Question PC convert needing hardware advice

[Tombs729]

Background:

I’ve been a console gamer for a while now but with the general poor state of modern gaming I want to get back into PC gaming to grind out some of the classic and new release strategy games (manor lords looks class).

I have an Xbox X which I’ll continue to use as an FPS/RPG console but want a PC so I can actually play some wholesome strategy titles. I’ve had a look at the req spec for manor lords for example, but I’d like some guidance/recommendations on hardware to support modern RTS games.

No specific budget at this point however part of me wants to attempt a PC build (happy to use 2nd hand hardware) as opposed to an off the shelf PC.

Any and all assistance to the above will be greatly appreciated!

 

[Colif]

i can't find a game called Lords Manor... Manor Lords I can... its system requirements aren't very high -

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS: Windows® 10 (64-bit)
• Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-6600 (quad-core) / AMD® FX-Series™ FX-9590 (octa-core)
• Memory: 12 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 960 (4 GB) / AMD® Radeon™ RX 570 (8 GB)
• DirectX: Version 12
• Storage: 16 GB available space

any PC made in last 10 years can probably run it.

if its not right game, a link would be nice as Google corrected my searches to the one above.

Where are you located? might make suggestions easier.

I think aiming for at least 8 cores is a good starting place for a CPU now. Easily play almost all old games with ease and without needing to restrict background processes too much,

I would buy new as you get a warranty and don't have to wonder what previous owner did with parts.

without a budget to limit selves too, its hard to make a suggestion. What else, apart from games, might you use it for?

 

[Tombs729]

Yeah sorry mate, Manor lords**

I live in SW England. I just want the computer for gaming really. I’ve been flogging an 8 year old Dell Inspiron laptop with some older but pretty busy strategy titles (empire total war) but I’d like a PC with the hardware to run higher graphics and better performance because the laptop STRUGGLES.

 

[Colif]

higher graphics? Do you mean at a different resolution or just a more capable graphics card?

some baseline of expectations would be good. Do you have a maximum price?

Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 960 (4 GB) / AMD® Radeon™ RX 570 (8 GB)

Almost every video card made since these two can beat them easily. I had a 960 in my last PC, for about 5 months. I had to replace it as I was given a surprise 4k monitor for my birthday and GPU couldn't run screen without screen turning off from supposedly not getting a signal. Problem was it couldn't run fast enough for screen.

I think strategy games need a powerful CPU to do all the calculations so an old laptop would struggle.

If I were to buy a PC now it would probably have something like this:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/wgyVQP

its a mix of my old parts in there as I recently upgraded some parts and throwing them away seems mad - mainly the powersupply, storage and GPU.
I didn't list a case as that will be the hardest thing for me to chose, unless I just use my current one again.

but thats just something I threw together... someone else might have a better idea.

 

[Why_Me]

Background:

I’ve been a console gamer for a while now but with the general poor state of modern gaming I want to get back into PC gaming to grind out some of the classic and new release strategy games (manor lords looks class).

I have an Xbox X which I’ll continue to use as an FPS/RPG console but want a PC so I can actually play some wholesome strategy titles. I’ve had a look at the req spec for manor lords for example, but I’d like some guidance/recommendations on hardware to support modern RTS games.

No specific budget at this point however part of me wants to attempt a PC build (happy to use 2nd hand hardware) as opposed to an off the shelf PC.

Any and all assistance to the above will be greatly appreciated!

What's your budget?

 

[Why_Me]

Background:

I’ve been a console gamer for a while now but with the general poor state of modern gaming I want to get back into PC gaming to grind out some of the classic and new release strategy games (manor lords looks class).

I have an Xbox X which I’ll continue to use as an FPS/RPG console but want a PC so I can actually play some wholesome strategy titles. I’ve had a look at the req spec for manor lords for example, but I’d like some guidance/recommendations on hardware to support modern RTS games.

No specific budget at this point however part of me wants to attempt a PC build (happy to use 2nd hand hardware) as opposed to an off the shelf PC.

Any and all assistance to the above will be greatly appreciated!

Here's a build I posted earlier today on another board to give you some ideas.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *Intel Core i5-12400F 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor (£114.97 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: *Deepcool AG400 75.89 CFM CPU Cooler (£22.99 @ AWD-IT)
Motherboard: *MSI PRO B760-P WIFI DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (£129.97 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: *Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (£64.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: *ADATA Legend 800 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (£99.99 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: *ASRock Challenger OC Radeon RX 7700 XT 12 GB Video Card (£399.67 @ Amazon UK)
Case: *Montech AIR 903 MAX ATX Mid Tower Case (£59.99 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: *MSI MAG A750GL PCIE5 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (£98.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £991.55
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-04-08 21:08 BST+0100

https://aoc.com/us/gaming/products/monitors/24g2spae-bk

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/QpDQzy/aoc-24g2spaebk-238-1920-x-1080-165-hz-monitor-24g2spaebk

 

[Tombs729]

What's your budget?

