I want a new gaming rig

[Brezel]

Intel Core i5 will likely be a tad weak if you want to run games in 1440p.
XFX Radeon RX 480 will take anything you throw at it at 1080p, but combined with the i5, it might struggle on some games at 1440p, especially if they ain't DX12.

If you can, squeeze a few more dollars for an i7, if not, plan on upgrading within 2 years (something you don't want to do).

Thanks I'll go for an i7 then.

[Barrister]

My reading is that an i7 isn't going to help much for gaming.  The major difference is that i7s allow hyperthreading, but games rarely use multiple threads.

If you have a extra money to spend spend it on a stronger videocard.  And if you don't have a 1440 monitor don't worry about it.

[Brezel]

My reading is that an i7 isn't going to help much for gaming.  The major difference is that i7s allow hyperthreading, but games rarely use multiple threads.

If you have a extra money to spend spend it on a stronger videocard.  And if you don't have a 1440 monitor don't worry about it.

The thing is I will be buying a monitor as well. I understand upgrading GPU from rx 480 would mean getting Nvidia - and then it would also make most sense to get a Gsync monitor - but those are pretty expensive.

[viper37]

My reading is that an i7 isn't going to help much for gaming.  The major difference is that i7s allow hyperthreading, but games rarely use multiple threads.

If you have a extra money to spend spend it on a stronger videocard.  And if you don't have a 1440 monitor don't worry about it.

Again, it's a matter of new games.  New games, like Deus Ex, uses DirectX 12, or Vulkan. These will take advantage of the higher number of cores.  A 3-4 year old AMD Cpu with 8 cores perform almost as good as an i5 now for these games.

i7 has 4 real cores, with 4 virtual ones.  i5 has 2 real cores, 2 virtual ones.  There lies the reason why you don't see differences for games that uses API like DX 9 to 11 as these APIs do no make any use of anything beyond 2 cores.

He expressely said he wanted to play newer games, and most of them, even Civ VI, comes for DX12 (or a few fo Vulkan).

[Tamas]

I have just realised, in theory I can replace my DVD drive in my Lenovo Y510P with a HDD caddy and put an SSD into it. I am going to try it with a fairly cheap small SSD, and I hope I don't break anything! It's supposed to be modular (some models have a second graphics card in the dvd drive slot, for example).

If I could get games from the previous year or so load quicker than goddamn minutes, I shall be happy enough to hold off on the new desktop for a while.

[Tonitrus]

As the Mac Pro is way overpriced (and becoming more and more out-of-date with no upgrade in sight), I've been looking at alternatives for a desktop(-ish) PC to replace my current, 6-ish year-old rig (that I had built myself at the time).

And also being that I've moved my PC'ing/gaming to the living room/couch, I am also looking at perhaps not building this time, and going with something smallish, but "good enough" (my PC gaming demands aren't super huge/intensive).  Thus why the Mac Pro was in contention in the first place...yeah, overpricey, but being well-enough paid and eternally single, price isn't a huge concern (yeah, humblebrag...go me).

So right now, I am considering this: https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronics-DP700C6A-X01US-Premium-Desktop/dp/B01LZSFEJ3   



My hesitation...Samsung PCs.

[Syt]

I ordered a new gaming rig today. It's from the same company that built my current rig 4 years ago; the old system ran fine during all these years but it's really starting to show its age.. Should arrive next week.

CPU: Intel Core i7-6800K, 6x 3.40GHz
GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Gaming X 8G, 8GB GDDR5X
RAM: 32GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 PC-2400 Kit 4x8GB
Case: Corsair Graphite 760T V2 Black
Mainboard:MSI X99A SLI PLUS (Sound G-LAN SATA3 M.2 SATAe USB 3.0)
250 GB SSD, 2 TB HDD (I'll add my current 500 GB SDD to it where most of my games rest now)

Plenty of cooling fans.

[viper37]

As the Mac Pro is way overpriced (and becoming more and more out-of-date with no upgrade in sight), I've been looking at alternatives for a desktop(-ish) PC to replace my current, 6-ish year-old rig (that I had built myself at the time).

