Steaming [question about processor/graphics card]

[Fzero]

Have a query for please, regarding compatibility and best options for me.

I have this PC hooked up to my telly, used solely for gaming with Steam:

http://www.zotacusa.com/zbox-ad02-plus.html

It has the following:

[CPU] AMD E-350 APU 1.6Ghz Dual Core

[Graphics] AMD Radeon HD 6310

[RAM] 4GB

I've not had Steam too long, and have d/l and played about 6 or so games.

So far so good...

Until I d/l the free play trial of F1 2013 game.

This is reeeeeally slow. not fun to play kind of slow.

Now I'm not certain why this is.

My broadband connection is OK I'm sure, and I have it hooked up with ethernet rather than WiFi connection.

So I'm thinking I need to boost the spec of this little PC. It's one of those mini/nano types, so not as good as those monster gaming tower PC's some people build, but I figured it would do [and for other games I've tried it is ok]

This is the requirements and recommendations for the F1 2013 game on the Steam page:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/223670/

And these are the recommended, not the required:

[CPU] Intel i7 / AMD Bulldozer

[Graphics] AMD 6000 series

[RAM] 4GB

So, with my 4GB RAM and AMD 6310, I meet two of those recommendations, right.

My question is, would my measly AMD E-350 1.6Ghz chip be perhaps causing this lag?

If so, could this box I have accept the AMD Bulldozer if I were to buy one? I'm just concerned that these little PC's might be limited to what can fit, like the fan that comes with the Bulldozer might not fit in this PC or something [?]

cheers

 

[levi]

First console port by any chance?

 

[Fzero]

How'd you mean? As in the game F1 2013 is a console port?

If so, I do have Strider game too, which might be a console port too [?], I know it's on PS3 as well.

That game plays fine though

 

[ekianjo]

How'd you mean? As in the game F1 2013 is a console port?


If so, I do have Strider game too, which might be a console port too [?], I know it's on PS3 as well.


That game plays fine though

some ports are better than others.

 

[Fzero]

I see.

Still, it's definitely running way slower on mine that meant to be. Looking at the video of it on the Steam page and also some YT clips of people playing it.

It should improve if I were to get the Bulldozer which is 3.1Ghz [rather than my current one which is just 1.6Ghz]... providing I can use that on my zotac PC?

I'm bit concerned now that some other [high end or just not-so-well-ported] games are going to run with this lag. Don't really want to invest ~£300 on a full gaming PC and the reason I chose the zotac was because I don't have much space in the flat for a tower to go, it would dominate my living room floor space - what little I have left

 

[levi]

I really don't know much about AMD chips, but wasn't the 'Dozer a bit of a dog when it launched (and a hot dog at that)? Unless it's stupidly cheap these days I'd have thought a new mobo and something newer wouldn't cost that much more.

 

[Fzero]

Yes I think so, I actually didn't even know about it until I read of it on the specs page for that F1 game on Steam.

But I was reading this http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2012/07/27/amd-fx-8120-review/1 which pretty much said that it was a disappointment compared to the Intel ones.

I'll wait and see if I notice any other games I d/l from Steam have issues, then perhaps upgrade something then.

Hopefully it is just that one game 

 

[Mr_Loon]

My question is, would my measly AMD E-350 1.6Ghz chip be perhaps causing this lag? If so, could this box I have accept the AMD Bulldozer if I were to buy one?

That was the thing that jumped out to me as being underpowered for PC gaming. I've no real experience of ATI video cards so not sure if that is also a factor. My guess is that you would not be able to upgrade that system to include a powerful CPU (even if the motherboard was compatible) as there would not be room for the required cooling (heatsink / fan).

 

[Fzero]

Thanks, that was my concern too, that these nano boxes might not offer the space to upgrade some parts.


I'll leave it as is I think, and if a lot of games I try in future run lame I'll have to look at another SFF case to build a better machine in... Or see what this Steam console is saying once that comes out

 

[levi]

I think the Steam consoles will be saying:

GIVE ME YOUR MONEY!

Granted, I've only really seen some of the higher-end units so far, so those are guaranteed to be expensive, but it strikes me that with Steam, the traditional razor blade model doesn't happen if you can't skim license money off the games, which these hardware developers can't as far as I can tell.

Plus it's a new market segment. Companies will look to maintain a profit margin before the inevitable race to the bottom. If you can build your own machine, unless you really like the look of some of these boxen, I'd suggest building your own and slapping Steam OS on it, if that's all you want (and Linux + Steam if you want more).

 

[Fzero]

Yeah I might do that, build one just for steamOS.


I want that console feel to it, in that I press one button to boot up and then it's controller use all the way

 

[levi]

Yep, as far as I can tell Steam OS is just a Ubuntu variant that boots straight to big picture mode, so you don't need a keyboard or mouse to control it.