PC Specs -- Shameless market research

[n0rtygames]

So, I've noticed when people see games being released for the PC there's often a lot of replies like "Shame my crappy PC wont run it" - so I'm wondering if people wouldn't mind actually sharing the specs of the machines they use mostly for PC shmupping, even if it's stuck inside a cabinet somewhere.

Could be a good resource not only for helping me out, but other devs who stumble across these forums too? If you could reply with just concise info on CPU, Graphics and memory - that'd be great! Any help is appreciated.

For me, it's:

intel i7 920, nv gf 550ti, 12gb ddr3



Thanks to those who give up the info!

[Nana]

Windows XP, AMD X64, Nvidia 8800 GT, 4 GB RAM.

I hope this is specific enough, but I don't think I've ever had a problem running PC shmups either.

[yosai]

Win 2008 R2 - 2.7GHz (x4) Pentium X64 - 8GB RAM - GeForce 7300GT 512

So many things aren't compatible with 2008 server it's unbelievable.

[n0rtygames]

Win 2008 R2 - 2.7GHz (x4) Pentium X64 - 8GB RAM - GeForce 7300GT 512

So many things aren't compatible with 2008 server it's unbelievable.

How come you're running 2k8 server on a box used for gaming?

[Jeneki]

Currently using a build from ~3 years ago: Windows 7, Intel Core 2 Duo E8400, Nvidia GTX260, 4gb ram.

So, I've noticed when people see games being released for the PC there's often a lot of replies like "Shame my crappy PC wont run it" - so I'm wondering if people wouldn't mind actually sharing the specs of the machines they use mostly for PC shmupping, even if it's stuck inside a cabinet somewhere.

Most of the time when you ask for specs, the people who reply are the ones with decent systems. People who assume their "crappy pc won't run anything" typically have prebuilt computers, and have no idea what the specs are or even how to get that information.

[casualcoder]

I'm quite sure you will not have to worry about this at all. STGs as a rule don't use much system resource. You are driving a Ferrari in the suburbs.

Here are the requirements for SoldnerX, which is probably the most CPU intensive STG currently available.

Required
CPU Pentium compatible with at least 1GHz (MMX or 3D-Now required) Pentium compatible with at least 2GHz (MMX or 3D-Now required)
RAM 512MB RAM (Vista: 1GB RAM) 1GB RAM (Vista: 2GB RAM)
Video Card DirectX 8.1 compatible 3D video card with at least 64MB Video RAM and texture compression (i.e. Geforce 4 Ti or better) DirectX 8.1 compatible 3D video card with at least 256MB Video RAM (i.e. Geforce 6800 or better)

[RaidenViper]

Intel i5 3570k 4,2GHz
16gb 1866MHz ram
GeForce GTX 660 2GB (soon replaced with something better)

This thread should be moved to the Hardware section...

[TransatlanticFoe]

AMD Athlon X4 2.6 GHz
ATI 5750 (512 MB)
4 GB DDR2 RAM
Win 7 64 bit

[ciox]

intel e7400 2.8ghz
4gb ram
ati radeon hd 4800
windows 7 64-bit

I am due for an upgrade.

[Deca]

i5
R6850
8gb ddr3
ssd boot
Win7 64bit

[Ed Oscuro]

I'll just leave this here

Core-i7 3930K
Z79 motherboard - P9X79 PRO
RAM - G.SKILL Trident X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB)
Blu-Ray drive - ASUS SATA BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS (rebadged LiteOn, which may be a rebadged Sony in turn)
heatsink & fan - Noctua NH-D14 (bought the wrong damn one)
case - phantom 820 (PS THIS IS GARBAGE)
hard drive - mechanical - Western Digital Red WD30EFRX 3TB
hard drive - SSD - PNY Prevail Elite SSD9SC240GEDA-PB 2.5" 240GB
power supply - Seasonic SS-660XP 660W
Win7 64 + D3D 9 drivers installed
25g Arctic Silver Ceramique

[n0rtygames]

I'VE GOT A REALLY GOOD COMPUTER

I for one am glad you told me what heatsink you're using!

Thanks for the info so far dudes. I'm curious then, why I tend to see comments like "My machine won't run that".

I know some Quakeworld players who are still using pentium 2's for gaming -- so y'know, it's worth checking these things!

[Ed Oscuro]

I still game on a pentium 1 sometimes To say nothing of the super shit Macs I've got about...
Used to rock the Core i7 920 too. tbh most of the time I don't see much difference between that and this, though now I don't dip below 100% in the STV boot sequence anymore. I gotta try some 3D racers and 3DfX Gauntlet now

[matrigs]

athlon 64 x2 6000+
2 ghz ddr 667
geforce 9600 gto

pretty shameful setup. on the other hand it fulfills everything that i need from it. and most importantly - after a few tweaks is pretty much noiseless.

does all the pre-sh3 mame without hiccups. and that is pretty much all i need from it.

[Ed Oscuro]

after a few tweaks is pretty much noiseless.

Yup, I aimed for that too - shoulda gone with a cooler master - but the Phantom 820 isn't too noisy. Fan and video card fan are basically quiet.

[matrigs]

after a few tweaks is pretty much noiseless.

