Hardware & Technical Computer Build to run Elite Dangerous

[Alpha Protocol]

There is no cost advantage, as the OEM can always buy components for less than I can

I disagree...

While they can buy a volume of components at a lower cost, they have to assemble them, market the result, package, ship, provide a warranty, and hopefully realize a profit.

Because of overhead, I can spec a home build and guarantee an identical build from a manufacturer is at least 2-3 times my cost.

 

[Faerie]

@ Arbanax - If you have no previous experience of building, you might be interested in buying a 'Motherboard bundle' from somewhere like overclockers.co.uk or CCL computers. (I'm sure others do them too)

A motherboard bundle usually consists of the motherboard, CPU, CPU cooler, & memory, which the supplier has chosen for compatibility & will pre-build & test, so all you have to do is fit it into the case. Ready overclocked bundles are available if you want the performance hike. Prices are usually attractive, too.
Of course, you still have to choose your case, PSU, hard drive(s) etc, but that's the 'easy' part.

PM me if you'd like any advice.

 

[Asp Explorer]

These days, PC's are pretty much like assembling lego. It's fun and simple enough that complete beginners can do it with great results, and have fun in the process.

The bad old days of crystals, hardcards, ZIPchips, piggybacking, DIP switches, IRQ settings and master/slave jumpers have thankfully gone.

Choose a budget, buy your kit, plug it all together - job done! You'll learn something, save money, know exactly what you have to play with, and know where to look if something goes wrong.

I only ever buy pre-made server or production kit, and even then only for the on-site warranty. If something breaks, I want their guy to fix it.

 

[Aewarin Jameson]

Bottom line - if you don't know what you're doing pay the extra for shop built.

You pay a little more for peace of mind.

 

[Patrick_68000]

Bottom line - if you don't know what you're doing pay the extra for shop built.

You pay a little more for peace of mind.

Do not forget. For dual channel, slots 1 and 3 or 2 and 4 (or the even color slot)

 

[Asp Explorer]

Bottom line - if you don't know what you're doing pay the extra for shop built.

You pay a little more for peace of mind.

That's a good point - but it's only valid if the shop knows what they are doing.

At work, I've seen DOA machines from big OEM's where there were unplugged SATA cables, power cables, missing RTC batteries, disconnected fans, even a few where the hard drives were missing entirely. How on earth they managed to claim they passed testing is simply beyond me!

Regardless, doesn't matter what the fault is - they get refused and sent back, which simply costs the OEM time and money to replace, they drop points on their service record, and if it drops below a certain level their account is cancelled and blacklisted.

I've seen PC's made by local shops who put the OEM's to shame by the sheer elegance and tidiness of the build. Attention to detail is astronomical. I've also seen local shops shove random components into a case and call it a PC, and absolutely refuse any form of support to the unfortunate purchaser.

Caveat emptor.

 

[The Space Pirate]

Bottom line - if you don't know what you're doing pay the extra for shop built.

You pay a little more for peace of mind.

Remember though that shop built PC aren't always the best value for money (in fact they very rarely are). I was going to buy a system from PC World a while back and the guy I was talking to said that they do things like fill up all the RAM slots unnecessarily. So instead of having one slot taken up by a 4gb stick, they'd fill up all four slots with 1gb sticks for example, so when it's time to upgrade there will be no space. Watch out for that sort of thing.

 

[HaiderGill]

So 1866mhz is overkill if gaming is the focus?

I'm looking at this because it's a bit cheaper than the full size RAM sticks - does 'low profile' RAM have any drawbacks?

http://www.ebuyer.com/274035-corsair-8gb-ddr3-1600mhz-low-profile-vengeance-memory-cml8gx3m2a1600c9

Anything more than DDR3-1600 is overkill. It will not make a blind bit of difference to the speed or smoothness of game's visuals. You will get more bang per buck spending the budget elsewhere such as getting a better graphics card. I bought some Ballistix Elite DDR3-1600 ram overclocked it to various speeds but didn't really see any increase in frames per second in games. I posted it on a few forums and the consensus is that it doesn't really make any appreciable difference. Low profile ram is useful. It allows you to use a big CPU heatsink. It will allow youto be able to fit ram in the slots that would be underneath the heatsink. If you use a 'standard' HSF it should not interfere with your ram slots as long as you don't use the ram with a heatsink on. TBH ram doesn't need a heatsink. I'm looking for consistent frame rate. I don't want the action to become choppy if there are a couple of big ships around or you get close to a ship etc...

