HELP PLEASE!!!!!!

[Jinagic]

Hiyaz! :-) I'm new to PSOWorld. :-P But, I've been having some troubles picking the right desktop to play PSO2. My current laptop sucks and my budget is £400. :-( I found, i guess what you will call a "decent" desktop. But, I'm still not sure if it'll actually run PSO2, so I need help please. ^^;

Here's the details for the desktop:

HP-Pavilion P6-2469EA Desktop PC
Processor: AMD A8-5500 3.2 GHz -4 MB Cache
Operating System: Windows 8
RAM: 4GB DDR3 (1 x 4GB)
Graphics Card: NVIDIA Geforce GT 620 (1GB Dedicated), With Hardware Video Editing Acceleration.
Hard Drive: 1TB

Thanks From Jinagic. :shy:

[Wolf_Asari]

Game is pretty much potato friendly, if you don't plan on maxing out the game or enabling fancy stuff like Ambient Occlusion/MSAA, you should be fine.

I should recommend actually building a PC instead of buying some prebuilt crap, just a thought.

[KazukiQZ]

More than enough if you plan to play, and didn't really interested in high end graphic of PSO2.

[riku2replica]

Monitor resolution, the graphic has to be capable enough for the resolution ur playing unless ur willing to play it with low details on everything.

[Gama]

i would get a better gfx card. tht one seems fishy

Source:

my gut is telling me its fishy.

(1GB Dedicated), With Hardware Video Editing Acceleration.

it go for at least 2 gb of videoram... if its a new pc...

im not tech savy so i could be wrong.

[DreXxiN]

i would get a better gfx card. tht one seems fishy

Source:

my gut is telling me its fishy.

(1GB Dedicated), With Hardware Video Editing Acceleration.

it go for at least 2 gb of videoram... if its a new pc...

im not tech savy so i could be wrong.

You definitely don't need much VRAM for this game. My GTX470 (1.3GB VRAM) annihilated this game and I'd assume my cards before that (GTX 260 and 9800 GTX+, so 512MB VRAM) could run the game on at least medium as well.

[Gama]

hm id still get a card with more vram, just to make it a bit more future proof.

anyway i guess most gtx cards would run pso2 decently well.

._.

[Aeris]

You definitely don't need much VRAM for this game. My GTX470 (1.3GB VRAM) annihilated this game and I'd assume my cards before that (GTX 260 and 9800 GTX+, so 512MB VRAM) could run the game on at least medium as well.

You ment 1.5GB of vram, no such thing as 1.3 lol.

[Chik'Tikka]

You ment 1.5GB of vram, no such thing as 1.3 lol.

lol +^_^+

http://i40.tinypic.com/2yocrag.png

i think RAM can be any size, so as long as it's a multiple of 8 (8,16,32,64,128, etc.)+^_^+ manufacturers just tend to manufacture with a sort of size stranded, like how cars generally have 4 wheels+^_^+

EDIT, i think DRAM, which is what PCs use right now, only store one of two values, a 0 or 1, so you could probably make addressable memory damn near any size you want, but what a waste in manufacturing resources would that be??

[riku2replica]

I have another desktop which is running off a 7900GT 256MB, it looks horrible. Perhaps due to LCD TV close viewing range.

But for most of the time, I just play it on my G53SX with GTX 560M 2GB and vita.

[DreXxiN]

You ment 1.5GB of vram, no such thing as 1.3 lol.

Err, it's definitely 1280MB Vram. I meant 1.3GB.

[Kion]

I'm pretty sure the game runs on the AMD A-8 well enough on it's own. I'm running it on intel HD 4000 graphics and the game runs fine without shaders on. I'm mostly curious as to why you have a geforce GT 620 with an AMD cpu. Radeon graphics can be used with the onboard graphics for acceleration. The geforce probably takes some of the load off the cpu, but it doesn't seem like it's reallt needed. Maybe someone can correct me on that though. Anyways, as far as specs and being able to run the game, seems like it would work fine on medium settings.

