General PC Discussion

[Iceman]

If you want an idea about what is best for your bucks and what is good for what (games) have a look at Hardware ( mmorpg.com sub forum )

The posts by user name Quizzical are usually good.

Thanks for the tip. Will have a look.

I’ve got a top IT guy/hardcore gamer on the case at the moment too.

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

I’ve got a top IT guy/hardcore gamer on the case at the moment too.

All good then.
Just don't go overkill, you don't need 16Gb of RAM, a $400 graphic card or a $150 Mobo if you are not into heavy requirement gaming

 

[Iceman]

All good then.
Just don't go overkill, you don't need 16Gb of RAM, a $400 graphic card or a $150 Mobo if you are not into heavy requirement gaming

Actually I do tend to go a bit overkill lol. My quite old setup from years ago (posted at the beginning of the thread) already had 16GB RAM.

The areas where I find this helps are when I'm trying to run multiple sessions from one pc - once needed to run 8 for one game, and also for RTS unlimited units setups. I love setting up an epic fantasy battle with the whole map full of units and let them fight it out on top settings without any slowdown. And then do the same thing again having boosted the losing alliance with another battalion or so. Proper geek here

 

[Iceman]

This is what we're looking at for now:

CPU – AMD Ryzen 5 3600(x) – This is a great CPU for current games and it will give you good headroom for future upgrades, the socket used for this CPU has a couple of higher spec models with more CPU cores and can be easily upgraded later down the line.

X570 Motherboard – Have a couple of different models in mind but aiming for the higher end which has longer warranty and better build quality.

16GB DDR4-3600 RAM

Nvidia RTX 2070 Super Graphics Card – Also looking at a RTX 2080 or a RTX 2080 super but this depends if any come on sale. This is also an easy replacement but this will last a good few years before you need to consider upgrading.

 

[Gee]

What's your budget?

I think the 3600 is better in terms of quality/price ratio. As for the GPU, unless you go with the 2080 Ti, I reckon you should get the 1080 Ti until the prices drop for the 20xx series and/or more games support real-time ray tracing. Last I checked, the 2080 Ti can't even run at 1080p60 with RTX enabled so imagine a 2070... Also, you can wait to see what AMD will offer with their upcoming Navi GPUs.

You'll save a few hundred bucks for the next 1-2 years and can invest them later.

 

[Iceman]

What's your budget?

I think the 3600 is better in terms of quality/price ratio. As for the GPU, unless you go with the 2080 Ti, I reckon you should get the 1080 Ti until the prices drop for the 20xx series and/or more games support real-time ray tracing. Last I checked, the 2080 Ti can't even run at 1080p60 with RTX enabled so imagine a 2070... Also, you can wait to see what AMD will offer with their upcoming Navi GPUs.

You'll save a few hundred bucks for the next 1-2 years and can invest them later.

Budget is £1500 for the whole setup. Thanks for this advice. When you say 3600 is better are you saying the CPU suggested is better than possible alternatives? Cheers mate.

 

[Gee]

Budget is £1500 for the whole setup. Thanks for this advice. When you say 3600 is better are you saying the CPU suggested is better than possible alternatives? Cheers mate.

If we're just comparing between 3600 and 3600x, they both have 6 cores and 12 threads. Though, the latter is slightly faster by 200 Mhz (3.6 Ghz vs 3.8 Ghz) but it's not worth it for about 50 dollars more to be honest and you can always overclock the 3600 to get it over 4 Ghz. Also, the 3600 (65 watts) is more energy efficient than 3600x (95 watts) so if you care about being eco-friendly... The 3600x does come with a better cooler, but that won't matter if you'll get an aftermarket cooler later.

Besides gaming, what will you be using the PC for? Video editing? Image processing? Streaming?

