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Author Topic:   What are your SMAC PC specs?

Brother Greg posted 12-03-98 10:21 PM ET
Just wondering what sorts of PCs all of you will be playing SMAC on. Here's the details of the PC I am in the process of ordering right now which I should have before the demo is out:
CPU: Pentium II 400
MEM: 64M PC100 SDRAM
VID: 16M Diamond Monster Fusion Voodoo Banshee
HDD: 9.1 Gig Seagate UIDE HDD
SND: Sound Blaster Live value ed
SPK: Cambridge PC Works 5 spk surround sound speakers
MON: 19" ADI monitor
C.D: Creative Labs DVD Encore
MOD: Netcomm 56K modem
My "old" PC, which I will probably keep (and network) is as follows:
CPU: IBM PR200+ CPU
MEM: 32M SIMM RAM
VID: 2M Matrox Mystique
VID: 4M Orchid Righteous Voodoo (love that name)
HDD: 2.5 Gig Quantum IDE
HDD: 3.2 Gig IBM IDE
SND: Sound Blaster 16
SPK: Some trashy amplified speakers
MON: 15" Tatung monitor
C.D: 24x
MOD: 28.8 "no-name"
CDR: 6x read 2x write Panasonic SCSI CD recorder
Haven't decided whether or not I'll move the CDR over to the new PC, or leave it on the old. With a network, I could still use it for backups, so I dunno.
Also thinking about 128M SDRAM, but I'm pushing my budget now, and the missus may get angry if I go too far over. And I'd rather sacrifice that than anything else. Hafta see.
Brother Greg.
Spoe posted 12-03-98 10:44 PM ET
Primary Computer
CPU: PII-450(Actually a Celeron-A o/c)
MEM: 128 Mb PC100 SDRAM
VID: 16 Mb Matrox Mystique G220
HDD: 1.6 Gb WD(Yeah, yeah, it's the next to be upgraded)
SND: Soundblaster AWE 64
SPK: Fairly cheap amplified speakers
MON: 17" Mag
CD-ROM: Toshiba 8X or so(Fairly old, 1995 vintage)
MOD: USR 28.8
----
Second Computer
Canibalized parts that could probably be put into something resembling the following, as well as a third(486 of some sort, might be used in Linux w/ IP Masquerading for dialup connection):
CPU: P120
MEM: 48 Mb EDO SIMM
VID: Diamond Stealth 2000(S3 ViRGE)
HDD: 850 Mb
SND: Ensonic Soundscape (OEM from Quantex)
SPK: Cheap amplified
MON: Misc. 14/15"
CD-ROM: Misc. 4-8X
MOD: Generic 14.4
Imran Siddiqui posted 12-04-98 12:23 AM ET
My comp at college:
CPU: Pentium II 350
MEM: 96M PC100 SDRAM
VID: ATP Rage Pro
HDD: 10.0 Gig HDD
SND: Sound Blaster
SPK: Boston Acoustic Speakers
MON: 17" Mitsubiti
C.D: 2x DVD
MOD: US Robotics 56K modem
NET: 3Com 10/100 Fast Ethernet Card
WAS posted 12-04-98 01:33 AM ET
My primary computer
CPU: Pentium 450
MEM: 128 Mb PC100 SDRAM
VID: 8Mb ATI Rage Pro
3-D: 16Mb Creative Labs Voodoo II
HDD: 10 Gig
SND: Sound Blaster Live
SPK: Altec Lansing Surround Sound
MON: 19" Gateway Crystal Scan
CD : DVD ROM
CD : Phillips R/RW CD-Rom
MOD: Cable Modem
Networked to
CPU: P166
MEM: 48 Mg SDRAM
VID: 4 Mg Creative Labs Graphics Blaster
HDD: 4.8 Gig
SND: Sound Blaster Live
SPK: Altec Lansing Surround Sound
MON: 15" Gateway Crystal Scan
CDR: 12x
MOD: 33.6 Not currently hooked up
I've heard the RAM prices will go through the roof starting next year so I am considering a purchase of 128 Mgs more. Also I've asked Santa for a digital camera for Christmas. I guess I will find out if I've been naughty or nice!
Antiam posted 12-04-98 01:50 AM ET
LOL! I envy all of you!
CPU: Pentium I 133
CCH: 512K
MEM: 64M SDRAM
VID: 4M PCI CL-5646
HDD: 1.6M WD Caviar
1.6M Seagate
SND: Sound Blaster 16 Vibra
SPK: Altec Lansing ACS5, 2 spk
MON: 17" Dell
CD: 8x IDE
NET: Intel EtherExpress PRO PCI
We'll try for a new one in 2002...
Antiam
Mortis posted 12-04-98 02:02 AM ET
You all want you show off your computers, smart asses.
<sigh> Her goes...
P 166
64mb Ram
17" monitor (which keeps stuffing up)
3.4 gb hard drive
24x CD
nothing else worth mentioning
Gord McLeod posted 12-04-98 02:41 AM ET
Primary Computer:
CPU: AMD K6-2 300
MEM: 128 PC100 SDRAM
VID: 8M Matrox Millenium G200 AGP
HDD: 1) 8.4G IBM 2) 4.3G Quantum Fireball
SND: Some built in thingie...does the job.
