KSP1 Computer Building/Buying Megathread

[Justin_Kerbal]

I'm on an '08 PC and run low graphics settings.  No one plays KSP for the 'blow me away' visuals.  Game is sweet even with basic graphics!

Edited January 21, 2017 by Justin_Kerbal

[Whigr02]

So I'm thinking of starting my first ever build soon and as I'm relatively new to pc gaming I thought it get a few opinions on the parts before I begin to buy them all. I currently play ksp on my laptop with all the lowest settings but I want to begin using more mods, especially visual ones, to improve my experience. I have a budget of roughly £500 to buy all the parts, excluding monitor, OS, keyboard and mouse. What sort of performance do you guys think I could expect from this build? Also how do you think this build would cope with other games such as witcher 3, bf1 and gta5 for example?

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/HtqmQV

Thanks 

[Elthy]

The new Kaby-Lake Pentiums come with hyperthreading, and thus offer i3 performance for a cheaper price. The saved money could go into your grapics card (maybe a GTX 1050ti is in reach?), although the RX 460 would be enough for modded KSP.

[Alphasus]

24 minutes ago, Whigr02 said:

So I'm thinking of starting my first ever build soon and as I'm relatively new to pc gaming I thought it get a few opinions on the parts before I begin to buy them all. I currently play ksp on my laptop with all the lowest settings but I want to begin using more mods, especially visual ones, to improve my experience. I have a budget of roughly £500 to buy all the parts, excluding monitor, OS, keyboard and mouse. What sort of performance do you guys think I could expect from this build? Also how do you think this build would cope with other games such as witcher 3, bf1 and gta5 for example?

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/HtqmQV

Thanks 

3

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/YBshGf

This build would need a wireless adapter, but I fit an RX 470 in there instead of an RX 460. That's anywhere from 70% to 100% faster than the RX 460. I also fit in a nice case, but you can remove that if you already have it. Just use the saved money for an SSD(like the PNY one, though a 120 GB 750 EVO would be better) and a wireless card. The build you gave will run KSP adequately though its CPU could have a faster single core speed. In Witcher 3, BF1, and GTA5, its video card should be quite a bit faster than an RX 460. The RX470 above would be adequate for that. I dropped the SSD because your budget isn't large enough to justify one if a case is needed too. 

[legoclone09]

32 minutes ago, Whigr02 said:

So I'm thinking of starting my first ever build soon and as I'm relatively new to pc gaming I thought it get a few opinions on the parts before I begin to buy them all. I currently play ksp on my laptop with all the lowest settings but I want to begin using more mods, especially visual ones, to improve my experience. I have a budget of roughly £500 to buy all the parts, excluding monitor, OS, keyboard and mouse. What sort of performance do you guys think I could expect from this build? Also how do you think this build would cope with other games such as witcher 3, bf1 and gta5 for example?

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/HtqmQV

Thanks 

A FreeSync monitor would help with having lower framerates, so take that into account when buying a monitor. The new Pentium coming out is 3/4 the price of the i3 6100 and only 0.2GHz less, has hyperthreading as well just like the i3. Also, a 2x4 set of RAM is better than a 1x8 for gaming, and the same price (it's two 1x4 kits because that's cheaper than the 2x4 kit for some reason). Pertaining to the RX 460, on the new ones with 1024 shader cores vs the 896 shader cores, I believe they are better than a 1050 now (benchmark I found). If you have an Ethernet cable you can use, use that because it's much better than wifi, and you won't need to spend the 25 pounds on a wifi card. The GTX 1050ti in this build was only 30 pounds more than the RX 460 and much cheaper than a RX470, so it's a better choice. https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/sr9cNN. Just under 500 pounds, I think it'll be better.

And I talk about the RX 460 unlocked up there because I didn't notice a 1050ti was only 130 pounds.

Edited January 21, 2017 by legoclone09

[Alphasus]

6 minutes ago, legoclone09 said:

A FreeSync monitor would help with having lower framerates, so take that into account when buying a monitor. The new Pentium coming out is 3/4 the price of the i3 6100 and only 0.2GHz less, has hyperthreading as well just like the i3. Also, a 2x4 set of RAM is better than a 1x8 for gaming, and the same price (it's two 1x4 kits because that's cheaper than the 2x4 kit for some reason). Pertaining to the RX 460, on the new ones with 1024 shader cores vs the 896 shader cores, I believe they are better than a 1050 now (benchmark I found). If you have an Ethernet cable you can use, use that because it's much better than wifi, and you won't need to spend the 25 pounds on a wifi card. The GTX 1050ti in this build was only 30 pounds more than the RX 460 and much cheaper than a RX470, so it's a better choice. https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/sr9cNN. Just under 500 pounds, I think it'll be better.

