Gaming PC Thoughts

[Matthew_]

Okay so i basically made a thread a while back about purchasing a gaming pc to play Planet Coaster and I think I may have now found the one, i just want some opinions on the one that I have chosen because i'm not very good at this stuff [haha] but I think it's good enough to run the game as well as other modern games at least on medium?

The PC has:

2TB HDD Hard Drive
120GB SSD Solid State Drive
16GB 1600MHz RAM
Windows 10 64bit
2GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 Graphics Card
Fast 4.0GHz AMD FX 8350 New Eight 8-Core Processor


p.s. i'm getting a 1080p monitor

 

[BigDragon]

Looks good to me! Depends on the price.

Benchmarks say that these specs match my computer's (Intel i7-3820, 16GB RAM, AMD 7950). You should be fine running Planet Coaster. I never seem to notice FPS drops or performance issues in my game. When I think it's slowing down it normally winds up being the camera that's doing something I didn't expect it to do or was in a different mode than I thought.

 

[Matthew_]

Looks good to me! Depends on the price.

Benchmarks say that these specs match my computer's (Intel i7-3820, 16GB RAM, AMD 7950). You should be fine running Planet Coaster. I never seem to notice FPS drops or performance issues in my game. When I think it's slowing down it normally winds up being the camera that's doing something I didn't expect it to do or was in a different mode than I thought.

This one cost £660 but it was originally £900!![shocked][shocked] And thanks very much for that!![big grin][big grin] if there is fps issues for some reason I'm sure when the game is further optimized it should run smoother for everyone in general, I can't wait for alpha 3!![yesnod]

 

[SymphonyX]

That should be more than enough to satisfy what you need. My only suggestions would be...

-consider increasing the storage size of the SSD as 120GB will fill up quickly. It depends on how many programs/games you want to keep installed at once. I recommend having enough space for all programs to run off the SSD.
-consider increasing the speed of your memory to 2400 or 2800 MHz.
-I've always preferred the i7 processors over AMD, but this is just a preference.

Enjoy!

 

[Bergenia Tanoak]

Are they giving an option to swap the Nvidia 960 for either the new AMD RX 480 or the new Nvidia 1060? I'd think that would be less than £40. Big step up.

Did their Intel system go on sale? What about a system with an Intel Core i5-4690K? That processor new is about £75 higher but will provide higher FPS and will be a bit stronger in a simulation game like Planet Coaster. Maybe not as high of a jump as increasing the 960 to one of the new cards (AMD 480 or Nvidia 1060).

I wouldn't spend money increasing the memory speed from 2400 to 2800. The SSD size at 120GB is a limit, but one you may be able to live with. Windows needs around 50GBs. You'll have another 60GB to put your most used game or two on.

 

[Matthew_]

That should be more than enough to satisfy what you need. My only suggestions would be...

-consider increasing the storage size of the SSD as 120GB will fill up quickly. It depends on how many programs/games you want to keep installed at once. I recommend having enough space for all programs to run off the SSD.
-consider increasing the speed of your memory to 2400 or 2800 MHz.
-I've always preferred the i7 processors over AMD, but this is just a preference.

Enjoy!

(this may sound dumb but) I don't understand, what about the storage on the hard drive, wouldn't that be enough? Or is SSD something different? Lets say, I don't increase the SSD, will I have to uninstall games once i'm done to increase the space? And is there nothing else that can be done about this apart from increasing the SSD or is that the only option? [uhh]

 

[TheMagicianThing]

(this may sound dumb but) I don't understand, what about the storage on the hard drive, wouldn't that be enough? Or is SSD something different? Lets say, I don't increase the SSD, will I have to uninstall games once i'm done to increase the space? And is there nothing else that can be done about this apart from increasing the SSD or is that the only option? [uhh]

the SSD is often used for the operating system, and miminal amounts of games. as keeping it at least 30% free makes it keep the speed. they also have a limited read write life span compared to mechanical harddisks (so installing games on a different disk than the harddisk would be needed) and not too many games gain frames from harddisk drive speeds nowadays (fyi pc didn't, not even on a ramdisk)

 

[Matthew_]

Are they giving an option to swap the Nvidia 960 for either the new AMD RX 480 or the new Nvidia 1060? I'd think that would be less than £40. Big step up.

Did their Intel system go on sale? What about a system with an Intel Core i5-4690K? That processor new is about £75 higher but will provide higher FPS and will be a bit stronger in a simulation game like Planet Coaster. Maybe not as high of a jump as increasing the 960 to one of the new cards (AMD 480 or Nvidia 1060).

I wouldn't spend money increasing the memory speed from 2400 to 2800. The SSD size at 120GB is a limit, but one you may be able to live with. Windows needs around 50GBs. You'll have another 60GB to put your most used game or two on.

No they don't give the option for that, the only things I can change is the RAM and storage space on the hard drive[sad] And all of the intel ones are so expensive [shocked]

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

the SSD is often used for the operating system, and miminal amounts of games. as keeping it at least 30% free makes it keep the speed. they also have a limited read write life span compared to mechanical harddisks (so installing games on a different disk than the harddisk would be needed) and not too many games gain frames from harddisk drive speeds nowadays (fyi pc didn't, not even on a ramdisk)

ohhh okay, damn this is so frustrating! lol

 

[mrbrett]

I just went through this process, but my computer is a bit more powerful

I would highly suggest you shop around. For you price range, an SSD hard drive is not that important, you could go with a traditional disc based hard drive and get probably a 2TB hard drive for the same price. Also that video card needs to be better IMHO. You should look at the GTX 1070 (this would allow high settings at 1080p on pretty much any game) which is the 2nd fastest card you can buy. Look at these PCs on Amazon to get an idea, I've never heard of any of these companies, but it should give you an idea of what you can get for your money: Computers in your price range

 

[Bergenia Tanoak]

A GTX 1070 is faster than needed for 1080p gaming at the moment. The AMD 480 or GTx 1060 is enough. The 480 likely will be a little better for DX12 games.

 

[Matthew_]

I just went through this process, but my computer is a bit more powerful

I would highly suggest you shop around. For you price range, an SSD hard drive is not that important, you could go with a traditional disc based hard drive and get probably a 2TB hard drive for the same price. Also that video card needs to be better IMHO. You should look at the GTX 1070 (this would allow high settings at 1080p on pretty much any game) which is the 2nd fastest card you can buy. Look at these PCs on Amazon to get an idea, I've never heard of any of these companies, but it should give you an idea of what you can get for your money: Computers in your price range

Thank, I'll have a look