What computer should I buy?

[oprylandusa]

Hey guys,

I switched over to Macs several years ago (don't worry, I was a classic RCT player on Windows just like you!) and am so far removed from the specs of PCs and their graphics cards, etc. that I'm lost on what I should get.

I'll start by saying this: This game is literally the only reason I'm getting a new computer, so I need something that will run it well, but nothing way over the top. It'll be the only time I power the thing on. Any suggestions on what machine(s) I should be looking at? Any favorites that are powerful, but not overly "gamery" (no offense, promise!)

Thanks in advance!
Jay

 

[MrCow]

lets start off with what your budget is its easier to make a list on that. also which country do you live? this makes it easier for shops where to buy and are you able to build it yourself?(im a newby at it aswell, built my first pc a month ago and it runs like a charm, its not too hard if you have the right parts. its like a box of lego, follow the instructions and it works. everything only fits in one way anyways).

 

[oprylandusa]

May be a little ambitious, but I'm open to suggestions

I'm in the U.S. and I'm guessing the release will be around Christmas (?) and I'm not wanting to spend more than $600 (if that's even possible now).

I would like to stick with a store-bought one, but if I can get a much better computer building it myself, let me know!

 

[LeglessBloke]

Hey guys,

I switched over to Macs several years ago (don't worry, I was a classic RCT player on Windows just like you!) and am so far removed from the specs of PCs and their graphics cards, etc. that I'm lost on what I should get.

I'll start by saying this: This game is literally the only reason I'm getting a new computer, so I need something that will run it well, but nothing way over the top. It'll be the only time I power the thing on. Any suggestions on what machine(s) I should be looking at? Any favorites that are powerful, but not overly "gamery" (no offense, promise!)

Thanks in advance!
Jay

Are you planning on playing the alpha of Planet Coaster or waiting until the full release of the game? I ask because if it's the latter it would be wise to wait for the finished product before you make any hardware choices. Remember, the hardware requirements are subject to change as features are added and optimizations made. What could be good enough now might be tomorrows terrible!

 

[oprylandusa]

I'll be waiting for the full release while simultaneously saving. I guess I don't need to know an exact model for now, just an idea of what I should be looking for when I'm ready to purchase.

 

[MrCow]

May be a little ambitious, but I'm open to suggestions

I'm in the U.S. and I'm guessing the release will be around Christmas (?) and I'm not wanting to spend more than $600 (if that's even possible now).

I would like to stick with a store-bought one, but if I can get a much better computer building it myself, let me know!

building one yourself can save you bigtime money + it gives you the possibility to make a very specific PC for the thing that you need. say someone wants more processing power and less RAM, stock pc's only come in so many forms, by making your own the only thing that limits you is compatibility and money i would check out newegg if i were you, its not too expensive and ive heard good stuff about them

 

[LeglessBloke]

I'll be waiting for the full release while simultaneously saving. I guess I don't need to know an exact model for now, just an idea of what I should be looking for when I'm ready to purchase.

There are new GPU architectures in the works by both ATI and NVIDA which should be out by the time the game is finally released. I'm imagining both of those will be a step up in performance compared to the current generation of hardware we're using so it's hard to recommend anything GPU wise. For CPU I would be looking for an Intel skylake (6th generation) Core i7 or Core i5 for a cheaper option. 16GB of RAM is currently a decent amount of system memory if you plan to use the machine for gaming. You might be able to get away with 8GB however, we'll see how the game is memory wise later on!

As for self build vs pre-bought, self build is often only cheaper if you already have a copy of windows. I've always self built machines myself but that only because I like to know exactly what I'm putting into my computer to try and ensure I can get the best out of what I buy. Buying a prebuilt machine makes sense if you don't want to faff around and would rather just get something that works out of the box.

 

[MrCow]

There are new GPU architectures in the works by both ATI and NVIDA which should be out by the time the game is finally released. I'm imagining both of those will be a step up in performance compared to the current generation of hardware we're using so it's hard to recommend anything GPU wise. For CPU I would be looking for an Intel skylake (6th generation) Core i7 or Core i5 for a cheaper option. 16GB of RAM is currently a decent amount of system memory if you plan to use the machine for gaming. You might be able to get away with 8GB however, we'll see how the game is memory wise later on!

