As the subject suggests, I'm looking to build a gaming PC for my son, a
combined birthday and Christmas gift. I don't have a budget, but "her in
doors" has, so basically I do have a budget!

Looking for a PC that will last a while without having to upgrade, can
manage 2k graphics, and enough storage for his growing library. If I
could smuggle install MSFS2020 that would be a bonus.

I am thinking for our budget that AMD5 might offer more future proofing
than LGA1700. 8Tb HDD seems a lot cheaper than 10Tb. Other
considerations is I am in Malaysia, access to brands is a bit harder.
Local shops are recommending Zotac GPU, or prices vary.

I tried to build the same machine as recommended by a local shop here:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kthRJn

I tried to swap out the parts for brands I am aware of and tweak a few
things:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/d2Ptgn

I would really appreciate anyone can have a quick review, I believe most
here are more experienced gamers than myself! Apologies if the request
for your time is cheeky or against the group rules. Thanks in advance.

--
Don't be afraid of the deep...
--[ bbs.bottomlessabyss.net | https | telnet=2023 ]--
--[ /query geeknix on libera.chat | tilde.chat ]--

>https://pcpartpicker.com/list/d2Ptgn

I'd prefer you get a larger 32" monitor, and at that size a slight curve
is beneficial. Here's one that looks attractive:
https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-32-curved-gaming-monitor-s3222dgm/apd/210-azzr/monitors-monitor-accessories
This model happens to be on sale now, but of course look for reviews first
for caveats. Don't shy away from a bigger monitor if you haven't used one
before, it’s the one part that makes the largest and most lasting impression
in an upgrade.

rms

Also, you might want to reconsider the gpu purchase and wait just a bit
longer. This video goes over the rationale for waiting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBTJG6cU7lY

rms

On Sun, 01 Dec 2024 13:00:04 GMT, Geeknix
<usenet@apple.geeknix135.net> wrote:

>As the subject suggests, I'm looking to build a gaming PC for my son, a
>combined birthday and Christmas gift. I don't have a budget, but "her in
>doors" has, so basically I do have a budget!
>
>Looking for a PC that will last a while without having to upgrade, can
>manage 2k graphics, and enough storage for his growing library. If I
>could smuggle install MSFS2020 that would be a bonus.
>
>I am thinking for our budget that AMD5 might offer more future proofing
>than LGA1700. 8Tb HDD seems a lot cheaper than 10Tb. Other
>considerations is I am in Malaysia, access to brands is a bit harder.
>Local shops are recommending Zotac GPU, or prices vary.
>
>I tried to build the same machine as recommended by a local shop here:
>https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kthRJn
>
>I tried to swap out the parts for brands I am aware of and tweak a few
>things:
>
>https://pcpartpicker.com/list/d2Ptgn
>
>I would really appreciate anyone can have a quick review, I believe most
>here are more experienced gamers than myself! Apologies if the request
>for your time is cheeky or against the group rules. Thanks in advance.

Some immediate thoughts:

- Fully modular power supplies are neat, but unless you really tinker,
they're generally not worth the premium over non-modular power
supplies. How often are you going to be plugging and unplugging
peripherals? The fifty bucks you save can get put to something more
useful...

-... like adding a second (or larger) SSD. 1TB goes fast with games.
Fully installed (e.g., base game plus all free add-ons), MS Flight Sim
2020 takes 220GB all on its own (plus more for cache). And you _do_
feel a difference playing that game on SSD versus HDD.

- I'm sure this is subjective, but I also prefer Samsung SSDs to
Toshiba. I've just had better experience with the latter brand.

- Surprisingly (at least according to the specs sheet), the spinning
rust HDD you picked is CMR and not WD's usual SMR bullshit (which
slows down write performance). Be careful with picking hard-drives
since larger capacity drives usually accomplish this by using shingled
magnetic recording. If speed is a consideration, you want conventional
magnetic recording.

(That said, I'd just buy a cheaper and spinning-rust drive for data
storage and spend the savings on that second .M2 SSD).

