Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: Larry on June 15, 2018, 02:26:56 PM
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I'm looking at getting back in the game but need a new rig. I'd like to know if this one would be able to run the game with most stuff maxed out.
Processor
Intel® Core™ i5 8600K (6-Core, 9MB Cache, up to 4.3GHz with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology)
Operating System
Windows 10 Pro 64-bit English
Chassis Options
Alienware™ 850 Watt Multi-GPU Approved Power Supply with High Performance Liquid Cooling
Video Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1080 with 8GB GDDR5X
Memory
16GB Single Channel HyperX™ DDR4 XMP at 2933MHz
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Yes, that should run AH3 at max.
I don't know who makes the Alienware power supply but hopefully it's worth the price. It's a little on the overpowered side. Also I'm not a great fan for liquid cooling, water and electronics just don't mix well in my mind.
If you're talking about an Alienware ready built one, you might want to compare the price of similar parts with building tools like pcpartpicker.com (https://pcpartpicker.com/list/). The one I quickly compiled was about $1400, choosing quality and speed instead of the ultimately cheapest alternatives.
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It'll be good to get you back in the game Larry.
I *think* dual-channel memory has better performance. Theoretically at least, it doubles your memory bandwidth. Not sure how much difference it would make in AH, but I think dual channel is a more common configuration.
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So which opinion should I get?
32GB Dual Channel DDR4 at 2666MHz
Or
16GB Single Channel HyperX DDR4 XMP at 2933MHz
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What is the price difference? 32gb is a lot, especially because RAM is pretty expensive currently.
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The 32Gb is $100 more than the 16GB
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Are you buying or building? I'd be tempted to get two 8GB sticks and use in dual channel configuration.
What motherboard are you looking at? I'm not sure if they all support XMP configuration for memory.
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Buying from alienware. I dont have the cash to buy one outright so I'm getting monthly payments
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That is a lot more puter than you need if you're looking to save $. Mine runs AH3 fine in VR fine with a 3Gb GTX 1060, 8 GB Ram, and an i5 7600K.
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There will be cheaper options out there from other sites that do financing and put it together. To me on alienware, you are paying extra just for the name. Plus I dont see any reason to have a flashy blinky oddly shaped case. The regular rectangle black cases work just fine and are cheaper. Cooler Master makes great ones
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Digital Storm (http://www.digitalstorm.com/) is a good site. They also have financing available too. Their prices are much better than Alienware. I know of a number of computers bought from this site and ALL have run great with out issue.
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Dual channel for the memory (it can read one and write on the other at the same time), 2x8 is plenty. And as others have said, Alienware is a bit overpriced without the option of choosing your components.
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As others have said Larry, be sure to check all your options before purchasing. Alienware is a decent brand, but nowadays unless you go to a bargain basement company, there are many companies of good repute that use good components in their system builds, and many offer financing as well. Just post here if you have questions, some companies will cheap out on components, many here can spot that and suggest the who/what/where/etc about good options.
What state are you in Larry, there are frequently good companies that build gaming PCs and offer everything you're looking for, and will in most cases be cheaper than big brand names like Alienware for example, a company whose once big "advantage" no longer exists.
So far as your overall components, yes, an i5 8600k with a 1080 will get you back into this game at mostly, if not across the board, max settings. The 8600ks are usually good overclockers, and the 1080 can be overclocked reliably as well, so you'll be able to gain a fair bit of extra performance due to you buying the "k" variant of the 8600 chip. Once you've settled on a build, post here about that and lots can help you out of you wish to go down that road (it's quite safe these days with proper cooling, a mild overclock is easy to do, and worth it IMO for the bang/etc ratio you get out of that, but again, that's something to concern yourself with once you have your system in hand and up and running).
One thing I'll suggest you consider - your LCD monitor, IMO getting a 144hz LCD will have a huge effect on your gaming experience in AH3 - everything else too - and you can get a really good 24 or even 27" (higher even if you need or want it) 144hz monitor for not a huge pile of $. Be sure to factor this into your budget, at least IMO. I've recently seen Asus 24" 144hz lcds for sale for $250 USD, and have seen re-certified ones with a year warranty for under 200 bucks, so again, be sure to consider this Larry - ask anyone with a 144hz (or better) lcd, not one will say they wish they hadn't got it, and then some.
Keep posting if you haven't purchased already, lots of players here are invested into the hardware side of things with AH3 as it pertains to the players - getting the best possible deal and equipment they can - even more so for a good guy returning to the game.