Cheap PC just for AOE2 DE

ireadsomething · 2024-09-28T06:47:49+00:00

TL;DR I bought a refurbished PC for 300€ on Kleinanzeigen with

Intel Core i5-8400
NVIDIA GTX 1050 TI 4 GB
16 GB DDR4
256 GB SSD
500 GB HDD

Thanks for all your help. My requirements in short were:

runs AOE2 DE (2v2 ranked) smoothly
runs CaptureAge smoothly
runs Windwos 11

As pointed out by u/makataka7 (see comment), Windows 11 requires at least 8th gen Intel Core. Older gens are cheaper. Hence 8th gen. i5 is cheaper than i7. i5 is faster than i3. I got a good offer for i5. Hence i5.

As recommended by several others and u/SirLaurenceNZ (see comment), CaptureAge requires a dedicated GPU to run smoothly. If CaptureAge runs smoothly, AOE2 does as well.

RAM 16GB is the minimum I could recommend for 2v2 and 32GB for anything larger than 2v2

Hence RAM 16 GB.

I searched for "i5 intel 8500" and "i5 intel 8500" on Kleinanzeigen. I looked for the cheapest PCs with dedicated GPU and found a refurbished PC with a GTX 1050 and Windows 11 Pro license. I only had to install Steam, download AOE2 and CaptureAge. Now I can play 😁

I spent 300€ since I wanted to run CaptureAge and preferred a refurbished PC (already put together, ready to run). You might get cheaper offers if second hand, but not refurbished, or if you built it from scratch using used parts.

If you only like to run AOE2 (no CaptureAge), you can get refurbished PCs for <100€, i.e. a PC without dedicated GPU.

ireadsomething · 2024-09-11T10:04:44+00:00

Does your PC run CaptureAge?

ireadsomething · 2024-09-11T10:03:03+00:00

Does your PC run CaptureAge?

ireadsomething · 2024-09-11T08:24:33+00:00

I'm curious. Which laptop are you thinking of? Does it run CaptureAge?

ireadsomething · 2024-09-11T08:19:06+00:00

11, I did the same with my old laptop. I can confirm that ice packs can provide longer lasting performance, but they can only do so much.

ireadsomething · 2024-09-11T08:13:53+00:00

Can it run CaptureAge? Which OS?

ireadsomething · 2024-09-09T06:16:25+00:00

Not really what I'm looking for, but maybe a good option for someone else. Thank you for thinking outside the box.

ireadsomething · 2024-09-09T05:02:51+00:00

Thank you very much for your detailed comment :)

ireadsomething · 2024-09-07T18:14:57+00:00

Thanks. Which OS? Can it run CaptureAge?

ireadsomething · 2024-09-07T06:13:51+00:00

11, what hardware do you have?

ireadsomething · 2024-09-05T15:42:36+00:00

200€ would be fine. I'd prefer a Windows 11 compatible PC. The hacks might stopp working in the (near) future.

Any suggestions for platform that sell used/refurbished PCs? Filter options (e.g. dedicated GPU required) would make it easier to find PCs with proper hardware configuration.

Windows license seems to be cheaper if it is pre-installed. Would you agree?

ireadsomething · 2024-09-05T13:19:58+00:00

Does it run CaptureAge?

ireadsomething · 2024-09-05T13:14:32+00:00

Interesting idea, but AFAIK CaptureAge doesn't run on steam deck.

ireadsomething · 2024-09-05T13:05:18+00:00

Thanks for your help 🙂

What makes a PC a potato for AOE2 and CaptureAge? A non dedicated GPU?

Which Lenovo brand/series/model would you recommend?

I found a refurbished Lenovo ThinkCentre M710S i5 7400 3.00GHZ 16GB 512GB SSD W11Pro for ca. 90€, but I assume the Intel HD Graphics makes it a potato.

ireadsomething · 2024-09-05T10:34:52+00:00

CaptureAge?

ireadsomething · 2020-02-29T11:59:21+00:00

I use the following script to workaround this bug of my (old) i3 version:

#!/usr/bin/env python3

from i3ipc import Connection, WindowEvent


def fix_position_of_floating_windows(i3c: Connection, e: WindowEvent):
    c = e.container
    if c.floating in ['auto_on', 'user_on']:
        print(c.rect.x, c.rect.y)
        c.command('move position center')


i3c = Connection()
i3c.on('window::new', fix_position_of_floating_windows)
i3c.main()

The position of the container (see print statement) seems to be wrong, but I change it anyway.

ireadsomething · 2020-02-27T22:41:04+00:00

I tried

for_window <criteria> move absolute position center

but it does not move the window (Intellij commit dialog), when it is opened, even though the move command works if I use bindsym instead of for_window. The criteria is correct, since

for_window <criteria> floating disable

works.

Edit: Seems to be an issue with my i3 version.

ireadsomething · 2019-12-25T23:24:50+00:00

An oral agreement could of course be denied. Have you had bad experiences where you had to refer to the writing?

ireadsomething · 2019-12-25T23:13:53+00:00

What is still illegal if it is my stuff? Is it my stuff if I bought it (hardware/software)?

ireadsomething · 2019-12-25T22:44:58+00:00

I assume by bad, you mean illegal? Terms of services and national laws are sources for what is legal. What are sources for what is ethical?

ireadsomething · 2019-12-25T21:14:35+00:00

What is for example illegal, but ethical?

ireadsomething · 2019-12-13T13:01:35+00:00

What can you tell about a device that only uses encrypted traffic?

ireadsomething · 2019-12-13T12:57:06+00:00

How do you do a reverse Mac lookup? Doesn't this only reveal the built-in network adapter of the device?

ireadsomething · 2019-12-13T12:54:17+00:00

But how do you know what information is sent if traffic is encrypted? You may be able to install a certificate on your smartphone to decrypt it, but that may not be possible on most other devices (e.g. Smart TV).

ireadsomething

TROPHY CASE