Suggestions please for budget gaming desktop (solely to play Elite)?

Hey All,

For years I've been playing Horizons via Bootcamp on a Macbook Pro. I stopped playing months ago, just because I wanted to wait till I got a proper system to really experience its glory.

Does anyone have specific suggestions for a budget gaming desktop, i.e., topping out at around $1500 (customized)?

Thanks and o7,

ST
 
apparently an X Box or Playstation console can be used to play Horizons and they are both a lot cheaper than $1500.
 
Customized a build for under $1K, haven't ordered it yet:

HP Pavilion Gaming Desktop TG01-2170m (1 TB SSD)
  • AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
  • 16 GB RAM
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (6 GB)

Presuming I'm playing "Odyssey", in deep space "instances", with graphics settings maxxed, what range of FPS might I expect? Thx.
 
Hey All,

For years I've been playing Horizons via Bootcamp on a Macbook Pro. I stopped playing months ago, just because I wanted to wait till I got a proper system to really experience its glory.

Does anyone have specific suggestions for a budget gaming desktop, i.e., topping out at around $1500 (customized)?

Thanks and o7,

ST

Take a look here:- https://www.logicalincrements.com/

The "superb" build has everything you need for $1550. That's a guide price as you can usually get a mobo & processor as a bundle and cheaper.

The card is a rtx2060 which should be ok for everything up to a 4k screen.

This is for the box only - you'll need peripherals and a monitor (+maybe win 10) on top too.

In the UK it's almost impossible to get better than an RTX2060 for a reasonable price, but YMMV.

Happy building!
 
Customized a build for under $1K, haven't ordered it yet:

HP Pavilion Gaming Desktop TG01-2170m (1 TB SSD)
  • AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
  • 16 GB RAM
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (6 GB)

Presuming I'm playing "Odyssey", in deep space "instances", with graphics settings maxxed, what range of FPS might I expect? Thx.
Still just wondering about this Q. For PVP or PVE combat, could I expect 60 FPS with these specs? Thx.
 
Still just wondering about this Q. For PVP or PVE combat, could I expect 60 FPS with these specs? Thx.
Space yes, ground maybe...will depend on resolution and graphics settings.

I'm running AMD X570 motherboard, Ryzen 7 3700X - 16GB DDR4-3200 - RTX 2060 6GB - 1440p
(MSI Afterburner Overclocking: +125 MHz for both GPU and RAM clocks, +15% core voltage, custom fan profile to keep GPU around 60C)

Space: Ultra, Normal, 1.0 - fps > 100 usually

Foot: High, FSR, 0.75x - fps in the 40s in a Low CZ the last few days. Have not done any settlement missions in a while.

My BIL has GTX 1660S, he can play on foot in 4K but needs to drop graphics quality. Not sure how low he goes...
 
"Does anyone have specific suggestions for a budget gaming desktop, i.e., topping out at around $1500 (customized)?"

A custom, budget, gaming PC topping out at $1500? It could be done, by someone who knows how to buy parts and build a PC but pre-built? Good luck.
 
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I'd also suggest you forget the big names and go with a so-called white-box system.* Realistically, you could play Horizons quite nicely on the HP system that you show. It's not quite $1500 however, so not really a fair comparison and I expect you may not be pleased when you try Odyssey. Just look around at all the info relating performance and hardware around here. Is it likely to get better? I certainly hope so. Does that mean you're not going to need some pretty serious horsepower to run Odyssey well? I doubt it.

Before you read on, I expect that you know this isn't exactly the cheapest-of-times to buy. That has a big impact on the performance-per-money that you can fit into a budget, unfortunately.

Among my biggest gripes with these systems from HP and the like are that they're pretty opaque in terms of what you're getting on the motherboard, often with poor I/O speeds and other fair or poor compromises that OEMs make to compete on price. Other components are similarly chosen (power supplies, drives, etc.). Is the SSD a SATA drive, an M.2 (PCIe) drive? This makes quite a lot of difference. Even if someone had an HP matching the few specs you showed, they probably bought it last week or last month. In that time, HP may have changed some of the components, meaning that their report of achieved FPS might be less-than-meaningful.

A name-brand, well-regarded motherboard (and other components) makes far fewer compromises because it is built to satisfy a demanding clientele. With that, they still offer a range of products to suit various budget levels.

Making this happen, admittedly, takes knowing brands, technology, standards / lingo, and products that make up the PC marketplace and that are good quality and that perform. As we all know, this market evolves very quickly so anyone who takes this route needs some time to get up to date if they don't actively follow it.

* All my opinion, of course. This approach isn't for everybody, so...
There is room here for something other than a true white-box system. I have always built my own PCs... until the most recent one. There are PC-builders out there who tailor to gamers and other demanding users. They tend to use name-brand components with some exception but the system specs are thoroughly known to a potential buyer. Look around; while I could offer some, you shouldn't feel good about a recommendation made by someone on a forum. These guys don't exactly hide; you can find them pretty readily if you look into it. Some of them also sell some of their pre-built hardware on places such as amazon (imagine that!), giving you one way to start finding out about them. Visit their own storefronts online and see what they can do.

Good luck...
 