SPK: Routed through my surround stereo system
MON: 17" ViewSonic PT775
C.D: Creative Labs 32X CD-ROM
MOD: 3Com/USR Sportster 56K w/v.90
Networked to:
CPU: AMD K6 233
MEM: 128M EDO RAM
VID: 4M Matrox Millenium
HDD: 2x 2.5G, 1 1.2G
SND: Creative Labs AWE64 Discovery
SPK: Yamaha PC speakers (surprisingly good)
MON: Old piece of junk, 14"
C.D: Creative Labs PC-DVD DXR2 Encore
MOD: None
NET: 3Com Fast Etherlink XL PCI 10/100 Base-T

Both machines dual-boot between Windows (98 on the primary machine, NT4 on the secondary) and BeOS R3.2, shortly (2 weeks or so) to be upgraded to BeOS R4. (at which time, Windows 98 will be relegated to a seldom-used OS on my primary system, remaining installed primarily to play games like SMAC and Half-Life on.
Arnelos posted 12-04-98 03:00 AM ET
My machine I got for college last year (the one I use now):
CPU: Pentium II 266
MEM: 64M SDRAM
VID: ?
HDD: 6.4 Gig
SND: 32 bit Sound Blaster synthesis card (from Packard Bell. I bought it cheap so I could upgrade to a *real* sound card)
SPK: 3D surround sound speakers that came with the machine.
MON: 15" monitor (Packard Bell)
C.D: 24X Variable Speed CD Rom
MOD: 3COM 10-Base T1 ( ) card and ethernet cable connection to the University of Arizona's server . This is hooked directly to the internet's fiber-optic backbone (I also have a 56K US Robotics Modem).
My old PC, which I will be "confined" to over winter break:
CPU: 486dx50
MEM: 20M RAM
VID: 2M Diamond
HDD: 1.6 Gig
HDD: 200 Meg
SND: Sound Blaster 16
SPK: Real trashy old speakers.
MON: 15" Monitor
C.D: 4x Creative Labs
MOD: 14.4 modem
Thunder posted 12-04-98 03:44 AM ET
Primary:
CPU: PII-233
MEM: 128 MB
VID: 4MB Matrox Millenium II
3D: 12 MB Diamond Monster II
HDD: 6.4 GB
SND: SB AWE 64
CD-ROM: 24x
MON: 15" Nokia
NET: ISDN + 3Com Etherlink
And my laptop for SMACin on the road
IBM Thinkpad 760 EL
CPU: Pentium 120
MEM: 80 MB
HDD: 1.8 GB
SND: Yes (No idea what)
CD-ROM: 20x
MON: 11"
NET: 3Com Etherlink
Roland posted 12-04-98 06:51 AM ET
Well, I just got a Pentium 166, 64MB ram and 17 inch monitor. But according to the FAQ, this should do it!
Two questions:
1. When is a computer "directX-compatible" ?
2. Thunder (and others), as laptop has been mentioned: Is it the same in your countries that usually you can only buy up-to-date laptops (like pentium II 350 and higher etc) ? I'm thinking about buying one for writing (hopefully huge!) documents, but an older and cheaper model should do that nicely. And second hand is always a bit of a problem...
Thunder posted 12-04-98 08:01 AM ET
Roland:
1. When you have installed Direct-X?
2.I got my Laptop from work, but here in Finland you can buy some older laptops too. I just checked, at least PC-superstore in Helsinki also has older thinkpads, a P150MMX, 16/1.6 (which should be enough for SMAC) costs 7500 FIM (1500 USD).
Roland posted 12-04-98 08:15 AM ET
1. LOL! That's just the question. I may be 100 % wrong about this, but directX may have to be installed by you, or may come with the game. So: directX-compatible: that I have to install it myself or that the game can run it on my PC ?
2. WHAT ? I've seen the new ones for about 20k ATS here (about 1.700 $). Strange...
What's the exchange rate Finmark : german Mark ? Maybe a calculation error ?
dushan posted 12-04-98 09:29 AM ET
I'd say a computer is DX compatible if all the relevant devices (graphics card, sound card, 3d card, joystics, etc.) are compatible with DX - either by simply working with the standard DX drivers or by providing some extra hardware acceleration and new DX drivers for the device.
Roland posted 12-04-98 10:43 AM ET
But that should mean that I don't have to install directX, but just make sure the components and, if problems occur, the drivers are there ?
Thunder posted 12-04-98 10:58 AM ET
Are you sure that was a laptop? New PII300 laptops are about 25000 FIM = 58000 ATS = 4900 USD...
Roland posted 12-04-98 11:13 AM ET
Hmmm... the thing was described as a gericom laptop. PII350, 3,5 (or so) GB hard drive, ?? CD drive, screen (naturally. what am I doing ?) etc. But no software included; with windows 98 that was 21.500 ATS (1.900 $ or so). There are some laptops that reach 40.000 or 50.000 ATS, but they include some additional stuff. Guess I should check that catalogue...
CClark posted 12-04-98 11:31 AM ET
First, DirectX. If you have Win98, then you should have DirecX 5.0 already installed as part of the OS. If you are running Win95 or WinNT then you'll have to install the drivers yourself. Most (but not all) games that require it ship the drivers (as they are freely redistributable) and game companies realize that not everyone has Internet connections. DirectX 6 has shipped (pretty sure) so if you want that you'll have to go to Microsoft and download it or wait to buy a game that ships with it. The API's are supposed to be backwards compatible so if you have 6 installed and want to play a game that was written against version 5 there should be no problems.
