KSP1 Computer Building/Buying Megathread

[Elthy]

It would be a decent PC right now (still, wait for the RX 460) but hard to upgrade, since both the CPU and GPU are quite low end. If you plan to spend more money on it in a few months i would reccomend e.g. an i5 6500  but no GPU for now. The integrated graphics should play most modern games on minimal settings, while the CPU and PSU would be enough to match whatever (reasonable) will be released this year. You could wait a few weeks until the dust has settled for GPUs, currently there is to much movement to reccommend something mainstream.

[Alphasus]

2 hours ago, FlushStroke said:

a base to build on, imo it's the best option as computers always are moving forward. but also something that is semi decent enough to be used straight away and for the time being. Hopefully that makes sense. 

Would http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/BcTjpb fit that or need some amendments? I really dont know enough about pc's to make an informed decision myself on builds

If you want a base to go with, I'd recommend the build you have. It has a motherboard with 4 RAM slots, a CPU socket compatible with up to next year's CPUs if Kaby Lake comes as planned, USB 3 headers, and a GPU with OK resale value as well as OK performance. I really don't think that Intel integrated graphics are a valid solution, unlike @Elthy. Simply enough, they run KSP well enough, but not many other games.

If you want to overclock, swap the CPU for a Pentium G4400 and the motherboard for something with a Z170 chipset and 4 RAM slots, along with USB 3 and at least 3 SATA 6 ports. That way you can get a i5 6600K or i7 6700K when you are ready.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/7MXFGf

That would be the overclockable one. If you want a 6600K or 6700K in future, you will need a CPU cooler as well. And if you want a great upgrade path, you could go with a roomier case like an NZXT S340, NZXT H440 or Fractal Design Define R5. That would allow for much better cable management, cooling, and noise performance.

Edited July 29, 2016 by Alphasus

[FlushStroke]

Ok cheers @Alphasus ill do that, that better motherboard wouldnt need upgrading for ages on the overclockable one, better value long term?  @Camacha, @Alphasus said to wait for you to optimise it assuming you agree with it of course?

Cheers again guys for your help and @Elthy as well

Edited July 29, 2016 by FlushStroke
grammer

[chris48083]

OK. I searched it. And there are many threads, with hundreds of pages, of what to build into a KSP machine...

But I'm impatient, and don't like to sift,...and I really want to see the results. I suppose that's the jest of this..

So, those of you who post those beautiful shots of KSP - with high resolution details, large space stations with many many many parts, crazy realistic clouds, highly modded installs, etc,..etc,... Can you do me a favor? Post your computer specs (hardware and software) as well as a screenshot showing how bad!$$ KSP runs on your machine? Maybe even a short description on stability, load-times, frame-rates, etc...??

[Alphasus]

1 hour ago, FlushStroke said:

Ok cheers @Alphasus ill do that, that better motherboard wouldnt need upgrading for ages on the overclockable one, better value long term?  @Camacha, @Alphasus said to wait for you to optimise it assuming you agree with it of course?

Cheers again guys for your help and @Elthy as well

Yeah, a Z170 board allows CPU overclocking, and the one I went with supports expanding RAM capacity, using emerging tech such as M.2 NVMe, USB 3.1, as well as 2-way SLI, and lots of SATA 6 GB/s ports for many more HDDs if you need them. If any of the above could find a motherboard with a similar featureset and lower price, that'd be great.

Edited July 29, 2016 by Alphasus

[Slam_Jones]

Edit:

21 minutes ago, Vanamonde said:

The prophesy has been fulfilled! 

Edited July 30, 2016 by Slam_Jones

[Camacha]

5 hours ago, Elthy said:

It would be a decent PC right now (still, wait for the RX 460) but hard to upgrade, since both the CPU and GPU are quite low end. If you plan to spend more money on it in a few months i would reccomend e.g. an i5 6500  but no GPU for now. The integrated graphics should play most modern games on minimal settings, while the CPU and PSU would be enough to match whatever (reasonable) will be released this year. You could wait a few weeks until the dust has settled for GPUs, currently there is to much movement to reccommend something mainstream.