Here's a useful link if you want to play around with selecting parts: System Builder

 

[Iceman]

If we're just comparing between 3600 and 3600x, they both have 6 cores and 12 threads. Though, the latter is slightly faster by 200 Mhz (3.6 Ghz vs 3.8 Ghz) but it's not worth it for about 50 dollars more to be honest and you can always overclock the 3600 to get it over 4 Ghz. Also, the 3600 (65 watts) is more energy efficient than 3600x (95 watts) so if you care about being eco-friendly... The 3600x does come with a better cooler, but that won't matter if you'll get an aftermarket cooler later.

Besides gaming, what will you be using the PC for? Video editing? Image processing? Streaming?

Here's a useful link if you want to play around with selecting parts: System Builder

Oh thanks for that. Can you overclock the 3600x to get it higher too? The main focus aside from gaming will be work which demands many power hungry applications at the same time to work as flawlessly as possible. Thanks for the site too.

 

[Gee]

Oh thanks for that. Can you overclock the 3600x to get it higher too? The main focus aside from gaming will be work which demands many power hungry applications at the same time to work as flawlessly as possible. Thanks for the site too.

Yes, you can of course manually OC the 3600x but will the boost be that impactful?

Here are some benchmarks:
UserBenchmark: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 vs 3600X
Overclocking the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 vs. Ryzen 5 3600X: Do you get similar performance? | Digital Citizen
Ryzen 5 3600 vs. 3600X: Which should you buy?

An OC'd 3600 has similar performance to a non-OC'd 3600x. An OC'd 3600x seems to have negligible performance boost over an OC'd 3600. So I'd go with the 3600, OC it and with the money saved I'd get an aftermarket cooler to help with the temperatures.

If you can fit the 3700x (8 cores, 16 threads) in your budget, I think it is a better alternative to the 3600x in your case.

UserBenchmark: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X vs 7 3700X

 

[Iceman]

Yes, you can of course manually OC the 3600x but will the boost be that impactful?

Here are some benchmarks:
UserBenchmark: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 vs 3600X
Overclocking the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 vs. Ryzen 5 3600X: Do you get similar performance? | Digital Citizen
Ryzen 5 3600 vs. 3600X: Which should you buy?

An OC'd 3600 has similar performance to a non-OC'd 3600x. An OC'd 3600x seems to have negligible performance boost over an OC'd 3600. So I'd go with the 3600, OC it and with the money saved I'd get an aftermarket cooler to help with the temperatures.

If you can fit the 3700x (8 cores, 16 threads) in your budget, I think it is a better alternative to the 3600x in your case.

UserBenchmark: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X vs 7 3700X

Thanks a lot for all this mate. The guy who's helping me with this agreed with what you said in the previous posts and we will likely be making some changes as a result. Will also look at this stuff above with him tomorrow. I appreciate the help.

 

[terry78]

So long, Origin? EA comes back to Steam with new games – Ars Technica

 

[Gee]

So long, Origin? EA comes back to Steam with new games – Ars Technica

I reckon it'll be like for Ubisoft games on Steam where you still need Uplay installed (Origin in EA's case) to launch the games.

Meh...

 

[joombo]

Right now I play only pc games at slot machine online canada. I want to win a jackpot one day so I try to improve my skils and play every day. Hope the lady luck will be on my side.

 

[eternalinferno]

This is what we're looking at for now:

CPU – AMD Ryzen 5 3600(x) – This is a great CPU for current games and it will give you good headroom for future upgrades, the socket used for this CPU has a couple of higher spec models with more CPU cores and can be easily upgraded later down the line.

X570 Motherboard – Have a couple of different models in mind but aiming for the higher end which has longer warranty and better build quality.

16GB DDR4-3600 RAM

Nvidia RTX 2070 Super Graphics Card – Also looking at a RTX 2080 or a RTX 2080 super but this depends if any come on sale. This is also an easy replacement but this will last a good few years before you need to consider upgrading.