Oh I’m talking budget PC. £400 mark.

 

[ZedClampet]

@BeardyHat
You may want to help here, as he will need something without a graphics card at that price. I don't think any of the rest of us know about gaming on integrated graphics.

 

[Colif]

fun part is a lot of CPU recently haven't included an igpu. For a long time they were in all CPU but in recent years they have taken them out to use the space for more cores. Now some do and some don't, and you need to look at listings to see which is which.
Intel have a listing - https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...0057924/processors/intel-core-processors.html
AMD... well, most of 7000 series has an IGPU now. The 5000 & 3000 series didn't. They have always sold APU that included graphics so they had a reason to not include them in their CPU

I expect he would be looking at older parts as the cost of just the GPU in the system Why Me showed is total he willing to pay.
I would suggest a capable PSU if only to allow possible upgrades in future.

igpu are pretty capable now, the latest ones from AMD may be why Nvidia stopped making GTX 1600 cards and don't plan on any more GTX cards going forward.

 

[Tombs729]

fun part is a lot of CPU recently haven't included an igpu. For a long time they were in all CPU but in recent years they have taken them out to use the space for more cores. Now some do and some don't, and you need to look at listings to see which is which.
Intel have a listing - https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...0057924/processors/intel-core-processors.html
AMD... well, most of 7000 series has an IGPU now. The 5000 & 3000 series didn't. They have always sold APU that included graphics so they had a reason to not include them in their CPU

I expect he would be looking at older parts as the cost of just the GPU in the system Why Me showed is total he willing to pay.
I would suggest a capable PSU if only to allow possible upgrades in future.

igpu are pretty capable now, the latest ones from AMD may be why Nvidia stopped making GTX 1600 cards and don't plan on any more GTX cards going forward.

Amazing. Thanks for this.

Like I’m not interested in trying to achieve 120fps @4k to play anything competitive, just a functional platform to do solo RTS gaming.

Do systems with an IGPU still have the ports to install a GPU (space permitting) or do their mother boards typically omit these by design?

 

[Colif]

Do systems with an IGPU still have the ports to install a GPU (space permitting) or do their mother boards typically omit these by design?

If its a desktop PC, its likely the motherboard will include the necessary ports to upgrade to a stand alone card.

There might be some that don't but I can't think of any of the top of my head. For the most part all desktop PC will have a PCIe slot for graphics cards. Its been the standard connector for at least 18 years now.

It helps to check but as I said, I can't think of any boards without one, apart from special purpose computers. Headless computers (those that run with no monitor attached, over a server) may not have them... if they not just a spare PC. A PC will happily run with no monitor, you just can't use it easily

Laptops don't have the space or ability to add new parts. Only a small number let you change anything inside them.

Colif goes looking for a description of standard Motherboard components, leaves wondering why they still describe PCI and AGP, as well, both replaced by PCIe in about 2008.

I wonder how old that list really is as it also describes IDE. and a Floppy Drive controller... SATA replaced both about 10 years or more ago. Updated in 2023? Needs to be archived and redone to update... this is a listing of what a computer from 15 years ago had inside.

20 Main Motherboard Components and Their Functions - MiniTool Partition Wizard

This article lists 20 motherboard components as well as briefly introduces their functions.

www.partitionwizard.com

Most modern motherboards have a PCIe3 or 4 slot in them, that is fast enough for most cards.

 

[Colif]

Like I’m not interested in trying to achieve 120fps @4k to play anything competitive, just a functional platform to do solo RTS gaming.

fitting all the parts into price is hard part. My PC can't run 120fps at 4k but it still ended up costing way more than you want to pay.
do you have a monitor already? or modern tv that could be used as one?

I would try to pick up a B450 system with a older AMD APU in it, this one reminds me of my last CPU - https://www.amd.com/en/product/10201
but then i look at its price online and its 200... I clearly aiming too high...

Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-6600 (quad-core) / AMD® FX-Series™ FX-9590 (octa-core)

well, I can't go to my next step which was my last CPU - a 4690k - as its slower than what game needs.
6600 released in 2015 so means what you get has to be from after that. Don't really want to match its requirements, better to beat them... but not crazily...

16gb of ram, since game says it wants 12... thats an odd amount, 16 is more normal.
1tb ssd/hdd (ssd make everything faster and not that much more expensive)

seems manor lords will be on Geforce Now by end of month, which might be another approach to playing game - https://www.nvidia.com/en-au/geforce-now/

 

[Brian Boru]

Welcome to the forum

£400 mark

…

another approach to playing game

Steam Deck? Just a thought…

ETA Thoughty2: PCG recommends this entry-level PC on Newegg for $450.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I dont have any personal experience with it but Steam Deck with a dock is a great idea that Id be looking into on an ultra budget. Anything else for 400 quid wont really outperform it IMO.