Hardware & Technical Computer Build to run Elite Dangerous

[CobraMK]

I have no Trouble with my System.

Details at Max in 1920*1080 and it plays very smoothly.

I7 4770K
MSI Z87 G43
16GB DDR3 1600
AMD Radeon R9 280X
250GB SSD
PSU 750W

The Temperature from the GPU is between 60-65 degree celcius.

Ok, my System is new and bought in February 2014 but im satisfied with this System and ED.

 

[Asp Explorer]

720 means 1280x720 resolution.

Yup Aleksej is right. This thing runs at 1280x720 which is what most of the spare TV's I encounter are capable of.

This little box is much easier to cart around than my main rig and runs better than any of my laptops

 

[Juniper]

Yup Aleksej is right. This thing runs at 1280x720 which is what most of the spare TV's I encounter are capable of.

This little box is much easier to cart around than my main rig and runs better than any of my laptops

Spoiler

That looks really nice Asp.

When the single player option comes in, this will give you an infinitely portable Elite box.

 

[chrisb46]

Ok so how about this as a low cost way in without having to build my own. Refurbished Dell Precision 490 with a crap card

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141204947207?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2648

Which I can replace with a gtx750 ti for about £100.

Figure this should give a pretty good experience for about £300, and if I want to build something better I've got a good case and psu to start from.

 

[Asp Explorer]

Ok so how about this as a low cost way in without having to build my own. Refurbished Dell Precision 490 with a crap card

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141204947207?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2648

Which I can replace with a gtx750 ti for about £100.

Figure this should give a pretty good experience for about £300, and if I want to build something better I've got a good case and psu to start from.

A gaming Dell from an ex-corporate environment? LMAO

It's junk. Case and PSU are not standard. Not worth it at all. Start from scratch in my humble opinion - you'll be better off.

 

[Juniper]

I concur with Asp.

Thing is, if you want a gaming PC, and don't want to pay extra for the Alienware brand (and not the X51 as it's rubbish), don't buy Dell. Their stuff is typically non-standard, pointlessly underpowered in the most maddening areas, and will ultimately be more trouble than it's worth.

My advice would be to either buy components individually & build your own (second hand if need be and if you know what you're looking for) or go for something like this:

http://www.ebuyer.com/634863-zoostorm-gaming-desktop-pc-7260-5001

... or similar, as a starting point.

 

[chrisb46]

Thing is, I can't justify £600 for essentially one game especially when it is playable, if not spectacular, on my laptop (nearly new i7 latitude with integrated graphics).

I can potentially justify £300 but am I asking the impossible i.e. I'm not going to get a significantly better experience without spending nearer £600?

FWIW really appreciate the fact that I'm not being made to feel like an idiot for asking what I'm sure are dumb questions to those who know modem PCs.

 

[Asp Explorer]

I can potentially justify £300 but am I asking the impossible i.e. I'm not going to get a significantly better experience without spending nearer £600?

The little machine pictured above cost less than $300 - admittedly I did have some spare components to put in it, but the highest cost was the CPU.

It plays Elite wonderfully on a mix of High/Medium settings and 720 resolution. It fits in a backpack - the largest things to carry is the X52

The next playable machine I have is a redactedbook Air - which is $1000 - and while playable it's not as good.

 

[Juniper]

Thing is, I can't justify £600 for essentially one game especially when it is playable, if not spectacular, on my laptop (nearly new i7 latitude with integrated graphics).

I can potentially justify £300 but am I asking the impossible i.e. I'm not going to get a significantly better experience without spending nearer £600?

FWIW really appreciate the fact that I'm not being made to feel like an idiot for asking what I'm sure are dumb questions to those who know modem PCs.

I feel your pain man...

If you're comparing it to an i7 laptop with non-gaming graphics then no, you're not likely to get much of an improved experience by building or buying a £300 desktop system.

If it's a nearly new laptop, maybe you could sell it for a decent price & then add some extra on top to get a different laptop with dedicated graphics?

