Jump to content

KSP1 Computer Building/Buying Megathread


Leonov

Recommended Posts

48 minutes ago, Mad Rocket Scientist said:

I'm thinking I'll buy a Intel® Core™ i5-6600K Processor and a Sapphire Radeon R9 Fury Tri-X GPU.  Thoughts?

Banana.

It is hard to say anything useful without a bit more information. What are your goals, what is your budget, what games do you want to play, et cetera. That combination, along with other components, should certainly run anything you throw at it, though it will also cost an arm and a leg.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, Camacha said:

Banana.

It is hard to say anything useful without a bit more information. What are your goals, what is your budget, what games do you want to play, et cetera. That combination, along with other components, should certainly run anything you throw at it, though it will also cost an arm and a leg.

Budget: ~$1400USD  I want to play games like space engineers, and for a while without upgrading.  However, I still want to be able to upgrade.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Mad Rocket Scientist said:

Budget: ~$1400USD  I want to play games like space engineers, and for a while without upgrading.  However, I still want to be able to upgrade.

From reviews I've seen, the 980 ti is slightly faster than the Fury X. I've tossed it onto this build accordingly.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/XYdJCJ

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($233.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($28.98 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170X-GAMING 6 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($166.94 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($63.99 @ Adorama) 
Storage: Crucial MX200 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($81.72 @ Adorama) 
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($73.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card  ($569.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1299.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-24 07:47 EDT-0400

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The 980ti is better than the Fury-X, but both are propably overkill for most people. Also the new generation is coming close (release propably in june), so it slowly gets risky to invest that much money into a GPU if its not urgent...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 hours ago, Elthy said:

The 980ti is better than the Fury-X, but both are propably overkill for most people. Also the new generation is coming close (release propably in june), so it slowly gets risky to invest that much money into a GPU if its not urgent...

Agreed. I would try and wait a few months to see what new cards come out. Also if I remember correctly Space Engineers is more CPU than GPU. So, 980ti and Fury-X would be overkill.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello all!
My cpu being very old, i'm thinking about upgrading some parts in order to prolong it's life a bit.

I know close to nothing about computer, so i'm turning to you to have advice if what i intend to do would be worth it.

So, i guess giving you what i know how about my system should be step 1, here it comes:

-Acer Aspire M5811

-Windows 7

-Intel core i5 650 @320GHz

-8 Go RAM

- Nvidia GeForce GT220 (1024Mb) GPU

Given my little knowledge of those thing, i can guess that the weakest point, probably by far, is the GPU. I know it's normally where the "can my system run this software" test fails. I have an offer for a used Zotac Nvidia Geforce GTX550 (Hope i get this right lol), for 40$.

From what i read and understand, i think going for this new card would allow me to run much more recent games, and hopefully get better performance out of KSP :P

Fact is that KSP is just about the only game i'll play for a while, with the beautiful days coming back, it will probably be the only game i have time for in the next 6 month. Knowing this, i still think upgrading GPU is the first move to do, but don't know enough to feel confident RAM would not help more or anything else for that matter.

So, GPU or RAM or something else? And that used 40$ card, good deal or not? If i decide to go for the GPU, any idea what kind of KSP performance boost i could hope for?

 

As ever.thanks in advance to those who will take the time to answer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Madscientist16180 said:
Given my little knowledge of those thing, i can guess that the weakest point, probably by far, is the GPU. I know it's normally where the "can my system run this software" test fails. I have an offer for a used Zotac Nvidia Geforce GTX550 (Hope i get this right lol), for 40$.

From what i read and understand, i think going for this new card would allow me to run much more recent games, and hopefully get better performance out of KSP :P

You will most likely gain performance by upgrading your video card. However, KSP is mostly CPU limited, so it is questionable whether you will get more performance there. You CPU is ageing, but should be still relevant in all but the most demanding modern games - and you might even get away with those.

Quote

Fact is that KSP is just about the only game i'll play for a while, with the beautiful days coming back, it will probably be the only game i have time for in the next 6 month. Knowing this, i still think upgrading GPU is the first move to do, but don't know enough to feel confident RAM would not help more or anything else for that matter.

 

8 GB RAM is still plenty for mundane tasks. More is only needed if you do production or workstation tasks. Having too much will gain you nothing, so upgrading is fairly pointless.

Quote

So, GPU or RAM or something else? And that used 40$ card, good deal or not? If i decide to go for the GPU, any idea what kind of KSP performance boost i could hope for?

