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The 'Ultimate' SC4 Computer specs...

Started by Gringamuyloca, February 03, 2011, 11:12:56 PM

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Gringamuyloca

I would like to build a computer that is only for SC4... so I am not necessarily looking for the 'latest and greatest'...

My brother, who is way more computer literate than me, has offered to help me put together a 'custom box'... but I need to supply him with the necessary 'specs'.

So what would your ultimate SC4 (Deluxe/Rush Hour) PC be? I am thinking XP for the OS??... but maybe even that is wrong ??? what about RAM, processor speed, and even the things I don't know about to think of..  :'(

...looking forward to your input!  ;D

Thanks


Tamara

WC_EEND

Hello, for SC4, the most important thing is to have a processor with a high clock speed (eg: SC4 will run much faster on a 3GHz Pentium 4 than a 2GHz Core 2 Duo), RAM-wise, I can only say: the more the better. Concerning the OS: XP is a safe bet, but rather hard to get for new PC's, Windows 7 should be ok as well, just try to avoid Vista. A fast hard drive (7200rpm SATA drive or maybe even an SSD) would be good to have as well.
For the graphics, anything mid-range will do nicely.

I hope this helped you somewhat

Xander
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mightygoose

#2
sc4 is a single thread process, from that stand point you want a high clockspeed, high cache processor, with maybe not as many threads. a dual core is convienient to run all other processes. you want a high clock*cache/thread the higher the score the better.

as far as graphical options, even a moderately good modern card is plenty for the job,

then its just get lots of ram, a 10,000rpm HDD.

there is not really anything else you can do for SC4 other than minimise other software (XP SP3 may be an idea).

EDIT: - wc_eend, thats just fricking uncanny....

Athlon FX series, if you can get them, particularly the FX57 is about top gun for SC4,
NAM + CAM + RAM + SAM, that's how I roll....

Andreas

#3
@mightygoose: You can't buy any Athlon FX anymore, at least not new ones. It's an outdated processor which is five years old already. And while it has a somewhat high clock speed (up to 3 GHz), any modern CPU will be faster (my AMD Phenom II X2 is 1.5 years old and overclocked to 3.6 GHz, still faster than the fastest official model).

My recommendation would be a fast CPU with two or better four CPU cores (restrict the game to one core, as it doesn't support multicore CPUs very well), 4 GB RAM should be fine, and any mid-class graphics card should have enough performance. Some driver versions seem to be a bit buggy, but generally speaking, the game should run fine on any nVidia or ATI card. A fast harddisk is crucial, and buying an SSD is an interesting option, although they are still rather expensive. Maybe get a 64 GB model, and install only the OS, the most important applications and the game on it, and use the custom plugins folder command line argument for pointing to a plugins folder that is located on the SSD. Use a large S-ATA HD (500-1000 GB models offer the best price per GB) for the rest of your files.

Make sure that the SSD is as fast as possible, there are enormous differences between various models, so look around for one that has a read and write speed of at least 250 MB/sec, with S-ATA/300 connector (make sure that the mainboard supports S-ATA/300 as well). People say that the ones with "SandForce" controller are the best. If you want to use an SSD, you also need Windows 7, since older OS versions don't support SSDs properly. Win7 64-bit is probably the best choice, and so far, I never had any problems with all available SC4-related tools. If you have older hardware, such as a printer or a scanner, make sure that Win7 64-bit drivers are available.
Andreas

Gringamuyloca

Thanks for your input!  ;D  :thumbsup:

For the most part we are planning to scrounge through pawn shops, 2nd hand stores and freebies from Craig's List and the like to cobble the machine together....

and after looking at Badsim's latest pics in AntigOne it must be able to handle HD!

It won't be connected to the internet, I'll use my current PC for downloading etc, but I will want to be able to run Datpacker, Cleanitol, Startup Manger, PIMX etc, on the 'custom' machine...

I will send your recommendations along to my little brother, as I am sure your posts will make much more sense to him, than they do to me!  $%Grinno$%

This community rocks!!!

Cheers... may you always be 'catching' instead of 'fishing'!



Tamara

Andreas

Ah, you should have said you were looking for a second hand machine. I guess an SSD is not an option in this case, and naturally, Windowx XP will do fine, and can be found for a bargain, in case you don't have an old copy somewhere anyway. 2 GB RAM should do the trick, for the graphics card, you might want to look for an older model that was considered medium or even high end during the release. As said before, try to get a fast CPU (in that case, said Athlon FX would be an interesting option, if you can find any) and a fast HD (maybe an old WD VelociRaptor, if you're lucky).
Andreas

TiFlo

I got an Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (3Ghz) 2 months ago. SC4 now loads like a breeze, with over 3Go of plugins (about 1 minute to the region screen compared to the 7-8 minutes it took on my old computer). If you're going for a 2nd computer that only need to run SC4 and related softwares, then you'd probably be better off getting a powerful dual core CPU or a powerful single core. In any case, it should be pretty cheap.

cammo2003

Personally I'd not bother with second hand. You'd be better of f going with a low-end model. You may be able to find a few places still flogging cheap Core 2 stuff to get it off the floor... I have a Core 2 Q9400 with 4GB Ram and an Nvidia 9600GT and it runs SC4 like a breeze.

