KSP1 Computer Building/Buying Megathread

[ajshell1]

Hello everybody!

I've finally decided that it's about time for me to quit my 2010 laptop and get a gaming desktop.

After doing some searching, I found the Vanquish II.

https://www.digitalstormonline.com/configurator.asp?id=1060070

All I want right now is a desktop that can play pretty much anything that is currently out now (even with the graphics on low) for less than $1000, including the monitor, speakers, keyboard, mouse, Windows, etc. This seems to meet this, all from one place. What do you guys think?

By the way, if I do get this computer, I'll upgrade the hard drive and maybe get a better graphics card and SSD in the future when I get more money.

Specific questions I'd like answered:

Is it worth spending $70 more to get a larger HDD (0.5TB to 1TB) and a GTX 750 Ti 2GB instead of a GTX 750 1GB (by buying a higher-tier model of the Vanquish II? Is it still worth it if I plan to buy a 2TB HDD within two months and get a better graphics card and a SSD within a year?

Should I save $50 and get a lower-end monitor?

If I get another Nvidia card, will I be able to use SLI with the existing card and a new one?

If I buy a SSD, will I be able to move Windows 8.1 to the new SSD (or any hard drive) if it came pre-installed on the HDD?

Am I making a mistake that is obvious to you guys but not obvious to me?

Thank you.

Edited October 7, 2014 by ajshell1

[Elthy]

1000$ for a prebuild PC with a GT 750? Sounds like a realy bad deal. If you build your own PC you can get way better performance (the 750 is very weak). For precise partlists someone has to answer who knows more about US prices than i do...

[swiftgates24]

For 1k, you should get more than a last-gen i3 CPU and a 750 GPU. Like Elthy said, building your own PC offers more variety and generally better performance for cheaper prices.

Personally, I would go with this build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3tpHnQ Total Price (After Rebates): $1023.47

This includes everything you need and cuts the fat off of what you listed above (Note: I'm extremely Intel biased).

Allow me to list my reasons for choosing those parts:

CPU: i5 4440: Cheap CPU. It's Haswell architecture (not the current architecture, but the most mainstream at the moment). AMD has better value CPU's, but as I said, I'm Intel biased and this chip should perform just fine for you.

CPU Cooler: No overclocking, stock one is good enough.

RAM/Memory: Corsair Vengeance are great cheap RAM sticks. 8 GB is enough for most games right now and the performance you will get from 1866 Mhz or higher is marginal.

Motherboard: Only H97 because you don't plan on OC'ing. Cheap and reliable board (I like ASRock Boards). Allows for expansion of up to 32 GB of RAM later if you wish to do so.

Storage: Double the size of the HDD you listed above. Cheap and it works, nothing special about HDDs. Having the OS on an SSD and storing files on the HDD can be tricky, but if you're willing to do it, that's fine. Due to the price of SSDs, I'd stay away from them for this build to stay within budget.

GPU: Much better performance than the 750. Great bang for the buck. Fairly recent, it was only just replaced by the 970 which is also a great GPU. This should still give you decent performance. SLI is not worth it imo, due to the fact that the more cards you add, the price to performance ratio drops.

Case: I choose the 300r because it is roomier than the 200r, but you can also go for that and save a few bucks.

PSU: XFX has great quality PSU's for their price. 550W is all you should ever need. I chose the non-modular one as it can be easier for first-time builders.

Optical Drive: In case you have some disks you want to play and want to install the OS on it. You can also install Windows 8.1 through a flash drive if you don't want to spend the few extra dollars on this, but I reccomend to go with it anyway.

OS: Windows 8.1 is currently the best gaming OS atm. When Windows 10 comes out, which is an amazing step up (I have it the Tech Preview installed, great OS) from 8.1, you can install that for free.

Monitor: Good, cheap 24" monitor. Speakers are weak, however. Other than that, it's good.

Network Card: Intel NICs are great.

Keyboard/Mouse: Same as the one you chose before.

I reccomend waiting until Black Friday or Cyber Monday to purchase your parts. If you really must have it now, however, you should cut some of the extra stuff off and hit the sub 1,000$ mark

Edited October 8, 2014 by swiftgates24

[ajshell1]

snip

Wow... You just invalidated the last argument I had for the benefits of pre-built computer (tech support).

Thank you so much.

I'm going to get some second opinions on this, and if everything works out, I'll probably order the parts around cyber Monday like you suggested. This laptop can still run most of my games. I'll let you know how it goes.

I'm making one small change to your list, though.

I have some bad experiences with my current laptop's small hard drive. So I've decided to get an unnecessarily large hard drive. I'm currently planning to use this: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st4000dm000

And when I get some more money, I'm going to get this http://pcpartpicker.com/part/crucial-internal-hard-drive-ct512mx100ssd1

By the way, here are the specs for my laptop:

CPU: Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo T6600 @ 2.2 GHz

I couldn't complain for a while. Then I got Battlefield 3.