Looking at prices on Ebay, the it is a fair offer. Be sure to only go for cards with GDDR5 and preferably 2 GB RAM. Also have a good look at your power supply. PSUs wear out over time, so it will not be able to provide the power it once did. Meanwhile, a new GPU might very well use more power than the old one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tks for the reply. After posting this, i decided to educate myself à bit on the subject.

Installed à program to monitor my GPU, and ran the game with that and CPU monitor on a second screen. And i learned a lot. 

At first, my game was giving me an average 25 FPS, with lows at around 12/13 FPS, all the time in any non-static situation, the lows where reached while flying and looking at Kerbin. My CPU was running at around 80/90% on the first core down to 60/70% on the last. But my GPU was 96/100% loaded all that time, reaching peaks of 105 celcius.

Read a bit about my GPU, found somewhere "will work best at resolution up to 800/600 (not certain of the numbers but low), far from the 1600/900 i was using since my screen was telling my it was it's optimal resolution. Start the game, look for the lowest resolution with my screen ratio, set it at the lowest possible value, leaving the other paramétrer the same they were before.

Sandbox, quickly build a 100 parts monstrosity, and launch.

40 average FPS with lows at around 20 to 22. Probably not as much as a high end machine can give, but still quite an amelioration! CPU still getting the same kinda load, while GPU still running mostly at 100%, and high temperature. It's been a while since i cleaned it, i'll try this to bring temps down a bit. 

All this leads me to believe upgrading my GPU will give me huge (well from my point of view) boost in FPS. Or at the very least allow me to crank up resolution again, as the visual logically took a hit dropping res so much.

Does my rambling sounds logical to someone who did not start learning how it all work literraly yesterday?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, Madscientist16180 said:

Does my rambling sounds logical to someone who did not start learning how it all work literraly yesterday?

Yes. You did exactly what the prudent advice would be: measuring what is going on. Pretty much what benchmarks do. Without knowing what you are trying to fix, fixing it becomes a haphazard, frustrating and expensive affair. You did the opposite by looking at the various components going at it and drawing logical conclusions. Well done :) If your GPU is consistently fully loaded, it certainly is the part to upgrade.

However, do note that your CPU seems to be somewhat loaded too. There is a little room to spare, but buying a card that pushes out a lot more frames will likely shift the bottleneck to the CPU. Having all cores loaded is new for KSP, so be sure of what you are seeing there. It might be the progress 1.1 brings us, though, I am simply not familiar enough with the new performance characteristics of the new version.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice, going at it methodically is teaching me a lot.

Now that my decision is made, i'm of à mind to try and overclock the old one. If cleaning it up bring down the temps evidently. From what i read, i should not expect much from doing this, but since i'm replacing it anyway, that'll be experience and if i bust the card, not so bad.

Going to Google how to do it, any links or advices?

 

 

Edit: I'm as amazed as i am ashamed to report that cleaning my computer insides changed quite a lot on the performance benchmark i did. Exact same game.exact same setting, exact same craft. GPU is still loaded at it'S max, somewhere between 96-99 when i fly the craft. BUT, CPU loads are ridiculously lower, Total load reported by my CPU NEVER exceeded 65%, while it was around 80% before. The most amazing part to me is the GPU temperatures. Flying a plane, GPU-Z was giving me a reading of 105 celcius constantly, so constantly that i think it might be the max display or something. Tried as i might now, i'm not getting anything over 58 celcius! So, well, for all those who did not knew, cleaning a computer thoroughly WILL bring performance boost lol. Bit ashamed to have waited 35 years to learn this lol.

So, I'm definitely trying to overclock that thing, as i was saying, I'm not so much after performance in that as I'm looking for the experience.

Edited by Madscientist16180
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 4/24/2016 at 4:47 AM, Alphasus said:

From reviews I've seen, the 980 ti is slightly faster than the Fury X. I've tossed it onto this build accordingly.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/XYdJCJ

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($233.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($28.98 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170X-GAMING 6 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($166.94 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($63.99 @ Adorama) 
Storage: Crucial MX200 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($81.72 @ Adorama) 
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($73.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card  ($569.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1299.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-24 07:47 EDT-0400

Okay, thanks!  I'll keep that in mind.

On 4/24/2016 at 6:59 AM, Elthy said:

The 980ti is better than the Fury-X, but both are propably overkill for most people. Also the new generation is coming close (release propably in june), so it slowly gets risky to invest that much money into a GPU if its not urgent...

