Off Topic Thread V2.0

Cuddlesworth

L wrote: »

A new CPU exploit, Portsmash, has been made public.

Applies to Intel but may also apply to AMD chips (hasn't been demonstrated on AMD yet).

I like the way that gets attention(its not a huge deal) and not the fact that a Chinese dude the other day got out of his VM and onto the host hyper-visor.

Robert ninja

Dcully wrote: »

Was considering a controller for a few games on PC, i won dark souls 3 recently in the board steam gifts group and believe it would be a better experience with a controller?
Might be tempted to buy the latest fifa or pes once i get a decent controller but for everything else its mouse and KB all the way.

Can't say much for DS3 (dropped the series after DS2) but as a fan of DeS and DS1, I was able to easily play DS1-2 with KB/M. Afaik, the controls aren't any different in 3.

L

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

I like the way that gets attention(its not a huge deal) and not the fact that a Chinese dude the other day got out of his VM and onto the host hyper-visor.

Interesting. Toss us a Link.

Gehad_JoyRider

Anybody got any tips for fan control?
I've got an Asus crosshair hero, and my fans just will not do as there told.

I'm using, a phanteks evolv tg, and the fans won't do as they're told its either maximum or nothing, I'm not 100% sure on how to apply fan curves and had been using AI suite 3 but even that its pretty noisy. Anyone with any ideas?

Are they 4 pin?

Headshot

I have to say the Xbox one controller is damn nice

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Dcully wrote: »

Was considering a controller for a few games on PC, i won dark souls 3 recently in the board steam gifts group and believe it would be a better experience with a controller?
Might be tempted to buy the latest fifa or pes once i get a decent controller but for everything else its mouse and KB all the way.

Logitech F710 Wireless Gamepad - I have two for an arcade project and its great. Vibration, Xbox compatable, switchable between Xinput and directinput modes. Batteries last ages and wireless. Can be had real cheap on amazon.

Cuddlesworth

L wrote: »

Interesting. Toss us a Link.

https://twitter.com/ChaitinTech/status/1057526019127676929

Took longer then it should to find it.

jaxxx

I'm in a constant battle with myself over getting a new PC. I'm not a huge gamer, most of the games I enjoy aren't too intensive with regards to old specs. My PC is getting on a decade old, and in fairness to it it's still chugging along fine. But I'd like to upgrade. When it comes to the organs of computers and what their respective numbers mean, I draw quite a bit short.

I know there's no such thing as future proofing a computer because the likes of NVidia are coming out with new hardware every year that trumps the previous year's, and games are getting more hungry, blah blah blah. But at the same time I'd like to invest so that I wouldn't have to look at another computer for another 10 years. I've taken good care of my current one and if all went fine for the new one, maybe I'd never need another new one ever again. But that's probably being way too optimistic, "hit happens" and everything.

I don't plan on getting a new monitor. My current one has a native resolution of 1920x1080 so there would be no point in getting a graphics card that would exceed that. I'm thinking of the 1080 or the 1080TI. But as I just said, is there a point in going up to the TI when the games I play aren't too intensive anyway? Would it literally just be a waste of money, or would it be in my benefit to go for it for "future proofing" and then get a new monitor that would benefit from it.

My second argument I'm having is RAM. Do I go for just 16GB or "future proof" and pay that little bit more for 32?

Am I mad in considering the TI and the 32GB RAM? Would the standard 1080 and 16GB RAM be more than enough than I will ever need? I know the 2080 line came out not too long ago, but that would DEFINITELY be going way over the top so I'm not even considering that! Like I said, I'm a casual gamer and don't play that many games that would be intensive on the system. At the end of the day I want something that's gonna last hopefully as long as my current one (and it was just a shelf bought one), but I don't want to spend money that I don't need to spend if that makes sense?

I know there are other compenents and everything to consider, motherboards, cooling and so on, but they're relatively cheap compared to the big two of RAM and especially the video card. Thanks, feel free to kick me up the 'rear' to knock some sense into me if you see fit!

wotzgoingon

I didn't read the full post so may be way off(just quickly browsed through) But there is no point getting a 1080 when gaming at 1080p unless it is 144Hz or higher? Even then a 1070 would be enough at that resolution.

