The thread that is now the unofficial PC builds thread :P
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Generally, SSD prices can be expected to plummet further over the course of the year, with SATA discs (still sufficient for most users) probably reaching 90€/TB. Don't know the dollar prices, but I think generally, hardware is a bit cheaper over the pond? All in all, there's not much reason to buy now, if you don't have to.
I broke the shaft of a standoff screw while trying to install my first one. I don't have a drill bit small enough to spin the broken part through the remaining threads. 
Orion said:I broke the shaft of a standoff screw while trying to install my first one. I don't have a drill bit small enough to spin the broken part through the remaining threads.
Hey, better problems than me. Turns out I don't actually have an M-2 port, without using an adapter in one of my PCIe-16 ports, which would throttle down the speeds enough to not make it worth the hassle right now.
Not regrets though, since I'll just keep it and plan for a major rebuild this summer. Buy a mobo with 2x M-2 ports, then finally give myself enough storage for the first time in forever. Just something to look forward to.
Tis a pc thread, any advices on laptops anyone?
I want to buy a laptop viable enough to play nowadays games on a decent settings.
So I'm stuck between two 17" models:
1. Acer Predator Helios 300 PH317-52 (i5-8300h, 16 RAM, GTX 1060, 6 gb, 1tb hdd+256ssd) (1600$)
2. ACER Aspire 7 A717-71G (same specs, xcept i5-7300hq, 1tb+128ssd) (1400$)
Kinda not sure if the difference in the CPU is big enough and that important? Im not good at telling the importance of cpu specs. Besides the 128 ssd is probably a pain in comparison to 256 ssd
But Predator sucks at design, while Aspire is more acceptable.
A friend of mine says they have two Predators at the office and they just burned out in a year, while other laptops (Lenovo) are still up and running.
Anyone can confirm Predators being less reliable?
I want to buy a laptop viable enough to play nowadays games on a decent settings.
So I'm stuck between two 17" models:
1. Acer Predator Helios 300 PH317-52 (i5-8300h, 16 RAM, GTX 1060, 6 gb, 1tb hdd+256ssd) (1600$)
2. ACER Aspire 7 A717-71G (same specs, xcept i5-7300hq, 1tb+128ssd) (1400$)
Kinda not sure if the difference in the CPU is big enough and that important? Im not good at telling the importance of cpu specs. Besides the 128 ssd is probably a pain in comparison to 256 ssd
But Predator sucks at design, while Aspire is more acceptable.
A friend of mine says they have two Predators at the office and they just burned out in a year, while other laptops (Lenovo) are still up and running.
Anyone can confirm Predators being less reliable?
It might just be a matter of luck and coincidence, but my 3 Lenovo Laptops(one with extensive game use) still go strong, after some years. As for the CPUs, I don't think that there's a huge difference; 8300 is 8th gen, 7300 is the previous one. Still, 8300 is better.
If I may ask, though, if you have more than 1200-1300€ to spend, why don't you go for a custom desktop?
If I may ask, though, if you have more than 1200-1300€ to spend, why don't you go for a custom desktop?
Custom laptop? Apart from those laptops that support extra memory(some come with like, 4GB and can take another 4, for example) I don't think there much customization going on.
I'd consider a desktop pc, since with that kind of money you can have a pretty decent machine. Still, up to you.
I'd consider a desktop pc, since with that kind of money you can have a pretty decent machine. Still, up to you.
Laptops are crap if you want any kind of good experience. You can set up a desktop PC on a TV screen with a wireless keyboard/mouse for a much better experience, if you're looking for the comforts of a couch. Or stream locally from a very powerful desktop to a crappy laptop for a mediocre experience. If you absolutely insist on a laptop then be very careful about what hardware is inside - often laptop manufacturers will put CPU and GPUs that are named similarly to their desktop counterparts but perform significantly less on top of the reduced performance from low power consumption and bad thermals.
I agree with my comrades above, desktops are better for gaming. For that kind of money you can buy a nice desktop PC. And if it's comfort you're looking for, you can still have a reasonably comfy chair at a desk. It might not be as comfy as a couch, but if the PC is good, once you get into a game you might not be worrying about that. A bad chair or a desk that's at the wrong height can still make things uncomfortable, of course, but if you're like me, once you get those things fixed and get everything set up so it works for you, you'll be able to spend hours there.
On a related note, my laptop won't start this evening, even though the indicator lights on the battery say it has power. I've plugged it in just to be sure if a charge will help, but I'm wondering if it's dead. Part of my says I shouldn't think this way, but I think part of me is hoping it is dead. I've had it for like 7 years now, and it's getting to be slow and sometimes it's a pain in the ass to use. We'll see what happens. If it isn't dead, is there much of a market online for 7 year-old, somewhat slow laptops? As I recall it cost well over $1000 when it was new (kind of a waste of money, as it turns out), so I've been thinking for a long time that I should sell it and try to make some of that back now that I've got the desktop PC.
A bad chair or a desk that's at the wrong height can still make things uncomfortable, of course, but if you're like me, once you get those things fixed and get everything set up so it works for you, you'll be able to spend hours there. On a related note, my laptop won't start this evening, even though the indicator lights on the battery say it has power. I've plugged it in just to be sure if a charge will help, but I'm wondering if it's dead. Part of my says I shouldn't think this way, but I think part of me is hoping it is dead. I've had it for like 7 years now, and it's getting to be slow and sometimes it's a pain in the ass to use. We'll see what happens. If it isn't dead, is there much of a market online for 7 year-old, somewhat slow laptops? As I recall it cost well over $1000 when it was new (kind of a waste of money, as it turns out), so I've been thinking for a long time that I should sell it and try to make some of that back now that I've got the desktop PC.
