15 replies to this topic

[Enoch]

Hello guys, I'll start off by saying I'm not a big gamer but recently seen a game that I quite liked the look of.

The problem is I'm not sure if the spec on my computer will run it adequately.

The game is Flaming Cliffs 2, it is a flight/combat simulator released in 2010, they are already working on the follow up.

My computer is an Acer Aspire X1301

Windows 7 64 bit operating system
2.70 GHz processor
AMD Athlon ll X3 425
Nvidia Geforce 9200 graphics card
282 HDD

So the question is, will this game work sufficiently on my computer, thanks for your help.

I'm also getting a Flightstick to go along with this game and any future flight sims I may purchase, I was looking at these two.

http://www.amazon.co...;pf_rd_i=468294

http://www.amazon.co...;pf_rd_i=468294

Are these good choices, or could you recommend anything better, also any recommendations on any other combat sims for console or pc, or suitable graphics cards for pc would be much appreciated.

Edited by Enoch, 20 March 2012 - 07:18 AM.

[Doug]

Hi Enoch,

I'm not a gamer, therefore not much use to you.
Nevertheless, I did a quick Internet Search and found nowhere any system requirements.


You may benefit from registering at User Support: http://support.digit...mulator.com/en/

[Enoch]

Hi Doug,

I found this and everything seems to be in order, the 5 GB HDD space means that is all I need to have free on my HDD to install the game right?

http://simhq.com/for..._Cliffs_2_.html

I searched for specifications earlier, but couldn't find any, thanks for checking though.

Edited by Enoch, 20 March 2012 - 12:15 PM.

[Doug]

Yes, as presented, and in review of the system requirements link that you posted (thank you), your system should be able to run the application. Run, but possibly not play it to your satisfaction. The "minimums" listed are awfully low, and it is not uncommon to throw a "low-ball" criterion and then balance it out with a "recommended" system. Happily, your machine specifications are well above the minimums. That 9200 is an older graphics solution and may be a candidate for upgrade. Your AMD is a three-core? right? It may have the ability to "unlock" the fourth core, but there may also be a reason why it was selected to be run as a three-core You don't say how much RAM memory you have, but for windows 7 64bit, you should have a minimum of 4 gb. As to the HD for installation... yes that is all the space the application will require in order to install it. But generally you will find that machines run much better when the HD has a minimum of 25% FREE Space, so that applications have easy access to addressable space to spread out.

[Enoch]

Cheers Doug; When I do play games, which isn't very often now, it was usually on consoles, so didn't really buy this pc with gaming in mind. Yes my AMD is three core, and I forgot to mention but my RAM is only 3:00 GB. My HDD also has well over 25% free so I should have no problems there. Are there any decent graphics cards for a reasonable price that you could recommend?

Edited by Enoch, 20 March 2012 - 02:07 PM.

[Doug]

Enoch,

I'm not the guy to be offering this type of advice, particularly since you will be looking for actual real-world gaming performance.
And since I don't participate in gaming, I have no real-world experience upon which to base a recommendation.

You "might" do well looking at cards in this range described here:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2616
(ati Radeon 4800 series)

But you will need to shop around, and maybe have a look at the secondary markets such as eBay, because these boards are pretty much discontinued from new purchase sources.

*** Keep in mind *** While you have a fine machine that is likely to continue to serve your needs for years to come, it is no longer a top tier machine.
Adding new hardware can place stress on other portions of your machine.
For instance, new graphic card may have additional demand upon your PSU.
Probably not much, since you will be swapping and not "adding" a graphics card.

My rule of thumb is to not spend more than 1/3 of the "present value" of a machine, when considering upgrades.
Once you get to that point, you might do better to save for a new machine.

I'll ask a couple of my associates who are more familiar with this type of hardware as it has to do with gaming performance.

[Lee]

Hi Enoch,

Firsty I'm sure that game Flaming Ciffs 2 is an add-on, not a game in itself.

My computer is an Acer Aspire X1301

Windows 7 64 bit operating system
2.70 GHz processor
AMD Athlon ll X3 425
Nvidia Geforce 9200 graphics card
282 HDD

Doug is right, don't believe min. hardware requirements for any game. They are mostly well underdone.

I'm afraid your PC was never designed for gaming although all the hardware above would be fine except for the card. I'm sure I had one of those graphics cards in a P3 computer, so it is very old model indeed.

The killer with your PC for gaming, is the Aspire X1301 power supply, which at only 220 W makes it very hard indeed to upgrade your graphics card. If you upgraded to a decent card and power supply you are then going to run into heat issues inside your case which probably means adding another fan at least.

Sure I could just recommend a better more powerful card, but I wouldn't like to unless a PSU and cooling upgrade was also being considered.

Cheers,
Lee

Edited by Lee, 21 March 2012 - 09:47 AM.

