PC Discussion Thread - All PC related in here.

[froggyluv 2130]

@Universal- Yeah I'm definitely leaning Intel as I was loving my e6400 and it's kickass Overclockability but I'll check out the AMD chip as well. Will Arma benefit from Quad-core as I've heard arguments from all sides stating games not built for this technology don't benefit and may even suffer?

@ch_123

             -Yep, been reading great things about X48 and found a 9800GTX for cheap

[echo1 0]

Quad Core:

In theory anything optimized for dual core should work with quad core (unless its very badly designed). Im not sure if ArmA benefits from mutliple cores, however - I think you have to look ahead beyond what you use at the moment. Within the next year or two, games optimized for mutliple cores will be more and more common, so its a better deal in the long run. Now, some would argue that a dual core is going to be faster than a quad core at a particular price point, but in all fairness, you wont really notice that speed different in real applications. You will notice the two extra cores if the program can use them. Of course, I'm not infallible and thats just my two cents on the topic (I have never owned a quad core, and had never owned a dual core before two weeks ago :P)

[Supernova 0]

I have to agree with ch_123 here the future is in multi-threaded and multi-core applications. If you want something to last for now you can get a dual core like the E8500 but if you want something to be future proof go for a quad core.

[-Snafu- 77]

@froggyluv

ArmA II's expected recommended system requirements is a quad core cpu and the minimal is dual core.

Info

@ ch_123

May I ask what your opinion of this is. I'm interested because I have a laptop,  this one in fact.

Do you think it will be beneficial for my laptop?

It was rumoured that the graphics card is easy to change, any truth in that?

Also, what do you think about my laptop? Particularly the graphics and CPU.

I hope you do not mind me asking you these questions. You are way more in touch with CPU tech than I am.

[echo1 0]

Snafu -

Ive heard of that thing before. Reading through the specs, I noticed that it was designed to use PCI-E 1x cards. These are the short PCI-E cards used for things like WLAN adaptors, sound cards and some very basic video cards. Most graphics are 16x PCI-E cards. I am rather curious as I did not think that the 8600GT could work with this type of slot.

Even if it did work with PCI-E 16x cards, there will probably be limitations on what card you can put in. The 8600GT is a single slot card that uses little energy and doesnt need a 6 pin power lead. It's also a rather mediocre card that would be little improvement over what you already have, and is probably mainly designed for people with integrated Intel graphics. Most decent cards need such a power lead and have a dual card lead so you might not be able to use them in a unit designed for a 8600GT.

The problem is that it will probably only let you use cards that you'll never want. I cant find any reviews on it, so maybe I could be wrong. But my laptop's specs are similar to yours, and it runs games like Rome Total War, Portal, Red Orchestra and of course ArmA quite alright.

[Placebo 28]

Looking to buy the wife a new laptop, leading candidate so far is:

Novatech X60r (NNB-637)

Quote[/b] ]

Screen 17" WXGA 1440 x 900 TFT Screen

Processor Intel T5550 Core Duo 2mb Cache Dual Core Processor

Processor Speed 2 x 1.83GHz

Memory 2GB DDR2 667MHz Memory

Hard Drive 120GB SATA Hard Drive

Drive DVD/RW Multi Burner

Graphics nVidia 8400M G Turbo Cache PCI Express Graphics

Sound Azalia High Definition Audio

£492.32 inc vat

Budget is £500 and want to get a laptop than has a chance of playing some games as well as running 3d apps and the usual stuff, if anyone knows of a better work/gaming laptop for that price please shout?

Anyone bought a Novatech one before? Any good?

Trying to find a retailer in Sweden so I can claim the tax back from the government

[echo1 0]

Placebo -

The 8400M-G is a pretty weak card, about half a step up from integrated Intel graphics. It very much depends on what sort of games you or your wife would want to play on it, older games and games that are light on hardware (like anything based on Valve's source engine) would work fine with settings turned down, but dont expect it to run modern games, even on very low settings. If you were prepared to strech your budget a little further to about £600 or so, I would look at the Dell XPS M1530. You get the bonus that its a well known brand and therefore you might be able to get better support than that from a relatively unknown brand that could easily go out of business before your warranty it out. (maybe Novatech is a big brand, its just I have never heard of it before, has anyone?). Ive also read good reviews of said laptop.

EDIT: There's a link to aforementioned laptop on Dell Sweden. It has 3GB RAM, a 15.4" screen, 2GHz C2D and the similarily named but much better 8400M-GS graphics unit.

[Placebo 28]

Thanks for the reply, I should have mentioned that a 17" screen is an absolute must. Understandably we won't be able to think of it as a gaming PC, we have a desktop PC for the latest uber games, we'd especially like to be able to run strategy games fairly well as that's the thing my wife most likes to play on it

[chammy 7]

HEY ALL ,POST A PIC OF YOUR COMPUTER STATION!

Here's a pic of my station for the mean time, I just moved and the phone jack in my room is the only one that works in the whole house. I need to get the other phone jacks working , specially the one where the comp is supposed to go, in the den. My girlfriend has been nagging me to move it, sh**! And i still have to build a fence in the backyard , what gives!!?

I started a new topic on here but a moderator locked it, siad I should put it on this thread.

[Placebo 28]

That's a very frilly box that your mouse is sat on!

[chammy 7]

LOL, thats my girlfreinds photo album of my son, there are frogs on it lol, yup, the monitor is perched on top of my grilling utensil case and I have a drum throne for a seat. Notice my ArmA jewel case and Rail Train simulator game at the side.

[quicksand 0]

@Placebo

Quote[/b] ]Looking to buy the wife a new laptop, leading candidate so far is:

I've never heared of Navotech,but you could be in luck as Dell has just announced the Studio Line which has a 17 incher that suits your needs.

