KSP1 Computer Building/Buying Megathread

[Drunken Hobo]

Do you care about colour reproduction, meaning do you want to go for TN of IPS? Watching movies or playing dark games can be an issue on TN, though the technology has gotten a lot better the past few years. IPS is a bit more expensive though, so it is not for everyone, and response times and refresh rates are also typically a bit slower.

I'm not entirely sure if I care or not, I was hoping somebody could tell me! IPS does seem significantly more expensive though. The cheapest TN is £75 whereas the cheapest IPS is £120.

[cantab]

That motherboard can overclock the Pentium G3258, quite a few of the non-Z boards can actually. I'm not 100% sure if it can overclock the i5-4690K though. Either do your research or take the safe option of a Z97 board. If you do plan on OCing, I'd add a decent air cooler.

Provided you do get it OCed it'll be great for KSP, but for many other games will be excess CPU and not enough GPU. Then again the only cheaper CPU i'd recommend is the Pentium G3258, and that's a fair step down, so you probably are best off sticking with the i5.

An SSD would be great to add if you feel you have the budget and performance in everyday use is more important than game graphics to use.

[DuoDex]

This is a link to two builds I'm considering. I've narrowed it down from ~10, and I'm looking for opinions. I want to be able to play KSP with BA or AVP and still get ~30fps. I do play other games, but KSP with AVP/BA will be the most intensive of them.

Which one do you think is better?

[Red Iron Crown]

That motherboard can overclock the Pentium G3258, quite a few of the non-Z boards can actually.

Interesting, I'm considering a G3258 build, where can I read more about non-Z boards that overclock?

[peachoftree]

I got the i5 4690k because it was actually cheaper than all the i5's except the 4440 but only by $10 if I picked one up from the micro center I live 20 minuets away from. I do not plan on overclocking it, but now that I realize it It would be good to have a mobo where I have the possibility so that I can upgrade it more in the future. How about I scratch the ssd and get this instead?

[Camacha]

I'm not entirely sure if I care or not, I was hoping somebody could tell me! IPS does seem significantly more expensive though. The cheapest TN is £75 whereas the cheapest IPS is £120.

I can't tell you, you will have to see for yourself. Do you have any hardware stores nearby? Apple computers generally have IPS screens, while cheaper laptops invariably come with TN screens. Be sure to check out an image with a gradient, and to move left and right, up and down. You will see the colours shift in TN. Whether it is relevant for you, that's up to you

[Elthy]

I got the i5 4690k because it was actually cheaper than all the i5's except the 4440 but only by $10 if I picked one up from the micro center I live 20 minuets away from. I do not plan on overclocking it, but now that I realize it It would be good to have a mobo where I have the possibility so that I can upgrade it more in the future. How about I scratch the ssd and get this instead?

That mb is good, but its not worth to sacrifie a SSD for it, the performance improvements of a SSD are lager than any CPU could ever achive.

[peachoftree]

I just realized that I was not including mail in rebates in the prices, with the $50 that saves and a cheaper mobo I should be able to get a 128GB SSD for the OS and games and keep the Standard drive for things like photos:D

Also I have the 650 watt PSU because an old one broke on a pc my dad was no longer using so he got a warranty exchange for it.

Edited December 5, 2014 by peachoftree

[Camacha]

I just realized that I was not including mail in rebates in the prices, with the $50 that saves and a cheaper mobo I should be able to get a 128GB SSD for the OS and games and keep the Standard drive for things like photos:D

Is getting a 256 GB an option? They typically are just a tad more expensive and out of personal experience I can say 128 GB is plenty for your OS and applications, but that games eat up a lot of space. Then again, games sometimes benefit a bit from a SSD and sometimes don't gain much at all, so you might forego this option. Just be sure to buy a quality SSD, rather than trying to save a buck. I would advise recent Crucial drives, with Samsung being the next best.

If you get the 128 GB drive I suggest you reserve the first x GB on your HDD for games by making this a separate partition. This is called short stroking and forces your HDD to use the faster bit of the drive for the data you choose to put on there - a hard drive gets slower the further you go on a drive (because of how the hardware of a HDD does its work). It should increase the performance in relevant applications quite a bit, just as long as you make sure there is nothing in the slower partition to cause reads when you use the fast bit, i.e. you should use the remaining disk space purely for bulk data that only occasionally gets read.