As for self build vs pre-bought, self build is often only cheaper if you already have a copy of windows. I've always self built machines myself but that only because I like to know exactly what I'm putting into my computer to try and ensure I can get the best out of what I buy. Buying a prebuilt machine makes sense if you don't want to faff around and would rather just get something that works out of the box.

im using 8gb as of right now and its running smooth expecting optimizations with full release so 8 should do it.

 

[cerealfruitcakes]

Check out Reddit's BuildaPC sub, you can find some great info there and they're very helpful with checking out the parts you selected and making it better/cheaper.

You'll save more money building your own and you'll get the best bang for your buck!

 

[aDOLPHINjoy18]

I have an HP 15 ab222tx WHITE thin laptop with optical drive. I dislike things manufactured in dull black colours.
Intel Core i5 6200u (6th gen Intel CPU)
2GB AMD Radeon R7 M360
8GB DDR3L 1600 RAM
Windows 10 64-bit

My R7 graphics is capable of playing the game in 1920x1080 low settings at 20fps
My Intel HD 520 is only capable of playing 1920x1080 low settings at 1-3fps
Both graphics can play The Sims 4 on high settings though, which means this game needs a high end gaming PC. Laptops are portable that's why they're convenient compared to desktops. You average laptop if it's less than 1-2 years old should be able to play it though it may struggle. You really need a quad core CPU than duo core.
I checked Windows 10 Task Manager. Fact RAM is not the issue. But the fact you need at least 8GB still stands. In Task Manager while playing the game, it only uses 3.9-4.5GB RAM but it will max out your CPU.
If you're prepared to buy a new PC, get one with a quad core CPU like Intel Core i7-6700HQ with a good 2GB at least secondary graphics card. HP manufactures secondary graphics cards in their PC's which have intel processors usually AMD/Nvidia which outperform the graphics chip built in with Intel processors.
If you want to play it on High settings with butter smooth frame rate, maybe a quad core i5/i7/AMD CPU with 2GB AMD R9 380 GDDR5 or something the R9 is like a high end GPU.

 

[Younge]

Why not bootcamp your mac and save yourself some money?
SOME Macs can have dual operating systems....
Would save you a lot of money.

https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201468

 

[DrVagax]

Alright since i am bored on school anyway, i threw together a computer for you. These prices are in Euros but i converted them to dollar.

Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-H110M-S2H	€57
GPU	MSI GeForce GTX 960 GAMING 4G	€227
CPU	Intel Core i5-4460 Boxed	€177
SSD	120GB Kingston SSDNow V300	€41
RAM	8GB Crucial CT2K4G4DFS8213	€30
HDD	1TB WD Blue WD10EZEX	€50
TOTAL	€582 ==>	$662

So this setup should be able to max out Planet Coaster, the GTX 960 is very decent and is actually just a few notches down compared to my own GTX 970. I threw in a SSD because something as Planet Coaster will eventually need a lot of write/read access and a HDD could be a bottleneck, the extra 1 TB HDD is to save your other stuff on it.

Things that are missing:
- PSU (Power supply, go for something around 400W - 500W, should cost you 50-60 dollurz)
- Computer case (ATX format! Remember that, you could get a second hand case for like 20-30 dollars)
- DVD player (Do you really need one?)
- Keyboard / Mouse (10 dollar keyboard and a 5 dollar mouse, easy enough)

Things could possible downgrade from the setup above:
- Remove the SSD, would save you 41 Euro ($46) but you would sacrifice read/write speed.
- Go for a 700 series GTX (Tri edition if possible) which would mean that the graphic fidelity of Planet Coaster would be lower but you can save 50-100 euro/dollerydoo
- CPU, you could go for a AMD FX and save 150 dollars. Personally more of a Intel guy but the choice is yours.

So yeah, the setup above is if you want to play the game on a high setting along with having a computer that is somewhat future proof.

