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KSP1 Computer Building/Buying Megathread


Leonov

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Hey everyone, the last few weeks I've been looking and trying to figure out how to make a PC for KSP use,

i7 6700k CPU

32gb RAM - for Mods

SSD

GPU - not a priority

my only problem is I have no idea what motherboard to use, I've looked into the Asus z170 atx DDR4, but it's out of market and out of production, anyone have any suggestion on a good motherboard for ksp n i7 6700k, I assume I need a motherboard that allows overclocking? Please help me, finding a motherboard is my only problem now, I'm basically ready to buy the parts 

Edited by AlexF0901
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7 hours ago, AlexF0901 said:

i7 6700k CPU

Why the old CPU? Of course you're running into problems when trying to build a PC with completely outdated equipment. If you already bought the CPU you should look for a Z270 board and if you didn't already buy it look for an i5 9600k with a z390 board instead.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 8/26/2019 at 10:51 PM, Harry Rhodan said:

this card finally came out on newegg and its $700+. ouch. i can get a full 2080 and save $50 which opens a new can of worms.

there is no way in hell one of those 2080s is going to fit into my elite 110 (unless i replace the entire front panel with one of my own design). so a new case is required, my only requirement is that it is smaller, so it has to beat 15 liters and i want at least 2 fans in it. the elite 110 had this issue and i just ended up cutting a hole in the cover to accept a 92mm low profile fan. the silverstone sg13b has a similar configuration while shaving off a few liters, and i think i might be able to do the same second fan hack on it. there are also these newer sandwich style cases, which mount the gpu behind the mobo tray via a pcie extension cable. problem is its not an accepted form factor and most of the cases in this configuration are expensive because they were crowdfunded low run cases, and they are not always available. the thought of spending $200+ on a case leaves a sour taste in my mouth. but i really like the configuration. theres also the side by side configuration that horizontally mounts the graphics card with an l-bracket, though zero room for case fans, and not entirely cat proof if i use the vertical stand config, under monitor maybe.

there is also the issue of my 650w sfx supply might not be powerful enough to power it. but corsair now has a 750w sfx supply if i have power problems. 

now my sub $600 upgrade is up to $800, possibly $900+ and i haven't even looked at fans yet.i might be able to cut corners with a factory refurb card. any other ideas to cut costs?

Edited by Nuke
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1 hour ago, Harry Rhodan said:

Apart from going with a 2060 Super instead I would either wait or look for another vendor because in Germany that card only costs about 530€ including VAT.

ok, found it in a couple places for under $500. might stick with my original plan after all.

Edited by Nuke
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2 hours ago, Elthy said:

Dont forget that it also has a bigger power draw resulting in more heat. This is allready a challenge in small cases, so i would recommend to go with the smaller option.

thats what they said about my cpu, but it can run a full 2-hour photogrammetry job on all 12 threads at 4+ ghz without breaking a sweat. of course im concerned that my 2 year old sfx 650w will crap out on me, thats another $180 for the 750w model, not to mention new case and high performance fans.

i thought the sandwich cases would be a solution but they have problems.

1. they are made by people with more money than brains. i dont need anodized cnc aluminium construction. as cool as it looks, totally unaffordable where stamped aluminium stock would have been fine. $200 is way to much to spend on a case the size of a shoebox. 

2. i watched some videos and people were saying they had to undervolt things to keep it cool. idk if i want to get into that. and id hate to see my cpu throttle on them photogrammetry jobs.

3. if the idea was good the major case companies would be jumping on board. but maybe only a couple lesser known case manufacturers are putting them out. most of the ones out there come from crowdfunding campaigns and who knows what their engineering credentials are. 

so in the end i think im going with the 2070 super. money i save can go into an ssd upgrade. replace that old sata m.2 drive with a 1tb pcie nvme stick. also contemplating some case mods for my elite 110. mainly modding the bezel to get rid of the coolermaster logo button so i can externally mount the 140mm fan, which would get upgraded to a high performance noctua. this will make room for another 92mm fan on the right side panel. dremel out the interior grill on the forward bulkhead to improve airflow. convert the drive rail to support a couple 80mm fans (maybe, not sure about the clearance up there), and 3d print some ductwork for the gpu and psu. possibly switch to a negative pressure configuration. this would pull in most of the air from the left side grill near the gpu and some from the upper grill and whatever vents are in the back venting forward and right. maybe an internal airflow diverter to make sure the cool air reaches the cryorig c7cu while avoiding the dead zone on the right of the psu and another to make sure the big 140 draws air from the bottom of case rather than directly off the upper vents.

