Computer Hardware for MSTS Question

rdawes · Post by **rdawes** » Thu Jun 24, 2004 5:29 am

I have been running MSTS on a PIII-600 CPU with a 10K SCSI HDD and 512Mb of 100MHz RAM.

My question is that I have the opportunity to upgrade my motherboard to either an Intel Celeron 2.6GHz or an AMD Athlon 2400. Can anyone give me their experience with either of these processors for running MSTS?

Thanks,

Bob

Lad491 · Post by **Lad491** » Thu Jun 24, 2004 6:18 am

If you are upgrading go for a Pentium every time. Athlon's are fine in ready built machines, but often suffer overheating problems in upgrades due to too small cases, power supplies, overheating, lack of sufficient fans etc.

For new PC's however, get the best you can afford but i personally would steer clear of Celeron processors and try and get a full blown Pentium chip/motherboard or the Athlon.

rkk01 · Post by **rkk01** » Thu Jun 24, 2004 7:40 am

I am currently on my third Athlon cpu - as a result of upgrading, rather than failures. My original machine was a Pentium 200, replaced with an Athlon 700 some time ago.

Since then the Athlon system has been upgraded to a 1.2, then a Barton 2500+ cpu. As prices fall I will slot in a Barton 3200+ later this year. The 3200 will be as high as I can go with my current architecture. After that it is a question of Pentium or 64 bit AMD. I originally switched to AMD because of the cheaper upgrade paths compared to Intel systems...

If you do go with the AMD system make sure you make a careful motherboad choice. An nvidia based chipset supporting 400FSB will allow you to upgrade to the higher speed Barton cpus as their prices fall. Abit gets my vote.

as for power consumption and overheating?? well the retail versions come with their own heatsinks (and fans??), but I would go with a separate high spec heat sink / fan such as the Coolermaster Aero. http://www.overclockers.co.uk is an excellent place to browse for good pc kit

divydave31 · Post by **divydave31** » Thu Jun 24, 2004 10:55 am

I have recently upgraded my pc, this is what i have:

Asrock Mobo with USB2, support for Athlon 3200 400MGZ FSB
Athlon XP2600+ 333MGS FSB
512MB DDR 400 Memory

And last week i bought a shiny new Grafix card, Asus FX5900.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 33954&rd=1

Have a look at this, i so fare have had no problems at all with my hardware, and the mobo comes very highly recomended.
Not bad for a Mobo that costs around Â£25.00.

jimmyladd · Post by **jimmyladd** » Thu Jun 24, 2004 12:17 pm

I would go down the athlon route as I find that they process msts faster than pentiums. Look back in old threads about this and you will see that people who are having slow frame rate problems nearly always have pentium processors. I word of warning though, if you buy an athlon make sure the case it goes in has got two exhaust fans and buy a good quality processor fan. If you are building from scratch, this will only cost about Â£15 to Â£20 more for the 2 exhaust fans and the better processor fan on top of what you would have paid.
Jim

rdawes · Post by **rdawes** » Thu Jun 24, 2004 1:39 pm

Thanks all, for your advice. As usual the MSTS community has come through with good recommendations.

Bob

lateagain · Post by **lateagain** » Thu Jun 24, 2004 4:07 pm

The last Athlon I got came in a pack with a huge heatsink and fan.

Whilst I support the idea of exhaust fans, I would suggest that you would have little joy out of AMD in case of a processor failure if they could prove that you had not installed their recommended heatsink and fan AND followed their instructions for doing so.

You need a more powerful Power supply for you box too. Some of the latest ones come with huge inbuilt fans. Very necessary.

I totally agree with the performance issue. If you look at all the variables in a PC the processor is but one component. AMD are good and they are cheaper. You're paying for all the TV ads with Intel. Use Pentium at work and Athlons at home. Wouldn't put a fag paper between them. (It would catch fire:-))

Geoff

nwallace · Post by **nwallace** » Thu Jun 24, 2004 4:11 pm

Noticing that you have a 10k (i assuem thats RPM) SCSI hard drive

If its an onboard SCSI controller you have then your going ot get a shock when you see the prices for a PCI SCSI card to go in your new mobo

rdawes · Post by **rdawes** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 2:01 am

I have a combination fast/wide SCSI and NIC PCI card that runs my SCSI hard drive. It was part of my quest for the best FPS with my 600 Mhz CPU. The card will move to my new mobo along with the hard drive which is only used for MSTS.

I know that the Intel Celerons have only 128k of internal cache while the full Pentiums have 512k and I was wondering if that made a big difference in gaming. The consensus seems to be that the AMD stuff works really well for MSTS given the cooling issues.

The AMD mobo and cpu I recently bought for my wife's PC came with a heatsink and fan. I upgraded her P/S to a 350 watt model with 2 fans which seem to be holding up.

I would love to go with a fast Intel cpu but the money I'll save can upgrade my video card so I think that the compromise is worth it.

Bob

lemberg · Post by **lemberg** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 4:15 pm

Asrock KS8XE
512 mb 400mhz dane electric ram
AMD 2500 overclocked to 3200 as they are all unlocked now.
64 mb Geforce 440 mx turned up to max in sim.
80 mb serial ATA hard drive.

Frame rates vary from 25 to 60 on Cannock chase V4

Lemberg

Zackybong1 · Post by **Zackybong1** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 9:00 pm

Can any of them run a BA electric with 10 BA coaches and plenty of AI with frame ratesof over 20 FPS on the whole of the Thames/Mersey?

Thought not.

rdawes · Post by **rdawes** » Sat Jun 26, 2004 12:31 am

So Zackybong1, what are you using to achieve this performance?

Bob

Zackybong1 · Post by **Zackybong1** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 9:09 am

I'm not... But I am going to be buying an new top spec PC in the next three months and if anyone can match this (see above) thats the one for me!!!

Iluka · Post by **Iluka** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 1:33 pm

Hi Zackybong1

What is the exact specification for the PC you are going to buy to get minimum frame rates of 20 for the Thames-Mersey Route??? - Has your supplier guaranteed these readings??

I have a pretty good PC set up and can get averages of 23 - 48 fps for the Thames-Mersey Route but it dips down to 7 - 15 fps at Crewe and approaching Liverpool

Stuttering is also minimal

Kindest Regards

Mike

Zackybong1 · Post by **Zackybong1** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 10:16 pm

Hmmmmn... No, your missing the point.

If any PC can do what I want (see above), then I will definately buy it.

Atomic Systems

Computer Hardware for MSTS Question

Computer Hardware for MSTS Question

Computer hardware