RAM: Some type of DDR3 ram with 4GB.

HDD: 282GB

Let's just say that this is the reason why I currently have X-COM: UFO Defense (16MB) installed right now rather than XCOM: Enemy Unknown (16GB). This is why I want a 4TB HDD. I want to run out of icon space on the screen before I run out of hard drive space.

GPU: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650

Graphics cards are not fine wines. They do not get better with age.

By the way, can anyone recommend a cheap small laptop? I want the cheapest thing that can run a word processor and an internet browser and isn't a surface or a chromebook.

Edited October 8, 2014 by ajshell1

[briansun1]

You could also go with an AMD GPU instead of Nvidia.

[Camacha]

@Camacha could you recommend a bare minimum configuration ?

I do not mind helping you, but it is pretty much impossible to give decent advice without knowing more. What games do you want to play, at what resolution, settings and frame rates? What other things are you going to do (besides Photoshop)? Are there certain ports or technologies you need? Give us the most detailed picture you can paint of what you want and need and you get the best advice we can give

[briansun1]

Thanks for the advice everyone, I guess i'll just wait for a little while longer. @Camacha could you recommend a bare minimum configuration ?

We'll need some more information. COuld you perhaps fill this out?

• What are you planning to do with this compuer? Please be as specfic as possible.

• What is your budget?
  1. Does this include a copy of Windows?
  2. Does this include peripheals (a keyboard, monitor, mouse, speakers, etc.)?

  [*]Are you from the United States or a different country? Are you ordering from your own country or from across borders?

  1. Wherever you may be from, does the store that you are planning to order from have a website? It's okay if it isn't in English, we can manage.
  2. If you are from the United States, do you live nearby a Microcenter?

• Do you have any specific requests with the build?
  1. Do you plan on overclocking? If yes, do you have a specific goal in mind?
  2. Would you prefer the build to be particularly small?
  3. Would you prefer the build to be particularly quiet?
  4. In general, do you prefer this to be a computer that you can spend money on now and let it rest, or a box built for continuous upgrading?
  5. Do you ever plan on utilizing NVIDIA's SLI or AMD's CrossfireX technologies? These features, with a compatible motherboard, allow a user to link multiple identical graphic cards together for added performance. In real world terms, this lets you buy a second identical graphics card down the line as a relatively cheap and easy way to gain a fairly large boost in performance. However, this requires buying a SLI/CFX compatible motherboard and PSU now, which may result in slightly higher initial cost.

[Camacha]

In real world terms, this lets you buy a second identical graphics card down the line as a relatively cheap and easy way to gain a fairly large boost in performance. However, this requires buying a SLI/CFX compatible motherboard and PSU now, which may result in slightly higher initial cost.

The general rule with CrossFire/SLI is that you do it right away, or you don't. Doing it later often makes little sense, as by that time there will be cheaper, faster and more power efficient GPU's around. No use messing about with noisy and hot double cards and the downsides of multi-card technology at that point.

[Tech Support]

thanks for being patient everyone

1. I plan to use the PC for Gaming and programming ( mostly Java ). I play games like KSP, the Total war series [ right now just Empire], Microsoft Flight Simulator X, SOSE, X COM and the occasional FPS like CoD. I don't mind playing on low or medium settings.

2. I can stretch my budget to INR 25,000.

- I already have the following

- 1 TB Western Digital Hard Disk

- Corsair CX500 PSU

- 21 inch Full HD Dell LED monitor ( 1920x1080 resolution)

- A generic Mouse and Keyboard

- An old Logitech Attack 3 Flight stick

3. I live in Chennai, India. I will be ordering from FlipKart or Amazon India. [ I would prefer FlipKart as I am a premium member and can get deliveries faster]

4. I live in a hot coastal city and I need a way to keep the system cool.

5. I do not plan on overclocking

6. Size and noise are not issues

7. This build would have to last for at least 2 years before I can upgrade again.

8. While crossfire sounds awesome, I don't see me using it.

Edited October 8, 2014 by Tech Support

[briansun1]

The general rule with CrossFire/SLI is that you do it right away, or you don't. Doing it later often makes little sense, as by that time there will be cheaper, faster and more power efficient GPU's around. No use messing about with noisy and hot double cards and the downsides of multi-card technology at that point.

Not necessarily. You can get last gen card for alot cheaper then current gen if you look around.

[swiftgates24]

You could also go with an AMD GPU instead of Nvidia.

True, but with AMD there is no PhysX, and KSP really benefits from that (assuming you're going to play KSP).

-snip-- Corsair CX500 PSU -snip-

I reccomend to not go with Corsairs' CX series. They are of poor quality, and from personal experience, fail rather quickly (mine died after 2 months. used XFX's ever since). If you look at some reviews you can see they fail also. Of course, everything can fail, but these do so much more commonly.

Edited October 8, 2014 by swiftgates24

[cantab]

True, but with AMD there is no PhysX, and KSP really benefits from that (assuming you're going to play KSP).