Edited by Nuke
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I dont think you need a new PSU for a 2070S and an uspecified 6 core CPU, even if thats an old overclocked Sandy-Bridge-E or similar you are still not realy straining the PSU, except its some cheap chinesium mainly filled with concrete instead of components.

Im currently planning a new PC in a small case, too. I will go for the Phanteks Evolve Shift Air, an R5 3600 and keep my RX 480. Will be interesting to see the thermals on that, the "Air" variant should have plenty of airflow with those large mesh surfaces.

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5 hours ago, Elthy said:

I dont think you need a new PSU for a 2070S and an uspecified 6 core CPU, even if thats an old overclocked Sandy-Bridge-E or similar you are still not realy straining the PSU, except its some cheap chinesium mainly filled with concrete instead of components.

Im currently planning a new PC in a small case, too. I will go for the Phanteks Evolve Shift Air, an R5 3600 and keep my RX 480. Will be interesting to see the thermals on that, the "Air" variant should have plenty of airflow with those large mesh surfaces.

the calculators i used said i could go with the full 2080 and only get up to 500w. but this supply is a couple years old and it might not have the same performance as whats on the label. id even call it the most reliable power supply ive ever used. makes me wonder why people still use full atx psus on their builds. unless you need something insane like 1kw or more.

as for the cpu its an 8086k. pretty much an 8700k with a 4ghz base clock.

Edited by Nuke
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  • 2 weeks later...

I've got about $50 to spend on a new video card.  It ain't much, but times is tight.

I'm running KSP 1.7.3 with Ubuntu 18.04 64-bit on an Intel® Core™ i5-4690 CPU @ 3.50GHz × 4 with Intel® Haswell Desktop graphics and 7.5GiB (8GB) of RAM.  I'm posting here because I use about a dozen or so mods.  Even with a pure, clean install Duna bogs my system down awful at half resolution graphics, anti-aliasing turned off, and terrain scatter off.  What I mean is that I visited Duna and even from orbit whenever the planet is within view my framerate tanks and the game freezes for a few seconds at a time.  It doesn't do that with Kerbin, Mun, or Minmus.  It does it minimally with Ike.  Haven't gotten to the other planets yet.  I had installed EVE and a skybox, but had to take them both back off again.  And I can't watch the ground during a Kerbin launch if I have more than about ten or fifteen parts.

So, am I better off waiting (a long time, I suspect) for a lot more money, or is there a card out there which will meet my low budget and actually bring some improvement?  Nvidia works better with Linux, generally, so I was looking at this: GeForce GT 710 2GB.  But I don't know.

Any suggestions?

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@Barefoot Friar, I've merged your thread into our master thread for this sort of thing.

As far as I'm aware, yes, you're better off with Nvidia on Linux.

If I were in your shoes, I would get the best used GPU I could for the budget.  I wouldn't go with that GT 710.  I would go to eBay.  There are GTX 1050Tis on there for under $50.  If you're patient, you may even be able to swing a 3GB 1060 for that price.  Just make sure it's a reputable seller before you buy.  A lot of scams out there.

Virtually any GPU will be an improvement, and you don't need to go too high.  KSP isn't a GPU dependent game.  Having one helps, but it's more that you have one than what it is.  I saw no real difference in KSP going from a GTX 1050Ti to a GTX 1070Ti.

This of course is dependent on if your power supply can handle it.

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Oh, and make sure whatever you try to get is branded.  EVGA, Gigabyte, Zotax, MSI, etc.  You really don't want to deal with the unbranded cards from China.  If you find something you like, it would be a good idea to ask here first before bidding/buying.

