The Power PC Thread [f*ck off consoles]

[Simon998]

So from what I can gather, performance figures are similar to
1080ti = 2080
Titan V = 2080ti (obv without the ray tracing).

Too rich for my blood as a casual gamer anyway.

 

[SharkyUK]

Finally set up the PC in my new home office and ready to start using it.

Room to expand, too... ?

 

[Silent_Scone]

Sweet

 

[Cookie]

Finally set up the PC in my new home office and ready to start using it.

View attachment 1387511

Room to expand, too... ?

View attachment 1387512

You need more screens. I can't wait til we have the money to move.. I need a much larger cave

 

[welshname]

You need more screens. I can't wait til we have the money to move.. I need a much larger cave

Same, but right now Becky is convinced it's a "forever home". We literally have enough space for us 2 with me getting a man cave and her getting a makeup room.

Need moar space!

 

[SharkyUK]

Same, but right now Becky is convinced it's a "forever home". We literally have enough space for us 2 with me getting a man cave and her getting a makeup room.

Need moar space!

Put your foot down mate... Assert your authority!

 

[SharkyUK]

Ooh, hello. GPU refresh time... @Silent_Scone

Time to say goodbye to the EVGA GTX 1080 Ti FTW3 (which is a fan-flippin-tastic GPU).

But - wow - the 2080 Ti is quite something.

 

[Cookie]

Buy all the things! Still got my 1070.. barely play anything that even pushes that

 

[Jonnio]

Decided it's time to retire my 9 odd year old computer. Not paid any real attention to new hardware (computers in general!) in the same amount of time so if anyone can cast an eye over this I'd be grateful.

Have been browsing Scan any pretty much copied one of their systems with a couple of tweeks. Swapped to 1TB SSD only (I've got all my junk on external drives), 16GB RAM and changed the motherboard to a ASUS PRIME B450-PLUS (original specced mobo one was limited to 2666mhz RAM but the only option they give is 3000mhz) and stuck a soundcard in for the classic Z-5500s). Appreciate that my screen will be limiting (1080p at 75hz) but plan to upgrade eventually.

Case: Corsair Carbide Series 275R
Motherboard: ASUS PRIME B450-PLUS
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600X
Cooler: be quiet! Pure Rock - Quiet Air Cooler
RAM: 16GB (2x8GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX - 3000MHz
Graphics Card: 8GB EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti SC
PSU: Corsair CX550M
SSD: 1TB Samsung 860 EVO
Soundcard: Asus STRIX SOAR

https://www.scan.co.uk/3xs/shared/42f66e01-4ad0-4743-be6f-203c2f062cb3

Anything glaringly shite there? Chances are I'll run this as is for a similar amount of time again but would there be anything obvious holding me back for upgrading the CPU/GPU after a few years?

There are 2 other motherboard options on there priced similarly: ASUS TUF B450-PLUS GAMING and ASUS ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING but they just look like different styling options? Any other higher spec options (CPU/GPU/mobo) seem to be a fair jump cost wise and this is about right on price at the minute.

I was going to get it pre-built to save the hassle but leave the Windows installation to myself after reading on another thread that you can get it off eBay for crazy cheap?

Any help/advice appreciated!

 

[Jonnio]

Swapped the cooler, went for a 650 PSU, changed the motherboard to the ASUS TUF B450-PLUS GAMING, ditched the soundcard for one half the price and stuck Windows on it properly rather than cheaping out.

Job done. Can I stop playing on the lowest of all graphics now?

 

[Darren S]

Ooh, hello. GPU refresh time... @Silent_Scone

View attachment 1394816
View attachment 1394817
View attachment 1394818

Time to say goodbye to the EVGA GTX 1080 Ti FTW3 (which is a fan-flippin-tastic GPU).

But - wow - the 2080 Ti is quite something.

Excellent purchase Andy!

I hope you dodge the overheating issues that a lot of 2080 owners are complaining about.