 

2

1x8 for expandability, though so you can hit 32 GB of RAM at maximum. Also, I was able to fit in an RX 470 above, which should be better than even an unlocked RX 460.

Other benchmarks(or, 1050 still has a 2.3 fps lead at max and 1.5 fps minimum in Witcher 3, one of questioner's games).

Edited January 21, 2017 by Alphasus

[legoclone09]

Just now, Alphasus said:

1x8 for expandability, though so you can hit 32 GB of RAM at maximum. Also, I was able to fit in an RX 470 above, which should be better than even an unlocked RX 460.

Yeah, I fit in a GTX 1050ti, which'll be on par or better than a RX 470. Looked up some benchmarks and the RX 470 beats the GTX 1050ti, go for that.

[Alphasus]

5 minutes ago, legoclone09 said:

Yeah, I fit in a GTX 1050ti, which'll be on par or better than a RX 470. Looked up some benchmarks and the RX 470 beats the GTX 1050ti, go for that.

 

 

I've been the Nvidia person here for a while, but even I would get an RX 470 over a 1050 Ti(30% to 40% faster) at the moment because there's a $150 one on Amazon US.

Edited January 21, 2017 by Alphasus

[Whigr02]

Took into account all your advice and switched the i3 for the pentium and got 2x4gb of ram instead of 1x8, also scrapping the wifi adapter which allowed me to fit in an rx470 all for just £20 over budget! Which I can live with! 

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/jdC8zM

[Alphasus]

22 minutes ago, Whigr02 said:

Took into account all your advice and switched the i3 for the pentium and got 2x4gb of ram instead of 1x8, also scrapping the wifi adapter which allowed me to fit in an rx470 all for just £20 over budget! Which I can live with! 

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/jdC8zM

 

 

The power supply could be better. It's a reasonable supply but could be quite a bit more reliable. You do save 10 pounds by going with 1x8, so you could benefit from those savings, bringing you to 510 pounds. Though I doubt you could fit a better PSU. If not, keep the current PSU and build because it works.

I do have some keyboard and mouse recommendations if you need them too.

Edited January 22, 2017 by Alphasus

[legoclone09]

5 minutes ago, Alphasus said:

You do save 10 pounds by going with 1x8

It's only four pounds more if you get two sticks of this separately: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/qK8H99/kingston-memory-hx421c14fb4, and it's the same RAM except for heat sink.

[Alphasus]

3 minutes ago, legoclone09 said:

It's only four pounds more if you get two sticks of this separately: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/qK8H99/kingston-memory-hx421c14fb4, and it's the same RAM except for heat sink.

Fair enough.

[maas1248]

It is possible that you also have a dedicated GPU other than the Iris, as the Iris is integrated in the GPU. For example, I use a late 2013 MacBook Pro with Retina, and it has both an Iris and a Nvidia GForce 640 (or something like that). But typically the machine stats provided do not show this dedicated GPU. But no matter what you still should be able to run KSP fine.

cheers.

[Vanamonde]

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

[Alphasus]

6 minutes ago, Vanamonde said:

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

If you don't mind me asking, I can't see this question. Is it on page 167?

Edited January 22, 2017 by Alphasus

[Vanamonde]

Some kind of glitch, Alphasus. Nevermind. 

[GDJ]

2 hours ago, maas1248 said:

It is possible that you also have a dedicated GPU other than the Iris, as the Iris is integrated in the GPU.

'Fraid not. The Mac Mini's only had the embedded GPU with the CPU. From what I can research that's all they had.

[Whigr02]

10 hours ago, Alphasus said:

The power supply could be better. It's a reasonable supply but could be quite a bit more reliable. You do save 10 pounds by going with 1x8, so you could benefit from those savings, bringing you to 510 pounds. Though I doubt you could fit a better PSU. If not, keep the current PSU and build because it works.

I do have some keyboard and mouse recommendations if you need them too.

What type of psu would you suggest ? Also what are your keyboard and mouse recommendations? 

[Alphasus]

5 hours ago, Whigr02 said:

What type of psu would you suggest ? Also what are your keyboard and mouse recommendations? 

