KSP1 Computer Building/Buying Megathread

[Camacha]

Can you use your equipment in bridge mode, effectively only using it as a modem? It might be worth it to spend ~$100 and buy a decent router. You can set whatever your want, it should be a lot more stable and, perhaps most importantly, it generally is safer than standard equipment.

Edited February 5, 2015 by Camacha

[Outride]

Link to PC Part Picker (doesn't inlcude monitors! or discounts )

This beauty.

Sorry about the size. I can't seem to re-size it.

Notes:

I purchased the octa-core AMD FX-8320 at $120 from Microcenter. A "bundle" deal with the ASRock 970 Extreme 3 at $10. ($80 regular priced. Mines $40 for bundle. Price - $40. Minus a $10 for in-store purchase. Price: $30. Minus $20 because of mail-in rebate from ASRock! Yeah. $10!)

Current build price - $~825. Plus two monitors,

Monitors!

So build price PLUS two monitors at a great price (btw 1ms response, 23.6" display, WITH stereo speakers!, just look at those specs.)

Final Price, (running Kali Linux btw, so free OS.) : $1165. About.

• Octa-Core gaming processor by AMD FX-8320
  
• 2 x 4Gb G.Skill sniper series Ram (two out of the four slots used. 2 more left I'll add 2 x 8gb)
  
• 1TB Western Digital black edition (gaming series!)
  
• EVGA Superclocked GTX 970 4GB dedicated gaming graphics card
  
• NZXT Case. Great air flow. DO. NOT. WATER. COOL. Air cooling is cheaper, last longer, works better, quieter (remember liquid cooling also has fans ) So. Yeah. Air cool it.
  
• EVGA Supernova 750w 80+ GOLD! Fully Modular. Plenty of power and room for upgrades & OC!
  
• I'd also switch the stock fan from the processor for a 212 Evo. about $30
  

Yeah. Enjoy that nerdyness. I hope I stayed within post procedures. I added spoiler tags to help prevent the post from being too long. Any thoughts are more than welcome

[CatastrophicFailure]

Can you use your equipment in bridge mode, effectively only using it as a modem? It might be worth it to spend ~$100 and buy a decent router. You can set whatever your want, it should be a lot more stable and, perhaps most importantly, it generally is safer than standard equipment.

As far as I understand, I can only use their router. DSL obviously, not sure if that makes any difference. Always has creeped me out how they can access & tweak the router remotely. I probably should touch bases with them again about exactly what they want me to do to get that damn port open.

[Camacha]

As far as I understand, I can only use their router. DSL obviously, not sure if that makes any difference. Always has creeped me out how they can access & tweak the router remotely. I probably should touch bases with them again about exactly what they want me to do to get that damn port open.

If that is true, this whole affair screams you should get out as soon as possible, though I understand that can be hard if you have limited options. It sounds like there are some major usability and safety issues going on.

[steve_v]

As far as I understand, I can only use their router.

Clashes with:

I'd have to buy & configure my own hardware firewall, then they just open EVERYTHING up and wash their hands of it.

Unless you mean they'll set bridge mode and you have to get a firewall/NAT device for the ethernet/LAN side, in which case...

An old PC with e.g. Pfsense or Smoothwall makes a great firewall if you can run get your line onto ethernet un-mucked-with.

There's really no such thing as a 'hardware' firewall, they all do NAT/firewalling in software.

Find out if they'll let you run your own DSL router, one they don't control and one that isn't so braindead as to lack proper NAT / port fowarding. If they will then your options are manifold

If they won't, and won't do bridge mode either... run a mile, you really don't want to stay with that ISP.

I was in a slightly more comfortable position with my ISP - they wouldn't let me run my own hardware... but I had access to the provided (rubbish) box...

A quick forray through the "save configuration" dump file & some decoding yielded up the connection details, so I'm now running my own hardware anyway

They also forbid running 'servers' but that's a definition that can be bent...