This build actually sounds very similar to mine. I went with the r5 3600, was looking to get the 2070 super but the situation you mentioned happened to me, saw the 2080 on sale basically the same price as a 2070 super at microcenter so I jumped on that deal. I also went with a x570 mobo, and 16gb of 3200 RAM. I was considering the 3700x but since I'm gaming at 1440p and 4k, the difference in performance wasn't worth the extra 130 bucks.

 

[Iceman]

Been really busy so made no progress on my pc but plan to get back to it after this weekend. Ideally want it ready for December in case I need it for work.

 

[Iceman]

This build actually sounds very similar to mine. I went with the r5 3600, was looking to get the 2070 super but the situation you mentioned happened to me, saw the 2080 on sale basically the same price as a 2070 super at microcenter so I jumped on that deal. I also went with a x570 mobo, and 16gb of 3200 RAM. I was considering the 3700x but since I'm gaming at 1440p and 4k, the difference in performance wasn't worth the extra 130 bucks.

Ah nice. Thanks for that info. How is that setup working out for you? How long have you had it?

 

[eternalinferno]

I've had it fully assembled since early October, loving the performance so far. Even just using the stock AMD cooler temps are under control. With this set up 1440p gaming is a breeze, and even 4k has good performance without having to lower the settings too much, although it depends on the game of course. As far as Ray tracing goes, only one that I have that uses it is the new COD and even with it enabled I'm usually never going below 70 FPS. This is at 1440p to be clear.

 

[Gee]

Can't wait.

 

[Gee]

Path of Exile II announced!

 

[Iceman]

I've had it fully assembled since early October, loving the performance so far. Even just using the stock AMD cooler temps are under control. With this set up 1440p gaming is a breeze, and even 4k has good performance without having to lower the settings too much, although it depends on the game of course. As far as Ray tracing goes, only one that I have that uses it is the new COD and even with it enabled I'm usually never going below 70 FPS. This is at 1440p to be clear.

Oh sounds great. Thanks for that. I've been really busy but will get back to sorting mine out asap.

 

[Iceman]

Can't wait.

These are the kinds of games that have convinced me to properly upgrade and commit for the future.

 

[Gee]

@Joe Von Zombie GOG is giving away Wasteland 2 for free:
GOG.com 上的 Wasteland 2 Director's Cut Digital Classic Edition

It includes a code for the first one too.

 

[Iceman]

So the utterly predictable happened. I couldn't help going for a higher spec build. To be fair now that pc and Xbox gaming are getting much more integrated, along with needing a very reliable top pc for work long term, it isn't as dumb as it might have been a few years back.

I will probably get a custom-themed case rather than the below (looking for one as we speak).

Ryzen 9 3900x which is a 12 core 24 thread CPU vs the Intel 9900KS which has 8 cores 16 threads.

Would be grateful for any views/recommendations to change anything in the rough guide below if needed.

Also I had a question about storage. I use an 8TB hard drive for Xbox and I love having the full library always installed and instantly accessible (might become less of an issue when I can eventually switch to 1 Gig internet speeds) and would love the same on pc. Is it possible to play games from the SSD and quickly transfer between that and a larger hard drive housing the full collection, or would doing that wear them both out? Is transferring between 2 hard drives like that any faster than a regular digital download or install? Not sure how most people manage it when they have a huge library on a regular large hard drive and also want the benefits of a SSD.

Any input appreciated.

 

[Gee]

The 9900KS is definitely the top dog when it comes to gaming. Since you won't be just gaming on that machine, I believe you're better off with the 3900x for the 12c/24t especially if your workload is dependent on the number of cores. Also, the 9900KS officially supports memory up to DDR4-2666, so the memory kit you've picked may not fully utilize its intended speed (DDR4-3200).

As for storage, you can definitely put games on an SSD. Now before going into capacity, I just want to clear some things about the speed (SATA and NVMe interfaces). The latter is definitely the fastest one but as of today, its real advantage is in use cases where you regularly move/read very large files. Some examples: you edit video in 4K, photos in RAW format... In gaming, you won't really see much differences in loading times (some games pre-cache/load textures into the memory). Sure, the actual process of installing a game on a NVMe SSD will be damn fast but that's not the reason you're getting an SSD.

