Need a new rig

[FBKampfer]

Mine can't cut it and I'd love to be able to fly again.

Problem is limited budget. But I don't mind some assembly required.

Anyone willing to help build a semi-budget parts list?

[The Fugitive]

post your budget. A bunch of guys can did up some good rigs, give them something to shot for.

[FBKampfer]

Total I'd like to keep it under 600 if possible, but I'd like to try and get as good of a rig as cheap as I can, as anything leftover is earmarked for my new deer rifle.

[DaddyAce]

Go for the "very good" tier on this site for about $600.  Very similar to the machine I built that runs AH3 with full graphics on a 1080 p monitor, and you may need to turn it down a little bit if you're running a 1440 p monitor.  In the spirit of  full disclosure, this is my puter engineer son's site:  http://www.logicalincrements.com/  The parts within tiers are compatible, site was last updated about a month ago, and links go to where the best prices were at the time.  BTW this build is similar to one I built for AH3 and am quite happy running it on a 75 mhz 1440 p HP monitor.

[Skuzzy]

Actually, you might want to post a DXDIAG output.  I have found many instances where all that was needed was a video card and a power supply to be able to play the game quite well.

[Bizman]

Actually, you might want to post a DXDIAG output.  I have found many instances where all that was needed was a video card and a power supply to be able to play the game quite well.

Not to mention you could then use more money for a killer video card which you could then at some later point use in a new computer. The video card easily makes half of the price of a gaming rig.

[DaddyAce]

Actually, you might want to post a DXDIAG output.  I have found many instances where all that was needed was a video card and a power supply to be able to play the game quite well.

Good recommendation....even if you decide to rebuild you may be able to reuse some of your older components and save some $ there.

[FBKampfer]

Well..... I lost my desktop in a house fire about a year ago. Somebody got distracted by his girlfriend and left a pan of Paella on the stove too long   .

I found my HP envy could run AH2 if I crank a few things down. Should I even bother with the dxdiag from an ultrabook?

[Bizman]

Don't bother, you cant' upgrade that.

Let's start planning a cost effective beast.

[DaddyAce]

Well..... I lost my desktop in a house fire about a year ago. Somebody got distracted by his girlfriend and left a pan of Paella on the stove too long   .

Wow, expensive dinner!  So it appears you'll need a monitor and all peripherals in the mix?

For a cost-effective build that will get you all the bells and whistles with a 1080 p monitor I'd start with a 3 GB GTX 1060, 8 GB  RAM, and the dual core i3 7100.

I expect some folks may weigh in in favor of a quad core cpu, and I would like to know what advantage a quad core would have for AH, especially for a low cost build, as I don't see need for it.  When I monitor AH3 performance on my machine with MSI Afterburner, it looks like my GPU limits framerate when framerate dips below 74, and my i3 6100 CPU is not working nearly as hard to keep up.

And again you can find a similar level of compatible mobo etc. on the logicalincrements.com "very good" tier (the site is free btw, and only a resource you may  find useful).  To save $ consider leaving out the SSD, and go with the stock heat sink fan for the CPU, AH# seems to reply much more on the GPU.  I find my GPU runs much hotter than the CPU running AH3.

[DaddyAce]

Oh another way to save a few bucks, is you can often find perfectly usable peripherals like keyboards and mice at second hand stores.  I paid $1 for my 4 button Microsoft mouse.

[Skuzzy]

A quad core CPU is a good idea.  Right now Aces High III will, natively use 2 cores.  This allows the other 2 cores to be used by the operating system for all its house keeping, which can be pretty substantial.

It also future proofs, in case we move to using more cores.

Also note, if you add VR, it will use up cores.

Any CPU operating at 3Ghz, or faster, is fast enough.

[DaddyAce]

A quad core CPU is a good idea.  Right now Aces High III will, natively use 2 cores.  This allows the other 2 cores to be used by the operating system for all its house keeping, which can be pretty substantial.

It also future proofs, in case we move to using more cores.

Also note, if you add VR, it will use up cores.

Any CPU operating at 3Ghz, or faster, is fast enough.

Well, I'll certainly not dispute your view on this Skuzzy, thanks for weighing in!

[Bizman]

Oh another way to save a few bucks, is you can often find perfectly usable peripherals like keyboards and mice at second hand stores.  I paid $1 for my 4 button Microsoft mouse.

Not to mention the previous generation gaming rigs! As Skuzzy mentioned, any CPU above 3 GHz will do the trick. Mine is an 8 yo Intel Core2Duo E8500 3.16 oc'd to 3.8 GHz and it works flawlessly with a GTX 970. For a low budget an early quad core i5 beefed up with a more modern video card should be a long time investment in AH.

[FBKampfer]

The only peripheral I would absolutely need is a monitor, though I might upgrade sticks somewhere down the line, but that's another thread...


And I haven't done anything like building my own computer before. What's compatibility like? Say I go for a GTX1610, but want to jump up to an I7, or go with an AMD. All still compatible? Or do they like to use proprietary connections?