General Question

[Triffid]

I am thinking about buying this game, but I know I need a better computer. I hope this question is not against the rules, but what computer(s) would you all recommend for me to get this game? I am 15 years of age, but I work for my uncle earning money like that. I don't want to spend too much, but I guess I am willing to pay a pretty penny for a computer that would be able to work with this game and others. Originally, I just found out about Planetside by looking at the games on Amazon. I came across this one and decided to do some research. Awesome game, it's most likely going to replace Ultima Online. That game gives me too much trouble and it's not that fun to me. I like games like this one. The graphics are great (especially for an online game, it must be hard to be able to give such great graphics without serious problems). I just like everything about it. I used to play games like Red Faction II, and stuff, but that got boring. I think it gave me good training for this game though. I know my friend thinks I do exceptionally well at sniping, seeing as I checked my accuracy and it was around 93%. The only thing holding me back from saying I am definitely going to get this game is internet connection. I live in the country in Tennessee and there is no cable out here. DSL may be provided, but I have yet to check about that. If anyone can help me and tell me about this game in depth (including your experiences and stories), I would appreciate it very much!:) I hope to be able to become a soldier in this game, heh. It's going to be very fun!

, John

[Lonehunter]

Originally posted by Triffid
...I know my friend thinks I do exceptionally well at sniping, seeing as I checked my accuracy and it was around 93%...

There are hardly any one hit kills as you may be used to in other games. As for a PC, look at the requirements on the bottom of the Planetside box.

[Frozen-Monkey]

if you can play red faction on your computer, your probably fine. As for internet conection, i highly suggest cable. If you cant get cable, stay off the Emerald and Markov servers.

[Triffid]

Well, I play Red Faction II on PS2, I just have quick reflexes. I know this computer is not good enough because it is a 2001 model. 128MB Ram, 850MHz, and 40GB HD. Computers I were looking at: 2GB RAM, 3.06GHz, and 500GB HD. Now, that costs around $3800. No way I can afford that at this age. I don't need all that HD space, why would you? Anyway, back to this game, if I were to get it I was thinking about TR or NC. TR was my initial choice, but NC is now one of them. I doubt I'll play VS. By the way, if I had DSL, couldn't I play on the servers you said not to play on? I thought DSL was just as good as cable, if not, arg... Time to call the phone company and give them some lip about not having cable. I have thought about T-1 too, now what about that? Man, I'm screwed... heh. I just have to play this game! :)

[GrayMalkin]

Well, I have a 1ghz Duron 256mb DDR 64mb GeForce3 system and I'm stll waiting for a good deal on new parts before I think about getting Planetside. From what I've read, a system that will run the game well would be a minimum of 2.5ghz cpu, 512mb of some kind of ddr ram, and a 128 mb vid card. Now, if you know enough about PCs then you can easily upgrade your system for less than $500. A new GeForce FX 5200 card (128mb) goes for $100, a good motherboard/cpu combo between 2.5-3ghz goes from $100-$150, and 512mb drr (2700-3200) memory should be about $50. Unless you know absolutely nothing about PCs, don't spend thousands of dollars on a system. It's a complete waste of money.

[Triffid]

Luckily my friend's mother knows someone who builds computers! :D They got theirs' from him for cheap. It is like a 2.4GHz (not sure about RAM and hard drive). That's my good luck, and usually all my luck comes in one form..... bad. :p

[Lonehunter]

Would DSL be good for the Emerald server?

Edit: And how would a dial-up connection do?

[ccarlin8]

I run a Atholon 1700+, 512 MB of DDR 2100, and have an Nvidia Geforce 3 64 MB video card. I built this computer in March of last year, and it runs PS like a dream. I also have a cable internet connection. I'm thinking of upgrading to a gig of PC 2700 DDR and a 128 meg video card though, just so everything runs even smoother in huge battles. With this set up though, I can be in a battle of around 50 people and lag very little. The big deal is the internet connection. DSL should work fine.

If you're looking for something that'll run PS and be semi cheap and know someone that can put it together for you, go to www.googlegear.com or www.newegg.com
They have pretty decent part prices. I've built a couple pretty nice computers for friends and family for less than $800 with a monitor and everything. IF you want to spend $1000, I'm sure you could put together a really nice system.
Personally, I'd reccommend an AMD processor, around 2000 or 2200+, 1 gig of DDR 2100 RAM, because RAM is pretty cheap, and get a 64 Meg card unless you can afford a decent 128 meg card. Stick with Nvidia too, I hear it works the best with PS.

Good luck with it all. It's a really good game. I like it.

[Triffid]

Excuse me, you mean newb. Plus, you know I have never played on Planetside so how do I know how it plays. You know I haven't played this game so what right do you have to criticize me. I don't know how the game plays or how many people play on it. You're in the wrong there buddy.

[Triffid]

Thanks for all your help people, I will now check in to parts and see how much the cost and do some calculations on how much money I have to spend.

[Tieom]

Originally posted by ccarlin8
I run a Atholon 1700+, 512 MB of DDR 2100, and have an Nvidia Geforce 3 64 MB video card. I built this computer in March of last year, and it runs PS like a dream. I also have a cable internet connection.

You, sir, have just made my day. That is almost EXACTLY what I'm running, except with a Radeon 8500 128mb, and with all this talk of needing about twice what the recommended specs are to run 'well' I was getting worried I wouldn't be able to enjoy PS. I likely won't be able to enjoy it at maximum detail, but I'll be able to enjoy it. :D
Well, at the end of the week, at least, once exams end.

