KSP1 Computer Building/Buying Megathread

[ZentroCatson]

3 hours ago, Alphasus said:

Build it yourself. Here is a 1.1 rig. You can find windows 7 for 50 dollars now.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($179.99 @ Newegg) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($24.88 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: MSI Z170A PC MATE ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($94.99 @ Micro Center) 
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($42.88 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($84.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($46.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 950 2GB Video Card  ($129.99 @ Micro Center) 
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($44.99 @ Micro Center) 
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($35.98 @ Newegg) 
Monitor: Dell SE2216H 60Hz 21.5" Monitor  ($121.98 @ Newegg) 
Total: $807.46
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-15 07:18 EST-0500

That is a powerful CPU in an upgradeable socket, with a good CPU cooler, and ok GPU. The RAM can become 64 GBs in future.

Thanks a lot! I'll try finding those components in "local" internet shops ( I live in Switzerland, I used $ because its more understandable). I also think its better to wait 'till 1.1 drops. I never built a computer before so it'll be a "great" learning experience. 

Edited February 15, 2016 by ZentroCatson
Nothing, really.

[Camacha]

14 hours ago, cantab said:

Which is what techbuyersguru did. Of course when it comes to making a buying choice there are other factors, but they are only going to strengthen the advantage of the i3 that has already been demonstrated on the grounds of the hyperthreading alone. (Making the reasonable assumption Intel don't make the i3's *worse* in those other factors than the corresponding Pentiums.)

To be honest, the discussion never was Pentium or i3, but is almost always i5 or i7.

[kenbobo]

19 hours ago, Alphasus said:

What do you use it for? I've hit one game that I can't max out: XCOM 2. My CPU is that bottleneck.

Kerbal space program, Fallout 4, etc. I haven't tried XCOM 2 because of insufficient funds.

[Alphasus]

3 hours ago, kenbobo said:

Kerbal space program, Fallout 4, etc. I haven't tried XCOM 2 because of insufficient funds.

Hahaha! Fallout 4 is likely something I could max on an i3, but XCOM 2 is extremely CPU bound.

[Camacha]

8 hours ago, Alphasus said:

Hahaha! Fallout 4 is likely something I could max on an i3, but XCOM 2 is extremely CPU bound.

Fallout 4 can be pretty CPU heavy too. Traditionally, the Bethesda open world games lean on the CPU more when there are more items in the world. Increase those distances and things quickly bog down.

[briansun1]

On 2/15/2016 at 6:19 AM, Alphasus said:

Build it yourself. Here is a 1.1 rig. You can find windows 7 for 50 dollars now.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($179.99 @ Newegg) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($24.88 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: MSI Z170A PC MATE ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($94.99 @ Micro Center) 
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($42.88 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($84.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($46.89 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 950 2GB Video Card  ($129.99 @ Micro Center) 
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($44.99 @ Micro Center) 
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($35.98 @ Newegg) 
Monitor: Dell SE2216H 60Hz 21.5" Monitor  ($121.98 @ Newegg) 
Total: $807.46
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-15 07:18 EST-0500

That is a powerful CPU in an upgradeable socket, with a good CPU cooler, and ok GPU. The RAM can become 64 GBs in future.

I would drop the CPU cooler as it's not need. It's non-K so it can't overclock and put more money into the GPU. The GPU while okay is still rather weak. Also does he need a monitor? I would stick with one stick of RAM since that's likely to be a future upgrade and it give you more room to expand.

[Alphasus]

1 hour ago, briansun1 said:

I would drop the CPU cooler as it's not need. It's non-K so it can't overclock and put more money into the GPU. The GPU while okay is still rather weak. Also does he need a monitor? I would stick with one stick of RAM since that's likely to be a future upgrade and it give you more room to expand.

I toss a monitor into any build I do now, because its an important addition. If he doesn't need it, than it means that there is extra money that can go toward a CPU upgrade(6600k). Also, there is 1 ram stick there. The cpu cooler is there because anything i5 runs quite hot under stock, and thus I toss in a cooler. Gives an extra $150 if you don't need both, so that is a 960 and 6600k.

[briansun1]

2 hours ago, Alphasus said:

I toss a monitor into any build I do now, because its an important addition. If he doesn't need it, than it means that there is extra money that can go toward a CPU upgrade(6600k). Also, there is 1 ram stick there. The cpu cooler is there because anything i5 runs quite hot under stock, and thus I toss in a cooler. Gives an extra $150 if you don't need both, so that is a 960 and 6600k.

I was agreeing with you on the RAM part. The upgraded cooler is not needed and is more a luxury that can be upgraded too later where as a GPU/CPU upgrade would cost significantly more.

[Camacha]

2 hours ago, briansun1 said:

I was agreeing with you on the RAM part. The upgraded cooler is not needed and is more a luxury that can be upgraded too later where as a GPU/CPU upgrade would cost significantly more.

For those few bucks I really would not want to put up with the noise of a stock cooler. It is a luxury, but the same goes for central heating or a phone and I would not want to miss either.

[briansun1]

4 hours ago, Camacha said:

For those few bucks I really would not want to put up with the noise of a stock cooler. It is a luxury, but the same goes for central heating or a phone and I would not want to miss either.

Doesn't really bother me as the rest of my system is louder than the CPU cooler. YMMV I guess.

[Alphasus]

5 hours ago, briansun1 said:

Doesn't really bother me as the rest of my system is louder than the CPU cooler. YMMV I guess.

I care because I use Noctua nf-s12b fans in my rig, with stock Intel cooler. 1 set is whisper quiet, the other hits 40 dBs. 

[Camacha]

19 hours ago, briansun1 said:

Doesn't really bother me as the rest of my system is louder than the CPU cooler. YMMV I guess.