[Jinagic]

Monitor resolution, the graphic has to be capable enough for the resolution ur playing unless ur willing to play it with low details on everything.
1920x1080 /60p.
I think this is what your asking for.
Am i able to play?

[Husq]

I'm pretty sure the game runs on the AMD A-8 well enough on it's own. I'm running it on intel HD 4000 graphics and the game runs fine without shaders on. I'm mostly curious as to why you have a geforce GT 620 with an AMD cpu. Radeon graphics can be used with the onboard graphics for acceleration. The geforce probably takes some of the load off the cpu, but it doesn't seem like it's reallt needed. Maybe someone can correct me on that though. Anyways, as far as specs and being able to run the game, seems like it would work fine on medium settings.

Actually I think the 7560D inside the A8-5500 is overall faster than the gt620, except for the gpu clock-rate, but that doesn't mean anything.
Hard to tell, maybe the mainboard is gimped and doesn't have video out.

And no i don't think you can hit 1920x1080 with stable 60fps on that machine, unless you tune down the graphic effects. That HP is really just a office machine.

[Jinagic]

Actually I think the 7560D inside the A8-5500 is overall faster than the gt620, except for the gpu clock-rate, but that doesn't mean anything.
Hard to tell, maybe the mainboard is gimped and doesn't have video out.

And no i don't think you can hit 1920x1080 with stable 60fps on that machine, unless you tune down the graphic effects. That HP is really just a office machine.

Thank you for letting me know. But, am I atleast able to play on the lowest settings possible?

[riku2replica]

1920x1080 /60p.
I think this is what your asking for.
Am i able to play?

that resolution is surely overkill for ur graphic card to render PSO2 unless u really tone down the whole game to lower resolution and details. U'll definitely need a better GPU.

Even with my GTX 560M, i only played 1600x900 Window Mode instead of FHD.

[Jinagic]

that resolution is surely overkill for ur graphic card to render PSO2 unless u really tone down the whole game to lower resolution and details. U'll definitely need a better GPU.

Even with my GTX 560M, i only played 1600x900 Window Mode instead of FHD.

Cant I just get a monitor with a 1024x768 resolution?

[Husq]

Thank you for letting me know. But, am I atleast able to play on the lowest settings possible?

Sure, but you said you have an laptop. If that listed machine isn't much better than your laptop, maybe save up your money?

[Jinagic]

Sure, but you said you have an laptop. If that listed machine isn't much better than your laptop, maybe save up your money?

Mhmmm, maybe. My laptops REALLY REALLY BAD. It can't even run Runescape without making me lag every time. Ill just change my screen resolution and if that doesn't work, then ill get a better monitor. I found this website but, I'm still unsure about the graphics card. So, please leave your suggestions. It helps a lot.

http://www.game-debate.com/gpu/index.php?gid=587&gid2=79&compare=geforce-gt-620-vs-geforce-7800-gt

[AkumaYouji]

Not sure if this is relevant anymore, but when I "had" windows 8 (I uninstalled it and put windows 7 back on in less than a week or so) pso2 would not even run because "it was not compatible with my current OS". I am not sure if it is now compatible with windows 8 but that's something i suggest researching before picking that OS!

Graphics cards are tough to pick out. If you want to save some money i would go with a radeon series. I currently use a GTX TITAN which I upgraded from an ATI Radeon 5870 so i have used both and they have treated me well. My old rig with the 5870 which is quite a few years old can still run pso2 on all max so its not like radeons are bad because they are cheaper. Like others said more VRAM is a nice thing to have so your have more spare RAM to work with. I would recommend looking at some Radeon Cards and how they compare to the Nvida cards, because it could save you some money especially depending on what you need it for (if you just want to play it vs. running all max).

But ultimately as others stated, If you cant build something much better I would recommend saving a little more to get a build that will be efficient enough in the long run.

I am also unsure of what you mean by getting a better monitor, because i wouldn't expect to see performance gains with a new monitor.