- I don't have any issue with Zotac as a brand for the GPU. For a
while they were a bit dodgy but their QA has definitely improved over
the years. I was always a fan of EVGA but since they ducked out of the
industry they're not an option. The 4070 is a capable card and has
headroom for several years of gaming, even if it isn't highest-end.
It's /more/ than capable of running pretty much every game out there
at maxed out settings. You are buying right on the cusp of the
next-gen 5xxx GPUs coming out though, so as soon as you get the PC its
going to be outdated ;-)

Other than that, looks like a nice build (except... what, no mouse?).
If you want, you can buy two and give one to me ;-)

On 12/1/2024 8:20 AM, rms wrote:
>> https://pcpartpicker.com/list/d2Ptgn
>
>   I'd prefer you get a larger 32" monitor, and at that size a slight
> curve is beneficial.  Here's one that looks attractive:
> https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-32-curved-gaming-monitor-s3222dgm/
> apd/210-azzr/monitors-monitor-accessories
> This model happens to be on sale now, but of course look for reviews
> first for caveats.  Don't shy away from a bigger monitor if you haven't
> used one before, it’s the one part that makes the largest and most
> lasting impression in an upgrade.
>
Depending on prices two monitors might be cheaper while providing more
actual screen space. But that depends a lot on how many
windows/programs you commonly have running at one time. I have a pair
of 27" monitors and at times will have more than half-a-dozen various
windows open that I am actively doing something on.

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

On 12/1/2024 9:08 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> You are buying right on the cusp of the
> next-gen 5xxx GPUs coming out though, so as soon as you get the PC its
> going to be outdated ;-)
>
_That_ has been basically the case for many years now with the "Next
Generation" of some component or another.

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

On 2024-12-01, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sun, 01 Dec 2024 13:00:04 GMT, Geeknix
><usenet@apple.geeknix135.net> wrote:
>>I tried to swap out the parts for brands I am aware of and tweak a few
>>things:
>>
>>https://pcpartpicker.com/list/d2Ptgn
>>
>>I would really appreciate anyone can have a quick review, I believe most
>>here are more experienced gamers than myself! Apologies if the request
>>for your time is cheeky or against the group rules. Thanks in advance.
>
> Some immediate thoughts:
>
> - Fully modular power supplies are neat, but unless you really tinker,
> they're generally not worth the premium over non-modular power
> supplies. How often are you going to be plugging and unplugging
> peripherals? The fifty bucks you save can get put to something more
> useful...

Thanks for hanging around, I have been away on business, tried to post
from Thunderbird portable. I don't see my replies here so I guess it
didn't work!

Thanks for this tip, will consider a partial PSU, I am just concerned
about cooling, since the shops suggested liquid cooling. Were in my
build I have swapped liquid cooling for a top range fan.

> -... like adding a second (or larger) SSD. 1TB goes fast with games.
> Fully installed (e.g., base game plus all free add-ons), MS Flight Sim
> 2020 takes 220GB all on its own (plus more for cache). And you _do_
> feel a difference playing that game on SSD versus HDD.

I was originally think of 2 x 1Tb SSDs, one for OS and AAA games, the
second for flight sim, then spinning rust for all the less demanding
games he likes to play. My last build worked out cheaper with 1x2Tb SSD.
I might try sim on the HDD.

> - I'm sure this is subjective, but I also prefer Samsung SSDs to
> Toshiba. I've just had better experience with the latter brand.

I almost always buy Samsung or Kingston.

> - Surprisingly (at least according to the specs sheet), the spinning
> rust HDD you picked is CMR and not WD's usual SMR bullshit (which
> slows down write performance). Be careful with picking hard-drives
> since larger capacity drives usually accomplish this by using shingled
> magnetic recording. If speed is a consideration, you want conventional
> magnetic recording.

Haha that was luck, I just searched for gaming optimised HDD and
WD_BLACK came out top.

