2x2GB)
500GB SATA2 7200rpm
20x Multi-format DVD Burner
NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT 512MB Graphics
Azalia Codec Hi-Definition 7.1 Audio
Coolermaster Elite Case w/ PSU

Upgrade options:


AMD Phenom 9600 Quad Core



thanks all

This is very high-end and should run trainz and most other games fine. Stick with the Phenom 9500 though, as there is no point in paying more for the 9600 when it won't be used much.

thanks for the reply it comes as a pre built one i want it for other games than trainz as well and i dont think i can change the parts since its pre built

thanks

Quad processor doesn't gait you anything much, an Intel Dual core might be a lot better performance wise even though you only run on one core.

NVidia currently is trying to establish that the video card is the most important part of a PC especially one that runs sims or games. Their 8600 GT comes out as a sort of medium powered graphics card.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-cards,1805-6.html

It doesn't rate a price performance evaluation. My suggestion would be go for more expensive graphics card at the expense of the quad processor. ASUS or Intel motherboards still have the most solid Windows drivers. You make no mention of the operating system, if its 32 bit XP it won't be able to use more than 2.7 gigs of memory, you'll need 62 bit Vista for that and 64 bit Vista has its own set of issues with drivers etc.

You have two ears, head phones in general give the best quality sound, from a practical sound quality point of view these are extremely hard to beat.
http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er6i.aspx

7.1 sound needs multiple speakers and you have to be sitting in exactly the right place and the room has to be acoustically designed. Translation it's hype.

An ASUS motherboard with sound processor gives good performance without paying extra for the sound card and it off loads the cpu as well.

The power supply on these things is important both quality and size wise. Have a dig in tomshardware.com about power supplies. Antec Green series power supplies protect against power brown outs which might well save you the price of a UPS.

Basically it depends on how much it is but it is unlikely to be an optimum cost effective solution.

Have fun.

Cheerio John