[DuoDex]

Two builds for your perusal

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/DuoDex/saved/DVYbt6

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/DuoDex/saved/T2RCmG

What do you think?

I've been told that the FX-8350 sucks *edited out by the forum software, sorry!*, but I'm not sure.

[Red Iron Crown]

That i5-4690k will run rings around an FX-8350 in almost every task, even multithreaded ones. Only a very few applications (those that are both multithreaded and integer-heavy) will favor the AMD. If the extra money is not too much of a stretch, I would go for the i5. You've got differing video cards in the two builds, I personally wouldn't spend R9-290 money on a video card, the 270X is much better from a performance/dollar perspective and performs well enough at resolutions up to 1080p.

Aside from that, looks like a solid build.

[DuoDex]

That i5-4690k will run rings around an FX-8350 in almost every task, even multithreaded ones. Only a very few applications (those that are both multithreaded and integer-heavy) will favor the AMD. If the extra money is not too much of a stretch, I would go for the i5. You've got differing video cards in the two builds, I personally wouldn't spend R9-290 money on a video card, the 270X is much better from a performance/dollar perspective and performs well enough at resolutions up to 1080p.

Aside from that, looks like a solid build.

Question, sir: What's better about the 270X?

[Red Iron Crown]

The 270X is better in performance/dollar, i.e. it is not as good a performer as the 290 but better "bang for the buck".

[DuoDex]

I'll take better performance as my budget isn't stretched by that build. Much.

[Camacha]

What about something like a 280X? Great performance for a decent price.

[DuoDex]

What about something like a 280X? Great performance for a decent price.

Yes. Changed to it

[Pyroyoshi]

I'm hoping you all can help me with my new build! Asking over on reddit and in IRC hasn't been very fruitful.

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

I am planning on running mostly games on linux, or with wine, or with a windows partition if it's very needed. The list of games I would like to be able to play generally nicely is:

Borderlands the pre Sequel

This war Of Mine

Rust

DayZ

Starmade

Xcom

Civilization: Beyond Earth

Kerbal Space Program

EvE Online

Witcher II

Battlefield 4

Planetside 2

Witcher III (if anyone could guess the specs)

What is your budget?

I would like to keep it close to $600

Does this include a copy of Windows?

I shouldn't need one and if I do I can pick it up through school.

Does this include peripherals (a keyboard, monitor, mouse, speakers, etc.)?

No, I have all the required peripherals I should need currently.

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

I'm in the US

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.

Micro-center and newegg for most things.

If you are from the United States, do you live nearby a Microcenter?

I live a block or two away from a MicroCenter.

Do you have any specific requests with the build?

I would like to use Micro-ATX or Mini-ITX if possible. I would like it to be in a SFF case without an optical bay or any of that other nonesense. I want to be able to build stupidly big ships in KSP and not suffer 5fps syndrome as badly as I have been. (current machine I can't fly spaceplanes because they lag too much)

Do you plan on overclocking? If yes, do you have a specific goal in mind?

I may if I need to in the future but not likely,

Would you prefer the build to be particularly small?

Yes please, No huge tower builds with a bazillion bays, I just need one SSD slot and maybe an HDD.

Would you prefer the build to be particularly quiet?

not especially

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?

I would prefer to spend a little bit on it now and leave it alone till games start really surpassing it. I may go to water cooling or something if it would really need it, but for now just a simple setup is best.

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.

It is doubtful I would buy a new Card before the whole system needed an update so no..

(OPTIONAL) Have you already looked at or considered any parts (it's okay if you haven't)? If so, please list your top 1-2 choices for each category. If you've only picked out a few of the below, just list those.

CPU

Probably an Intel CPU though I don't know i3 or i5 or anything about which ones.

Motherboard

Micro-ATX or Mini-ITX preferably a bundle at Microcenter if possible.

Bluetooth and WiFi are huge pluses.

RAM

8gb is more than plenty

Graphics Card

I've heard Nvidia is the way to go..but I really don't know.

Power Supply

no opinions

Case

I've narrowed down that I like the Thermaltake core V1 and the Corsair Carbide 240 though the corsair is a bit expensive. I am open to any and all other suggestions though

Hard Drive

Solid State Drive (optional)

Honestly a 1TB with a 120GB SSD would be great...but it may be better just to go with a 120 SSD since it will all just be steam and the like. No other programs really.

