Hardware & Technical Computer Build to run Elite Dangerous

Styggron

S
Amazingly my crappy laptop with it's 525M nVidia card not only runs it perfectly on LOW settings and only 80% max CPU load (set in windows advanced settings else the fan just goes crazy) but amazingly runs fine on HIGH settings. I thought I'd try HIGH for a laugh but it's fine....goodness.......that's amazing.

Unbelievable for a laptop that only scores 763 on 3DMark11
 

Adnams Drinker

A
I know I'm probably going to get laughed out of town with my lowly rig, but have any of you tested the alpha with a system as comparatively low-spec as mine?

CPU: Core 2 Duo E8500, 3166 MHz
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS4
RAM: 8GB DDR2-800 Corsair XMS2
VIDEO CARD: GeForce 8800 GT
MONITOR: Samsung SyncMaster 245

I'm fully expecting to have to turn the graphic frills down somewhat and run it at a lower res (assuming that's possible) - not really fussed about that, as long as I'm able to play in the first instance. I'll upgrade various components over the course of 2014 - have home-built for the last 5-6 years.
 

Nagual

Nagual
The gigabyte h87 board gets very average reviews, I have one and it's okay however there are better boards out there that get much better reviews for roughly the same price. Have a look at the MSI boards.
 

resonic

resonic
The Space Pirate said:
OK; I'm probably going ahead with this some time in the New Year.

http://www.ebuyer.com/467647-cpu-core-i5-4670k-3-40ghz-lga1150-box-bx80646i54670k

vs

http://www.ebuyer.com/349029-intel-...b-cache-retail-boxed-processor-bx80637i53570k

Is the extra £13 or so worth it?

with

http://www.ebuyer.com/339598-corsair-8gb-ddr3-1600mhz-vengeance-memory-cmz8gx3m1a1600c10

I might go 4gb; I can easily add another 4gb later.

on

http://www.ebuyer.com/507047-gigabyte-ga-z87-d3hp-socket-1150-hdmi-dvi-atx-motherboard-ga-z87-d3hp

or

http://www.ebuyer.com/507048-gigabyte-ga-z87-hd3-socket-1150-hdmi-dvi-atx-motherboard-ga-z87-hd3

or

http://www.ebuyer.com/603583-ga-z87-...rd-ga-z87-ds3h

Total: £282 if I go 4gb RAM. What are your thoughts on those components?
Click to expand...

Go for 8 or 16GB of RAM! When putting a gaming system together nowadays 8GB should be standard. One single module is not recommended. Get two moduls and use the dual channel performance.

For the CPU: Grab the Haswell CPU! Its the i5 4670K. The other one is an older Sandybridge/Ivybridge CPU. Go get the current gen Haswell based 4670k!
Also keep an ey on which mainboard to get for the CPU socket. 1150 VS 1155. The older 1155 would not(!) work with the Haswell 4670k while this one needs the 1150. For the 3570 you would need the 1155 socket.

For the board i would choose this one:
http://www.ebuyer.com/603583-ga-z87-ds3h-motherboard-ga-z87-ds3h
 

P.S.G

P
Advice needed

I need some advice as I know my gpu is not going to be good enough ,I have a gt 610 1gb fitted and am looking at a gtx 650 2gb as i,m a bit restricted on how much I can pay ,but should I consider an AMD card , as I have an ASUS P8H61-MX USB3 board I am unsure if an AMD card would work
I have a i5-3470 quad core cpu and 16gb DDR3 1600mhz ram,hoping for some helpfull advice as I am a complete novice on the tech side of computers
 

Pyros

P
P.S.G said:
I need some advice as I know my gpu is not going to be good enough ,I have a gt 610 1gb fitted and am looking at a gtx 650 2gb as i,m a bit restricted on how much I can pay ,but should I consider an AMD card , as I have an ASUS P8H61-MX USB3 board I am unsure if an AMD card would work
I have a i5-3470 quad core cpu and 16gb DDR3 1600mhz ram,hoping for some helpfull advice as I am a complete novice on the tech side of computers
Click to expand...

AMD cards work just as fine as nVidia ones. With 2GB at around 140USD price point you have the AMD R7 260X. Alternatively - I believe it is slightly more expensive - you have the gtx 650 Ti Boost. Both should be good enough for good full HD playing with average settings in most games.

