PC What GPU and Frame rate do you have?

[genedjr]

Some of you know I am a old geek and have been building PCs for over 20 years.  But I always ask for help - not even I can keep up with everything PC 

Well, as with TD1, I am working to upgrade my GPU
Right now I am using a pretty good GTX 970.
With the GTX 970 on medium in TD2 I often run into scenarios there the FPS drops to less than 40 - and of course I die 

My requirements:

• 60FPS min on high settings
  
• 1440 monitor capable with the above.
  

My dream

• 80FPS+ on ultra
  
• 1440 monitor capable with the above
  

I have looked at 1440 and 4K monitors side by side and my old eyes see little difference.  There is a difference but not worth the $300+ extra for a good 4K setup.
I am also considering moving from my Ryzen 5 1600x (which is excellent BTW) to Ryzen 7 1700 ~$160.  With all the programs I want to run while gaming my CPU utilization is way over 80% under heavy load.  I should be able to get over $100 for the 1600x so the delta is not that bad.

I had been thinking GTX 1070, or GTX 1070ti and even Vega 56 (after all I am a bit of a AMD fanboy).  Even used GTX 1080s are $400+ - no budget for that.
GTX 1070 right now on ebay are ~$250.  So used is also good (as I am extreeeemly cheap.)

Games I play most - TD2 and Warframe.  But also will play borderlands 3, fallout 4 - pretty much focus on first person shooters (was going to use FPS again, but hey...).

Thoughts?

...gene

A note on used GPUs - 

• My last 4 GPU upgrades have been used off craigslist or Ebay
  
• Not one bad one
  
• With the mining, there is risk - so I stay with sellers that have rep - at least 2000 positive.
  
• That's a lie - for the right price I will buy from a first time seller
  
• And I have never gotten burned (knock on wood)
  

 

[quinch1199]

Thoughts.

Currently the best value is on the AMD Ryzen 2600/2600X processors. Paired with a B450 board (Tomahawk perhaps) & 16Gb of 3200Ghz RAM. 

Intel processors are still elevated in price, and considering you can easily overclock even with the stock cooler you can get the cores to match Intel performance fine. 

Key thing is you NEED that board with lots of XMP profiles and you NEED that fast RAM.

Side note at this point. It seems that both TD2 and Boarderlands have been handed to AMD for performance tweaking and to optimise for multi-core, multi-threaded processors. 

Graphics card is a tougher choice. Again AMD have worked to get the games working better with the AMD GFX's .. but ... the raw performance of the new generation AND price of Nvidia (in particular 1660 series) is very inviting. 

This is a GOOD time to rebuild! Prices are damn low. The only thing holding you back "might" be to wait for the new AMD NAVI cards due in the next few months. 

However, UK prices for Ryzen 2600 (£145), RAM (£90) & GFX card (1660 = £200, Ti version = £250, even a Vega 56 is £250!) means a really cheap build.

 

[quinch1199]

My own system is a Ryzen 2600 (OC'd to X series speed), & RX580. I'm a little disappointed in the AMD card...not performance wise but software wise. I haven't liked the capture software or the updating processes at all. Personal preference I guess but if I had the money again I'd go Nvidia and get a 1660.

 

[genedjr]

If I was  to rebuild, that is pretty much the road I would go.  But, I rebuilt last year and - I am too cheap.

Right now, bang for the buck, based on Tom's Hardware hierarchy (https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html) pretty much seals it for the GTX 1070 ti which is selling used on ebay for around $270.  GTX 1070 are around $240.  Everything else seems a lot more expensive.

I also did a little testing and if I kill off MS Teams and Skype for Business - my CPU utilization drops to about 60% under load - even though the delta is only about $60 for a R 7 1700 it's a lot of hassle and, as noted I am cheap 

As I plan to start bidding on Ebay on Monday - I am thinking GTX 1070, or the 1070ti if the price is right.

Thanks for the input.

