KSP1 Computer Building/Buying Megathread

[luizsilveira]

1 hour ago, Harry Rhodan said:

Also fast RAM (3000-3200MHz). Especially the GPU part is starving if you don't give it enough memory bandwidth to work with.

Thanks. I'm looking at it but a good 8Gb 3000-3200 RAM stick doesn't seem to be that much cheaper itself than a standalone GPU? 

The one I got is 2800Mhz, but it's feeling lonely lol. 

[Harry Rhodan]

12 hours ago, luizsilveira said:

Thanks. I'm looking at it but a good 8Gb 3000-3200 RAM stick doesn't seem to be that much cheaper itself than a standalone GPU? 

Donno. Where I live you would pay 83€ for a Ryzen 3 3200G (which is currently cheaper than its predecessor) and 59€ for a kit of 2x8GB of G.Skill Aegis with 3200MHz or about 80€ for a kit of slightly better Crucial Ballistix Sport. Single sticks cost about 32 and 50€ respectively.

[Elthy]

Did you install the correct graphics driver for it?

Edit: This one: https://www.amd.com/de/support/apu/amd-ryzen-processors/amd-ryzen-3-desktop-processors-radeon-vega-graphics/amd-ryzen-3-0

Edited June 14, 2020 by Elthy

[luizsilveira]

3 hours ago, Harry Rhodan said:

Donno. Where I live you would pay 83€ for a Ryzen 3 3200G (which is currently cheaper than its predecessor) and 59€ for a kit of 2x8GB of G.Skill Aegis with 3200MHz or about 80€ for a kit of slightly better Crucial Ballistix Sport. Single sticks cost about 32 and 50€ respectively.

I wish! If I could pay the equivalent of 59 Euro for that kit, I'd drop it right now. The best I found here was a single stick of used 2800 G.Skill for that price. And bear in mind our minimum wage is < 200 Euro.

Right now I'm actually in doubt whether I should snatch that very used stick (it is exactly the one I have after all, so it could be a decent opportunity), because for three fiddy more I could order a rx 560d 4gb from China. I suppose the latter would yield a much better improvement overall? I just feels like a bit of a waste of the 2200g though, because the Vega did seem decent enough for an onboard graphics option.

Or, I mean, there's also the option of leaving as is and enjoying it for a while. A newer game like Squad ran like s***, but for a KSP machine it's pretty decent. Especially compared to what I used to run it on for a loooong time, haha.

3 hours ago, Elthy said:

Did you install the correct graphics driver for it?

Edit: This one: https://www.amd.com/de/support/apu/amd-ryzen-processors/amd-ryzen-3-desktop-processors-radeon-vega-graphics/amd-ryzen-3-0

No I didn't! I just let w10 do its thing and, after a few restarts, voilá, Radeon software appeared on my system tray and KSP started working "as it should". If the software is installed and running, I supposed it would do a good job at auto updating the drivers? Still, I'll give it a go, thanks. I'm trying to find driver version within the menus, but no joy. I could only find the "Radeon Settings" software version, and it seems to be from 2019, so there's that.

Thanks for all the tips and help, guys! Much appreciated.

[Harry Rhodan]

16 hours ago, luizsilveira said:

Right now I'm actually in doubt whether I should snatch that very used stick (it is exactly the one I have after all, so it could be a decent opportunity), because for three fiddy more I could order a rx 560d 4gb from China. I suppose the latter would yield a much better improvement overall? I just feels like a bit of a waste of the 2200g though, because the Vega did seem decent enough for an onboard graphics option.

I heard too many stories of chinese shops rebranding older cards to newer ones to trust deals like that. You'd need that second stick anyways at some point because the CPU also improves with the additional memory bandwith.

[luizsilveira]

5 hours ago, Harry Rhodan said:

I heard too many stories of chinese shops rebranding older cards to newer ones to trust deals like that. You'd need that second stick anyways at some point because the CPU also improves with the additional memory bandwith.

