KSP1 Computer Building/Buying Megathread

[Nuke]

ive come to the conclusion that i need something better than a corsair sf750. this was one of the top rated sfx supplies when i bought it. but due to a quirk of the silent fan mode (which you cant turn off), the psu cooks itself triggering its thermal limiter. the fan barely moves any air at all, even when i take the panels off. this psu has a completely unobstructed airflow path, and everything else in the system runs cool as a cucumber. it just does not work well at its peak. curse you gpu manufacturers for hogging power! anyway it now no longer can handle mw5, so thats 2 games i cant play because of this psu overheat problem. a cleaning might help, but were just gonna have the same problem again in 6 months. 

anyway it needs to be sfx. im not quite sure if sfx-l would fit. it looks like i have the extra 25mm, but it really comes down to how bulky the cable terminations are. i may be able to mod one of the psu brackets that came with the case to get more clearance. something around 850-900w, not quite 1kw, i dont need (nor want) that much juice. corsair does have an 1000w sfx-l, but its only gold rated, so thats a lot of waste heat. silverstone has an 800w titanium sfx-l, but the connectors stick out and im not sure thats accounted for in the dimensions. atx will not fit with my gpu and cpu cooler, and im not moving to a bigger case (i really like the black anodized aluminum finish). 

Edited October 6, 2023 by Nuke

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

On 10/6/2023 at 12:03 PM, Nuke said:

i need something better

I kinda don't trust these companies very much on the power draw numbers.  After my expensive mishap with being underpowered I'm convinced overhead is required in a PSU. 

Especially, given the amount of money that goes into performant systems these days. 

Best of luck - I'm useless on the sfx front.  I'm more of a giant box guy, given that I get frustrated with trying to not break something in tight fit situations 

[Nuke]

nipped my psu problem in the bud today. i was comparing the efficiency curves of my sf750 against the sf1000l. the former is platinum but the latter is only gold.  however looking at the efficiency-load curves. figuring my typical usage is in the 500-600 watt range. i think i would get better efficiency out of the gold rated supply and have the extra headroom to handle peaks more gracefully. 

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

Massively disappointed again with the state of the GPU situation. 

I'm loving my 4k monitor size (32 inches) but not a fan of the entry level performance of the GPU I could afford (3070).  Back when I bought it, it was great for 1080p - but entry level for 4k.  I figured it would be OK to use for the anticipated cycle and that eventually price /performance would settle out. 

Nope. 

Now I'm hearing that there isn't likely to be an upgrade to GPUs until the end of 2025. 

That breaks the 2-year product cycle path I'd been hoping for.  (I typically skip generations between purchases). 

2020 = 3000 series 

2022 = 4000 series 

2025 = 5000(?) series. 

... 

Sadface 

[Nuke]

starting to wonder if 4k was a mistake. would rather have higher framerates and cooler running comp than all the extra pixels. and frankly im of an age where i really cant tell anyway. the extra resolution either makes things too damn small to read barring ui scaling (if programs use it, looking at you 3dsmax 2014) or it just goes unused. 

for games it does kind of work, but im playing mechwarrior online (a 10 year old f2p), minecraft, old ksp, and a lot of indie games. tripple a games made for the masses are more spectacle and exhibition than actually fun gameplay. ksp2 i figured would age into my hardware at some point, but then i lost mechwarrior 5 and that was the last straw. granted a cleaning could have solved everything, but while im in there, clean up the wiring and put in a beefier psu. then i might be able to play ksp2 and fulfill my dream of sending paige on a one way trip to the surface of the sun. 

i generally dont like when hardware manufacturers push the juice when products fail to meet performance targets. some of my best experiences with system building were from the rtx 20xx era and prior all the way back to just after the end of the core2 line. machines ran cold, had good performance, and were affordable. i find hardware reviewers rag on the 20xx series, but the thing sipped power and offered great performance, and it paid for itself and two thirds of my new machine in crypto mining. most importantly they fit in your case. but give them 20 pounds of hot slag dangling off of a pcie riser and squid cable that leaves you in a financial crater and they will sing its praises.

spending close to $900 on a 7900xt when it was new was possibly a terrible purchasing decision. our only hope is that intel makes a sizable contribution to gpu market share, especially the subset that wants to run sane cool environmentally friendly gaming rigs. i swore id never buy a 1kw psu but here we are. just so i can use the hardware i have to play the games i want to play.

Edited October 19, 2023 by Nuke

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

2 hours ago, Nuke said:

starting to wonder if 4k was a mistake

I don't think it was for me.  While a big driver was gaming for me - I've been super busy doing other things... And I find it actually improves my work flow.  With old eyes, I can have two windows up side by side at full resolution and am not seeing any major UI problems in the productivity programs I'm using.  

