http://www.hardocp.com/article/2017/03/09/nvidia_geforce_gtx_1080_ti_video_card_review http://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/2830-nvidia-gtx-1080-ti-fe-review-and-game-benchmarks tl;dr If you have a 1080 and aren't GPU limited you don't need the Ti. If you play at high refresh rates or resolutions, then it helps, but probably not enough to upgrade from a 1080. I have a 144Hz 1440p display, so I'm considering using the EVGA step up program to go from my 1080 FTW to the 1080 FTW ICX to the 1080 Ti ICX. Assuming they will let that upgrade path happen.
Looks like the $330 Ryzen 7 1700 is the sweet spot in the line. It can OC to about 3.9 GHz fairly reliably, and, at that speed, performs on par with the 1800X in most applications. The quad core Ryzen 5 will be interesting.
I upgrade to an MSI 1060 GTX because of my 1080P monitor and CPU, which is still a 2600K overclocked to 4.5GHZ.. I really have no reason to upgrade the processor and motherboard as the PC is still a beast, 5+ years after I built it.. In terms of gaming, I noticed a few of you mentioned high resolutions.. Does it really look better @1440P? If so, I'll probably return the 1060 while I still can - It plays Doom 2016 (nightmare mode) and Quake Champions (Ultra) maxed out at typically over 100FPS. Unreal Tournament alpha is frame locked at 120FPS and rarely dips below.. Is it worth upgrading to a super high def monitor and a 1080GTX? I think my CPU still has a few years left especially at 4.5 MHZ but I'm not sure if I'll be CPU limited and if it's worth upgrading to.
Yes, going from 1080p to 1440p (and 4K especially) is a clear visual upgrade. Is it worth the price of a new GPU and new monitor? That depends on you. But I'm very happy with my GTX 1080 and my Dell S2417DG. If you're happy with 1080p and don't want to spend the money on the upgrade, then don't. It's not like 1080p is going away any time soon. 4K won't replace it for a few more years.
Do you think the 2600k will hold me back?! I haven't been able to find any evidence that upgrading it is worth it.. Unless my resolution scales up or is that more GPU dependant?
It Depends™. CPU differences will show up more at 1080p than at 4K. At 4K, all CPUs are bottlenecked by the GPU, so your performance will improve primarily by adding a faster GPU. At 1080p, you are not bottlenecked, so you'll see improvements both by adding a faster GPU and a faster CPU. That said, the gains from a 2600k to a 7700k are not overwhelming. You will primarily see an improvement in minimum FPS. If your lowest FPS is 40 at 2600k, it'll probably be 60 on a 7700k. But your high end FPS won't necessarily improve too much with the CPU upgrade. Will it help adding a 7700k or a Ryzen 5 when going to 1440p or 4K? Sure. Will it be the primary driving factor in performance? Nope, that's the GPU. My recommendation is to get a good CPU cooler if you don't already have one, and overclock if you haven't already. If you're already overclocked, then you're fine for at least another CPU generation. Upgrading your resolution should have you focusing more on a high end GPU to match the resolution you're going for. If you're targeting 1440p, at minimum you should get the GTX 1070. 4K, nothing less than a 1080 Ti, unless you can find a standard 1080 for a really really great deal.
That's really good. I've got my 7700K OC to only 4.8 ghz (air cooled) so that's not a huge difference.
You're fine for another year or more, depending on how AMD and Intel escalate now that Ryzen is available and doesn't suck.
Never noticed the PC Gaming Thread, But I'm a PC Gamer also #PCMR. Recently been into mostly just Overwatch, and just purchased PlayerUnkowns BattleGrounds. Only have 2 games played so far but I really like it.
Battlegrounds came out of nowhere. Honestly, I don't "get" it, but that's fine. It looks to be doing well regardless.
I do a lot of console gaming, but PC gaming is something I never really got into. Do I need a special gaming laptop or to play Skyrim on ultra settings? If so, which one would you recommend? https://www.bestadvisers.co.uk/best-gaming-laptops Or ACER Aspire 5530 would be enough? Thanks in advance.
Skyrim is a 6 year old game. No, you don't need anything super high end. You need a dedicated GPU and a fairly recent CPU. That's all. What's your budget?
You're going to be quite limited on that budget. Unless you need it right now, my recommendation would be to wait for the forthcoming Ryzen laptops.
Hey guys. I'm starting to do some real shopping for a new laptop, since mine is almost five years old and on its last legs. I figured that rather than start a whole new thread, I'd just continue the discussion here. I've realized that buying one in a store might be tough. My former employer, Office Depot used to carry 20 or so at a time. Now, they seem to have five or fewer, and Staples is the same. Best Buy has a ton, but they're either tiny, or really high end. Other than Amazon, or the manufacturer's websites, do you have any suggestions on where to shop for a mid-line machine? I'm looking for something to use for web browsing, Office, pictures, videos, lower intensity games like Civ and Sim City, and later on likely watching TV shows and movies once I move and get broadband. I absolutely want: 17" screen A good keyboard. Many of the ones I've seen lately, the keyboards are garbage. Numeric Keypad i5+ processor 12 GB+ Ram 7200 RPM HD DVD RW Drive Looking to spend less than $700
When I first saw the game, I immediately thought of the first 2 SOCOM games. I know it's a whole lot different- dropping in from a plane, constantly constricting areas etc., and that the actual game is an ARMA mod (if I'm not mistaken), but I couldn't help it. The 3rd person perspective, the gravity of really only having one life, and the movements all reminded me of the rush I used to get playing the first 2 SOCOMs for PS2. I haven't played PUBG.