Here's a review:

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4471

It has all the bells and whistles of a modern laptop such as HDMI,usb and firewire,powerful CPU and a midrange graphic card that gets more 3d mark points then a 8600M GT,the 8400 is just two steps above integrated and overall a bad choice for any serious gamer.

[froggyluv 2130]

LOL, thats my girlfreinds photo album of my son, there are frogs on it lol, yup, the monitor is perched on top of my grilling utensil case and I have a drum throne for a seat. Notice my ArmA jewel case and Rail Train simulator game at the side.

Thats all right Cham, my family album has frogs in it.

Thanks for sharing that picture after my girlfriend saw it she feels better about us

[Placebo 28]

@Placebo

Quote[/b] ]Looking to buy the wife a new laptop, leading candidate so far is:

I've never heared of Navotech,but you could be in luck as Dell has just announced the Studio Line which has a 17 incher that suits your needs.

Here's a review:

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4471

It has all the bells and whistles of a modern laptop such as HDMI,usb and firewire,powerful CPU and a midrange graphic card that gets more 3d mark points then a 8600M GT,the 8400 is just two steps above integrated and overall a bad choice for any serious gamer.

Thank you very much for your reply, however we just found a new leading candidate:

LG s900

19" screen!

Quote[/b] ]Processortyp Intel Core 2 Duo T5450 2 MB cache

Chipset Intel Mobile 965PM Express

Processorhastighet 1.66 GHz

Minnestyp DDR II SDRAM - 667MHz - PC2-5300

Minne som ingår 2 GB (2 x 1 GB)

Maximalt minne 2 GB

Minnnesplatser (Lediga) 2 (0)

Hårddiskstorlek 250 GB 7200 RPM

Hårddisktyp Serial-ATA

Skärmstorlek 19 tum WXGA+

Maximal skärmupplösning 1440 x 900 bp

Skärmtyp Matt

Grafikkort NVIDIA GeForce Go 8600M GT 256 MB dedikerat

Upp till 1023 MB delat med interminnet

http://www.dustinhome.se/pd_5010129002.aspx

Research has told me the 8600M GT is 20% or so faster than the GS and of course the 19" screen makes it very attractive.

The last remaining issue is how good/bad is the "Intel Core 2 Duo T5450 2 MB cache" CPU? Struggling to find clear information on that

The local price is 6995kr (590GBP 1169US) of that I can claim back around 1000kr tax from the government, and you get a free 8" LCD picture frame worth around 100GBP which is a perfect Chrimbo gift for my Mum!

[echo1 0]

Yeah, the 8600M-GT is a good chip, so is that Core 2 Duo (the T5--- chips are slightly cut down versions with less cache memory than a normal C2D, but you wont have any performance problems as theyre still good chips). I think that laptop would be perfect for your requirements.

[Placebo 28]

Sweet thanks, just ordered it so I hold you responsible if my wife can't lay next to me playing ArmA on it whilst I'm in bed playing Fifa on the 360

[Bush 0]

Sweet thanks, just ordered it so I hold you responsible if my wife can't lay next to me playing ArmA on it whilst I'm in bed playing Fifa on the 360

Note that the LG S900 only have a battery time of 15 minutes and using a 3,5" harddrive instead of a 2,5" that most laptops uses.

But with the 3,5" it will be much cheaper to upgrade.

And since when did you move to Sweden, I thought you moved to Asia somewhere?

[echo1 0]

That problem tends to be inherent with big screen laptops unfortunately. If youre using it indoors, you can just remove the battery and use it with its charger. I doubt youre going to using a 19" laptop on a train or an aeroplane!

[Placebo 28]

Sweet thanks, just ordered it so I hold you responsible if my wife can't lay next to me playing ArmA on it whilst I'm in bed playing Fifa on the 360

Note that the LG S900 only have a battery time of 15 minutes and using a 3,5" harddrive instead of a 2,5" that most laptops uses.

But with the 3,5" it will be much cheaper to upgrade.

And since when did you move to Sweden, I thought you moved to Asia somewhere?

Well I read that by default it doesn't come with a battery per se, it has a mini-battery thing that's more like a portable UPS that lasts as you say 15-20 mins?

We moved to Sweden at the end of May I think it was, had the details in my sig for a while We lived in Singapore for roughly 18 months

[Bush 0]

Well I read that by default it doesn't come with a battery per se, it has a mini-battery thing that's more like a portable UPS that lasts as you say 15-20 mins?

We moved to Sweden at the end of May I think it was, had the details in my sig for a while We lived in Singapore for roughly 18 months

So, which city do you live in? I live in Gävle, about 200 km north of Stockholm.

Just curious.

And sorry for the OffT.

Edit:

Quote[/b] ]We live in Uppsala, which is errrr, somewhere in Sweden

About the half way of the motorway(E4) between Stockholm and Gävle.

100km south of Gävle and 60-70km north of Stockholm.

[Placebo 28]

We live in Uppsala, which is errrr, somewhere in Sweden

[456820 0]

Erm I have a slightly strange question... is it possible to run a game not in full screen but also not in the resolution of my desktop? I want to run a game that runs in 1024x768 where as my desktop is 1280x1024 but I also want this game to be in window mode?

Is this possible?

[echo1 0]

I cant see why not. You'd have to try it out for yourself as it probably depends on the game. What game is it?

[Placebo 28]

New laptop arrived today, first impression was it's absolutely huge, second impression was very favourable, as a test we threw the Crysis demo at it, runs the demo on medium settings (selected by autodetect) very smoothly, Nat and I were both shocked, and of course very happy

[Messiah 2]

We live in Uppsala, which is errrr, somewhere in Sweden

strange world, I work for the Architects who designed your new congress and concert house.