Computer for Promods

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lykopotoboy
Posts: 173
Joined: 30 Mar 2014 02:43
Location: Coeur D' Alene, Idaho

25 Aug 2018 23:48

Hello Everyone,

For the last 4 years I have been playing ETS2 with Promods on the same laptop. Specs are as follows: Intel I7 CPU, Nvidia GT-750M GPU 4GB, 12GB Ram (upgraded from 8GB). This setup allows me to play at low settings with decent fps in most places. Others like Barcelona, I'm looking at about 28 tops. Sadly even in the vanilla Italy DLC, I'm lagging in some of the bigger cities in it. So now that I'm at a point in life where I can buy a new computer for my self. It's time to retire the 4 year old toaster which at the time purchased, was a good entry level computer to simulation. Considering I originally got it to play Minecraft, and do homework. I got a lot more out of it playing this game with this mod, than originally intended.

So now to the future ;) I am looking to upgrade to a Desktop that can handle ETS2 at high settings. As well as handle other Simulators like: DTG's Train Sim World, Cities Skylines, X-Plane, Ferhnbus, Assetto Corsa, and more. I am also sticking with a prebuilt, that can easily be upgraded. So it is more future proof than the old laptop was. My budget is to stay below $2000 USD. As far as I have researched, Cyber Power PC makes good high value PC's. This one linked here only costs $800 usd! Will this be good enough for my needs? If not there is another model they make with GTX-1080 and I-7. Which was $1800 usd out the door, which I feel would suit my needs more. Anyways, I am asking if Cyber Power's do well with this mod. Also if there is any other prebuilts, I should consider.

https://www.amazon.com/CYBERPOWERPC-GXI ... 7525724-20

-Thanks in advance
Last edited by tkk7406 on 26 Aug 2018 00:25, edited 1 time in total.
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Trucker2223
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26 Aug 2018 07:05

It's not that bad, but I would rather get a PC with SSD instead of HDD. HDD are just rather slow and SSD will greatly improve the loading times and also the performance of games.
I used to play ProMods and some other Mods on an HDD and it was just rather slow and laggy, after upgrading to SSD it just ran much smoother and the loading times decrease a lot.
And I also don't see which PSU is included. Most prebuilt PCs has rahter cheap PSU included, that don't have any protective circuits, so it could blow up the PSU and destroys your computer in a Thunderstorm for example. And even if it's a good PSU most of the times they're barely enough, so there's no room for upgrade, or just way to overpowered, resulting in an efficiently lost, what would be a waste of Power.

In the end I would recommend instead of buying a prebuilt PC, building your own PC. It just has benefits:
you can pick your parts yourself, that are enough for your needs and budget and it's a lot cheaper then buying a prebuilt PC.
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lykopotoboy
Posts: 173
Joined: 30 Mar 2014 02:43
Location: Coeur D' Alene, Idaho

26 Aug 2018 08:23

I would say I agree with your premise. You can get a lot more per dollar when you build it yourself. Anyways, I have spent some time and research, and came up with this setup. I went with a more or less easily up-gradable build. I think a 1080 would be plenty, but I could splurge on a 1080TI as an option. Anyways, if anyone can confirm if this setup is good enough. It would be much appreciated, and thanks in advance.

build (subject to change):https://pcpartpicker.com/list/
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lamanorbu
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26 Aug 2018 11:38

It depends very much on which resolution your display is; a 1080 is overkill for 1080p, very good for 1440p and just right for 4K. Anyways, I am looking forward to building a PC with the same requirements as you (ETS2, TSW, Cities Skylines, Assetto Corsa, Fernbus, FSX or P3D v4...) so I think I can help you on the specs as I've been doing some research recently.
Let's begin: simulation games are well known for not-so-great optimization, so single core performance is crucial; just like you I would go for the 8600K, great CPU and can be overclocked, definitely the best choice. The 212EVO is a good value cooler but don't expect anything spectacular: if you plan on overclocking I would go for something beefier, for example a Cryorig R5 Ultimate or anything from bequiet!; I personally don't fancy water cooling, it's too risky. The mobo is good, the MSI is definitely the best budget Z370; if you have some headroom I would upgrade to something like an ASUS Z370 TUF, costs just a bit more but it offers a lot more (especially a very noob-friendly overclocking utility). 8GB RAM is not bad at all, most people say that 16GB is the bare minimum nowadays (and that might be the case for let's say TSW or flight simulations) but you know, RAM prices are through the roof right now and you can always upgrade later if needed. For SSD and HDD nothing to say, SSDs are super cheap right now and are a must-have. The 1060 6GB is the perfectly balanced choice for 1080p, GPU prices are also very high due to the bitcoin craze; mind though that the new nVidia 20xx generation has just been announced last monday and we are going to see the 2060 and 2050 in october, might be worth waiting for. Anyways keep in mind that the MSI Armour is cheaper but doesn't have a backplate, the Gigabyte Windforce OC does for just few bucks more (not that it changes anything, but it adds some strenght and improves the looks considering you chose a case with side-window).
All in all the specs you choose are good! If you only planned on playing ETS2 you could go with a much cheaper build but games like TSW and flight soms in general require very beefy builds; infact I wouldn't expect TSW get 1080p 60fps (more like 40 to 50 I suppose) on this build, but to be honest anyone struggles to get good fps on that game even with 1080Ti and crazy overclocks so don't worry.
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JohannesKauffmann
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26 Aug 2018 12:17

