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Need Help Considering a new desktop-recommendations to run Hearts of Oak

Captain Armstrong

Captain Armstrong

Shipbuilding Coordinator
Storm Modder
Hey all! So my current desktop is officially beyond salvaging for upgrading(it was middling in 2007)-so I am considering a new one, so that I can do testing myself, run maya better, and eventually run Hearts of Oak, naval action, Urban planning programs, maybe rome II, etc. The official unity requirements seem far to...minimal and vague, http://unity3d.com/unity/system-requirements so I was wondering if anyone had any more concrete requirements or recommended hardware based on some of the features we are using, or just generally good machines to recommend. I'm shooting for <$1000. I don't actually currently play any games other than the occasional bout of new horizons, so my own knowledge on the matter is pretty limited-which is why I'm posting here. Any help would be much appreciated! :doff

CA
 
Are you looking to build it yourself mate? Or are you looking for a prebuilt system?
 
Hmm well I don't have the expertise to figure out what to include for building one from the ground up, but actually installing the parts shouldn't be much of in issue. Though if there was a particularly good deal on a pre-built machine that fulfilled all the requirements I wouldn't shy away from it either.
 
If you want number crunching, there is no substitute for Intel. Intel's current top of the line processor is $1000 by it's self though, there are awfully proud of it! I have been putting together a parts list for myself and haven't really looked at pre-built systems. I'll take a look around and see what all is out there.

Building them yourself is really fairly easy any more, it's basically almost like snapping Lego's together. The one exception is Intels new pin design for their processors, it is very badly done in my opinion and leads to easily bent pins. I would recommend a core I-7 4th generation Quad core if your staying below $1000. Probably a 4790k would be your best bet.
 
Newegg has this Dell system for just over $1000, it comes with Windows 7, 16 gig of ram, and an Nvida GTX-745. Not bad at all! The weak thing about these pre-built systems though is the power supplies, they are usually always just enough wattage to get the system to boot. If you plan on adding anything, you will probably need a bigger supply. The motherboards are also usually always just basic, with very few bells or whistles. Dell usually uses Asus boards though, so they are good quality.

If you parted it out and built your own, you could probably do it for about the same price, but get a better motherboard and power supply, and you could probably get a Blu-ray burner. It doesn't come with a monitor though, are you looking for one of those as well?
 
If you go with Intel, avoid any Intel graphics cards like the plague. We all know PotC doesn't like those.
If you go to a store to buy a computer, considering taking an USB stick with PotC on it to ensure that it does run.
I'd be so annoyed if I spent a lot of money on a computer and it wouldn't run it. :facepalm
 
Unfortunately, the processor I suggest above does have a built in Intel graphics chipset, it is much better than the standard mobile one that has given us so much trouble over the years however. It is also a desktop processor, which means it is MUCH easier to tell the motherboard not to use it and use a dedicated graphics card that has it's own dedicated memory. Such as the Nvidia GTX-745 card listed in the pre-built system above. I did forget to mention above that that Dell system does use DDR3 memory, instead of the newly released DDR4.

It would certainly be better not to have it on the chip at all, but Intel decided they had to compete with AMD and have a graphics chipset on their processors too. The $1000 Intel processor I alluded to above, the
Intel Core i7-5960X Haswell-E 8-Core, does not have a built in graphics chipset and requires a dedicated graphics card. It is also a monster number cruncher with 8 cores and 16 threads!

@Captain Armstrong, if you would like, I could also list a couple of AMD options, they are pretty good at gaming. For raw processing power though, Intel is my recommendation and will handle any game you throw at it, now and for many years to come.
 
Pieter Boelen said:
If you go with Intel, avoid any Intel graphics cards like the plague. We all know PotC doesn't like those.
If you go to a store to buy a computer, considering taking an USB stick with PotC on it to ensure that it does run.
I'd be so annoyed if I spent a lot of money on a computer and it wouldn't run it. :facepalm
Click to expand...
That's only a problem if you choose not to get a dedicated Nvidia or AMD graphics card, which mostly applies to laptops.
True enough, it seems no amount of innovation on Intel's part can overcome PotC's lack of proper support for their graphics chips, but that's no reason to avoid an Intel processor if you're combining it with a dedicated card.

AMD versus Intel processors is a tricky debate, and one I'm still unsure about for when I get round to buying a new desktop myself.
All I keep hearing is AMD is cheaper and fine for gaming, but Intel has more processing power, fine for gaming and ideal for demanding software like Maya (particularly when rendering).
 
You're right; as long as the end result actually works, you're OK.

I have an Intel processor on my laptop myself and that has no problems running PotC at all, because I don't have an Intel GFX card.
 
Are you sure? If it's a Core i-series processor, it's probably got a built-in graphics chip, alongside your dedicated card. :p
 
It's a core i7 and I never had a problem with PotC. That's all I know. :shrug
 
If you are still using the same laptop you bought a few years ago Pieter, it has an Intel i7-620M, it does have Intel HD Graphics built in. Because you have an dedicated ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 though, it is disabled and you don't have any issues. :onya
 
Thagarr said:
If you are still using the same laptop you bought a few years ago Pieter, it has an Intel i7-620M, it does have Intel HD Graphics built in. Because you have an dedicated ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 though, it is disabled and you don't have any issues. :onya
Click to expand...
That's al-right then, isn't it?
 
Thagarr said:
Yup, that would be way more than adequate mate! :onya
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Good :)
I want to upgrade my desktop PC. Just don't know if I'll do the upgrade soon or at the end of this year. If at the end of this year, maybe AMD will have a new better version of this CPU.
 
That is a prety good CPU for the price, it is certainly very capable of handling almost anything out right now. You can also get it in to a fairly small enclosure, without having to have a dedicated graphics card. That is where AMD really shines with these APU's!
 
Yes, the idea is to buy this CPU without having to buy also a dedicated graphics card. One year or so after buying the CPU, I can buy a dedicated graphics card to improve the performance.
I'm not a big gamer so there is no need to waste a lot of money in computer components :shrug
 
I am away from home now for the last 3 days putting together an AMD A10 7850K rig for someone. The only parts salvaged from the old 2006 computer was the upgraded power supply. Everything else inside the new case is also new.
The whole thing costs a little over $500 USD.

It is no match for my AMD 8350 in pure computing or ultimate gaming, but comparing it to other cpus in its performance range shows it to have pretty good bang for the buck.
PassMark CPU Lookup

I have only installed one very old but graphically intensive game on it so far but it handles it very well with no dedicated video card or sound card installed. It should only bottleneck something like an AMD 290X video card because it is only a quad core cpu.
 
Welcome back Hylie, sounds like you had a good weekend!
 
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