advice on new PC options for GPL

I'm about to buy a new PC so I can finally play GPL properly. It will be a P III, probably 500 or 550mhz (I'm still studying the price jumps between 500, 550, and 600mhz) with 128MB. If I've understood a lot of the posts here, a 3dfx Voodoo3 3000 AGP would be the best current choice of video card for GPL. (Problems are reported with the new 3500?) Is that the consensus? The motherboard will probably be an Intel SE440BX2 that has onboard PCI audio. Would a separate sound card help the frame rate, or only how pleasing the sound is in GPL? If it makes a significant difference, which card is the best choice with GPL (and with minimum other compatibility problems)? Soundblaster Live? Thanks for any assistance. Dave Wilson Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Share what you know. Learn what you don't.

I upgraded in August for GPL to play better here, amongst other sims. I was looking towards the PIIIs but their prices were ridiculous to me (too expensive). So here's what i bought: Celeron 466 Asus P3BF (6 PCI, 1 ISA) MB 128 Megs of RAM V-3 3000 MX-300 s-card GPL runs quite well even with 19 cars at 1024 x 768, although i plan to get a PIII after X-Mas. C. Giroux.

Quoted text (12 lines)

> I'm about to buy a new PC so I can finally play GPL properly. It will > be a P III, probably 500 or 550mhz (I'm still studying the price jumps > between 500, 550, and 600mhz) with 128MB. If I've understood a lot of > the posts here, a 3dfx Voodoo3 3000 AGP would be the best current > choice of video card for GPL. (Problems are reported with the new > 3500?) Is that the consensus? > The motherboard will probably be an Intel SE440BX2 that has onboard PCI > audio. Would a separate sound card help the frame rate, or only how > pleasing the sound is in GPL? If it makes a significant difference, > which card is the best choice with GPL (and with minimum other > compatibility problems)? Soundblaster Live?

I'd steer clear of onboard-anything with a motherboard. Disabling the audio from the motherboard isn't always straightforward if you decide to upgrade the sound. I have a Soundblaster Live Value (about US$75) and am very happy with it. It supports 4-speaker sound systems (I ended up buying the US$100 PCWorks 4-speaker set) so you can get true 3D effects with the sound. A little off-topic but playing a flight-sim like European Air War and flying a Spitfire through a bunch of B-17s is incredible when you can hear the rumble from each plane as you slowly pass them... I'm not aware whether GPL supports 3D sound. Otherwise, I am also happy with my V3 2000 running on a 450. So I'm sure that the 3000 will run great on a PIII.

I have a PIII 450 (not oc'd) and I'm very satisfied with its performance in GPL. Of course there's never enough horsepower to have, it's just a matter of how much money you want to spend (The same as with cars :-). I think the 600mhz is still a little too expensive for its relative small performance advantage over the 550 or 500mhz PIII. BTW, has anybody tried the K7 Athlon with GPL already ? The V3 3000 is surely the best graphics card for GPL for now. (I have one too). I don't know about the problems with the 3500, but if you don't need TV-in (which the 3500 has), I'd go for the 3000. AFAIK the 3500 runs at 183mhz and the 3000 at 166mhz, but I think the 3000 can be easily overclocked to 183mhz, if you put a fan onto it. (haven't tried it for myself, but there surely are guys in this NG, who oc everything and can tell you more... :-) I have a SBLiveValue, which is said to need very little CPU usage (can't tell for myself, since it's the only soundcard my system ever had). It has a very good sound in GPL and was quite cheap (800AS = about 60$, probably cheaper in the US). Don't know about this Intel MB and its onboard sound card, but IMO it's better to buy a MB without onboard sound and add a sound card you know about. At any case, if you want exactly this MB, make sure the onboard sound can be disabled in any way (by jumper or BIOS) , otherwise you'll have problems if you want to add a sound card later. Hope, that helps! Peter Vienna, Austria

If you are buying a pc just for games, i would recommend a Celeron 400+ over a P2 or P3. I have a P2 450 w/ a diamond ultra 770, my two other pc's w/ Cel 400's & Voodoo 2000's run just as well. The money you can save on the chip alone could be used for better video, ram,etc. -- Brian "Yeah baby, yeah....Oh behave"

I just bought a Celeron 400 socket 370 with slot 1 converter, excellent cpu fan, and FIC VB-601 BX chipset motherboard at www.cpusolutions.com. All for $184 plus $11 shipping. The Celeron 400 easily clocked up to 500 without any extra cooling, voltage, or anything fancy. The motherboard allows you to adjust the bus speed without using jumpers. At 500, the Celeron rocks in GPL with 19 cars. Around 22 fps at start of race and 36 once driving. This is with Voodoo2 12 meg, 64 meg ram. A whole lot cheaper than a PIII for sure. ANash xvman.vcf < 1K Download

wait till late november to get the new intel coppermine processor and a motherboard running at 133mhz.

I just upgraded to a PIII 450mhz (Intel), 128MB, Voodoo3. I never get less than 36fps except at the very start of a race and then the absolute worst is 22-25 fps at Monaco untill the flag drops -- then it goes back up to 36/37fps as the cars string out. This is with all graphics on, 800x600 resolution and all 19 cars. I don't have a FF wheel, so that option is off. Run out and do it now. The racing in GPL with a good machine and all 19 cars is just phenomenal!

Quoted text (19 lines)

> I'm about to buy a new PC so I can finally play GPL properly. It will > be a P III, probably 500 or 550mhz (I'm still studying the price jumps > between 500, 550, and 600mhz) with 128MB. If I've understood a lot of > the posts here, a 3dfx Voodoo3 3000 AGP would be the best current > choice of video card for GPL. (Problems are reported with the new > 3500?) Is that the consensus? > The motherboard will probably be an Intel SE440BX2 that has onboard PCI > audio. Would a separate sound card help the frame rate, or only how > pleasing the sound is in GPL? If it makes a significant difference, > which card is the best choice with GPL (and with minimum other > compatibility problems)? Soundblaster Live? > Thanks for any assistance. > Dave Wilson > Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ > Share what you know. Learn what you don't.

-- Bob Curtin Worcester Area Strategy & Tactics Exchange http://www.tiac.net/users/ten10ths/ "If God had intended men to join the Army he would have given us green, baggy skin"