Hopefully, it's as simple as wheedling the line configuration and login details out of them (and foregoing any ISP support) then setting up your DSL router of choice.

Edited February 5, 2015 by steve_v
too much iptables-fu required

[Camacha]

Clashes with:

An old PC with e.g. Pfsense or Smoothwall makes a great firewall if you can run get your line onto ethernet un-mucked-with.

Be careful of the hidden costs though, running a PC 24/7 will cost you about 2 dollar per watt on a yearly basis (though this can be either less or much more if electricity is cheap or expensive in your area). For an oldish PC, that might be around 100 to 200 dollars a year just to power the thing. Buying a dedicated firewall/router might very well be cheaper. Not to mention permanently powered computers are a a bit of a fire hazard.

Neither of those is a definitive reason not to do it, but using old hardware is rarely worth it based on pure economics.

Edited February 5, 2015 by Camacha

[steve_v]

You could do it with GNU/Linux on an embedded board like say, a Raspberry Pi. = similar power footprint to a 'router-in-a-box' whatsit.

A PC uses more power, it's true, but it can also do a whole lot more - have a look at the plugins for Pfsense

Plus you get hacker points for running a BSD box

I'll admit I have a bit of a blind spot for power economy... all my machines are on 24/7, and 2 of them are running flat-out for a good cause 24/7.

Quick back-of-a-fag-packet calculation says ~450w continuous. I refuse to work out what that's costing me.

Edited February 5, 2015 by steve_v

[Camacha]

A PC uses more power, it's true, but it can also do a whole lot more - have a look at the plugins for Pfsense

Do not get me wrong, I am not saying it is a bad solution. It is just that people trying to save a buck might end up spending more, so a small heads up is in order. If you are interested in conserving power, you might opt for a Raspberry Pi, NUC or dedicated router/firewall. Each has its own pros and cons and many other solutions are possible too.

Plus you get hacker points for running a BSD box

Well, some kind of points at least Though I suspect people doing this will most likely do it because they like the project too. There are two kinds of people; those that tinker...

[steve_v]

There are two kinds of people; those that tinker...

What, some people don't like to dismantle and rebuild everything they own? I'm shocked.

I'll admit I do take a perverse joy in making IT hardware do exactly what it wasn't designed to do

[Akira_R]

Hey all so I am in the planning phases of my first PC build, I am sick of playing ksp with ultra low textures and low resolutions and what not, plus there are so many other games I would like to play that my little i3 powered laptop just can't run, I am hoping I can get some advice regarding component selection.

This computers main use is going to be gaming, that is going to be the main load on it, however I do at some point want to get multiple monitors hooked up to it, I do a little programming, a lot of cfg file editing, and some 3d modeling, and being able to have multiple displays makes life so much easier.

Budget is limited but flexible: I am limited to spending a max of $200-$300 at a time but i plan on purchasing components over a broad period of time, bang for your buck is essential but I am more than willing to spend a little more money if it means a good increase in performance/reliability/future proofing. As far as peripherals and an OS I'll cross those bridges when I reach them lol.

I am in the southwestern US, no Microcenters near me, but I am a few hours drive away from Fry's Electronics, it has been awhile since I last checked their prices so I don't know how competitive they are, I was looking at using PcPartPicker for finding good online prices.

As far as specific requests go I really don't care about size or noise, I'll be using headphones or blasting music when I play so loud wiring fans and HDDs aren't an issue. however the computer will most likely end up in the same room i sleep in, and while noise isn't an issue in this regard, lots of glowing lights are an issue. As much as I love them, if they can be turned off while the computer is still running that is preferred. I do want to run SLI at some point so there is that to consider when it comes to a mobo.

As far as overclocking goes it sure sounds interesting and I have spent hours reading up about it but I don't think it is going to be something I will be getting into right away. Maybe at some point down the road when i really have a better grasp on all this stuff. As far as I understand this is dependent on both the chip and mobo, you would need an unlocked cpu and then a mobo with the right chipset to overclock correct? Are mobos using these kinds of chipsets significantly more expensive than ones not using them?