The 8600K over the 8400 is just about the worst for performance/dollar. Overclocking requires a good Z370 motherboard with beefy VRMs and then a good air cooler or water cooling. It's just not worth it. Some sim games benefit from single core performance, I've found that ETS2 likes a good GPU better. Get a B360 motherboard and maybe a good air cooler for Scythe, Be Quiet!, and an GTX 1060/RX 580 (whichever one is cheaper). Def. agree with the SSD.

If you really want to overclock, get atleast an ASRock Z370 Extreme4. 5+2 fase, doubled (as in: twice as many components) VRM with 40A powerstages and a great voltage controller. The ASUS TUF only has 4 fases and really bad MOSFETs, it's really not sufficient to overclock a six core CPU on that board.

https://www.hardwareluxx.de/community/f ... 75784.html

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lykopotoboy
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Location: Coeur D' Alene, Idaho

26 Aug 2018 18:04

Thank you both for the very helpful feedback!

Update:
The original Cooler master I went with was swapped for a Corsair H100i Pro. According to Tom's Hardware, it cools as good as a 360mm does. While being a lot cheaper than a 360mm, so I thought it would be a good value cooler. Next I went with 2x16 (32GB) ram, rather than the 4x8 (32GB) setup. It also has 3200 DDR 4 compared to the 3000 DDR4 clock speed of the last setup. I've been told this setup is better for performance on a Discord server I'm on. On the same server, many told me the I-7 is the way to go. With one member telling me an older I-7 will out perform any new I-5. Which led to the biggest change in the build's plan, since I opted for a 7th gen I-7 7700k. Previously I had an 8th Gen I-5 8600k, which means I needed another motherboard. I also went from 6 cores to 4 cores, but I did get and I-7 at 4.2GHZ. To allow for this, I went with an AS-Rock with Z270 Chipset. Since it had good reviews, plus it had Bluetooth and built in WiFi, both things I will be using justifying getting such a mobo. So that led to me dropping the WiFi card since it wouldn't be needed anymore.

PC parts picker list:
https://pcpartpicker.com/user/Potatoefan/saved/4jqRJx
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JohannesKauffmann
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28 Aug 2018 14:23

The ASRock Z270 Taichi is a good board with great VRMs, however, you really have to ask yourself: what are you going to do with the PC? If I remember correctly, sim gaming is the only thing. As seen here, the 8600K and 7700K trade blows in games, but the 7700K is about $100 more. For what? At that price, you better get an 8700K. The Z370 Extreme4 is still a very good board for it's price. It's also cheaper to buy that board and a WiFi card, then buying a really expensive board with WiFi build-in. This one has an Intel chip inside (which means regular security updates), with AC WiFi and Bluetooth 4.2.

And then there's the RAM. What? 32GB in this day and age of expensive RAM prices? Are you going to run Virtual Machines? Personally I have 1x 8GB and I never hit more than 5-6GB RAM usage. 16GB is perfectly fine for gaming and having lots of tabs/spotify/discord and whatnot in the background, and won't set you back $290. This DDR4 3200 kit is Samsung B-Die, which is great if you dive into RAM overclocking, and will do just fine.

The H100i is a great cooler and will let you overclock quite a bit. Great SSD and GPU as well.

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lykopotoboy
Posts: 173
Joined: 30 Mar 2014 02:43
Location: Coeur D' Alene, Idaho

02 Sep 2018 19:22

Thanks for the input. I'm looking at making the build cheaper, with out sacrificing too much performance. This has helped me greatly! I will take your word on the board, I wasn't sure which one to go with. Though I do want built in wifi and bluetooth. It just frees up usb ports. So I'm not against getting a wifi card, if it's cheaper. Plus does the job well. As for cpu, I could look into an 8700k if its less than $50 usd more. I don't want an I-5 any more. Since games like cities skylines are better on an I-7. I'm also considering an AMD Ryzen 7, but on the wall with that one. As single core is not as good with AMD from what I hear. So my gut tells me to go with an I-7k that can be over clocked. The H100i is probably the best buy I added into the build. As for GPU, I may go to a good third party overclocked 1070. Initially I plan on running 1080p, and don't think shelling out $700 on a 1080ti is needed. When research tells me the 1070 is excellent at 1080p, and can run max settings at good frame rates. I think these changes will be more realistic, and will still be miles ahead of what I currently have. Thanks for the help!
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