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DWRZ
October 20th, 2008, 03:43 AM
Hello all,

I want to build a GNU/Linux (Kubuntu) friendly PC that can dual-boot Windows and run ArmA 2 at full specs (or "high"). I use PS pretty frequently for photography, I'd like something that works fast at 16bit work, but otherwise I have no special needs. It would be nice to have a small case I can move around, but it's not essential.

I'm a student with a very small "salary": $350 a month. I'm willing to put aside $200 a month for about 4 or 5 months. Maybe for the holidays I'll be able to get another $400.

I've got nothing so far (not even a monitor, mouse, hard drives).

Can it be done? Any advice, minimum components? This is my first time so I don't know what I should be looking for in terms of the parts.

Thanks,
dwrz

Kingsley
October 20th, 2008, 03:49 AM
I would look up the minimum requirements for ArmA 2 and start building a budget around that.

DWRZ
October 20th, 2008, 03:53 AM
I'm running ArmA right now on minimum settings, and I'd really like to do better than that with Arma 2.

The reccomended specs:
Multi-Core CPUs, 2GB of RAM, 8800GT or Faster GPUs

So...
Graphics card-- 9800GT or GTX (what's the difference?)
Multi-Core-- Should I go for a Quad or a Duo Extreme (is there a Quad Extreme)?
RAM-- Easy enough, but do I worry about things like DDR2 or DDR3 and other details of that sort?

What case would I need to get? How about power supply? I'm very confused about how to choose this stuff.

MaxIBoy
October 20th, 2008, 04:21 AM
Armed Assault 2 (from a brief Google search) will not work well under Linux. You'll need a copy of XP. Be prepared to <BipBipBip> shell out $90 for an XP CD that will only install once:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116511
Trust me, you do NOT want Vista for gaming. It just doesn't work well. (Have you ever tried to set up a LAN game on a Vista box?)

Partition up your hard drive using a linux liveCD, give XP a 60 gigabyte NTFS partition. Make sure there's a swap partition equal to double the size of your RAM, and make sure it's the first partition (you want swap to be first because the first partition reads/writes the fastest.) Then install XP. Then go back into Linux and install your distro of choice in the remaining partition.



As for the hardware, this is roughly equivalent to my system specifications. I've been happily gaming on these parts for a month or so, I've had absolutely no problems.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128090
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103291 (be prepared to overclock this to at least 2.8 Ghz, the fan can deal with it)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007 (this'll help if with the overclocking, but don't overdo it.)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127370
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145129
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135153
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147111
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817709012
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842117005 (don't risk losing your equipment. I lost a graphics card to power spikes.)

TheSlipstream
October 20th, 2008, 07:25 AM
I seriously recommend you go with a fast Core 2, or if you feel you need it, a Quad. Right now, AMD is not a good choice. They heat up too much, and they are barely overclockable, with all-round worse performance then Intel processors.

MaxIBoy
October 20th, 2008, 07:26 AM
You tell that to my settings in Crysis (before I even got a real graphics card and before I overclocked at all.)

kernelhaxor
October 20th, 2008, 07:46 AM
Lets not start a Intel vs AMD war here ..
Sure, Intel's quad cores do perform better than AMD's but AMD offers more value .. AMD's 9950 costs only 185$ but Intel's 45nm quads start at around 300+

MaxIboy has put together a nice list there .. I wud go with tht ..

or since u say u can set aside 200$/month .. u cud order from Dell.com so that u can get a system right away and pay it off using their installment plans ..

MaxIBoy
October 20th, 2008, 08:34 AM
Guess that works too. I just think everyone should have a chance to build at least one computer, before everything gets replaced with brain-implant chips.

usafwings
November 5th, 2009, 10:40 PM
The reccomended specs:
Multi-Core CPUs, 2GB of RAM, 8800GT or Faster GPUs

The recommended specs are crap. They do that only so that people will buy the game. Truly, the recommended specs can only play the game on LOW settings. Trust me, I have one of those PCs.

If you want to run it well, get:
Intel Quad-core (QX6850)
Nvidia cards (8800+) in SLI (Make SURE you have HUGE amounts of GPU dedicated memory)
4+ Gigs of RAM (Corsair)
Top-rate motherboard.
SATA HDD @ 7200 RPM
Power supply > 500W

Also, if you don't have a monitor already, make sure you don't get something HUGE. I made that mistake, and I can't play anything high on native resolution.

Good luck!;)