Well crap. You make things so complicated. I almost ordered that laptop this morning and now all this.
Yet I have a 7 year old PC (and its constantly occupied by relatives). And I need a laptop since there are times when I need its mobility in my business.
Also I do not need some pro-level gaming experience (ima bit old for that), but a laptop to run most nowadays and upcoming games on medium settings with more than 30 fps.
Is it possible?
Yet I have a 7 year old PC (and its constantly occupied by relatives). And I need a laptop since there are times when I need its mobility in my business.
Also I do not need some pro-level gaming experience (ima bit old for that), but a laptop to run most nowadays and upcoming games on medium settings with more than 30 fps.
Is it possible?
I'm thinking of upgrading my setup, primarily for Bannerlord, but it is overdue for gaming in general since it was only mid-range when I bought it about 6 years ago, and it is beginning to show its age. The problem is, I think it would be worthwhile upgrading both the Graphics card and the CPU, but I'm unsure if I can make a significant upgrade of either without first getting a new MOBO. I say that based upon some quick internet research I did a year or two back, but I am unsure and would appreciate the input of more wise heads.
My GPU is a 2gb GTX 660, my CPU is the i5-3470 and I have 8gb RAM. The MOBO is the Music of Black Origin Awards; I'm really not sure what they are doing in my computer so I'll put that to one side for now and concentrate on something I vaguely understand- my motherboard is an ASUS P8H61-MX USB3. I have a vague feeling from my Googling way back in time that I would be quite limited in terms of how far I could upgrade the GPU on this mobo, and very limited in terms of CPU upgrades, which would be particularly problematic for me because as I say, Bannerlord is a big reason for me wanting to improve my specs and I know it relies a lot on the CPU in battles.
At the moment it is ok to use, still managing to play the games that I want, but Bannerlord in its current state is a bit of a test; I have to play on low settings, though of course optimisation of the game should improve that. I would like to eke out my computer's years a bit further as it is only 6 years old, and yet embarrassingly this is the longest I have ever owned a single PC for, so I feel I should be less wasteful that in the past and get more life out of the components.
Any replies are appreciated from those who already feel confident of what I need; please don't feel obliged to do extensive homework on my behalf to get the answer.
My GPU is a 2gb GTX 660, my CPU is the i5-3470 and I have 8gb RAM. The MOBO is the Music of Black Origin Awards; I'm really not sure what they are doing in my computer so I'll put that to one side for now and concentrate on something I vaguely understand- my motherboard is an ASUS P8H61-MX USB3. I have a vague feeling from my Googling way back in time that I would be quite limited in terms of how far I could upgrade the GPU on this mobo, and very limited in terms of CPU upgrades, which would be particularly problematic for me because as I say, Bannerlord is a big reason for me wanting to improve my specs and I know it relies a lot on the CPU in battles.
At the moment it is ok to use, still managing to play the games that I want, but Bannerlord in its current state is a bit of a test; I have to play on low settings, though of course optimisation of the game should improve that. I would like to eke out my computer's years a bit further as it is only 6 years old, and yet embarrassingly this is the longest I have ever owned a single PC for, so I feel I should be less wasteful that in the past and get more life out of the components.
Any replies are appreciated from those who already feel confident of what I need; please don't feel obliged to do extensive homework on my behalf to get the answer
.Motherboard has (almost) no bearing on what GPU you can have. All it needs is a PCI-e slot (the long one). Technically you won't get the best performance if you aren't using the latest PCI-e spec (4.0) but the difference between 3 and 4 is negligible at best currently.
CPU on the other hand you can't really upgrade without a new motherboard and memory. Keep in mind also if the new components you pick use significantly more power than the old then you'll need a new power supply.
CPU on the other hand you can't really upgrade without a new motherboard and memory. Keep in mind also if the new components you pick use significantly more power than the old then you'll need a new power supply.
Cheers guys!
Haven't got a new mobo and CPU yet, I think I might need a new PSU with more modern connectors (specifically an 8-pin rather than 4-pin 12v connector) which will require me to spend a bit less on the mobo, CPU and RAM, but I did get a new GPU. I say new; it was second hand, a GTX 970. Not the brand spanking new kit that I had in mind, but for £90 it seemed a good deal, and having bought a couple of 99p cables online I was able to hook it up to the power supply tonight (it uses two 6-pin connectors rather than the one the GTX 660 took; something I hadn't even thought about in advance). The result is very satisfying; before I could only run Bannerlord on the Low setting without going into slow motion, but now I can have it on Very High and am still getting 55-60 FPS in the Skirmish maps.
It's always a bit of a risk getting something second hand, but the seller seemed like a very nice, honest person. Also the make, Zotac, is the same as the GTX 660 which has served me flawlessly for 6 years, so I am hopeful it will keep going for several years.
It's always a bit of a risk getting something second hand, but the seller seemed like a very nice, honest person. Also the make, Zotac, is the same as the GTX 660 which has served me flawlessly for 6 years, so I am hopeful it will keep going for several years.