And also being that I've moved my PC'ing/gaming to the living room/couch, I am also looking at perhaps not building this time, and going with something smallish, but "good enough" (my PC gaming demands aren't super huge/intensive).  Thus why the Mac Pro was in contention in the first place...yeah, overpricey, but being well-enough paid and eternally single, price isn't a huge concern (yeah, humblebrag...go me).

So right now, I am considering this: https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronics-DP700C6A-X01US-Premium-Desktop/dp/B01LZSFEJ3   



My hesitation...Samsung PCs.

where do I start?

2000$ for this is overpriced, unless you really, really want the circular designe.

It has only 8gb ram, that's too low for modern games.
It has a Radeon 460 with 2gb VRAM, it won't be able to perform at full graphics with modern games (you need the RX 480 for gaming, not anything lower, and preferably the 8gb version)
It has an i5 only.  It is a decent processor, but if you're buying today, I'd still recommend going for the i7, when you can afford it.
There is no hard drive, only a 256gb SSD.

I just built the same kit for 866$, albeit with a cheap case:
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Viper371/saved/#view=R6J8dC

Imho, take your time to find yourself a very nice case and then buy the stuff you need and have it assembled at a local store.

[Berkut]

Thinking about buying some more RAM. My MB support DDR3-1600, and I have 6 banks, each supports up to 4GB.

Right now I have 3x2GB. Can I buy 4x3GB and add them to the second bank for a total of 18GB? I know back in the day you really wanted all your memory to be the same kind per stick, but I don't know if that is still true or not...

[viper37]

Thinking about buying some more RAM. My MB support DDR3-1600, and I have 6 banks, each supports up to 4GB.

Right now I have 3x2GB. Can I buy 4x3GB and add them to the second bank for a total of 18GB? I know back in the day you really wanted all your memory to be the same kind per stick, but I don't know if that is still true or not...

Short answer: maybe.

Long answer: it depends.  If you have dual channel ram, then you need to match the sticks with the exact same thing by pairs.  Same for quad channel, by kit of four.  Regular ram will not cause you problem.  But you're talking 3x4gb, right?

I'm guessing, given your setup or 3 sticks, that it isn't dual channel and it should work with anything.

But if you check your motherboard's manual online, you will likely see an update list of ram sticks that work with your board, if you want to be on the safe side.

[Barrister]

where do I start?

2000$ for this is overpriced, unless you really, really want the circular designe.

It has only 8gb ram, that's too low for modern games.
It has a Radeon 460 with 2gb VRAM, it won't be able to perform at full graphics with modern games (you need the RX 480 for gaming, not anything lower, and preferably the 8gb version)
It has an i5 only.  It is a decent processor, but if you're buying today, I'd still recommend going for the i7, when you can afford it.
There is no hard drive, only a 256gb SSD.

I just built the same kit for 866$, albeit with a cheap case:
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Viper371/saved/#view=R6J8dC

Imho, take your time to find yourself a very nice case and then buy the stuff you need and have it assembled at a local store.

Take a look again - the price is $1199, or $1599 for an i7 and extra HDD.

Price doesn't seem out of line, and it's a cool looking case.  Get it if you want.

Sadly I agree with you about the Mac Pro.  It's why I went back to windows from my old Mac Pro.

[viper37]

Oh, I read 1999$ 

But the video card is too weak for gaming, you need a hard drive and more ram.

[Tonitrus]

Oh, I read 1999$ 

But the video card is too weak for gaming, you need a hard drive and more ram.

I did say my gaming demands are pretty light.  My 6-year old rig runs Stellaris/Civ 5 pretty decently with lesser specs.  Something marginally better is good enough for me.  I don't need something for first-person shooters with hyperrealistic graphics.

[viper37]

I did say my gaming demands are pretty light.  My 6-year old rig runs Stellaris/Civ 5 pretty decently with lesser specs.  Something marginally better is good enough for me.  I don't need something for first-person shooters with hyperrealistic graphics.

Stellaris is ok, Civ V, probably too.  But Civ VI might not run at full graphics with this video card.

[Hamilcar]

Thinking of finally getting a new gaming PC. Browsing the local retailer, I see a system like this:
Intel Core i7-6700 3.40 GHz
256 GB SSD, 3 TB HDD
nVidia GeForce GTX 1080
16 GB memory

Reasonable? Price $2,200