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On 10/11/2019 at 8:22 PM, Barefoot Friar said:

so I was looking at this: GeForce GT 710 2GB.

https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-HD-4400-Desktop-115-GHz-vs-Nvidia-GeForce-GT-710/m8064vsm77649

No. Just no. Like Geonovast said, a used 1050 Ti (with or without additional power supply based on what your PSU is capable of) would most likely be the best option. A 1030 would also be ... well not good, but better than the 710.

In the last few years AMD really supported the opens source drivers for Linux while you still need the proprietary blob for Nvidia. You could also try looking for a used RX 470/570 if your'e willing to take the risk.

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8 hours ago, Slimepirate said:

What PC would you recommend to a new gamer and player of KSP

Well that depends on what you're expecting the machine to do and how much you're willing to spend. I would guess a build around a Ryzen 5 3600 wouldn't be a bad choice for a good allrounder.

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I've been thinking of buying a new game pc.. my current setup is ok (i5 4690 + gtx 970).

WHat would you guys do: Wait until the next gen RTX GPU's come out next year or go for this setup:

 

Part Item
CPU
i7-9700k
MB

Asus PRIME z390 A Atx lga1151 

GPU

MSI RTX2080s

COOLER

Be quiet! Dark Rock 4

RAM

Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB DDR4

SSD

intel 660p 1Tb

POWER

Fractial design edison M 650 W 80+ Gold

CASING

Phaneks Enthoo Pro ATX Full tower case

In total, this setup is around 2200 euro (including windows 10, installation and assembly )

I mainly use my pc for gaming: KSP, rimworld, witcher 3, fallout, red dead redemption 2, KSP 2 (!)..  

it would be nice to play games at 60hz and 4k resolution, but I really want to play RDR2 and KSP2 with all sliders to da maxxxxx :D

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3 hours ago, xendelaar said:

I've been thinking of buying a new game pc.. my current setup is ok (i5 4690 + gtx 970).

WHat would you guys do: Wait until the next gen RTX GPU's come out next year or go for this setup:

 

Part Item
CPU
i7-9700k
MB

Asus PRIME z390 A Atx lga1151 

GPU

MSI RTX2080s

COOLER

Be quiet! Dark Rock 4

RAM

Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB DDR4

SSD

intel 660p 1Tb

POWER

Fractial design edison M 650 W 80+ Gold

CASING

Phaneks Enthoo Pro ATX Full tower case

In total, this setup is around 2200 euro (including windows 10, installation and assembly )

I mainly use my pc for gaming: KSP, rimworld, witcher 3, fallout, red dead redemption 2, KSP 2 (!)..  

it would be nice to play games at 60hz and 4k resolution, but I really want to play RDR2 and KSP2 with all sliders to da maxxxxx :D

That will be plenty for absurd framerates. Especially given that you specify plural graphics cards (even one 2080 is plenty for 120hz in most games). If you are looking into two graphics cards, don’t. Save yourself $800.

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14 hours ago, splatn't™ said:

That will be plenty for absurd framerates. Especially given that you specify plural graphics cards (even one 2080 is plenty for 120hz in most games). If you are looking into two graphics cards, don’t. Save yourself $800.

the "s" wasn't meant as plural hehe. It's the RTX 2080 Super. thanks for commenting on the setup. I'm still wondering if i should wait for the next gen GPU's or not..they're being released somewhere next year.. Also the new Icy lake CPU chips are released in 2020, but I believe this is only for laptops... 

just thinking out loud... I could always replace a gpu with a new one, but replacing the CPU is more difficult since we don't know if we can use the same motherboard or not. 

Maybe I should buy the new setup when KSP2 comes out... :)

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50 minutes ago, Harry Rhodan said:

Which one?

I was thinking of the 3000 MHz strips (Link). What would you suggest? 

53 minutes ago, Harry Rhodan said:

Yeah, you should buy a new machine when you actually need the performance.

That means I will buy one in december when red dead redemption 2 joins the pcmasterrace ;)

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