KSP1 Computer Building/Buying Megathread

[Varcolac1]

So i want to buy a new computer (Asus Rog gl552vw cn471t) to be able to play KSP, so my question is will these specs run KSP well (mainly focusing on CPU):

Intel Core i7 6700HQ 2,6 GHz (4 cores) 

NVIDIA GeForce GTX960M (2GB) (GDDR5)

8 GB RAM (DDR4)

If you recommend a different computer do mind that my budget is 800-1000 euro. (No desktops as i want to be able to take my computer with me)

(Sorry if this is the wrong section)

Edited April 7, 2016 by Varcolac1

[p1t1o]

Depends on your personal definition of "well", some people will complain if they can't launch a 500-part ship at 60 real-time-physics frames per second at max detail, whereas other people are happy with 10 minute launches at 1FPS as long as the mission can be flown.

Seems like those specs are fairly high-end, should do the job pretty well. Its pretty difficult to give predictions like "X-hundred part ships before any noticeable slowdown" etc. but you won't be restricted to minimum settings for sure.

You will certainly "be able to play" KSP. My last computer was far less powerful than that one and could run it pretty well IMO [I'm somewhere in a reasonable middle of the two above cases]. 

[Navy2k]

Just one note from me, in gaming scenarios the hyperthreading from an i7 (main difference + little bit more cache) compared to a faster clocking i5 mostly isn't worth it.

[Harry Rhodan]

  On 4/7/2016 at 12:47 PM, Navy2k said:

Just one note from me, in gaming scenarios the hyperthreading from an i7 (main difference + little bit more cache) compared to a faster clocking i5 mostly isn't worth it.

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On desktop CPUs. Mobile i5s are only dual cores while this i7 HQ is a quad.

[Guest]

  On 4/7/2016 at 9:14 AM, Varcolac1 said:

Intel Core i7 6700HQ 2,6 GHz (4 cores) 

NVIDIA GeForce GTX960M (2GB) (GDDR5)

8 GB RAM (DDR4)

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I'm running an i7-4810MQ with 8GB RAM and an Intel HD 4000, does pretty well all things considered.  I imagine the dedicated GPU will run it much better.

[wibou7]

That's similar to the laptop I run KSP on. It run fine for craft with up to ~300 parts

The CPU is definitely the bottleneck, the graphic card is more than enough.

[Archgeek]

I get by surprisingly well on a 3.2GHz Core 2 Duo with twin 2 gig DDR2 sticks of RAM, a single 1TB HD and a GTX5something platinum.  'Main issue is 1.1 eats enough RAM that I often have to restart my browser to release any memory being hoarded by bad actor tabs, or the swap file goes nuts.

So the answer for your setup, would be a flat "yes".

[Aristarchus]

Hi all,

I am looking to build my own computer for the first time and was hoping to get some suggestions/feedback. I am looking for good all around performance; this will be my primary KSP computer but I mainly plan to use it for work (running simulations OpenFoam, my own code, etc.). I don't plan on overclocking and would rather it be as quiet as possible as sometimes I leave code running while I sleep or do something else.

Here is what I have so far.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($204.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($87.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card  ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($60.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($27.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $683.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-07 18:07 EDT-0400

I would like to keep my total under $700, but have some leeway if it means a significant performance or reliability increase.

Thanks!

Joe

[Vanamonde]

Varcolac1, your thread has been merged into the master thread for this sort of question. 

[Alphasus]

  On 4/7/2016 at 7:16 PM, wibou7 said:

That's similar to the laptop I run KSP on. It run fine for craft with up to ~300 parts

The CPU is definitely the bottleneck, the graphic card is more than enough.

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I can push 600 parts on my 4770hq laptop.

  On 4/7/2016 at 10:11 PM, Aristarchus said:

Hi all,

I am looking to build my own computer for the first time and was hoping to get some suggestions/feedback. I am looking for good all around performance; this will be my primary KSP computer but I mainly plan to use it for work (running simulations OpenFoam, my own code, etc.). I don't plan on overclocking and would rather it be as quiet as possible as sometimes I leave code running while I sleep or do something else.

Here is what I have so far.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($204.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($87.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card  ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($60.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($27.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $683.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-07 18:07 EDT-0400

I would like to keep my total under $700, but have some leeway if it means a significant performance or reliability increase.

Thanks!

Joe

Expand  

  On 4/7/2016 at 10:11 PM, Aristarchus said:

 

Expand  

For quietness, get a noise dampening case and CPU cooler. If you don't want water cooling(you likely don't). You could go for an NH-U14S, for a CPU cooler, and any noise dampening case. Others can suggest more CPU coolers. In your price range, you might want to just go with an i5 6400, put the extra into a Hyper 212 Evo, and get a noise dampening case.