E: D's system requirements are fairly modest for a modern game, but they are still a minimum of quad core with 1GB+ DX10 graphics. More is obviously better.

The little machine pictured above cost less than $300 - admittedly I did have some spare components to put in it, but the highest cost was the CPU.

It plays Elite wonderfully on a mix of High/Medium settings and 720 resolution. It fits in a backpack - the largest things to carry is the X52

Yeah but the "problem" here is that you built it out of spare parts. I've probably got enough spare parts kicking around here too that I could almost build something similar, but not everyone is like that.

 

[NeilF]

Thing is, I can't justify £600 for essentially one game especially when it is playable, if not spectacular, on my laptop (nearly new i7 latitude with integrated graphics).

I can potentially justify £300 but am I asking the impossible i.e. I'm not going to get a significantly better experience without spending nearer £600?

FWIW really appreciate the fact that I'm not being made to feel like an idiot for asking what I'm sure are dumb questions to those who know modem PCs.

Dell machines are pretty solid machines generally. But as pointed out, they typically have unstandard PSUs mainly to be quiet (in an office environment). That said, this is a full desktop case so you may find the PSU is a completely standard size etc? You'd need to investigate maybe.

If you were to get that machine:-
1) Check there is enough room in the case for the GFX card you plan to put in - Almost certainly there will be.
2) More importantly check the PSU has enough power to power the GFX card. eg: If it's only 320W you'll be in trouble. If it's 600W you'll probably be alright.

I know some people are slagging that machine off, but you're getting a lot for your money.

Personally I wouldn't base a gaming machine on it, UNLESS I was absolutely certain I could upgrade. Do some googles as there will be owners out there who have! You can even sign upto the Dell forums I think and post a question on there (I think). I'd also check around to see if anyone else here is using that or a similar processor who can comment on how it performs with Elite. I believe that processor isn't as impressive as it sounds!?


EDIT: It's 750W, so that should be more than enough for a regular modern day GFX card!

EDIT2: I was right about the CPU. Here it is vs my 6yr old Q6600 - http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Xeon-E5345-vs-Intel-Core2-Quad-Q6600 And my Q6600 is overclocked by 30-40% above that speed!


DON'T BOTHER IMHO! It would probably run ED OK, but it's money for a 6yr old spec! Save up for something newer!

 

[Asp Explorer]

Dell machines are pretty solid machines generally. But as pointed out, they typically have unstandard PSUs mainly to be quiet (in an office environment).

The main problem with Dell's isn't so much that their PSU's aren't a standard size, it's their wiring.

I have seen people literally melt motherboards from plugging in Dell PSU's - what you think is a standard connector is anything but. Besides - they are utterly crap.

 

[NeilF]

The main problem with Dell's isn't so much that their PSU's aren't a standard size, it's their wiring.

I have seen people literally melt motherboards from plugging in Dell PSU's - what you think is a standard connector is anything but. Besides - they are utterly crap.

I don't think that's a Dell PSU specific thing. Just a couple months ago a friend of mine fried alot of his brand new build because he plugged in a higher voltage connector from his PSU into his MB (without realising).

But it wouldn't surprise me if Dell was different/propitiatory.

I've used a number of Dells in a work and home environment and I've always found them to be rock solid personally. But I've never upgraded anything more on them than HDs.

 

[chrisb46]

I feel your pain man...

If you're comparing it to an i7 laptop with non-gaming graphics then no, you're not likely to get much of an improved experience by building or buying a £300 desktop system.

If it's a nearly new laptop, maybe you could sell it for a decent price & then add some extra on top to get a different laptop with dedicated graphics?

Thanks for confirming. I'll stop trying to achieve the impossible then.

Selling the laptop isn't an option as, er, it belongs to my work ...

 

[Juniper]

I don't think that's a Dell PSU specific thing. Just a couple months ago a friend of mine fried alot of his brand new build because he plugged in a higher voltage connector from his PSU into his MB (without realising).

But it wouldn't surprise me if Dell was different/propitiatory.

