Computer Hardware
Getting started hardware - HELP
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Posted by Timothy Lantz at 08:00 AM on Jul 16, 2008
Post #1

Greetings -

I am new to this community and have a hankering for some racin'.

I need to know if my hardware is up to snuff.

Here's what I have:
Hp Pavilion a714X
ASUS A7V8X-LA (kelut) motherboard
AMDAthlon XP running at a tested 2.2GHz
400MHz front side bus
L1 Cache - 128KB
L2 Cache - 512KB
Soon to have - 2 G RAM(2 - 1GB sticks)
ATI Radeon X1600pro w/512 RAM on card and 128-bit memory interface
on board audio
500 watt power supply
7746 kbs download speed
1814 kbs upload speed

This is as far as I can take this tower with this motherboard.

I know it's not the newest or the fastest but I can race the AI in the rFactor demo(just ordered the complete game from Amazon), GTLegends, and Race07 decently (with only 1GB RAM)with limited interruptions in constant - steady frame speed. I am eager to try it with twice the RAM.

Do I have enough to race online with Race2Play?
I'm not made of money - I can't just drop a grand or so on a new tower.

Any help would be great!

Thanks!
Tim

Posted by Doug Dezan at 09:17 AM on Jul 16, 2008
Post #2

I had something simular once to your setup. What I did to get better performance I shut off stuff like shadows and world movement and etc like that video wise so I can keep up with a higher frame rate. 800x640 game play.

Tim McArthur
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Posted by Tim McArthur at 09:30 AM on Jul 16, 2008
Post #3

It should do the trick Tim. You will have to reduce some graphic settings to maintain some FPS (see here), but everything else looks good.

I noticed from HPs site that the max memory of your PC is 1gig. 2G may not be possible so double check that before purchasing.

Posted by Andrew Carson at 09:34 AM on Jul 16, 2008
Post #4

If you really become un-satisfied with the performance of the system I know that a lot of online stores are selling motherboard combo's (with CPU and sometimes ram included) for a low price. Would just have to make sure your graphics card fit.

Posted by Timothy Lantz at 07:28 PM on Jul 16, 2008
Post #5

Thanks so much for your helpful replies -

I will try to keep you informed on how the RAM upgrade went - The motherboard claims to support 2 GB RAM but the motherboard spec on the HP website claims that the "PC manufacturer's maximum memory may differ"

See you at the track.
Tim

Posted by Timothy Lantz at 07:36 AM on Jul 20, 2008
Post #6

Hey!

My motherboard recognized the 2 GB RAM!

It's running SWEET!

I'll need to refine my video settings. I really don't like not having shadows - It really takes depth away from the game. I'll have to sacrifice another feature. I can't see how people don't use mirrors!

I'll get some practice and I'll meet you at the track!

Tim