Now what were you saying about that 1080Ti for sale? £50 delivered, you said?

 

[Darren S]

Swapped the cooler, went for a 650 PSU, changed the motherboard to the ASUS TUF B450-PLUS GAMING, ditched the soundcard for one half the price and stuck Windows on it properly rather than cheaping out.

Job done. Can I stop playing on the lowest of all graphics now?

Seems like a good all-round spec, tbh. Wise move switching to the larger PSU - you can never really fail by getting a better power supply.

The 1070 'should' be good enough for quite a while yet. As there's continually more interest in cross-platform games, the limiting factor holding back the need of top-flight cards are what the current generation of XBox's and PlayStations are doing.

You mention upgrading the screen soon - if your budget can stretch to a GSync enabled one, you will never look back. I would happily use a 27" screen in front of me that used GSync instead a decent 4K TV on the wall - any day of the week. The smoothness and ability to adapt the performance on the fly when things get busy is amazing. 144hz @ 1440p is my standard and that's nowhere near the best that you can get these days.

 

[Jonnio]

Seems like a good all-round spec, tbh. Wise move switching to the larger PSU - you can never really fail by getting a better power supply.

The 1070 'should' be good enough for quite a while yet. As there's continually more interest in cross-platform games, the limiting factor holding back the need of top-flight cards are what the current generation of XBox's and PlayStations are doing.

You mention upgrading the screen soon - if your budget can stretch to a GSync enabled one, you will never look back. I would happily use a 27" screen in front of me that used GSync instead a decent 4K TV on the wall - any day of the week. The smoothness and ability to adapt the performance on the fly when things get busy is amazing. 144hz @ 1440p is my standard and that's nowhere near the best that you can get these days.

Cheers Darren, will definitely be keeping GSync in mind when I do!

 

[SharkyUK]

Excellent purchase Andy!

I hope you dodge the overheating issues that a lot of 2080 owners are complaining about.

Now what were you saying about that 1080Ti for sale? £50 delivered, you said?

Thanks, D. I haven't had much chance to use it yet but a few 'test' runs shows just what a beast of a card it is! I know Doom is well optimised but I don't recall seeing it drop below 200fps yet (on ultra settings and ultra wide screen). It's a bit noisier than the 1080 Ti though.

Talking of the 1080 Ti, I'd already sold it for a [very] good price before I received the 2080. I had 5 friends who all wanted to buy it but I'd already promised one of them first dibs! I had to buy a temporary GPU for a week or so in-between selling the 1080 and receiving the 2080!

 

[ChrisR]

The old 1080 is still going strong for me

 

[charltjr]

Anyone got an Oculus Rift? Any thoughts on it?

A mate has just got one and is raving about it, seriously tempted. Oculus are apparently going to knock $50 off in the states for Black Friday so if they do the same in the UK that could be the tipping point for me......

 

[Cookie]

Anyone got an Oculus Rift? Any thoughts on it?

A mate has just got one and is raving about it, seriously tempted. Oculus are apparently going to knock $50 off in the states for Black Friday so if they do the same in the UK that could be the tipping point for me......

I had one last year, the tech is fantastic but the lenses were way too scratch prone and I don't think it lasted more than 3 weeks with me before I had to send it back

Also screen door effect is hard to ignore. I loved it for playing Elite Dangerous, think I spent most of my waking hours for a few weeks just sat in a virtual spaceship ?

 

[SharkyUK]

I've decided against buying into VR at the moment, despite having been very close to pulling the trigger several times. It seems to be, dare I say it, dying. Or certainly losing its appeal. I know of several projects that have been cancelled and I hear on the grapevine that even Facebook has reduced the budget on Oculus-related development. Of all my friends who insisted it was the next big thing, not one of them (as far as I can recall) have even touched their Rift, Vive, PSVR in months. The novelty wore off and there's not really been much in the way of many great titles to keep the player engrossed in both the game and the VR tech driving it.