CClark posted 12-04-98 11:38 AM ET
Now, my machine... I upgrades just a couple of weeks ago and this time I was honest with myself and admitted that I use it mainly to play games. So, here's the specs on the new toy:
Intel Pentium II 400
64 Meg PC100 RAM
IBM Deskstar 14.4GB (7500rpm) HD
Hi-Val (Kenwood) "true" 40x Multibeam CDROM (very nice drive!)
STB Velocity 4400 (RivaTNT) 16 Meg video card
Turtle Beach Montego sound card
Boston Acoustic speakers
Diamond SupraExpress 56K modem
Digitial 21" monitor (don't be too jealous, it's .31 dot pitch, but the RivaTNT's quality is so good it makes up for it)
The CDROM is a tad expensive, but it's QUIET and fast. You can read a review for most of the hardware at www.gamespot.com. (Damn Loyd Case, if he didn't review these things I could have bought medicore parts and saved a lot! )
I would have got more memory, but my budget was topped out and that's the easiest thing to add in later...
Titan posted 12-04-98 11:51 AM ET
Although my computer is not as powerful as some of yours, it still does the job.
Pentium 166 MMX
Sound Blaster AWE32
Diamond Monster 2 12 meg
32 meg ram
modem 56k
14 inch monitor
20X Nec CD-ROM
HDD : 2.5 gigo
Grosshaus posted 12-04-98 04:48 PM ET
Cool, I have the oldest computer in the forum!
P120
15" AcerView
32 Ram
2 GByte hard disk
32*CD-ROM
3D-Blaster
56kByte TeleWell modem
SoundBlaster 16
Just waiting for Santa...
Gord McLeod posted 12-04-98 04:50 PM ET
Roland:
You need both the hardware and software to be DirectX compatable, but almost all hardware already is, so dont' concern yourself about that. You can download DirectX 6 from Microsoft, as has already been pointed out, and if you don't feel like doing that there's a *VERY* good chance that Firaxis will be including DirectX 6 or whatever version is required on the SMAC CD. It's nothing to lose sleep over... if you aren't already compatable, you will be by the time you install the game.
Spoe posted 12-04-98 05:02 PM ET
Yeah, I can honestly say I've never had to download DirectX. I've just sponged off the versions on game CDs.
WAS posted 12-04-98 06:03 PM ET
Same for me, Ive always gotten it from games.
Jeje posted 12-05-98 06:21 AM ET
CPU: Pentium AMD K6-2 350 MHz
MEM: 64M
VID: Don't remember now, but I use 1024*768@100Hz
HDD: 2.1 Seagate HDD
SND: SB16
SPK: 20 W
MON: 17" Nokia 447Xi Trinitron
C.D: 32*
MOD: 3Com Fast Etherlink 10/100 MB (T1-connection)
osric posted 12-06-98 02:26 AM ET
Some more DX stuff... (Did some programming in it about 2 years back.) You can check MS HW developers page for compatibility lists, but the most critical is the monitor/video combination. The others; 3D effects in sound, force feedback and other exotic input/output devices probabally won't do much for SMAC.
Good news: SMAC will probabally ship with DX6 drivers (as has been pointed out - most new games ship with the latest version of the DX suite).
More Good news: Even if your monitor/adapter doesn't support the exoctic features which DX 6 is capable of, software drivers (at a performance cost) are provided. <This is mostly for lurkers, since the hardware liste in the posts here should do more than nicely (I've got PC envy, maybe quantity will make up for quality?). Actually other than opening credits as in MOO2, I'm not sure how much of the horsepower of DX 6 will actually be useful to SMAC.>
Better news for AMD w/ 3DNOW. In order to take advantage of this we need DX6.
Bad news for NT folks, I think we're stuck at DX3 until the next update (service pack or NT 5?) of NT.
In case you wonder or care. Programming for DX is typical of Microsoft windows programming: Much harder than it needs to be; not the state of the art or the best, simply the
osric posted 12-06-98 02:30 AM ET
Ooops...Clearly I ramble. DX is not the best, simply the best marketed. OpenGL is has several advantages.
Pasi posted 12-06-98 09:54 AM ET
CClark:
"Digitial 21" monitor (don't be too jealous, it's .31 dot pitch, but the RivaTNT's quality is so good it makes up for it)"
I have the same video card with Sony 15" 100ES (1024*768) and if I use 85Hz the picture gets blurry(?), soft. So at the moment I'm forced to use 75Hz, which btw. looks surprisingly good. I've read that other tnt-cards (Diamond, SoundBlaster...) don't have this problem. I had Matrox Mystique with no problems, before, so it is the video card...

My system:
AMD K6-2 300MHz
64Mb PC100
HD:~10Gb (Seagate+Quantum Fireball)
CD-ROM: >24X
SOUND: Some cheap Diamond PCI-sound card
VIDEO: STB Velocity 4400 TNT
MONITOR: Sony Multiscan100ES 15"
NET: Intel EtherExpress, via university
DCA posted 12-06-98 10:11 AM ET
oh, computers... yeah, i've got one of those
DCA,
A woman drove me to drink and I didn't even have the decency to thank her.
DJ RRebel posted 12-06-98 11:19 AM ET
Hey you networked guys ... how easy was it to network your PC's ???
Spoe posted 12-06-98 04:10 PM ET
Generally pretty simple, DJ.
THough I don't have a network at home yet(just need to assemble the second computer, really), with no previous networking exp. I had our departmental network running inside of a day(main problem was getting reliable cabling; for some unknown reason I was told to do it in thinnet). For anything you're likely to try with a home setup, there shouldn't be much difficulty.
osric posted 12-07-98 01:02 AM ET
I started with a WindowDoze for Workgroups (3.11) kit (a pair of ISA adapters, a hunk of coax, and two terminators) and was up in running in an hour or so.
