PC recommendations

[muggs]

Sorry if this is asked a lot, but I'm really just looking for some general info. I bought Birds of Prey for my PS3 a few years back and I really would like to get into the PC-gaming of the Sturmovik world with the later releases like the Battle for Stalingrad and Cliffs of Dover. Just wondering if there are any PS3 users on here, or if I should buy a newer PC.

 

The PC games seem more realistic with their simulations. What SPECS should I look for in a PC?

 

How is the online versus play in the PC world?

 

Thanks for any helps guys.

[BeastyBaiter]

BoS isn't too hard on PC specs, that said you will want a decent gaming rig. For a tight budget, I'd say a decent Intel I5 (game only uses 4 cores anyways) or AMD FX processor, 8GB DDR3 and a Radeon 270x would serve you well. Might not run absolute max, but should run it well. Additionally, you will need a joystick. A good entry level stick is about $50 (T16000 is generally considered the best in that price range). A head tracker is helpful but not required. The cheap option is a decent webcam and facetrack or a similar free program. The fancy option is Trackir 5.

 

With all that said, my rig is a lot worse than the above and I run on "balanced" detail at 1920x1080 with 4x AA and get about 40-50 fps typically. My system is an ancient AMD Athlon II X4 3Ghz, 8GB DDR3 and Radeon 6850. So if you already have a gaming rig made in the last few years, you should be good to go.

 

MP is accurately depicted in the above pic. We are friendly, but the learning curve is brutal for someone totally new to the genre. It's the type of thing where you will probably spend your first hours falling out of the sky without the other guy even shooting you. Simply getting the plane off the ground requires some practice if you've never done this type of thing before.

Edited August 6, 2014 by =LD=King_Hrothgar

[-=PHX=-Satch]

My post was deleted?

Is the sense of humor prohibited in this fórum?

 

ummmhh....

[muggs]

My post was deleted?

Is the sense of humor prohibited in this fórum?

 

ummmhh....

 

Too bad, I was expecting some flak, no pun intended. That said, I read through the PC specs in the "about" section of this site, but it always helps hearing it firsthand from people who are actually using other system specs outside of the four they outlined.

 

It's been about 12 years since I've done any PC gaming so Hrothgar's response is much appreciated. I understood about 4% of it, but I'll figure it out. Lots of good info there.

 

No doubt I'm going to be an easy target, but I do understand flight physics and strategy, so hopefully my slaughter isn't too long of a process.

 

Thanks again man!

[muggs]

btw - I've had the Thrustmaster T. Flight HOTAS with the side throttle for a long time now, think I should be good with that.

 

And you just blew my mind with this head tracking stuff...I had no idea this existed. Eff man...now I have to get into this...

Edited August 6, 2014 by muggs

[hiro]

If you're not into computers, you can get a prebuilt gaming system, but I'd recommend learning enough to change out cards and hard drives (maybe building is too much but but cards helps keep tech labor costs down ) and its simple, and if you sim long enough, updating the cards keeps a older machine going much longer. 

 

 

 

Also visit sites like tom's hardware . . . I go there often to find out incompatible components or paired components that have issues (like a make motherboard may not like certain model video cards etcs)  generally I'd recommend an nvidea card for gaming, ATI is a good card but there are more issues I've had than with nvidea series. I can't recommend having a solid video card in your machine enough. 

 

One thing is crucial, when you get a video card, make sure to match the PSU. Certain high end (I mean 150 USD+ and some can go 600-1500 USD but the 300 and below work well) require alot of wattage and require plugs that older power supply units won't have.

 

 

A buddy of mine built a system and got a 600W PSU and it kept crashing, giving fault errors, turns out the dual video card alone was 400W and  

 

Make sure the system you get is well ventilated and cooled properly w/ enough fans. Too much heat can cause random crashes, and too much heat for too long leads to replacing parts.

 

You can have normal machine like a intel  ivy bridge I5  3.0 ghz quad, and high end video card that could beat a machine with higher specs equipped. 

 

In regards to gaming always go with recommended specs, not bare minimum. 

 

Hard  drives, its common for a gaming rig to have OS and apps on a SSD card (they have 2.5 to 3.0 adapters) and data drive (usually a regular spinner drive). Common specs usually have a 256 GB or 512 GB SSD and a 4 TB spinner drive (at the moment 4 TB is the best bang for the buck cost per tera anycase)

 

You can also go to newegg.com and look at parts and I like the reviews (you can find reviews on amazon as well), and get specs. I don't always trust the reviews but an item that has 200 comments and 5 eggs helps me narrow down when doing my own research on the item. 

 

newegg has a few how to videos also. 

 

A good soundcard helps as the onboard ones are good but not high quality (especially if you have a surround sound or home movie sound system). 

 

 

 

 

+1 on having a good joystick track IR 5 or similar. To fly properly, you need a joystick. I personally  have the CH fighter stick, the CH throttle and pedals, and it has really upped my sim experience, and also with track IR 5. 

Edited August 6, 2014 by hiro

[muggs]

Thanks a lot, Hiro. Yeah, my computer knowledge is limited, but my best friend is in IT and knows a lot. He's built three gaming PCs for himself over the years, so I'm bringing him in on this project- actually, who am I kidding, I'm feeding him beer in exchange for him basically putting this together for me. I have an old tower which we're going to try to use to save a little expense. Hopefully it fits all the new components and fans. My buddy did mention how hot gaming PCs can run.

 

I already have a good joystick, so that's a start. No doubt I'm going with some form of facetracking IR. If I'm going to do this, might as well it get done right. Not sure which IR I'll go with, I am trying to get this done for as little $$ as possible, but I'll do my own research about the IR comparisons. Seems like the TrackIR 5 is the way to go for a reasonable price.