After watching this video I'm sold on getting a second RAM stick. If I get that kind of improvement, I'm pretty much set.

Still have to confirm my Mobo model and brand. When I looked into the case, it did say "Dual channel RAM" or similar in bold, big letters printed next to the RAM slots. But it only had 2 slots (instead of what I thought were the usual, 4). I'm supposing these two are the two channels but, as is easily noticeable, my knowledge about these things is somewhat basic.  

[Harry Rhodan]

1 hour ago, luizsilveira said:

But it only had 2 slots (instead of what I thought were the usual, 4).

It's still two channels. This configuration might actually slightly more stable when it comes to overclocking the memory to above the 4000MHz level but in your case that most likely doesn't matter.

Also be sure that you activate XMP (or DOCP for AMD) in the BIOS/UEFI to have your RAM run at 2800MHz. I just found out a few months ago that my old DDR3 RAM was running at the base level of 1333MHz and not the 1866MHz it was capable of because I never activated XMP.

[luizsilveira]

51 minutes ago, Harry Rhodan said:

It's still two channels. This configuration might actually slightly more stable when it comes to overclocking the memory to above the 4000MHz level but in your case that most likely doesn't matter.

Also be sure that you activate XMP (or DOCP for AMD) in the BIOS/UEFI to have your RAM run at 2800MHz. I just found out a few months ago that my old DDR3 RAM was running at the base level of 1333MHz and not the 1866MHz it was capable of because I never activated XMP.

Thanks, I'll be sure to have a look after working hours. I have checked BIOS and didn't find too many options; certainly nothing related to overclocking etc., so I'm assuming my mobo is very basic and doesn't even allow it. I had seen some videos of the Vega 8 recommending users to allocate more RAM to the GPU in BIOS, by my BIOS doesn't have that option or control either.

Meanwhile, g.skill ripjaws 2800, which is my RAM, seems to be pretty much out of stock or overpriced. I even considered matching different brands, but eventually I found a kit of Geil Evo Potenza 3000Mhz for a decent price (even if still a bit above my budget, the 3000 new is still cheaper than the g.skill 2800 used!). I think the plan will be to buy the kit and then try selling the overpriced g.skill. 

[Harry Rhodan]

3 hours ago, luizsilveira said:

I found a kit of Geil Evo Potenza 3000Mhz for a decent price

Be careful. For some reason there's also a series of DDR3 modules of the same name with the same speed. The DDR3 modules have a CAS latency of 12 or 13 while the DDR4 modules have a CAS latency of 15 or 16. And as far as I can see the heatspreader on the DDR3 modules is white while the DDR4 ones are red.

[luizsilveira]

21 minutes ago, Harry Rhodan said:

Be careful. For some reason there's also a series of DDR3 modules of the same name with the same speed. The DDR3 modules have a CAS latency of 12 or 13 while the DDR4 modules have a CAS latency of 15 or 16. And as far as I can see the heatspreader on the DDR3 modules is white while the DDR4 ones are red.

Thanks for the warning. It turns out they only had a single Geil of those specs in stock. It had a black heatspreader though - neither white nor red.

In any case, for 2 espressos more I bought 2x of these: Adata XPG Spectrix D41 TUF, RGB, 8GB, 3000MHz, DDR4, CL16 - AX4U300038G16-SB41 

They should arrive in a week or so. They're ugly af to my taste and I have a clear acrylic case but oh well:
 

Spoiler

 

Also, I found out that my mobo is the A320MH, so those settings you told me about are indeed relevant (or so I found on some videos and reviews), I just didn't find those options when I tried fiddling with the BIOS myself the other night. So I already have homework to do tonight.

SSD also ordered, but this one should arrive in up to 2 months. That can wait I suppose, as it's mainly for comfort and not direct performance. 

[luizsilveira]

For the record: RAM has arrived and the difference of using dual channel RAM on the Ryzen 3 2200g is indeed absurd.