K.O.Kiki

jaxxx wrote: »

I'm in a constant battle with myself over getting a new PC. I'm not a huge gamer, most of the games I enjoy aren't too intensive with regards to old specs. My PC is getting on a decade old, and in fairness to it it's still chugging along fine. But I'd like to upgrade. When it comes to the organs of computers and what their respective numbers mean, I draw quite a bit short.

I know there's no such thing as future proofing a computer because the likes of NVidia are coming out with new hardware every year that trumps the previous year's, and games are getting more hungry, blah blah blah. But at the same time I'd like to invest so that I wouldn't have to look at another computer for another 10 years. I've taken good care of my current one and if all went fine for the new one, maybe I'd never need another new one ever again. But that's probably being way too optimistic, "hit happens" and everything.

I don't plan on getting a new monitor. My current one has a native resolution of 1920x1080 so there would be no point in getting a graphics card that would exceed that. I'm thinking of the 1080 or the 1080TI. But as I just said, is there a point in going up to the TI when the games I play aren't too intensive anyway? Would it literally just be a waste of money, or would it be in my benefit to go for it for "future proofing" and then get a new monitor that would benefit from it.

My second argument I'm having is RAM. Do I go for just 16GB or "future proof" and pay that little bit more for 32?

Am I mad in considering the TI and the 32GB RAM? Would the standard 1080 and 16GB RAM be more than enough than I will ever need? I know the 2080 line came out not too long ago, but that would DEFINITELY be going way over the top so I'm not even considering that! Like I said, I'm a casual gamer and don't play that many games that would be intensive on the system. At the end of the day I want something that's gonna last hopefully as long as my current one (and it was just a shelf bought one), but I don't want to spend money that I don't need to spend if that makes sense?

I know there are other compenents and everything to consider, motherboards, cooling and so on, but they're relatively cheap compared to the big two of RAM and especially the video card. Thanks, feel free to kick me up the 'rear' to knock some sense into me if you see fit!

Unless you bought that 1080p monitor in the last 2 years, get a new one; monitors are a lot less laggy than they were 10 years ago, plus you can get nice 1440p // high-refresh ones for cheap.

16Gb RAM is plenty. If you want more in future, just get a motherboard with 4 RAM slots.
RAM is only expensive because there was a global supply issue. 2 years ago, it was half its current price.

If you want a look at the state of things, check this video out:

L

I'm currently debating getting a new CPU cooler and revising my case cooling (both are more for the upgrade itch than for a serious need).

Since I'm thinking air tower, it looks like the main contenders are the Thermalright Le Grand Macho RT, or the Noctua NH-D15S. Am I missing anything worth considering here?

I'm also a little curious - it looks like Le Grand Macho had a lot of buzz about it when it first launched (same performance/price point as the NH-D15S but better clearances and quieter), but I'm not seeing much about it the last year or so. Did I miss something with it?

Case fan wise, I'm considering going for positive pressure by adding a pair of Noctua NF-A14s as extra intakes (one front, one bottom) to supplement the existing single intake and single outtake I have as standard in my case (Fractal Design Define R5). I'm a little unsure though, so what do folks reckon?

K.O.Kiki

L wrote: »

I'm currently debating getting a new CPU cooler and revising my case cooling (both are more for the upgrade itch than for a serious need).

Since I'm thinking air tower, it looks like the main contenders are the Thermalright Le Grand Macho RT, or the Noctua NH-D15S. Am I missing anything worth considering here?

I'm also a little curious - it looks like Le Grand Macho had a lot of buzz about it when it first launched (same performance/price point as the NH-D15S but better clearances and quieter), but I'm not seeing much about it the last year or so. Did I miss something with it?

Case fan wise, I'm considering going for positive pressure by adding a pair of Noctua NF-A14s as extra intakes (one front, one bottom) to supplement the existing single intake and single outtake I have as standard in my case (Fractal Design Define R5). I'm a little unsure though, so what do folks reckon?

I'd get a single-140mm tower (e.g. Thermalright True Spirit 140, Noctua NH-U14S) just check the motherboard compatibility first.

Venom

L wrote: »

I'm currently debating getting a new CPU cooler and revising my case cooling (both are more for the upgrade itch than for a serious need).

Since I'm thinking air tower, it looks like the main contenders are the Thermalright Le Grand Macho RT, or the Noctua NH-D15S. Am I missing anything worth considering here?