Mouse (if necessary)

Keyboard (if necessary)

Monitor (if necessary)

Speakers/Headset (if necessary)

I have all these, though it would be a big bonus if the MOBO had bluetooth and wifi.

Once again, thank you in advannce for taking the time to answer these.

[Red Iron Crown]

*snip thorough answers*

That's a tight but doable budget for a gaming PC. My thoughts:

CPU: Go Intel, they are really unmatched performance-wise. I don't mind overclocking, so I would (and did) go Pentium G3258 on a tight budget, i5-4690K if you can afford it, matched with a micro-ATX motherboard with a Z97 chipset. Visit your local Microcenter, they often do unbeatable CPU/motherboard combo deals.

GPU: You want to run Linux, so go with nVidia. No matter how good the deal you find on an AMD card, you will likely come to regret it if you use Linux. A 750ti card will fit in your budget, you might also find a deal on a 660 which will perform a bit better but use more power (I generally don't consider power usage on a gaming PC too important, it's usually not on 24/7).

RAM: 2x4GB of whatever cheap DDR3-1600 RAM you can find. It's really a commodity, no sense paying extra for useless heatsinks or overclocking ability.

Power Supply: This is an area where going cheap will potentially hurt you, and there is a broad range of quality among power supplies. Stick to a good brand (I like Corsair and Seasonic) and look for something about 450W. Modular design is quite useful in smaller builds, watch for that, too.

Case: This is highly subjective. This case would seem to meet your needs really well (very compact, no optical bay, can fit a 10" video card) but is a bit pricey even at the sale price.

Storage: Few things do more to make a computer feel snappy and responsive that an SSD, I cannot recommend them highly enough. Crucial's MX-100 line is wel-regarded and has good capacity per dollar, see if you can find a sale on a 256GB one (240-256GB seems to be the sweet spot for capacity per dollar).

[DuoDex]

Your build looks good, but I'd suggest (if you have to) go with a 250GB+ SSD and drop the HDD. As Red Iron Crown has said, you'll really notice it. Also, there's a semi-expensive PCIE card that does ALL the wireless functions (including Bluetooth and probably whatever garbage Apple conforms to now). Don't know if it'll fit your budget, but I'm using another version of it in my current build and I love it.

Edit: Nice to actually include the link to the part

[Pyroyoshi]

Red Iron Crown:

Thanks very much for the suggestions, but If it wouldn't be too much trouble could you help me with the why aspect, In particular with the CPU and GPU. like why i5 and not i3..etc?

Also DuoDex, thanks for that suggestion. I'll have to see if with the GPU I can fit it in one of the other PCI-E slots.

[DuoDex]

Red Iron Crown:

Thanks very much for the suggestions, but If it wouldn't be too much trouble could you help me with the why aspect, In particular with the CPU and GPU. like why i5 and not i3..etc?

Also DuoDex, thanks for that suggestion. I'll have to see if with the GPU I can fit it in one of the other PCI-E slots.

@Red Iron Crown Answering questions for intended for you. MUAHAHAHAAAA!

The i5 is superior in almost every respect to the i3. Running KSP on an i3 will give you troubles with overheating, lag, et cetera and with the other games you've mentioned performance will almost certainly suffer.

With the GPU: Avoid anything that isn't Intel/nVidia on a Linux setup. AMD has been known to bork rather badly with non-Windows builds. (Speaking from experience here!)

Edited December 10, 2014 by DuoDex
formatting. oops.

[DuoDex]

Also, does anyone know of a laptop/tablet combo under $100 that can access the web reasonably fast and do nothing else?

[Pyroyoshi]

Also, does anyone know of a laptop/tablet combo under $100 that can access the web reasonably fast and do nothing else?

I would sell you mine for around that but I fear I may need it to transport downloads back to my house in the hills of nowhere..

I would check craigslist honestly, you might find an old thinkpad or ultrabook especially after the holidays when parents are getting rid of old systems.

[DuoDex]

Well, I just found a thing. So I'll go with that. Any opinions?

[Pyroyoshi]

Well, I just found a thing. So I'll go with that. Any opinions?

I know nothing about it, but it seems to basically be a sort of surface-ish thing. probably do what you need just fine.