As expected, KSP didn't change as much but it did improve. Other, more GPU dependent games though... impressive. I was loading Squad with 900p, everything on low settings, and 30fps with a lot of hiccups. After the new RAM, I'm running it on 1080p, all settings on medium, and high 30s fps on most maps. Not ideal but certainly good enough.

KSP is still giving me headaches, though, as reported here.

ps: I didn't say anything not to double post or hog the thread so much. But thanks, @Harry Rhodan: my RAM was indeed running at 1333Mhz by default, and the XMP setting (apparently unleashing the RAM) had already given me a ~10% increase in fps across the board.

[RealKerbal3x]

So recently, I've been having some weird performance issues with my laptop (an old Thinkpad T420), particularly when playing KSP. The game will run fine for a while (~30 FPS) before abruptly dropping down to ~10 FPS. It will remain at this level for a while before jumping back up to 30 FPS. As far as I can see, this cycle will continue as long as KSP is running. Maybe it happens with other games too, I haven't tried.

I looked at CPU performance in task manager, and I found that when it goes from high to low FPS in KSP the CPU throttles back from close to its max clock speed (2.8GHz, it's a i7 2640M) to around 0.78GHz, and CPU usage goes from ~60% to ~25%. I suspect thermal throttling, and sure enough when I downloaded a program to check CPU temps it's pretty hot - it's hovering around 70 degrees Celsius with only Google Chrome open. I haven't yet tested with KSP open but I estimate it's probably in the 90s. 

I guess I probably need to replace the thermal paste, and maybe clean out the fan as well. Fortunately, my particular model of laptop is well-known for its accessible internals (making it relatively straightforward to upgrade/repair), and indeed I found a fairly comprehensive guide on replacing the thermal paste on the T420. I guess I'm going to have to take my laptop apart, but do you guys have any other recommendations?

Edited June 24, 2020 by RealKerbal3x

[Harry Rhodan]

1 hour ago, RealKerbal3x said:

I guess I'm going to have to take my laptop apart, but do you guys have any other recommendations?

Use a small cup to collect the screws so they're not flying around everywhere. Take photos of every important steps before peeling everything off so you can always retrace your steps. There should also be an official manual with detailed disassembly instructions so you don't completely need to rely on Youtubers.

You could also try to use one of those plastic contraptions with additional fans.

[RealKerbal3x]

1 minute ago, Harry Rhodan said:

Use a small cup to collect the screws so they're not flying around everywhere. Take photos of every important steps before peeling everything off so you can always retrace your steps. There should also be an official manual with detailed disassembly instructions so you don't completely need to rely on Youtubers.

You could also try to use one of those plastic contraptions with additional fans.

Yep, I believe Lenovo does do an official user manual for a lot of their devices. I'll have to find the one for mine.

Thanks for your help. I tested the CPU temps while playing KSP and they were, on average, 95 Celsius or more, but since the ambient air temperatures are quite high today (31 Celsius) I think I'll wait for the weather to cool down before testing it again, just to be sure.

[OverFlow]

Hey wassup everyone! Finally buying a laptop just to play ksp but im really not sure if this laptop has enough specs to run it. So can anyone please help me Here? Here's the link to the laptop: https://www.newegg.com/black-asus-tuf-gaming-tuf506iv-gaming-entertainment/p/2WC-000N-01NX3?quicklink=true

[James Kerman]

Welcome to the forum @OverFlow, I have merged your question here into our dedicated KSP PC hardware advice thread.

[manaiaK]

9 hours ago, OverFlow said:

Hey wassup everyone! Finally buying a laptop just to play ksp but im really not sure if this laptop has enough specs to run it. So can anyone please help me Here? Here's the link to the laptop: https://www.newegg.com/black-asus-tuf-gaming-tuf506iv-gaming-entertainment/p/2WC-000N-01NX3?quicklink=true

That laptop (provided it doesn't get throttled due to heat) would easily be in the top quarter of machines that KSP is played on.  Maybe even in the top five percent.