If you can still find a cheap HD 7870 on sale at sub 160 price, go for it instead.
 

deusx_ophc

deusx_ophc
Adnams Drinker said:
I know I'm probably going to get laughed out of town with my lowly rig, but have any of you tested the alpha with a system as comparatively low-spec as mine?

CPU: Core 2 Duo E8500, 3166 MHz
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS4
RAM: 8GB DDR2-800 Corsair XMS2
VIDEO CARD: GeForce 8800 GT
MONITOR: Samsung SyncMaster 245

I'm fully expecting to have to turn the graphic frills down somewhat and run it at a lower res (assuming that's possible) - not really fussed about that, as long as I'm able to play in the first instance. I'll upgrade various components over the course of 2014 - have home-built for the last 5-6 years.
Click to expand...

well i play alpha with that just fine at max settings (incl. FAA). my cpu is e8600 and gpu a 8900 gt but the rest the same.

was about to upgrade but happy that i did not. will do once this rig gives up on alpha/beta. shall report back ;p
 

NeilF

NeilF
deusx_ophc said:
well i play alpha with that just fine at max settings (incl. FAA). my cpu is e8600 and gpu a 8900 gt but the rest the same.

was about to upgrade but happy that i did not. will do once this rig gives up on alpha/beta. shall report back ;p
Click to expand...

And the final battle which people says beings older machines/hardware to its knees?

I'm obviously keen to see how older hardware does because... look at my sig! (5+yr old CPU)
 

resonic

resonic
Radeon R260 und R270 based models are a cheap way to go right now. Definitly worse doing some reasearch on the reviews and benchmarks.
 

The Space Pirate

The Space Pirate
resonic said:
Go for 8 or 16GB of RAM! When putting a gaming system together nowadays 8GB should be standard. One single module is not recommended. Get two moduls and use the dual channel performance.

For the CPU: Grab the Haswell CPU! Its the i5 4670K. The other one is an older Sandybridge/Ivybridge CPU. Go get the current gen Haswell based 4670k!
Also keep an ey on which mainboard to get for the CPU socket. 1150 VS 1155. The older 1155 would not(!) work with the Haswell 4670k while this one needs the 1150. For the 3570 you would need the 1155 socket.

For the board i would choose this one:
http://www.ebuyer.com/603583-ga-z87-ds3h-motherboard-ga-z87-ds3h
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. So to clear something up, if a motherboard and CPU's socket both match, then they'll be fully compatible with each other?
 

The Space Pirate

The Space Pirate
resonic said:
i5:
http://www.transparent-uk.com/intel...&istBid=tztq&gclid=CLvH6eHrubsCFYUewwod4CUA6w

RAM:
https://www.google.co.uk/shopping/p...a=X&ei=VZ6xUoeBCOGo4gSY5IC4Bw&ved=0CH8Q8wIwAA

board:
http://www.pixmania.co.uk/motherboa...CFWzHtAod33sAvQ#srcid=11270&nopopup=1&merch=1

These components are not that hard to find. Just use the google shooping search:
https://www.google.co.uk/search?biw...ymnnZuJ_WMw#q=ivy+bridge+motherboard&tbm=shop

Depending on which i5 you choose you end up below 200 or between 200 and 250 maximum(!). A current gen Radeon isnt that expensive too: https://www.google.co.uk/#q=radeon+250&tbm=shop
Well its not THE killer hardware at all, just current mid range level, but still quick enough to play the majority of the current games smoothly.

Im planning to upgrade my HTPC to run EDat the moment. So i was thinking about getting an upcoming "Kaveri" AMD A10 APU for ~120 , additional 8GB of RAM for ~50 and a FM2+ mainboard which costs like ~40.
Click to expand...

Really? OK, sounds as though some more shopping around is called for because I ended up with £282 minimum for RAM, CPU and Motherboard.

This looks pretty good value for DDR3 RAM:

http://www.ebuyer.com/342351-crucial-8gb-ddr3-1333mhz-ballistix-sport-memory-bls2cp4g3d1339ds1s00ceu
 
Last edited:

Jonbe54

J
My rig

As soon as I heard about the game and read it's features - not to mention saw its eye popping graphics - for a space trader sim - I realized my i3 2gh machine would be borderline at best so bit the bullet and ordered a new one.

