Computer for Railworks

[nolatron]

So it seems my PC that was "blazingly fast" 3 years ago when I built it is now seriously out of date. I'm lucky to push 14fps in NEC on the low Graphic Settings. And this just kills the gameplay value to me. I'd probably play more often if it the game didn't drag so much.

So... it's time to start looking to upgrade. Ideally I'd like to be running 30+ in high graphics.

I thought maybe it would be a nice idea to for users to post their system specs, game settings and FPS rate so we can get an idea of what kind of hardware is getting good results when someone like me wants to upgrade their PC and needs ideas for the best hardware.

So here's current settings

CPU: Intel Core2 Quad Q600 - 2.40GHz
Video Card: NVideo GeForce 8800GTS 640MB
RAM: 8GB
OS: Win7 64-bit

Steam Settings:
TSX: On
Basic Settings: Custom
Screen Res: 1920x1200
Full Screen: On
Monitor 1x1
Texture Filtering: Anisotropic x 8
Anti-Aliasing: None
Command Line & Audio Options: All unchecked.

Railworks Settings:
Graphic Detail: "Medium" Setting

Average FPS: 14-20, but usually 14 if there's another train on screen or in an external view.

I'm thinking of just trying a newer video card to see if that helps before getting a new motherboard/cpu as well.

[wacampbell]

I'm thinking of just trying a newer video card to see if that helps before getting a new motherboard/cpu as well.

Save your money. Those old core2 quads were crippled somehow. I don't know if it was the motherboard letting them down or what, but mine never outperformed the core2 duo it replaced. And RW needs CPU clock speed. Without it, a fast GPU is a waste of cash.

I'm getting good performance out of the setup described here:

viewtopic.php?f=33&t=3975

At lease if you throw some money at it, you might as well not do it blind.

[nolatron]

Save your money. Those old core2 quads were crippled somehow. I don't know if it was the motherboard letting them down or what, but mine never outperformed the core2 duo it replaced. And RW needs CPU clock speed. Without it, a fast GPU is a waste of cash.

I'm getting good performance out of the setup described here:

viewtopic.php?f=33&t=3975

At lease if you throw some money at it, you might as well not do it blind.

Thanks for the tip. Maybe I'll try the opposite, upgrade the Mobo/CPU and Ram first with my current video card (FSX seems to like it well) and see how it performs.

[arizonachris]

There are quite a few recommendations for a new rig here and over at the Steam/ Railworks Forum. It really seems to be a mixed bag at best. I get decent results out of an almost 3 year old rig (well, newer graphics card)
Phenom II 940 @ 3.6Ghz
4Gb RAM
GTX470
2x 500Gb Western Digital Black drives in RAID 0
Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit

Others have really much higher end systems, some with Crossfire or SLI video cards (2 cards connected together) and still don't get too much better performance.

I think if you threw in a better video card (the 8800 is about 5 generations old now) and see if you can get a little better CPU for that board, you may find a nice boost. RAM should be fine. Don't waste money on an SSD drive. Proven that it doesn't help with RW much.

I'm actually getting better performance on Donner than HSC or the new Ohio Steel 2.

[robinbraves]

I am thinking this new patch in a couple of weeks will help. I sure hope so.
I do think you need a more current generation gpu card. I dont think you should
need to run 2 or 3 video cards and an 8 core processor just to run this sim smooth.
I hope the new patch coming in a couple of weeks will resolve a lot of issues
for all of us with decent rigs. Not the highest spec computer, but adequate.


My Specs:

Intel I5 quad core processor 3.7gh
8 gb Gskill 1600 ram
Amd Radeon Hd6950 Video card
750gb Western Digital Hd x2
Thermalright cpu cooler