New Computer

[Dave Fritz]

Hi, Everyone,
I'm considering a new computer. It's main task will probably be to play Sundren. I'd be interested in hearing what people think are specs for such a machine. If you would care to, please comment on ideal and/or decent and/or minimum specs. Thanks in advance to all.

[GRCrush]

First thing I would ask Dave is what kind of budget are you under

[Dragor]

www.NEWEGG.com

If youre interested in assembling your own

Go get one at a store if not...any new comp will run this game

But you really shouldnt invest in something as expensive as a Comp for one reason IMO as even the second rate models you can buy will still put you out a few hundred $$'s

[Dave Fritz]

First thing I would ask Dave is what kind of budget are you under

Well, $2000 wouldn't be out of line; cheaper would be better, though. I also understand that $2000 gets a lot more than it did a few years ago.

[Dave Fritz]

www.NEWEGG.com

If youre interested in assembling your own

Go get one at a store if not...any new comp will run this game

But you really shouldnt invest in something as expensive as a Comp for one reason IMO as even the second rate models you can buy will still put you out a few hundred $$'s

I have a guy who will put it together for me. Hence the desire for some system specs.

My old one is about 10 years old, way past doorstop status. It was hot stuff when new, bought to run high-end CAD and Parametric Solid Modeling like AutoCAD Mechanical Desktop and Solid Edge. It's still OK for most things but NWN2 and especially Sundren are pushing it's limits. So I'm thinking about a new one.

[Seheren]

Grab an i5 quad core, some 1600 DDR3, and an older vid-card like a 9800GTX+ and you can have a very nice system for very little money. After the flood I went through thats what I built and total price was roughly $700.

EDIT: Just make sure when you buy the PSU you get one with enough amps to power that card, 24 is necessary if I remember right. Also, be wary about memory compatability issues with motherboards. I fix a lot of computers where people just didnt research enough.

[GRCrush]

Dave

Having sat on the same pc for 10 years you are well over due for an upgrade for sure. Now I am not going to list of a bunch of specs to you and I am sure folks will come and suggest great idea as this thread expands. You will end up hearing suggestions like quad core or solid state hard drives etc. Bottom line is this anything you have put together is going to be far above what is needed for a game like NWN2.

My biggest suggestion is sit down with the gentleman who is to build your pc and start with your motherboard. go with a name that is recognized and reliable and make sure that what you fit into has room for growth. I myself usually turn to Asus or MSI when choosing boards. Intel and AMD both have decent processors Intel being ahead in the market currently but AMD is often easier for folks to budget and still a solid set of processor for someone who has not had an upgrade in 10 years.

Once your board and procesor are in picked out the rest usually falls right in place. Again stick with reliable brands as you go along and make sure that your motherboard is one made to build forward and not outdated.

Example start for board and proccessor

ASUS P8P67 LE B3 Intel P67 Motherboard

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz Quad-Core Processor



The rest of the pieces will fall in place and should be again based on reliability and budget

If you need assistance please feel free to pm and I can price out a few ideas for you

Now days you can easily budget in under 2 thousand and a solid machine can be built for anywhere from 600-1000 dollars

run high-end CAD and Parametric Solid Modeling like AutoCAD

As I assume you still work in this area make sure the video card you choose is supportive of these types of programs ( the proper card will likely add a sizeable cost to your over all machince)

[Root]

Seriously, find a geek to help you choose one. Forums, IRL, whatever, you've done the right thing. A good geek will probably get you far better performance far cheaper than you might get going into buying without a solid idea.

And maybe throw them some incentive. Some geeks get such requests often. So thank-you beer never goes amiss.

Best way to buy tends to be picking a solid price range, then looking up what you can find. It's very easy to get carried up the ladder of pricing when just shopping for one, so set the price, then find the very best you can for close to that price.

[Dave Fritz]

Hi, Everyone,
First, thanks to all of you who have replied so far. All of your advice has been excellent, even the stuff I already knew.

My old machine was one that I had put together using the specs necessary for high-end CAD back then. Interestingly enough, they were almost exactly the same as for the smokin' game machines of the time. That's one reason the old one has lasted so long. I even ran into the memory/mother-board problem, and eventually had to go for a bit less memory in order to get an LCD monitor, within budget. The budget was about $4000 at the time. Then when I retired, it was outdated enough that they just gave me the computer.

The system specs now, though, are just good enough to meet the minimum specs to play NWN2, except for my vidcard. Got a Boxing day bargain on that one when I first bought NWN2 .

I'm assuming that Sundren can use more than just minimum specs, but I wanted to get a feel for what was good to go for to maximize Sundren play.

I'm thinking now that I can just look at a few of the good gaming machines advertised and leave out the things I don't really want. Then I can go to my guy (he IS a geek, and my brother-in-law as it happens) and get him going. And provide a nice bottle of Caribbean rum when he's done .

Thanks again for all the advice, and I'd still be interested to hear from anyone else who wants to weigh in.