I'm also a little curious - it looks like Le Grand Macho had a lot of buzz about it when it first launched (same performance/price point as the NH-D15S but better clearances and quieter), but I'm not seeing much about it the last year or so. Did I miss something with it?

Case fan wise, I'm considering going for positive pressure by adding a pair of Noctua NF-A14s as extra intakes (one front, one bottom) to supplement the existing single intake and single outtake I have as standard in my case (Fractal Design Define R5). I'm a little unsure though, so what do folks reckon?

The Bequite Darkrock series is up there with the big guys and works well but does have a horrible mounting system. The Noctua D15-S is a revised version of the D15 that's off set upwards to give better GPU and ram clearance but only comes with one fan and is a tad cheaper than the regular D15.

L

Thanks lads.

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

I'd get a single-140mm tower (e.g. Thermalright True Spirit 140, Noctua NH-U14S) just check the motherboard compatibility first.

What's the rationale on avoiding dual towers Kiki? Is it ease of installation or something else?

I'm guessing the 140mm is for choice in swapping out the fan, and general case compatibility.

I hadn't looked at those two - the noise level on the True Spirit 140 looks especially nice, as does the lower price and AM4 kit in the box. I'm still debating though if I want to go overkill on the cooling a bit to see how low I can get my temperatures.

Venom wrote: »

The Bequite Darkrock series is up there with the big guys and works well but does have a horrible mounting system. The Noctua D15-S is a revised version of the D15 that's off set upwards to give better GPU and ram clearance but only comes with one fan and is a tad cheaper than the regular D15.

I'd written off the Dark rock's due to the ram clearance primarily (same rough cost/performance/noise and a 40mm clearance when I've 40mm tall ram - no point in worrying about that tight a fit unnecessarily). It looks like they fixed the mounting system for the Pro 4 btw.



On the case cooling, I came across this exhaustive fan setup comparison. It's pretty interesting for me since he used an older version of my case (Define R3 rather than Define R5) so it should be fairly accurate to my specifics.

K.O.Kiki

U14S is as good, or even slightly better, than the D15S, while costing less.

True Spirit 140 is 4-6C worse but costs 60% less than U14S (and half that of the D15S).

Also consider the NH-C14S (top-down).

BloodBath

Destiny 2 is free at the moment if you log into battle.net.

Didn't have high expectations but wow the opening mission is just epic. Overall the game is not bad and has some great moments.

Kept me hooked until end game and now I'm even considering buying the expansions. You get all 3 of them if you buy the newest 1.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

thanks bloodbath that been on my to play list for a while, but free cant be beaten.

jebidiah

Didn't want to hijack another thread, the one about BFV. I recently got a PC for a friend on Adverts with decent enough specs for what he plays. It was a decent deal at 350 to get him off his gaming laptop (gtx 770) towards something a bit more powerful and quieter!

- i5-4460 with Asus H81M-Plus mobo
- 8gb 1600mhz DDR3 RAM
- 7200RPM 1TB WD HDD
- CM 212 CPU cooler
- Gigabyte RX480 8GB reference
- Corsair VS 550 psu
- Decent case with 140mm and 120mm fans

At the moment he is playing Overwatch and League of Legends, after setting the PC up with a new SSD yesterday I installed some games to test it out. Over all it was fine, 150+ fps on high settings in OW. But not so well in PUBG (decent FPS but a lot of stutter) , or Total War Warhammer (30-40 on high).

He will be happy with it, along with new monitor, but I'm wondering how a system like this is going to hold up in the future? He does't play many triple A games or RPG's but he does like shooters and RTS games. Obvious choice is to keep and eye out for an i7 to fit his socket in the future, but in the mean time?

TerrorFirmer

It's the CPU that's the technical bottleneck, everything else is fine. Replace it with an i7-4770 or i7-4790 (or equivalent Xeon if supported) and you'll be fine for the more intensive games, especially games like Battlefield which love cores/threads.

PUBG is terribly optimised though, and not overly CPU heavy and an i5 should be OK, so in that particular case he may just have the settings too high in-game. I'd say an RX480 would be at best able to manage medium settings if you want a rock stable 60fps.

EoinHef

Im using a 3570k and have 8gb of ram amd dont get any stuttering in PUBG

Thats with a GTX 1080

L

What resolution is your friend playing at? I'd assume 1080p but good to be sure.

jebidiah

L wrote: »

What resolution is your friend playing at? I'd assume 1080p but good to be sure.

