A PC for Oolite

[Old Murgh]

I am now quite certain I will soon do what I have never in my adult life done before, buy a computer that is not a Mac. (See, I did buy a C64 in 85 with my newspaper route money, but then I inherited my dad's Macintosh in 89 and well you know how it is with cults). But I feel the decision is made. I would like a good machine, and experience some cutting edge computer gaming. I just can't see myself buying a playstation, so a PC it is.

The problem is that I really don't know anything about them. And I am convinced that I just don't have the brain for improving on that significantly. I am a bit afraid of them. The ones I use at work for Word and Excel and such displease me because nearly everything is just slightly more "against the grain" than what a long life with Mac pillows under my elbows has led me to expect from computers.

But I'm close to doing it. And I would like to do it in a way that I won't soon regret and want to do it all over in less than three years. A kind colleague of mine who seems to me to really know his stuff has offered his expertise, given me a list of what to buy, and says he will be glad to help me put it together (i.e.build it for me). I am convinced of his experience, but would be very grateful if someone among you savvy lot would cast a look and comment or suggest if you see an issue.

• ASUS ROG Strix B550-I GAMING
• AMD Ryzen 5 5600X CPU
• NZXT Kraken M120 CPU ("cooler"?)
• Kingston FURY Beast RGB DDR4 3200MHz 16GB
• WD Blue SN570 NVMe SSD 1TB
• Corsair RM750 750W PSU
• ASUS GeForce RTX 2060 DUAL EVO OC*

*He says this should work well for me, but he is also tempted on my behalf by an Nvidia RTX 2070S (Super)

Abstract as all this is to me, then there is the even more crazy concept of buying Windows I guess there is no way around that since I can't see myself growing up to be a Linux man. Do I just go for the latest thing, no issues with that?

So, such a setup should run Oolite smoothly and fully capably, wouldn't it? Is there anything else a late PC virgin should consider or be aware of?

[Cody]

Is size an issue? I note that the mobo is Mini ITX Form Factor, with only 2 DIMMs - very compact, not so expandable. As for buying Windows, I'm still using Win 7 (flips the finger at WX), but you'll need WX for DirectX12 (for "cutting edge" games other than Oolite).

[Old Murgh]

Is size an issue? I note that the mobo is Mini ITX Form Factor, with only 2 DIMMs - very compact, not so expandable.

Hm. I see. The blurb boast that this will cover my "future needs with planned support for coming Ryzen-processors based on "Zen 3" architecture", but you're saying I am limiting expansion possibilities..? The physical size (should that be what you mean) could be his thinking, he is recommending a Thermaltake The Tower 100 Mini Chassis.

[sigh] How do you guys ever feel confident making decisions about these things?

As for buying Windows, I'm still using Win 7 (flips the finger at WX), but you'll need WX for DirectX12 (for "cutting edge" games other than Oolite).

So one gets WX and this DirectX12 in addition?

[another_commander]

So one gets WX and this DirectX12 in addition?

Windows 10 supports DX12 internally. You do not need to get it in addition.

Your PC should be able to run Oolite perfectly fine at whatever refresh rate and resolution your monitor can handle.

PS Oh, and go for the 2070.

[Cody]

The physical size (should that be what you mean) could be his thinking, he is recommending a Thermaltake The Tower 100 Mini Chassis.

Yuck! Not to my taste - try Fractal Design for style and excellent airflow. I'm using an older Fractal Design case here.




PS What the Admiral said!

[Cody]

How do you guys ever feel confident making decisions about these things?

It can be a minefield, building your own machine - but it's much cheaper than an off-the-shelf PC, and it won't be loaded with stuff! As for the RAM, I'd always want 4 DIMMS, because it's easy to add more RAM later. I think WX will address 128GB of RAM.

[Old Murgh]

Windows 10 supports DX12 internally. You do not need to get it in addition.
Your PC should be able to run Oolite perfectly fine at whatever refresh rate and resolution your monitor can handle.

Allright, then that's clear.

PS Oh, and go for the 2070.

PS What the Admiral said!

Gotcha.
But then.. will I in a near future feel I might have splurged for a Nvidia RTX 3070? Or will it be beyond me to appreciate the difference?

Yuck! Not to my taste - try Fractal Design for style and excellent airflow. I'm using an older Fractal Design case here.

This is your reaction to the aesthetics or the cooling technology?