[Triffid]

What's so good about the AMD processors? Intel has some higher speed processors for less than some of the lower speed AMDs. I have spent almost all night trying to configure up a computer. Please tell me the big advantages/disadvantages of AMD processors.

[GrayMalkin]

Originally posted by Triffid
What's so good about the AMD processors? Intel has some higher speed processors for less than some of the lower speed AMDs. I have spent almost all night trying to configure up a computer. Please tell me the big advantages/disadvantages of AMD processors.

Not sure where you're looking, but almost always you're going to find AMD cpus cheaper than their Intel counterparts. Looking at the two side-by-side, a 2.4 ghz AMD processor with out-perform an Intel 2.4ghz processor in many tests. This is due to the proven fact that per cycle, AMD processors do more work than Intel. AMD actually filed a lawsuit some time ago against Intel for 'misleading' consumers by posting higher ghz numbers than the cpu actually performed at. Then again, a suit was recently filed against AMD for having their processors detect benchmarking utilities and revving up the power. But that's neither here nor there.

It's debatable which company's cpu is better. I'm an AMD person myself, as they're 99% of the time cheaper than Intel and their strengths really shine for gaming applications. nVidia chose to make their nForce motherboard for AMD, not Intel, after all. Intel used to force consumers to Rambus RAM, incredibly expensive and poorly performing compared to DDR. Though they have gotten rid of it and now do DDR like the rest, Pentiums and Pentium boards are usually still more expensive than AMD. My conclusion is that AMD is better for gaming for less than what Intel charges. It's a really easy decision for me. Now time for a Pentium-lover's rebuttal:

[Jarlo]

I run 1900 AMD XP with 758 megs of RAM and Geforce 3 and it runs PS pretty damn well with high textures on. It bogs down mostly on Hossin with all those swamp trees.

Make sure you get >512 megs of RAM and I recommond a Geforce 4 or Radeon 9500 pro or higher for maximum pleasure.

[Jarlo]

My favorite site for cheap computers is www.pricewatch.com. You can find lots of good deals there and lots of bare-bones or custom systems for good prices.

[Triffid]

I have seen AMD processors only get up to around 2.6GHz or something like that but they are around $400. And by the way, I was looking at www.googlegear.com , which is a very nice site by the way. There was an Intel Pentium 4 3.06GHz (supposedly 3.06Ghz, hehe) for around $300 something I think. Hm, then again, it may also have been up in the $400s. I guess I'll go with a 2GHz or 2.1GHz AMD. Would that be pretty fast? Being a regular Intel customer (now thinking I have been betrayed), I usually thought their processors performed better. Eh, I am not so sure about that now. If you can give me some comparisons to AMD and Intel, I would appreciate that. By comparisons I mean this: AMD 2GHz processor performed -like this- against Intel 2.6GHz which performed -like this-. I suppose that the "false" 2.6GHz from Intel would actually run around 2.1GHz or something? I'm not as computer literate as you all, so I don't want to be shopping for a crappy computer when I can actually get an even better one for less. :) I'll keep looking. I may post what I have thought about on a reply if you want, just to show you what I have been thinking about. Then you can give me suggestions if you wouldn't mind. Thanks everyone for all your help, it's kept me from deciding on purchasing a crappy system when I think I was getting the best! :D

, John

[IDgaf]

Originally posted by ccarlin8
I run a Atholon 1700+, 512 MB of DDR 2100, and have an Nvidia Geforce 3 64 MB video card. I built this computer in March of last year, and it runs PS like a dream.

I have an Athlon XP 1800+, 1 gig DDR [not sure what you mean by 1200] and a GD3 Titantium 64mb. I think I got my comp around the same time as you.

The game runs fine for me - I'm on 512 ADSL - but to get it as smooth as it should be played I have to have a lot of the graphics options on low.

I always have draw distance at full, but otherwise only have weather effects and the skydome on. I do have mesh detail on, but if I hit serious amounts of action is does affect my framerate.

If I have foliage on full medium again, this affects my framerate. Nothing major unless I'm in battle. Same with Shadows.

I have anti-aliasing turned off. None of this really makes the game as immersive as I want it to be.

It sounds like you have everything on full - or near enough. What settings are you running at? Have you done any simple tweaks to make it run better (virtual memory etc?).

Any help appreciated - please keep it simple.

Thanks.

IDgaf

[EarlyDawn]

I really wouldn't reccomend anything less then cable for Emerald, which sucks, because it's where most of the action is. :rolleyes:

[Triffid]

Hm, looking at the AMD processors now, they get down to 1.8GHz, which is around the one you recommended me. That doesn't seem too fast. By the way, the number after DDR, I found out yesterday, seems to be the RPM. That means that the disk rotates that amount of times per minute. I think I'm right about that, but I don't know. I didn't know it until I started reading about it. Back to AMD: If someone could tell me about all this stuff, maybe it'll clear up the confusion I have. :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: Thanks for your help.

, John

[Triffid]

I think it will be easier if I have someone ICQ or IM me. My ICQ is: 253144416, and my AIM is: vegavoyager02

This will allow me to ask you all the questions I have and all of the products I need speculated. I would appreciate any help I could get. Thanks.