KSP1 Computer Building/Buying Megathread

[Red Iron Crown]

21 minutes ago, cantab said:

2/3rds seems a bit optimistic. nVidia were bandying about a 1080 "reference" price of $599, which turns out to be what they expect cheaper third-party cards to do, while their own "Founders Edition" reference card is $699. I'm not even sure I expect the $599 to be available right away.

Going by the first reviews I've read, they claim 790€ for Founder's Edition and an estimated 450€ for the regular one. It may turn out to be less or more, and may vary by market. At any rate, better to wait for the one that doesn't tax early adopters.

[Elthy]

Wasnt the 450€ for the 1070?

[Red Iron Crown]

5 minutes ago, Elthy said:

Wasnt the 450€ for the 1070?

Er, I mixed up pounds and euros there. It was £450 and £619 for the two different versions (link). Apologies.

[Elthy]

Still, the gap between that is about twice as large as for other curencys. Maybe it was a guess if the price will drop that far after the release of the big pascal...

[Camacha]

On 17/05/2016 at 7:31 PM, Elthy said:

Still, the gap between that is about twice as large as for other curencys. Maybe it was a guess if the price will drop that far after the release of the big pascal...

If you look at prices at all, never buy the top card. If you want top performance, buy it without considering the price too much. Value for money will be way off and prices will always be as high as they can get away with, so if money or value is factor, this type of card is out.

[Jerrbear]

Hello, I'm looking to get back into kerbal space program.  I used to play it a while back on my desktop.  However I'm not home often so I want to get a laptop capable of playing kerbal space program , I don't need to build large ships or have really good graphics I just want something that has can play kerbal space program at an acceptable frame rate for $350 or less.

[Vanamonde]

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

[Elthy]

Wow, 350$ is nothing. If you cant get an extremly good deal for something used i dont see how that would be possible. Save more money...

[briansun1]

I'm with Elthy. Unless you can get a good deal on used stuff it would be better if you just saved up some more money. I say a minimum of $500.

[cantab]

$350 isn't much for a laptop, but you might find something satisfactory. A quick look on Newegg and this seems reasonable:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834234003

Intel Broadwell CPU bringing the per-core performance KSP wants, and the HD 5500 is sufficient graphics, I've played KSP on a lot worse. Only 4GB of RAM is a bit of a drawback but should be alright for the stock or lightly-modded game.

You might find better with more shopping around. Generally I'd favour the "full" Intel CPU architectures and avoid the ultra-mobile chips, usually their model numbers have a letter at the start, because they lack performance, and disfavour AMD chips for the same reason.

What specs won't tell you is how good the laptop is at keeping itself cool when running a game. You'll have to find reviews of the specific model to know that.

[Jerrbear]

Would this laptop be able to play ksp acceptably? I plan on upgrading it to windows 10 64 bit instead of the windows 7 32 bit http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA5HA42A9494

Edited May 23, 2016 by Jerrbear

[Alphasus]

3 hours ago, Jerrbear said:

Would this laptop be able to play ksp acceptably? I plan on upgrading it to windows 10 64 bit instead of the windows 7 32 bit http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA5HA42A9494

No, it has a bad integrated video card and the CPU is only Ivy Bridge. Cantab's suggestion is better.

[Camacha]

21 minutes ago, Alphasus said:

No, it has a bad integrated video card and the CPU is only Ivy Bridge. Cantab's suggestion is better.

It is a fast Ivy Bridge chip, though. The other chips is clocked a lot slower and seems to be one of those low power chips. It appears the older chip actually is faster when it comes to raw processing speed and single thread speed. It does use a lot more power and the IGP is indeed quite a bit slower.

However, I agree with earlier advice here. Save up a little bit more and you can generally get a lot more. Laptops in this price range are typically not worth the trouble, as nice specifications means the rest needed to be done really cheap. Beware of a bad screen quality, bad cooling, a creaky case/housing, you name it.

Edited May 23, 2016 by Camacha

[BlueCanary]

What's the least I could spend on a computer to be able to play lightly modded KSP stably with a decent framerate? Also, is it possible to play KSP without frequent crashes or terrible FPS on a laptop?