> (That said, I'd just buy a cheaper and spinning-rust drive for data
> storage and spend the savings on that second .M2 SSD).
>
> - I don't have any issue with Zotac as a brand for the GPU. For a
> while they were a bit dodgy but their QA has definitely improved over
> the years. I was always a fan of EVGA but since they ducked out of the
> industry they're not an option. The 4070 is a capable card and has
> headroom for several years of gaming, even if it isn't highest-end.
> It's /more/ than capable of running pretty much every game out there
> at maxed out settings. You are buying right on the cusp of the
> next-gen 5xxx GPUs coming out though, so as soon as you get the PC its
> going to be outdated ;-)

That is good to know. I just wasn't sure whether to deviate from the
standard GPU providers.

> Other than that, looks like a nice build (except... what, no mouse?).
> If you want, you can buy two and give one to me ;-)

He'll have to use what he has already for keyboard, mouse and
headphones. They can be next year.

--
Don't be afraid of the deep...
--[ bbs.bottomlessabyss.net | https | telnet=2023 ]--
--[ /query geeknix on libera.chat | tilde.chat ]--

On 2024-12-01, rms <rsquiresMOO@MOOflashMOO.net> wrote:
>>https://pcpartpicker.com/list/d2Ptgn
>
> I'd prefer you get a larger 32" monitor, and at that size a slight curve
> is beneficial. Here's one that looks attractive:
> https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-32-curved-gaming-monitor-s3222dgm/apd/210-azzr/monitors-monitor-accessories
> This model happens to be on sale now, but of course look for reviews first
> for caveats. Don't shy away from a bigger monitor if you haven't used one
> before, it’s the one part that makes the largest and most lasting impression
> in an upgrade.

I like the size also, 32" was just my first choice, but the price put me
off. Maybe I should look at VA panels if they work out a bit cheaper
than IPS.

I might stretch to a 32" seems to be worth the bit extra.

For gaming do you have a preference between VA or IPS?

--
Don't be afraid of the deep...
--[ bbs.bottomlessabyss.net | https | telnet=2023 ]--
--[ /query geeknix on libera.chat | tilde.chat ]--

On 2024-12-01, Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
> On 12/1/2024 8:20 AM, rms wrote:
>>> https://pcpartpicker.com/list/d2Ptgn
>>
>>   I'd prefer you get a larger 32" monitor, and at that size a slight
>> curve is beneficial.  Here's one that looks attractive:
>> https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-32-curved-gaming-monitor-s3222dgm/
>> apd/210-azzr/monitors-monitor-accessories
>> This model happens to be on sale now, but of course look for reviews
>> first for caveats.  Don't shy away from a bigger monitor if you haven't
>> used one before, it’s the one part that makes the largest and most
>> lasting impression in an upgrade.
>>
> Depending on prices two monitors might be cheaper while providing more
> actual screen space. But that depends a lot on how many
> windows/programs you commonly have running at one time. I have a pair
> of 27" monitors and at times will have more than half-a-dozen various
> windows open that I am actively doing something on.

For productivity I would certainly consider multiple separate monitors.
Easier to snap applications to monitors or online meeting you can select
one monitor to share all apps, then drag into that monitor any app you
want to show.

For gaming (not flight sim) I am leaning towards 1 larger monitor for
his AAA FPS.

--
Don't be afraid of the deep...
--[ bbs.bottomlessabyss.net | https | telnet=2023 ]--
--[ /query geeknix on libera.chat | tilde.chat ]--

On Thu, 05 Dec 2024 12:00:08 GMT, Geeknix
<usenet@apple.geeknix135.net> wrote:

>For gaming do you have a preference between VA or IPS?

Don't gamers prefer TN displays due to response time?

I prefer IPS displays as color pops on these screens in a way that
they don't on other displays. At least from what I have seen.

Geeknix <usenet@apple.geeknix135.net> wrote:
>Haha that was luck, I just searched for gaming optimised HDD and
>WD_BLACK came out top.

There's no such thing as a gaming optimized hard drive. Get the WD
Blue 8TB drive instead. It's also a CMR drive, you just save money by
getting a blue sticker instead of a black one.

You really don't want to be playing games off a hard drive anyways
these days. It's fine for older games and smaller ones, but most new
games list an SSD as a requirement. You can use the hard drive to
store the games you're not playing though, as Steam makes it easy to
move installed games from one drive to another.