With Win95/98 should take even less time, about 45 minutes. WinNT is a little harder, but not much. I haven't invested enough time to get my dual booted Linux machines to talk, yet.
Roland posted 12-08-98 11:47 AM ET
Thanx for the DirectX info!!!
(So I'll just wait and see my PC crash when the demo is out ... )
Plasmoid posted 12-08-98 12:28 PM ET
HA Top this:
386 DX25
4MB of RAM
512K video card
14.4 modem
4x CD-ROM
TB Tropez sound
Seperate IDE controllers
42 MB Brick(err HD)
200 MB HD
14" monitor thats broken(sorta)
Gord McLeod posted 12-08-98 02:45 PM ET
I can beat that
Amiga 500
Motorola 68000 (at a whopping 14Mhz I think)
2M CHIP RAM
0M FAST RAM
No CD-ROM
No HDD
2 double-density floppy drives (700+ byte capacity)
Onboard stereo sound
14" monitor, somewhat broken.
Spoe posted 12-08-98 04:18 PM ET
Uh, I've got this one up in the attic, collecting dust:
386SX-16
2 Mb Ram
66 Mb RLL HD
256K ATI VGA Wonder
14" Monitor
No sound(aside from PC speaker)
No CD
2400 Baud internal modem
1 High density 5.25"
1 High density 3.5"

It's sitting right next to the Vic 20 with 5k of memory(only 2k available to the user, IIRC).
jsorense posted 12-08-98 04:30 PM ET
Let me tell you about my dream machine now resting in the garage after long, honorable service:
Compaq "lugable" ~ 25 pounds
8086 - ?
256 Kb RAM
10 Mb HD
6' monochrome screen
2 high density 5 � '
No CD
No sound
No modem
No mouse
MS DOS (? version)
Frank Moore posted 12-08-98 05:39 PM ET
Right now:
CPU: 200MHz Pentium no MMX
MEM: 64MB
VID: 8MB Matrox Millenium II
HDD: 2.5MB AND 6.4MB
SND: Soundblaster AWE32
SPK: Altech/Lansing w/subwoofer
MON: 17" Optiquest
CD: 32X ??
MOD: US Robotics 28.8
Soon (a couple mos.):
CPU: latest & greatest 500MHz maybe
MEM: 128 MB PC-100
VID: Canopus Spectra 2500 w/dual Voodoo IIs
HDD: 14.4 MB and 6.4 MB
SND: SB AWE 64 w/digital I/O
SPK: Cambridge surround w/subwoofer
MON: 19" Optiquest
CD: 3rd gen DVD
MOD: 56k v.90
Yeah...I'm waiting for the next CPU chip, but I pretty much have decided on everything else. The other cool thing I already have the $$ for the system, so don't hate me too much!
Vanilja posted 12-08-98 08:34 PM ET
Guess I'll join in...the present computer (to be upgraded in 2000):
333 MHz Pentium II with 512 cache
128 MB SDRAM
Dell 19" monitor
Diamond Permidia 8MB AGP video card
8.4 GB hard drive
The final upgrade of Win95 (still not sure about upgrading to Win98)
32X CD-ROM
AWE64 sound card...and a few other sundry goodies...
The previous computer: IBM 286MHz AT
Previous computer before AT: IBM PCjr (with a whopping 128K of memory!)
Spoe posted 12-08-98 08:44 PM ET
Oooo, a luggable. I loved those cases. Back when Compaq was cool.
Heckler posted 12-09-98 08:21 PM ET
Current system
486DX 125 or so
16mb ram
Graphite Terminator 2mb video
SB awe 16/32 sound (cant remember which)
1.2 gig HD
33.6 USR modem
8X Creative cd
Speakers out of the box except for the Subwoofer from Yamaha (cant use them now anyways they are set for 110 and Lithuania is 220)
Heckler
K Kestrel posted 12-09-98 11:35 PM ET
I am thinking of getting a new computer in the fall of 1999, just before Y2K blows it up.
Current computer:
CPU: Pentium 233Mhz MMX
MEM: 80MB EDO RAM
VID: 2MB TRIO64V+
VID: Monster 3D II Voodoo II
HDD: IBM 8.4GB, ?? 2.5GB
SND: Sound Blaster 64 Gold Ed
SPK: Altec Lansing 48 w/subwoofer
MON: Gateway Vivitron 15" (Sony copy)
CD: 8x Toshiba
CDRW: HP 7200i Plus
NET: 3Com Ethernet (used in university network)
MOD: 28.8 (not used)
I really like the university (NCSU) network, besides the fact that it seems to be getting slower. I want a Sony Trintron 21" and a Riva TNT (or what ever replaces it). I love my speakers, but I can't crank them like I would like to.
Plasmoid posted 12-10-98 02:47 AM ET
If your interested in a new comp DO NOT get a winmodem, they are the scourge of the Earth. They only work 1 OS(Winblows 95+) and they burn CPU cycles like it was going out of style.
Make sure the modem has jumpers(VITAL) and get a garanty, if it's a winmodem take it back
Spoe posted 12-10-98 04:35 PM ET
Yep. I agree, they suck, as do winprinters.