Some folks put up with the weirdest things I use my system for work too. I would absolutely loathe to spend hours and hours in a heap op noise, while trying to make useful things. The current system was built for stealth. The first time I powered it up I thought I messed up, because nothing seemed to happen. It turned out to be running fine, just very quietly. It is a lovely way to confirm you succeeded

Edited February 17, 2016 by Camacha

[cantab]

My previous PC used the stock cooler (AMD Phenom II) and I didn't have any sound problems with it. It was the first graphics card I had in the system (a 210 ... I wasn't really into PC gaming back then) that took to making a giant racket, I replaced it with a passive card (a 610 ... I still wasn't into PC gaming).

My current PC has an aftermarket cooler and I have been having noise problems but I think it's from another part. (Planning to try replacing the case fan, I think the standard one is vibrating.)

[Hobbes Novakoff]

On February 16, 2016 at 11:21 AM, Alphasus said:

Gives an extra $150 if you don't need both, so that is a 960 and 6600k.

I will heartily recommend both of those choices (My new rig is an 6600k with an MSI GTX 960 4G). If you're like me, mainly CPU-bound games like KSP and Cities:Skylines with a few older games thrown in like Planetside 2 (or non-intensive games like Rocket League) that's a great combo to use. I have my i5 purring along at 4.5 Ghz, 70 °C with a Hyper 212 no less. If you're more of a serious AAA gamer, save on the CPU and put the money towards a 970 though.

PS: Those temps are running Prime95 Small FFTs. I never get above 55 °C when gaming.

Edited February 18, 2016 by Hobbes Novakoff

[Hobbes Novakoff]

20 hours ago, Alphasus said:

I care because I use Noctua nf-s12b fans in my rig, with stock Intel cooler. 1 set is whisper quiet, the other hits 40 dBs. 

I would use Noctuas... if they weren't calibrated to clash with every color scheme in existence. Also LEDs. LEDs are a must.

[Alphasus]

2 hours ago, Hobbes Novakoff said:

I would use Noctuas... if they weren't calibrated to clash with every color scheme in existence. Also LEDs. LEDs are a must.

I use grey ones sos that they don't clash with my black case. I could get corsair air series fans as my led fans if I did need them though.

[Hobbes Novakoff]

6 hours ago, Alphasus said:

I use grey ones sos that they don't clash with my black case. I could get corsair air series fans as my led fans if I did need them though.

I have two AF140s and an AF120 installed (all red LED) and I'm thinking of installing an extra fan on the bottom (I have approximately 12 spare fans of various types, yay for school science fair projects!)

[briansun1]

Meanwhile I'm here with only the stock case fans. It's a 600t though so they're not bad fans just really average. Probably going to have to replace the 200mm fans soon though. There starting to get squeaky.

[Alphasus]

33 minutes ago, briansun1 said:

Meanwhile I'm here with only the stock case fans. It's a 600t though so they're not bad fans just really average. Probably going to have to replace the 200mm fans soon though. There starting to get squeaky.

I'd recommend the quiet 200 mm air series fans that corsair offers. That's only because Noctua has no 200 mm fans.

[briansun1]

21 minutes ago, Alphasus said:

I'd recommend the quiet 200 mm air series fans that corsair offers. That's only because Noctua has no 200 mm fans.

I'll look at them

Edit: dosen't look like they make them anymore.

Edited February 18, 2016 by briansun1

[Cuky]

I have some trouble with my graphics card (nothing serious though, just weird) so if someone might have a suggestion on what to try...

My card is XFX AMD Radeon HD 7850 Core Edition 1GB. Today I have noticed that temperature on idle is higher then it was yesterday and for about 2 weeks back (that is when I did change my PSU and took time to clean all of the fans in my case including the one on my gfx card). previously on idle temperature was between 28-32°C depending on my room temperature, while today I can't get it under 44°C unless I set its fan speed on 50+%. While under the load I got it at max 62°C today with fan speed set on 70% (I had fan speed set on constant speeds for games, depending on how hard they use it because I hate it when it suddenly speeds up to 100% as it is quite noisy at anything above 80%).

 

So basically, temps under load remained same as before (60-65°C) while those on idle have risen by as much as 16°C

[Alphasus]

22 minutes ago, briansun1 said:

I'll look at them

Edit: dosen't look like they make them anymore.

Try the Cooler Master MegaFlow 200 mm fans then. They should be better than stock for 200 mm, and are the only reputable company that I can see.

[Camacha]

5 hours ago, Cuky said:

I have some trouble with my graphics card (nothing serious though, just weird) so if someone might have a suggestion on what to try...

My card is XFX AMD Radeon HD 7850 Core Edition 1GB. Today I have noticed that temperature on idle is higher then it was yesterday and for about 2 weeks back (that is when I did change my PSU and took time to clean all of the fans in my case including the one on my gfx card). previously on idle temperature was between 28-32°C depending on my room temperature, while today I can't get it under 44°C unless I set its fan speed on 50+%. While under the load I got it at max 62°C today with fan speed set on 70% (I had fan speed set on constant speeds for games, depending on how hard they use it because I hate it when it suddenly speeds up to 100% as it is quite noisy at anything above 80%).

It might be possible you slightly shifted the cooler, making contact a little less secure. As we know, energy/heat gets transported more easily when the difference is greater. That might explain why load temperatures are about the same, but why the cooler has trouble getting rid of mild heat.

[steve_v]

13 hours ago, Cuky said:

I have some trouble with my graphics card (nothing serious though, just weird) so if someone might have a suggestion on what to try...

Check fan for damage, hot bearings etc.

Ensure HSF assembly properly seated.

Remove the HSF, clean, grease (or replace pads) and re-install.

 

[Elthy]

Look at the idle clock/voltage. Is it higher than usual? Maybe you installed a second monitor...