New computer specs for KSP

[jlcarneiro]

Hello, I may not be able to fully enjoy Black Friday, but I'd like some help on choosing a new notebook for me (and of course, KSP!)...

I have a few options within my budget (3000 BRL, around 750 USD), almost every option with 8GB of RAM, but I'd like some advices on CPU and GPU.

What kind of CPU should I go for: i5 7200U (dual core, higher clock) or i5 8250U (quad core, lower clock)?

What about GPU? MX130, MX150, 940MX or other? And Radeon?

And what if I have to choose between better CPU with worse GPU and a worse CPU with a better GPU? What are the limits, the "turning points" (I mean, "don't go below this CPU no matter what GPU it has" or vice versa)?

What are advices can you give me, are there any "rules of thumb" I could use?

Oh, I play KSP on Linux...

Edited November 23, 2018 by jlcarneiro

[Geonovast]

For CPU, you want to focus on single core performance.  KSP is primarily single threaded, so if you're focusing mainly on KSP, you want to look at that.  The higher clockspeed will usually be the better choice (depending on a few things), but single thread benchmark numbers is where it's at.  More cores won't really help much.

For GPU, unless you're planning on dumping in a lot of visual mods, just having one is what helps, not really what it is.  It's just nice to take that load off the CPU.

My laptop has the i5-7200U with a 2GB 940MX with Linux Mint and it plays stock / light modded just fine.

 

[jlcarneiro]

@Geonovast, thanks for your input!

The i5-7200U is dual core, right? At what clock?

The only "but" is (are?) the mods... What do you call light modded? Currently, I use 72 of them. Do you want the list? Of the visual ones, I use: EVE (SciFi lite configs), TextureReplacer, DistantObject, reentry effects, PlanetShine, Enginelightning, BAM and some sound ones (like wheelsounds and chatterer)...

Edit:

My current notebook has an i5 3337U (2.7GHz) with 6GB of RAM and GeForce 740M (1GB).

What do you think?

Edited November 24, 2018 by jlcarneiro

[Geonovast]

2 minutes ago, jlcarneiro said:

@Geonovast, thanks for your input!

The i5-7200U is dual core, right? At what clock?

https://ark.intel.com/products/95443/Intel-Core-i5-7200U-Processor-3M-Cache-up-to-3-10-GHz-

It's dual core, but has 4 threads.  Base clock is 2.5ghz. with a boost of 3.1ghz.

3 minutes ago, jlcarneiro said:

The only "but" is (are?) the mods... What do you call light modded?

I run less than 10 on my laptop.  It's not my main computer, just it's really just for messing around when I'm not home, not serious playing.

4 minutes ago, jlcarneiro said:

What do you think? 

I think you should get a desktop with a processor better suited for KSP.

[jlcarneiro]

10 minutes ago, Geonovast said:

https://ark.intel.com/products/95443/Intel-Core-i5-7200U-Processor-3M-Cache-up-to-3-10-GHz-

It's dual core, but has 4 threads.  Base clock is 2.5ghz. with a boost of 3.1ghz.

I run less than 10 on my laptop.  It's not my main computer, just it's really just for messing around when I'm not home, not serious playing.

I think you should get a desktop with a processor better suited for KSP.

Thats the problem: the i5 8250U has only 1.67GHz, it should NOT be chosen, then?

About getting a desktop, unfortunately, I don't see that happening in the near future...

[Harry Rhodan]

10 hours ago, jlcarneiro said:

Thats the problem: the i5 8250U has only 1.67GHz, it should NOT be chosen, then?

It also has a slightly higher turbo speed than the 7200U.

The main problem here is that both CPUs have about the same headroom for waste heat, about 15W. That means if KSP is actually only using one thread and the rest of the chip is idling then there's a posiibility that the 8250u will be about as fast or slightly better than the 7200u. In the end it really depends on how well the heat management of the particular laptop is configured. But I'd go with the quad core because you really shouldn't buy a computer for one single game only.

[jlcarneiro]

Thanks, @Harry Rhodan (I see what you did on the username!)!

Since the clock is so important and my current CPU (i5 3337U) has 2.7GHz, is it possible that a new CPU, albeit more advanced, would be only marginally better?

Edited November 24, 2018 by jlcarneiro

[Harry Rhodan]

21 minutes ago, jlcarneiro said:

Since the clock is so important and my current CPU (i5 3337U) has 2.7GHz, is it possible that a new CPU, albeit more advanced, would be only marginally better?

Theoretically they aren't that far apart but synthetic benchmark results show a significant advantage for the newer CPUs: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/Intel-i5-3337U-vs-Intel-i5-7200U-vs-Intel-i5-8250U/1850vs2865vs3042

The much higher (about 65%) multi core rating for the 8250U is obviously due to the fact that it is a quad core. While all all cores are working it will be running slower than the 7200U but can do more at the same time. At the same time the single core rating isn't that much higher (only 12%) than the 7200U.

But again: all that depends extremely on how well the particular machine can handle the heat.

Edited November 24, 2018 by Harry Rhodan

[jlcarneiro]

1 minute ago, Harry Rhodan said:

Theoretically they aren't that far apart but synthetic benchmark results show a significant advantage for the newer CPUs: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/Intel-i5-3337U-vs-Intel-i5-7200U-vs-Intel-i5-8250U/1850vs2865vs3042

The much higher (about 65%) multi core rating for the 8250U is obviously due to the fact that it is a quad core. While all all cores are working it will be running slower than the 7200U but can do more at the same time. At the same time the single core rating isn't that much higher (only 12%) than the 7200U.

But again: all that depends extremely on how well the particular machine can handle the heat.

Unfortunately, I don't see much reviews or comparisons dealing on heat management...

What I have at this point is the reliability of the brands (my current notebook is a Dell and the new candidates are Samsung and Acer)...

[Harry Rhodan]

2 hours ago, jlcarneiro said:

Unfortunately, I don't see much reviews or comparisons dealing on heat management...

Notebookcheck usually reviews heat management and performance loss under high loads: https://www.notebookcheck.net/

Other than that I also only know that Lenovo is quite often pretty bad at cooling.

[Geonovast]

Regardless of what brand you get, if you're playing KSP on a notebook, get yourself a cooling pad.

[Gargamel]

7 hours ago, Geonovast said:

Regardless of what brand you get, if you're playing KSP on a notebook, get yourself a cooling pad.

Yup, does two things:

1) elevates the keyboard to a more comfortable typing position. 

2) will continue to blow cool air across your machine in case the main fan inside dies.   It will also reduce the amount of time the main fan has to run, as the cooling pad will keep the machine a bit cooler than without. 

[jlcarneiro]

Thanks for the cooling pad advices, folks!

I've already done that. Specially due to climate here in Terra Brasilis....