[OverFlow]

On 7/2/2020 at 11:55 PM, manaiaK said:

That laptop (provided it doesn't get throttled due to heat) would easily be in the top quarter of machines that KSP is played on.  Maybe even in the top five percent.

I didn't understand you.. 

Edited July 6, 2020 by OverFlow
Mistake

[CalmLlama]

Hi,

I've been looking at either upgrading my system or buying a new one so I can do more in KSP.

 

I currently have an i7-6800k, 64gb ram, gtx 1080 8gb

I'm considering either updating to 128gb ram, and putting another vid card (Buying an RTX and using the GTX for phys only), but I'm not sure that would really provide for better performance in KSP.  I could buy a Ryzen 9 system for about 3x as much as I could upgrade my current rig.  Would I really be getting noticeably better performance from upgrading beyond what I have, or am I already close to the max that KSP can do?

[Gargamel]

3 hours ago, CalmLlama said:

I already close to the max that KSP can do?

This.  You might get some minuscule improvement with a better GPU, but nothing noticeable.  Upgrading the RAM would be pointless, as I don't ever recall a KSP install using that much.  And unless you intentionally set out to break the visual mod record, your Gfx card should be fine.   Upgrading that machine for KSP's sake is a waste of money. 

[Vanamonde]

Hi @CalmLlama. This is such a common kind of question that we have a master thread for them, and yours has been merged into it.

[Harry Rhodan]

On 7/6/2020 at 2:24 AM, CalmLlama said:

I'm considering either updating to 128gb ram, and putting another vid card (Buying an RTX and using the GTX for phys only), but I'm not sure that would really provide for better performance in KSP.

Is KSP really using all of the RAM? Are you using that many mods? It is definitely not calculating physics on a GPU, so that is just a waste of money and energy. Try to find out what is actually limiting your performance and then upgrade that.

[Elthy]

The i7 is the most limiting factor here, but even upgrading to the fastest currently available CPU wouldnt bring you a noticable benefit.

[CalmLlama]

21 hours ago, Harry Rhodan said:

Is KSP really using all of the RAM? Are you using that many mods? It is definitely not calculating physics on a GPU, so that is just a waste of money and energy. Try to find out what is actually limiting your performance and then upgrade that.

 

The computer as a whole is using about 20 gigs ram.  The GPU is staying around 30% usage, around 50c and the fans stay off most of the time.  

 

20 hours ago, Elthy said:

The i7 is the most limiting factor here, but even upgrading to the fastest currently available CPU wouldnt bring you a noticable benefit.

 

The i7 has been around 25% and running about 20c.  All 12 threads are being used, but I'm not sure which are used by KSP

 

It just seems strange that KSP still runs slow even though my system doesn't seem to be taxed.  My old FX computer seemed to run KSP a little better on older versions.  

[magnemoe]

On 7/7/2020 at 9:46 AM, Harry Rhodan said:

Is KSP really using all of the RAM? Are you using that many mods? It is definitely not calculating physics on a GPU, so that is just a waste of money and energy. Try to find out what is actually limiting your performance and then upgrade that.

I had KSP eating  20 GB ram on my 1.72 bases on all bodies play. Note that extra ram works as an disk cache. 

Getting an new setup now, replacing my 5 year old i7 setup or old iron side, with an Ryzen 9 3900XT based one.
A bit scary as the i7 is the real deal with an server style motherboard, it worked flawless outside some stuff like entering advanced mode in bios don't work. 
New one has 12 cores or twice the number and a base frequency is far faster than the i7 who does not have an turbo mode at all. 
An M2 SSD, old motherboard don't support this will use the old 1GB sata C as D for games and stuff. 

Getting this from my workplace so old ironside will be degraded to an random office pc once the new system is stable.