All in my opinion of course!

 

[charltjr]

IMO the hardware is too expensive to get mass market adoption and there’s no killer app, you need to be really interested in the concept to buy in at the moment. Plus it’s really not a good look.

On the other hand, Elite: Dangerous and Star Trek Bridge Crew? Yeah, gimme some of that.

 

[Darren S]

I'm thinking of increasing my PC's storage. A couple of these will suffice....

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/153...p-mlc-3d-v-nand-1250mb-s-read-1250mb-s-write2

 

[Darren S]

I've decided against buying into VR at the moment, despite having been very close to pulling the trigger several times. It seems to be, dare I say it, dying. Or certainly losing its appeal. I know of several projects that have been cancelled and I hear on the grapevine that even Facebook has reduced the budget on Oculus-related development. Of all my friends who insisted it was the next big thing, not one of them (as far as I can recall) have even touched their Rift, Vive, PSVR in months. The novelty wore off and there's not really been much in the way of many great titles to keep the player engrossed in both the game and the VR tech driving it.

All in my opinion of course!

I think the main issue with VR, is your clumsiness in the real world when using it. Sure, it's fine with a sit-down driving game behind a decent Logitech/Fanatec setup and chair in place. But that's about it.

The illusion of being immersed into what you're viewing works when you can physically grip the wheel and push those pedals. When you're blindly swinging a small controller about that is supposedly a large sword or shield of some type - the novelty quickly wears off. No one's brain is fooled for long enough to make it worthwhile.

Then you have the high cost of the kit in the first place. Followed by the cables. Followed by the space needed to move about. Possibly capped off with the motion sickness and headaches that many people have reported.

On paper, it seems great. In practice, far less so.

 

[charltjr]

Well, they have dropped the price of the rift to 350 until the 26th so that was enough of a push for me to give it a go.

One Marvel special edition set ordered......

If I don’t get on with it I ordered from Amazon so easy to return.

 

[charltjr]

I’m loving it. I’m so impressed with the sense of immersion, gives me a buzz but I haven’t had from games in years.

Yes, it’s a bit clunky and heavy, the screen door is visible if you look for it, generally it feels like a version 1.0. However, I can see myself getting a lot of use out of it and I’m really interested to see where is going to go in future. Time will tell.

Having experienced it, I feel like it will be a real shame if VR dies out because of a lack of adoption and quality games at this point .

 

[Jonnio]

Having experienced it, I feel like it will be a real shame if VR dies out because of a lack of adoption and quality games at this point .

The library of decent games for PSVR seems to be growing slowly but surely so hopefully it will stick around!

 

[SharkyUK]

I’m loving it. I’m so impressed with the sense of immersion, gives me a buzz but I haven’t had from games in years.

Yes, it’s a bit clunky and heavy, the screen door is visible if you look for it, generally it feels like a version 1.0. However, I can see myself getting a lot of use out of it and I’m really interested to see where is going to go in future. Time will tell.

Having experienced it, I feel like it will be a real shame if VR dies out because of a lack of adoption and quality games at this point .

...that's what all of my mates said, too...

Seriously, I hope you do get some enjoyment and longevity out of it.

 

[Daz...]

Anyone in here interested in, or know someone who might be, an Asus Strix 970?

 

[yeecup]

My son is desperate for a gaming pc. I literally have no clue about them. Anyone point me in the right direction that doesn't cost the earth?

 

[welshname]

My son is desperate for a gaming pc. I literally have no clue about them. Anyone point me in the right direction that doesn't cost the earth?

Budget, what games, what does he already have if anything e.g. keyboard, mouse, monitor, headset.

 

[yeecup]

Budget, what games, what does he already have if anything e.g. keyboard, mouse, monitor, headset.

Has keyboard mouse but nothing else. Not sure on games tbh

 

[Ex-User (19928)]

Don’t buy your kid a gaming PC ffs. I reckon I’d be so much further in my career if I hadn’t got into games as a teen.

