Whats the lowest dual core & Graphics Card to run Arma 2?

[itsme 10]

Whats the lowest dual core & Graphics Card to run Arma 2 on Normal to High settings?

and Is a Quad core 2.5Ghz same as the Dual core 3Ghz?

and which one would be better for Operation Arrowhead?

[Drew 10]

I have one of the lowest dual core CPU's out there but I still game with out any problems with all settings on normal, Object Detail- Very High AA/AF/PP off. AMD 64 Athlon x2 2.0 GHz xp 32 bit 2 Gigs of RAM and a ATI MSI 4850.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Demon575#p/a/u/1/3P3iP8Ih-yo

[jw custom 56]

Whats the lowest dual core & Graphics Card to run Arma 2 on Normal to High settings?

and Is a Quad core 2.5Ghz same as the Dual core 3Ghz?

and which one would be better for Operation Arrowhead?

So you decided to upgrade anyway :p

Dont under estimate my system like others who failed;)

[itsme 10]

I have one of the lowest dual core CPU's out there but I still game with out any problems with all settings on normal, Object Detail- Very High AA/AF/PP off. AMD 64 Athlon x2 2.0 GHz xp 32 bit 2 Gigs of RAM and a ATI MSI 4850.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Demon575#p/a/u/1/3P3iP8Ih-yo

Thanks, but am not really into AMD, I prefer Intel, so what would be the equivalent?

[TimRiceSE 10]

why not grab one of the new core i5 750s?

[itsme 10]

So you decided to upgrade anyway :p

Oh didnt I tell you? the game kept crashing, I couldnt even start the campaign, it does start, but in the first mission whilst am on the helo it just crashes

and even on the single missions it kept crashing, which was fine in the Demo version for some reason?

So yeah I liked the game alot, and with windows 7 coming out I might upgrade, cause to be honest my system looks to be out of date

---------- Post added at 07:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:04 PM ----------

why not grab one of the new core i5 750s?

Whats the price range? in £ pls

[TimRiceSE 10]

£150 for the cpu from ebuyer.com

Its a new socket though, so youll also need to get that (new motherboard) and ddr3... but the performance of it beats (i believe) even the most expensive c2quad...

Edit: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3634 article to read if youre interested and maybe want to be convinced :P

Edited October 26, 2009 by TimRiceSE

[Psychopathus 10]

I run Arma2 on High, viewdistance of +-4500m with a Core2Duo E6700 2.66Ghz, 4GB of RAM and a Geforce8800GTX (Windows Vista x64). It lags for a few seconds when starting a mission but after that, it runs smoothly.

Regarding your question about which one is faster, the correct answer is: depends. If a game creates just 2 threads (let's say a main thread and 1 for AI), the Dual Core will be faster because of higher clock. If there are more than 2 threads created, the QuadCore wins because the OS will be able to allocate the new thread to an "unused" core, which means less CPU time competition between threads (just imagine a supermarket to understand it - CPUs as clerks and threads/processes as customers). But remember that more threads you create, more complex your code gets.

I bet a quadcore will be better for OA, but who knows? Sorry for my english, it's not my first language.

[itsme 10]

£150 for the cpu from ebuyer.com

Its a new socket though, so youll also need to get that (new motherboard) and ddr3... but the performance of it beats (i believe) even the most expensive c2quad...

That sounds very cheap, but cause am not too much into pc specs, am not sure what you mean by "its a new socket" and "ddr3"?

---------- Post added at 07:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:16 PM ----------

I run Arma2 on High, viewdistance of +-4500m with a Core2Duo E6700 2.66Ghz, 4GB of RAM and a Geforce8800GTX (Windows Vista x64). It lags for a few seconds when starting a mission but after that, it runs smoothly.

Regarding your question about which one is faster, the correct answer is: depends. If a game creates just 2 threads (let's say a main thread and 1 for AI), the Dual Core will be faster because of higher clock. If there are more than 2 threads created, the QuadCore wins because the OS will be able to allocate the new thread to an "unused" core, which means less CPU time competition between threads (just imagine a supermarket to understand it - CPUs as clerks and threads/processes as customers). But remember that more threads you create, more complex your code gets.

I bet a quadcore will be better for OA, but who knows? Sorry for my english, it's not my first language.

I think I will only buy a Quad core, because I dont want the need to upgrade in a few months time, I want it to last for a couple of years,

but what I dont get is the System Requirements Recommended which is;

Quad Core CPU or Dual Core CPU (Intel Core 2.8 GHz, AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400 + or faster)

So even if I buy a Quad Core, does it have to be a 2.8GHz or more to run it on high? or is the 2.8 for a dual core only?