[Husq]

Mhmmm, maybe. My laptops REALLY REALLY BAD. It can't even run Runescape without making me lag every time. Ill just change my screen resolution and if that doesn't work, then ill get a better monitor. I found this website but, I'm still unsure about the graphics card. So, please leave your suggestions. It helps a lot.

http://www.game-debate.com/gpu/index.php?gid=587&gid2=79&compare=geforce-gt-620-vs-geforce-7800-gt

Lag is usually refereed to network latency, so i'm not sure if you are talking about that or just low framerate here.
I'm not familiar with runescape, from google it seems that is java based, so it is hard to compare them.

7800 gt listed as the minimum requirement for PSO2, but i reckon yours is the mobile version, which is usually trimmed for power efficiency. Personalty I would suggest to download one of the two the benchmark tools and see if it and how acceptable it runs on your current system. PSO2 is pretty scalable, you can run it with really basic features, making it look like a Dreamcast game : )

For £400 maybe check out some laptops, because that PC isn't much better than most average laptops sold these days. But it is up to you, you can ignore me if you want, i just hate to see people wasting their hard earned money ^_^

[Jinagic]

Mhmm.. I guess ill save up my money. And ill also research into what you said. Thank you.

[Jinagic]

Lag is usually refereed to network latency, so i'm not sure if you are talking about that or just low framerate here.
I'm not familiar with runescape, from google it seems that is java based, so it is hard to compare them.

7800 gt listed as the minimum requirement for PSO2, but i reckon yours is the mobile version, which is usually trimmed for power efficiency. Personalty I would suggest to download one of the two the benchmark tools and see if it and how acceptable it runs on your current system. PSO2 is pretty scalable, you can run it with really basic features, making it look like a Dreamcast game : )

For £400 maybe check out some laptops, because that PC isn't much better than most average laptops sold these days. But it is up to you, you can ignore me if you want, i just hate to see people wasting their hard earned money ^_^

Ill download the benchmark tools, and ill also check if there's an good laptops. ^_^ thanks!

[Kion]

Cant I just get a monitor with a 1024x768 resolution?

You can just set the resolution on the game lower. You don't need to buy a lower resolution monitor. As for the specs posted in the first post, the specs could be better, but I think that should be able to play the game on 1366x768 on medium-low settings.

What's your budget? What kind of computer are you going for? Do you want something for a desk, or a laptop that can play games?

[Jinagic]

You can just set the resolution on the game lower. You don't need to buy a lower resolution monitor. As for the specs posted in the first post, the specs could be better, but I think that should be able to play the game on 1366x768 on medium-low settings.

What's your budget? What kind of computer are you going for? Do you want something for a desk, or a laptop that can play games?

Yes. I said that I'll change my screen resolution somewhere. ^^; My budget is £400 and I want a desktop. I checked if there's any good laptops or desktops as some people suggested I do. However, they either cost a lot, or they're not that good. Some people also suggested that I should build a PC instead, but I'm on a low budget and I can't even build a PC myself. If i asked a PC Specialist, I'm sure they'll cost me for it. :-(

I don't know if this is necessary but, my bro's desktop can run pso2 on low settings without being choppy.

Processor: Pentium (R) Dual-Core CPU E5800 @ 3.20 GHZ
Graphics Card: Intel (R) 641 Express Chip set
Ram: 4GB

If he can run PSO2 with these specs, I'm sure the desktop I'll buy can also run it on low. Some people also suggested that I should buy a new graphics card, so if the Geforce GT 620 isn't good, I could get SAPPHIRE AMD Radeon HD 6670 PCI-E 2GB Graphics Card. It only costs £55. Cheap but..I'm just not sure if it's decent. :-?

Thank you for your reply Kion. :-D If you or anyone else reading this has any suggestions, please take the time to post. It doesn't only help me, but it also helps other people in my position. Thank you everyone. ^_^/

[Aeris]

That seems like a Pentium D to me, should hold up to play the game, pretty much newegg and amazon sell much modern PCs at a good price and you can get a gpu if along with it too or you can wait and save up a bit more for a better one since the better ones are at 500-600.

