Playing SH4 - at what specs?

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by Type941

You guys seriously thinking that 550w is not enough? The next one is twice as pricey, at 650w. I can get cheaper 600w one too...

I thought that 550w is pretty huge, my previous one had 300w... If you say so, its of course not to late to change the order.

for cooling, i mentioned above the arctic fan and that Blue orb cpu fan. I reckon that should do it, no?

And you mention case fans - as in just extra fans piled inside just to move the air around? Is that really needed? u guys gonna make me get into 1500 figure now.

Your PSU, IMHO, look at what amps your video card requires to run. For instance, my 7800 GS needs 18amps so I purchased a PSU that pushed 18 amps or better. I found a 400 watt supply that can do that. Sometimes you can find a 350 watt psu that can push the correct amps needed. As a rule of thumb, always go a bit higher in the watts and amps as the psu does not push the maximum output all the time and it allows for expanding things down the road. Also, the higher wattage psu have multiple connectors so each item in the computer can have it's own supply and not share with other items inside the computer.

[Rockin Robbins]

Just check the output amps on the +12 volts rail of that power supply. I'll bet it's fine for the 8800GT.....EVGA says minimum 400 watt, 22 amps on the +12 line.

Hey, how are we supposed to buy a graphics card now. Let's see I want an 8800 card. Which one, 8800GTX, GTS, GT or GS? Or how about an Ultra? Then you pick from standard, KO, SSC, Superclocked and Black Pearl, whatever that is. And you just wanna buy a graphics card. Too much stress making the choice! Good thing I'm set right now.

[tomoose]

I'm currently using an AMD 64 3700+ (2.4Ghz) with 2.5Gig of RAM and an nVidia GeForce 7800 GS (AGP slot as I don't have PCI-e) and SHIV runs extremely well. There is some slight "stuttering" when there's a lot of ship action but that type of thing is few and far between, overall it runs very smoothly.
My only disadvantage is that I can't make any movies (not enough 'umph' in the machine).

[Rockin Robbins]

Originally Posted by tomoose

I'm currently using an AMD 64 3700+ (2.4Ghz) with 2.5Gig of RAM and an nVidia GeForce 7800 GS (AGP slot as I don't have PCI-e) and SHIV runs extremely well. There is some slight "stuttering" when there's a lot of ship action but that type of thing is few and far between, overall it runs very smoothly.
My only disadvantage is that I can't make any movies (not enough 'umph' in the machine).

I just traded it for an Opteron 175. Zoom! Zoom! Big difference. I haven't tried making any movies or overclocking it yet. I'm having too much fun the way it is. Conventional wisdom says that changing processors is a minimal deal. the 3700+ was slow enough to make that assumption untrue. $150 at Newegg.

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

Just check the output amps on the +12 volts rail of that power supply. I'll bet it's fine for the 8800GT.....EVGA says minimum 400 watt, 22 amps on the +12 line.

Yes, look at the +/-12 volt amp output. Attempt to purchase a PSU that has the amps your card needs. From what I understand the cards clock will reduce do to lack of amps required and the entire system can be unstable. I was running my 7800 on a 350 watt 10 amp psu and the FPS in game was all over the place. The increased 400 watt and amps stopped that. PSU is a very critical part of the entire computer system.

[seafarer]

Originally Posted by Type941

You guys seriously thinking that 550w is not enough? The next one is twice as pricey, at 650w. I can get cheaper 600w one too...

I thought that 550w is pretty huge, my previous one had 300w... If you say so, its of course not to late to change the order.

for cooling, i mentioned above the arctic fan and that Blue orb cpu fan. I reckon that should do it, no?

And you mention case fans - as in just extra fans piled inside just to move the air around? Is that really needed? u guys gonna make me get into 1500 figure now.

I just know that some of the 8800GT's have been reported to run pretty hot (it's a lot of vid card to cool in a single slot format, regardless of which heat sink you have). My BFG gets very toasty near the front bottom corner (ie. the corner at the output end, towards the PCIe connector). Adding another case fan is pretty cheap for the added security. I have a rear case exhaust fan, a front case inlet fan, as well as the power supply exhaust fan, my cpu sink fan and the gpu sink fan. My 8800GT will still settle in at about 76C when gaming, but that's well within it's specs.