 

[FurballMK3]

Hey guys,

I switched over to Macs several years ago (don't worry, I was a classic RCT player on Windows just like you!) and am so far removed from the specs of PCs and their graphics cards, etc. that I'm lost on what I should get.

I'll start by saying this: This game is literally the only reason I'm getting a new computer, so I need something that will run it well, but nothing way over the top. It'll be the only time I power the thing on. Any suggestions on what machine(s) I should be looking at? Any favorites that are powerful, but not overly "gamery" (no offense, promise!)

Thanks in advance!
Jay

First things first, aside from motherboards (which vary wildly), Macs and PCs run the same hardware. Mac stopped making its own processors years ago, and have been using Intel processors ever since. Likewise, discrete graphics chipsets will always be from one of the major brands. If you have the hardware spec on your Mac you can save a ton of money by installing Windows on your Mac. As Younge mentioned many people use bootcamp, and dual boot their Mac with OSX on one partition and Windows on another. IF you have a lot of RAM (I suggest 16GB+) you can go with the software I prefer, and run Parallels for Mac. This does not require dual booting, and can be setup within your existing Mac OS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2Xee3Mr1DQ

 

[DrVagax]

First things first, aside from motherboards (which vary wildly), Macs and PCs run the same hardware. Mac stopped making its own processors years ago, and have been using Intel processors ever since. Likewise, discrete graphics chipsets will always be from one of the major brands. If you have the hardware spec on your Mac you can save a ton of money by installing Windows on your Mac. As Younge mentioned many people use bootcamp, and dual boot their Mac with OSX on one partition and Windows on another. IF you have a lot of RAM (I suggest 16GB+) you can go with the software I prefer, and run Parallels for Mac. This does not require dual booting, and can be setup within your existing Mac OS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2Xee3Mr1DQ

You are assuming that the guy has a dedicated graphic card which i doubt (if you want to play PC nicely you would need one). What are OP's Mac specs?

 

[I M Fearless]

Sorry to hijack this thread but I find myself in a very similar position...

I currently use an iPad Air 2 as my main device and I have a 2011 mid-range laptop which is like a snail on Valium in terms of speed.

I am therefore ready to upgrade the PC. I recently bought a MAC and returned it (long story) but I intend to stick with a PC at present as I am not ready to come away from Windows and it seems ridiculous to pay for a MAC to run Windows, if you don't already own one.

I too would love advice on what to get. So far the dream is:

Intel Skylake i7 6700k processor
Nvidia GTX 970
A good amount of SSD 120Gb?
16gb RAM

I could build the thing, the problem I have is with choosing all the other parts...

I would love it to have Bluetooth as I intend to hook the whole system up to my existing AV receiver and run the sound through that and the Video to a Plasma screen. I therefore need a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse so I can sit on the sofa.

Very excited for this game and I have a 10 year old who also loves the RCT series. If this game is everything I'm hoping it will be worth getting the best PC I can afford it o run the game.

I do need to replace the laptop as it's on it's way out soon.

Would be happy to spend around £1000 - would much rather pay a bit more to not have to upgrade 3 or 4 years down the line. Hopefully a desktop would be easier to update in future though.

 

[TheBoyWhoLost]

With your current budget i would go for AMD FX6 series cpu and some grapicscard with 2gb memory at least and 8gb ram. I did the same and it works smooth shouls be able to run the game

Why AMD? Cause intel i5 and i7 are overal more expensive for the same quality and the motherboards they fit on also.

 

[MrCow]

Sorry to hijack this thread but I find myself in a very similar position...

I currently use an iPad Air 2 as my main device and I have a 2011 mid-range laptop which is like a snail on Valium in terms of speed.

I am therefore ready to upgrade the PC. I recently bought a MAC and returned it (long story) but I intend to stick with a PC at present as I am not ready to come away from Windows and it seems ridiculous to pay for a MAC to run Windows, if you don't already own one.

I too would love advice on what to get. So far the dream is:

Intel Skylake i7 6700k processor
Nvidia GTX 970
A good amount of SSD 120Gb?
16gb RAM

I could build the thing, the problem I have is with choosing all the other parts...