Ogmios posted 12-10-98 05:25 PM ET
Groshaous and Heckler I beat you both:
Current computer:
486 DX80 Cyrix
12 mb memory
trident 1mb graphics
600MB HDD
14" monitor
win95
pc speakers
No network
4xCDrom
New Year:
P 300 mmx
32/64 MB
S3 4 MB
2 GB?
Same
Soundblaster 64 AWE?
Possibly 56K-network?
Same/DVD?
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Author	Topic: What are your SMAC PC specs?
Brother Greg	posted 12-03-98 10:21 PM ET Just wondering what sorts of PCs all of you will be playing SMAC on. Here's the details of the PC I am in the process of ordering right now which I should have before the demo is out: CPU: Pentium II 400 MEM: 64M PC100 SDRAM VID: 16M Diamond Monster Fusion Voodoo Banshee HDD: 9.1 Gig Seagate UIDE HDD SND: Sound Blaster Live value ed SPK: Cambridge PC Works 5 spk surround sound speakers MON: 19" ADI monitor C.D: Creative Labs DVD Encore MOD: Netcomm 56K modem My "old" PC, which I will probably keep (and network) is as follows: CPU: IBM PR200+ CPU MEM: 32M SIMM RAM VID: 2M Matrox Mystique VID: 4M Orchid Righteous Voodoo (love that name) HDD: 2.5 Gig Quantum IDE HDD: 3.2 Gig IBM IDE SND: Sound Blaster 16 SPK: Some trashy amplified speakers MON: 15" Tatung monitor C.D: 24x MOD: 28.8 "no-name" CDR: 6x read 2x write Panasonic SCSI CD recorder Haven't decided whether or not I'll move the CDR over to the new PC, or leave it on the old. With a network, I could still use it for backups, so I dunno. Also thinking about 128M SDRAM, but I'm pushing my budget now, and the missus may get angry if I go too far over. And I'd rather sacrifice that than anything else. Hafta see. Brother Greg.
Spoe	posted 12-03-98 10:44 PM ET Primary Computer CPU: PII-450(Actually a Celeron-A o/c) MEM: 128 Mb PC100 SDRAM VID: 16 Mb Matrox Mystique G220 HDD: 1.6 Gb WD(Yeah, yeah, it's the next to be upgraded) SND: Soundblaster AWE 64 SPK: Fairly cheap amplified speakers MON: 17" Mag CD-ROM: Toshiba 8X or so(Fairly old, 1995 vintage) MOD: USR 28.8 ---- Second Computer Canibalized parts that could probably be put into something resembling the following, as well as a third(486 of some sort, might be used in Linux w/ IP Masquerading for dialup connection): CPU: P120 MEM: 48 Mb EDO SIMM VID: Diamond Stealth 2000(S3 ViRGE) HDD: 850 Mb SND: Ensonic Soundscape (OEM from Quantex) SPK: Cheap amplified MON: Misc. 14/15" CD-ROM: Misc. 4-8X MOD: Generic 14.4
Imran Siddiqui	posted 12-04-98 12:23 AM ET My comp at college: CPU: Pentium II 350 MEM: 96M PC100 SDRAM VID: ATP Rage Pro HDD: 10.0 Gig HDD SND: Sound Blaster SPK: Boston Acoustic Speakers MON: 17" Mitsubiti C.D: 2x DVD MOD: US Robotics 56K modem NET: 3Com 10/100 Fast Ethernet Card
WAS	posted 12-04-98 01:33 AM ET My primary computer CPU: Pentium 450 MEM: 128 Mb PC100 SDRAM VID: 8Mb ATI Rage Pro 3-D: 16Mb Creative Labs Voodoo II HDD: 10 Gig SND: Sound Blaster Live SPK: Altec Lansing Surround Sound MON: 19" Gateway Crystal Scan CD : DVD ROM CD : Phillips R/RW CD-Rom MOD: Cable Modem Networked to CPU: P166 MEM: 48 Mg SDRAM VID: 4 Mg Creative Labs Graphics Blaster HDD: 4.8 Gig SND: Sound Blaster Live SPK: Altec Lansing Surround Sound MON: 15" Gateway Crystal Scan CDR: 12x MOD: 33.6 Not currently hooked up I've heard the RAM prices will go through the roof starting next year so I am considering a purchase of 128 Mgs more. Also I've asked Santa for a digital camera for Christmas. I guess I will find out if I've been naughty or nice!
Antiam	posted 12-04-98 01:50 AM ET LOL! I envy all of you! CPU: Pentium I 133 CCH: 512K MEM: 64M SDRAM VID: 4M PCI CL-5646 HDD: 1.6M WD Caviar 1.6M Seagate SND: Sound Blaster 16 Vibra SPK: Altec Lansing ACS5, 2 spk MON: 17" Dell CD: 8x IDE NET: Intel EtherExpress PRO PCI We'll try for a new one in 2002... Antiam
Mortis	posted 12-04-98 02:02 AM ET You all want you show off your computers, smart asses. <sigh> Her goes... P 166 64mb Ram 17" monitor (which keeps stuffing up) 3.4 gb hard drive 24x CD nothing else worth mentioning
Gord McLeod	posted 12-04-98 02:41 AM ET Primary Computer: CPU: AMD K6-2 300 MEM: 128 PC100 SDRAM VID: 8M Matrox Millenium G200 AGP HDD: 1) 8.4G IBM 2) 4.3G Quantum Fireball SND: Some built in thingie...does the job. SPK: Routed through my surround stereo system MON: 17" ViewSonic PT775 C.D: Creative Labs 32X CD-ROM MOD: 3Com/USR Sportster 56K w/v.90 Networked to: CPU: AMD K6 233 MEM: 128M EDO RAM VID: 4M Matrox Millenium HDD: 2x 2.5G, 1 1.2G SND: Creative Labs AWE64 Discovery SPK: Yamaha PC speakers (surprisingly good) MON: Old piece of junk, 14" C.D: Creative Labs PC-DVD DXR2 Encore MOD: None NET: 3Com Fast Etherlink XL PCI 10/100 Base-T Both machines dual-boot between Windows (98 on the primary machine, NT4 on the secondary) and BeOS R3.2, shortly (2 weeks or so) to be upgraded to BeOS R4. (at which time, Windows 98 will be relegated to a seldom-used OS on my primary system, remaining installed primarily to play games like SMAC and Half-Life on.
