System Reqs

Nali · Post by **Nali** » March 24, 2007, 2:36 am

So I have decided to play Vanguard, and I am building a new desktop to play it on. I was going to buy a barebone system on tigerdirect.com. It has an intel 3.0(ish) GHz processor. What type of video card should I look for?

Actually I`ll just link the site:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... 0-2310%20H

Here is the video card I was looking at... would these two links suffice for Vanguard? I planned on getting two of the video cards:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... =E145-7866

Thanks

Mr Bacon · Post by **Mr Bacon** » March 24, 2007, 12:02 pm

The card would do fine, but i wouldn't recommend buying two, as SLI is not supported (yet). If you do get two, the power supply (450 watt) may not be enough to support it all.

You definitely want two gigs of ram, especially for vanguard, but in reality its become a generic standard for gamers (lets not get into this argument again), and is undeniably the cheapest way to increase your PC's performance.

Waikiki · Post by **Waikiki** » March 24, 2007, 12:28 pm

*disclaimer* I don't play Vanguard, but I know my fair share about CPUs.

I would honestly stay away from the Pentium D. Get a Core 2 Duo instead. I recommend a E6600.

Also, I would say get a 7600GT. You might be able to get a 7900GS for a bit more if you wanted to. However, I can't recall the performance increase between a 7900GS and a 7600GT. You might want to look at benchmarks and see what the best bang for your buck is. But, I don't think it's a 7600GS.

7600GT $99.99:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130073

7900GS $134.99:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814186013

And I definitely agree with Mr Bacon, get 2GB of ram.

Post by **pyrella** » March 24, 2007, 1:51 pm

get the 6600

get an 8800

get 2 gigs of ram

and if money's a non issue, get a raptor drive (or 2 in a raid)

You can use the money you were going to use on a second vid card on the 8800 and raptor drives.

Mr Bacon · Post by **Mr Bacon** » March 24, 2007, 2:31 pm

I wouldn't recommend an 8800 for this game. There are big problems supposedly with it, and unless you have personally used one with this game, don't go for it.

Nali · Post by **Nali** » March 24, 2007, 3:02 pm

Ah thanks for the replies:)

The minimum requirement for Vanguard processor speed is 2.4 though, right? Would I not need more to run the game on high quality?

Kluden · Post by **Kluden** » March 24, 2007, 3:16 pm

I played vanguard on an old skt 478 machine, and it ran just fine...and that was beta. It was a P4 3.0ghz, 2gb of ram, 6800 Ultra vid.

For that PC barebone you linked, just make sure you can dump a Core 2 duo into it later...make sure you leave yourself room for improvement later if money is the issue now. That means support for 1066mhz FSB chips, and DDR2 800 memory.

So yeah, I agree with the above, buy at the least a 7900GS or a 1950Pro...screw SLI and crossfire for now.

The best card for the money out right now I think is the 1950XT's that are only $215. But personally, I would sprint for an 8800GTS with the 320mb for $330 or so.

Post by **pyrella** » March 24, 2007, 7:41 pm

Mr Bacon wrote:I wouldn't recommend an 8800 for this game. There are big problems supposedly with it, and unless you have personally used one with this game, don't go for it.

I have and do asshat. I only make recommendations off the things I have purchased and use.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » March 24, 2007, 8:13 pm

Nali wrote:Ah thanks for the replies:)

The minimum requirement for Vanguard processor speed is 2.4 though, right? Would I not need more to run the game on high quality?

Don't evaluate CPUs by their GHz. That really doesn't indicate much these days. A duo Core 2.4GHz will absolutely crush the performance of a 2.4GHz P4.

If you want the system to last awhile, I'd recommend getting an Intel duo core CPU along with a motherboard that can handle upgrading to newer versions, (quad core or faster duo core) The Gigabyte DS3 I use for Vista has been rock solid and is cheap (122.00 at Newegg). Go with reliability when it comes to MB. Do your research. the DS3 happens to be well tested over a few revisions and firmware upgrades so won't need tinkering.

Screw SLi. Get the fastest single card your budget will allow. If you're not getting an 8800, you won't have DX10 support anyway so will have to upgrade at some point with the new games to take advantage of their enhanced graphics. Less headaches and performance in the same ballpark either way. Don't even bother with an SLi motherboard. by the time you'd want to add a second video card to your existing one (if you go with the best one you can afford), there will be a single card available that's faster than the two combined. That's even more true with DX10 hitting the market now...you aren't going to want to add to a non DX10 solution.

