Devices > Video Cards, Monitors, Televisions, and Projectors
Red October HQ Min. Hardware Requirements
machinehead:
I have read as many of threads on this subject as I can find.
I guess I am a very literal person.
None of the threads really start to nail down the dividing line between what will and won't
successfully run RO HQ.
I am returning the machine I just built to newegg and don't want to have to do it a second time.
Many of the video card reviews online are "older", 6 months seems to be an eternity in the video card world,
so not sure how relevant they would be.
I want to build a HTPC that will render RO HQ and do audiophile 2 channel music, no video gaming.
The music piece is easy, as it does not require much horsepower, just a very good card and DAC.
I am new to the video world, and am a bit overwhelmed with all of the decoders, filters and
video formats that I didn't know existed.
I have read some guys say you need to start with an i5 proc. min., but others run an i3 with a good video card
and run RO HQ just fine.
I would like this thread to start to ferret out the dividing line of the bare min. needed to build a machine to run RO HQ.
Which i3 or i5 proc. is min. if you plan to run a discrete video card? Do you need Sandybridge or will some of the older ones suffice?
What is the min. nVidia card to run RO HQ without any problems?
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What are the same min. specs for an AMD proc. and ATI video card?
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What chipset to look for on a motherboard that will maximize the above hardware?
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Do you need more than 8Gig when running Win 7 64?
Again I have read as many relevant posts on the subject, and most get off topic on
the specifics of each video card, without coming to a conclusion of what a min. spec might be.
Please try to keep responses on topic to helping everyone come up with a spec.
Thanks for all of your knowledge and help, I think the answers could be helpful to more noobs than just myself.
jgreen:
Did you read that thread on the MC17 board from a few weeks ago, talking about this very issue? True, no one there stated what a minimum spec would be, because how would anyone know? OTOH there is a range of user reports there stating specs and performance. Reading that, you should be able to infer the Minimum Specs.
machinehead:
Hi jgreen,
Thanks for your input.
I did read that thread and others.
It seemed like the recommendations were all over the place.
Some say min. req. is i5 proc. with a video card with DDR5 memory and lots of shaders.
Others say they got by on an i3 proc. with a video card with DDR3 memory.
Not to mention the range of i5 processors available, nor did it even begin to look at AMD.
Even if you look at high end DDR3 and the DDR5 video cards, the specs and prices vary wildly, as
glynor was pointing out. Do I need a $300 card or will a $75 card work. That is just one of the many
questions I walked away with.
At the end I walked away pretty confused. That is why I started this thread hoping for people
to chime in with actual experience of what combo has worked for them running RO HQ.
For you guys doing video for a while it is probably pretty easy stuff, for us noobs, its all very confusing.
jgreen:
MH--
I think most of the posters on that thread were not saying "this is the minimum", but rather saying "this is what worked for me". Also, many posters mentioned what kind of screen resolution worked flawlessly, and at what res the playback might have gotten jumpy, if it did at all. I think if you read through that you'll get an idea of what's going to work fine. While RO HQ is fairly taxing on resources, RO Standard is much lighter, and darn good looking also.
I wish I could help you more with this, other than to say it's going to require a decent proc (my i7m worked fine), along with a reasonably good 2d video card (my 2gig ati worked fine). I would note that if you're looking to get away as cheap as you can, it is PROBABLY wise to stick with an Intel CPU, as the consumer AMD's seem to be missing odd bits, and at slower speeds that may matter.
Also, make sure your anti-virus is set to allow Media Center and JR worker to do their stuff.
Also worth noting, you get a free trial of MC, so maybe try it on the machine you have now and see how it flies. Good luck!
texneus:
I've read all the threads I can find and I think it's all very confusing. The lack of minimum requirements makes it very very difficult to plan a future build that will play RO HQ but is also as low a power as possible at idle without a huge amount of trial and error. Two specific questions...
Does anyone know if something like an Intel Atom or AMD Zacate if paired with an nVidia GT450/550 -ish card will play 1080i / 1080p RO HQ successfully?
Does anyone know if one of the faster Sandy Bridge or AMD Llano without an added video card will play 1080i / 1080p RO HQ successfully?
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