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[Vayre]

Had a new computer recently, and looking at the specs on it it seems like i'll be able to abandon some of my old FPS saving techniques (hell of a lot better than my old laptop)

Anyway can someone give me an rough idea of what this computer will probably be able to handle DF-Wise

Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit
4gb Ram
Intel Core2 QuadCore Q8200 @ 2.33ghz(4cpus)

Any other information that might be useful just give me a name and general idea of where it might be, thanks in advance guys, Vayre.

(also sorry if this is wrong forum, i was torn between this and gameplay questions)

[lordnincompoop]

As DF runs on one core, having 4 won't help you much. So DF'll runn better on a 3Ghz Core 2 Duo than a 2.33 Core 2 Quad. bcause of this I suggest you get something with a higher clock speed.

Otherwise though, you'll be running it pretty well. I run a similar setup, and my FPS hovers in the 80-50 zone.

[Vayre]

what sort of environment can ya get that 80 to 50 in? As in dwarf population, any waterworks/magma etc

[Zavior]

I'd imagine you can OC that cpu to over 3ghz pretty easily, which should give you better performance.

[Vayre]

I'm guessing OC means OverClocking. I have absolutely no clue how to do that at all or how to test if the other parts of my computer (such as fans) can handle it. Is there a guide on how to do that sort of thing anywhere?

And thanks for the answers everyone.

[3]

bcause of this I suggest you get something with a higher clock speed.

You should know by now that clock speed is not a reliable indication of processing speed.

[KillHour]

bcause of this I suggest you get something with a higher clock speed.

You should know by now that clock speed is not a reliable indication of processing speed.

It is between processors of the same architecture and generation (such as C2D and C2Q)

[o_O[WTFace]]

Basically you will have to test it.  It all comes down to how fast and efficient each one of those processors are.  You will still want to take basic FPS precautions though, nothing can really handle DF properly. 

[lordnincompoop]

what sort of environment can ya get that 80 to 50 in? As in dwarf population, any waterworks/magma etc

I get this consistently in forts from 4*4 to 7*7 and 3*8.
I usually try give myself ample z-levels (My recent map is 50-something z-levels aboveground) and try to get some brooks or magma. Mind you, while my FPS counter is at 30 or 50 something in mass hauling and dumping operations and other such stuff (heavy pathfinding), it's pretty stuttery and choppy.

bcause of this I suggest you get something with a higher clock speed.

You should know by now that clock speed is not a reliable indication of processing speed.

It is between processors of the same architecture and generation (such as C2D and C2Q)

This is what I meant. OP is prolly going to stick within the Core 2 Duo/Quad family, from what I gather.

[Grimlocke]

Its been said that making sure windows doesnt try to use the same core as DF works a bit, though im not sure whether it works for windows 7. Its what I run, and when I put df to work it pretty consistently eat 25% of my cpu.

So the only other choices would be to overclock, or to just make a few testruns and live with some fps saving measures.

If your going to overlclock, do make sure you know what your doing. Read plenty of articles, preferably from people using similar cpus.

[neek]

Also depends on the quality of your graphics core. I now exclusively use an HP Pavilion with a 2.6 (or something) AMD quadcore, six gigs of RAM, and a Radeon HD 4600 that has a gig of vram on it. In a site with a 12-level waterfall and about 50 dwarves (because setting the popcap seems to be worthless), I see about 80 fps.

[Fooj]

Q8200

Ouch. You bought a Dell or HP or something didn't you?

It's ALWAYS worth building a computer yourself. You don't even need much specialized knowledge. It all snaps together like legos.

I'm thinking an i3 OC'd (They OC like a pro) would be the best for for DF right now. 125$, dual core, and are currently one of the top performing architectures. More than two cores does nothing for DF. DF only runs on one and then you set all processes to the other core. It's all about individual core power.

[Jay]

It's ALWAYS worth building a computer yourself. You don't even need much specialized knowledge. It all snaps together like legos.

Hahahah.
Very expensive, brittle Legos.
It's not hard to actually install it, no, but it's not easy to do it without any risk of damaging something.  Not to mention if something doesn't work right, if you don't know what you're doing, it will be very difficult to troubleshoot.

My homebuilt tower with an i7-860 (currently at 3 GHz x4, though I could easily push it higher) with 8 GB of RAM, a GTX260, and a watercooling rig is running happily and quietly by my feet.

Protip:
Always make sure you place the CPU straight down, facing the right direction, and when you're installing the heatsink, for the love of god, don't press down very hard.

[PsyberianHusky]

I have a quad core.

w.5 per a core on vista, is it worth Ocing it?

[Dabi]

It's ALWAYS worth building a computer yourself. You don't even need much specialized knowledge. It all snaps together like legos.

Hahahah.
Very expensive, brittle Legos.
It's not hard to actually install it, no, but it's not easy to do it without any risk of damaging something.  Not to mention if something doesn't work right, if you don't know what you're doing, it will be very difficult to troubleshoot.

My homebuilt tower with an i7-860 (currently at 3 GHz x4, though I could easily push it higher) with 8 GB of RAM, a GTX260, and a watercooling rig is running happily and quietly by my feet.

Protip:
Always make sure you place the CPU straight down, facing the right direction, and when you're installing the heatsink, for the love of god, don't press down very hard.

I'm guessing this has a story behind it ?