Arnelos	posted 12-04-98 03:00 AM ET My machine I got for college last year (the one I use now): CPU: Pentium II 266 MEM: 64M SDRAM VID: ? HDD: 6.4 Gig SND: 32 bit Sound Blaster synthesis card (from Packard Bell. I bought it cheap so I could upgrade to a real sound card) SPK: 3D surround sound speakers that came with the machine. MON: 15" monitor (Packard Bell) C.D: 24X Variable Speed CD Rom MOD: 3COM 10-Base T1 ( ) card and ethernet cable connection to the University of Arizona's server . This is hooked directly to the internet's fiber-optic backbone (I also have a 56K US Robotics Modem). My old PC, which I will be "confined" to over winter break: CPU: 486dx50 MEM: 20M RAM VID: 2M Diamond HDD: 1.6 Gig HDD: 200 Meg SND: Sound Blaster 16 SPK: Real trashy old speakers. MON: 15" Monitor C.D: 4x Creative Labs MOD: 14.4 modem
Thunder	posted 12-04-98 03:44 AM ET Primary: CPU: PII-233 MEM: 128 MB VID: 4MB Matrox Millenium II 3D: 12 MB Diamond Monster II HDD: 6.4 GB SND: SB AWE 64 CD-ROM: 24x MON: 15" Nokia NET: ISDN + 3Com Etherlink And my laptop for SMACin on the road IBM Thinkpad 760 EL CPU: Pentium 120 MEM: 80 MB HDD: 1.8 GB SND: Yes (No idea what) CD-ROM: 20x MON: 11" NET: 3Com Etherlink
Roland	posted 12-04-98 06:51 AM ET Well, I just got a Pentium 166, 64MB ram and 17 inch monitor. But according to the FAQ, this should do it! Two questions: 1. When is a computer "directX-compatible" ? 2. Thunder (and others), as laptop has been mentioned: Is it the same in your countries that usually you can only buy up-to-date laptops (like pentium II 350 and higher etc) ? I'm thinking about buying one for writing (hopefully huge!) documents, but an older and cheaper model should do that nicely. And second hand is always a bit of a problem...
Thunder	posted 12-04-98 08:01 AM ET Roland: 1. When you have installed Direct-X? 2.I got my Laptop from work, but here in Finland you can buy some older laptops too. I just checked, at least PC-superstore in Helsinki also has older thinkpads, a P150MMX, 16/1.6 (which should be enough for SMAC) costs 7500 FIM (1500 USD).
Roland	posted 12-04-98 08:15 AM ET 1. LOL! That's just the question. I may be 100 % wrong about this, but directX may have to be installed by you, or may come with the game. So: directX-compatible: that I have to install it myself or that the game can run it on my PC ? 2. WHAT ? I've seen the new ones for about 20k ATS here (about 1.700 $). Strange... What's the exchange rate Finmark : german Mark ? Maybe a calculation error ?
dushan	posted 12-04-98 09:29 AM ET I'd say a computer is DX compatible if all the relevant devices (graphics card, sound card, 3d card, joystics, etc.) are compatible with DX - either by simply working with the standard DX drivers or by providing some extra hardware acceleration and new DX drivers for the device.
Roland	posted 12-04-98 10:43 AM ET But that should mean that I don't have to install directX, but just make sure the components and, if problems occur, the drivers are there ?
Thunder	posted 12-04-98 10:58 AM ET Are you sure that was a laptop? New PII300 laptops are about 25000 FIM = 58000 ATS = 4900 USD...
Roland	posted 12-04-98 11:13 AM ET Hmmm... the thing was described as a gericom laptop. PII350, 3,5 (or so) GB hard drive, ?? CD drive, screen (naturally. what am I doing ?) etc. But no software included; with windows 98 that was 21.500 ATS (1.900 $ or so). There are some laptops that reach 40.000 or 50.000 ATS, but they include some additional stuff. Guess I should check that catalogue...
CClark	posted 12-04-98 11:31 AM ET First, DirectX. If you have Win98, then you should have DirecX 5.0 already installed as part of the OS. If you are running Win95 or WinNT then you'll have to install the drivers yourself. Most (but not all) games that require it ship the drivers (as they are freely redistributable) and game companies realize that not everyone has Internet connections. DirectX 6 has shipped (pretty sure) so if you want that you'll have to go to Microsoft and download it or wait to buy a game that ships with it. The API's are supposed to be backwards compatible so if you have 6 installed and want to play a game that was written against version 5 there should be no problems.