Get a Raptor HD if you don't mind noise, get a Seagate 7200.10 320GB if you want the fastest OS drive (besides the Raptor) for cheap (under 99.00) with more HD space (320GB vs 74 or 150) and runs quiet.

Just another opinion.

Nali · Post by **Nali** » March 24, 2007, 8:38 pm

With the help of a friend, this is what I have so far (thanks for the help so far ):

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... 9-2146%20D

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... u=L12-1115

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... u=D15-9012

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... =T555-5012

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » March 24, 2007, 8:49 pm

What are you plans for that memory? Total 1.5Gb with a 512mb in bank one and 1024MB in bank two? (ack, jsut noticed the MB only has two memory slots) I'm sure dual channel performance isn't a factor at this point but I've never heard of that memory. As long as it works with the MB, you're set.

Looks nice for the price Nali.

Nali · Post by **Nali** » March 24, 2007, 8:53 pm

I was told the memory set the way it would be... that it would be like having around 2.5 MBs. My friend seemed to know what she was talking about, so I believed her, lol. As long as it will run Vanguard smoothly, I`ll be happy.

Waikiki · Post by **Waikiki** » March 24, 2007, 9:50 pm

Nali wrote:I was told the memory set the way it would be... that it would be like having around 2.5 MBs. My friend seemed to know what she was talking about, so I believed her, lol. As long as it will run Vanguard smoothly, I`ll be happy.

I'm not sure what your friend meant. Can you clarify? (Did you typo 1.5GB?)

Again, I strongly urge you to get a Core 2 Duo instead of the Pentium D.

You should read this article!

Anandtech Core 2 Duo Review

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » March 24, 2007, 9:57 pm

Are you getting two of the 1GB memory sticks?

The motherboard only has two slots and it looks like the bare bone system comes with 512MB so that only leaves room for one extra memory stick. You can remove the 512 and replace it with a 1024 to pair with the 1024 stick you have listed.

So your possibilities are 1.5GB ram with an extra 1GB stick, or 2GB memory with extra two 1 GB sticks and 512mb one removed. If yo go the 2GB route, you'll be able to take advantage of dual channel.

Nali · Post by **Nali** » March 24, 2007, 10:01 pm

Yes, I`ll end up ordering 2.

Also- I realize this isnt the appropriate thread... but what do you all think of Vanguard. I've heard its like the original EQ, which is why I am giving it a go. Hopefully I`ll see some of you in game soon

Yea Waikiki, I saw that... but would it make that -big- of a difference, especially for the price?

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » March 24, 2007, 10:23 pm

Nali wrote:Yes, I`ll end up ordering 2.

Also- I realize this isnt the appropriate thread... but what do you all think of Vanguard. I've heard its like the original EQ, which is why I am giving it a go. Hopefully I`ll see some of you in game soon

The good news is your new computer will work great for other games besides Vanguard as well : ) (just in case!)

Nali · Post by **Nali** » March 24, 2007, 10:24 pm

I win!

Waikiki · Post by **Waikiki** » March 24, 2007, 10:38 pm

I think if you are planning on keeping this computer for several years, you should spend the extra money and get an E6600.

You can see that the E6600 is approximately a 40-50% performance increase over the Pentium D 940. Is a 40-50% increase in performance worth the extra money to you?

Nali · Post by **Nali** » March 24, 2007, 11:05 pm

Good point, I'm not sure if it's possible to exchange the processor in a barebone system though, is it?

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » March 24, 2007, 11:09 pm

Geta barebone with an E6600 CPU already in it if possible.

Kluden · Post by **Kluden** » March 25, 2007, 1:02 am

yeah, that 945 Intel motherboard won't let you take advantage of the core duo and quad cores that run at 1066 FSB. Just FYI.

You will be able to upgrade to the gimped 800FSB series core 2 though. If you can wait 4 more weeks, the Core 2 price drops are taking affect on April 23rd. E6600 will be $215 bucks then.