I've used a number of Dells in a work and home environment and I've always found them to be rock solid personally. But I've never upgraded anything more on them than HDs.

Dell are designed to be reliable & "rock solid" as you say. They are distinctly average machines, bought usually through a corporate maintenance contract en-masse, and run Word & Excel perfectly well. However, they are not, and never will be, the sort of machines you would want to play games on.

That's why they bought the Alienware brand. But I'll stop there...

Thanks for confirming. I'll stop trying to achieve the impossible then.

Selling the laptop isn't an option as, er, it belongs to my work ...

I would suggest then just keeping your pennies for now.

E: D isn't out yet after all & won't be for probably about 6 months or so. You may be able to grab a bargain meantime, or know someone in RL who has some spare bits kicking about that you could start to piece together into a system. I wouldn't say it's impossible to do it for £300, but when you're starting completely from scratch it would be very very difficult.

Remember that if you build your own, you have to factor in cooling, fans, internal cables etc - which might be cheap on their own, but can easily add up to another £100 on top of your component prices.

Feeding a gaming PC is often worse than owning a car...

 

[Robert Maynard]

Remember that if you build your own, you have to factor in cooling, fans, internal cables etc - which might be cheap on their own, but can easily add up to another £100 on top of your component prices.

.... and please do not underestimate the importance of a decent PSU - if it goes pop then you could be looking to replace a lot of other components as well.

Which is yet another reason not to go for a Dell or other corporate aimed desktop - the PSU in it is probably only adequate to cope with what is in the box already - if a significant GPU upgrade is dropped in it could end badly....

 

[Asp Explorer]

.... and please do not underestimate the importance of a decent PSU - if it goes pop then you could be looking to replace a lot of other components as well.

Which is yet another reason not to go for a Dell or other corporate aimed desktop - the PSU in it is probably only adequate to cope with what is in the box already - if a significant GPU upgrade is dropped in it could end badly....

This ^^^

Your PSU is the most important part of your computer. So don't get a rubbish one

People can boast about CPU or RAM or GPU or SSD's - but without a proper PSU it's all just so much junk.

 

[NeilF]

Dell are designed to be reliable & "rock solid" as you say. They are distinctly average machines, bought usually through a corporate maintenance contract en-masse, and run Word & Excel perfectly well. However, they are not, and never will be, the sort of machines you would want to play games on.

That's why they bought the Alienware brand. But I'll stop there...

The Dell machine mentioned before has a 6yr+ processor, so it's simply £300 spent on very old out of date tech. That's the reason I personally wouldn't buy it.

The reason Dell bought Alienware I suspect is because there's lot of profit to be made out of people paying over the odds for hardware? *ducks for cover*

 

[chrisb46]

Thanks all, saving my pennies for now until I can spend £600 is the plan.

It's surprising how decent the performance is from an i5-4400u mobile processor (not an i7 as I thought) on my laptop and I've just found out the drivers are well out of date, so updating them should help too.

As ASP said, seems like the integrated graphics are plenty good enough to run ED at modest resolutions. It still looks pretty immersive and I can get 20-30 FPS at 1366x768 even with lots of combat going on. Drops to 15 or so in stations, but that's fine as no need for quick movement there.

BTW does everyone experience massive drops in FPS when supercruising to the resource extraction site in Dahan? Thinking this might not be my graphics card and just be a PB2 bug?

 

[Asp Explorer]

It still looks pretty immersive and I can get 20-30 FPS at 1366x768 even with lots of combat going on.

Drop it down a notch to 720 - the speed increase is very noticeable, and the visual deterioration hardly noticeable.

MOAR FPS = more fun

 

[NeilF]

BTW does everyone experience massive drops in FPS when supercruising to the resource extraction site in Dahan? Thinking this might not be my graphics card and just be a PB2 bug?

Rule of thumb - Run Task Manager in the back ground with "Performance". If when you're getting slow downs and you can see your cores being heavily hit = CPU bottleneck. If the cores are not being heavily hit = GPU bottleneck.