I upgraded my system to a ryzen 5 5600X, gigabyte b550 aorus pro, 16gb corsair rgb 3200 and already have the gtx1070. with this setup i play odyssey with 1080p, supersampling at 1.5x, smaa. in space and on planets very playable at 45fps (locked). at stations sometimes drops below 45fps and the gpu goes to 100%. In space cpu is at max 20% and gpu around 50-75%. If i want to play at 4k and max settings i need to go to a 3060ti or 3070 minimum. If you have a 1080p monitor and befy gpu then put supersampling at 2.0x looks gorgeous
 
Customized a build for under $1K, haven't ordered it yet:

HP Pavilion Gaming Desktop TG01-2170m (1 TB SSD)
  • AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
  • 16 GB RAM
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (6 GB)

Presuming I'm playing "Odyssey", in deep space "instances", with graphics settings maxxed, what range of FPS might I expect? Thx.
I have almost this exact set up, but with 32 gigs of ram. The game runs fine in 1080 with everything maxxed. I don't have a 4k monitor, but I have my doubts the 1660Ti will perform well at 4k anyway.
 
I'd probably build a DDR4, B660, i5-12400 based setup, with 60% of that $1500 budget devoted to the GPU.

If I you trim everything else to the bone, without sacrificing basic quality, you can fit an RTX 3060 Ti in a ~$1500 build.
 
I'd also suggest you forget the big names and go with a so-called white-box system.* Realistically, you could play Horizons quite nicely on the HP system that you show. It's not quite $1500 however, so not really a fair comparison and I expect you may not be pleased when you try Odyssey. Just look around at all the info relating performance and hardware around here. Is it likely to get better? I certainly hope so. Does that mean you're not going to need some pretty serious horsepower to run Odyssey well? I doubt it.

Before you read on, I expect that you know this isn't exactly the cheapest-of-times to buy. That has a big impact on the performance-per-money that you can fit into a budget, unfortunately.

Among my biggest gripes with these systems from HP and the like are that they're pretty opaque in terms of what you're getting on the motherboard, often with poor I/O speeds and other fair or poor compromises that OEMs make to compete on price. Other components are similarly chosen (power supplies, drives, etc.). Is the SSD a SATA drive, an M.2 (PCIe) drive? This makes quite a lot of difference. Even if someone had an HP matching the few specs you showed, they probably bought it last week or last month. In that time, HP may have changed some of the components, meaning that their report of achieved FPS might be less-than-meaningful.

A name-brand, well-regarded motherboard (and other components) makes far fewer compromises because it is built to satisfy a demanding clientele. With that, they still offer a range of products to suit various budget levels.

Making this happen, admittedly, takes knowing brands, technology, standards / lingo, and products that make up the PC marketplace and that are good quality and that perform. As we all know, this market evolves very quickly so anyone who takes this route needs some time to get up to date if they don't actively follow it.

* All my opinion, of course. This approach isn't for everybody, so...
There is room here for something other than a true white-box system. I have always built my own PCs... until the most recent one. There are PC-builders out there who tailor to gamers and other demanding users. They tend to use name-brand components with some exception but the system specs are thoroughly known to a potential buyer. Look around; while I could offer some, you shouldn't feel good about a recommendation made by someone on a forum. These guys don't exactly hide; you can find them pretty readily if you look into it. Some of them also sell some of their pre-built hardware on places such as amazon (imagine that!), giving you one way to start finding out about them. Visit their own storefronts online and see what they can do.

Good luck...
For the sake of time and really not being expert at this, I did last week order the HP system whose specs I listed above; should be here in a couple weeks.

The SSD is M.2 (which I lucked out on because I didn't check before I bought it). Along with a 27" (1080p) Acer monitor supporting G-sync w/ 144Hz (180 overclocked) and 1ms response time, I got everything for $1350 (ie incl. taxes and shipping). That's really what my budget was. I'm hopeful about Odyssey as I saw a Youtube video of a slightly lesser system running it playably on medium settings.

Looking forward to getting back in black after a long hiatus.

o2
 
For the sake of time and really not being expert at this, I did last week order the HP system whose specs I listed above; should be here in a couple weeks.

The SSD is M.2 (which I lucked out on because I didn't check before I bought it). Along with a 27" (1080p) Acer monitor supporting G-sync w/ 144Hz (180 overclocked) and 1ms response time, I got everything for $1350 (ie incl. taxes and shipping). That's really what my budget was. I'm hopeful about Odyssey as I saw a Youtube video of a slightly lesser system running it playably on medium settings.

Looking forward to getting back in black after a long hiatus.

o2
Glad to hear that the SSD is M.2. The GeForce GTX 1660 isn't a blow-the-doors-off-the-place GPU so...
I'm sure several of us would like to hear your thoughts about how the system performs. Hard to wait, isn't it? :)
 
Yup.

After further consideration and as I've not yet bought Odyssey, when I get the system I'm going to first load up Horizons and see if it can manage a smooth capped 144 FPS (matching monitor's refresh rate). Based on what I've seen and read I'm hopeful. (And the inexplicable performance hit of Odyssey when playing in the same environments as Horizons is disappointing and something I don't understand. Like, I guess for Odyssey they created a new codebase, and yet the extant Horizons code when transferred over to the new codebase itself performs worse in Odyssey? I'd think it would perform better if anything as it would give them a chance to further "clean up" anything.)

In any case, after years of a playing on a laptop (a Mac no less), this will be 🙌.

o7
 
Or maybe because it's a G-sync monitor, I don't need to cap the framerate, which may cause latency and is unnecessary given that G-sync will match the FR with the monitor's RR. Not sure.
 
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