 

[RIC172]

My son is desperate for a gaming pc. I literally have no clue about them. Anyone point me in the right direction that doesn't cost the earth?

I'd recommend starting him off on a cheap used machine with something like a 3rd/4th gen Intel Core i5 or i7 cpu, 8GB RAM, 120GB SSD (for Windows 10), 500GB HDD for storing the games, a quality power supply (400w or higher), and a decent used graphics card (the GTX 970 mentioned above would be ideal). A gaming monitor is also a must, and you can buy these for less than £100 with a 1m/s response time.

The above kit will only cost a few hundred quid, and will play most new games on high detail at 1080P. Of course, you can go all out and buy a top spec new machine but this will cost several thousands and is pointless as a starter PC.

There are quite a few ready built ones for sale on eBay but if your son wants a project he may enjoy building one himself.

Give me a shout if you have any questions.

 

[yeecup]

many thanks. ill have a look on ebay for one with spec listed above.

 

[RIC172]

many thanks. ill have a look on ebay for one with spec listed above.

This is good value: Might be able to get it for £200?

Gaming PC i5 3340 8GB DDR3 1600Mhz 120GB SSD 500GB HDD Geforce GTX 960 2GB | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Gaming PC i5 3340 8GB DDR3 1600Mhz 120GB SSD 500GB HDD Geforce GTX 960 2GB at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!

rover.ebay.com

 

[SharkyUK]

I would argue that the listed PC is slightly under spec for a gaming rig (even a starter rig). 500GB isn't really enough these days sadly, unless you only ever have a few games installed. I'm not sure what sort of games your son is looking to play but with modern titles easily taking up 50GB+ I would probably look for a 1TB HDD. Additionally, I would also look for a GPU with slightly more oomph and memory. Even running on a 1080p HD screen I would want a 3GB GPU at the minimum given the resource hungry requirements of modern games.

All in my opinion of course, no disrespect intended!

 

[RIC172]

I would argue that the listed PC is slightly under spec for a gaming rig (even a starter rig). 500GB isn't really enough these days sadly, unless you only ever have a few games installed. I'm not sure what sort of games your son is looking to play but with modern titles easily taking up 50GB+ I would probably look for a 1TB HDD. Additionally, I would also look for a GPU with slightly more oomph and memory. Even running on a 1080p HD screen I would want a 3GB GPU at the minimum given the resource hungry requirements of modern games.

All in my opinion of course, no disrespect intended!

I can see your point, and no offense taken however, I still maintain this sort of spec would be fine for starting off as a PC gamer. I have games myself that take up 50+GB, but some recent games take up less than 20GB. The cost of another 500GB HDD is peanuts (fiver off ebay) so an additional one can also be installed in seconds if the old disk fills up. Also, while I agree that a 2GB GTX960 (or similar) won't cut the mustard if you are looking to game in very high detail/ultra at 100+fps, it will still play the majority of modern games at playable frame rates if you run it at medium to high graphics settings. There are plenty of benchmarks online which confirm this.

Again, if the card becomes a hindrence in the future or he wanted to play in higher detail, he can upgrade to a better card.

What I was really getting at is that being a PC gamer is not just about switching it on and playing the games. Part of the fun is maintaining/upgrading the machine over time so I picked this sort of spec so he can learn about maintenance and upgrades, whilst also not breaking the bank for his dad. This is how I started off 25 years ago and my interest in it developed into a career in IT.

 

[yeecup]

Cheers for replies. That one is miles away and no post. I'm in Edinburgh so ideally something closer that I could collect. There are quite a few listed locally on eBay

 

[SharkyUK]

I can see your point, and no offense taken however, I still maintain this sort of spec would be fine for starting off as a PC gamer. I have games myself that take up 50+GB, but some recent games take up less than 20GB. The cost of another 500GB HDD is peanuts (fiver off ebay) so an additional one can also be installed in seconds if the old disk fills up. Also, while I agree that a 2GB GTX960 (or similar) won't cut the mustard if you are looking to game in very high detail/ultra at 100+fps, it will still play the majority of modern games at playable frame rates if you run it at medium to high graphics settings. There are plenty of benchmarks online which confirm this.