The gaming front was a predictable hit, performance wise - but a 24 inch 1080p was just frustrating me back when.  I walked away from a game I enjoyed for a variety of reasons but (like you) thought that KSP2 would be playable.  Nothing else has really captured my attention.  Cities might be - but people with better GPUs are downscaling to 2k and turning off features... So that's a 'wait'.  Yet it's the cautionary tale as well. 

4k gaming isn't working (yet) absent spending absurd sums... And now a delay?  Pfft. 

3 hours ago, Nuke said:

hope is that intel makes a sizable contribution to gpu market share

I thought they were only looking for the candy crush crowd??  Are you seeing anything that suggests they can compete for actual gaming rigs? 

3 hours ago, Nuke said:

i might be able to play ksp2

Snort.  I give it another year before it looks like a playable game. 

[Nuke]

1 hour ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

I thought they were only looking for the candy crush crowd??  Are you seeing anything that suggests they can compete for actual gaming rigs?

the thing about the intel gpu is that it was actually targeting a portion of market share neglected by the alternatives. it wont really be a contender until maybe its 2nd or 3rd generation. it goes to show how hard it is for a corporate giant like intel to compete against established players. they can eat a loss for a bit until they can solve all the problems. i figure by the time im in the market for a gpu again, they will be a serious option. 

[magnemoe]

On 10/20/2023 at 6:02 AM, Nuke said:

the thing about the intel gpu is that it was actually targeting a portion of market share neglected by the alternatives. it wont really be a contender until maybe its 2nd or 3rd generation. it goes to show how hard it is for a corporate giant like intel to compete against established players. they can eat a loss for a bit until they can solve all the problems. i figure by the time im in the market for a gpu again, they will be a serious option. 

Probably but but most modern CPU in the lower to medium sector tend to have an build in GPU now. How medium? Both the Xbox and PS5 since previous generation has been an Amd cpu+gpu chip, yes its a bit specialized but don't see why you can not use something like that in an pc. 

[Nuke]

12 hours ago, magnemoe said:

Probably but but most modern CPU in the lower to medium sector tend to have an build in GPU now. How medium? Both the Xbox and PS5 since previous generation has been an Amd cpu+gpu chip, yes its a bit specialized but don't see why you can not use something like that in an pc. 

i hear good things about amd's igpu, but i got a 5800x without one. in retrospect its a good troubleshooting feature. rendering is a solved problem regardless about what tech reviewers, game companies, and the gpu manufacturers themselves would have you believe. a modern igpu is a power house compared to my first voodoo card. 

 

Edited October 23, 2023 by Nuke

[PicoSpace]

Small Upgrade recently...
CPU: AMD Ryan 9 5800X
GPU: Zotac GeForce RTX 3070
MOBO: ASUS TUF X570
RAM: 16x4 G.Skill TridentZ
M.2 Drives: SAMSUNG PRO SSDs (Gaming Drives)
Mouse: Ducky Feather Lightweight Gaming Mouse
Keyboard: Razen Deathstalker (V1)
Monitor: 24" ASUS ProArt

Everything is "stock" as I haven't had a chance to see about OC with the new set-up (make sure it works first lol).

I'm thinking my next upgrade may be a larger 4K monitor... thoughts/recommendations?
Maybe a upgraded Keyboard as well...

[Nuke]

all i do is run the xmp profile and thats about it. thats technically an overclock even though you're running it at the factory spec, but ryzen likes memory speed. overclockers are a wierd sort who will spend $500 on heat management and $300 on power for another 5% in performance, its cheaper to move up to a higher binned cpu and benefit from the higher stock speeds. of course then they want to overclock it, it never ends with them. imho stability is king.

Edited October 23, 2023 by Nuke

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

2 hours ago, PicoSpace said:

a larger 4K monitor.

Nuke and I have variations on the same Gigabyte Aorus monitor.  Mine is the FI32U,  his, (IIRC) is the M32U.  Mine came out first & was hideously expensive and has been fantastic.  Exactly what I was looking for in a 144hz 32-inch 4k monitor.  I've also got a 3070.

That said - 3070 is ENTRY LEVEL for 4k.  As in it will run old titles just fine, maybe with some features turned down.  Modern never-optimized games however are beyond its capabilities at 4k.  Case in point: KSP2 = 15-20 FPS.  I'm hearing that I can't even run Cities 2 at 4k.  I'm currently waiting for the 5000 series to come out, as I just cannot get myself to buy a current gen given the incremental increase they offer at 4k (w/in my self-allowed budget).

