Upgrading for A-10C, what do I need?

[Invader ZIM]

Hey guys,

 

I'm looking for the best upgrade path for my system to run A-10C at full high settings, both in the graphics and for the large scale quick battle generator and campaigns. Below is my current configuration.

 

Currently using Windows XP 32 bit

Motherboard: EVGA 122-CK-NF68-T1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz (Overclocked to 3.4GHz)

Moboard RAM: Corsair XMS2 4GB Paired (Four 1G sticks) 240 pin DDR2 SDRAM 800(PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit

Hard Drive: Western Digital Raptor 300GB 10,000 rpm SATA150

Graphics Card: BFG GeForce GTS 250 with 1GB Video RAM PCI Express x16 socket

 

I didn't know if I wanted to toss out my current computer for something completely new yet, or should I go for the following upgrades to my current system?:

 

Video Card: MSI N580 GTX Lightning Xtreme Edition (3 GB GDDR5 ram onboard)

RAM: 8 GB Paired Corsair XMS2 (Four 2 Gig paired sticks)

Windows 7 64 bit

SSD HD to increase speed in load times of Windows 7 and A-10C?

 

Again, my goal is to be able to run A-10C on a single monitor with full max graphics settings and to be able to play any large battles with the maximum number of friendly and enemy units in game. I go years without an upgrade to my systems but sometimes a sim comes along that's worth it.

My game runs fine, and looked great before patch 1.08 came along, but it seems the sim now needs more resources once I got up to 1.09 and I'm hoping that with my upgrades I'll be able to achieve what I wanted and keep my same computer for a few more years.

Can anyone tell me if there's any bottlenecks I should watch out for? I haven't really kept up with the technology since I got this machine 5 years ago.

 

Thanks for the help!

[TZeer]

Your upgrades looks good.

 

Only bad part is that the entire thing will be bottlenecked by the CPU...

 

 

I`m running a i7 930@4GHz, and it`s still a bottleneck.

I also have a 580 GTX, but the 1,5 GB version, SSD, win7 64 Bit, 12GB Ram.

 

When it comes to the GPU, good choice. My VRAM is constantly maxed out, and I`m running on single monitor@ 1920x1200.

 

If you decide to go for a full upgrade you could maybe go for a 570GTX with minimum 2GB vram to save some cash and then use what you saved to partially finance a CPU+motherboard.

 

My 580 GTX is usually working at about 60-70% load.

[Invader ZIM]

Hey thanks for that info TZeer, I was wondering about my CPU and my mboard ram bottleneck. I figured as long at the CPU was cranking along at over 3GHz that I'd be okay.

 

So it might be better for me to just do a full computer upgrade. Will have to consider this option.

 

Thanks again!

[Kuky]

Better do mobo/cpu upgrade also, E6600 will not be good pair with the 580GTX and will be holding you back

[Eddie]

As above, staying with your current CPU will hold you back. Also, don't get 4x2Gb RAM go for 2x4Gb. Will use less power and be less likely to cause issues when over clocking.

[Invader ZIM]

Thanks for all the info guys, looks like a full upgrade is in order to play with everything maxed out. I had figured on having to get a new system after 5 years anyways.

 

Thanks again for the good advice, much appreciated.

[Invader ZIM]

Okay, got myself setup with a new system purchase, but still had one more question.

 

How will A-10C work with a true 3D visor goggle setup? Specifically I'm planning to use the Z800 3D Visor at the following link.

 

http://www.3dvisor.com/

 

Are there any problems with field of view and depth perception when running the sim in full 3D mode at 800x600 resolution with these visors? Didn't want to sink the money into it if it won't work correctly.

 

Thanks!

Edited September 16, 2011 by Invader ZIM

[Tek]

don't know about the glasses, but when i upgraded from a s775 system with a gtx570 to an 1155 system with the 570 the performance gain was immense.

[cichlidfan]

Would you be able to read the hud at 800x600?

[Invader ZIM]

I had the same worries, but when your dealing with true 3D and looking at the review of the older version Z800 system being used with Flaming Cliffs it seems like it's pretty good.

 

Link to review at SimHQ is here: http://www.simhq.com/_technology2/technology_080a.html