I would love it to have Bluetooth as I intend to hook the whole system up to my existing AV receiver and run the sound through that and the Video to a Plasma screen. I therefore need a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse so I can sit on the sofa.

Very excited for this game and I have a 10 year old who also loves the RCT series. If this game is everything I'm hoping it will be worth getting the best PC I can afford it o run the game.

I do need to replace the laptop as it's on it's way out soon.

Would be happy to spend around £1000 - would much rather pay a bit more to not have to upgrade 3 or 4 years down the line. Hopefully a desktop would be easier to update in future though.

bluetooth is very simple, pick a motherboard that has alot of SLI slots so you can buy a bluetooth sli card wont be too expensive and is easy to install. for the powersupply, i would go with 500-600(i got a 600 incase i want to upgrade). case is just personal preference, pick what you like! i would go with a mid tower as its not too big and fits on the desk itself(which is amazing if you have a transperant sidepannel and LED's in the case). if you want that processor, build your pc around it. look up what sockets its made for, remember the socket, go on a site like newegg and look for a motherboard with that socket. if you find a motherboard in your price range, look up if it has good reviews/maybe youtube video's. if it has good reviews, order it and wait for it to arrive *BIG BIG HEADS UP, DO NOT FORGET TO APPLY THERMAL PASTE TO THE CPU WHEN INSTALLING THE FAN ON THERE!!!!! THIS IS A COMMON MISTAKE WHICH CAN KILL YOUR CPU!!!*

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With your current budget i would go for AMD FX6 series cpu and some grapicscard with 2gb memory at least and 8gb ram. I did the same and it works smooth shouls be able to run the game

Why AMD? Cause intel i5 and i7 are overal more expensive for the same quality and the motherboards they fit on also.

DISAGREE. since this game is CPU intensive, intel has the edge on this. amd is a budget CPU. if the budget allowes it, go with intel 100%.

 

[LeglessBloke]

Sorry to hijack this thread but I find myself in a very similar position...

I currently use an iPad Air 2 as my main device and I have a 2011 mid-range laptop which is like a snail on Valium in terms of speed.

I am therefore ready to upgrade the PC. I recently bought a MAC and returned it (long story) but I intend to stick with a PC at present as I am not ready to come away from Windows and it seems ridiculous to pay for a MAC to run Windows, if you don't already own one.

I too would love advice on what to get. So far the dream is:

Intel Skylake i7 6700k processor
Nvidia GTX 970
A good amount of SSD 120Gb?
16gb RAM

I could build the thing, the problem I have is with choosing all the other parts...

I would love it to have Bluetooth as I intend to hook the whole system up to my existing AV receiver and run the sound through that and the Video to a Plasma screen. I therefore need a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse so I can sit on the sofa.

Very excited for this game and I have a 10 year old who also loves the RCT series. If this game is everything I'm hoping it will be worth getting the best PC I can afford it o run the game.

I do need to replace the laptop as it's on it's way out soon.

Would be happy to spend around £1000 - would much rather pay a bit more to not have to upgrade 3 or 4 years down the line. Hopefully a desktop would be easier to update in future though.

With your budget you'll have no problems getting a good machine. Unless you're planning on playing the alpha or really need a computer now though I'd consider waiting until we see the new GPUs. The i7 6700K is an excellent processor that will last you a good few years and 16GB is a decent amount of memory for now. An SSD is much recommended! If you self build the machine don't cheap out on the motherboard chipset, make sure you get the Z170 that can utilise higher speed DDR4 memory!

Standard SATA SSD'd are fairly cheap these days and offer a huge boost over a standard mechanical drive. Look around at reviews for them so you don't end up with a turd as there is a lot of rubbish out there even from good brands. I'd recommend Samsungs SSD's as they always seem to be consistent and recommend SanDisk SSD Plus drives for a cheap option. The SanDisk drives are cheaper than the samsung and perform very well.