As far as parts that I have already looked at go:

CPU: i5 4xx0 haven't really decided on which chip but am pretty set on this platform, I think that also limits me to the LGA1150 socket.

and that is pretty much it lol

Now my questions.

When considering a chip what should one really look at when making a decision?

When looking for a motherboard aside from the basics like correct socket for the CPU, good slot layout, and the type and amount of ram it will take, what else should be considered? Aside from some being capable of overclocking what is the difference between different chipsets? Should certain chipsets be avoided, or others that are recommended? What about manufacturers, is there any companies that one should steer clear of when it comes to mobos, RAM, PSU? What are the important specs one should look at when considering a graphics card, I tend to lean toward Nvidia but I honestly don't know where the bias came from lol.

I think that is it for now, thanks in advance for any help offered!

[DuoDex]

I highly recommend your i5 choice. They're powerful, and yet not too pricey.

With your GPU, you can either have an AMD or nvidia. Lots of people like nvidia, but it's fairly pricey. Their flagship models are the GTX 9XX series, while AMD's flagship are the R9 2XX series.

Your pick.

[Akira_R]

With the reading I have done over the last hour or so I am definitely thinking of going with nvidia, mostly due to what I have read about getting drivers for linux builds lol, any advice as far as mobo selection?

[DuoDex]

Get a Z97 chipset. That'll allow for overclocking your i5 to the best of it's ability, and it's the most recent model.

Other than that, I have no real recommendations than to avoid ASRock. I've had three of their motherboards blow out in six months. Personally, I prefer MSI, but it's your choice.

[cantab]

Keep in mind PC stuff advances quickly. You might be better off saving until you have the full budget, rather than buying stuff now that you won't be using for months.

If you're gonna be sleeping in the same room as your PC is running in then I'd say noise is a factor. Sure you probably don't need total silence, but I've owned some loud hardware. Just be wary of anything criticised for being noisy.

Wanting SLI support will force you into somewhat more expensive motherboards. They needn't be super-pricey though, there are options in the £90-100 mark.

Yes, to overclock you want a CPU with an unlocked multiplier. On the Intel side the choice is simple: Pentium G3258, i5-4690K, or i7-4790K. You also want a motherboard that supports overclocking. All Z97 boards do, as do some non-Z boards but for them you would have to do your research.

For motherboard choice, the first factor is overall size and whether it fits in your case! The next for you is as mentioned SLI support - and also consider the placement of the PCI-E 16x slot, some boards would put your graphics cards closer together than others. Then, while motherboards do vary in overclocking performance the effects are small, around 0.1 GHz of variation usually. More important is the ancillary stuff: number of USB ports, what if any Wifi there is, the M.2 slot if any (for compact and fast SSDs), etc. And of course general build quality and reliability.

[Akira_R]

Cool good to know regarding ASRock, yeah I think I have decided to go with the i5 4690k, depending on where I buy it from it is only US$30 more than the 4590 I was looking at, and it will allow me to overclock it at some point, and if I am doing that I might as well get a mobo that can do it.

The MSI boards look pretty good, especially for their price point, can I ask why you prefer MSI? Any input on ASUS or Gigabyte?

Edit: The reason I'm not to worried about noise is because I live right next to the freeway and the train tracks, the noise is pretty constant and hasn't had any impact on my ability to sleep yet lol, but that being said I am still going to look for quieter running stuff.

Good to know about that M.2 slot I didn't know what that was about, I do want to run a SSD at some point if not right away so I can get good load times.

I don't have a case yet, since I am starting from scratch I figured I would pick a mobo with specs I like and then get a case that will fit it lol.

which leads me to how exactly do I determine what will fit what? I've kind of decided to go for a ATX full tower.