[Enoch]

Hi Lee, yes Flaming Cliffs is a type of an add on, I'm not sure if it can be downloading if you have the original Lock on, but it can be bought as a seperate (PC DVD).

http://www.amazon.co...l...1559&sr=8-2

Cheers for the advice Lee, I was looking at the article on here from earlier in the year(last year) and I think I am going to have a go at building my own pc which is a bit more suited for gaming.

http://whatthetech.o...deo-specialist/

I've already ordered the book from Amazon, I'll still get the game for this pc though and see how it goes. If it doesn't work too well hopfully it will work better on the one I build.

Thanks again for your advice.

[Lee]

If your going to build your own rig, make sure you read my sticky thread New Computer build? Test the hardware first.

Don't believe everything you read on gaming forums regarding what sort of hardware you need. There was a point in gaming where I thought that if PC games continued developing the way they were, taking advantage of continually improving PC hardware, I wouldn't be able to afford the regular more powerful and expensive hardware upgrades that I would have to keep paying for.

What is really happening now though, is that it is rare to find a PC game that was actually made for PC. Now they are being made for consoles and then ported as an afterthought for PC with a whole bag of console tricks, like capped frame rates (30max for consoles) and narrowed field of view (far fewer pixels needed) and far less texture detail. This means forget about supercharged top-end hardware, you will never need it. What you have now would be fine with a medium range card, a quality 400w PSU and another fan.

It's a zero-sum game for game developers. Make games for low-end hardware consoles (now very old and nothing new on the horizon) that are very numerous, common and port the PC versions, or continue making use of the ever increasing PC hardware advances in PC development, but with an inevitable slide in the amount of PCs capable of playing them and thus sales?

"Forget the graphics, just concentrate on the gameplay" seems to be a common, promoted mantra nowadays among young gamers.

These modern games are really made for gamepads and the PC versions (mostly) play horribly with a keyboard and mouse. I'm not buying anymore new games. Read Dannyboy's comment here in this forum which applies to most newish games (the "consolization" of PC gaming?).

Who knows, Flight-sim games still seem to be made for PCs, so they might just be the way to go

Cheers,
Lee

Edited by Lee, 21 March 2012 - 10:00 AM.

[Enoch]

Thanks again Lee, bookmarked your link. I might take your advice on my current pc, as I primarily don't use it for gaming, but have always wanted to have a go at building my own from scratch just for the challenge. I'll give the book a read and see how it goes anyway. Thanks again for the advice.

[terry1966]

in my honest opinion, i think the pc you have now may be getting old but is still a good pc, so if money's tight or you want it to last a couple more years then i'd just upgrade the power supply and get a newer graphics card to go into it for now, then if your not happy with the performance upgrade the rest, motherboard, cpu and ram, later. a high end graphics card from a few years ago or or a newer mid level card will give you and most people the power to play games and enjoy the experience.

[Flik]

http://www.systemreq...cyri/intro.aspx

Is a really good site to check if your computer can run some games.

[ImaBrokeDude]

*info withdrawn*

Edited by ImaBrokeDude, 08 September 2012 - 02:51 PM.

[Jenfrag]

Nowadays it is becoming more and more popular for gamers to custom build their own PC geared toward gaming. Custom-building PCs allow for more budget control and easier upgradability. More often than not, it is possible to maximize performance for the best value when building a gaming rig. There are several components that must be considered when building a gaming rig, which include CPUs (Central Processing Unit), Memory, Motherboards, Graphics Cards, SSDs, PSUs, and Cases.
A gaming computer (also gaming PC and sometimes called a gaming rig) is a personal computer that is capable of playing computationally demanding video games. Gaming computers are very similar to conventional PCs, with the main difference being the addition of performance-oriented components such as a high-end CPU and one or more video cards. Gaming computers are often associated with enthusiast computing due to an overlap in interests. However, while a gaming PC is built to achieve performance for actual game play, enthusiast PCs are built to maximize performance, using games as a benchmark.

[Lee]

You make some sound points and there is no need to get carried away anymore with high-end gaming hardware, as was par for the course a few years ago with massive PSUs and high-end graphic cards for games made specifically for PCs (a $$$ blessing really). All PC games are now ported versions of console games. That means set maximum 30FPS (all consoles are capable of) no matter what you do and tricky 60% vision graphics (for console viewing distance) calibrated to 75% for closer PC viewing distance which results in way lower DPSI needed, and they are just two of the many porting tricks used by game makers. No card above a mid-range AMD 5770 or similar, will make the slightest improvement to any console to PC game. And for that, no more than a decent 500w PSU is needed. Buying a quality case as you sensibly suggested, with the ability to fit a couple of extra fans is a good long term move and don't believe the hype circulating on gaming forums or (so-called) independent appearing 'tech reviews' of cards, PSUs or CPUs, all trying to convince you of the need to spend, spend, spend! Buying a pricey and powerful card for a gaming computer is very much like buying very expensive speakers for a cheap stereo. They will not improve the sound quality the stereo is capable of producing, no mater how much you spend. I've actually downgraded my video card recently without the slightest loss of gaming performance or video quality on my large screen. Cheers, Lee

Edited by Lee, 09 January 2013 - 12:32 AM.