Something like this seems the best option to me if you want a system you can build on in the future. It is better to get a CPU that will serve you for years to come and add a decent GPU later, than to get stuck with suboptimal choices with nowhere to go, because you do not have the money to do it all in one go. An i3 would be a good budget choice, while an i5 would be an ideal future proof choice. You are almost guaranteed to game well with one of those for the next 4-5 years - and quite possibly even more. Processors of that age are still doing decently and the market has only slowed down since.

[Camacha]

3 hours ago, chris48083 said:

But I'm impatient, and don't like to sift,...and I really want to see the results. I suppose that's the jest of this..

Do not build a computer if that is your take on things. Spend the money to buy something that is pre-built and be happy with what you get. Building a PC takes time and effort and if you are unwilling to invest that, it does not seem reasonable to ask others to do it for you.

We all want instant results without effort

[Vanamonde]

4 hours ago, Slam_Jones said:

The thread for it is literally at the top of this sub-forum: The KSP Unofficial Official Computer Building/Buying Megathread

I only say this because this thread will undoubtedly get merged into that thread, where it will be answered.

The prophesy has been fulfilled! 

[Camacha]

9 minutes ago, Vanamonde said:

The prophesy has been fulfilled! 

All hail the probe!

[FlushStroke]

10 hours ago, Camacha said:

Something like this seems the best option to me if you want a system you can build on in the future. It is better to get a CPU that will serve you for years to come and add a decent GPU later, than to get stuck with suboptimal choices with nowhere to go, because you do not have the money to do it all in one go. An i3 would be a good budget choice, while an i5 would be an ideal future proof choice. You are almost guaranteed to game well with one of those for the next 4-5 years - and quite possibly even more. Processors of that age are still doing decently and the market has only slowed down since.

Ok, so take the money I would spend on a graphics card and invest it more into a cpu, something like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Skylake-Motherboard-2400Mhz-Ballistix-Pre-Built/dp/B01D663A60/ref=sr_1_5?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1469873724&sr=1-5&keywords=i5+6500 It has the i5 6500 and the motherboard alphasus suggested. when you said i5, was that the one you meant? quite expensive though, a lot of varients on things when searching myself which is making it daunting. Have you got a build you can suggest @camacha please

Edited July 30, 2016 by FlushStroke

[NSEP]

I would really like to build a better PC, but im afraid my Dad would disagree on that because of the cost, time and effort. I would have to stick to the GT-320 GPU for a while. But i hate living with it, just the fact that all the new games require a super blasta masta Gt-700 GPU to run an absolute awesome game, that would even be great without its beatifull graphics.

[Alphasus]

1 hour ago, FlushStroke said:

Ok, so take the money I would spend on a graphics card and invest it more into a cpu, something like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Skylake-Motherboard-2400Mhz-Ballistix-Pre-Built/dp/B01D663A60/ref=sr_1_5?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1469873724&sr=1-5&keywords=i5+6500 It has the i5 6500 and the motherboard alphasus suggested. when you said i5, was that the one you meant? quite expensive though, a lot of varients on things when searching myself which is making it daunting. Have you got a build you can suggest @Camacha please

That's a pretty good bundle. Trouble is that it has no case or PSU, but that should be within the budget if you get a E50-60 case and said PSU from one of my previous builds. You will also need an HDD, and those are about E40.

[FlushStroke]

Anything I've overlooked? http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/zN6L2R @Alphasus @Camacha using ksp as a benchmark, would it run well graphics or performance wise?

It will be £10 cheaper than the price at the bottom when buying that amazon bundle (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01D663A3S/ref=twister_B01D6639VG?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1) but like £80 over-budget before an OS ... fml lol

Is there much difference between 2133 and 2400 ram against performance/price? and mini itx againest atx on form factor on a motherboard, what does that mean? there are two varients of the z170 pro gaming motherboards

Edited July 30, 2016 by FlushStroke

[Alphasus]

10 hours ago, FlushStroke said:

Anything I've overlooked? http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/zN6L2R @Alphasus @Camacha using ksp as a benchmark, would it run well graphics or performance wise?

