Baron
18-08-10, 22:06
Hi> I am keen to buy a new PC for gaming ( and to surf the net and create word docs). The most demanding applications I have are Rome Total War and Caesar IV whose respective specs are:
Rome Total War
Windows 2000/XP - Pentium III or Athlon 1.0 Ghz processor- 256MB Ram –
8x speed cd-rom drive 1200kb/sec sustained transfer rate and latest drivers - 2.9 GB hard disk space - 100% DirectX 9.0 compatible 16 bit sound card and latest drivers - 1024x768 monitor resolution - 3D hardware accelerator card reqd. 100% DirectX 9.0 compatible - 64 Mb Hardware Accelerator video card and latest drivers (ATI Radeon 8500, 9000, 9500, 9600, 9700, 9800, all Nvidia Geforce 3 and higher)
Caesar IV
Pentium 4 1.6 Ghz or equivalent. - 128 MB Nvidia Geforce 4 go / ATI Radeon 9500 card including Pixel Shader 1.1 or higher support.
So I came up with the following spec:
Case COOLERMASTER HAF 922 MID TOWER GAMING CASE (£82)*
Processor (CPU) AMD PHENOM II X2 550 (3.10GHz/6MB CACHE/AM3) - BLACK EDITION*
Motherboard ASUS® M4A79XTD EVO: DUAL DDR3, S-ATA II, 2x PCIe x16, 2x PCIe x1, 2x PCI*
Memory (RAM) 4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card 1GB ATI RADEON™ HD 5770 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11
Hard Disk 750GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)*
1st DVD Drive 24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM*
Mem. Card Reader INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (READS XD, MS, CF, SD, etc)*
Power Supply 600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
Processor Cooling SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER
Sound Card Sound Blaster® Audigy™ SE
Network Facilities ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT*
USB Options 6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD*
Modem None I will be using Broadband*
TV Card PCTV SYSTEMS DVB-T DUAL TUNER DIGITAL FREEVIEW TV CARD*
Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
Monitor 22" Wide TFT Silver/Black 1920x1080 2MS d-Sub, DVI, 21.6" Panel
Keyboard & Mouse Logitech® Cordless Desktop Wave™ Laser Mouse & Keyboard Combo
Speakers LOGITECH Z323 2.1 Stereo speakers with Rich bass and 360-degree sound
An alternative would be a 2GB NVDIA GEFORCE GTX460 GDDR5 PCI EXPRESS DirectX 11 card and a ASUS M4N98 EVO DDR3 2 Way SLI SATA3.0GB/s Motherboard, which I understand is the better graphics option.
That’s when the problems start.
According to the Microsoft Windows 7 compatibility website neither of these games for a start are compatible with that operating system. Solution; get Windows XP. But a 32 bit operating system has apparently a max. of less than 4GB of RAM that it can handle total, in which case what’s the point of the high end graphics card and 4GB of RAM?
If I have understood the various threads I’ve read correctly one either builds up the spec and waits for the games one wants to come out – a bit pointless – or builds down the spec! My preferred word processing package is Microsoft Worksuite 2004 which is also incompatible. And some threads indicate that Windows XP is the better OS for Gaming!
Is this all correct. If so where do I go from here? Perhaps I should just play solitaire!
Rome Total War
Windows 2000/XP - Pentium III or Athlon 1.0 Ghz processor- 256MB Ram –
8x speed cd-rom drive 1200kb/sec sustained transfer rate and latest drivers - 2.9 GB hard disk space - 100% DirectX 9.0 compatible 16 bit sound card and latest drivers - 1024x768 monitor resolution - 3D hardware accelerator card reqd. 100% DirectX 9.0 compatible - 64 Mb Hardware Accelerator video card and latest drivers (ATI Radeon 8500, 9000, 9500, 9600, 9700, 9800, all Nvidia Geforce 3 and higher)
Caesar IV
Pentium 4 1.6 Ghz or equivalent. - 128 MB Nvidia Geforce 4 go / ATI Radeon 9500 card including Pixel Shader 1.1 or higher support.
So I came up with the following spec:
Case COOLERMASTER HAF 922 MID TOWER GAMING CASE (£82)*
Processor (CPU) AMD PHENOM II X2 550 (3.10GHz/6MB CACHE/AM3) - BLACK EDITION*
Motherboard ASUS® M4A79XTD EVO: DUAL DDR3, S-ATA II, 2x PCIe x16, 2x PCIe x1, 2x PCI*
Memory (RAM) 4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB)
Graphics Card 1GB ATI RADEON™ HD 5770 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11
Hard Disk 750GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)*
1st DVD Drive 24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM*
Mem. Card Reader INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (READS XD, MS, CF, SD, etc)*
Power Supply 600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
Processor Cooling SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER
Sound Card Sound Blaster® Audigy™ SE
Network Facilities ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT*
USB Options 6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD*
Modem None I will be using Broadband*
TV Card PCTV SYSTEMS DVB-T DUAL TUNER DIGITAL FREEVIEW TV CARD*
Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
Monitor 22" Wide TFT Silver/Black 1920x1080 2MS d-Sub, DVI, 21.6" Panel
Keyboard & Mouse Logitech® Cordless Desktop Wave™ Laser Mouse & Keyboard Combo
Speakers LOGITECH Z323 2.1 Stereo speakers with Rich bass and 360-degree sound
An alternative would be a 2GB NVDIA GEFORCE GTX460 GDDR5 PCI EXPRESS DirectX 11 card and a ASUS M4N98 EVO DDR3 2 Way SLI SATA3.0GB/s Motherboard, which I understand is the better graphics option.
That’s when the problems start.
According to the Microsoft Windows 7 compatibility website neither of these games for a start are compatible with that operating system. Solution; get Windows XP. But a 32 bit operating system has apparently a max. of less than 4GB of RAM that it can handle total, in which case what’s the point of the high end graphics card and 4GB of RAM?
If I have understood the various threads I’ve read correctly one either builds up the spec and waits for the games one wants to come out – a bit pointless – or builds down the spec! My preferred word processing package is Microsoft Worksuite 2004 which is also incompatible. And some threads indicate that Windows XP is the better OS for Gaming!
Is this all correct. If so where do I go from here? Perhaps I should just play solitaire!