Regardless of which route you go, get a SATA capable mobo, and get NEW hard drives (and preferably a new DVD/Blu-ray drive, they can get annoying bugs when they get old) Old hard drives really aren't worth the risk IMHO when new is so cheap.

Haljackey

SC4 has been running fantastic ever since I installed a 4GB patch that updates the EXE file, enabling it to use 4GB of dedicated RAM. Download it here: http://www.ntcore.com/4gb_patch.php

My shortcut code looks like this:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Maxis\SimCity 4 Deluxe\Apps\SimCity 4.exe" -Intro:off -CustomResolution:enabled -r1920x1080x64 -d:DirectX -CPUCount:8 -w

System specs:
-120GB SSD
-2TB HDD
-12GB RAM
-GTX 470 GPU
-i7 950 CPU
-1920x1080 Primary
-1920x1200 Secondary
-700W Power Supply
-X85 Motherboard

Anyways hope that helps anyone looking to boost their game's PC performance!

FrankU

Hi well, this sounds interesting!

The 4GB patch should be put on/executed to (how to say?) on the SC4.exe, you mean?

And what do exactly mean the directX and cpucount options? and the -W?
(There probably is a thread that explains everything... now where do I find it. I remember I saw it once..... (Disadvantage of websites with so many info that you loose track...))

art128

Quote from: FrankU on July 09, 2012, 06:59:06 AM
Hi well, this sounds interesting!

The 4GB patch should be put on/executed to (how to say?) on the SC4.exe, you mean?

And what do exactly mean the directX and cpucount options? and the -W?
(There probably is a thread that explains everything... now where do I find it. I remember I saw it once..... (Disadvantage of websites with so many info that you loose track...))

the -w is for the game to be windowed.
the -cpucount tells the game how many cores it has to use.
I'll take a quiet life... A handshake of carbon monoxide.

Props & Texture Catalog

FrankU

Quote from: art128 on July 09, 2012, 07:14:51 AM
Quote from: FrankU on July 09, 2012, 06:59:06 AM
Hi well, this sounds interesting!

The 4GB patch should be put on/executed to (how to say?) on the SC4.exe, you mean?

And what do exactly mean the directX and cpucount options? and the -W?
(There probably is a thread that explains everything... now where do I find it. I remember I saw it once..... (Disadvantage of websites with so many info that you loose track...))

the -w is for the game to be windowed.
the -cpucount tells the game how many cores it has to use.

Ah, so does the game actually use the other cores? I thought it just used one...
And the directX?
I'll have to give this a try this week!
Thanks

RickD

The directx parameter forces the game to render the graphics using DirectX, instead of OpenGL or software mode. I don't think it is necessary to set this switch, but it probably won't do harm either, unless you want to use software mode for some reason.
My name is Raphael.
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Grneyes

Quote from: Haljackey on July 08, 2012, 11:48:56 PM
SC4 has been running fantastic ever since I installed a 4GB patch that updates the EXE file, enabling it to use 4GB of dedicated RAM. Download it here: http://www.ntcore.com/4gb_patch.php

My shortcut code looks like this:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Maxis\SimCity 4 Deluxe\Apps\SimCity 4.exe" -Intro:off -CustomResolution:enabled -r1920x1080x64 -d:DirectX -CPUCount:8 -w

System specs:
-120GB SSD
-2TB HDD
-12GB RAM
-GTX 470 GPU
-i7 950 CPU
-1920x1080 Primary
-1920x1200 Secondary
-700W Power Supply
-X85 Motherboard

Anyways hope that helps anyone looking to boost their game's PC performance!

Where did you install this on your computer? I know it gives an automatic place in the program files, but just wondering if you installed it there or someplace else?

z

Quote from: FrankU on July 09, 2012, 07:22:30 AM
Ah, so does the game actually use the other cores? I thought it just used one...

The game will use as many cores as you specify in the "-CPUCount" parameter.  However, the game is single-threaded, so the total activity over all the cores it's running on never exceeds 100% of a single core.

Quote from: Grneyes on July 09, 2012, 05:22:42 PM
Where did you install this on your computer? I know it gives an automatic place in the program files, but just wondering if you installed it there or someplace else?

