i have a laptop now with a 1.6 single core,1g ram and a nvidia 7400 gcard.

running LFS by myself il get 140 fps
with 10 AI il get 50 fps
with 18 to 20 under 20 fps.

if i built a pc, what is the slowest i can get away with and still run LFS with full AI and keep it over 60 fps or more.

would my laptop do this if it was a 1.6 duo core in stead of the single?

You can generally get away with most anything in LFS until you encounter the "full grid syndrome." Even there, though, it's only the processor that holds you back. The core duo would certainly speed things up quite a bit (just to be clear though - not because it has two cores - but because the architecture allows that one core to work a lot faster.)

If you don't want to have to worry at ALL about a full grid, I'd recommend a Core2Duo at somewhere around 2 Ghz. That should cover all the bases.

Quote from Stang70Fastback :

If you don't want to have to worry at ALL about a full grid, I'd recommend a Core2Duo at somewhere around 2 Ghz. That should cover all the bases.

My E6750/8800GT gets down to about 35fps from the back of the grid at the new SO6. Everywhere else is probably 5-10fps better on the first lap, but I doubt there's anywhere or very many computers that can sustain a solid 60fps from the back of a full grid, or far harder an AI grid.

Remember atm LFS isn't multi-threaded so AFAIK there's no advantage to having a quad core unless you never close anything whilst playing LFS.

Really? I've got an FX-62 which doesn't have much of an issue with a full AI grid...

I KNOW that it's 2.8 Ghz, but the Intel processors are way faster than AMD, so I figured around 2 Ghz would be about the same... but maybe not then?

so a 2.0 intel duo with 800 fsb, 2g 800 ram and a 8500 gcard would do the trick?

thx for the posts guys...

stang.. when you said "full grid syndrome" what does that mean to you, does that mean 32 online or 20 AI single player?

full anywhere..full grid AI and full grid multiplayer

Quote from BEERcobra :

so a 2.0 intel duo with 800 fsb, 2g 800 ram and a 8500 gcard would do the trick?

thx for the posts guys...

stang.. when you said "full grid syndrome" what does that mean to you, does that mean 32 online or 20 AI single player?

Like scoobyrbac said, though I was referring more to the 20 AI in single player. Those take way more processing power because the computer is actually simulating and DRIVING all 20 cars, whereas in multiplayer it is just placing each car on a point that it's given.

8500 = Rubbish.

It's hard to know wtf your on about when you miss out several key works from the specs of the system (ie is it a Core Duo or a Core 2 Duo...?).

Quote from Jakg :

8500 = Rubbish.

It's hard to know wtf your on about when you miss out several key works from the specs of the system (ie is it a Core Duo or a Core 2 Duo...?).

yes.. then i said Core Duo i did mean Core 2 Duo.

as for the 8500 being "rubbish".. what would you pick if you didnt have lots of cash to burn?

Quote from Stang70Fastback :

Like scoobyrbac said, though I was referring more to the 20 AI in single player. Those take way more processing power because the computer is actually simulating and DRIVING all 20 cars, whereas in multiplayer it is just placing each car on a point that it's given.

i didnt even think about that... thx Stang..

How much is "not much"...?

Quote from BEERcobra :

so a 2.0 intel duo with 800 fsb, 2g 800 ram and a 8500 gcard would do the trick?

You'll get better performance from a 6800GT or 7600GT than an 8500, and you're very unlikely to find a DX10 only game it can play.

Quote :

stang.. when you said "full grid syndrome" what does that mean to you, does that mean 32 online or 20 AI single player?

[/quote]

32 cars online is much easier than 20 cars offline, I think most people are referring to 'full' grids online (which could mean anything between 20, the most common grid size on popular servers to 32). With that processor you should have no issue with LFS and (if and) when LFS becomes multi-threaded they'll be a big improvement just forget about that 60fps anytime figure, expect lows of about 40, noticeable but still completely playable, where my 2.8ghz P4 was dropping bellow 10

thx for the info ajp71..

Go for an 8800 GT if you can fork out the cash. I have a Core 2 Duo E6750 OC'ed to 3.2 GHz, 8800GTS SSC 640MB, I get around 80FPS in a full grid of AI. I know from experience that a 1.6 GHz CPU wont handle 20 AI. LFS displayed 10 FPS, but in reality I was seeing around 2-2.5 fps.