--
l/ // Ross Ridge -- The Great HTMU
[oo][oo] rridge@csclub.uwaterloo.ca
-()-/()/ http://www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca:11068/
db //

Geeknix <usenet@apple.geeknix135.net> wrote at 12:30 this Thursday (GMT):
> On 2024-12-01, Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
>> On 12/1/2024 8:20 AM, rms wrote:
>>>> https://pcpartpicker.com/list/d2Ptgn
>>>
>>>   I'd prefer you get a larger 32" monitor, and at that size a slight
>>> curve is beneficial.  Here's one that looks attractive:
>>> https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-32-curved-gaming-monitor-s3222dgm/
>>> apd/210-azzr/monitors-monitor-accessories
>>> This model happens to be on sale now, but of course look for reviews
>>> first for caveats.  Don't shy away from a bigger monitor if you haven't
>>> used one before, it’s the one part that makes the largest and most
>>> lasting impression in an upgrade.
>>>
>> Depending on prices two monitors might be cheaper while providing more
>> actual screen space. But that depends a lot on how many
>> windows/programs you commonly have running at one time. I have a pair
>> of 27" monitors and at times will have more than half-a-dozen various
>> windows open that I am actively doing something on.
>
> For productivity I would certainly consider multiple separate monitors.
> Easier to snap applications to monitors or online meeting you can select
> one monitor to share all apps, then drag into that monitor any app you
> want to show.
>
> For gaming (not flight sim) I am leaning towards 1 larger monitor for
> his AAA FPS.

2 Monitors is pretty useful, even if it is technically an external
monitor and laptop screen.
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

On 12/5/2024 4:30 AM, Geeknix wrote:
> On 2024-12-01, Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
>> On 12/1/2024 8:20 AM, rms wrote:
>>>> https://pcpartpicker.com/list/d2Ptgn
>>>
>>>   I'd prefer you get a larger 32" monitor, and at that size a slight
>>> curve is beneficial.  Here's one that looks attractive:
>>> https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-32-curved-gaming-monitor-s3222dgm/
>>> apd/210-azzr/monitors-monitor-accessories
>>> This model happens to be on sale now, but of course look for reviews
>>> first for caveats.  Don't shy away from a bigger monitor if you haven't
>>> used one before, it’s the one part that makes the largest and most
>>> lasting impression in an upgrade.
>>>
>> Depending on prices two monitors might be cheaper while providing more
>> actual screen space. But that depends a lot on how many
>> windows/programs you commonly have running at one time. I have a pair
>> of 27" monitors and at times will have more than half-a-dozen various
>> windows open that I am actively doing something on.
>
> For productivity I would certainly consider multiple separate monitors.
> Easier to snap applications to monitors or online meeting you can select
> one monitor to share all apps, then drag into that monitor any app you
> want to show.
>
> For gaming (not flight sim) I am leaning towards 1 larger monitor for
> his AAA FPS.
>
If the machine he's interested in building is going to be "only" or
almost exclusively a gaming rig I agree (basically an overgrown console
:D ), a second monitor isn't necessary.

But everything is subject to mission drift. Even putting away the
laundry. ;)

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

On Thu, 5 Dec 2024 08:03:48 -0800, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

>If the machine he's interested in building is going to be "only" or
>almost exclusively a gaming rig I agree (basically an overgrown console
>:D ), a second monitor isn't necessary.
>
>But everything is subject to mission drift. Even putting away the
>laundry. ;)

I disagree.
(But then I would, seeing as I have four monitors ;-)
But even when playing games, I find it incredibly useful to have
multiple monitors.

