Buying a new PC to run DirectX 11 TPA - What specs do I need?

[Alex Atkin UK]

I would have to add that personally if I didn't already have a GTX 660, I would get a GTX 960 (well a 970 personally as I run other games than PBA) for how much quieter and less electricity it uses.

People often forget power consumption and noise when building a PC then regret how noisy they are and how much heat they put out in the summer.

 

[mpad]

In my home made steam box for the living room and big picture, i have a I3 core and a GTX560, and again no issues with PBA in DX11.

If you really do this only for TPA and no other games that middle class specs should be totally fine.

 

[mewzard]

In my home made steam box for the living room and big picture, i have a I3 core and a GTX560, and again no issues with PBA in DX11.

I decided to compare that to my own card:

http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-HD-5570-vs-GeForce-GTX-560

While inferior to your own, I can't really believe it's too weak not to work at bare minimum settings (especially since I've played many games on this computer, old and new, and I've never had a problem at minimum settings, and only occasionally on higher settings for some games (most recently, I've been playing Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut with little trouble).

I do wonder if I've missed some setting, or if like some people, my card's just not being used...It's frustrating not know why it's not working because I can't figure out what to try next.

 

[Biff]

mewzard

hit Windows Key + R
type "dxdiag.exe"
see if you find anything suspicious

btw. what mainboard do you use?

 

[Crawley]

Another thing to keep in mind is FPS is also dependent upon what resolution you run the game at. While the game may run at 1280x1024 fine pumping it up go 1920x1080 it's going to cost frames. So if you plan on getting a new monitor, most of which are at least 1920x1080 now, you'll want a card that can run the game fine at that resolution.

Some of the cards mentioned here are kinda low end. So wonder if they can still run at 1080p resolutions fine.

May want to spend slightly more to future proof a bit.

 

[switch3flip]

Honestly I'm not impressed by dx11 and I'm hesitating if I'll even use it. We'll see how it turns out, but as it's a port right now everything but the lighting is worse. Sound is worse, graphics are not as crisp as regular tpa and lots of new bugs. Maybe it's only me I don't know. I got it running now but as it seems now I think I'll be skipping dx11 anyway. Just don't expect too much.

 

[chinzman93]

I decided to compare that to my own card:

http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-HD-5570-vs-GeForce-GTX-560

While inferior to your own, I can't really believe it's too weak not to work at bare minimum settings (especially since I've played many games on this computer, old and new, and I've never had a problem at minimum settings, and only occasionally on higher settings for some games (most recently, I've been playing Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut with little trouble).

I do wonder if I've missed some setting, or if like some people, my card's just not being used...It's frustrating not know why it's not working because I can't figure out what to try next.

Did you check in your setting in ATI to see if you are set on something like using Super Sampling instead of MSAA? That caused me to slow down until I changed the setting.

 

[Firefox2000]

If you really do this only for TPA and no other games that middle class specs should be totally fine.

I have, and still do,enjoy a wide range of games on that set up without any major issues, it even ran with physx on full on almost all games that used it, i even had BF 4 running with a lot of stuff on full, Intel icores are simply beasts, i love em, throw a nvida card into the mix and you got a fantastic games machine, yes there will be a few games you need to drop some setting down, and there are a few games that are nothing more than console ports that require silly PC specs because the devs could not be bothered to optimise a Pc port, but as a steam box it is great, nothing better that sitting in a big comfy chair and enjoying gaming on a 60in HDTV, and with PBA and Pinball FX, i am in pinball heaven.

I decided to compare that to my own card:

http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-HD-5570-vs-GeForce-GTX-560

While inferior to your own, I can't really believe it's too weak not to work at bare minimum settings (especially since I've played many games on this computer, old and new, and I've never had a problem at minimum settings, and only occasionally on higher settings for some games (most recently, I've been playing Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut with little trouble).

I do wonder if I've missed some setting, or if like some people, my card's just not being used...It's frustrating not know why it's not working because I can't figure out what to try next.