 

[The Space Pirate]

Anything more than DDR3-1600 is overkill. It will not make a blind bit of difference to the speed or smoothness of game's visuals. You will get more bang per buck spending the budget elsewhere such as getting a better graphics card. I bought some Ballistix Elite DDR3-1600 ram overclocked it to various speeds but didn't really see any increase in frames per second in games. I posted it on a few forums and the consensus is that it doesn't really make any appreciable difference. Low profile ram is useful. It allows you to use a big CPU heatsink. It will allow youto be able to fit ram in the slots that would be underneath the heatsink. If you use a 'standard' HSF it should not interfere with your ram slots as long as you don't use the ram with a heatsink on. TBH ram doesn't need a heatsink. I'm looking for consistent frame rate. I don't want the action to become choppy if there are a couple of big ships around or you get close to a ship etc...

So the next one up isn't really necessary then. It is less than £10 extra though - might it not come in handy later on?

 

[Asp Explorer]

So the next one up isn't really necessary then. It is less than £10 extra though - might it not come in handy later on?

Always go for the fastest RAM your motherboard and CPU will handle as specified in it's compatibility list, at the number and size and channels you want.

There is no point in going any faster, some RAM will refuse to work at lower speeds (yeah I know it should be backward compatible, but some simply isn't!). For example - don't buy 1866 if your CPU will only use 1600 - unless you know the 1866 modules will run at 1600 with your CPU and board. Some boards are limited to size of modules, or slots populated, or channels used based on population. Really some reading required on the kit you are considering!

Faster RAM has great benefits that have nothing at all to do with FPS - if you use a lot of virtual machines or RAMdrives the speed benefit is extremely palpable. If you use integrated graphics, especially with an AMD APU - then faster RAM can literally double your framerate in some circumstances.

Good luck with it!

 

[Squicker]

So the next one up isn't really necessary then. It is less than £10 extra though - might it not come in handy later on?

As Asp Explorer says, if your board can handle it then at least go to 1866. 1866 does have marked performance improvements over 1600, I have tested them both on Ivybridge, and above that the performance improvements were really minimal. This may be different with Haswell though...

For a tenner you cannot go wrong, Haswell memory controllers are supporting up to 2800MHz and 1866 is really the new standard (as evidenced by the pricing): http://www.anandtech.com/show/7364/memory-scaling-on-haswell/10

This page above shows how slow RAM (1333, 1600) does actually affect FPS in some cases.

If you buy XMP RAM you don't even need to fiddle with its settings to get it to run at full speed.

 

[King Haggis]

I foresee no problems playing Elite Dangerous on my PC and if there are problems I will solve them. E.D. HAS to run smooth on my PC, I've been waiting almost 2 decades for this game.

Antec P180SE ATX case
Asus P9X79 Deluxe LGA2011 mainboard
Intel i7-3930K @4.8GHz. + Corsair H80 Watercooler
Kingston HyperX 1600 4x4GB (16GB quad channel RAM)
2x Samsung EVO 250GB RAID0
Asus GTX780 Direct CUII OC edition
Samsung 120hz 22 inch monitor
Saitek X52 Pro HOTAS
Windows 7 Professional 64 bit

And as soon as I can get my hands on an Oculus Rift it's bye bye social life. Or what's left of it... Yes, I'm obsessed.

 

[Steve O B Have]

I'm on the verge of splashing out on some upgrades - I want to get rid of my Xfire rig and switch to a single card plus upgrade to a 30" IPS... my 24" seems too small now even though it's a lovely bit of kit. I might sneak up on it bit by bit...

 

[HaiderGill]

If you can run at 1920x1080 with a constant 60fps... it should be fine. It's the 60fps that catches a lot of people out as they're used to running reasonably well at anything from 30fps on a normal monitor.