The big one: for games
The 'main' monitor: for reference (maps, guides, notes, whatever)
The side monitor: WinAmp goes here! (complete with lyrics add-on so I
can scare the dog when I sing!)
The tiny monitor: all those background apps that keep me up to date on
non-gaming stuff (including a timer that tells me to stop gaming ;-)

(Sure, I could cram all the stuff on monitors 2-4 on one screen, but
why bother when I have four ;-)

But dual monitors are useful even when gaming. Get a second monitor!*

[* This message brought to you by People Who Make Money Selling You
Monitors, Inc.**]

** I don't really make money. I'm just a fan ;-)

On 12/5/2024 4:00 AM, Geeknix wrote:
> On 2024-12-01, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Sun, 01 Dec 2024 13:00:04 GMT, Geeknix
>> <usenet@apple.geeknix135.net> wrote:
>>> I tried to swap out the parts for brands I am aware of and tweak a few
>>> things:
>>>
>>> https://pcpartpicker.com/list/d2Ptgn
>>>
>>> I would really appreciate anyone can have a quick review, I believe most
>>> here are more experienced gamers than myself! Apologies if the request
>>> for your time is cheeky or against the group rules. Thanks in advance.
>>
>> Some immediate thoughts:
>>
>> - Fully modular power supplies are neat, but unless you really tinker,
>> they're generally not worth the premium over non-modular power
>> supplies. How often are you going to be plugging and unplugging
>> peripherals? The fifty bucks you save can get put to something more
>> useful...
>
> Thanks for hanging around, I have been away on business, tried to post
> from Thunderbird portable. I don't see my replies here so I guess it
> didn't work!
>
> Thanks for this tip, will consider a partial PSU, I am just concerned
> about cooling, since the shops suggested liquid cooling. Were in my
> build I have swapped liquid cooling for a top range fan.

Definitely stay away from liquid cooling. There's cheap tower fans that
outperform liquid cooling for the CPU at least now. It's also a hazard
to your computer and can be messy.

--
-Justisaur

ø-ø
(\_/)\
`-'\ `--.___,
¶¬'\( ,_.-'
\\
^'

On 2024-12-05, Ross Ridge <rridge@csclub.uwaterloo.ca> wrote:
> Geeknix <usenet@apple.geeknix135.net> wrote:
>>Haha that was luck, I just searched for gaming optimised HDD and
>>WD_BLACK came out top.
>
> There's no such thing as a gaming optimized hard drive. Get the WD
> Blue 8TB drive instead. It's also a CMR drive, you just save money by
> getting a blue sticker instead of a black one.

I see, hmm, wonder why I see so much discussion on the topic. I'll check
out the basic stats between WD_BLACK and Blue versions.

> You really don't want to be playing games off a hard drive anyways
> these days. It's fine for older games and smaller ones, but most new
> games list an SSD as a requirement.

Good tip, I'll check requirements when deciding the drive to install on.
He has a lot of older games, or things like Ravenfield, Minecraft,
slower moving games.

> You can use the hard drive to
> store the games you're not playing though, as Steam makes it easy to
> move installed games from one drive to another.

Another good tip thanks. Never thought of that, it would certainly make
swapping AAA games around faster.

EVERYONE WHO GAVE ADVICE ON MONITORS:

I wish I could afford two monitors, two 27" or two 32" would be epic.
Unfortunately, I can afford only one 27" or maybe can stretch to 32".
Another upgrade added to Wishlist.

--
Don't be afraid of the deep...
--[ bbs.bottomlessabyss.net | https | telnet=2023 ]--
--[ /query geeknix on libera.chat | tilde.chat ]--

On 12/6/2024 5:00 AM, Geeknix wrote:
> On 2024-12-05, Ross Ridge <rridge@csclub.uwaterloo.ca> wrote:
>> Geeknix <usenet@apple.geeknix135.net> wrote:
>>> Haha that was luck, I just searched for gaming optimised HDD and
>>> WD_BLACK came out top.
>>
>> There's no such thing as a gaming optimized hard drive. Get the WD
>> Blue 8TB drive instead. It's also a CMR drive, you just save money by
>> getting a blue sticker instead of a black one.
>
> I see, hmm, wonder why I see so much discussion on the topic. I'll check
> out the basic stats between WD_BLACK and Blue versions.
>
>> You really don't want to be playing games off a hard drive anyways
>> these days. It's fine for older games and smaller ones, but most new
>> games list an SSD as a requirement.
>
> Good tip, I'll check requirements when deciding the drive to install on.
> He has a lot of older games, or things like Ravenfield, Minecraft,
> slower moving games.
>
>> You can use the hard drive to
>> store the games you're not playing though, as Steam makes it easy to
>> move installed games from one drive to another.
>
> Another good tip thanks. Never thought of that, it would certainly make
> swapping AAA games around faster.
>
>
> EVERYONE WHO GAVE ADVICE ON MONITORS:
>
> I wish I could afford two monitors, two 27" or two 32" would be epic.
> Unfortunately, I can afford only one 27" or maybe can stretch to 32".
> Another upgrade added to Wishlist.
>
Advice like that is always divorced from real world economics. :)

