Vista?

[Target 0]

I'm thinking I want to upgrade my machine for some of the new games coming out. My intention is to reload Strike Fighters, purchase the WW1 sim by Third Wire, the new Band of Brothers, SH4, and the armor sim comong out. Winters are long around here. I'm talking a major leap as my PC is older than dirt in PC years. I was looking at Alienware but nooticed that the one I'm looking at comes with Vista. I'm not sure if I should be expecting anything but trouble with this new technology (DX10) especially with Third Wire products, and possibly the other sims that probably won't be written for Direct x 10 anyway.

 

I've also perused ADK's offerings which are still being offered with XP. The thing about that is I've always bought a PC on special which meant I've always been a tad behind the techo/performance curve. I'm getting old and would like for once experiance a new game at full tilt with all the bells and whistles. And perhaps have a machine which will keep me there for at least 2 years anyway. Vista with it's Direct X 10 is going to be the influencing force for how future games will be written.

 

So should I go with the machine that comes with Vista and put up with all the teething problems associated with it, or be safe and go with what I know works in the here and now?

Thanks

[+Fates 63]

I would contact Alienware and ask them if the machine you are looking at can be constructed with Win XP and possibly offer a Vista upgrade software that you could install later. However, I've talked to several gamers and they are noticing that biggest issue so far with their games is that you must be and administrator on the machine to run it or something to that extent. I would definitely try to find out more information about the Alienware machine. I will also ask a couple of guys I know running vista and see what they say about the games they play.

[Target 0]

I looked at Dell's website. They're offering their PC's with Win XP with the option of a downloaded upgrade to Vista at a later date. As I understand it Alienware was bought out buy Dell and so it's kinda like one in the same, if true. Dell's are cheaper though, so I suppose the Alienware name is worth some extra cash. Again, if what I heard is true and Dell is in fact owner of Alienware.

I wish I was more knowledgable of PC's. I hear from one person that Dell is a problem machine I hear from another that it's a good machine. I'm proceeding slowly in this next purchase, but it isn't alleviating the confusion any.

If I knew how I'd build my own I would. Not that splicing the parts together is hard, but knowing what is compatible with what, is. Or, for that matter, what all the acronyms pertaining to hardware mean.

 

Any info you can find out will be greatly helpful and appreciated.

[BUFF 8]

I looked at Dell's website. They're offering their PC's with Win XP with the option of a downloaded upgrade to Vista at a later date. As I understand it Alienware was bought out buy Dell and so it's kinda like one in the same, if true. Dell's are cheaper though, so I suppose the Alienware name is worth some extra cash. Again, if what I heard is true and Dell is in fact owner of Alienware.

I wish I was more knowledgable of PC's. I hear from one person that Dell is a problem machine I hear from another that it's a good machine. I'm proceeding slowly in this next purchase, but it isn't alleviating the confusion any.

If I knew how I'd build my own I would. Not that splicing the parts together is hard, but knowing what is compatible with what, is. Or, for that matter, what all the acronyms pertaining to hardware mean.

 

Any info you can find out will be greatly helpful and appreciated.

Yes, Dell now own Alienware.

If you give us a budget & your main requirements we can spec. up something for you as long as you are confident that you can do the asssembly part (the mechanical assembly is easy, installing the software is a bit longer).

Everything that I read about Vista screams at me not to upgrade to it for a while.

[Target 0]

Well, I've painted myself into a corner over this new machine. I've given much thought to your offer Buff and had to ask myself what it is I really want to do with the next PC I own.

It's to be a pure toy. I'm trading one toy (my motorcycle) for another. But it's not going to stop there. I've always wanted to experiance a flight sim like none I've experianced. That means not trying to get by with minimum memory, speed, and equipment. I'd like to run TrackIR, rudder pedals, and surround sound. For me it's been a perpetual battle since my first sim, Aces over Europe, just to get any of them to run with any simlitude of smooth.

Having said that, can't overlook the main event, the sim itself. For that I've been watching one sim in particular, Oleg's next creation, Battle of Britian Storm of War. Herein lies the quandry. This game isn't showing up on any of the radar screens right now (well, I couldn't find much on the sims development anyway). Just youtube videos, which show amazing detail in the graphics (layered cloud formations) and claims to simulate changing atmospheric conditions. No estimate of specs, no datum in which to start knowing what to expect as far as needed performance. But if it does all they want it to, todays PC is going to chug along, I think. And like IL2 I have a funny feeling that the release specs will overshadow the the estimated ones. And this, of course, will be the pattern for each subsequent addon expected to follow. As was the case with IL2.

So, I would like to upgrade and mess around with SH4 but this is a one time system build for at least ten years, well, 5 hopefully. Do I wait and see where the techno curve runs and what BoB will need, or not?

Edited March 3, 2007 by Target

[+Fates 63]

Hardware always lags software on the technology curve.

 

The developers of DirectX 10 say "You know, if we update this code and do this with it, then the video card makers can do that with it." Then, the game designers look at the changes and say, "Hey, they've given us the ability to do this, let's try to develop our game to do that." Then the video card manufactures say "Thanks...now we gotta go back to the drawing board and figure out how we are going to develop a chipset that can keep up with that."

 

Point being, look at LOMAC. It was demanding...very demanding on the hardware, and I believe the hardware has caught up to the software's level of demand and it's a game that many enjoy, today.

 

Don't expect to get all the bell ands whistles from a game from you computer, because the next one you build/buy will always run it better and faster....unless the operating system changes well...then you really have a problem.

[Target 0]

Thanks Fates, I think I've figured out a plan of attack. It's the more obvious one and one that makes the most sense. Barring the lag issue between software and hardware, I'm going to set my sights on Ubisoft's next Oleg creation, wait until the specs for that game comes out and then buy over the performance listed. The release date is slated for Dec., so that will give me more time to scrape the cash together. Being more than 6 months away I have a feeling that the techno curve will have enough time to bend back on itself, if you get my drift.