Supreme Commander Talk

I used to know so much about computers. Back in High School I was a mIRC-scripting, HTML-tweaking monster. I felt at ease with the smell of silicone and ate every one of my meals in front of my desktop. And while these traits have faded after a stint in the military I now wish to reclaim my status as a man who is at one with his computer and its uses. SupCom has given me the motivation I need to begin to re-educate myself on all these matters. I just completed the arduous process of ordering a new computer — and the headaches along with it — trying to match up processors and video cards. I’d like to share my experience with you so that if you’re new to the process you too can skip a few of the trials. Please note that this article will be written with the Newb in mind so if you’re experienced please forgive the redundant explanations.

CPU: I’ve learned a lot already these past few days. I decided to take the SupCom Recommended System Requirements (RSR) from here on out and make those my baseline minimal requirements. After all I water at the mouth when I think about playing against five opponents on “Earth Conquest“. Now originally I thought ‘Hey, Intel is what’s recommended — it must be the best!’, but I may be wrong. My partner took it upon himself to do some research and exposed me to a Dual-core desktop CPU bout: AMD vs. Intel conducted by CNET Reviews and the results were very surprising! In fact I rather enjoyed them — it’s always nice to see the little guy come out on top — not to mention in every category. Another great testing process was done with much chagrin by the boys over at Gamespot. They did a great overview and then comparison of Graphics, Video cards, CPU and Memory. I took the lot of these suggestions when building my new PC.

Note on duo cores: Computers of yesteryear used single core processors. The new standard technology available is the duo or dual core. Basically, dual core means two separate microprocessors are embedded into a single microchip. So if SupCom RSR’s call for at least 3.0 GHz then an Intel Core Duo Processor E6600 (4MB Cache, 2.4GHz) will do the trick! Even more advanced are the Quad Core processors and you can find tests of these on Gamespot’s review. They haven’t entered consumer production yet, though, and when they do, they will be very expensive.

Operating System: Or “OS” for short, I’ve been hearing around the block that Vista has already caused some minor irritations with SupCom. This has me worried 1) Because almost any new name brand system bought now comes standard with Vista (Either Home Premium or Ultimate edition) and 2) Because it’s still so new a system and its flaws have yet to be fully explored. Companies such as Dell and Gateway will force you to receive your new PC with some form of Vista but what I’ve decided to do is dig out my unopened XP Pro (my system of choice) CD and install it first thing when I get my new toy. Small sites such as Tiger Direct and Cybertron offer pre-built computers at lower prices and with an XP OS (And AMD processors!) in them, but I couldn’t find a single one available that met my exacting standards, not for under $3,000.00.

Memory: Intermittently referred to as RAM, the memory of your computer retains data for a period of time and is linked with your CPU. For a more thorough explanation of its function I suggest this ever helpful Wikipedia article. The SupCom RSR are one gigabyte and most new computers come with that as a baseline option yet Gamespot testers found that one GB is what you need at the bare minimum to play the game ‘effectively.’ I went with two GB for shits and grins and hope it works out to my advantage.

Hard drive: The more aptly named Hard Disk Drive stores your data on fixed rotating disks with magnetic surfaces. To put it simply this is where the majority of your data is kept. Today’s computers typically come with a 250GB hard drive (or thereabouts) which is more than enough for many people’s purposes. Hell my last desktop in combination with its external hard drive didn’t even come this far. Upgrades are available though through many sources — ranging up to one terabyte (1,000GB). SupCom RSR’s suggest you have at least eight GB free, which shouldn’t be a problem on a new system.

CD or DVD Drive?: You won’t find many new computers that offer anything less than a 16X CD/DVD burner, but take note that if your supplier offers anything less than this you should pay the extra to get it.

Video cards: This part took the longest to decide. The aforementioned testing team from Gamespot gave me all the information I needed to base my biggest decision. Unfortunately most pre-built or ‘build yourself’ computer providers don’t offer such high end video cards for a fair price. With Dell for example, to get an NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX in your system you have to blow at least $3,600.00 on their XPS 710. The smart move is to get the cheapest computer you can with all the right stuff in it and then rip out the video card it came with (Probably a NVIDIA 7300LE or a Radeon X1300) and install your own that you’ve bought for far cheaper. Using online search engines such as Froogle I’ve found a nice little (and I say that sarcastically) NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS for around $369.00. Gamespot has rated this card as second best to the 8800 GTX which can run as high as $695.00 at some places. Now I call that a deal! If you’re looking for a place to compare these various cards side by side then try the companies’ websites. For example, there are subtle differences in the GeForce 8800 GTS that should be noted.

A note on video cards: If you’re going to go the way of upgrading your video card yourself you should ensure that the platform you’re getting can support the card of your choice. I originally went with a Dell Dimension that was identical in every way to my XPS save for one problem - its ports couldn’t fit the NVIDIA 8800 GTS I wanted. Note that most new videocards use PCI-X, but most oldish motherboards only have an AGP slot for videocards.

The rest: It’s personal preference. Newly built computers of today have standards all the other things you need for SupCom and probably a good deal more than you need. But before I go let me share my new system with you - in hopes that a few experienced programmers and builders out there can tell me if I’ve done a good job or not.

Specs:

• Dell XPS 410
• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6600 (2.4GHz,1066FSB) with 4MB cache
• 2GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
• 20 in (20 in viewable) E207FP Widescreen Flat Panel Display
• NVIDIA GeForce 7300 LE (To be replaced with my new NVIDIA 8800 GTS and the 7300 is goin’ on eBAY. Can I start any bids?)
• 250GB SATA II Hard Drive (7200RPM)
• No Floppy Drive Requested
• Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition (To be uninstalled and replaced with the trusty ole’ XP Pro. Though I’ll have to d/l and install the service packs again)
• 56K PCI Data Fax Modem
• 16X DVD+R/RW CD-RW Combination Drive
• Integrated Audio
• No Speaker Requested (No need! I’ve got a sweet Klipsch iGroove HG iPod Speaker on my desk that I plug into my PC)
• Network Associates McAfee 8.0 English, 3-Year Subscription
• MS WORKS 8.5
• 3 Year Limited Warranty (Usually too expensive for my tastes but I got a discount…it pays to talk up your builder on the phone! Most of them love gaming too)
• Soft Contracts - Qualxserve
• No Preinstalled Software

Grand total: $1,458.87 w/ tax and shipping
NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT 512MB 256-bit: $249.00

This entry was posted on Friday, March 9th, 2007 at 12:30 pm by Vreenak and is filed under Other. Keywords: Tags: Dual Core, hard drive, hardware, intel, memory, minimum requirements, Recommended System Requirements, Supreme Commander. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.