[Kion]

To Give some background information so you can make an educated decision on what kind of PC you want.

Memory and Storage:
In general you're going to want to have around 4GB of memory in your system. Pretty much 4GB is the lowest standard amount of memory for most PC's, this shouldn't be an issue.

The game currently takes up 13.3GB of space on the hard drive fully installed and that number is likely to increase. For hard disks 500GB is pretty much the lowest standard, so this is not an issue either. If you buy a laptop with an 128GB SSD, then it could be an issue.

The game runs on both 32 and 64 bit machines and on windows 7 and windows 8. The only difference is that 32 bit machines can only access up to 3.5GB of memory, so if your computer has more than 4GB you're going to want a 64bit machine. Generally most computers are sold with 64 bit windows on them.

Intel Processors:
Intel has four CPU series at the moment, atom, celeron, pentium and cores. Atom and celeron are for low power systems and will likely not be able to run the game. A dual core pentium or any of the core-i series should be work. You can check this benchmark list (http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php) for cpu's. Anything with a benchmark of 1300 or higher should have no problems running the cpu aspect of the game.

Intel CPU's come with Intel HD Graphics embedded into them. Intel 4000 and above should be able to run the game directly on low settings. Any lower and you will need to buy a graphics card.

nVidia Graphics:
There are two main types of nVidia graphics card, Geforce GT and the more powerful Geforce GTX. Each graphics card has three numbers on it, ex: Geforce GT 630. The first number, '6' is the series, and the number after that is how fast it is. So 640 is faster than 630 is faster than 620, ect. The Geforce GT 620 and higher should have no problems playing the game on low settings. Of course, the higher you go the better off you'll be.

AMD Processors:
AMD processors are pretty much the A4, A6, A8, A10. The A-series has graphics and processors in same chip. A4 might be cutting it a little close, on the low side for specs. A6, A8 should be able to at least manage the game on low to medium settings and the A10 should be able to play the game just fine.

Not sure how these cpu's actually stack up. Intel card are more cpu performance with very poor graphics performance, while the AMD chips sacrifice CPU performance for a more balanced approach between processing and graphics.

Radeon Graphics Cards:
Never used radeon and don't know enough about them. Certain models should boost the graphics on A series AMD chips when used together. Aside from that, look at benchmarks and cost versus nVidia alternatives and see which one you prefer.

Btw, here's a benchmark list for different graphics cards (http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu_list.php)

Generally:
Generally the common options are:
Intel CPU + nVidia graphics
Intel CPU + Radeon graphics
AMD APU + Radeon graphics

So it's a matter of preference + cost performance. Just as a side note, I'm running this game on an ultrabook intel i7-3517U, 4GB ram, 128GB SSD, and integrated intel 4000 graphics. It runs fine at lowest settings on 1366x768 resolution. It's a clocked down processor, so it's actually slower than most desktop core i3's so throwing that out there as a comparison. Also the game isn't that demanding and as long as you're not trying to max out the specs, then the game isn't too hard to get access to.

Hopefully this was enough information to get you started. If you want to play it safe and not sorry you could try downloading the benchmark test, and try running it in a store or at a friends house or something to make sure it can run it before you buy. Also building your own pc is an option. Building one by yourself with no experience isn't the best idea, but if you have a friend or someone who can help you pick out the parts and put it together it might be a good idea to ask them for help.

[Jinagic]

To Give some background information so you can make an educated decision on what kind of PC you want.

Memory and Storage:
In general you're going to want to have around 4GB of memory in your system. Pretty much 4GB is the lowest standard amount of memory for most PC's, this shouldn't be an issue.

The game currently takes up 13.3GB of space on the hard drive fully installed and that number is likely to increase. For hard disks 500GB is pretty much the lowest standard, so this is not an issue either. If you buy a laptop with an 128GB SSD, then it could be an issue.

