Building a PC for X3-AP

[Klord]

So I decided to build a new rig to play X3-AP for a long run. I know X3 is old and a CPU hog, so the FPS will drop as the game progress.

Thus I need help deciding on a CPU. I have following queries,

(1) Will an i3 processor with 4.2Ghz run it better compared to an i5 processor with 3.5Ghz turbo up to 3.8 Ghz? (I checked CPU benchmark for the processors I have in mind, and "single thread rating" performance of i3 is 2400 while i5 one has 2100)

(2) i3 processor (which I checked) cache is 3MB while i5 has 6MB. Will it be a matter? Is cache important for X3 games?

Edit -
(3) Is cache memory important for modern demanding AAA games? I dun wanna end up with a PC with low performance while trying to satisfy a decade old game.

Thank you for any insight you can provide regarding these matters. Cheers!!!

[Alan Phipps]

Moving to OT where hardware is discussed.

[pjknibbs]

X3 is a single-threaded game so you want the maximum single core performance you can get, as a general rule. However, surely this machine is not going to be used exclusively for playing *one* game and will never be used for anything else? More modern games are starting to require at least 4 cores before they'll wake up in the morning, so you'd be building obsolescence in to get a system with only 2 cores.

Overall, I would get a 4-core (or more) CPU with the best per-core performance you can get and not worry too much about cache memory--the latter will make some difference in performance, but not enough to make it be the deciding factor in which machine you get.

[NewtSoup]

I use this system ( and have done for about 6 years now )

Intel Core i5 3570k overclock @ 4.2ghz with Arctic Freezer Pro 7 Cooler
Gigabyte Z77-UDH3 Main board
nVidia GTX660-Ti 2mb
16gb Ram
500gb SSD
550W Antec Quiet PSU

It's long in the tooth these days but it plays X series games very well and although it can't play the latest games at ultra graphics any more it still plays them at very pretty levels acceptably.

Hope that gives you some inspiration. I can't make actual recommendations because I've not looked into gaming rig building for a number of years now.

[08murch]

To be honest it's not the most demanding game so u can get away with a low ghz cup . For example I use a laptop .

I7 7700hq 2.7ghz turbo to 3.7ghz
16gb ram
Gtx 1050ti 4gb
120gb Kingston SSD
1tb HDD

So I don't think u need the beat Cpu. In my experience

[Hank001]

After a major failure of my motherboard's I/O (How major is the Sata block parting from the board? Was a Gigabyte 970A-D3P)
I just replaced it with a GIGABYTE GA-AB350-GAMING 3 (rev. 1.0)
16gb Hyper-X memory and kept my GeForce 9800 GT x2 SLI (For driver compatibility with my VM's running Win XP pro 64 bit.) Processors I've got and was thinking about using an AMD FX 8350 8 core @ 4ghz.
Seeing as how I use 5 HDD's my primary OS is Linux (multiboot to Win) I'll probably be driver loading all next week!

[theeclownbroze]

For the CPU, get FAST cores, not MORE cores when it comes to X3's engine. By FAST I mean not just the clock speed, but the instructions per clock. On my laptop with a 7700hq processor the game runs at almost 250 fps lol (it is an old game to be fair but I can recall back in time when X3 use to be quite a demanding game on the present hardware)

[Hank001]

@ theeclownbroze

Good point, but my cpu choice was really driven by my 3D graphics design work and the amount of multitasking I need. That and I have drivers for the processor that works on XP up to Win 10.

Frankly I don't think I'm going to have many problems with X3 dragging the system.

[theeclownbroze]

My comment was directed at the OP, it sounds like you're all sorted out Hank