It will be £10 cheaper than the price at the bottom when buying that amazon bundle (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01D663A3S/ref=twister_B01D6639VG?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1) but like £80 over-budget before an OS ... fml lol

Is there much difference between 2133 and 2400 ram against performance/price? and mini itx againest atx on form factor on a motherboard, what does that mean? there are two varients of the z170 pro gaming motherboards

Performance wise, yes. Until you get a video card, it should be fine graphically. Go with ATX because it has more RAM slots and SLI capability(Mini ITX is smaller than ATX, so less interfaces can be put on Mini ITX motherboard). That 2400 RAM looks nicer with its side heatsinks, and may improve integrated graphics performance very slightly. And yeah, my concern is that it is over budget. If you plan to upgrade recently and get a reasonable bit of money, you could go with the i3 6100 and abandon the bundle, buy a video card later, and buy a CPU after the video card. But that spends more in the long run.

Edited July 30, 2016 by Alphasus

[Robotengineer]

On July 30, 2016 at 7:30 AM, FlushStroke said:

Anything I've overlooked? http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/zN6L2R @Alphasus @Camacha using ksp as a benchmark, would it run well graphics or performance wise?

It will be £10 cheaper than the price at the bottom when buying that amazon bundle (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01D663A3S/ref=twister_B01D6639VG?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1) but like £80 over-budget before an OS ... fml lol

Is there much difference between 2133 and 2400 ram against performance/price? and mini itx againest atx on form factor on a motherboard, what does that mean? there are two varients of the z170 pro gaming motherboards

Why are you getting a Z170 motherboard if you aren't going to get an overclockable CPU? (Apologies if this has been covered earlier).

[Alphasus]

1 hour ago, Robotengineer said:

Why are you getting a Z170 motherboard if you aren't going to get an overclockable CPU? (Apologies if this has been covered earlier).

I think he plans to upgrade to an i5 6600K.

[FlushStroke]

3 hours ago, Robotengineer said:

Why are you getting a Z170 motherboard if you aren't going to get an overclockable CPU? (Apologies if this has been covered earlier).

 

1 hour ago, Alphasus said:

I think he plans to upgrade to an i5 6600K.

6500 was the one I was planning, is that motherboard a bad choice then, this is why I came here for advice because im not as clued up on pc's as you guys

 

EDIT: I miss read on of your posts earlier in the thread @alphasus but yh I would upgrade to the 6600 eventually or the equivalent in the future, but what would be the approx future-proofness of the z170 becuase id be talking a couple years maybe

Edited July 31, 2016 by FlushStroke

[Alphasus]

51 minutes ago, FlushStroke said:

 

6500 was the one I was planning, is that motherboard a bad choice then, this is why I came here for advice because im not as clued up on pc's as you guys

 

EDIT: I miss read on of your posts earlier in the thread @alphasus but yh I would upgrade to the 6600 eventually or the equivalent in the future, but what would be the approx future-proofness of the z170 becuase id be talking a couple years maybe

A 6600K is overclockable, and Z170 is an overclockable chipset. I can look for an H170 board with similar features(USB 3.1,M.2, lots of SATA 6Gb), but the majority of H170 boards don't have those, and the price differential is worth overclockability. The reason why I recommended buying a video card after a new CPU is because Kaby Lake releases sometime this year or next, will fit in Z/H170, and should be a bit better than Skylake.

With that in mind, the i3 6100 is fine for most games today, and without a video card, will definitely not be bottlenecked. I think that a GTX 1060 should be the least powerful card capable of bottlenecking it, if not a 1070, because I myself ran an i3 4170, which is slower, with a 970, which is a bit slower than an RX 480, which is a bit slower than a 1060, and had absolutely no problems in any non KSP game.

KSP does really like CPU performance, but my FPS differences going to a quad core Xeon from that i3 were about 5-10 FPS extra if part count was below 600 in 1.1. I saw a minimum FPS of about 12 FPS, and an average of 24 FPS at 3 220 part crafts. The Xeon had a minimum FPS 6 FPS higher, and an average FPS around 15 FPS higher. All of that was in atmosphere, so in space, expect better results.

