Building a new PC for Elite: Dangerous Odyssey (hardware discussion)

[AlSki]

PCS' drive numbering and parition options don't seem to allow one to clearly dictate which M.2 slot the drives will go into, or which drive will contain the OS.

True... but it's probably implicit from the order (they have to be imaging or running some other script to build the drive) so assuming you want the fastest one as your OS drive, I would order as;
1st M.2 SSD Drive 2TB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 6500MB/sW) 2nd M.2 SSD Drive 1TB CORSAIR FORCE MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 4950 MB/R, 4000 MB/W)

if not, some of us are good at wiping drives

I image my entire OS drive so if something happens I can get my system config

I wipe my machine and rebuild every six months, if it was something that didn't sync to the cloud, then I didn't want it that badly. I have to say the Win install has really improved recently

 

[Morbad]

True... but it's probably implicit from the order (they have to be imaging or running some other script to build the drive) so assuming you want the fastest one as your OS drive

Such an implicit order is fine for the board and mix of drives selected, but could be problematic if one of the first two slots was faster than the other.

In that build I specifically intended for the game drive to be the fastest drive, which is why I put it second. I personally find OS responsiveness to be entirely satisfactory even on relatively slow SSDs and most application start times are bottlenecked more by CPU performance, even on very fast CPUs, than I/O. Certain games with frequent loading pauses or streaming assets at least have the potential for drive performance to make a barely perceptible difference....well a few of them. ED is about as light on I/O as it gets.

I wipe my machine and rebuild every six months, if it was something that didn't sync to the cloud, then I didn't want it that badly. I have to say the Win install has really improved recently

I don't put anything on the cloud and I haven't liked (well, not actively disliked) the Windows install since Windows 95 when setting up drivers was done during the install process. The OS defaults of pretty much every new release of Windows diverge more and more from what I prefer. It's to the point that getting Windows 11 the way I like it takes at least an order of magnitude more time than setting up a modern Linux distro and I'm much more experienced with Windows than Linux.

 

[AlSki]

In that build I specifically intended for the game drive to be the fastest drive, which is why I put it second.

Oh I see, basically keeping the OS out of way ;-)

The OS defaults of pretty much every new release of Windows diverge more and more from what I prefer

Perfectly understandable, you want Windows the way you want it. I go the other way, I let Windows be and learn to deal with it, which helps me deal with everyone else's issues... Hmmm your way has its advantages.

 

[Robert Rockbite]

I checked the controllers and prices on all their drives and I think this would be the best option: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/PDX37d34Au/ (I left out the external DVD drive again as unless PCS sells the cheapest external DVD drives around, there doesn't seem to be much sense in having the system integrator include an external device that needs zero configuration on their part).

I think the configuration is pretty good. Even when saving on CPU (7700X), RAM (5200), SSDs (Samsung 970), that would still not be enough to include a 4080.

One thing to keep in mind: Some AMD AM5 boards with older firmwares tend to fry the memory controller in AMD CPUs over time when activating auto OC memory profiles.
Workaround would be BIOS update (the chosen ASUS TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI would need at least version 1616), running the RAM on JEDEC speeds or manual settings.

 

[Morbad]

One thing to keep in mind: Some AMD AM5 boards with older firmwares tend to fry the memory controller in AMD CPUs over time when activating auto OC memory profiles.
Workaround would be BIOS update (the chosen ASUS TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI would need at least version 1616), running the RAM on JEDEC speeds or manual settings.

Yeah, the older firmware without the vSoC cap could be problematic, but most reputable OEMs tend to be on top of updates that may involve costly returns.

Definitely worth checking.

 

[The Chairmaker]

I dont think with either your 4080 or 4070ti build you need an 850 watt power supply when matched with a 7800x3d

I recently got round to upgrading my pc to a 7800x3d and the maximum system power draw i have when matched with an AMD 6800 is around 350 watts, most of the time its around 320 watts gaming. Browsing the internet i use about 65 watts total system power. Watching lave radio on youtube at this moment is pulling about 115 watts total system usage. The 6800 has a listed power output of 250 watts compared to 320 for the 4080 so add another 70 wats and your looking at maxing out total system power usage at 420 watts, lets say 450 watts to add some variance. So a 750 watt power supply gives more than enough wiggle room for micro power draw surges on a power hungry graphic card and fitting of extra components in the future.

The 7800x3d isnt strictly overclockable, but what is recommended is using curve optimiser in the bios. Im running stable at -25 , but results vary depending on your cpu motherboard combo etc.. and what this does is reduce the power draw on the cpu by a few millivolts. This means it runs cooler and therefore can run faster.
Its not like the old days were my i7920 was easily capable of getting an extra ghz of frequency across the 4 cores.
I find i get a sustained all core boost of around 4.925 ghz up from the standard 4.8ghz all core.

I have fast ddr 5 6000 cas 30 rated memory, but to be honest i normally run it at jdec specs of 4800 as memory speed only makes a difference on some games This helps reduce system power usage by a few volts in day to day usage for no noticeable drop in performance.

