What spec of machine do I need?

[Lemur]

ATI makes very nice cards, so don't believe anybody who says different.

Nvidia has the lead in two areas: drivers and heat/power consuption. In other words, they work wonders with their drivers, and they release them much faster than ATI. Also, their current manufacturing process allows them to release cards that consume less power, and therefore run cooler. Beyond that it's a wash; both ATI and Nvidia make a great product.

One thing that would be nice to know -- what screen resolution do you like to use? If you're looking to max everything at 1600x1200, that's a very different story than if you're looking to rock out at 800x600.

[Dragoncrusader]

Thanks for replying.
I use a Phillips LCD monitor with a resolution of 1024 x 768 so we are looking at a screen (even if updated) in the middle of the range.

I am cautious about the ATI cards because I also play Combat Mission and the forums there report that the fog effects do not work with ATI cards despite several attampts at work arounds. This may seem a minor quibble but when you are leading a battalion charge against two MG42s, you need all the help you can get!

cheers

[Lemur]

At 1024x768 you should be able to get away with a mid- to low-end card. One more question -- doe your current mobo have an AGP or a PCI slot for the videocard? If you're not sure, you could just post your current videocard model, and we'll be able to work it out.

[Dragoncrusader]

My current machine is a Dell Dimension 4550 Pentium(R) 4 2.53 Ghz, 256 RAM with a NVIDIA GeForce4 MX420 card in a PCI slot.

This will run RTW:BI in the small unit size with most of the graphics detail set to medium or in the large unit size with the graphics set to low. So it could be better and I fear it may struggle with MTW2.

[Beirut]

I had almost the same setup and I upped to an AMD64-3000, 512RAM/9800Pro and an AGP MB. I saw a huge difference in performance.

The benefits to this upgrade are lost cost, good solid performance with almost every game, and proven components.

If you've got the cash, though, the sky's the limit. What's the budget, low, medium, or "dad's paying for it"?

[Lemur]

What's the budget, low, medium, or "dad's paying for it"?

As a dad, I resent that remark. I also resemble that remark. Does this mean that if I spend too much on PC gear, I can shrug it off and say dad's paying for it? Even if I'm him? There's something recursive and scary about this line of reasoning ...

[edit]

Oh, and Dragon, you may run into problems upgrading that machine. Some Dells use non-standard power supplies which make upgrading a real pain in the RAM. There is a silver lining, however. Dell offers upgrades when you trade in their machines, and they will give better in-house credit than you could get for it on Ebay. So you might want to talk to your friendly Dell drone and see how much credit they'll offer you on an upgrade.

When you get the new Dell, wipe the hard drive immediately. Then load a fresh copy of Windows. It's a lot easier to do it that way than to sort through all of the shovelware Dell pours onto the hard drive. Trust me, I've tried it both ways when helping out my friends and neighbors.

[Dragoncrusader]

Hi Lemur
I was aware that Dells do not upgrade easily and so was looking at replacing it. I do not mind getting another Dell so will find out what they can do for me as one option. Option two is to buy a machine that can be upgraded in the future.

I am trying to stay off the question of budget and to keep focussed on the minimum spec of machine that is needed to run RTW on huge unit size with most of the graphic effects on and the same also for MTW2. If I know that then I can probably get a deal on a "last years model" or some other way to keep the cost down.

For instance is 512k RAM sufficient or do you need to go up a step? What sort of processor is best and if I look for a mid range graphics card - what am I looking for?
cheers