Again any ones opinions regarding manufacturers to consider or stay away from when it comes to mobos or cases is greatly appreciated.

Edited February 17, 2015 by Akira_R

[Pixel of Life]

My laptop is pretty much dead so I've been thinking about building a cheap-ish gaming desktop to replace it. Budget is around 800€.

Specs:

AMD FX-8320

Asus R9 270X DirectCU II

Noctua NH-U9B SE2 CPU cooler

G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB RAM

MSI 970A-G43 Mobo

Cooler Master B700 PSU

Antec Three Hundred case

+ some cheap and good HDD and DVD-R drive.

Total price is 835€. I designed this with normal desktop use and light/medium gaming in mind. It doesn't need to run the latest games at max settings as I'll mainly be using it for KSP, EVE Online and other not-so-resource-intensive stuff.

I'm not sure about the CPU/GPU combo though. I have two GPU options (R9 270 and R9 270X) and two CPU options (FX-6300 and FX-8320). Should I stick with the FX-8320 or just get an FX-6300 and overclock it? How big of a difference does 2 extra cores make?

[cantab]

With KSP as a major focus, why not an Intel processor? The http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/42877-CPU-Performance-Database thread shows that they're stronger than AMD's offerings as far as KSP goes.

Edited February 18, 2015 by cantab
Whoops!

[briansun1]

My laptop is pretty much dead so I've been thinking about building a cheap-ish gaming desktop to replace it. Budget is around 800€.

Specs:

AMD FX-8320

Asus R9 270X DirectCU II

Noctua NH-U9B SE2 CPU cooler

G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB RAM

MSI 970A-G43 Mobo

Cooler Master B700 PSU

Antec Three Hundred case

+ some cheap and good HDD and DVD-R drive.

Total price is 835€. I designed this with normal desktop use and light/medium gaming in mind. It doesn't need to run the latest games at max settings as I'll mainly be using it for KSP, EVE Online and other not-so-resource-intensive stuff.

I'm not sure about the CPU/GPU combo though. I have two GPU options (R9 270 and R9 270X) and two CPU options (FX-6300 and FX-8320). Should I stick with the FX-8320 or just get an FX-6300 and overclock it? How big of a difference does 2 extra cores make?

I say neither get an Intel like cantab said. I would also drop the aftermarket CPU cooler and grab a better quality PSU.

With KSP as a major focus, why not an Intel processor? The http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/42877-CPU-Performance-Database thread shows that they're stronger than Intel's offerings as far as KSP goes.

I think there's supposed to be an AMD in there somewhere.

[Pixel of Life]

With KSP as a major focus, why not an Intel processor?

Intel processors, especially the K series ones, are hella expensive. I'm looking for something that can be overclocked for better performance.

I would also drop the aftermarket CPU cooler and grab a better quality PSU.

The Noctua cooler is there to keep it quiet during light use, and to keep it cool under stress. Am I overdoing it? As for the PSU, what would you suggest?

I also just realized I'll probably have to get an Nvidia GPU after all since they have better Linux support. That, combined even with the cheapest Intel K series CPU (i5 4670K), would push the price up to 980€. Ouch.

[briansun1]

Intel processors, especially the K series ones, are hella expensive. I'm looking for something that can be overclocked for better performance.

The Noctua cooler is there to keep it quiet during light use, and to keep it cool under stress. Am I overdoing it? As for the PSU, what would you suggest?

I also just realized I'll probably have to get an Nvidia GPU after all since they have better Linux support. That, combined even with the cheapest Intel K series CPU (i5 4670K), would push the price up to 980€. Ouch.

For PSU I say the T2 or P2 line from EVGA or HX or AX line from corsair.

[Red Iron Crown]

Intel processors, especially the K series ones, are hella expensive. I'm looking for something that can be overclocked for better performance.

The Noctua cooler is there to keep it quiet during light use, and to keep it cool under stress. Am I overdoing it? As for the PSU, what would you suggest?