What is a GPU/CPU that is not as spendy, but uses the newest connectors?  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Madscientist16180 said:

Edit: I'm as amazed as i am ashamed to report that cleaning my computer insides changed quite a lot on the performance benchmark i did. Exact same game.exact same setting, exact same craft. GPU is still loaded at it'S max, somewhere between 96-99 when i fly the craft. BUT, CPU loads are ridiculously lower, Total load reported by my CPU NEVER exceeded 65%, while it was around 80% before. The most amazing part to me is the GPU temperatures. Flying a plane, GPU-Z was giving me a reading of 105 celcius constantly, so constantly that i think it might be the max display or something. Tried as i might now, i'm not getting anything over 58 celcius! So, well, for all those who did not knew, cleaning a computer thoroughly WILL bring performance boost lol. Bit ashamed to have waited 35 years to learn this lol.

Yeah, a surprisingly thin veil of dust can wreak havoc on your airflow. CPUs clock themselves back when they get too hot as to protect themselves, so it might have gotten too hot before, causing the safety to kick in and subsequently reducing performance. If you push beyond the safety limits, most systems will turn themselves off (or have this setting disabled in the BIOS/UEFI). However, you should also be wary that slight differences in testing or even background processes beyond your control and perception can cause different results, possibly leading you to incorrect conclusions. Be sure to monitor both your CPU and GPU temperatures when overclocking or stress testing the system. The maximum temperature for this CPU chip is about 70 degrees Celsius.

GPUs can generally take more heat. It looks like this chip can take up to 105 degrees celcius. Notice anything there? It might be worth investigating whether your GPU was throttling before. Not all, but some models do this. If it runs much cooler now and stops throttling, you would both expect increased over and GPU performance and an associated increased CPU usage and therefore temperature, as the CPU will need to work harder to provide the GPU with data. There is also an off chance that the 105 degrees celcius just happened to be the point where the thermal equilibrium was reached, which would mean no throttling and no performance gain with lower temperatures. That is a bit unlikely, though I have seen stranger things happen.

 

Quote

So, I'm definitely trying to overclock that thing, as i was saying, I'm not so much after performance in that as I'm looking for the experience.

My main advice would be to do it when you have a spare card handy, and preferably a full spare system. It is a lot less stressful when something breaks (or you think you broke something, which usually happens instead of actually breaking something) if you do not depend on the parts. Having spares to swap out, especially a GPU that you know will work, greatly improves troubleshooting possibilities and reduces stress levels :)

Otherwise, just monitor temperatures closely, do not overdo voltage (or maybe do not touch it at all at first), and use something like Furmark to stress your GPU and LinX to stress your CPU. Be aware that an OEM power supply typically does not have a lot of room to spare and might get itself in trouble when pushing both or even one. Learn the difference between memory artifacts (repeating patterns) and GPU core artifacts (flashing jagged shards). Always remember to go slow. Use small incremental steps, do controlled measurements and log them, rinse and repeat a lot, try to interpret the data and have fun :)

Edited by Camacha
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I am looking to replace my G72 laptop with a desktop since it is finally starting to cap out, I mostly play KSP at the moment but also love FPS and RPG, and looking to try Star Citizen. What would you recommend looking to spend about $750, $1000 max and that is pushing it. Would love to be able to over clock it for more power.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions and help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Mad Rocket Scientist said:

What is a GPU/CPU that is not as spendy, but uses the newest connectors?  

If you mean display connectors that realy depends on what you need, it varries between each custom model. But i dont know any recent card that doesnt have displayport...

If you want recent technology in your GPU you could go for the R9 380(X) 4GB or the GTX 960 4GB. They are very good for Full-HD and wont cost to much.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Mad Rocket Scientist said:

Okay, thanks!  I'll keep that in mind.

What is a GPU/CPU that is not as spendy, but uses the newest connectors?  

Any 900 series NVIDIA GPU or 300 series AMD GPU. In a few months, that will change to a 1000 series NVIDIA GPU and 400 series AMD GPU.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Pratherdude said:

So I am looking to replace my G72 laptop with a desktop since it is finally starting to cap out, I mostly play KSP at the moment but also love FPS and RPG, and looking to try Star Citizen. What would you recommend looking to spend about $750, $1000 max and that is pushing it. Would love to be able to over clock it for more power.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions and help.

Does it need windows? Also do you need peripherals? ie mouse, keyboard, monitor etc. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, briansun1 said:

Does it need windows? Also do you need peripherals? ie mouse, keyboard, monitor etc. 

Sorry forgot to add that, No I don't need Windows or peripherals. I will need to get a new monitor eventually but not right now, If you can recommend a good 27" or 32" monitor, does not have to be top of the line just a good all around monitor.

