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KSP1 Computer Building/Buying Megathread

Leonov

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Leonov

Leonov

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Hey everyone. I just built a computer for the first time in years as an upgrade from my old laptop I had in undergrad. I'm having what looks like some driver issues with KSP and the embedded graphics on my APU (AMD A10-6800K, GPU chipset is a HD 8670D). I know the APU isn't nearly the same as a discrete card, but I feel like I should be getting more than the 2 FPS I'm currently getting. Even my old Toshiba Satellite A305 got better than that.

I didn't build this machine for gaming, but I've heard of people playing graphic-intensive games with just this APU at 30 FPS at 1080p resolution. Seems like KSP shouldn't be an issue. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Specs:

AMD A10-6800K APU w/ HD 8670D (tried both stock 4.1Ghz and OCed to 4.6Ghz, tried latest stable and beta AMD drivers)

MSI FM2-A55M-E33 (Newest BIOS)

8 GB of DDR3 RAM at 2133MHz

550W Antec PSU

You can use AMD catalyst to get the correct versions or you an go through here and get them.

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Leonov

Leonov

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So I did and he asked for this specific case. He also said that he could bump the budget up to 1500

With a new Budget of 1500$USD, I would go with something like this.

Is he going to install Windows via USB?, if not he may need to grab a Optical Drive. Or just find an optical drive laying around with a sata cable just for installation.

Change log:

Bumped up CPU to the 4670.

Bumped up to the ASUS Direct CU II 280X.

Bumped up the motherboard, more Expansion slots for upgrade-ability and older slots for usage of older cards and such.

Added Corsair Neutron GTX SSD, 120GB Flavor. Can change it to the Samsung 840 Evo or 840 Pro if desired. All are great choices with SSDs.

Changed to desired case.

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briansun1

briansun1

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With a new Budget of 1500$USD, I would go with something like this.

Is he going to install Windows via USB?, if not he may need to grab a Optical Drive. Or just find an optical drive laying around with a sata cable just for installation.

Change log:

Bumped up CPU to the 4670.

Bumped up to the ASUS Direct CU II 280X.

Bumped up the motherboard, more Expansion slots for upgrade-ability and older slots for usage of older cards and such.

Added Corsair Neutron GTX SSD, 120GB Flavor. Can change it to the Samsung 840 Evo or 840 Pro if desired. All are great choices with SSDs.

Changed to desired case.

I changed the ssd to a 840 evo 250gb becuase it was only $50 more. also why not a R9 290? so here's what it looks like right now link.

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Leonov

Leonov

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I changed the ssd to a 840 evo 250gb becuase it was only $50 more. also why not a R9 290? so here's what it looks like right now link.

The 290's are strange right now, If you really want to get a 290, I would recommend grabbing one of these. And then grab a closed loop watercooler for it(compatibility list on the page), That way the 290 wont throttle and would be worth the price.

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nine_iron

nine_iron

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Ha, reading this thread makes me thing I need a new case. My old one has been bodged (with a hammer) to fit various experiments and new components... Its also about 6 years old and in the prehistoric design of PSU at the top and no top fans!

I was in the mood for a new graphics card, looking at this 4gig (for giggles) R9 270x. If it was not Kerbmas time or the fact I am broke I would buy something, I shall stick to window shopping...

Anyway, whats peoples opinions on cases at the moment? Just in case that money tree I planted bears fruit this year! I like the look of this and cases like it but as my gaming PC is in the lounge where my wife watches TV maybe she would appreciate a soundproofed case?

2189844-b.jpg

Edited by nine_iron
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everyzig

everyzig

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That case is really not my thing, i tend to like understated and compact, like Fractal design and Antec. (looking at getting an Antec ISK-300 soon myself, a tiny little mITX case)

As for the GPU, i think 4gb is overkill for pretty much any single card setup, unless you are looking at 290/780 level cards, saving a few bucks and getting a 2gb card makes more sense

As for my query two pages ago, i found a guy on reddit who plays KSP on an overclocked GT630, at 1080p with full size textures and medium to high settings, and he pretty much gets a fluid 60fps everywhere. I'll probably get a GT640 myself to play it a bit safe though, that should be able to play KSP on high settings at 1080p 60 FPS, although AA might not be in the cards.

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jfx

jfx

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As for my query two pages ago, i found a guy on reddit who plays KSP on an overclocked GT630, at 1080p with full size textures and medium to high settings, and he pretty much gets a fluid 60fps everywhere. I'll probably get a GT640 myself to play it a bit safe though, that should be able to play KSP on high settings at 1080p 60 FPS, although AA might not be in the cards.

He claims getting 60 fps everywhere (The quest for karma on reddit promotes painting in broad strokes and stating absolutes). You should do ok with a 640, but don't expect miracles.

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nine_iron

nine_iron

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That is not really a case, more something like an experimental/overclocking platform. A proper case should always provide electrical shielding and some form of fluids/environmental protection.

I showed my wife and the first thing she said was "Wouldn't that be very noise?"... Soundproofed case it is then :)

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Leonov

Leonov

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Fractal Design Makes a handful of cases with sound deadener preinstalled, Zalman also makes a nice Passive cooler. Most of your noise will come from the GPU and case fans. There are ways to get a build pretty darn quiet, I would say 15-30 Decibels would be quiet enough for someone to not notice when you add in background noise.

cooler_decibel_chart.jpg

Edited by Leonov
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everyzig

everyzig

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He claims getting 60 fps everywhere (The quest for karma on reddit promotes painting in broad strokes and stating absolutes). You should do ok with a 640, but don't expect miracles.

I'm not, but given that my celeron pulls off 60 FPS in any scene where kerbin isnt in view (1080p with everything low), i'm inclined to believe a GT630, and 640 especially will be significantly better.

And honestly, i'm not finding a lot of data either way, this guy with his GT630 is the ONLY account i have of anyone playing with a card like this, here or on reddit, and whatever benchmarks i can find suggest the geforces are at least 5 times faster then my current GPU.

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TheCanadianVendingMachine

TheCanadianVendingMachine

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Hello! When installing a motherboard should I put spacers between it and the case? And also, how does one do that?

Also - Will this work/is it good?

POWER SUPPLY ANTEC NEOPOWER 650R 650W FOR TAKE 4 CASE

COOLERMASTER HYPER 212 EVO UNIVERSAL CPU COOLER

INTEL QUAD CORE I5 4670K 3.4GHz 6MB SK1150 4core/4Thread RETAIL BX80646I54670K

ASUS Z87-PRO LGA1150 PCI Express 3.0 SATA WiFi 802.11 ATX Retail

CORSAIR Vengeance NON-ECC DDR3 CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 8GB 1600MHZ DIMM KIT (2 x 4

GB) Retail

WESTERN DIGITAL-OEM-SATA 3TB WD30EZRX 64MB Caviar Green HARD DRIVE

GTX770 Direct CU II OC GeForce GTX 770 2GB PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort

Edited by TheCanadianVendingMachine
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Leonov

Leonov

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Hello! When installing a motherboard should I put spacers between it and the case? And also, how does one do that?

Also - Will this work/is it good?

POWER SUPPLY ANTEC NEOPOWER 650R 650W FOR TAKE 4 CASE

COOLERMASTER HYPER 212 EVO UNIVERSAL CPU COOLER

INTEL QUAD CORE I5 4670K 3.4GHz 6MB SK1150 4core/4Thread RETAIL BX80646I54670K

ASUS Z87-PRO LGA1150 PCI Express 3.0 SATA WiFi 802.11 ATX Retail

CORSAIR Vengeance NON-ECC DDR3 CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 8GB 1600MHZ DIMM KIT (2 x 4

GB) Retail

WESTERN DIGITAL-OEM-SATA 3TB WD30EZRX 64MB Caviar Green HARD DRIVE

GTX770 Direct CU II OC GeForce GTX 770 2GB PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort

What is your case?, cases either have them preinstalled or have them in a little bag.

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Camacha

Camacha

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Fractal Design Makes a handful of cases with sound deadener preinstalled, Zalman also makes a nice Passive cooler. Most of your noise will come from the GPU and case fans. There are ways to get a build pretty darn quiet, I would say 15-30 Decibels would be quiet enough for someone to not notice when you add in background noise.

Let us not forget the design the Fractals are based on, the Antec P-series. The P180, P183 and now P280 are very nice, large, silent cases. The P180 was even designed together with the lads from Silent PC Review.

I built my system to be as quiet as possible, as I became a bit allergic to sound after having a very noisy Pentium 4 machine and my workload is primarily workstation oriented - so no game noises to hide the sound of the computer. The first time I turned it on I thought I messed it up, because I heard nothing, but it just is that quiet. The key is to choose parts without too much energy output (easy with CPU's nowadays, as even high-end chips are frugal, you have to be a bit more careful when it comes to the GPU) combined with LARGE heatsinks. I use a royal fancontrolled sprinkling of Nexus Real Silent fans to top it off. Most are turned off (but nice to have on a hot summer day), a few spin at low speeds.

The only downside is that buying something new like a GPU will always carry an extra penalty in the shape of an after market cooler, as even the cards with fancy coolers are way, way too noisy.

And honestly, i'm not finding a lot of data either way, this guy with his GT630 is the ONLY account i have of anyone playing with a card like this, here or on reddit, and whatever benchmarks i can find suggest the geforces are at least 5 times faster then my current GPU.

I would recommend getting a card that you know will do what you want. At this price level a little extra money means a lot more performance. You can hardly go wrong by spending a little bit more for a card you know will perform. And of course, if it ends up being a disappointment, fixing that mistake will cost even more money.

As a somewhat useless reference, I play KSP with a GTS 450 and it is typically only 25% loaded at the highest settings and 1600x1200, although I am very CPU limited because of the mods I run (even though I have a fairly beefy CPU).

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nhnifong

nhnifong

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I need a bit of help finding an i7 2600k CPU. I do NOT want to by a used one, however I want to get it as cheap as possible. What web stores do you recommend for an i7 2600k cheap? The cheapest one I found was 2500SEK, 379 USD or 277 EURO. Can you guys find me a cheaper one?

http://www.frys.com/product/6487392?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

$145 dollars at Fry's

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stavvy

stavvy

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Hey everyone. I just built a computer for the first time in years as an upgrade from my old laptop I had in undergrad. I'm having what looks like some driver issues with KSP and the embedded graphics on my APU (AMD A10-6800K, GPU chipset is a HD 8670D). I know the APU isn't nearly the same as a discrete card, but I feel like I should be getting more than the 2 FPS I'm currently getting. Even my old Toshiba Satellite A305 got better than that.

I didn't build this machine for gaming, but I've heard of people playing graphic-intensive games with just this APU at 30 FPS at 1080p resolution. Seems like KSP shouldn't be an issue. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Specs:

AMD A10-6800K APU w/ HD 8670D (tried both stock 4.1Ghz and OCed to 4.6Ghz, tried latest stable and beta AMD drivers)

MSI FM2-A55M-E33 (Newest BIOS)

8 GB of DDR3 RAM at 2133MHz

550W Antec PSU

I hate to bump this, but I'm still having issues with this build, and I'm stumped. Just hoping to get some advice from my fellow Kerbalnauts. :) If there's another thread I should post in, I can do that.

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