CClark	posted 12-04-98 11:38 AM ET Now, my machine... I upgrades just a couple of weeks ago and this time I was honest with myself and admitted that I use it mainly to play games. So, here's the specs on the new toy: Intel Pentium II 400 64 Meg PC100 RAM IBM Deskstar 14.4GB (7500rpm) HD Hi-Val (Kenwood) "true" 40x Multibeam CDROM (very nice drive!) STB Velocity 4400 (RivaTNT) 16 Meg video card Turtle Beach Montego sound card Boston Acoustic speakers Diamond SupraExpress 56K modem Digitial 21" monitor (don't be too jealous, it's .31 dot pitch, but the RivaTNT's quality is so good it makes up for it) The CDROM is a tad expensive, but it's QUIET and fast. You can read a review for most of the hardware at www.gamespot.com. (Damn Loyd Case, if he didn't review these things I could have bought medicore parts and saved a lot! ) I would have got more memory, but my budget was topped out and that's the easiest thing to add in later...
Titan	posted 12-04-98 11:51 AM ET Although my computer is not as powerful as some of yours, it still does the job. Pentium 166 MMX Sound Blaster AWE32 Diamond Monster 2 12 meg 32 meg ram modem 56k 14 inch monitor 20X Nec CD-ROM HDD : 2.5 gigo
Grosshaus	posted 12-04-98 04:48 PM ET Cool, I have the oldest computer in the forum! P120 15" AcerView 32 Ram 2 GByte hard disk 32*CD-ROM 3D-Blaster 56kByte TeleWell modem SoundBlaster 16 Just waiting for Santa...
Gord McLeod	posted 12-04-98 04:50 PM ET Roland: You need both the hardware and software to be DirectX compatable, but almost all hardware already is, so dont' concern yourself about that. You can download DirectX 6 from Microsoft, as has already been pointed out, and if you don't feel like doing that there's a VERY good chance that Firaxis will be including DirectX 6 or whatever version is required on the SMAC CD. It's nothing to lose sleep over... if you aren't already compatable, you will be by the time you install the game.
Spoe	posted 12-04-98 05:02 PM ET Yeah, I can honestly say I've never had to download DirectX. I've just sponged off the versions on game CDs.
WAS	posted 12-04-98 06:03 PM ET Same for me, Ive always gotten it from games.
Jeje	posted 12-05-98 06:21 AM ET CPU: Pentium AMD K6-2 350 MHz MEM: 64M VID: Don't remember now, but I use 1024768@100Hz HDD: 2.1 Seagate HDD SND: SB16 SPK: 20 W MON: 17" Nokia 447Xi Trinitron C.D: 32 MOD: 3Com Fast Etherlink 10/100 MB (T1-connection)
osric	posted 12-06-98 02:26 AM ET Some more DX stuff... (Did some programming in it about 2 years back.) You can check MS HW developers page for compatibility lists, but the most critical is the monitor/video combination. The others; 3D effects in sound, force feedback and other exotic input/output devices probabally won't do much for SMAC. Good news: SMAC will probabally ship with DX6 drivers (as has been pointed out - most new games ship with the latest version of the DX suite). More Good news: Even if your monitor/adapter doesn't support the exoctic features which DX 6 is capable of, software drivers (at a performance cost) are provided. <This is mostly for lurkers, since the hardware liste in the posts here should do more than nicely (I've got PC envy, maybe quantity will make up for quality?). Actually other than opening credits as in MOO2, I'm not sure how much of the horsepower of DX 6 will actually be useful to SMAC.> Better news for AMD w/ 3DNOW. In order to take advantage of this we need DX6. Bad news for NT folks, I think we're stuck at DX3 until the next update (service pack or NT 5?) of NT. In case you wonder or care. Programming for DX is typical of Microsoft windows programming: Much harder than it needs to be; not the state of the art or the best, simply the
osric	posted 12-06-98 02:30 AM ET Ooops...Clearly I ramble. DX is not the best, simply the best marketed. OpenGL is has several advantages.
Pasi	posted 12-06-98 09:54 AM ET CClark: "Digitial 21" monitor (don't be too jealous, it's .31 dot pitch, but the RivaTNT's quality is so good it makes up for it)" I have the same video card with Sony 15" 100ES (1024*768) and if I use 85Hz the picture gets blurry(?), soft. So at the moment I'm forced to use 75Hz, which btw. looks surprisingly good. I've read that other tnt-cards (Diamond, SoundBlaster...) don't have this problem. I had Matrox Mystique with no problems, before, so it is the video card... My system: AMD K6-2 300MHz 64Mb PC100 HD:~10Gb (Seagate+Quantum Fireball) CD-ROM: >24X SOUND: Some cheap Diamond PCI-sound card VIDEO: STB Velocity 4400 TNT MONITOR: Sony Multiscan100ES 15" NET: Intel EtherExpress, via university
DCA	posted 12-06-98 10:11 AM ET oh, computers... yeah, i've got one of those DCA, A woman drove me to drink and I didn't even have the decency to thank her.
DJ RRebel	posted 12-06-98 11:19 AM ET Hey you networked guys ... how easy was it to network your PC's ???
Spoe	posted 12-06-98 04:10 PM ET Generally pretty simple, DJ. THough I don't have a network at home yet(just need to assemble the second computer, really), with no previous networking exp. I had our departmental network running inside of a day(main problem was getting reliable cabling; for some unknown reason I was told to do it in thinnet). For anything you're likely to try with a home setup, there shouldn't be much difficulty.
osric	posted 12-07-98 01:02 AM ET I started with a WindowDoze for Workgroups (3.11) kit (a pair of ISA adapters, a hunk of coax, and two terminators) and was up in running in an hour or so. With Win95/98 should take even less time, about 45 minutes. WinNT is a little harder, but not much. I haven't invested enough time to get my dual booted Linux machines to talk, yet.