AMD 4.2Gh 4 core, black edition
Asus M55 motherboard
8 gig 1600 ram
Asus GTX650
ITb Sata 3 drive

It arrives in the next day or two:p
 

Faerie

Faerie
resonic said:
i5:
http://www.transparent-uk.com/intel...&istBid=tztq&gclid=CLvH6eHrubsCFYUewwod4CUA6w

RAM:
https://www.google.co.uk/shopping/p...a=X&ei=VZ6xUoeBCOGo4gSY5IC4Bw&ved=0CH8Q8wIwAA

board:
http://www.pixmania.co.uk/motherboa...CFWzHtAod33sAvQ#srcid=11270&nopopup=1&merch=1

These components are not that hard to find. Just use the google shooping search:
https://www.google.co.uk/search?biw...ymnnZuJ_WMw#q=ivy+bridge+motherboard&tbm=shop

Depending on which i5 you choose you end up below 200 or between 200 and 250 maximum(!). A current gen Radeon isnt that expensive too: https://www.google.co.uk/#q=radeon+250&tbm=shop
Well its not THE killer hardware at all, just current mid range level, but still quick enough to play the majority of the current games smoothly.

Im planning to upgrade my HTPC to run EDat the moment. So i was thinking about getting an upcoming "Kaveri" AMD A10 APU for ~120 , additional 8GB of RAM for ~50 and a FM2+ mainboard which costs like ~40.
Click to expand...

I think you need to shop around more because there are definitely savings that can be made.
I found this, for example: http://www.cclonline.com/product/95...-6MB-L3-Cache-5GT/s-Bus-Speed-Boxed-/CPU0157/

If you don't mind my saying so, your mainboard choice is a little underpowered to make the best of your chosen CPU, too, though the memory is OK because it's 1600mHz.

I regularly build computers & I'll be more than happy to help you spec a machine & find the best prices. PM me if you're interested.
 

resonic

resonic
Faerie said:
I think you need to shop around more because there are definitely savings that can be made.
I found this, for example: http://www.cclonline.com/product/95...-6MB-L3-Cache-5GT/s-Bus-Speed-Boxed-/CPU0157/

If you don't mind my saying so, your mainboard choice is a little underpowered to make the best of your chosen CPU, too, though the memory is OK because it's 1600mHz.

I regularly build computers & I'll be more than happy to help you spec a machine & find the best prices. PM me if you're interested.
Click to expand...

Well thats true, but its always a decicion of new and fast or not that fast but cheaper.


Current newest hardware build:
The i5-3570 is an 2012 "Ivy Bridge" CPU. Go for some i5 or i7 4xxx CPU while these are the current 2013 "Haswell" models.

@The Space Pirate
Very simple:
LGA 1155 socket » Intel "Ivy Bridge" and "Sandy Bridge" CPUs
i3-2xxx
i5-2xxx
i7-2xxx
i3-3xxx
i5-3xxx
i7-3xxx
Attention: There are some SandyBridge and IvyBridge CPUs which also have a "4" modelnumber.

LGA 1150 socket » Intel "Haswell" CPUs and upcoming "Broadwell" CPUs (2014/2015)
i3-4xxx
i5-4xxx
i7-4xxx
Just watch which socket the CPU needs.


About the memory:
Funny story, actually there are like 5 or 6 real memory manufacturers like Hynix, Micron or Samsung. The rest on the market like GSkills, Corsair, Crucial etc. do NOT(!) produce the memory by themselfs! The memory business is simple:
You buy overproduction or defective moduls from the "real" memory manufacturers. They you put the own brand on it and sell it as a GSkill, Corsair, Crucial, etc. brand. Defective moduls are usually also put together. For example when you have to moduls and half of each module's memory chips are defective, then you put them together and make one working module from two broken ones. Easy.
End of story: Everything you buy is the same and there is a minimum difference in what you buy. Nothing you should care about.

back to topic: Buy DDR3-1866 or DDR3-2133. Haswell CPUs work with this pretty well while DDR3-1333 and DDR3-1600 are not recommended anymore for Haswell while the faster ones doesnt cost much more.