I haven't been able to play KSP recently because my 8 year old PC is finally starting to die, and it just can't handle more than half a flight per crash anymore. So since the computer is getting to the point where having three tabs open on firefox is dicing with death freezing up and probably crashing it, I pretty much need to get a new one, but I don't have a huge amount of money at the moment and don't play games enough to justify the fancy gaming PC I want, so I'm looking to spend as little as I can while still getting to play KSP.

Also, since I'm probably going to go to university in a year or two and will need a good laptop for that, plus since I accidentally through a dog toy through my good computer monitor and am currently using a relatively crappy one, I was wondering if it might be a better choice to go for a reasonably high-end laptop to kill two birds with one stone. Is that a viable choice or would KSP just be too much to ask from a laptop?

[Alphasus]

40 minutes ago, BlueCanary said:

What's the least I could spend on a computer to be able to play lightly modded KSP stably with a decent framerate? Also, is it possible to play KSP without frequent crashes or terrible FPS on a laptop?

I haven't been able to play KSP recently because my 8 year old PC is finally starting to die, and it just can't handle more than half a flight per crash anymore. So since the computer is getting to the point where having three tabs open on firefox is dicing with death freezing up and probably crashing it, I pretty much need to get a new one, but I don't have a huge amount of money at the moment and don't play games enough to justify the fancy gaming PC I want, so I'm looking to spend as little as I can while still getting to play KSP.

Also, since I'm probably going to go to university in a year or two and will need a good laptop for that, plus since I accidentally through a dog toy through my good computer monitor and am currently using a relatively crappy one, I was wondering if it might be a better choice to go for a reasonably high-end laptop to kill two birds with one stone. Is that a viable choice or would KSP just be too much to ask from a laptop?

30 or 60 FPS? How many parts? What is your budget? Desktop is consistently a better value than a laptop. What would your budget be for a desktop, and what would your budget be for said high end laptop?

[cantab]

"What's the least I could spend on a computer to be able to play lightly modded KSP stably with a decent framerate? Also, is it possible to play KSP without frequent crashes"

KSP at the moment is buggy and crash-happy on any hardware. The exact software setup seems to have more to do with it, drivers and OS versions and whatnot, but nobody really seems to know what's sure to be stable and what's sure to be a crashfest. Once the bugs are fixed, I expect KSP to be stable on any itself-stable hardware.

But as far as performance goes, a good start is a recent "full" Intel CPU (not the tablet-grade ones) at a decent clock speed, which will also usually have an iGPU up to the job. Like I said above though, look for reviews in particular ones that test the laptop's ability to keep running cool and fast under extended load. Some laptops can handle a brief burst of CPU load that you might get in everyday use, but overheat with sustained gaming.

[BlueCanary]

19 minutes ago, Alphasus said:

30 or 60 FPS? How many parts? What is your budget? Desktop is consistently a better value than a laptop. What would your budget be for a desktop, and what would your budget be for said high end laptop?

My budget is hard to say since it all depends on how long I take to learn to drive, how much I have to spend on insurance and how quickly I can get a job when I do (since where I live it's not really practical to get a job before I can drive myself to it). But it's a lot higher for a laptop than a desktop since I pretty much have to get a laptop some time in the next year or two for university, so if I get a desktop I would have to buy a laptop in the near-ish future anyway. Also if I got a desktop I ought to get a new monitor too, eating into the budget even more.

I'd say 40+ fps on mid-high graphics settings with a few small mods would be the goal. If it could be done on, say, £450 for a desktop and £600 for a laptop (including OS), give or take £100 or so, that'd be good, but my actual budget might turn out to be higher or (more likely) lower than that.

[Alphasus]

6 minutes ago, BlueCanary said:

My budget is hard to say since it all depends on how long I take to learn to drive, how much I have to spend on insurance and how quickly I can get a job when I do (since where I live it's not really practical to get a job before I can drive myself to it). But it's a lot higher for a laptop than a desktop since I pretty much have to get a laptop some time in the next year or two for university, so if I get a desktop I would have to buy a laptop in the near-ish future anyway. Also if I got a desktop I ought to get a new monitor too, eating into the budget even more.