Nali · Post by **Nali** » March 25, 2007, 4:07 pm

I did a little more searching last night, and decided to upgrade to the core 2 duo. Tell me what you guys think about this now ( I know I'm getting annoying, sorry

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=2405

I`ll keep everything else I posted earlier, if possible. Now I just need to find a good HD. All in all, this will end up costing (including the OS) around 900... not too bad?

Waikiki · Post by **Waikiki** » March 25, 2007, 4:22 pm

I think you will be much happier with that machine. Make sure that the memory you get is supported by that motherboard though. Some mobos are pretty picky.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductCo ... nfigurator

Also, make sure the HDD you get is SATA 2 (3.0Gb/s) not SATA (1.5Gb/s).

Nali · Post by **Nali** » March 25, 2007, 11:28 pm

Thank you so much, I`ll check into that!

masteen · Post by **masteen** » March 26, 2007, 11:21 pm

I thought that the Raptors in RAID0 were still better than any of the existing SATA2 drives because of their 10,000 RPM speed.

MooZilla · Post by **MooZilla** » March 26, 2007, 11:44 pm

From some of the benchmarks i remember seeing a while back, i think it was concluded that 10k RPM Raptors in RAID0 had very little performance impact on games. Loading times in Raid 0 were not significantly lower than just a single Raptor.

Nali · Post by **Nali** » March 26, 2007, 11:54 pm

I haven't had any luck finding a SATA 2 0_0

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » March 26, 2007, 11:57 pm

A lot of places don't say SATA 2 they just give the transfer rate (3.0Gb/s). If you see 3.0 just assume it's SATA2.

Nali · Post by **Nali** » March 27, 2007, 12:00 am

Yea I knew that, but I wasn't having any luck until...
*start the music*

IT CAME FROM eBAY!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Seagate-250GB-HDD-7 ... dZViewItem

-edit- In retrospect... that wasn't funny

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » March 27, 2007, 2:24 am

masteen wrote:I thought that the Raptors in RAID0 were still better than any of the existing SATA2 drives because of their 10,000 RPM speed.

Raptors are still the best. Hard drives come no where close to filling the pipeline. While SATA 2's theoretical maximum is the best, Hard Drives don't even come close to maxing out SATA I. Don't be fooled and don't make me break out the benchmarks! SATA I vs SATA II means nothing atm.

That said, I'd go for the Seagate 320GB 7200.10 (perpendicular recording) ...and I did! I had a Raptor and swapped it out for noise and space. You'll lose very little in performance , save a nice chunk of money and also have more space than the more expensive hot, fast spinning, noiser Raptor.

Either way's ok.

74/150GB Raptors: fastest, noisy, high price per GB ($209.99 for 150GB Newegg)

320GB 7200.10: nearly as fast, quieter, ($79.99 for a lot more storage space, Newegg)

Nali · Post by **Nali** » March 27, 2007, 2:42 am

Thanks Winnow

miir · Post by **miir** » March 27, 2007, 10:55 am

Especially in Vanguard, seek/read speed is far more important than transfer rate.

Nali · Post by **Nali** » April 2, 2007, 7:18 pm

Lol, one more question... the barebone I am ordering has a 400 watt power supply... is that enough?

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » April 2, 2007, 7:41 pm

Nali wrote:Lol, one more question... the barebone I am ordering has a 400 watt power supply... is that enough?

That's enough for a single card (especially if you're not getting an 8800 or new ATi that's not even out yet)

400W is enough but quality of power supply is what's important and you're probably not getting a great one in a barebones system so expect to possibly be replacing it after a system failure at some point. I have a sea of old cheap power supplies in my junk room from years ago until I figured out that I needed to include the PSU as part of the package and not as an afterthought.

A quality 400W PSU > Heap of shit 500+W PSU...but a cheap 500 would be better than a cheap 400 if it's an option for you.

I know you're on a budget with this one so what you're getting should work : ) Just be aware that all PSU's aren't the same at the same Wattage rating...PSU's have a better chance of failing than most parts in a PC. Hopefully the case has good air flow and easy to clean filters.

Nali · Post by **Nali** » April 2, 2007, 7:48 pm

The money isnt really the problem. I am paying for this entirely ( so far ) out of my pocket... and I tend to be stingy with my money

I plan on getting a new power supply if this one poops out. I just wanted to make sure ahead of time that it would last for awhile. It would really suck to play Vanguard for a week then have it taken away from me!