As a guide playing Elite with my 6800 and 7800 x3d playing everything ultra at 1440p 1.0 supersampling with no fsr i get an absolute minimum of 85 frames a second in coriolis star port pilot lounges. So for a 4080 you would be looking at well over 100 fps minimum in the most demanding parts of odyssey.

 

[Morbad]

I dont think with either your 4080 or 4070ti build you need an 850 watt power supply when matched with a 7800x3d

It doesn't, but PCS doesn't want to install less than the 850w.

As a guide playing Elite with my 6800 and 7800 x3d playing everything ultra at 1440p 1.0 supersampling with no fsr i get an absolute minimum of 85 frames a second in coriolis star port pilot lounges. So for a 4080 you would be looking at well over 100 fps minimum in the most demanding parts of odyssey.

CZs at large settlements will still drop quite a bit further than this.

7800X3D, -28 to -35 per-core CO (5050MHz game clocks), 2133FCLK, DDR5-6000 CL28:

That run is from U15, but I've confirmed performance hasn't changed since. Setup was almost completely CPU bound.

I've since tuned that system a bit further and, thanks to newer firmware, have the memory at 6400 CL 32 with nearly the same (already very tight) sub timings, but difference is quite minor at this point.

There is pretty much no way to completely eliminate the stutter induced by those pesky dropship spawns, but the system was still able to increase average, P1% and P0.1% frame rates by more than 30% vs. my equivalently well-tuned 5800X3D setup (which is not slow) and knocks the relative time in the 'stuttering' range down from 0.8% to 0.6% (which is a lot more noticeable than might be assumed).

 

[Alec Turner]

It doesn't, but PCS doesn't want to install less than the 850w.

Actually that's not true, in fact the PCS site warns me at the end of the process that I don't need as much as 850W and that I could save money by going smaller.

It was just me erring on the safe side ... too far by the sound of it.

 

[Jumpin' Jack Flash]

Hi Alec

Actually that's not true, in fact the PCS site warns me at the end of the process that I don't need as much as 850W and that I could save money by going smaller.

It was just me erring on the safe side ... too far by the sound of it.

The point here I think (though I'm definitely no expert) is future upgrades to this computer?
Thinking of the next ten years (as most good psu's come with a ten year warranty these days) can you see yourself upgrading for example the gfx card or cpu etc.?
If so and you decide to get the AMD board then it does to my way of thinking seem better to have that slight 'overkill', at least with future upgrades you won't be needing to fork out for a new psu! (Being that by all accounts the AM5 socket is going to be supported for the next few years).

I'm also getting together parts for a complete computer upgrade (minus the case), have decided to go down the AMD route and last month bought an Asus B650 motherboard, and a new psu (yes the one I bought is overkill at a 1000 watts...at the moment ).
Anyhow, this is a very interesting topic, and love your choice of computer case btw.

Jack

 

[Alec Turner]

For what it's worth the jump from the 750W PSU to the 850W PSU is only £17. Of course it all adds up so for now I've gone back down to the 750W unit since I've moved away from the more power hungy(?) i7 CPU but I may still change my mind and just go with 850W so I'm future proof.

I've also dropped down to the PCS FrostFlow 150 (again, because of the CPU change).

And I've dropped the DVD writer as it's true that there really is no point getting that from PCS (except it's pretty cheap and nice just to have everything arrive in the one delivery right? so again, I may change my mind in the end).

The final aspect I just want to ask folks about a bit more is storage.

The model I have in my head from my current PC is a fast C: drive (excuse me using C/D here but hopefully we all know what I mean) for Windows and games like Elite where I really want files to load quickly, and a big/reliable D: drive (speed less important) for storing everything else that builds up over time (home photos and videos, Elite Dangerous videos, games I don't care so much about, etc). I think this model comes from a simpler time where there was HDD and SSD and you stuck Windows on SSD for fast boot and everything else on the HDD ... and then I shifted Elite into the SSD because I read it could improve performance.

Anyway, Morbad has given me pause for thought on this model. What do I mean by "games I don't care about" anyway? I don't have a massive games library but I do have a bunch of VR games and a small Steam library and I plan to get Cyberpunk and who knows, maybe even Star Citizen. Perhaps the model of a big fast D: drive for my games (plus incidentally all that other archival photo/video stuff) and then a separate drive (SSD obviously but less performance tuned) for Windows makes more sense?

What do other people think? Seems an interesting sub-topic.