[TimRiceSE 10]

ah, right.

its a new socket for the cpu, so youll need to swap out your motherboard. DDR3 == a type of memory, i cant say (of course) what type you have now, you might already have DDR3 but if your system is quite old then chances are its only DDR2 so you might need to get new memory too.

Also you probably have a Socket 775 CPU now - core2duo/quad? that socket is only going to be for the "budget" line of upcoming intel processors, i5 uses socket 1156 and this will be the "mainstream" line, probably more 'future safe' than buying something for socket 775 now.

In summary

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/174674 Motherboard £100

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/158711 Memory £77

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/172755 CPU £150

Hope it helps.

Edited October 26, 2009 by TimRiceSE

[jw custom 56]

That sounds very cheap, but cause am not too much into pc specs, am not sure what you mean by "its a new socket" and "ddr3"?

He means that you need to upgrade you motherboard, but you will have to do that anyways if you wan't a upgrade. Same goes with your RAM.

[wooly-back-jack 10]

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/166518/show_product_reviews can't knock that price, plus if you get lucky and have the right chipset you can unlock further cores giving you a quad core.

I just built myself a pc with this cpu and I don't even feel the need to try and unlock cores it's so fast. Arma2 runs like a dream atm :)

[Joseph Archer 10]

After my 4870x2 expired I'm running a 8800 GTS in the interim. Paired with a i7@3.8 ghz it runs on low settings -shadows off, (very low before the optimized nvidea driver recently released), at a nicely playable 30-40fps. As you say your after medium/high settings - but I thought I give you an idea whats needed GPU wise for playable low settings.

Edited October 26, 2009 by o0Jedi0o

[itsme 10]

AM sorry guys, I should've made it clear when I said upgrade, I meant buying a whole new computer, my budget is around £400-600 (without the graphics card, I will buy one after)

Am looking at websites such as pcworld or dell.co.uk

I just dont know what processor to get

[wooly-back-jack 10]

so you want a pre-built job that you can just bang a gfx card in later?

Staples have PC's set up too instore I'd trust them over Currys/Comet.

[TimRiceSE 10]

you COULD get a i5 750 system, 4gb ram, WITH a new radeon 5850 for under £550. assuming you recycle case, harddisk and psu.

But eh... i wouldnt advice buying a premade system from the pcworld chain at least.. If you know someone capable, you might be best asking them to build it for you.

[Joseph Archer 10]

Does your budget include monitor, mouse, keyboard or speakers?

I wouldn't do Dell or PC World for a gaming machine. Have a look at this link instead, it's an established and reliable firm in the UK.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=43&catid=1445

Add windows 7 home premium 64 bit and postage, (£90). The shop will install the Windows software for you. If you get it, go to the next link to get any other software you might want. (It downloads apps and installs them for you).

http://ninite.com/

Edited October 26, 2009 by o0Jedi0o

[wooly-back-jack 10]

forgot about overclockers PC's, yeah I'd go for them deffo! won't be cheapo components hidden inside from them :)

[itsme 10]

so you want a pre-built job that you can just bang a gfx card in later?

Staples have PC's set up too instore I'd trust them over Currys/Comet.

Yeah thats what am thinking

But Thank you all for your advice

[Relemar 10]

overclockers.co.uk - they own.

PC world, DO NOT BUY FROM THEM. they expensive, bad service, rude and stupid.

[itsme 10]

overclockers.co.uk - they own.

PC world, DO NOT BUY FROM THEM. they expensive, bad service, rude and stupid.

I wont, but how about Dell??

[wooly-back-jack 10]

for upgradeability I'd stick with OcUK

[itsme 10]

I found this on overclockers

"Titan Thor" Intel Core 2 Quad Core Q8400 2.66GHz @ 3.20GHz DDR2 System

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-042-OE&groupid=43&catid=1444&subcat=

Not sure about the DDR2??

[wooly-back-jack 10]

would probably still wipe the floor with a pre-built from elsewhere

[Leon86 13]

If ur gonna order there I'd take this one:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-085-OE&groupid=43&catid=1444&subcat=

the core i5 is way faster than the q9400.

if you're going to overclock it might be worth it to get the UD4 mobo instead of the UD2

both systems are massively overpriced though.

edit: It's not as overpriced as I thought, on a dutch webshop these parts+assembly cost about 840 euro's ~770 pounds, so that's only 140 pounds less.

Edited October 26, 2009 by Leon86