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Author Topic: Building a computer  (Read 2736 times)

anubite

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Building a computer
« on: January 30, 2012, 12:22:29 am »
Going to be building my first computer soon. My current machine begins to chug around 50~ dwarfs, dropping to abysmal FPS and it's over four years old now. I was hoping I could get some suggestions. My budget's on the semi-economical side (<$700) but I was hoping I could get some advice on what I should focus on. A powerful video card doesn't seem like a good investment, though don't video cards accelerate some non-graphical calculations? Or is that some misinformation I have? I suppose I focus focus on getting a good processor? Would upgrading to 64 bit so I can use 8 gig ram be a good idea? Or is DF relatively memory-light? Should I just invest in a good processor?

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darkrider2

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Re: Building a computer
« Reply #1 on: January 30, 2012, 12:32:41 am »
Good Processor, DF just annihilates CPU.

Although I hear the new version might run faster...
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Oliolli

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Re: Building a computer
« Reply #2 on: January 30, 2012, 01:14:48 am »
Also remember, that multi-core doesn't really help DF. A 3 Ghz single-core would be better than a 2,7 Ghz dual-core.
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helf

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Re: Building a computer
« Reply #3 on: January 30, 2012, 01:23:16 am »
That depends entirely on the CPU arch and you would be hard pressed to find a single core cpu worth spending more than $10 on these days.

Also, depending on how much you multitask, having a quad core would benefit you over a dual core, even though DF isnt multithreaded much. But, yeah, get a good i series cpu from Intel and you should be golden.
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dennislp3

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Re: Building a computer
« Reply #4 on: January 30, 2012, 01:33:31 am »
I would not even look for a single core...go at least dual core for both DF and everything else you may want (I would recommend quad core for future proofing more than dual core)
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Carnes

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Re: Building a computer
« Reply #5 on: January 30, 2012, 04:26:30 am »
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Rafal99

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Re: Building a computer
« Reply #6 on: January 30, 2012, 04:55:58 am »
Quote from: Oliolli on January 30, 2012, 01:14:48 am
Also remember, that multi-core doesn't really help DF. A 3 Ghz single-core would be better than a 2,7 Ghz dual-core.

This would be true if DF was the only thing running on your comp, but it is not. It is better to have 2 cores, so you can have one exclusively for DF.
Also good new processors have at least 2 cores anyway.

Basically CPU is all what matters for DF perfomance.
I advise you to buy Intel i3 or i5 depending on your price range, as AMDs generally go into number of cores while sacrificing single core performance, which would be bad for DF.
Also Intels are proven to give good fps in DF, people bragged about having 700 fps on some high end Intels.
« Last Edit: January 30, 2012, 04:57:31 am by Rafal99 »
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612DwarfAvenue

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Re: Building a computer
« Reply #7 on: January 30, 2012, 05:03:41 am »
You know what you should do?

Make a computer in DF that is capable of playing DF. Yo Dawg jokes aside, it will elevate you to godhood in the eyes of the entire Bay12 community.
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malvado

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Re: Building a computer
« Reply #8 on: January 30, 2012, 06:35:23 am »
What you will need :

*Good Cpu : Intel i5 2500 / 2600 Should be pretty powerfull enough, Amd Alternative could be Phenom II X6 1100T or 8150 (Amd should be considered if you have a lot of pcie devices and needs a lot of connections from hds etc).
*Enough Memory : 8Gb DDR3 at either 1333 / 1600 should be sufficient for DF (My Df maxes memory usage at about 2Gb with certain embarks), although with current ram prices I'd personally buy 16Gb.
*OS : Be sure to go for an 64bit version of either Windows 7 or whatever you are going to buy. DO NOT install xp on your system...
*Graphics Card  : A Mid range card from Amd or Nvidia should suffice.
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Zoomulator

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Re: Building a computer
« Reply #9 on: January 30, 2012, 10:31:22 am »
Get an i5 2500k (notice the k*) cpu. Put the biggest cooling fan you can find on it and clock the cpu to 4.10ghz. Got one myself and it's way too easy to clock it. Two clicks and a reboot... yes?
It's a real workhorse when it comes to DF. Tractor even. Tractor on jet fuel? Works quite well anyway.

Other than that, I guess malvado covered it.

* The k version is clockable as a feature, which the standard non-k version isn't. ..k?
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Buttery_Mess

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Re: Building a computer
« Reply #10 on: January 30, 2012, 10:46:32 am »
My cadet, whose Dad runs a computer shop, told me there's a new Intel chip coming out soon. I'm going to wait until it comes out, with Windows 8 I guess. I'm not going to shy away from multicores, but processor speed is priority.
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city builder

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Re: Building a computer
« Reply #11 on: January 30, 2012, 11:29:13 am »
Quote from: Rafal99 on January 30, 2012, 04:55:58 am
people bragged about having 700 fps on some high end Intels.

Not to come off as bragging, because I'm not, only confirming.

Even my new laptop (Asus G74sx with an i7 2670qm and 8GB system RAM) pulls off 685 fps calculations.

I would have to think that most modern non budget CPU's are capable of doing this.

My desktop which has an AMD Phenom II 965 Black Edition (but not overclocked) gets higher than that.  So, in my opinion...  The OP should look for the best CPU he can get for the price that he can afford be it Intel or AMD.  I've always had great multitasking experience and thus performance out of all the higher end AMD CPU's that I've used over the years and always steered clear of Intel just because they were or are higher priced, obviously buying a laptop means getting what it comes with  since I'm not building it myself.  So, it's the first Intel CPU that I've had in many years and it performs admirably as have the AMD's in my life.

Whatever you get OP, enjoy the build.
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anubite

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Re: Building a computer
« Reply #12 on: January 30, 2012, 12:26:51 pm »
Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll take everything into consideration. Though, I do have one more question... would a SSD speed up Dwarf Fortress? I'm tempted to take a 64 GB one over a standard HD.
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city builder

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Re: Building a computer
« Reply #13 on: January 30, 2012, 12:29:03 pm »
I don't know if it will speed up DF, but it should certainly speed up loading of windows and any programs that you install on the SSD.  That's my next major purchase for my new laptop, to replace the 500GB standard 7200rpm HDD with 256GB (or larger) SSD to increase load speeds.  Just waiting on a good sale since I don't fancy spending $500 on a drive.
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Fredson

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Re: Building a computer
« Reply #14 on: January 30, 2012, 12:36:24 pm »
Buttery_Mess is right. The new Intel Ivy Bridge Processors launch in April. But if you dont want to overclock there is no reason to wait. For DF and everyday websurfing and stuff get a cheap i3 2100 or Pentium G840, they are blazingly fast for their price. If you want to play new games, too, get an i5 2400 because the 2500 (non k) is not worth its higher price. For RAM: get as much as you can! Its so incedibly cheap these days. I recently bought 16gigs of DDR3-1333 RAM for about 60€ (~80$?) just for "teh lulz". GPU doesnt really matter for DF so any midrange card should me more than enough. But if you want some power stay in the upper midrange: AMD HD58xx, HD67xx, HD68xx, NVIDIA GTX 460Ti, 560, 560Ti, 550Ti

And definitley go fr the SSD. It doesnt do much for DF (keep it on the HDD) but speed up your boot times extremely.
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