I wouldn't invest in the GTX970, I actually own that card so I'm not saying this from a position of bias, but there are better value alternatives out there from AMD (I keep wanting to call them ATI!). There is also a well documented memory issue with the card which could affect how future proofed the card is as games demand more VRAM usage. This is the area it's really worth waiting to see what the next generation will bring. Even if you don't go for a new GPU, the older ones can be had for cheaper!

As for case and power supply, just get something 500w + that isn't a rubbish no name brand. It's tempting to cheap out here but really the PSU is an important part of the machine in it's own right, you don't want something that cannot supply the power and/or blows up prematurely! The case is personal preference really. anything that will fit your components and has room for 120mm+ fans will do the trick.

 

[oprylandusa]

Alright since i am bored on school anyway, i threw together a computer for you. These prices are in Euros but i converted them to dollar.

Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-H110M-S2H	€57
GPU	MSI GeForce GTX 960 GAMING 4G	€227
CPU	Intel Core i5-4460 Boxed	€177
SSD	120GB Kingston SSDNow V300	€41
RAM	8GB Crucial CT2K4G4DFS8213	€30
HDD	1TB WD Blue WD10EZEX	€50
TOTAL	€582 ==>	$662

So this setup should be able to max out Planet Coaster, the GTX 960 is very decent and is actually just a few notches down compared to my own GTX 970. I threw in a SSD because something as Planet Coaster will eventually need a lot of write/read access and a HDD could be a bottleneck, the extra 1 TB HDD is to save your other stuff on it.

Things that are missing:
- PSU (Power supply, go for something around 400W - 500W, should cost you 50-60 dollurz)
- Computer case (ATX format! Remember that, you could get a second hand case for like 20-30 dollars)
- DVD player (Do you really need one?)
- Keyboard / Mouse (10 dollar keyboard and a 5 dollar mouse, easy enough)

Things could possible downgrade from the setup above:
- Remove the SSD, would save you 41 Euro ($46) but you would sacrifice read/write speed.
- Go for a 700 series GTX (Tri edition if possible) which would mean that the graphic fidelity of Planet Coaster would be lower but you can save 50-100 euro/dollerydoo
- CPU, you could go for a AMD FX and save 150 dollars. Personally more of a Intel guy but the choice is yours.

So yeah, the setup above is if you want to play the game on a high setting along with having a computer that is somewhat future proof.

Wow, thanks for your time in putting this together for me! I'll seriously look into everything above while doing my research. After all, I've got until Christmas, so all I have is time, right?

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You are assuming that the guy has a dedicated graphic card which i doubt (if you want to play PC nicely you would need one). What are OP's Mac specs?

I'll definitely go with getting a new machine, but my newest Mac's specs are:

MacBook Pro (Early 2011)
Processor: 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7
Memory: 8GN 1333 MHz DDR3
Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 6750M 1024 MB

Besides, I decided last night that I'll be selling my 2007 iMac to put toward getting an all-in-one for the game. I want a nice 24-27 monitor and with replacing the iMac, I'll be doing slightly more than just gaming and saving my work stuff for my laptop. All I use my iMac for anymore is watching video, so I will want a DVD/Blu-Ray drive (if BD even comes with Windows computers now).

 

[DrVagax]

Wow, thanks for your time in putting this together for me! I'll seriously look into everything above while doing my research. After all, I've got until Christmas, so all I have is time, right?

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I'll definitely go with getting a new machine, but my newest Mac's specs are:

MacBook Pro (Early 2011)
Processor: 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7
Memory: 8GN 1333 MHz DDR3
Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 6750M 1024 MB

Besides, I decided last night that I'll be selling my 2007 iMac to put toward getting an all-in-one for the game. I want a nice 24-27 monitor and with replacing the iMac, I'll be doing slightly more than just gaming and saving my work stuff for my laptop. All I use my iMac for anymore is watching video, so I will want a DVD/Blu-Ray drive (if BD even comes with Windows computers now).

Feel free to message me if you got questions about the setup. You could also contact me again around oktober or november so i can put together a new one for you, in a year time a lot of these parts can lower in price, especially the GTX and Intel CPU.