 

[Fish172]

Personally I would want a 2 tb m2 up front and maybe a secondary 4-6 tb standard drive as secondary. Gives plenty of scope for games on the main drive and a massive storage behind it. Doubt it would be hugely expensive to do it that way either. (Looked maybe £220 or so)

 

[Helmut Grokenberger]

I can't give any sensible advice, I can only tell you what I have in my PC and how I use it. I have three drives in my PC:

• one Samsung 970 EVO 1 TB PCIe 3.0 M.2 as the system drive. It holds the OS and all applications, but no games.
• one Samsung 980 PRO 2 TB PCIe 4.0 M.2 as my "fast" storage drive. I have all my game libraries on this drive; well, the "active" games.
• one 2 TB HDD of some description: I can't remember the manufacturer or model. This is my "dump" drive. I use it for dumping large but unimportant stuff on it. I also move games I don't play but don't want to uninstall due to the download size here. Or I used to do when I was shorter on SSD space; since I got the 2 TB SSD, this isn't an issue anymore.

Ironically, my M.2 drives are in the "wrong" slots as far as capabilities go. The 1 TB system drive is in the primary one provided by the CPU, which is 4.0 capable apparently, and the newer PCIe 4.0 drive is in the secondary M.2 PCIe 3.0 provided by the chipset. I don't know if I'd gain or lose any speed by swapping them or anything. I put them in that order because the 2 TB drive came much later, and the system drive is litterally under the GPU, and I didn't want to pull that out when I installed the second M.2 drive.

For now I tell myself that it doesn't matter.

 

[Northpin]

What do other people think? Seems an interesting sub-topic.

My current gaming laptop has a 1TB "fast" Gen4 M2 SSD (a Samsung 980pro) - that's what it came with.
And i added a 2TB "slow" Gen3 SSD (an older A-data 8200pro) as D-drive, for secondary storage.

I have my steam library on C drive, and the Epic library on D drive.
So my ED installs are on C (steam and frontier) and D (epic.) - however there is absolutely no discernible differences in how ED loads or runs from the "fast" or from the "slow" SSD. And i dual log quite often 2 instances of ED - for example steam and epic or frontier and epic.

However, i dont run any loads on that laptop that would require sustained data rate transfers, i'm no longer doing any video processing so... gaming only

 

[STRONTIUM DOG]

still using DVD' what wih the likes of terrabyte drives an flash usb for walkies in pocket file transfers that's rather old fashioned of u methinks

 

[Helmut Grokenberger]

still using DVD' what wih the likes of terrabyte drives an flash usb for walkies in pocket file transfers that's rather old fashioned of u methinks

Depends on your use case, or Alec's - which we don't know. Maybe he's still got a CD drive in his car . I still have (and use) an optical drive in my PC as well. I haven't written a disk in.... probably a decade. But I use mine regularly to archive the CDs* and Blu Rays I buy.

* yes, I know Amazon sells mp3. But often the CD with Autorip is cheaper than the digial version (weird, right?), and I like to archive music as FLAC if I can.

 

[Northpin]

Depends on your use case, or Alec's - which we don't know. Maybe he's still got a CD drive in his car . I still have (and use) an optical drive in my PC as well. I haven't written a disk in.... probably a decade. But I use mine regularly to archive the CDs* and Blu Rays I buy.

* yes, I know Amazon sells mp3. But often the CD with Autorip is cheaper than the digial version (weird, right?), and I like to archive music as FLAC if I can.

well, i still like to get dvds or blu-rays (with concerts mostly) - so having an optical disk able to play these comes in handy.
My laptop doesn't have any optical disc, but i do have an external usb blu-ray drive and i also have an XB Series S - which mostly sits as a blu-ray player since i no longer play ED on XB.

 

[STRONTIUM DOG]

true enough i suppose if ya car stereo dont have a usb port
i still have have an external blu ray drive should i require................
cant recall the last time i used it mind u



DVD and Blu-ray discs are quickly following videotape cassettes into the technological dustbin. Best Buy told CBS MoneyWatch Friday that it will halt sales of physical movie media in stores and online starting in 2024, although the discs will still be available through the holidays.13 Oct 2023

still got my boxed frontier elite 2 amiga format 3.5s lol

 

[Helmut Grokenberger]

Spoiler: Offtopic

well, i still like to get dvds or blu-rays (with concerts mostly)

I guess I / we belong to a dying breed, but I still buy CDs too in addition to BluRays and DVDs. I like to have a local collection instead of just relying on streaming, and certain types of music just do sound better in FLAC than they do in the 256k mp3 versions Amazon sells. Not necessarily most pop and rock music, but some jazz and classical stuff does.

 

[Alec Turner]

still using DVD' what wih the likes of terrabyte drives an flash usb for walkies in pocket file transfers that's rather old fashioned of u methinks

Happy to answer that. My son (who has Down's Syndrome plus some autism) is an absolute stickler for doing things exactly the same way that he's always done them (even more so than me! ). One of the things in his daily routine is to watch 20 mins of home video on DVD with a cup of tea in the morning. Every year in January I take a years worth of home video and use DVD Architect Studio to burn a new DVD. If these things don't happen my life won't be worth living!!!

 

[STRONTIUM DOG]

ya one of my little nephews has autism so i know exactly where you are comming from.....
"amiga best operating system ever" rainman
still some do learn quckly when you introduce a more efficiant system as well they can cotton on fast
i recommend the accountant movie if you havent seen it..........(just luv his operator)