What ISN'T overkill?

[Samy_Merchi]

I play games like Civilization IV, Sims 2, Neverwinter Nights 2, KotOR 1/2, City of Heroes and Dungeons & Dragons Online. I have no interest in FPSes.

When somebody is building an E8600/4870 rig, I see people often commenting that it would be overkill for games like that.

So the question I put to you is, how low can you go? How poor components would you pick for games like that, to still run them smoothly, but so it wouldn't be overkill?

I would also like it if people could post what % their CPU is running at when playing any of those games? If you've for example got a Q6600 and regularly play Civ or Sims, what kind of CPU utilization are you getting? Is it ceilinging at 100%? Or down to 75%? 50%? 10%?

 

[The_Blood_Raven]

An E5200 overclocked to 3.6 Ghz+ with 2 9600 GTs or the new 4770 will be fine for now and in the future and comes in at a good price. A recommended system for future games would be a Phenom II 720 X3 overclocked to about 3.6 GHz+ with a GTX 260 or 4870.

 

[joefriday]

Wow Raven, was that a canned reply? He asked about those older games, and you recommend going SLI/Crossfire?

As far as how much graphics card you need, it'll depend on the resolution you game at. TBH, even a 6600GT is capable of delivering playable frames in all these games at res of 1280x1024. If you game at righer res or enjoy more eyecandy, a 7600GT would be cheap and perform admirably. There's also the 8600GT, and the ATI 4650 All these should be sub $75 dollar solutions, with the older cards being quite cheap off ebay.

As for CPUs, Civ 4 is not mulitthreaded. Neither are the KOTOR games, Sims 2, D&D online, or Neverwinter Nights 2. City of Heroes IS multithreaded. So, overall, a fast single core AMD cpu like the 2.7GHz Lima isn't a bad choice, but an Athlon X2 dual core would probably be nicer in the long run and not much more expensive.

 

[Kraynor]

For older games, splashing out on things like high end core 2 duos, or high end graphics cards is overkill. For modern games, overkill is a quad-SLI or CrossfireX solution with a hugely overclocked i7 or Phenom II X4.

I've got a Q6600 (albeit overclocked) and not many games show 100% utilisation, that said you wouldn't see 100% on a quad-core unless the game was designed to take advantage of that.

For the games you listed, you could get away with a low-end Core 2 Duo (2.2-2.4 GHz, I generally advise against going lower), 2gb RAM, and an ATI 4850 simply because of how good value it is considering the performance it gives. Minimum graphics card I'd recommend would probably be the 8600GT, I had an 8600GTS and it was a fantastic card until I replaced it.

 

[Axeon]

Something like the Athlon 64 5400+ would be a reasonable CPU for those games. I bet a HD3650 or a HD3850 could handle it.

Something like this should work:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102794

Really depends on what res. you want to run it at.

"joefriday" ^ = +1

SLI wouldn't be needed lol.

 

[The_Blood_Raven]

Wow recommending a single core CPU and a 7600 GT is ridiculous. When my 8800 GT died, all I had was a 7600 GT and NO it did not perform well in KoTOR and I had an E6750 @ 3.6 Ghz. Not only that but time is in CONSTANT MOTION, meaning he needs to be able to play newer games too, like KoTOR Online. My recommendation was for a lasting PC that will perform great in all areas for years to come.

 

[ehanger]

I play games like Civilization IV, Sims 2, Neverwinter Nights 2, KotOR 1/2, City of Heroes and Dungeons & Dragons Online. I have no interest in FPSes.

When somebody is building an E8600/4870 rig, I see people often commenting that it would be overkill for games like that.

So the question I put to you is, how low can you go? How poor components would you pick for games like that, to still run them smoothly, but so it wouldn't be overkill?

I would also like it if people could post what % their CPU is running at when playing any of those games? If you've for example got a Q6600 and regularly play Civ or Sims, what kind of CPU utilization are you getting? Is it ceilinging at 100%? Or down to 75%? 50%? 10%?

A Core i7 965 @ 4.0GHz and a pair of GTX 295's SLI'd would be sufficient.

 

[RiotSniperX]

I'd say a E5200 would be fine witha 9800GT

 

[The_Blood_Raven]

2 9600 GTs can be had for about $100 if you shop around, that was what I was getting at.

 

[joefriday]

^^ that is a pretty nice price, but the SLI board might be a little spendy.

 

[The_Blood_Raven]

Not really you can get a decent SLI board for $100 or less.

 

[warezme]

Overkill?

There's no such thing.

 

[lounge lizard]

I can give you my example..... i am currently playing a lot of Civ4 and Colonization. (as well as lots of FPS')

I upgraded my PC at he turn of the year. i went from a 939 based athlon 64 3000+ with a 6600gt to a 3800x2@2.4mhz with a 4850 and have never upgraded my crappy ram @ 200 Mhz

I am now playing every game at my native 1680x1050 resolution with mostly maxed candy(definately no AA). There are a few exceptions to this, I'll never get a decent game of supreme commander or crysis (who cares?) running for example, and get some frame rate drops in the latest games.

I would say to you that if your main interests are RPG/Strategy games then the processor and ram is going to be more important than the GPU.

Think reduced loading times and in the case of an epic Civ4 game not having to wait so long for you opponents turns to end.

joefriday had some good advice. I would also say get a moderate to good dual core to fill your needs (at least 2.5Mhz)

 

[v1zzle]

HAHAHA..I was scrolling through the threads, and i was waiting for that random person to write that..I was thinking of the same thing




Cheers

 

[B-Unit]

Id say for that kind of scenario,mid level (2.4-2.8Ghz) dual core (single core is dead, period.) and at least a single 9600GT. I'd be iffy about SLi, regardless of how cheep, considering the low end nature. Personally I would stick a 9800GT/GTX in it, G92 is apparently pretty badass as nVidia is still making them, and can be had very reasonably. 4830 and 4770(soon) would also be good choices, as I agree with the premise that it shouldn't already be obsolete.

 

[megamanx00]

An Athlon X2 4850e or higher (whatever is on sale or has a good combo deal. the 5200 is actually cheaper at new egg than the 4850e), and for the video card a Radeon 3650 or nVidia 8600GT/9500GT would probably be just fine. Of course a 4670 is only a few bucks more and could probably use full AA and AF on those games without breaking a sweat.

 

[macabre215]

5400+BE is 57 bucks with free shipping, I love mine =DD

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103289