Edited July 31, 2016 by Alphasus

[Camacha]

2 hours ago, Alphasus said:

I think he plans to upgrade to an i5 6600K.

Buying an i3 or another i5 first does not seem to be a sensible thing. Spend your money once and spend it right.

[Alphasus]

4 hours ago, Camacha said:

Buying an i3 or another i5 first does not seem to be a sensible thing. Spend your money once and spend it right.

Within his budget, he cannot have both a good base motherboard and an i5 6600K or 6500 without paying another 100 pounds over his budget... I built a good base and thought that they could get more money later. Feel free to provide a less expandable build where he needs more money for a GPU and can't keep up with recent tech...

http://fr.pcpartpicker.com/list/qB2Nqk

Actually, in pounds, it is 475 euros. That includes everything except the video card. Expect about 200 pounds for a 1060, 200 for an RX 480, 150 for an RX 470, or 100 for an RX 460.

Expandable case and mobo. i5. Reasonable PSU.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£177.90 @ Amazon UK) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H170-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (£89.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  (£34.23 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£41.91 @ Amazon UK) 
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case  (£68.69 @ Amazon UK) 
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£47.56 @ Amazon UK) 
Total: £460.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-01 03:40 BST+0100

 

 

Edited August 1, 2016 by Alphasus

[Camacha]

5 minutes ago, Alphasus said:

Within his budget, he cannot have both a good base motherboard and an i5 6600K or 6500 without paying another 100 pounds over his budget... I built a good base and thought that they could get more money later. Feel free to provide a less expandable build where he needs more money for a GPU and can't keep up with recent tech...

Having to replace components is not expandable. If you cannot afford a solid base now, you need to either expand the budget or reduce expectations. As I said before, buy parts once and buy them right.

Of course, having a non-overclocking i5 is a decent option, as long as you are aware that upgrading to an overclocking set-up can be painful. It should also be noted that overclocking capabilities can often cost more than meets the eye, due to the motherboard, cooling and CPU needing to be up to snuff. If you do want to overclock, make sure the parts you buy are the parts you need. It is no fun having to replace a non-K chip later on, or finding out your budget motherboard is not really up to the job.

Computer parts devalue at a freighting rate, mostly so when they are newest. By buying parts twice you are throwing money away.

Edited August 1, 2016 by Camacha

[Alphasus]

9 hours ago, Camacha said:

Having to replace components is not expandable. If you cannot afford a solid base now, you need to either expand the budget or reduce expectations. As I said before, buy parts once and buy them right.

Of course, having a non-overclocking i5 is a decent option, as long as you are aware that upgrading to an overclocking set-up can be painful. It should also be noted that overclocking capabilities can often cost more than meets the eye, due to the motherboard, cooling and CPU needing to be up to snuff. If you do want to overclock, make sure the parts you buy are the parts you need. It is no fun having to replace a non-K chip later on, or finding out your budget motherboard is not really up to the job.

Computer parts devalue at a freighting rate, mostly so when they are newest. By buying parts twice you are throwing money away.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£177.90 @ Amazon UK) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H170-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (£89.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  (£28.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£41.91 @ Amazon UK) 
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case  (£68.69 @ Amazon UK) 
Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£47.20 @ Amazon UK) 
Total: £454.68
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-01 12:34 BST+0100

 

I tried this recently. It seems to be about 75 pounds over with an OS.

Edited August 1, 2016 by Alphasus

[SpaceplaneAddict]

Yo what up, built the new PC I talked about. Final specs are:

AMD FX 8320 and R7 370

Asus pro gaming/Aura mobo 

8gb 1600mhz ram

1tb 7200rpm drive. 

What kind of performance can I expect from KSP?

Edited August 1, 2016 by SpaceplaneAddict

[Camacha]

1 hour ago, SpaceplaneAddict said:

Yo what up, built the new PC I talked about. Final specs are:

[...]

What kind of performance can I expect from KSP?

Did you already build it? Turn it on and see for yourself