So, if you really want to have all your games installed and be at your disposal then get a 1TB (or even a 2TB) that will only store your games but downgrade to the SATA interface (lower £/GB). If you do really need NVMe for your work, then downgrade the capacity to 256 or 512GB. On it, only have Windows and all the applications related to your work. In case Windows shirts over, you'll just have to format and re-install the OS and your applications. Thus your games will be safe being on a secondary SSD.

For example, my storage configuration is like this (my SSDs are SATA because I have no use for NVMe's speed):

• 256GB SSD: Windows, work (software development), applications (Steam and other game clients)
• 512GB SSD: Games I'm currently playing (once done, I uninstall), and some games that I keep because I occasionally come back to (usually online/multiplayer)
• 4TB HDD: For general purpose storage. Installation files for my DRM-free games, Steam backups, my music library, 1:1 backups of my Blu-ray movies (40+ GB files), and of course my porn comics collection

 

[Iceman]

The 9900KS is definitely the top dog when it comes to gaming. Since you won't be just gaming on that machine, I believe you're better off with the 3900x for the 12c/24t especially if your workload is dependent on the number of cores. Also, the 9900KS officially supports memory up to DDR4-2666, so the memory kit you've picked may not fully utilize its intended speed (DDR4-3200).

As for storage, you can definitely put games on an SSD. Now before going into capacity, I just want to clear some things about the speed (SATA and NVMe interfaces). The latter is definitely the fastest one but as of today, its real advantage is in use cases where you regularly move/read very large files. Some examples: you edit video in 4K, photos in RAW format... In gaming, you won't really see much differences in loading times (some games pre-cache/load textures into the memory). Sure, the actual process of installing a game on a NVMe SSD will be damn fast but that's not the reason you're getting an SSD.

So, if you really want to have all your games installed and be at your disposal then get a 1TB (or even a 2TB) that will only store your games but downgrade to the SATA interface (lower £/GB). If you do really need NVMe for your work, then downgrade the capacity to 256 or 512GB. On it, only have Windows and all the applications related to your work. In case Windows ****s over, you'll just have to format and re-install the OS and your applications. Thus your games will be safe being on a secondary SSD.

For example, my storage configuration is like this (my SSDs are SATA because I have no use for NVMe's speed):

• 256GB SSD: Windows, work (software development), applications (Steam and other game clients)
• 512GB SSD: Games I'm currently playing (once done, I uninstall), and some games that I keep because I occasionally come back to (usually online/multiplayer)
• 4TB HDD: For general purpose storage. Installation files for my DRM-free games, Steam backups, my music library, 1:1 backups of my Blu-ray movies (40+ GB files), and of course my porn comics collection

This is awesome stuff. Thanks a lot for going to the trouble. I will pass this on to the guy who is helping me build the pc.

I don't particularly need editing of 4K videos or raw format photos. Can't imagine that being something I will particularly get into. Work is about running multiple resource hungry applications (trading platforms) at the same time where any 10 second crash can be a bit of a disaster, especially at certain times of day. So I want to have as much of a safety net as possible on that front, can't hurt overpaying to make sure I am that much further from a chance of a crash. That would be the no.1 priority.

I guess I just want insurance that my game collection will never get too big for whatever hard drive I end up going with and if that were to happen moving the large game files very quickly between drives could become useful so that I can access from a SSD. My Xbox collection doesn't include many full size retail games (mainly the ones given away on Games with Gold over the years) - mostly arcade games and DLCs and it's still 4.5TB full (out of 8TB), with a separate drive for 360.

My guy will understand all this a lot better and will integrate all your advice into the final solution. You're seriously helping out a lot mate, thanks!!