Irrelevant for KSP since doesn't use the GPU for physics whatever card you have.

[swiftgates24]

Irrelevant for KSP since doesn't use the GPU for physics whatever card you have.

Ah, I wasn't aware of that.

[briansun1]

I reccomend to not go with Corsairs' CX series. They are of poor quality, and from personal experience, fail rather quickly (mine died after 2 months. used XFX's ever since). If you look at some reviews you can see they fail also. Of course, everything can fail, but these do so much more commonly.

Don't know specifics, but I've heard that the Corsair PSU are actually pretty good. Right now I have one from silverstone and it's still running well.

[Camacha]

Not necessarily. You can get last gen card for alot cheaper then current gen if you look around.

Again, the newer cards will be faster and more economical, and you need a more expensive motherboard and PSU. Not to mention you will have to struggle with issues and the typical sluggish support CrossFire and SLI always come with. It rarely really pays to deal with all that, even if it saves you a couple of dollars (which is not a given). Use CrossFire or SLI if you need the speed now, but do not see it as an investment for later. A lot of people experienced that this just does not pay off.

[swiftgates24]

Don't know specifics, but I've heard that the Corsair PSU are actually pretty good. Right now I have one from silverstone and it's still running well.

Yes, most of Corsair's perform just fine. However, the CX series in particular is notorious for fiery deaths.

[impwarhamer]

Yes, most of Corsair's perform just fine. However, the CX series in particular is notorious for fiery deaths.

well that's good to know!

*cries*

[swiftgates24]

well that's good to know! *cries*

If you have one, I really wouldn't worry. With PC parts, it's rare that they will be broken/explode. This applies to all PC parts, the chance is low, but it will/can happen. Most of the time you can send the product back and get a replacement, or a new product entirely. It's more of a hassle than a disadvantage.

[Camacha]

This applies to all PC parts, the chance is low, but it will/can happen. Most of the time you can send the product back and get a replacement, or a new product entirely. It's more of a hassle than a disadvantage.

A notable exception are cheap PSU's. They can go out with a real, physical bang, or worse, a power spike that damages all other hardware. Not too much fun, especially since a lot of people are dodgy with their backups (me included).

[Tech Support]

Death to all cheap PSUs !! about five years ago, my cheap PSU spiked and fried my processor ! I have no clue how that happened, but trust me, it was burnt that's when I stopped 'saving money on PSUs' and started paying more attention to them. My CX500 has not given me any problems so far.....

[swiftgates24]

A notable exception are cheap PSU's. They can go out with a real, physical bang, or worse, a power spike that damages all other hardware. Not too much fun, especially since a lot of people are dodgy with their backups (me included).

Yes, the part you really don't want to skimp money on is the PSU. This happened with my CX, but somehow it manage not to do any damage to any components that kept it from working when I got it replaced.

[cantab]

I wonder if rubbish cheap power supplies aren't behind the habit of overspecifying, because people find that a "500W" junky power supply isn't able to power a system that draws more like 250 watts. A quality one with an appropriate output for the build will do much better.

[ajshell1]

Hey everybody, I just found something interesting for those of you out there who want to buy a HDD.

https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hard-drive-reliability-update-september-2014/

This data backup company has recently released their hard-drive failure statistics.

Also, I have three questions.

This is my current build.

1. Does everything look "alright"?

2. Do I really need a CPU cooler?

3. If I don't, what is the best way to spend $40 to improve things on this list?

Edited October 11, 2014 by ajshell1

[cantab]

Since you're not going to be overclocking with that CPU and motherboard, and this doesn't look like a silent PC build meant for silence, the liquid cooler's probably overkill. The stock cooler should be fine, or a good air cooler will be about half the price of the liquid cooler. (If you get an aftermarket air cooler, also switch to low-profile RAM to ensure clearance).

Why do you want a separate network card?

And that seems quite a bit to spend on a PC and not get a solid state drive, though if the budget's fixed I'm not sure where else I'd make the savings.

[ajshell1]

Since you're not going to be overclocking with that CPU and motherboard, and this doesn't look like a silent PC build meant for silence, the liquid cooler's probably overkill. The stock cooler should be fine, or a good air cooler will be about half the price of the liquid cooler. (If you get an aftermarket air cooler, also switch to low-profile RAM to ensure clearance).

Why do you want a separate network card?

And that seems quite a bit to spend on a PC and not get a solid state drive, though if the budget's fixed I'm not sure where else I'd make the savings.

Okay. I removed the cooler from my part list. Can you recommend any coolers in particular, if I need one at all?

Separate network card? Are you referring to the wired network adapter? It was there when someone recommended a part list to me, so I just kept it there. Are you implying by saying "separate" that one of my other parts contains a network card and I can remove this one from my list?

My budget can accommodate some more. I updated my list to include an SSD. It's a Transcend TS256GSSD340.

Here is my current part list.

Any other suggestions?

Edited October 11, 2014 by ajshell1