[wibou7]

  On 4/8/2016 at 8:27 AM, Alphasus said:

I can push 600 parts on my 4770hq laptop.

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Uh, that's VASTLY more powerful than the setup the OP described (or than mine). He will never be able to run 600 parts on his setup.

[briansun1]

  On 4/7/2016 at 10:11 PM, Aristarchus said:

Hi all,

I am looking to build my own computer for the first time and was hoping to get some suggestions/feedback. I am looking for good all around performance; this will be my primary KSP computer but I mainly plan to use it for work (running simulations OpenFoam, my own code, etc.). I don't plan on overclocking and would rather it be as quiet as possible as sometimes I leave code running while I sleep or do something else.

Here is what I have so far.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($204.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($87.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card  ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($60.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($27.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $683.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-07 18:07 EDT-0400

I would like to keep my total under $700, but have some leeway if it means a significant performance or reliability increase.

Thanks!

Joe

Expand  

I would drop the 16gb of ram down to 8 and grab a newer GPU. The one you picked will soon be 2 generations old.

[Alphasus]

  On 4/8/2016 at 1:32 PM, wibou7 said:

Uh, that's VASTLY more powerful than the setup the OP described (or than mine). He will never be able to run 600 parts on his setup.

Expand  

No... 6700HQ is only slightly slower, or faster depending on what benchmark you use. I'm talking about Varcolac's machine.

[wibou7]

  On 4/8/2016 at 9:39 PM, Alphasus said:

No... 6700HQ is only slightly slower, or faster depending on what benchmark you use. I'm talking about Varcolac's machine.

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You are right.

I've made a typo searching for the model and it leads me to something way more bad ass.

Sorry about that

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

  On 4/2/2016 at 11:05 PM, Mad Rocket Scientist said:

Okay, total computer building noob here, and I'm thinking about building a new computer. Budget: ~1,500 USD

Here are my questions:

1. What dx12 graphics cards are best for KSP/space engineers/gaming?
2. What number of cores will work best with KSP?
3. What does multi-threading mean, and what CPUs have it?

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  On 4/2/2016 at 11:45 PM, Mad Rocket Scientist said:

/me reads the OP.

Look at that! 

  Reveal hidden contents

• What are you planning to do with this compuer: KSP, space engineers, nolimits 2, other games.  Some simple 3D modelling possibly.

• Budget: ~1,500 USD
   
  1. Does this include a copy of Windows: Yes.
  2. Does this include peripheals): No.

   

  [*]Where are you from: USA

  1. Wherever you may be from, does the store that you are planning to order from have a website: I will either go to a bricks & mortar Fry's, or order elsewhere online.
  2. If you are from the United States, do you live nearby a Microcenter? Not sure what that is.
• Do you have any specific requests with the build? DX12, lots of graphics power, efficient for KSP (Right amout of threads, cores.)
  1. Do you plan on overclocking? No.
  2. Would you prefer the build to be particularly small? No.
  3. Would you prefer the build to be particularly quiet? Somewhat quiet, but it's not a driving factor.
  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? Ideally, I would like to upgrade for a while.
  5. Do you ever plan on utilizing NVIDIA's SLI or AMD's CrossfireX technologies?t: Not sure.  It could be useful, but I don't know.

 

• 1.  

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Updated my earlier replies with budget. ~1,500 USD

 

[Mr_Ninja]

I have an iMac (late 2013 model). It has an i5 that runs at 3.2 GHz (3.6 turbo boost) and a geforce 755m with 1 Gb of VRam. The computer itself has 8 Gb of RAM. How will it run KSP, as I would like to do fairly large rockets. I was able to get to the mun, minnus, and back fairly easily in the demo (on and old windows laptop, barely 2 fps during launch). My other option is the wait for the ps4 version. The game will probably run fairly well on that as it will be optimized, but the CPU isn't overly powerful so i don't know how it will handle it. Thanks!

[Vanamonde]

Mr_Ninja, your thread has been merged into the master thread for this kind of question. 

[Alphasus]

  On 4/14/2016 at 8:28 PM, Mr_Ninja said:

I have an iMac (late 2013 model). It has an i5 that runs at 3.2 GHz (3.6 turbo boost) and a geforce 755m with 1 Gb of VRam. The computer itself has 8 Gb of RAM. How will it run KSP, as I would like to do fairly large rockets. I was able to get to the mun, minnus, and back fairly easily in the demo (on and old windows laptop, barely 2 fps during launch). My other option is the wait for the ps4 version. The game will probably run fairly well on that as it will be optimized, but the CPU isn't overly powerful so i don't know how it will handle it. Thanks!