[Rockin Robbins]

In addition to my side 80mm fan I have a 120mm inlet on the front of the case and 120mm outlet fan on the back. My power supply also has two fans, one sucking air from inside and the other blowing it out the back. Fans are cheap, if they're lighted they look cool and the 120s don't make much noise at all. Computers need bling too.

76º is just fine for that 8800GT! I've blown my upgrade money for now, or I'd be searching one of those out. It would have been crippled connected to my old Athlon 64 3700+ though. That's OK, I knew I wasn't building a rocket ship. It runs SH4 fine!

[Type941]

Thanks for the replies guys, and here is a little update.
I have upgraded my psu to 650w as recommended. it was not cheap upgrade!

So, the burning question NOW is which OS!!

I am forced to chose between a 32 bit Vista-XP business which allows to switch between the two as you please. So one can be instaled, then upgraded to Vista, or XP insalled and upgraded to Vista if needed. Now this is pricey, 200 dollars.

Another choice is simpler and cheper - a 64 bit Vista Home Ultimate.
Third choice is similar in that but different OS - XP P 32bit.

SO... is going 32 bit a good idea or better go with longer outlook and take 64 bit? Is Vista Home a decent OS in 64 bit what will run SH4 without issues? My specs are good, so I hope it will be plenty ... adn the GPU is good too so it wont suck the memory so much.

Help me out with OS advise, i Have to order soon!!! I have may be a day or two left before the machine is ready.

[seafarer]

Unless you have more then 4GB RAM, AND have applications that will/can use more then 4GB RAM, there is no point to a 64-bit operating system.

64-bit OS does NOT = faster computing (at least not necessarily, and it can in fact mean a slower one under some circumstances, since 64-bit code has a higher overhead). All it does mean is a larger RAM address space.

[Type941]

but isnt it true that with 64bit OS things look much prettier?

I mean I read some things online, and concensus seems that 64 bit is a tad too early for pretty much every program outhere and is gonna take 3-4 years before it becomes the top choice for all.

SO, probably Im down to 32 bit 200dollar XP-Vista Business or 32 bit cheaper VIsta.

I saw that there was some gimmicking required to get the SH4 work with Vista, but seems nothing major-...

So for now it's most likely gonna be 32 bit Vista Home Premium. Anyone running it?

PS. I do (will) have 4GB of RAM.

[walrusbomb]

buying a good powersupply is tricky... there are so many BAD ones. Bad != low price.

Uber Gaming PSU checklist:
1. at least 22Amperage on the +12V rail?
2. at least 80% efficiency?

also, you really need to lap your heatsinks before mounting!!!


Get the best Heatsinks money can buy:
1. CPU, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835154001
2. GPU, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835109136

[seafarer]

Originally Posted by Type941

I mean I read some things online, and concensus seems that 64 bit is a tad too early for pretty much every program outhere and is gonna take 3-4 years before it becomes the top choice for all.

But even a 64-bit program, unless it is doing something that needs more then 4GB RAM, is no better then a 32-bit version. Seriously, there is no point in a 64-bit version of MS-Office, or notepad, unless you are opening up files bigger then 4GB. A 64-bit version of Photoshop would be pointless for many users, although there are certainly some who would benefit from it as they work either with very large images or many images at once. For things like Apple's iMovie, a 64-bit version would be useful for rendering full length DVDs and such.

64-bit computing only makes sense if you have apps that need the extra RAM - that really is it. For any situation where 4GB RAM or less is good, 32-bit code will usually run faster, and it's fully capable of making the most of that amount of RAM.

Originally Posted by Type941

SO, probably Im down to 32 bit 200dollar XP-Vista Business or 32 bit cheaper VIsta.

I saw that there was some gimmicking required to get the SH4 work with Vista, but seems nothing major-...

So for now it's most likely gonna be 32 bit Vista Home Premium. Anyone running it?

PS. I do (will) have 4GB of RAM.

Simpliest thing to do is just be sure to install SH4 anywhere but the default "Programs" folder. Vista's UAC security layer will mess things up with the patches and mods if they try to write to that folder. Just have the installer put it in a folder of your choice (mine is in my user space, in a folder just named "games"). That will bypass Vista's UAC and you should have no problems.

[Type941]

I made up my mind for now about OS. I am getting Vista ultimate, 32bit, SP1. So hopefully all that is okey dokey. PC should be ready and I will go out today and purchase my SH4 - they seem to be so cheap, almost discounted... All the better!