If I might suggest - don't get a 27 inch 4k.  Just don't.  If you feel like 27 is what you want, get a 1440p at that size.  4k @ 32 is better pixel  density than 1080p at 24, but the monitor size fixes most UI scaling.  ( @Nuke has some different thoughts on this with certain programs) - but for me, using the MS Office suite I've no problems.  Can have two full sized windows up side by side and work on/from both with ease.

GL!

[PicoSpace]

5 hours ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

Nuke and I have variations on the same Gigabyte Aorus monitor.  Mine is the FI32U,  his, (IIRC) is the M32U.  Mine came out first & was hideously expensive and has been fantastic.  Exactly what I was looking for in a 144hz 32-inch 4k monitor.  I've also got a 3070.

That said - 3070 is ENTRY LEVEL for 4k.  As in it will run old titles just fine, maybe with some features turned down.  Modern never-optimized games however are beyond its capabilities at 4k.  Case in point: KSP2 = 15-20 FPS.  I'm hearing that I can't even run Cities 2 at 4k.  I'm currently waiting for the 5000 series to come out, as I just cannot get myself to buy a current gen given the incremental increase they offer at 4k (w/in my self-allowed budget).

If I might suggest - don't get a 27 inch 4k.  Just don't.  If you feel like 27 is what you want, get a 1440p at that size.  4k @ 32 is better pixel  density than 1080p at 24, but the monitor size fixes most UI scaling.  ( @Nuke has some different thoughts on this with certain programs) - but for me, using the MS Office suite I've no problems.  Can have two full sized windows up side by side and work on/from both with ease.

GL!

There is talk that 5000's series cards won't pop up until 2025 so you'll have quite a wait. I understand 3070 @ 4K is pushing it, I can run games a lower resolution if required to get decent framerates for now. My main desire for the 4K monitor is more for my video work (my OTHER youtube channel focuses on Photography/Videography where 4K is the norm). But playing games on a larger monitor is a bonus as well, especially given how "generous" KSP2 is with screen realestate compared to KSP1, more pixels would be better.

[Nuke]

6 hours ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

Nuke and I have variations on the same Gigabyte Aorus monitor.  Mine is the FI32U,  his, (IIRC) is the M32U.  Mine came out first & was hideously expensive and has been fantastic.  Exactly what I was looking for in a 144hz 32-inch 4k monitor.  I've also got a 3070.

That said - 3070 is ENTRY LEVEL for 4k.  As in it will run old titles just fine, maybe with some features turned down.  Modern never-optimized games however are beyond its capabilities at 4k.  Case in point: KSP2 = 15-20 FPS.  I'm hearing that I can't even run Cities 2 at 4k.  I'm currently waiting for the 5000 series to come out, as I just cannot get myself to buy a current gen given the incremental increase they offer at 4k (w/in my self-allowed budget).

If I might suggest - don't get a 27 inch 4k.  Just don't.  If you feel like 27 is what you want, get a 1440p at that size.  4k @ 32 is better pixel  density than 1080p at 24, but the monitor size fixes most UI scaling.  ( @Nuke has some different thoughts on this with certain programs) - but for me, using the MS Office suite I've no problems.  Can have two full sized windows up side by side and work on/from both with ease.

GL!

mine has a dead pixel too close to the center, and its too much to send back. not buying gigabyte again.

really depends on what you are playing, you can 4k some e-sports titles or older tripple a games just fine. i was getting almost 80fps in mwo with my old 2070 super. and now that i moved on to a 7900xt there are still some 4k games i have trouble with. in a lot of cases its a choice between refresh and resolution. supersampling to 4k from 1440 usually. i just bought a 1kw supply in hopes of being able to better handle power spikes, and if that doesnt work im going to consider 4k a pipe dream in certain games. gpus need to stop power hogging, and game studios need to trim their usage a bit. 

only software i have trouble with is the old version of 3dsmax i have, of course that program never played by the ui rules of its host os. 

Edited October 24, 2023 by Nuke

[AstroWolfie]

Could modded (eg, graphics, parts, etc.) KSP run on a desktop with these parts? I'm looking at building a PC to run some stuff such as:

• KSP, of course
• Astroneer
• Battlefront II (the 2017 version)
• Portal & Portal 2
• autoCAD
• Blender
• Source Filmmaker
• Cities: Skylines
• Cities: Skylines 2
• Roblox (Specifically Space Sailors by Pulsarnova, its pretty good, go check it out)
• and more!

