30 replies to this topic

[Joe Luck]

http://www.tomshardw...lding,3273.html
http://www.tomshardw...hmark,3276.html

The OP can look at these as references on where things will be going for him. He can see a little part swapping to get an idea of a base unit. I don't run a gaming cafe so it's up to him to really figure how much he is willing to spend and what he plans on being the primary use of his computers. Also, it depends on when he is going to purchase new equipment. I really wouldn't right now because of the coming graphic card updates but I'm not running a business off of it and timing for people draw is everything.

The big thing will be a 4 core processor for future proofing and 8 gb of RAM(for crysis texture loads into RAM). However, he can do that then it will help anything future games. I didn't think of A8-3870K, would probably be a better bet costing but I'm been burned to many times(literally) on AMD processors which is why I don't recommend them much to people. Intel has always been rock solid. I go for reliability. The graphics card of Radeon HD 7850 was a suggestion grabbed from experience and great pricepoint. He really needs to figure out his target resolution for his computers/games and find a graphics card that meets it. Also, the min specs for MWO are currently debated with dual core not really recommended even by PGI. Crysis 3 will melt things or so it has been said and MWO is just starting to scratch the surface. And by game release dual cores will be relegated to i3's and the like.

Lastly just my thought... If you can get your computers onto a UPS. That's extra money but helps as a simple power filter and stops a bunch of troublesome pc quirks that some gamers experience. It doesn't need to run for 10 mins just a bit of protection.

[Ilfi]

I'm going to be honest: I don't see this game as a long-term Internet Cafe money maker. Too much is up in the air or outright incomplete to commit 8, 12, let alone 16 rigs to it. You are better off waiting until the game is in Open Beta and testing it yourself before you make a financial decision.

Edited by FenixStryk, 04 September 2012 - 03:11 PM.

[littlejohn33]

Tanks for the advice guys.

As for getting I5 rigs with 7850 cards not a chance in **** as the card alone cost about what i was planning to spend on the entire computer. Could never make it pay and would be stuck with half as many units. Cant even justify a rig like that for myself till we get to making some decent money.

Right now it looks like I should either forget MWO and get A6-3500s or wait till the Trinitys are available to the public and see if I can get them for a reasonable cost. Some are out now on prebuilt machines so a few weeks. As I have no need for bigger processors and electric usage is a big issue with 20 computers I'm looking at the A10-5700 Instead of the one bigger one, they have the same graphics anyway. Cant believe they are only 65 watt APUs. And even Tom's rates the graphics along the lines of a 6670 which would make them meet min requirements for graphics. Then assuming we make good money we might add a crossfire 6670 to it. They apparently scale better than the Llanos for Crossfire.

As for a mouse didn't even know 2 button ones were still available mine have a click-able scroll wheel.

I have played World of Tanks. Was fun for a while but got tired of the constant repetitive grind and getting hit with gold ammo, was hoping MWO would have a little more variety and a more level playing field. In one interview Bullock said they would have the 4 Mechs for a battle option by launch but that was a few months back, hope that is still planned.

[Hexenhammer]

Others have probably said but here goes anyways.
1 Don't upgrade on the hopes MWO will make you money. Your local customer base might not care for it
2 Upgrade to keep your cafe competitive if you can afford it. The cafe should work for you, not you trying to make loan payments.
3 Wait. Wait till you can play the game and see how it will work on your existing machines. What if the lag is to much to make it unplayable?

[littlejohn33]

It wouldn't work at all on my current cafe machines however I plan to add 10 computers. I plan to add the best ones in town to make sure I draw more customers. However A6-3500 Llanos would be the best in town (I can advertise triple core and 5530D graphics no one else has better than core 2s or 9500GT). The question is should I get better ones to try to play MWO. Right now I'm thinking not. If the Llanos work out i might later upgrade my other machines to Trinitys. But I will wait a few weeks to see what the new Trinitys cost in case their isnt much difference. Also if they don't run out Llanos may get cheaper yet. I keep hoping the mother boards will go down too.

[Dymitry]

Yeah, considering what you said on the other thread about the resolution you will be using, I think that trinity should provide you with very decent performance and some future proofing, it is worth a wait.

[Sylow]

I basically agree with the "wait and see" position. I wouldn't worry too much about the games performance because:

• There are, as far as i know, no hardware requirements stated yet. I'd very much be surprised if we'd get them even before open beta starts, while we can roughly guess requirements based on the engine, there's no way to be sure as the engine is being modified.
  
• The mentioned 19" monitors mean a more "moderate" resolution. Don't forget that GPU performance requirements go up in square, so with 19" the game might do well on more reasonably priced graphics cards.
  
• The same engine MWO is using is also in use in several console games. Present day consoles are significally less powerful than the PCs you plan to buy. Of course, consoles also run at lower resolution than PCs usually go fo. Anyways, it is very likely that some tuning of the configuration file will get you quite nice (albeit console-like) graphics while reducing GPU requirements.

Next to that, you can't know how much of an impact MWO will have on your customers. From all we got told (and from some NDA slips), teamwork seems to be very essential in the game. A clear advantage to your case. Anyways, just installing the game (free to play) on your computers won't cost you anything. I guess it'll be necessary for everyone of your customers to make his own account, but accounts are also free, so still not a single problem there.

Thus i consider it quite possible that the game will be received well, but banking on it alone would be a gamble. Also, from what you read, the "best computers in town" is your advertising strategy. Thus if i was in your position, i'd get a limited number of those computers when your financial situation allows, without betting on any specific game, especially not MWO or any other game in closed beta, with no release date given.

Then when MWO goes open beta and you have those computers, you can test run the game, and if it's playable for you, offer it to your customers. There's a good chance that it supports your business when released, and if it turns out to make you nice profit, you could still get some more computers to allow more customers playing it. Until then, if i was you i wouldn't put any money on a game without official system requirements or release date, rather focus on already released games and such with release dates close to your hardware update.

[Dymitry]

Requirements have been out for quite a while actually.

[AlexEss]

I love how snowblind a good chunk of the market have become. I play the game perfectly well on a i3 with 8 gigs of ram and a 550Ti card. Heck i did play it decently on my old 8800GTS.. it was not the most pretty but it played well enough. That being said, make a poll with your customers and ask them what type of game they like, if they like quick shooters then this will be a tough sell, but if they like a more tactical game i think it will do very well.