Fernando,
I only have experience with Zwift on Intel processors, so I can’t comment. However, processor is the least important piece of the pie when it comes to hardware with zwift.
You could pick up an Intel i3 brand new on Newegg for $125. Just a suggestion.
-Brandon
Is the conclusion here that the ‘minium’ specs are actually fine for running Zwift just so long as you dump in a good graphics card then that should get you most of the way there?
“most of the way there” is somewhat ambiguous.
you can run Zwift on the minimum specs and get reasonable resolution, subject to your internet connection being up to scratch.
Beyond that, for some people, the goal is to pursue the ultra resolution for the most immersive display but it is not essential to be able to enjoy Zwift.
Yes. The base Alpha i3 will run Zwift just fine on medium and/or high settings. If you take the additional step to add a SSD and 4GB more RAM, you can get high and ultra settings.
FWIW - I got the Alienware Alpha (i3 version with the Zwift promo code, 4GB RAM) a couple of weeks ago. Tried running it at 1080p and noticed some choppiness that was not obvious in 720p. So I had been running in 720p since. This morning, I upgraded the memory to 16GB hoping to see some improvement. Set it to 1080p and immediately saw things running very smoothly. HOWEVER, once the mountains came into view, things got choppy like they did before the memory upgrade…so the framerate is definitely dependent on what is going on on-screen and how many surfaces the GPU has to render. Apparently, upgrading the memory from 4GB to 16GB really didn’t have much impact.
Hi Phil Lam,
I too recently purchased Alienware Alpha i5 with 8GB of rams.
I been using exclusivly on zwift on a setting of 1080p with no problem.
Check if you are not running some other application on the background,
also it might be your monitor. Some monitors have settings independent from
the console. Even if you have a i3 model with 16GB of rams you should not
have choppiness in the graphics.
My Alpha is new and Zwift is the only application I’ve ever run on it. It is hooked up to my Samsung 55" television, which is set on a Gaming video setting.
You should check the setting on the computer for the display properties.
It should be set at 1080p the same as your television. If it is set much higher
it might cause these problem you’ve been having. If this is not the case next
thing is contact Dell, it could be defective graphic card.
That and possibly make sure those drivers get updated. As I’ve mentioned in the Facebook thread, we use the base i3 models on televisions and they run great.
It’s also what we use for public demos.
The Alienware Alpha runs smoothest at 720p. A little choppiness at 1080p doesn’t really imply it’d be a defective graphics card. RAM shouldn’t have any real effect on the performance right now, altho 8gb would be nice to have down the road as the worlds expand.
I did check drivers, and all the video settings looked right to me on the computer and the TV. Fwiw, I just upgraded the Alpha to Windows 10…not sure if it made a difference, but it seems like the frame rate improved slightly with lots of mountains and scenery in view.
I think Jon M probably has it right…my eyes are pretty sensitive to frame rates, so I’m guessing I’m just noticing some slowdown from lots of polygons being rendered, but it’s not like its dropping down below 20fps…
Ah, I thought it was slowing to a crawl.
Brandon - just curious if you could provide a link to the Kingston HyperX RAM you purchased on Amazon?