EDIT: Ok, so I have read through some more PC stuff, and found a parts compatibility/price list site and I adjusted a lot of the stuff.

here's the link: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/QWdXfy

 

I'm right by SFO, so there are a few computer stores around here, and I might pick stuff up from those, if Amazon doesn't have them.

Would this work? Replies would be nice!

Edited November 1, 2023 by AstroWolfie
revised the parts list.

[Chemp]

On 10/25/2023 at 11:48 PM, AstroWolfie said:

Pystar 1000w power supply 130$

Looks like a decent built to me, but I'm no expert. One point: a 1kw PSU for that price tag looks a bit sketchy to me.

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

On 10/25/2023 at 5:48 PM, AstroWolfie said:

EVGA Geforce RTX 3070

3070 will run almost anything at 1080p with max settings.  Especially anything as old as KSP.  Newer titles, or stuff running Ray Tracing might need some tweaks for 120+ FPS.

What the 3070 really is - a solid GPU for 1440p or entry level for 4k.

Echoing @Chemp - it does not pay to skimp on a power supply.  Get a reputable named PSU and 1000w for a tower build is a good idea.  Bad PSU eats the most expensive stuff in your build, if not careful.

[AstroWolfie]

oh ok. thanks you guys. reconsidering psu so ill use the corsair rm1000x 2021. Is that one any good? is the tower any good also?

20 hours ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

  Get a reputable named PSU and 1000w for a tower build is a good idea.  Bad PSU eats the most expensive stuff in your build, if not careful.

 

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

I like Corsair.  @Nukecan talk more about the 'flavors' of PSUs.  He's got higher standards than I do. 

[AstroWolfie]

well, the PSU issue is settled. Now, does anybody know if the tower is any good?

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

47 minutes ago, AstroWolfie said:

well, the PSU issue is settled. Now, does anybody know if the tower is any good?

Tower rarely has much impact; if you like the look & price go for it.  There are some things to think about, depending upon build - like if you're not going watercooled and want a quiet efficient air cooled... you might go one direction.  If you're going watercooled, you've got other considerations.  I'd recommend looking at GamersNexus for recommendations.

[Nuke]

the biggest problem you will have from your tower is fitment. i normally check dimensions myself, in extreme detail because im an sff builder.  for a mid tower this should be a non issue, but the current iteration of gpus has been exceptionally large. so at least check the gpu dimensions, account for power connectors and cooling. 

3 hours ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

I like Corsair.  @Nukecan talk more about the 'flavors' of PSUs.  He's got higher standards than I do. 

they are ok, at least i know what im getting. some of their models are also cable compatible, like my 750 and 600 both use corsair type 4. the new supply is type 5 however and a full cable transplant will be required.  anyway i need the 600 for a project. so shop computer gets the 750, the 600 goes into a low performance build, that or it becomes my new 3d printer psu. comes down to whether or not i can cram it and a 1060 into a 9 liter office case. 

[AstroWolfie]

I read that the CPU isn't compatible with the motherboard. Anybody know if that's true or not?

 

[Chemp]

On 10/25/2023 at 11:48 PM, AstroWolfie said:

Intel I5 $100-$200

MSI B550 gaming gen 3

Oops, I should have spotted that. It's a motherboard for AMD CPUs, so it won't be compatible with Intel

[Nuke]

you got to be careful with socket compatibility. mobo dictates everything but you still need to have an idea of what cpu you are going to be using. then pick a mobo that is compatible and gives you all the interfaces you need. then you do ram (usually something on the qvl). you cant stick an amd in an intel or vise versa. even if you have the correct socket type, you might need to flash the bios to unlock a newer chip. fortunately that is really easy these days and you can do it without a cpu in the socket. read manuals before you buy. i usually theory craft multiple different builds before settling on one. 

i dont really do in-generation upgrades. no point getting a low end cpu and upgrading later. first off its got to be better than what you were running previous without jumping to a higher tier. wait too long and an upgrade involves replacing most or all core components anyway, so just buy something in your budget and plan on replacing most of it next time. cases, gpus, ssds, power supplies (in good condition and in spec for your build), fans if they are good (say noctua or some other high end fan product) usually end up in multiple build iterations. when i upgrade im usually skipping 2 or 3 generations and im unlikely to hit the same socket twice. memory too is almost a new type, except current build still uses ddr4. will do gpu upgrades periodically and storage as needed (of course with m.2 i usually coincide this with the core components, because depending on build getting at them may require a near complete disassembly, im currently fine for another terabyte or two). 

Edited November 2, 2023 by Nuke