Money saving alternative:
If you dont mind to not have the newest stuff in the street, you can still go for an IvyBridge i5 or i7 and some DDR3-1600 memory aswell as an below 100GBP graphics card and save money. This will still be powerful enough to run Elite in max details and also run other modern games smoothly. But its just not the newest sickest stuff ;)

Oh and check out TOM's current selection of entry-level and mid-range graphics cards:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-graphics-card-review,review-32843-2.html
You can save lot of money here too while not picking the newest, most shiny one ;)
 
Last edited:

resonic

resonic
@Faerie
How about when we put a list of components together which we would recommend for a ED gaming machine?
Something like recommended stuff for a sub-250 GBP system and a sub-400 GBP system.
 

HaiderGill

H
resonic said:
Well thats true, but its always a decicion of new and fast or not that fast but cheaper.


Current newest hardware build:
The i5-3570 is an 2012 "Ivy Bridge" CPU. Go for some i5 or i7 4xxx CPU while these are the current 2013 "Haswell" models.

@The Space Pirate
Very simple:
LGA 1155 socket » Intel "Ivy Bridge" and "Sandy Bridge" CPUs
i3-2xxx
i5-2xxx
i7-2xxx
i3-3xxx
i5-3xxx
i7-3xxx
Attention: There are some SandyBridge and IvyBridge CPUs which also have a "4" modelnumber.

LGA 1150 socket » Intel "Haswell" CPUs and upcoming "Broadwell" CPUs (2014/2015)
i3-4xxx
i5-4xxx
i7-4xxx
Just watch which socket the CPU needs.


About the memory:
Funny story, actually there are like 5 or 6 real memory manufacturers like Hynix, Micron or Samsung. The rest on the market like GSkills, Corsair, Crucial etc. do NOT(!) produce the memory by themselfs! The memory business is simple:
You buy overproduction or defective moduls from the "real" memory manufacturers. They you put the own brand on it and sell it as a GSkill, Corsair, Crucial, etc. brand. Defective moduls are usually also put together. For example when you have to moduls and half of each module's memory chips are defective, then you put them together and make one working module from two broken ones. Easy.
End of story: Everything you buy is the same and there is a minimum difference in what you buy. Nothing you should care about.

back to topic: Buy DDR3-1866 or DDR3-2133. Haswell CPUs work with this pretty well while DDR3-1333 and DDR3-1600 are not recommended anymore for Haswell while the faster ones doesnt cost much more.




Money saving alternative:
If you dont mind to not have the newest stuff in the street, you can still go for an IvyBridge i5 or i7 and some DDR3-1600 memory aswell as an below 100GBP graphics card and save money. This will still be powerful enough to run Elite in max details and also run other modern games smoothly. But its just not the newest sickest stuff ;)

Oh and check out TOM's current selection of entry-level and mid-range graphics cards:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-graphics-card-review,review-32843-2.html
You can save lot of money here too while not picking the newest, most shiny one ;)
Click to expand...

Micron setup Crucial to sell their products themselves...

A rule of thumb your graphics card should cost the same amount as CPU + Motherboard + RAM.

The GPU in a gaming PC is the most important. A quad core Sandybridge or Nehalem will be fine.Get a fast GPU/graphics card something the equivalent of Radeon HD 7970. Nothing against nVidia they do good cards too, so look for the best deal you can get.

My i-760 is overclocked to 3.6GHz with a £30 CPU cooler and that is an easy overclock. My Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 Vapor-X @1050 MHz still makes games GPU bound. That's a 31% overclock and the GPU is STILL the bottleneck!!! You don't want the action to slow-down and become jerky in the heat of battle. Since Intel got the better of AMD in the CPU space they have got lazy. Per clock their processors aren't really that much faster in each successive generation. When the Nehalem CPUs came out they blew the previous Intel generation CPUs away in terms of performance.

Forget high speed RAM, it does not make a difference in games. Spend the money getting a good PSU, something like at least a 650W quailty PSU. You'll be able to do some mild overclocking...
 
Last edited:

The Space Pirate

The Space Pirate
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom