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KSP1 Computer Building/Buying Megathread


Leonov

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Let me clarify, When i said, "Your only plus side to getting the K version is that you have an unlocked multiplier, there are no stripped out features." i should have probably put, "Your only plus side to getting the K version is that you have an unlocked multiplier, there are no stripped out features on the non-K processors." I understand that the K units do not come with a lot of specialty features. Even so most of those features do not apply to the average consumer who is trying to simply buy a computer to play video games and what have you.

If we are being honest here, Current Gen CPUs such as Haswell and even Ivy/Sandy-Bridge are so powerful that the gain in performance between them isn't that amazing. Whats really changing is power consumption which is necessary for the After-PC Market, lets face it a day will come where a tablet will do everything a laptop can do. An example of this is the Microsoft Surface 2. The time is coming where Tablets will satisfy consumers need for a computer. Maybe is Intel can get their Broadwell Chips to stop melting the 14nm process will be worthwhile. There is a reason why many people are buying Haswell for new machines, one of them is that Intel's pricing scheme barely makes sense, Instead of old processors becoming cheaper they stay the same price. But this are all side issues.

I do minor hobby dev work occasionally. Most games I play have poor multithread performance. This is why I chose a Haswell processor instead of an Ivy. While the Ivy had better multithreaded performance for the same price, the Haswell i5 had better single thread performance. It's sounding like I should go with the K though, as I'm not likely to use the stripped features of the standard 4670.

I'm still looking for a case. I need one with a front door, because I have small children who like to push buttons, and no top vent, because the spectre of children spilling things into my case terrifies me.

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I do minor hobby dev work occasionally. Most games I play have poor multithread performance. This is why I chose a Haswell processor instead of an Ivy. While the Ivy had better multithreaded performance for the same price, the Haswell i5 had better single thread performance. It's sounding like I should go with the K though, as I'm not likely to use the stripped features of the standard 4670.

I'm still looking for a case. I need one with a front door, because I have small children who like to push buttons, and no top vent, because the spectre of children spilling things into my case terrifies me.

The 4670K is the one that is missing the features such as VT-d. If you really want VT-d you have to make sure your motherboard supports it.

As for case, i cant think of one off the top of my head that has no top vents, that is such a odd problem to worry about.

I understand the problem of them accidentally turning your computer off, but pouring liquids into it? Has this by chance happened before?

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The 4670K is the one that is missing the features such as VT-d. If you really want VT-d you have to make sure your motherboard supports it.

I understand. The K version is an overclockable stripped-down version of the standard. I probably don't need VT-d

As for case, i cant think of one off the top of my head that has no top vents, that is such a odd problem to worry about.

I understand the problem of them accidentally turning your computer off, but pouring liquids into it? Has this by chance happened before?

It hasn't happened before. Perhaps I'm just paranoid.

Since I'm probably just paranoid, should I have any qualms about getting this case? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146139

Normally I don't like refurb stuff, but the moving parts of a case are pretty cheap if something fails.

Aaand out of stock. Guess I should have snapped that up when I saw it.

Edited by Ambulatory Cortex
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I'm still looking for a case. I need one with a front door, because I have small children who like to push buttons, and no top vent, because the spectre of children spilling things into my case terrifies me.

As long as you are aware that no case will stop a full on spillage :P Having no top grid helps, but fluids have a nasty habit of going everywhere. It might be wise to stock up on demi or distilled water. When push comes to shove that will enable you to salvage (most of) your hardware. Just unplug your computer, take all the components apart as much as possible and rinse royally. Preferably by pooring it on, instead of submersing it, as the latter might contain small amounts of the spillage. This will wash off any corrosive elements in the spilled fluid (which are present even in normal tapwater). Thoroughly dry by leaving it out and naturally letting it dry for a couple of days and you should be good to go.

I usually have a small supply on hand for exactly this reason and it has served its purpose already. It seems weird to pour water on electronics, but it really is for the best. There are no guarantees, but could and should mitigate a lot of trouble and expenses and has saved my hardware before.

In case of a spillage without washing your hardware thoroughly damage might not be immediately apparent, but corrosion is a slow killer and can lead to all kinds of trouble in the long run.

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Update on my problem from earlier! I got it working, I went and took my computer over to a buddies house yesterday and used his monitor with a dvi cable and it worked on the first time! Then after updating all the drivers for it, I shut it down and tried the HDMI and we got it going! playing KSP right now :D :D :D Woot! Its a wierd fix I think, kinda like we had to trick into working :P lol

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I really like my corsair C70 :D Its got room for 2 fans up front behind a nice dust filter and you can actually fit another 2 against the inside of the drive cages if you would want :) Its got room for a total of 10 fans :)

I was looking for getting this case, nice to hear that it is a good choice :D

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I was looking for getting this case, nice to hear that it is a good choice :D

It seems to be becoming a crowd favorite. I also have the C70 in Black. Build quality is exceptional, Just about everything is made from Rolled steel, which is very nice. It has holes w/rubber grommets for cable management. Its nice to have a case with carry handles, and Latches instead of the old screw method of holding the sides on. Every intake/exhaust point on the case has a washable dust filer, keeps the insides nice and clean.

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It looks like the Antec Sonata Proto might be the case I should get. Am I likely to have any issues fitting everything into it?

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How does the Antec VSK-4000 look for a case? I'm trying to figure out if it can slot two 120mm fans in the front, as well.

Antec generally makes solid cases. If you look at the reviews, they tend to do pretty well. Not the cheapest, but you get what you pay for.

I own a P180 myself and am very content with it.

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Antec generally makes solid cases. If you look at the reviews, they tend to do pretty well. Not the cheapest, but you get what you pay for.

I own a P180 myself and am very content with it.

I have discarded the VSK-4000 in favor of the Antec Sonata Proto. It appears to offer everything I want. Front door which covers power button(lockable), front usb and audio, and no top vent. Side panel is also lockable, but that doesn't matter much to me.

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(Hope this is the right thread)

Anyone have a recommendation for a relatively (< 130$) graphics card? I currently have an ATI Radeon 4200, and it's OK for kerbal space program, but for other games, (space engineers :D) it's horrible. Any ideas?

I think this should work:

http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GeForce-PCI-Express-Graphics-GV-N650OC-2GI/dp/B00942TJXY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1387071429&sr=8-1&keywords=gigabyte+gtx+650

If anyone could pull out a AMD one that's around this level And has 2GB Vram that'd be great, because i can't find any :/

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This List would be better for his price range.

Without having a lot of information about the person in question, above is what i would recommend.

Droped the CPU down to the 4570, trust me it is plenty fast for this build, i lowered the GPU to the R9 270X and went with the Direct CU II Top edition form ASUS, Quality Chips and the cooler is one of the best out there. The card is easily push-able to 1.2ghz+ if speed really becomes an issue. The 280X is just not in the price range of these kinds of builds, unless the person can raise their budget a smidge, then a sapphire brand 280X will fit perfectly.

Good ASUS Mobo, no need to splurge for something overkill.

SSDs aren't really good for this price range, especially one that is only 120GB. The caviar blacks are pretty quick and Western Digital has great warranty if something goes awry, 1TB is becoming the minimum for gaming and general computing.

Does the person realize how Massive that case is?, i mean it says Mid tower but having handled one IRL that thing might as well be a full tower with how massive they are.

Why windows 8.1?

Edited by Leonov
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win 8.1 becuase he has no preference

as for the case it's kind of just a placeholder that I put in there

Run this by the guy/gal, it should be a little better.

Changed the case to their new series of Graphite cases, for 70USD it doesn't get any better. Even has cable routing holes.

Wiggled in a good 280X

Edited by Leonov
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I'll briefly introduce myself before asking all sorts of questions, i'm everyzig, 28 years old, been playing KSP for about a year, and i hang around the KSP subreddit quite a bit (same name)

Now i started out playing KSP on my work-laptop, which i have had to turn in, since i switched employers. I've since constructed my own KSP rig, a tiny mini-itx computer made up off scraps from the attic (case, SSD), leftovers from upgrading my PS3 (HDD) and some fine parts supplied by the lowest bidder, in good kerbal traiditon (Asrock H61m-itx, Intel G1610, 2x2gb ddr3). Now i'm slowly getting more funds available for kerbal purposes, and i and itching to upgrade. CPU wise the celeron does OK (my launchers tend to be 200 parts MAX), but the integrated video is struggling with my 1080p screen, even at the lowest settings.

So my question is, what kind of GPU would i need to run KSP at 1080p, high detail, full res textures and with some mild AA? To be blunt, i want an Nividia card (my rig runs linux, and recent encounters with AMDs linux drivers have convinced me to stay away), and if possible, i'd even want a low profile single slot card (as this allows me to keep my machine in a much smaller case, i have my eye on an Antec ISK-300, which is already larger then what i have now), but that would mean GT640 or lower, and i have no idea if that is powerfull enough.

KSP is pretty much the only PC gaming i do, and my proposed upgrade would also include an i3 cpu, a new case and a new PSU, so anything more expensive then a GT650Ti is out of my budget

Anyone have any experience with the GT630, GT640, GTX650 or GTX650Ti in KSP?

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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

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