...gene

 

[Oh. daesu]

So if you I were to look at a building a rig, what are the pitfalls I should be aware of, and which are things best to consider as a starting point?

 

[genedjr]

So if you I were to look at a building a rig, what are the pitfalls I should be aware of, and which are things best to consider as a starting point?

Depends, Intel is the gaming king, but for that you pay a price.  If all you're doing is gaming and you want the fastest FPS, intel/Nvidia.

Now if you're cheap like me  AMD offers a more cost effective solution.  The R5 2600 with a B450 Mother board will provide the base. 

Memory is a strange and mysterious thing.  You need Samsung memory - the exact chip die escapes my right now - if you want to overclock. My Hynix memory does not overclock well, but runs all day with no issues.  And its hard to get just what you want. 

If you want more than a gaming rig and want to stream, OSB,or just do other stuff (and are cheap) AMD R7 series is for you.  

So - R7 2700, B450 MB, 16GB Samsung, so far.

SYS disk - NVME as big as you can afford.  I went from 5400rpm, to 7200rpm, to 10.5Krpm SAS to SSD to NVME and all of those were surprising upgrades.  Today it's NVME.  Most motherboards have at least one slot if not two. Remember M.2 is not necessarily PCIx4 NVME.

Reuse your game disk. OR - SSD as big as you can afford (12TB anyone).  Remember, everything on your game disk is replaceable.

Now there is always a need to preserve stuff.  Depending on your needs, I recommend two mirrored disks for stuff you want to keep.  All MB have 6 to 10 sata slots - just get double what you think you may need 3 years from now.  So if you think 5 get 10.

GPU - O.M.G. - the choices are huge.  For me - note above - I am after the GTX 1070ti.  8 of those sold over the weekend for under $250.  GTX 1080 was over $100 more.  My goal is 1+ year use at high settings.

...gene

 

[genedjr]

Here is a new article from Tom's HW on memory - its quite interesting for us geek types.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-ram-speed-x470-pinnacle-ridge,6064.html?utm_source=th-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20190415-th

And oh yeah "Samsung B-die chips" is what I could not remember above 

...gene

 

[quinch1199]

So if you I were to look at a building a rig, what are the pitfalls I should be aware of, and which are things best to consider as a starting point?

1st major pitfall is ensuring processor and motherboard compatibility. This isn't such an issue currently thankfully but might still be an issue if you're just surfing for parts and you're bombarded with multiple "socket type numbers". 

Currently the best "value" i.e. best ratio of money spent vs. performance and longevity is with the AMD Ryzen 2nd generation processors. Advantage is that motherboards for "Ryzen" are all compatible over both 1st & 2nd generation thankfully, also hinted 3rd gen will be compatible also. 

I guess when I'm building from scratch I review my budget firstly. If I don't mind waiting and buying parts individually as sales come up, this isn't such a problem. Obviously if a system is for gaming you need to seriously consider the price of a graphics card...it will absolutely be the highest one off cost for you.

If you aim for playing Division 2 on at least high settings a Ryzen system build will run with no issues (though I would pair with an Nvidia card personally)

Starting with a MSI AMD B350 TOMAHAWK motherboard (approx £70), gives you simple and safe overclocking potential and, more importantly, expansion and upgrade options. ALWAYS AS AT POINT of PURCHASE if they will FLASH THE BOARD TO LATEST BIOS. Boards that say "Ryzen 2 ready" are usually only that if they've been updated. My retailer does this for free...you'd have to check.

A Ryzen 2600 processor is £145 and the cooler it has is easy to install, has preapplied thermal pads and is fine for any modest overclocking. 

16Gb of 3200Mhz RAM is a must and, thankfully, pretty cheap with Corsair LPX running at sub£100 for a two stick kit. 

An Nvidia 1660 6Gb graphics card is just less than £200 at the moment and i do think better than my AMD 580. 

Only thing I'll add is pay a little more for a good solid power supply, 80 Bronze certified at least and make sure it has a 12v 8pin graphics card connector.