PSU

For a PSU, an EVGA 500B would be a bit better, whereas any Corsair RMx or EVGA Gold rated PSU would be significantly better in your required wattage, which is 400-600 watts with some space for Crossfiring your current RX 470. A Corsair CX500M would also work, and be a bit better than your current EVGA 500W PSU.

Keyboards and Mice

Keyboards and mice are odd to recommend because they're very personal.

Mice

For mice, if you can spend 60 pounds or more on a mouse, I'd recommend any mouse with a 3360 or 3366 sensor, which is flawless with no acceleration. My personal favorites with those sensors are(in order of best to worst) the G403 Wireless(75 pounds), G Pro(70 pounds), G403(52 pounds), or the new Deathadder(80 pounds). For something cheaper, the G102(if you can find it, it's around 40 pounds) has a flawless sensor like the above in a G Pro shape, but its sensor is lower DPI. Otherwise, find an inexpensive mouse from someone like Zowie with a 3310 sensor in a size that you like. 

Keyboards

For keyboards, if you have around 60 pounds for a keyboard, see if you can find a keyboard with whatever Gateron switches you like.  If there's a store near you to test which switches you like, see which MX, Razer, or Logitech switches you like, and get the Gateron equivalent. Kailh switches and Outemu switches are also options and sell in mechanical keyboards under 50 pounds. Their color coding is the same as the MX color coding. If you have less than 30 pounds, find a membrane keyboard that you like. If you'd prefer mechanical and tested some mechanical keyboards out, save the results of this process for later so that you can easily tell which mechanical keyboard you would like. It wouldn't be a bad idea to spend a little bit on an OK membrane board and use the saved money for a nicer mechanical board.

Mechanical Switches

Razer Green - MX Blue - Gateron Blue - Clicky, Tactile

Razer Orange - MX Brown - Gateron Brown - Tactile

Romer G - a lighter MX Brown - a lighter Gateron Brown - Slightly tactile

All MX switches other than MX Clears have Gateron equivalents in the same color as the MX switches. MX Clears have no Gateron equivalents, but Gateron Browns are closer. Gateron Clears are very light linear switches. 

If you have 90 pounds or more, you can likely afford real MX switches. However, Gateron Browns are thought to be better than MX Browns.

If you find a buckling spring keyboard(Model M or Model F) for a low price(sub 50 pounds), it's not a bad option either. The tactility and sharp actuation on buckling springs are legendary, but they are very very loud. Most Model M keyboards are full-size/100%, and it is rare to find a tenkeyless Model M. A refurbished tenkeyless Model M, or Model M SSK, is worth 200-300 pounds on eBay in good condition or better. 

Now that you know how to find your preferred switch, I'll explain how to find what form factor would likely be best.

Keyboard Sizes/Form Factors

100%/Fullsize-A keyboard with a numpad, arrow keys, and function keys as well as page navigation keys. Very common form factor.

TKL/80%-A keyboard without a numpad, but with arrow keys, function keys, and page navigation keys. Very common form factor.

66-68%-A keyboard without a numpad but with arrow keys, and some page navigation keys. Used with the Magicforce 68(Gateron or MX) and the Leopold FC660 series(MX only).

60%-A keyboard without a numpad, arrow keys, function keys, or page navigation keys, but with ways to input arrow keys, function keys, and page navigation keys. Often has different keyboard layers so that a user can have "profiles" or layers with certain inputs on them. Used with the Poker series, which is currently on the Poker 3(MX only) and Anne Pro(Gateron), as well as the HHKB(Topre).

40%-A keyboard without a numpad, arrow keys, function keys, number row keys, or page navigation keys, but with ways to input all of those except the numpad. Often has different layers. Is nearly impossible to find preassembled, with the exception being the Vortex CORE(MX only).

With your current computer, install a keypress heatmap(http://whatpulse.org/) and leave the keypress heatmap running for at least 1 day of use, preferably 2. If you rarely or never use the numpad, you can get away with a TKL keyboard. If you rarely or never use the arrow keys and function keys, a 60% board would work for you.  If you use the arrow keys but not function keys, a 66-68% board would work out. If you don't often use the number row, a Vortex CORE would work but it's risky if your use case expands. If you use a numpad but not some other parts of a keyboard, you can buy an external numpad and get a smaller form factor keyboard.