PUBG is the same type of "collapsing area" game as H1Z1 or some others. I don't view it as particularly innovative and I don't think it's very special, but I'm apparently in the minority. Well, whatever.
I'd look into getting an SSD. You could always try Newegg and then watch reviews on Youtube of people unboxing the laptops.
Thank you for the Newegg suggestion. They seem to carry a ton, but virtually all of them are really high end, and above my price point. Not a single 17" i5 with 12+ GB of RAM. The SSDs are also all so small. Even the PCs that cost $1000 only have a 256 GB drive. My current old machine has 500 GB in a 7200 RPM standard HD, and I'd like something bigger.
You can buy a 500gb SSD and have it installed.. The SSD option is probably the most important thing to have today. Well worth the money.
With that limited amount of storage, I'm guessing that a lot of people are just loading software onto the actual PC HD these days, and saving all of their other data directly to an external drive?
Yup or adding a second internal storage device. I have a tiny ssd for windows and games.. These rest is on raid setup.
You don't even need to go as far a raid set up. I use a 250 gigSSD for windows and a few select games and store everything else on a old fat hard drive. Unlucky, I think you are asking for too much at that price point. You're going to have to compromise somewhere, or raise your budget. Is there any particular reason you need 12+ gigs of ram?
My current 5 year old laptop has 6 GB, which I found to be adequate when it was new. Back then, the standards were 4-6-8 for low-mid-high end machines. These days, it seems like the current models go 8-12-16 unless you're looking at a really low end computer, and I typically go with the middle range, so it will last me 4+ years without an upgrade. And you can never have "too much" RAM, right? If I'm going to go all out on any aspect of a PC, that's usually where I go. Its the other things that I don't care about that also seem to drive up the prices on today's machines. Things like touch screen, low weight, adjustable/movable screens where it turns into a tablet, fingerprint readers, ect.
my personal opinion is 8 gigs of ram is fine for most things, including games. If you are doing streaming (broadcasting, not watching) or video editing that's when you need to add more ram into the equation. Ram is generally cheap, so adding more on after the fact isn't a big deal. Try lowering your search criteria down to 8 gig, and you should see more things.
OK, thank you. I will never broadcast anything, and I'm not going to be editing any video either. I just want my PC to boot up and function quickly, and to be able to play the fairly simple games that I'm interested in. The 6GB that I have now are not nearly enough for some things.
if that is your criteria getting a SSD will give you the biggest impact. I've seen some laptops that have both a ssd and a hdd in them. alternatively you get a SSD and an external hard drive
I have two external drives now. A small 500 GB, powered by the USB, that I use for everyday stuff (which I fear is on its last legs as it sometimes takes a while to be recognized by the PC), and a 2 TB one that I use exclusively for backup (mostly photos and videos of my family), which needs plugged into the wall. I'll probably look into getting a 1TB USB powered one in the future.
Never said you said it was innovative, and didn't mean to infer that; I apologize. I just get tired of the general hype around the game. I can't get excited about a Xerox, at least not in this particular genre.
PUBG works because it's a thrilling game. You get open world pvp, character progression (scavenging for gear), a large streaming community behind it, and gun play that isn't garbage. And for $30, that's not a bad deal.
You all need to play Destiny 2 on PC. I bought PUBG do to the hype and all and don't like it at all. Yeah it's kinda cool that you get forced into smaller zones but I found the gunplay to be horrible. Cant tell you how many times I've been shot across the map with a pistol. Also I hate that I have no indication where I'm getting shot from until its to late. Would appreciate blood on left side top or right depending on which direction the fire was coming from. I also don't like that there is no draw or reason to continue. Overwatch does this also and it just bores me. I might be in the minority but COD etc makes me feel like I'm at least progressing. These just get old fast.
What about COD makes you feel like you're progressing? Just curious. I love PUBG, OW, and the COD series. But I find that OW is the only one that you can see progression from.
For me progress means I can complete some task. All gold weapons, max prestige etc. I can set a goal and achieve it. Ow yeah you level up for no reason but to level. In COD new equipments ranks etc it feels like progress to me
With OW I was suggesting more along the lines of competitive play. like "alright im bronze but my goal this season is to get to gold!" ect or trying to achieve top 500. Also I'm kind of a completionist so I like getting those loot boxes for all the skins/voice lines/emotes and that stuff.
Not sure this warrants an entirely new thread, but should I consider getting a new video card now, or wait for next gen in new year? Currently have 770 Classified 4GB. Not really cutting it in Star Citizen....which I just picked up.
The rule of thumb with PC upgrades: if you need it now, get it now; if you can wait, then wait. If the 770 isn't cutting it, get a new card now. You have plenty of solid options right now.