It can be a minefield, building your own machine - but it's much cheaper than an off-the-shelf PC, and it won't be loaded with stuff! As for the RAM, I'd always want 4 DIMMS, because it's easy to add more RAM later. I think WX will address 128GB of RAM.

Ok, thanks. I will take this to my friend.

[Cody]

The cooling is fine, but the "aesthetics" are ghastly! When your friend comes to build it, watch everything he does like a hawk - you'll be surprised at how straightforward it is. If I can slap a dozen components together (which I've done several times), so could you.



Disclaimer: I don't like to recommend actual components these days - we all have our favourites (brands or tech).

[Switeck]

It can be a minefield, building your own machine - but it's much cheaper than an off-the-shelf PC, and it won't be loaded with stuff! As for the RAM, I'd always want 4 DIMMS, because it's easy to add more RAM later. I think WX will address 128GB of RAM.

Ok, thanks. I will take this to my friend.

There's multiple versions of Windows 10 -- even a nasty 32-bit version.
64-bit Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, and Education will support up to 2TB of RAM -- got to have a crazy server-type PC to have that much!

64-bit Windows 10 "Home" limits itself to 128 GB ram.
But with 4 DIMM slots that's still 4 x 32 GB sticks.

"Microsoft's Teams collaboration platform has become something of a memory hog, meaning Windows 10 users need at least 16GB of RAM to keep things running smoothly."
...So even 16 GB ram may not feel comfortable in a couple years.

Best stick with DDR4 for now, because DDR5 is ridiculously more expensive for little if any speed gains.

[Cody]

Best stick with DDR4 for now...

<grins> I'm superglued to DDR3 (due to old spec mobo) - 4x8GB

[Old Murgh]

64-bit Windows 10 "Home" limits itself to 128 GB ram.
But with 4 DIMM slots that's still 4 x 32 GB sticks...
Best stick with DDR4 for now, because DDR5 is ridiculously more expensive for little if any speed gains.

Ok, thanks for the talking points.
I'm beginning to feel better equipped.

The cooling is fine, but the "aesthetics" are ghastly! When your friend comes to build it, watch everything he does like a hawk - you'll be surprised at how straightforward it is. If I can slap a dozen components together (which I've done several times), so could you.
Disclaimer: I don't like to recommend actual components these days - we all have our favourites (brands or tech).

Well, since you did recommend the Fractal, I'll see what the builder says. (Some consumer comments mention in one "custom loop" case the need to "trim" for thicker radiators). As far as aesthetics, one man's ghastly is another's beauty. I'm still undecided.

Yes, I'll certainly pay close attention, surely a little confidence should grow after a bit of experience.

[Cody]

Cases are a personal thing. There are oodles of them, in many colours. If it's going to be in your eyeline a lot, then it needs to please the eye, but primarily you want good airflow and plenty of space. Who knows, you might want to add a second GPU - or even a third - at some point.

[Nite Owl]

In agreement with the other posters in that you should avoid anything "mini" or "small form factor" unless absolutely limited in terms of space. Such stuff will limit your expansion possibilities in the future. AMD has made amazing strides in the past bunch of years with their chips but my personal preference will always be for Intel. The only addition to your listed specs that you would want is a second hard drive for backup purposes. An olden days mechanical hard drive is good enough for this as long it is equal in size to your primary NVMe drive. Windows 7 still in use for me as well so no comment on the OS front other than to type that is not the latest version Windows 11, or has that gone over like another lead balloon (as in Windows Vista, Windows 8, etc.).

If you are looking for education then the best site is PC PARTS PICKER.

You can also educate yourself by looking at and configuring a few systems (with no intent to buy) at the following.
VELOCITY MICRO (A personal favorite pre-built site)
CYBER POWER PC (A more "general public" pre-built site)

[Cody]

The only addition to your listed specs that you would want is a second hard drive for backup purposes.

I have a 2TB Buffalo NAS for that - even if my machine suffered a spontaneous existence failure, my backup would be safe.

[Old Murgh]

In agreement with the other posters..
If you are looking for education then the best site is PC PARTS PICKER...

These are great, thanks.

Thanks everyone, a very healthy round I'm glad I asked you for. My friend was initially looking to hit a budget mark, but it has now been adjusted. I'd rather take experienced advice than be inflexible about what to spend, and I'm excited about this new chapter.

It's not unlikely that I'll return to this thread when the next stage has begun, and the PC virgin has managed to find new ways of feeling helpless.