The game runs on both 32 and 64 bit machines and on windows 7 and windows 8. The only difference is that 32 bit machines can only access up to 3.5GB of memory, so if your computer has more than 4GB you're going to want a 64bit machine. Generally most computers are sold with 64 bit windows on them.

Intel Processors:
Intel has four CPU series at the moment, atom, celeron, pentium and cores. Atom and celeron are for low power systems and will likely not be able to run the game. A dual core pentium or any of the core-i series should be work. You can check this benchmark list (http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php) for cpu's. Anything with a benchmark of 1300 or higher should have no problems running the cpu aspect of the game.

Intel CPU's come with Intel HD Graphics embedded into them. Intel 4000 and above should be able to run the game directly on low settings. Any lower and you will need to buy a graphics card.

nVidia Graphics:
There are two main types of nVidia graphics card, Geforce GT and the more powerful Geforce GTX. Each graphics card has three numbers on it, ex: Geforce GT 630. The first number, '6' is the series, and the number after that is how fast it is. So 640 is faster than 630 is faster than 620, ect. The Geforce GT 620 and higher should have no problems playing the game on low settings. Of course, the higher you go the better off you'll be.

AMD Processors:
AMD processors are pretty much the A4, A6, A8, A10. The A-series has graphics and processors in same chip. A4 might be cutting it a little close, on the low side for specs. A6, A8 should be able to at least manage the game on low to medium settings and the A10 should be able to play the game just fine.

Not sure how these cpu's actually stack up. Intel card are more cpu performance with very poor graphics performance, while the AMD chips sacrifice CPU performance for a more balanced approach between processing and graphics.

My netbook AMD e-350 cpu could handle rendering medium settings on bioshock pretty well, but the game itself was pretty laggy. So look for reviews on how they stack up. I think there are a few people on this site who play the game with the A8 and it works fine.

Radeon Graphics Cards:
Never used radeon and don't know enough about them. Certain models should boost the graphics on A series AMD chips when used together. Aside from that, look at benchmarks and cost versus nVidia alternatives and see which one you prefer.

Btw, here's a benchmark list for different graphics cards (http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu_list.php)

Generally:
Generally the common options are:
Intel CPU + nVidia graphics
Intel CPU + Radeon graphics
AMD APU + Radeon graphics

So it's a matter of preference + cost performance. Just as a side note, I'm running this game on an ultrabook intel i7-3517U, 4GB ram, 128GB SSD, and integrated intel 4000 graphics. It runs fine at lowest settings on 1366x768 resolution. It's a clocked down processor, so it's actually slower than most desktop core i3's so throwing that out there as a comparison. Also the game isn't that demanding and as long as you're not trying to max out the specs, then the game isn't too hard to get access to.

Hopefully this was enough information to get you started. If you want to play it safe and not sorry you could try downloading the benchmark test, and try running it in a store or at a friends house or something to make sure it can run it before you buy.

Also building your own pc is an option. Building one by yourself with no experience isn't the best idea, but if you have a friend or someone who can help you pick out the parts and put it together it might be a good idea to ask them for help.

Thank you very much! ^^ This helped a lot. Especially the Passmark website.
I used the system requirements for PSO2 to compare my specs with.

Here's the website for the System Requirements (I think these are the latest ones I could find since it was posted on "February 20, 2013, at 10:03:25 PM":

http://www.segaforums.com/index.php?topic=8515.0

I looked at the bench marks and my AMD A8-5500 APU scored 4078 (higher is better) and 268 (lower is better). PSO2's system requirements for the CPU's are, Intel Core2 6300 @ 1.86GHz which scored 1118 (higher is better, and 1028 (lower is better).

I done the same thing with my Graphics Card. The Geforce GT 620 scored 435 (higher is better) and 307 (lower is better). Kinda lame. :-( PSO2's system requirements for the Graphics Cards, the GeForce 7800 GT scored 199 (higher is better) and 427 (lower is better). Where as, the Radeon HD 2900 XT scored 711 (higher is better) and 206 (lower is better).