Might be the cards drivers, have you tried a few to find one that gives you best results, ati drivers were always a issue, my last ati card was ati radeon hd 5770 and the very reason i went back to nvida cards was the drivers, i hated them.

Plus don't ati cards have a issue with post proccessing in PBA, or has that been fixed.

 

[chinzman93]

I have, and still do,enjoy a wide range of games on that set up without any major issues, it even ran with physx on full on almost all games that used it, i even had BF 4 running with a lot of stuff on full, Intel icores are simply beasts, i love em, throw a nvida card into the mix and you got a fantastic games machine, yes there will be a few games you need to drop some setting down, and there are a few games that are nothing more than console ports that require silly PC specs because the devs could not be bothered to optimise a Pc port, but as a steam box it is great, nothing better that sitting in a big comfy chair and enjoying gaming on a 60in HDTV, and with PBA and Pinball FX, i am in pinball heaven.



Might be the cards drivers, have you tried a few to find one that gives you best results, ati drivers were always a issue, my last ati card was ati radeon hd 5770 and the very reason i went back to nvida cards was the drivers, i hated them.

Plus don't ati cards have a issue with post proccessing in PBA, or has that been fixed.

The Post Processing on the ATI cards was fixed.

 

[Biff]

some Nvidia users still have trouble with post processing ...

 

[mewzard]

mewzard

hit Windows Key + R
type "dxdiag.exe"
see if you find anything suspicious

btw. what mainboard do you use?

The only problem is, I don't know what suspicious would be (kinda pathetic for someone who has used PCs for 22 years).

My processor is an AMD Phenom II X6 1045T Processor at 2.70 GHz (6 CPUs).

Did you check in your setting in ATI to see if you are set on something like using Super Sampling instead of MSAA? That caused me to slow down until I changed the setting.

I'm definitely on MSAA, I made sure to go for performance stuff where I could tell it was an option.

Might be the cards drivers, have you tried a few to find one that gives you best results, ati drivers were always a issue, my last ati card was ati radeon hd 5770 and the very reason i went back to nvida cards was the drivers, i hated them.

Plus don't ati cards have a issue with post proccessing in PBA, or has that been fixed.

Drivers have been an issue for me for some time. Several attempts at a specific one for my driver have made me have to restore my computer to before it was installed due to making skype/steam/yim unusable for some reason. I did something a little more generally recently, but I haven't noticed much of a change, so I don't even know if it was what I needed or not (I suppose I need to look into that some more).

Never tried post-processing on the regular version of the game...could the DX11 beta be doing that? Could explain my issues perhaps. Most people that I've seen post seem to have Nvidia GPUs.

 

[Biff]

The only problem is, I don't know what suspicious would be (kinda pathetic for someone who has used PCs for 22 years).
My processor is an AMD Phenom II X6 1045T Processor at 2.70 GHz (6 CPUs).

I know your CPU and asked for the mainboard.
First tab in the diagnostic tool is "System", then "Display". How many "Display" tabs do have?
Does any tab report errors in the "Notes" section?

PS: Turn on post processing for DX9 and enjoy it.

 

[JPelter]

Another thing to keep in mind is FPS is also dependent upon what resolution you run the game at. While the game may run at 1280x1024 fine pumping it up go 1920x1080 it's going to cost frames. So if you plan on getting a new monitor, most of which are at least 1920x1080 now, you'll want a card that can run the game fine at that resolution.

Some of the cards mentioned here are kinda low end. So wonder if they can still run at 1080p resolutions fine.

May want to spend slightly more to future proof a bit.

I don't really see a single card mentioned in this thread offhand that could be classified as low end. TPA isn't exactly super heavy either. If we were talking about modern fps games the sky is the limit for how much power you need, but this is much much simpler than that.

 

[mewzard]

I know your CPU and asked for the mainboard.
First tab in the diagnostic tool is "System", then "Display". How many "Display" tabs do have?
Does any tab report errors in the "Notes" section?

PS: Turn on post processing for DX9 and enjoy it.

