Railworks America

I'm not exactly planning on High settings. I rather have Low-Medium.



Processor Intel® Core™ i7-4700MQ Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.40 GHz) with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology
Microsoft® Operating System Windows 8.1
Memory 6GB DDR3L 1600MHz (4GB + 2GB)
Hard Disk Drive 750GB HDD (5400rpm, Serial ATA)
Graphics Controller 2GB GDDR3 NVIDIA ® GeForce® GT 740M with Optimus™ Technology

Specs look like a laptop. Should be OK, not the best as you already presume. Is that Windows 64 bit? Needs to be to use more than 4Gb RAM.

What about OS. Windows 8 or 7? the 7 option is a hundred dollars more.

I see lots of folks here running Win 8 and TS seems to run just fine with it. You should be able to get it in the 64 bit flavor. If Win 7 is extra, Pffffttttttt.

It is a whole different user interface tho. Might take getting used to.

No, you can get a full copy of Win 7 x64 Home Premium for $99. You have to order the OEM/Builders version and they will give you a huge price break.

No bloatware and all settings at Windows default instead of turning everything on in the modules like Dell, HP, Lenovo etc.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6832116986

You can also buy that over the counter from Frys and other electronic supplies. Just have to give them the secret handshake...

I downloaded the release candidate #2 for Win8 took me two hours, installed it ran it for 15 minutes and formatted the drive. I run a business, I'm not playing on a phone. If you really like all the crap on a iPhone or android you'll love Win8, me I'll never install it again.

just my

I read recently that MS are bringing out Win 8.1 which, apart from bringing back the Start button, will give you the option to disable all those bouncy buttons intended for tablets and smart phones, giving you a traditional desktop interface just like Win 7.

One of the members on my Tech Support Forum had Win 8, and just got the free upgrade to 8.1. He didn't say that you could change the UI, but then again he likes the bouncy buttons and says he cares less about the Start button. Plus he's a gamer and it runs all his games just fine. It is a self-built, very high end PC, too. (I'll stick with Win 7 64 bit)

arizonachris wrote: (I'll stick with Win 7 64 bit)

Me too

tbh, most people only whine about metro, which you can disable. Windows 8 performs much better in the areas that Windows 7 struggled in for optimization. I get much better threading out of 8.1 than I did 7.

bpetit
The weak link may be the video card, a GTX740 M is lowish end - not so good for gaming.
IMHO you would be better with a 760/765/770 if possible.
But you may get more mileage using lucidlogix virtu MVP which combine the use of the on-board card plus the discrete graphics card (together) and it should be available on that Haswell chip. http://www.lucidlogix.com/product-virtu-mvp.shtml.
You can purchase virtu but often it comes bundled with the motherboard software for free.
Works well on my desktop PC.
Regards
pH

arizonachris wrote:One of the members on my Tech Support Forum had Win 8, and just got the free upgrade to 8.1. He didn't say that you could change the UI, but then again he likes the bouncy buttons and says he cares less about the Start button. Plus he's a gamer and it runs all his games just fine. It is a self-built, very high end PC, too. (I'll stick with Win 7 64 bit)

Same here.
After more than two years of patches and updates, Win 7 X64 really is rock solid.
I must admit though. The early adopters of Win 8.1 say it's a huge improvement.

peterhayes wrote:bpetit
The weak link may be the video card, a GTX740 M is lowish end - not so good for gaming.
IMHO you would be better with a 760/765/770 if possible.
But you may get more mileage using lucidlogix virtu MVP which combine the use of the on-board card plus the discrete graphics card (together) and it should be available on that Haswell chip. http://www.lucidlogix.com/product-virtu-mvp.shtml.
You can purchase virtu but often it comes bundled with the motherboard software for free.
Works well on my desktop PC.
Regards
pH

My mobo supports Lucidlogix Virtu Peter, but but Lucidlogix doesn't support Railworks.exe. It doesn't like this program at all.

The GPU will be the problem. Look at these benchmarks.

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.p ... 0M&id=2461

Eric
Yes, thanks I did realise Virtu doesn't support TS2014 but I don't see any issues running TS2014 with it in place.
Whether it is doing any good is another matter.
It is so difficult to see what brings a real benefit to TS 2014, so I tend to try them all and if it works or doesn't cause any issues its a bonus!!
Thanks again - appreciate it.
pH

Guys I'm not worrying about running at Max. I want to run my card around Medium at 1280x720.