I also just realized I'll probably have to get an Nvidia GPU after all since they have better Linux support. That, combined even with the cheapest Intel K series CPU (i5 4670K), would push the price up to 980€. Ouch.

The Pentium G3258 is quite cheap and is unlocked despite its non-K designation. I have one and it clocks over 4GHz easily on a cheap air cooler. It's only dual-core, but for many applications (and KSP in particular) that's not really a big deal.

For PSUs I would stick with Seasonic or Corsair, they seem to be of consistent quality and honest wattage ratings.

[Elthy]

Even an overclocked AMD CPU wont be able to be as fast (in single thread) as Intel CPUs...

[Pixel of Life]

Alright, I made some changes:

Intel Core i5 4670K

Asus R9 270 DirectCU II

Asus H97 Plus Mobo

Noctua NH-U9B SE2 CPU cooler

Corsair CX750M V2 PSU

G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB RAM

Antec Three Hundred case

+ whatever HDD and DVD drive I decide to get.

Only costs 65€ more than the setup I posted above so I could still afford it. I don't think I need the 270X as it seems that the standard 270 is easily overclocked to achieve similar performance.

E^2: Nevermind. Apparently LGA1155 coolers are compatible with LGA1150 processors.

Edited February 18, 2015 by CaptainKorhonen
Bigger PSU

[DuoDex]

Cool good to know regarding ASRock, yeah I think I have decided to go with the i5 4690k, depending on where I buy it from it is only US$30 more than the 4590 I was looking at, and it will allow me to overclock it at some point, and if I am doing that I might as well get a mobo that can do it.

The MSI boards look pretty good, especially for their price point, can I ask why you prefer MSI? Any input on ASUS or Gigabyte?

Edit: The reason I'm not to worried about noise is because I live right next to the freeway and the train tracks, the noise is pretty constant and hasn't had any impact on my ability to sleep yet lol, but that being said I am still going to look for quieter running stuff.

Good to know about that M.2 slot I didn't know what that was about, I do want to run a SSD at some point if not right away so I can get good load times.

I don't have a case yet, since I am starting from scratch I figured I would pick a mobo with specs I like and then get a case that will fit it lol.

which leads me to how exactly do I determine what will fit what? I've kind of decided to go for a ATX full tower.

Again any ones opinions regarding manufacturers to consider or stay away from when it comes to mobos or cases is greatly appreciated.

Only because I got sick of ASRock's nonsense and took the cash refund and bought an MSI mobo with it, which has performed remarkably well.

Asus and Gigabyte are reputable manufacturers of other stuff, I don't see what could be wrong with their mobos.

Alright, I made some changes:

Intel Core i5 4670K

Asus R9 270 DirectCU II

Asus H97 Plus Mobo

Noctua NH-U9B SE2 CPU cooler

Corsair CX750M V2 PSU

G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB RAM

Antec Three Hundred case

+ whatever HDD and DVD drive I decide to get.

Only costs 65€ more than the setup I posted above so I could still afford it. I don't think I need the 270X as it seems that the standard 270 is easily overclocked to achieve similar performance.

E^2: Nevermind. Apparently LGA1155 coolers are compatible with LGA1150 processors.

That H97 chipset will not allow you to overclock your CPU, which is unlocked. And you can probably lower your PSU, 600W or 650W should be more than enough for you.

Also, consider getting a R9 280. I have a 280X, and I love it!

Edited February 18, 2015 by DuoDex

[Pixel of Life]

That H97 chipset will not allow you to overclock your CPU, which is unlocked. And you can probably lower your PSU, 600W or 650W should be more than enough for you.

Also, consider getting a R9 280. I have a 280X, and I love it!

Oh, so that's the difference between H97 and Z97. Thanks. Swapped the PSU for a Corsair CX600W and the motherboard for an Asus Z97-K. As for the R9 280, I may or may not get one as I'm already well over my initial budget.