Computer Recomendations

[railduffer]

I have a 6 year old HP. I started running Railworks soon after it came out. Before that I used MSTS. Everything now is working very slow, and many times when working on a new route or scenario it crashes. Plus my email is very slow. I would appreciate a suggestion or three.
I am concerned about Speed, Good Video, Memory, etc. Good enough to run Railworks 17 and CSX Heavy Haul. As new software is developed the old computer becomes obsolete. I would like something that might be good for a reasonable future. Windows 7 (witch I am running now) is available in some places, and there will be a learning curve with Windows 10. But Windows 10 might be the way to go considering the future.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[fraserm]

@railduffer - The subject you're asking about is getting more and more complex as TS2017 and TSW CSX HH are pointing out. If you look at the recommended requirements for TSW especially, a very high-level computer will be needed to run it successfully. It requires a fast CPU, a very high-level GPU (graphics board), tons of high-speed RAM, and a fast hard drive. Many people (myself included) turn to building a desktop PC from scratch because the components needed to run TSW make a pre-built system very expensive. If you look at my sig line, you'll see the two systems I currently use. My desktop is scratch-built to give me the highest performance I can afford. I built it five years ago and have been upgrading it constantly since then. The laptop I bought pre-assembled because laptops do not lend themselves to home-brewing. Too many proprietary components. That also was the best I could afford at the time. I've run TSW on both of them and right now there is no appreciable difference between the two, they both run around 20FPS give-or-take. Expected for the laptop but definitely disappointing for the desktop. I think there's more DTG has to work on to make it run better on readily-available equipment.
I run several sims (TS2017, Euro Truck 2, American Truck, FSX:Steam Edition) and several "quest" type games (Skyrim, Fallout 4, Portal/Portal 2) and I get acceptable performance out of either machine.
Bottom line is this - The "ideal" specs for TSW will cost a bunch whether you build or buy. Probably between $2000 and $4000 USD. Unfortunately you can't get away with much less because TSW just will not run acceptably on anything less.
Here's the kind of specs you'll need to run well:

Intel Core i7 6th or 7th generation CPU
GeForce GTX 1070, 1080, or Titan GPU w 6-8 GB GDDR5
16 - 32 GB RAM
1 TB SSD (solid-state drive) or high-speed platter hard drive

This assumes the case, motherboard, power supply, network card, and large-format monitor to pull it all together.
Also, others have differing opinions about the component brands. Intel vs. AMD CPUs (I have both...), nVidia vs ATI GPUs (I've had both...) and other considerations. It boils down to personal preference. If you have no preference, Intel/nVidia do work well together.

A lot to consider, isn't it? An "office-grade" machine is definitely not the path to go down. A gaming-specific machine is required.

Last-minute note - Windows 10 is not a great leap from Win 7 in its day-to-day operation. Most changes are "under the hood" so to speak. It's not to be feared, I've been running it from the first day it came out and now all my machines are running it just fine.

Feel free to PM me if you have more specific questions.
Best,
Marc

[buzz456]

Win 10 can be a PITA since it looks and acts so different than win7 however there are a couple of free programs out there to make 10 look and act pretty much like 7 so the learning curve can be made much easier. I agree with Marc about everything except a one TB hard drive would seem to be a bit of overkill unless you are a hard core gamer. I only have TS2017 for game other than this beta thing of TSW and still have all kinds of room left on a 500GB drive. If you decide to build one yourself do not neglect getting a first class motherboard not necessarily this one specific but something on the order of a MSI Z97. If you think building a computer is difficult it's not. Go forth and buy one of those "anything for Dummies" books or just go on the web and Google computer building for dummies and you will find complete step by step things to do it successfully. I have built several now and barely knew how to change a video card before my first.
Also if budget is a serious concern don't overlook a reconditioned computer. If you buy one from a reputable source it can save you a lot of money. Like Marc if you want more advice or opinion PM me or just ask here.

I'm going to move this over to geek speak since it really belongs there.

[buzz456]

Nice tutorial here.

http://www.pcgamer.com/how-to-build-a-g ... ers-guide/

[BillS]

A couple other sites that are useful for building a gaming computer:

Custom Gaming Builds
How to Build Gaming Computers

Other useful sites if you do build your own:

Tom's Hardware
PC Part Picker

[trev123]

I like sites where you build your computer online and get them to put it together. Saves the stress of when you turn the power on for the first time, on one that you built hoping it goes.

[buzz456]

Just keep in mind that to run TS2017 you do not need nearly as high end a machine as it appears you will need for TSW.

[ZekTheKid]

I might as well chime in, since I'm looking into doing this myself.
I don't exactly know what to buy when I upgrade to a new desktop. I'm looking for a portable computer with good speed and fps to support TSW. I won't exactly put my current PC to waste, it has a whopping 918 GB of storage for a laptop, but isn't really good for gaming (it was a step up from what I ran before I joined the forum though). It will be used for repainting and such. Currently, it's slightly below average on performance, but from what I can tell it's not going to handle TSW well. Laugh your heads off now, because it's a......Dell Inspiron 15 (3000 Series). <:}

[slick204]

I thought I'd bump this thread since I'm picking out parts for my new desktop. I have a few questions and would like to get some feedback on my choices.
Current games for this computer: TS2017, Skyrim, Euro Truck Simulator and TSW in the future.

Intel Core i5-6600K
Cryorig H7
Asus Z170-A (not sure about this one)
G Skill Ripjaws V DDR4 16 GB
Corsair Carbide 500R case
EVGA SuperNova 550 G2

I'm going to keep my 560Ti for the moment and upgrade to a 1060 or 1070 eventually. I have multiple drives I'll carry over although I'll probably need to get a larger SSD.

I'm leaning towards an i5 instead of a i7 because most of what I read states the performance gain isn't worth the extra cost, at least for most games.
Are the new Kaby Lake processors worth getting over the Skylake? A 7600K is only $10 more while going to an i7 is $100 more.
Buzz recommended the Z97 motherboard but I'm seeing many recommendations for the Z170. I've read about the differences but I don't know if they are worth the extra $.
I thought I'd need a bigger power supply but I put everything (and more) into one of the calculators and it came up with less that 400W.

Any thoughts/recommendations will be greatly appreciated!

[jwtheiv]

Useful Sites for putting together this type of thing -

https://pcpartpicker.com/

http://www.logicalincrements.com/

[buzz456]

When you get around to updating your video card you will see a big difference. I ran with a 750ti for quite a while and it did a pretty good job.

[trev123]

Yes I saw a big difference upgrading from a 560TI to a 960.

[slick204]

Useful Sites for putting together this type of thing -

https://pcpartpicker.com/

http://www.logicalincrements.com/

Thanks, I've used both those quite a bit.

Buzz, what GPU are you running?

Right now I'm running an old Core2 Duo so it's definitely time to upgrade!

Eventually a new graphics card and monitor but it adds up fast.

[buzz456]

Intel Core i5-6600K. That's plenty for RW anyway. From what I have read going up to one of the i7 just doesn't get you much of anything with this game or in fact a lot of them.

[Ericmopar]

My only recommendation would be Kaby lake and a newer Z270 motherboard. They are faster, although not by much.
Kaby lake is supporting some new tech natively on the CPU.
You can build a great machine with Skylake, but why not go with the latest?
Skylake won't be supported well much longer, now that Kaby Lake is out.