Again, if the card becomes a hindrence in the future or he wanted to play in higher detail, he can upgrade to a better card.

What I was really getting at is that being a PC gamer is not just about switching it on and playing the games. Part of the fun is maintaining/upgrading the machine over time so I picked this sort of spec so he can learn about maintenance and upgrades, whilst also not breaking the bank for his dad. This is how I started off 25 years ago and my interest in it developed into a career in IT.

Fair points - I just find it hard to take my developer hat off sometimes and feel the minor cost increase would be worthwhile on a couple of those components.

 

[RIC172]

Fair points - I just find it hard to take my developer hat off sometimes and feel the minor cost increase would be worthwhile on a couple of those components.

Ha, yeah it is admittedly harder to justify older tech. I assumed (perhaps incorrectly) he would only want to spend a few hundred quid as a starter rig but if he wants to spend quite a bit more it would be good to spec something a lot beefier!

I'm still running a 4th gen i7 4790, Asus GTX 980 Strix, 16GB DDR3, 120GB SSD for W10pro + 500GB HDD. I sometimes think about building a new machine but this one still runs everything I can throw at it at 1080p in ultra so there's no point me getting rid of it yet.

 

[RIC172]

Cheers for replies. That one is miles away and no post. I'm in Edinburgh so ideally something closer that I could collect. There are quite a few listed locally on eBay

I couldn't find many local to you but this one would be decent enough if you can get it a bit cheaper. You'll need to factor in the cost of a semi decent graphics card too though as the integrated APU isn't great. You could also stick an SSD in it to improve boot-up times and general responsiveness in Windows.

gaming pc used | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for gaming pc used at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Darren S]

I would argue that the listed PC is slightly under spec for a gaming rig (even a starter rig). 500GB isn't really enough these days sadly, unless you only ever have a few games installed. I'm not sure what sort of games your son is looking to play but with modern titles easily taking up 50GB+ I would probably look for a 1TB HDD. Additionally, I would also look for a GPU with slightly more oomph and memory. Even running on a 1080p HD screen I would want a 3GB GPU at the minimum given the resource hungry requirements of modern games.

All in my opinion of course, no disrespect intended!

I'd agree. 3GB is what I'd deem entry-level these days. Even three years ago, I was using a 2GB graphics card and it was taking a performance battering at times - in almost standard HD resolution - 1920x1200.

Also as @SharkyUK says - installed game sizes are going up significantly - some breaking the 100GB barrier now. My main two drives are 500GB SSDs and I do find that I have to chop & change installs on them, due to capacity issues. That said, I'd have a 500GB SSD over a 1TB SATA drive any day of the week.

Don’t buy your kid a gaming PC ffs. I reckon I’d be so much further in my career if I hadn’t got into games as a teen.

^^^ - this.

On a serious note - keep him in check with it or else school work might suffer.

In 1992 I managed to convince my parents that I needed a PC for my A-level Computing course. "It will help me do more coursework at home/I can do more coding away from the noisy classroom/I can work on it at the weekend..." All bullshit of course - I was a military plane g33k back then and I just wanted Aces of The Pacific pretty desperately.

In November of that year, I managed to get a PC ordered with a pickup for collection a week later. Pretty much minutes later, I was ordering AoTP from a mail order place and it arrived before my PC did.

I did do college work on my PC. I did do some extra bits that perhaps I wouldn't have done in class. But all of that was overshadowed by what this new gadget brought to me. If the time I used the PC for college work exceeded 10%, I'd be surprised. I can honestly say that that gaming PC was a detriment to my A-level results.