 

I was leaning more towards AMD and Nvidia for CPU and Video but honestly I haven't had to buy or upgrade parts in 5 or 6 years so I don't really know anymore.

Edited by Pratherdude
Added
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Pratherdude said:

Sorry forgot to add that, No I don't need Windows or peripherals. I will need to get a new monitor eventually but not right now, If you can recommend a good 27" or 32" monitor, does not have to be top of the line just a good all around monitor.

 

I was leaning more towards AMD and Nvidia for CPU and Video but honestly I haven't had to buy or upgrade parts in 5 or 6 years so I don't really know anymore.

With the budget you have your should go Intel.

Here's a list I put together. It is closer to $100 than $750.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($233.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($28.98 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: MSI Z170A GAMING M5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($159.99 @ Micro Center) 
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($27.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($84.88 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.99 @ Micro Center) 
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 4GB Video Card  ($213.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 USB3.0 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($58.49 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($69.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Total: $926.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-27 13:16 EDT-0400

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most of that looks good, but the power supply is extremly oversized. 450W are plenty (lots of room for OC or an upgade) for this setup. Also why only 1 ram thing? This halfes your memory bandwidth...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, briansun1 said:

With the budget you have your should go Intel.

Here's a list I put together. It is closer to $100 than $750.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($233.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($28.98 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: MSI Z170A GAMING M5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($159.99 @ Micro Center) 
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($27.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($84.88 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.99 @ Micro Center) 
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 4GB Video Card  ($213.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 USB3.0 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($58.49 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($69.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Total: $926.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-27 13:16 EDT-0400

Thanks, This looks do able. Just so I have an understanding, why Intel what is the benefit of Intel over AMD? I have seen 6 and 8 core AMD CPU's running at 4 Ghz for the same amount or a little less. Just so I can get a better understanding of the new tech.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

56 minutes ago, Elthy said:

Most of that looks good, but the power supply is extremly oversized. 450W are plenty (lots of room for OC or an upgade) for this setup. Also why only 1 ram thing? This halfes your memory bandwidth...

1 stick was cheaper and it allows him to easily be able to add another 8gb and go dual channel at 16 gb. The PSU I chose because it is actually cheaper than the 450W and the same price as the 550W.

Edited by briansun1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Pratherdude said:

Thanks, This looks do able. Just so I have an understanding, why Intel what is the benefit of Intel over AMD? I have seen 6 and 8 core AMD CPU's running at 4 Ghz for the same amount or a little less. Just so I can get a better understanding of the new tech.

Because those are slower. You are letting yourself being fooled by cores and GHzs, while all that matters is real world performance :) A 5 GHz chip can be slower than a 1 GHz one, 8 cores can be slower than a single one. The only way to know how something performs is to try and see. People did this for AMD and Intel chips and wrote reviews about it. It turns out the Intel chips are faster when it comes to single threaded speed (important for games). The same often goes for multithreaded workloads. At the moment, Intel is the top dog.

Think of it this way: engine volume suggests something about performance, but not everything. A modern 1.6 litre engine will outperform an older 2.0 one. With chips it is no different. Looking at clock speeds to determine performance is almost like looking at speedometers to determine top speed.

Edited by Camacha
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, Elthy said:

If you mean display connectors that realy depends on what you need, it varries between each custom model. But i dont know any recent card that doesnt have displayport...

If you want recent technology in your GPU you could go for the R9 380(X) 4GB or the GTX 960 4GB. They are very good for Full-HD and wont cost to much.

Basically, here's how I understand it (this may be wrong, please tell me if it is!):

Cost of any computer component decreases after release, and then again after release of the next gen.  So what I would like to do is buy a CPU/GPU/Motherboard that is slightly out of date, so it has a better performance/price ratio.  However, I don't want to be stuck with an older standard that doesn't allow upgrading.

9 hours ago, Alphasus said:

Any 900 series NVIDIA GPU or 300 series AMD GPU. In a few months, that will change to a 1000 series NVIDIA GPU and 400 series AMD GPU.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, Mad Rocket Scientist said:

Basically, here's how I understand it (this may be wrong, please tell me if it is!):

Cost of any computer component decreases after release, and then again after release of the next gen.  So what I would like to do is buy a CPU/GPU/Motherboard that is slightly out of date, so it has a better performance/price ratio.  However, I don't want to be stuck with an older standard that doesn't allow upgrading.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

The 900 series will likely still have the current standard. It just will be slightly slower than the 1000 series. Same for the 300 and 400 series. Also, buy a feature rich motherboard if you want the new standard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...