Advice on cheap gaming pc build

david891

david891

david891

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10 Apr 2011
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10
Hey everyone,

Looking to move away from my AMD for gaming and move towards Intel. I will be mainly playing games such as flight simulator (Prepar3D).

I have a budget of around £500 no more than that and already have, monitor, keyboard, mouse, GPU.

Does anyone have any advice on the below:

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Many thanks for the help :)

Regards,
David
 
It's out of date that 4-core CPU. You can get a newer Intel 6-core for the same price (i5-9400F). The overclockable i5-8600s and 9600s start around £225 usually.

Why moving away from AMD? Were you still stuck on old FX chip? AMD have very decent options now and will have even better soon (after Computex end of May, sometime).

Do you have an SSD?
 
As above regarding INTEL - and if your flight sim is like all the others then single threaded performance is probably still king - the i5-9400F, suggested above, at ~£170 is a better choice than your EOL 6600K.

david891 said:
Hey everyone,

Looking to move away from my AMD for gaming and move towards Intel. I will be mainly playing games such as flight simulator (Prepar3D).
Click to expand...

If you can wait Zen 2 will be released in early July - and if it lives up to the hype you could reap the benefits with a superior Ryzen system or take advantage of the inevitable INTEL price drops if AMD hit the market aggressively with their product.

An example i5-9400F build - with an added 512Gb SSD which is a massive performance boost if don't own one - if you shop cannily you'll get all this (or similar) for under £500:

My basket at Overclockers UK:
 
Advice is still to wait, if you can, for Zen 2 release but a Ryzen 2600X build for comparison (CPPU comes with cooler - and all Ryzen CPUs are unlocked) - again shopping around will get you more bang for your buck:

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £510.60 (includes shipping: £11.70)
​
 
orbitalwalsh said:
flight sim... intel and core speed and strength are key, not so much core count
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From my token look INTEL still rules in this flight SIM (like others) - they seem to use extra cores for terrain generation - but they're still not utilised fully. Single threaded performance still seems to be king.
 
You've not said what GPU you are using, is it fairly new?

I would also say wait if you can, another 4-6 weeks to find out how the new Zen2 (Ryzen 3000) stacks up against the cheaper Intel parts may be a smart move, especially if you have already waited this long. All of the AMD CPU's are also overclockable, which means that you can squeeze more performance out of them instead of having to buy a premium 'K' CPU.
 
P3D version 4 (think 4.1 it's up to 4.4 now) using all cores big-time on 7900X:



I have a feeling that my 4 cores are not enough to deal with the P3D v4 hunger, the first never is, and the 3 others during the flight when airborne are so much hammered as well. And thus I get stutters when using ChasePlane, for example. Many thanks!

Wanthuyr Filho1 year ago (edited)
Click to expand...



My thinking is it's better to get something with enough cores even if it means a little less fps in some cases, than to get something with four cores based on just one game/simulation version, and then a new version comes out that makes better use of more cores or doesn't run well on four cores. Not to mention different games etc. The headroom is good to have these days.

Therefore if budget won't reach to 8600/9600K, I'd take 9400F or (best option) wait for Ryzen 3XXX.
 
Danny75 said:
P3D version 4 (think 4.1 it's up to 4.4 now) using all cores big-time on 7900X:
Click to expand...
Nice find - i must have been reading 4.1 or earlier input - and that nearly induced sleep apnoea.

Look at the FPS with 10 cores engaged with a Titan X - i realise it's 4k - but...

Danny75 said:
My thinking is it's better to get something with enough cores even if it means a little less fps in some cases, than to get something with four cores based on just one game/simulation version, and then a new version comes out that makes better use of more cores or doesn't run well on four cores. Not to mention different games etc. The headroom is good to have these days.

Therefore if budget won't reach to 8600/9600K, I'd take 9400F or (best option) wait for Ryzen 3XXX.
Click to expand...
Agree with the above it's how i steer friends/family builds (especially on budgets) - unless they're a real die hard fan of just the one game and flight sims do seem to corner the market for this.

@Danny75 - i used to rejig one of my friends builds every couple of years for Microsoft flight sim X that gets updates every year(?) (until he moved away). His room was laterally decked out like a cockpit - so much 'expensive' kit - joystick/throttles, dedicated panel switches, multiple monitors - even a little one attached to his chair. I had no idea how they were all configured - i used to pop along and add the upgrade he wanted (it was never needed - e.g. 32Gb - probably 64Gb now) - and marvel at what he had created. I'm sure he had a pilots hat and epaulettes tucked away...
 
Plec said:
i used to rejig one of my friends builds every couple of years for Microsoft flight sim X that gets updates every year(?) (until he moved away). His room was laterally decked out like a cockpit - so much 'expensive' kit - joystick/throttles, dedicated panel switches, multiple monitors - even a little one attached to his chair. I had no idea how they were all configured - i used to pop along and add the upgrade he wanted (it was never needed - e.g. 32Gb - probably 64Gb now) - and marvel at what he had created. I'm sure he had a pilots hat and epaulettes tucked away...
Click to expand...

I bet you expected to pass through Customs upon exiting his room lol.
 
Hey guys,

Reason I am looking to move away from AMD is a lot of the guys I know have Intel and it seems to handle P3D/Flight Sim a lot better than AMD.

The recommend CPU for P3D is 3.5GHz thats why I didnt initally choose the 9400F.

I know AMD could be overclocked however I wouldn't even know where to start with this.
 
david891 said:
Perfect! I am tempted to go for that then, thanks for all the advice
Click to expand...

No problem.

But, if time isn't a factor, take a breathe and consider the Zen 2 option - read the last 5 pages of this thread (skip over the petty squabbles).

Even if Zen 2 doesn't hit its full rumour potential (15% IPC increase), there's enough intel (not company) to indicate that they've got a special selection of CPUs ready for release. These new faster CPUs coupled with a typically cheaper board (b550 will be simultaneously released) - when compared with INTEL - would hopefully prove a win win for you. Half the forum are waiting to jump ship if they hit their numbers with their paper launch...

As mentioned before - even if Ryzen still doesn't sit right with you - INTEL pricing structure should have a knee jerk reaction - which again should hopefully be a win win for you.
 
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