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Depending on what you consider fairly large, that should do well. Expect around 15 fps in a 1000 part space adventure.(i3 here, i get 10 fps in a 1000 part space adventure).

Edited April 14, 2016 by Alphasus

[Mr_Ninja]

  On 4/14/2016 at 8:50 PM, Alphasus said:

Depending on what you consider fairly large, that should do well. Expect around 15 fps in a 1000 part space adventure.(i3 here, i get 10 fps in a 1000 part space adventure).

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Ok, thanks - I think I'm gonna buy it, can't see it being that great on Ps4 control wise and performance wise anyways.

[Camacha]

  On 4/14/2016 at 8:28 PM, Mr_Ninja said:

I have an iMac (late 2013 model). It has an i5 that runs at 3.2 GHz (3.6 turbo boost) and a geforce 755m with 1 Gb of VRam. The computer itself has 8 Gb of RAM. How will it run KSP, as I would like to do fairly large rockets. I was able to get to the mun, minnus, and back fairly easily in the demo (on and old windows laptop, barely 2 fps during launch). My other option is the wait for the ps4 version. The game will probably run fairly well on that as it will be optimized, but the CPU isn't overly powerful so i don't know how it will handle it. Thanks!

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That iMac apparently has a Haswell chip. It should run perfectly fine - a modern i5 or even i7 is not that much faster. The one concern is cooling: iMacs sometimes tend to clock back when doing any sort of prolonged work, effectively making it a much slower chip. Apple gets to advertise with great looking specifications and build an amazingly thin computer, yet the consumer never really gets the performance he thought he would get. Not much of an issue with other tasks, since load will rarely exceed 30 seconds, when gaming, it is a concern.

That being said, I think KSP should run fine. If it runs the demo well, the video card should not be much of an issue either.

 

  On 4/14/2016 at 8:50 PM, Alphasus said:

Depending on what you consider fairly large, that should do well. Expect around 15 fps in a 1000 part space adventure.(i3 here, i get 10 fps in a 1000 part space adventure).

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You really cannot guesstimate things like that, unless you have a similar or close benchmark.

Edited April 14, 2016 by Camacha

[TwinKerbal]

Hi guys,

So I am looking at getting a new laptop.  What I want is something that will run KSP well (well, as well as a laptop will), have good wifi card(s), have an SSD, have a good keyboard that won't explode or burn out, and have a bunch of usb ports.  I'm looking at $1,000 to $2,500 for the price range, with nothing else included (although if there is something extra, I won't mind ).  Any recommendations?

[kenbobo]

Give me a couple minutes.

@TwinKerbal Here's a link to one that is at the bottom of your range, not sure of the USB ports, but the processor is better than my desktop i5. http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/saved/1HV8RW

Edited April 18, 2016 by kenbobo

[Camacha]

  On 4/18/2016 at 1:40 AM, TwinKerbal said:

Hi guys,

So I am looking at getting a new laptop.  What I want is something that will run KSP well (well, as well as a laptop will), have good wifi card(s), have an SSD, have a good keyboard that won't explode or burn out, and have a bunch of usb ports.  I'm looking at $1,000 to $2,500 for the price range, with nothing else included (although if there is something extra, I won't mind ).  Any recommendations?

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Are you going to use it just to play KSP?

[p1t1o]

  On 4/18/2016 at 1:40 AM, TwinKerbal said:

Hi guys,

So I am looking at getting a new laptop.  What I want is something that will run KSP well (well, as well as a laptop will), have good wifi card(s), have an SSD, have a good keyboard that won't explode or burn out, and have a bunch of usb ports.  I'm looking at $1,000 to $2,500 for the price range, with nothing else included (although if there is something extra, I won't mind ).  Any recommendations?

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The requirements you give are quite vague (good keyboard?) and the price range is quite wide, from fairly-decent ($1000) to quite spffingly high-end actually ($2500) so its tough to know what you really want.

That and everybody has a definition for what "..run KSP well..." means. Its should be noted that there is no system that will KSP and not suffer slowdown or crashes if you push it hard enough.

Suffice to say that almost any $1000 laptop these days will "run KSP well", in my opinion, and a $2500 had better run it well or someone ripped you off.

Biggest limiting factor for KSP has got to be the CPU, so keep an eye on that, but you'll have a hard time finding a $2500 laptop that doesn't have a decent CPU...

[pincushionman]

  On 4/18/2016 at 1:40 AM, TwinKerbal said:

…and have a bunch of usb ports…

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Pray tell, why this in particular? All the laptops I've seen lately have two or four…buuuut usb hub exist for a reason…