I 'think' I'm at least able to play on low settings with these scores.
Thank you Kion! ^_^/ That was very very informative. ^_^/

[Husq]

I looked at the bench marks and my AMD A8-5500 APU scored 4078 (higher is better) and 268 (lower is better). PSO2's system requirements for the CPU's are, Intel Core2 6300 @ 1.86GHz which scored 1118 (higher is better, and 1028 (lower is better).

I done the same thing with my Graphics Card. The Geforce GT 620 scored 435 (higher is better) and 307 (lower is better). Kinda lame. :-( PSO2's system requirements for the Graphics Cards, the GeForce 7800 GT scored 199 (higher is better) and 427 (lower is better). Where as, the Radeon HD 2900 XT scored 711 (higher is better) and 206 (lower is better).

All AMD APUs have buildin graphics units, reason why the are called APUs. In case of the A8-5500, if you check the specs on amd site you will see it has a 7560D already in it. So you should look up the benchmark results for it as well. You will probably will notice something strange about the HP you looking at.

[Jinagic]

All AMD APUs have buildin graphics units, reason why the are called APUs. In case of the A8-5500, if you check the specs on amd site you will see it has a 7560D already in it. So you should look up the benchmark results for it as well. You will probably will notice something strange about the HP you looking at.

I never knew this. Thank you for letting me know. ^_^
But, what will be so strange about the HP Desktop I'm gonna get? :-?

[Kion]

I never knew this. Thank you for letting me know. ^_^
But, what will be so strange about the HP Desktop I'm gonna get? :-?

It's just odd that they have an nVidia Geforce GT 620 graphics card on the computer when the integrated graphics on the A8 is faster. There's no issue with playing PSO2, it will still run med-low settings fine.

[Jinagic]

It's just odd that they have an nVidia Geforce GT 620 graphics card on the computer when the integrated graphics on the A8 is faster. There's no issue with playing PSO2, it will still run med-low settings fine.

Mhmm.. True. Idk why they have that though. Thank you for telling me why it's strange. ^_^

[Chik'Tikka]

It's just odd that they have an nVidia Geforce GT 620 graphics card on the computer when the integrated graphics on the A8 is faster. There's no issue with playing PSO2, it will still run med-low settings fine.

umm.... the graphics card raises the value of the machine, allowing the seller to simultaneously get rid of old inventory and mark up the price some?+^_^+ just like that car dealer saying "oh it's fine, even had a tune up recently with all new spark plugs!!" (tuneup like 28 months ago) +^_^+

[Jinagic]

umm.... the graphics card raises the value of the machine, allowing the seller to simultaneously get rid of old inventory and mark up the price some?+^_^+ just like that car dealer saying "oh it's fine, even had a tune up recently with all new spark plugs!!" (tuneup like 28 months ago) +^_^+

lol. You're probably right. Thank you. ^_^

[Jinagic]

Reading through this whole thread again, I have made the decision to buy this desktop by next week. Due to everyone's advice, I am more confident than ever about this desktop and it's specifications. I hope that it'll run PSO2, at least on low settings. However, for now, I gladly bow down to you all! Silly, but true. ^_^

Thank you everyone for giving me advice and helping me out! ^_^

Name of everyone who posted and helped me out a lot:

Wolf_Asari, KazukQZ, riku2replica, Gama, DreXxiN, Aeris, Chik'Tikka, Kion, Husq, AkumaYouji. Thank you all. ^_^ (I'm sorry if I spelt your name wrong, I must've rushed writing it down since copying and pasting takes so long ^_^;.)

Not only did this advice help me out, but it also helped/will help people who are in my position. ^_^ Therefore, Thank you again. Especially for the PassMark Software website.

For everyone who requires the same help I did, here's the websites to make it easier for you all:

CPU/Processor:

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/


Video Card/Graphics Card:

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/

If anyone has any more advice, feel free to post. I will look at them as soon as possible.

Thank you everyone! And May the Holy Light guide you all!

For the ones that posted, the ones that took the time to look at/read this thread
and the whole universe. Thank you. ^_^/