It just goes in the standard place in the Start menu where you already have your SC4 shortcuts.  It would be inside a folder named "SimCity 4".

Haljackey

Quote from: FrankU on July 09, 2012, 06:59:06 AM
Hi well, this sounds interesting!

The 4GB patch should be put on/executed to (how to say?) on the SC4.exe, you mean?

Yes. The program will ask you what file you want to patch. Find the exe file for SC4 (usually in program files).

Quote from: Grneyes on July 09, 2012, 05:22:42 PM

Where did you install this on your computer? I know it gives an automatic place in the program files, but just wondering if you installed it there or someplace else?

The patch program or SC4? The patch is stand-alone... Just open it and find SC4's exe file. I installed SC4 in my x86 program files folder since I have a 64-bit system and the game is 32-bit.




Without the patch, SC4 will only use a max of 2GB of RAM, which may slow down the game if it's maxed out. With this patch, my game normally uses 3-3.5 GB of RAM.

It all depends on how much RAM you have, however. If your PC has 4GB of RAM, then SC4 and your other system processes will be competing for use. If you have 6GB+, SC4 should be able to use a dedicated amount of RAM as long as you don't have too many other processes running.


selles

I'm glad I stumbled upon this thread. I'm going to give that patch a try.

Hal, could you explain what " -d:DirectX -CPUCount:8 -w " does as a shortcut script?

Grneyes

Quote from: Haljackey on July 10, 2012, 08:33:22 AM
Quote from: FrankU on July 09, 2012, 06:59:06 AM
Hi well, this sounds interesting!

The 4GB patch should be put on/executed to (how to say?) on the SC4.exe, you mean?

Yes. The program will ask you what file you want to patch. Find the exe file for SC4 (usually in program files).

Quote from: Grneyes on July 09, 2012, 05:22:42 PM

Where did you install this on your computer? I know it gives an automatic place in the program files, but just wondering if you installed it there or someplace else?

The patch program or SC4? The patch is stand-alone... Just open it and find SC4's exe file. I installed SC4 in my x86 program files folder since I have a 64-bit system and the game is 32-bit.




Without the patch, SC4 will only use a max of 2GB of RAM, which may slow down the game if it's maxed out. With this patch, my game normally uses 3-3.5 GB of RAM.

It all depends on how much RAM you have, however. If your PC has 4GB of RAM, then SC4 and your other system processes will be competing for use. If you have 6GB+, SC4 should be able to use a dedicated amount of RAM as long as you don't have too many other processes running.

Okay, I might be a little computer illiterate, but I don't have a .exe in my Maxis folder in the Program Files. When I search for it, it says it's on my desktop, since I have a shortcut there. Is that where I would put this patch?

Haljackey

#18
Quote from: selles on July 10, 2012, 10:35:05 AM

Hal, could you explain what " -d:DirectX -CPUCount:8 -w " does as a shortcut script?

Sure!

-d:DirectX
means that the game will utilize the DirectX drivers on your PC

CPUCount:8
allocates how many processor cores you want the game to use. For multicore CPUs with with cores over 3GHZ, I recommend using all of them, but if it's under 3, set it to use just one CPU core.

-w makes the game run in window mode.


Quote from: Grneyes on July 11, 2012, 04:15:42 PM

Okay, I might be a little computer illiterate, but I don't have a .exe in my Maxis folder in the Program Files. When I search for it, it says it's on my desktop, since I have a shortcut there. Is that where I would put this patch?

Actually I found it a little tricky to find SC4's EXE folder as well. It's in the Apps folder. Here's a screenshot of my directory for reference:



Hope that helps!

Grneyes

Quote from: Haljackey on July 11, 2012, 04:34:18 PM
Quote from: selles on July 10, 2012, 10:35:05 AM

Hal, could you explain what " -d:DirectX -CPUCount:8 -w " does as a shortcut script?

Sure!

-d:DirectX
means that the game will utilize the DirectX drivers on your PC

CPUCount:8
allocates how many processor cores you want the game to use. For multicore CPUs with with cores over 3GHZ, I recommend using all of them, but if it's under 3, set it to use just one CPU core.

-w makes the game run in window mode.


Quote from: Grneyes on July 11, 2012, 04:15:42 PM

Okay, I might be a little computer illiterate, but I don't have a .exe in my Maxis folder in the Program Files. When I search for it, it says it's on my desktop, since I have a shortcut there. Is that where I would put this patch?

Actually I found it a little tricky to find SC4's EXE folder as well. It's in the Apps folder. Here's a screenshot of my directory for reference:



Hope that helps!

Thanx! Mine just doesn't have the .exe after the Simcity4. I don't know how to attach a pic or I would. I'm assuming it's the same thing?