Personally, I use a Vortex Poker 3 with Cherry MX Clears(and this reply is so long partially because Clears are amazing to type on in my opinion), which are like more tactile brown switches while still being relatively quiet. Poker 3's are 60% keyboards with support for layers and macros on the firmware of the keyboard. So, when I press a key in a certain layer, let's say layer 4, it can input my password in as a series of keypresses. My recommendations in the size ranges are below:

Keyboard Recommendations

100%: Ducky One or Shine 5 for backlit, Filco Majestouch for non-backlit(both MX). Corsair K70 for MX switches if you don't care about upgradability of keycaps, but the Shine 5 and Majestouch are better boards. Lots of Gateron boards available in this size.

TKL: Ducky One TKL for backlit, Leopold FC750R for non-backlit(both MX). Corsair K65 for MX switches if you don't care about keycap upgradability, but the FC750R is a better board and the One TKL is a bit better too. Lots of Gateron boards available in this size. 

66-68%: Magicforce 68 or Leopold FC660M for non-backlit(both MX, MF68 does Gateron too). 

60%: Poker 3 for backlit or non-backlit. In the non-backlit variant, it has very high-quality keycaps(PBT and thick) stock(MX). Anne Pro for backlit and wireless, but limited selection of Gateron switches.

40% Vortex CORE for non-backlit. The only backlit options are DIY until a backlit CORE comes out(MX). No Gateron options except for DIY or homebuilt keyboards.

 

Edited January 22, 2017 by Alphasus
Edited to separate into sections and improve formatting. 2nd edit improved detail and added mention of buckling springs.

[cantab]

On keyboards, I have a Gigabyte Aivia Osmium with MX Browns. Cheap by mechanical keyboard standards, but still so much better than membrane rubbish. I like the MX Brown's feedback, although I think partly because I'm stuck on £10 membrane keyboards at work I've never really learned to not bottom out on my own one.

The only other switches I've felt are the Razer Greens in the shop, and to me the click sounded 'fake'. And isn't that true - isn't the click from something added onto the switch to make that noise, rather than being a core part of the mechanism?

The MX Clears interest me, but I doubt I could justify the cost.

As for form factor, well I know from experience that it drives me batty if a keyboard even rearranges the page navigation keys, never mind removes them. So I don't think I could go for anything smaller than a tenkeyless, and even that would be a bit dubious given I do hit the numpad not infrequently.

[Alphasus]

25 minutes ago, cantab said:

On keyboards, I have a Gigabyte Aivia Osmium with MX Browns. Cheap by mechanical keyboard standards, but still so much better than membrane rubbish. I like the MX Brown's feedback, although I think partly because I'm stuck on £10 membrane keyboards at work I've never really learned to not bottom out on my own one.

The only other switches I've felt are the Razer Greens in the shop, and to me the click sounded 'fake'. And isn't that true - isn't the click from something added onto the switch to make that noise, rather than being a core part of the mechanism?

The MX Clears interest me, but I doubt I could justify the cost.

As for form factor, well I know from experience that it drives me batty if a keyboard even rearranges the page navigation keys, never mind removes them. So I don't think I could go for anything smaller than a tenkeyless, and even that would be a bit dubious given I do hit the numpad not infrequently.

 

 

 

 

How much is that keyboard? I'm seeing it commonly for around $100. In my case, MX Clears cost anywhere from $120 to $150 depending on size. At $150, you get white backlighting and MX Clears, but that's quite expensive.

Gateron Browns are generally agreed upon to be nicer than MX Browns because they are smoother and more tactile. The click in Razer Greens and MX Blues comes from something inside the switch mechanism, but it's not natural at all. The sound comes from the stem causing something below it to snap down quickly, which makes the noise. In other switches, the stem doesn't click because the white part that snaps downward isn't there. All the same, Blues and Razer Greens won't work without the white part below the stem.

In my case, MX Clears cost anywhere from $120 to $150 depending on size. At $150, you get white backlighting and MX Clears on a full size board, but that's quite expensive.

Edited January 22, 2017 by Alphasus

[cantab]

When I got it it was £75 or so I think. Of course that was before Politics (tm) made the exchange rates shift.

[Alphasus]

21 minutes ago, cantab said:

When I got it it was £75 or so I think. Of course that was before Politics (tm) made the exchange rates shift.

75 pounds isn't far from something with Gateron Browns.

[Vanamonde]

@Dynastic Labs, your question has been merged into the master thread for this sort of question. 

(For reals, this time.) 

[Camacha]

10 hours ago, Alphasus said:

The click in Razer Greens and MX Blues comes from something inside the switch mechanism, but it's not natural at all.

The same could be said for the tactile bump in other switches. The bump is there for no other reason than to have it there. MX Black and Red are the most pure switch from a mechanical point of view, but provide no feedback.