I'd say 40+ fps on mid-high graphics settings with a few small mods would be the goal. If it could be done on, say, £450 for a desktop and £600 for a laptop (including OS), give or take £100 or so, that'd be good, but my actual budget might turn out to be higher or (more likely) lower than that.

UK Partlist In euros thats like 400 euros. Windows is anywhere between 15 and 75 euros, and certain sites like dreamspark have it free if you are a student. Or, you can use your old windows key.

[BlueCanary]

2 minutes ago, Alphasus said:

UK Partlist In euros thats like 400 euros. Windows is anywhere between 15 and 75 euros, and certain sites like dreamspark have it free if you are a student. Or, you can use your old windows key.

Awesome, that's cheap enough that I could justify adding an SSD and nicer graphics card etc. No idea why every build I tried came out so much more expensive.

EDIT: Wait, I see why this looks so cheap, the cost of the motherboard and graphics card didn't register for some reason. Still better than what I was looking at though.

Edited May 29, 2016 by BlueCanary

[Alphasus]

14 minutes ago, BlueCanary said:

Awesome, that's cheap enough that I could justify adding an SSD and nicer graphics card etc. No idea why every build I tried came out so much more expensive.

EDIT: Wait, I see why this looks so cheap, the cost of the motherboard and graphics card didn't register for some reason. Still better than what I was looking at though.

Hold on, let me fix that for ya.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/xFZG3F

Also, laptop.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Notebook-i5-6200U-Integrated-Graphics/dp/B016B90WR4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1464530455&sr=8-1&keywords=Acer+Laptop+Aspire+E15

Edited May 29, 2016 by Alphasus

[SelectHalfling0]

I'm planning on purchasing and building a computer very soon with these parts, and wanted to run it by y'all once to see if there are any compatibility issues (my research shows there are none).

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($179.17 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: Deepcool GAMMAXX 400 74.3 CFM CPU Cooler  ($19.99 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H-A Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($26.49 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 950 2GB Superclocked+ ACX 2.0 Video Card  ($138.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: Thermaltake Core V21 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($27.98 @ Newegg) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($85.95 @ Amazon) 
Monitor: Asus VX238H 23.0" Monitor  ($110.98 @ Newegg) 
Keyboard: Logitech K360 Wireless Mini Keyboard  ($29.99 @ Newegg) 
Mouse: Logitech M510 Wireless Laser Mouse  ($19.95 @ Amazon) 
Total: $769.45
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-29 10:01 EDT-0400

[Alphasus]

2 minutes ago, SelectHalfling0 said:

I'm planning on purchasing and building a computer very soon with these parts, and wanted to run it by y'all once to see if there are any compatibility issues (my research shows there are none).

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($179.17 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: Deepcool GAMMAXX 400 74.3 CFM CPU Cooler  ($19.99 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H-A Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($26.49 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($49.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 950 2GB Superclocked+ ACX 2.0 Video Card  ($138.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: Thermaltake Core V21 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($27.98 @ Newegg) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($85.95 @ Amazon) 
Monitor: Asus VX238H 23.0" Monitor  ($110.98 @ Newegg) 
Keyboard: Logitech K360 Wireless Mini Keyboard  ($29.99 @ Newegg) 
Mouse: Logitech M510 Wireless Laser Mouse  ($19.95 @ Amazon) 
Total: $769.45
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-29 10:01 EDT-0400

Keep in mind that you are using a last generation CPU. Also, you may want an SSD. If you want a CPU cooler, the hyper 212 evo or hyper t4 is often the best choice on the cheap.

[SelectHalfling0]

I would like an ssd, but honestly I don't absolutely need one. Also, I do know that's a last generation CPU. I don't play enough AAA games to warrant anything better. 

[Alphasus]

1 minute ago, SelectHalfling0 said:

I would like an ssd, but honestly I don't absolutely need one. Also, I do know that's a last generation CPU. I don't play enough AAA games to warrant anything better. 

Ok, just checking. Anything on the CPU Cooler? The 212 EVO is like $10 more.

[Elthy]

Better go for two sticks of RAM to utilise dual-channel. 2*4Gb should be as cheap as 1*8Gb...