Yep 1080p. He personally wont be playing pubg. I just installed a few games from my own steam account to to see how the pc was running

jebidiah

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

It's the CPU that's the technical bottleneck, everything else is fine. Replace it with an i7-4770 or i7-4790 (or equivalent Xeon if supported) and you'll be fine for the more intensive games, especially games like Battlefield which love cores/threads.

PUBG is terribly optimised though, and not overly CPU heavy and an i5 should be OK, so in that particular case he may just have the settings too high in-game. I'd say an RX480 would be at best able to manage medium settings if you want a rock stable 60fps.

The 480 is the reason I bought it for him to be honest. 1080p 60 fps at decreasing graphics qualities for the next few years at least. Other than that the option to upgrade to an i7 down the road is always there.

In the mean time, I'm hoping the 4460 doesn't need to be replaced for about a year? And by then maybe the i7's will be a bit cheaper.

jebidiah

EoinHef wrote: »

Im using a 3570k and have 8gb of ram amd dont get any stuttering in PUBG

Thats with a GTX 1080

I don't think the systems are comparable to be honest? An over clockable i5 with a slightly higher base frequency and a GPU that stomps the 480 in every way.

TerrorFirmer

Yes as I said, PUBG is not very CPU bound, so in that particular case it is the RX480 is the weak point.

As for when you will need to upgrade the CPU? There's nothing the 4460 won't play; and some titles will run perfectly, while others will struggle, it really just depends on the game. You mentioned he likes shooters, so for example if he tried playing the new Battlefield online - it would run, but the framerate would be all over the place.

However, most single player games, e-sports games (Overwatch, as well as COD, etc), and the majority of RTS games, would still run very well on the i5-4460.

For RTS games, a 30fps lock, or a varying framerate from 25-60, is usually pretty easy to deal with but it can be very irritating trying to play an FPS with the framerate leaping from 30-60 all the time.

One solution to games where the i5 won't hold a stable 60fps and the stuttering is irritating, is to lock the framerate at a figure that will hold stable (eg 30fps, or whatever)...this will also allow you to ramp up the graphics settings as the GPU is no longer under strain to pump out as many frames.

An i7-4790 or 4770 at this point would cost about €150-160, the i5-4460 would probably get almost half of that back, so it's not a huge outlay and it would make a major difference in CPU intensive titles.

You can always adjust GPU settings to achieve the desired framerate (60fps or otherwise), but when you've got a CPU bottleneck, there is nothing you can do except introduce FPS caps.

jebidiah

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Yes as I said, PUBG is not very CPU bound, so in that particular case it is the RX480 is the weak point.

As for when you will need to upgrade the CPU? There's nothing the 4460 won't play; and some titles will run perfectly, while others will struggle, it really just depends on the game. You mentioned he likes shooters, so for example if he tried playing the new Battlefield online - it would run, but the framerate would be all over the place.

However, most single player games, e-sports games (Overwatch, as well as COD, etc), and the majority of RTS games, would still run very well on the i5-4460.

For RTS games, a 30fps lock, or a varying framerate from 25-60, is usually pretty easy to deal with but it can be very irritating trying to play an FPS with the framerate leaping from 30-60 all the time.

One solution to games where the i5 won't hold a stable 60fps and the stuttering is irritating, is to lock the framerate at a figure that will hold stable (eg 30fps, or whatever)...this will also allow you to ramp up the graphics settings as the GPU is no longer under strain to pump out as many frames.

An i7-4790 or 4770 at this point would cost about €150-160, the i5-4460 would probably get almost half of that back, so it's not a huge outlay and it would make a major difference in CPU intensive titles.

You can always adjust GPU settings to achieve the desired framerate (60fps or otherwise), but when you've got a CPU bottleneck, there is nothing you can do except introduce FPS caps.

Good advice, thanks! As I can't see him changing to anything new for a while Ill leave him with the 4460 and look in a few months to upgrade. Didn't think the 4460 would sell to be honest!

K.O.Kiki

PowerColor RX 590 premature release

Comes with game codes for Resident Evil 2 Remake, Devil May Cry 5 & The Division 2!

Mr Crispy

That's some games package all the same!

TitianGerm

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

PowerColor RX 590 premature release

Comes with game codes for Resident Evil 2 Remake, Devil May Cry 5 & The Division 2!

How much do you think it'll retail at here?