Yep my Plasma can display 3D frame packed content at 1080P 60Hz per eye and so can the videocard but I doubt the GPU (7950@1050MHz) can put 120 fps though.

 

[Squicker]

I'm on the verge of splashing out on some upgrades - I want to get rid of my Xfire rig and switch to a single card plus upgrade to a 30" IPS... my 24" seems too small now even though it's a lovely bit of kit. I might sneak up on it bit by bit...

Yeah, I had SLI GTX580 cards and went to a single GTX780. Raw FPS wise there's not massive difference but...Heat is WELL down as is noise (not so fussed with noise) but mostly, there is no micro-stuttering at all with the new card. Is this a video RAM thing I wonder?

I have two 27" screens, one is a 3DVision 2 screen so nice fast refresh rate, and I could not go back to 24, so with 30" you are in for a treat!

 

[HaiderGill]

I'm on the verge of splashing out on some upgrades - I want to get rid of my Xfire rig and switch to a single card plus upgrade to a 30" IPS... my 24" seems too small now even though it's a lovely bit of kit. I might sneak up on it bit by bit...

Steer clear of IPS LCDs for Elite. IPS LCDs don't have good black-levels/contrast therefore you don't get that much shadow detail. The IPS panel will output solid black where the is dark shadow detail. Bandit inbound 3 o'clock 20 klicks and you don't see nothing cause your monitor is flawed Get a Plasma display.

 

[Steve O B Have]

Steer clear of IPS LCDs for Elite. IPS LCDs don't have good black-levels/contrast therefore you don't get that much shadow detail. The IPS panel will output solid black where the is dark shadow detail. Bandit inbound 3 o'clock 20 klicks and you don't see nothing cause your monitor is flawed Get a Plasma display.

Yeah - except a plasma display doesn't have even close to the resolution of a 30" IPS nor is it of any use to me for photography as the colour reproduction doesn't have a shadow on a decent monitor. I've been gaming on my HP LP2475w for years and never suffered for it. 2560x1600 vs 1080p... I know which way I'd go. IPS panels output detail where there is detail, if there is none then it's black. If you get no detail then you've calibrated it wrong and all my screens are calibrated both for colour and exposure using a Spyder4Pro.

Yeah, I had SLI GTX580 cards and went to a single GTX780. Raw FPS wise there's not massive difference but...Heat is WELL down as is noise (not so fussed with noise) but mostly, there is no micro-stuttering at all with the new card. Is this a video RAM thing I wonder?

I have two 27" screens, one is a 3DVision 2 screen so nice fast refresh rate, and I could not go back to 24, so with 30" you are in for a treat!

Yeah I'm coming from 2 5850s and they've slayed pretty much everything that I've thrown at them, but Bioshock Infinate made them sit in the corner and cry.

 

[Squicker]

where there is detail, if there is none then it's black. If you get no detail then you've calibrated it wrong and all my screens are calibrated both for colour and exposure using a Spyder4Pro.

Top man, I use the X-Rite devices to calibrate my screens as I also use them for photography (hobbyist). If you leave them uncalibrated, the two screens from the very same vendor are utterly different in terms of saturation!

I don't think people realise how variable colour is across screens of even the precise same model type, for the sake of 150 quid we can all have perfect colour.

 

[Steve O B Have]

I completely agree - before I bothered I had too many incidences of my photography looking all wrong on different screens - not to mention coming out different in print.

 

[Pyros]

Steer clear of IPS LCDs for Elite. IPS LCDs don't have good black-levels/contrast therefore you don't get that much shadow detail. The IPS panel will output solid black where the is dark shadow detail. Bandit inbound 3 o'clock 20 klicks and you don't see nothing cause your monitor is flawed Get a Plasma display.

Woot?

Best displays for PCs you can buy (not in the experimental status) are IPS, precisely due to superior color accuracy. Aren't you confusing with the cheaper and faster TN displays?

Plasma is not a technology used in computer displays, only in TV. Fine for gaming, not general use.