Sorry, I got confused by what you meant. I may still be, but an internet search turned up this for the motherboard:

http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c02481318

"N-Alvorix-RS880-uATX (Alvorix)"

I have one tab for Display, though the link above for my computer seems to imply there's both my main card and an integrated one.

The notes all say that it's fine.

...Not sure if you're sarcastic with the last one, but I'll give it a shot.

 

[Firefox2000]

If getting PBA on dx11 is all you really want, and you want it done the cheapest, i think throwing in a nvida 750ti would do the trick, cards a great bang for buck, bro-in-law has one and it is a great card for the price.

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

If getting PBA on dx11 is all you really want, and you want it done the cheapest, i think throwing in a nvida 750ti would do the trick, cards a great bang for buck, bro-in-law has one and it is a great card for the price.

+1. Added advantage is it doesn't need an external power supply. Just plug it in and go no messing with 6-pin connectors or your PSU.

 

[Biff]

Sorry, I got confused by what you meant. I may still be, but an internet search turned up this for the motherboard:
http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c02481318
"N-Alvorix-RS880-uATX (Alvorix)"
I have one tab for Display, though the link above for my computer seems to imply there's both my main card and an integrated one.
The notes all say that it's fine. ...Not sure if you're sarcastic with the last one, but I'll give it a shot.

At least we have a confirmation now, that you only have one active GPU.
Every active GPU has a "Display" tab in the diagnostic tool and you only have one tab. As stated on the HP website, your integrated / on-board GPU (which btw doesn't support DX11) is automatically deactivated when a dedicated graphics card is installed.

And yes, try DX9 post processing.
Start with the best configuration. Always check your performance.
Lower the settings step by step until you find your optimal settings.
First reduce Anti-Aliasing before you turn off post processing.

 

[mewzard]

At least we have a confirmation now, that you only have one active GPU.
Every active GPU has a "Display" tab in the diagnostic tool and you only have one tab. As stated on the HP website, your integrated / on-board GPU (which btw doesn't support DX11) is automatically deactivated when a dedicated graphics card is installed.

And yes, try DX9 post processing.
Start with the best configuration. Always check your performance.
Lower the settings step by step until you find your optimal settings.
First reduce Anti-Aliasing before you turn off post processing.

Narrowing it down is good at least.

Well, I put everything at its max for DX9 (post processing, anti-aliasing, texture filtering, and ball reflection), and outside of some bits of framedrop in the menus, the tables themselves ran fairly steady at around 59-61 FPS (I've heard the normal version of the game locks the FPS; it certainly didn't in the beta).

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

Narrowing it down is good at least.

Well, I put everything at its max for DX9 (post processing, anti-aliasing, texture filtering, and ball reflection), and outside of some bits of framedrop in the menus, the tables themselves ran fairly steady at around 59-61 FPS (I've heard the normal version of the game locks the FPS; it certainly didn't in the beta).

Correct VSync is not switched on in the beta, either lock your monitor's refresh rate to 60Hz or (better) go to your GPU settings and switch on VSync for pinballarcadedx11.exe (note - this only works in fullscreen mode, use Alt+Enter to force fullscreen).

 

[rehtroboi40]

Honestly I'm not impressed by dx11 and I'm hesitating if I'll even use it. We'll see how it turns out, but as it's a port right now everything but the lighting is worse. Sound is worse, graphics are not as crisp as regular tpa and lots of new bugs. Maybe it's only me I don't know. I got it running now but as it seems now I think I'll be skipping dx11 anyway. Just don't expect too much.

Remember, this was the first beta release. It took FarSight weeks to fix bugs when TPA was first released on Steam-and there were much fewer tables then as opposed to what we've got now.

That said, you're right. If history is any indication, these bugs probably will linger for the life of the program and not be fixed. For instance, Black Knight, which was released in 2012, still has that nasty multiball bug. I don't expect TPA to be 100% bug-free, but there are still issues needing to be addressed, but are not. Just look at that "roach motel" of a PS4 version.