Yup, I aimed for that too - shoulda gone with a cooler master - but the Phantom 820 isn't too noisy. Fan and video card fan are basically quiet.

i have swapped most off my fans for silentium ones. very cheap and very quiet. as they work the best when being driven at a static speed i have connected them to simple 5v+ lines. then i have used the free cpu-fan slot with voltage control to the fan on the geforce, which works pretty great. this makes the hard drives the noisiest element, but the pc is pretty much inaudible while late-night browsing.

[Ed Oscuro]

The Phantom 820 has one nice thing going - one fan control spot for all the case fans. It is a bit hard to gauge when fans are set off or barely on, but they are pretty quiet to begin with. Probably not exactly top quality though. other than that the case has been a failure. Still wondering what is causing that occasional "WHACK" I hear from inside the case...probably something hitting a fan blade but fucked if I can find it in this mess

[Sik-07]

AMD FX-8120 ~3.1GHz
16GB RAM
GeForce GTX 650

[casualcoder]

Ah, sorry didn't fully read and realize youre a game dev looking to optimize your release. So Ill add to this

E6400 intel 2.3ghZ
3gb ram
XP
8600gt video card

Kinda hanging on to this old workhorse because it's reliable and I have my entire workstation setup tied to it.

[Vexorg]

Current PC (About to be replaced):
Asus P5Q Pro Motherboard
Core 2 Quad Q6600
8GB DDR2 RAM
WD VelociRaptor 150GB (system drive)
Seagate 7200.10 500GB (Secondary drive)
GeForce GTX 260
OCz 700W PSU
Antec Sonata case (probably not enough to handle the system that's been running in it really)
Windows 7

New PC specs:
Asus P8Z77-V motherboard
Core i5 3570k
16GB DDR3 1600 RAM
Samsung 840 Pro SSD (256GB, primary drive)
TBD (Storage drive)
GeForce 660 Ti
Seasonic X-850 Power supply
CoolerMaster HAF X case
Windows 7

The old PC, in spite of being over four years old, still handles pretty much everything I throw at it just fine. With the new one, I suspect I probably won't have an issue with system specs anytime soon...

[AntiFritz]

Intel 2500k
8GB ram
GTS450 1gb graphics

[nimitz]

i486 DX2 66
32M 72-pin SIMM RAM
Cirrus Logic CL-GD5426 VLB
Quantum DAYTONA 256 4500RPM
5 1/2 + 3 1/4 FDDs
Toshiba XM-5401B 4x SCSI Drive
Opti 82C924 sound card

[trap15]

Packin' a beefy rig there, nimitz!

[null1024]

This machine:
3GB RAM
2.17GHz Pentium Dual Core
particularly crap Intel integrated shit

I am jealous of nearly every machine in this thread.

[Keith]

Laptop:
- 2.2GHz Core i7 2670QM
- 8GB DDR3 RAM
- NVIDIA GT 550M (switchable integrated/discrete graphics, for those odd games that hate the NVIDIA chip but love the Intel one)
- Win7 x64

Desktop:
- Unused and unloved for months
- 3.0GHz Core 2 Quad Q6600 (overclocked from 2.4GHz)
- 4GB DDR2 RAM
- ATI Radeon HD 4850
- Win7 x64

[BPzeBanshee]

Mac:
2.8 Ghz Core 2 Duo
ATI Mobility Radeon 2600 XT
2 GB RAM
Mac OS X 10.6.8 / Win XP SP2

Room PC:
3.3 Ghz i3
4 GB RAM
Intel Integrated Graphics
Win 7 64-bit

Legacy PC:
1Ghz Pentium III
nVIDIA RIVA TNT2 M64
either 128 or 256 MB of RAM (I think)
Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs (official XP variant)

I swear to God n0rty if your future PC games have issues on either of the first two and they're 2D shmups you're in for some fury.

[ED-057]

i486 DX2 66
32M 72-pin SIMM RAM
Cirrus Logic CL-GD5426 VLB
Quantum DAYTONA 256 4500RPM
5 1/2 + 3 1/4 FDDs
Toshiba XM-5401B 4x SCSI Drive
Opti 82C924 sound card

dammmn, you have a SCSI card in there? Is it VLB? Also, isn't the 5426 one of those cards that needed the "memory hole" at 15MB?

For me, seeing as how I can't find a PPJoy/DirectPadPro type driver that works in Windows 7, among other reasons, for shmups I usually use my old PC in the basement:
Athlon XP @ 2.08GHz
640MB of DDR-333
GeForce FX 5700LE 128MB
Windows 2000

My highest spec PC is an Athlon X2 4850e with 2GB and a GeForce 7600GT

[astroid]

My spec:
Single-core AMD Athlon XP 2500+ (1800MHz)
AGP videocard Ati 1950Pro
2Gb RAM
WinXP

Works and plays very well

[n0rtygames]

Cirrus Logic

Holy crap!

I swear to God n0rty if your future PC games have issues on either of the first two and they're 2D shmups you're in for some fury.

No matter how well written they are, no matter how fantastic they run - there will always be someone who finds an issue. Fury is expected either way.

[cuttingagent]

Core i3 m370 @ 2.40 ghz
6gb ram
shitty intel onboard graphics

STGs I have trouble running at max quality:

HELLSINKER (but just barely, and not even constantly)
Stella Vanity (probly has some slowdown even at minimum settings - a shame, as turning the bullet lighting up to max, turning all the bullets lime green and playing in tate mode in the dark is pure ocular bliss)
Ether Vapor

Many polygonal 2.5d shmups --- but I think it's the post-effects, not the rudimentary doujin polygons, that make that happen.