Roland	posted 12-08-98 11:47 AM ET Thanx for the DirectX info!!! (So I'll just wait and see my PC crash when the demo is out ... )
Plasmoid	posted 12-08-98 12:28 PM ET HA Top this: 386 DX25 4MB of RAM 512K video card 14.4 modem 4x CD-ROM TB Tropez sound Seperate IDE controllers 42 MB Brick(err HD) 200 MB HD 14" monitor thats broken(sorta)
Gord McLeod	posted 12-08-98 02:45 PM ET I can beat that Amiga 500 Motorola 68000 (at a whopping 14Mhz I think) 2M CHIP RAM 0M FAST RAM No CD-ROM No HDD 2 double-density floppy drives (700+ byte capacity) Onboard stereo sound 14" monitor, somewhat broken.
Spoe	posted 12-08-98 04:18 PM ET Uh, I've got this one up in the attic, collecting dust: 386SX-16 2 Mb Ram 66 Mb RLL HD 256K ATI VGA Wonder 14" Monitor No sound(aside from PC speaker) No CD 2400 Baud internal modem 1 High density 5.25" 1 High density 3.5" It's sitting right next to the Vic 20 with 5k of memory(only 2k available to the user, IIRC).
jsorense	posted 12-08-98 04:30 PM ET Let me tell you about my dream machine now resting in the garage after long, honorable service: Compaq "lugable" ~ 25 pounds 8086 - ? 256 Kb RAM 10 Mb HD 6' monochrome screen 2 high density 5 � ' No CD No sound No modem No mouse MS DOS (? version)
Frank Moore	posted 12-08-98 05:39 PM ET Right now: CPU: 200MHz Pentium no MMX MEM: 64MB VID: 8MB Matrox Millenium II HDD: 2.5MB AND 6.4MB SND: Soundblaster AWE32 SPK: Altech/Lansing w/subwoofer MON: 17" Optiquest CD: 32X ?? MOD: US Robotics 28.8 Soon (a couple mos.): CPU: latest & greatest 500MHz maybe MEM: 128 MB PC-100 VID: Canopus Spectra 2500 w/dual Voodoo IIs HDD: 14.4 MB and 6.4 MB SND: SB AWE 64 w/digital I/O SPK: Cambridge surround w/subwoofer MON: 19" Optiquest CD: 3rd gen DVD MOD: 56k v.90 Yeah...I'm waiting for the next CPU chip, but I pretty much have decided on everything else. The other cool thing I already have the $$ for the system, so don't hate me too much!
Vanilja	posted 12-08-98 08:34 PM ET Guess I'll join in...the present computer (to be upgraded in 2000): 333 MHz Pentium II with 512 cache 128 MB SDRAM Dell 19" monitor Diamond Permidia 8MB AGP video card 8.4 GB hard drive The final upgrade of Win95 (still not sure about upgrading to Win98) 32X CD-ROM AWE64 sound card...and a few other sundry goodies... The previous computer: IBM 286MHz AT Previous computer before AT: IBM PCjr (with a whopping 128K of memory!)
Spoe	posted 12-08-98 08:44 PM ET Oooo, a luggable. I loved those cases. Back when Compaq was cool.
Heckler	posted 12-09-98 08:21 PM ET Current system 486DX 125 or so 16mb ram Graphite Terminator 2mb video SB awe 16/32 sound (cant remember which) 1.2 gig HD 33.6 USR modem 8X Creative cd Speakers out of the box except for the Subwoofer from Yamaha (cant use them now anyways they are set for 110 and Lithuania is 220) Heckler
K Kestrel	posted 12-09-98 11:35 PM ET I am thinking of getting a new computer in the fall of 1999, just before Y2K blows it up. Current computer: CPU: Pentium 233Mhz MMX MEM: 80MB EDO RAM VID: 2MB TRIO64V+ VID: Monster 3D II Voodoo II HDD: IBM 8.4GB, ?? 2.5GB SND: Sound Blaster 64 Gold Ed SPK: Altec Lansing 48 w/subwoofer MON: Gateway Vivitron 15" (Sony copy) CD: 8x Toshiba CDRW: HP 7200i Plus NET: 3Com Ethernet (used in university network) MOD: 28.8 (not used) I really like the university (NCSU) network, besides the fact that it seems to be getting slower. I want a Sony Trintron 21" and a Riva TNT (or what ever replaces it). I love my speakers, but I can't crank them like I would like to.
Plasmoid	posted 12-10-98 02:47 AM ET If your interested in a new comp DO NOT get a winmodem, they are the scourge of the Earth. They only work 1 OS(Winblows 95+) and they burn CPU cycles like it was going out of style. Make sure the modem has jumpers(VITAL) and get a garanty, if it's a winmodem take it back
Spoe	posted 12-10-98 04:35 PM ET Yep. I agree, they suck, as do winprinters.
Ogmios	posted 12-10-98 05:25 PM ET Groshaous and Heckler I beat you both: Current computer: 486 DX80 Cyrix 12 mb memory trident 1mb graphics 600MB HDD 14" monitor win95 pc speakers No network 4xCDrom New Year: P 300 mmx 32/64 MB S3 4 MB 2 GB? Same Soundblaster 64 AWE? Possibly 56K-network? Same/DVD?