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

>>For gaming do you have a preference between VA or IPS?
>I prefer IPS displays as color pops on these screens in a way that
>they don't on other displays. At least from what I have seen.

I went for VA, but have no experience with IPS, so my opinion doesn't
count for much. Some complain about 'smearing' with VA but can't say I'm
aware of any, and I do like the black levels, which are good for movies in
particular.

rms

On 12/6/2024 5:00 AM, Geeknix wrote:
> On 2024-12-05, Ross Ridge <rridge@csclub.uwaterloo.ca> wrote:
>> Geeknix <usenet@apple.geeknix135.net> wrote:
>>> Haha that was luck, I just searched for gaming optimised HDD and
>>> WD_BLACK came out top.
>>
>> There's no such thing as a gaming optimized hard drive. Get the WD
>> Blue 8TB drive instead. It's also a CMR drive, you just save money by
>> getting a blue sticker instead of a black one.
>
> I see, hmm, wonder why I see so much discussion on the topic. I'll check
> out the basic stats between WD_BLACK and Blue versions.
>
>> You really don't want to be playing games off a hard drive anyways
>> these days. It's fine for older games and smaller ones, but most new
>> games list an SSD as a requirement.
>
> Good tip, I'll check requirements when deciding the drive to install on.
> He has a lot of older games, or things like Ravenfield, Minecraft,
> slower moving games.

If you do go SSD, see if the board has an m.2 slot, as those are between
2-5x faster than a 2.5" SSD and cost barely any more now. I'd try not
to buy any that are really off brand as I've been having a lot of
trouble with the ones HP especially but to some extent Dell and Lenovo
are putting in that have brands that I've never heard of.

2tb is fine if you don't mind uninstalling larger games now and again.
I don't know that I'd get any lower than that as some games can be very
large, and between the os and a couple really big games you'd fill up a
1tb. Definately not a 500gb or lower though.

>> You can use the hard drive to
>> store the games you're not playing though, as Steam makes it easy to
>> move installed games from one drive to another.
>
> Another good tip thanks. Never thought of that, it would certainly make
> swapping AAA games around faster.
>
>
> EVERYONE WHO GAVE ADVICE ON MONITORS:
>
> I wish I could afford two monitors, two 27" or two 32" would be epic.
> Unfortunately, I can afford only one 27" or maybe can stretch to 32".
> Another upgrade added to Wishlist.

Personally I don't care much for 27" for gaming if it's within the about
4-5' mine is, you can't really focus on everything well.

Even a second very cheap smaller monitor - especially if it can be
rotated to portrait can be very handy when playing to look stuff up, or
just half watch something else.

--
-Justisaur

ø-ø
(\_/)\
`-'\ `--.___,
¶¬'\( ,_.-'
\\
^'

On Sat, 7 Dec 2024 08:00:45 -0800, Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com>
wrote:

>On 12/6/2024 5:00 AM, Geeknix wrote:
>> On 2024-12-05, Ross Ridge <rridge@csclub.uwaterloo.ca> wrote:
>>> Geeknix <usenet@apple.geeknix135.net> wrote:
>>>> Haha that was luck, I just searched for gaming optimised HDD and
>>>> WD_BLACK came out top.
>>>
>>> There's no such thing as a gaming optimized hard drive. Get the WD
>>> Blue 8TB drive instead. It's also a CMR drive, you just save money by
>>> getting a blue sticker instead of a black one.
>>
>> I see, hmm, wonder why I see so much discussion on the topic. I'll check
>> out the basic stats between WD_BLACK and Blue versions.
>>
>>> You really don't want to be playing games off a hard drive anyways
>>> these days. It's fine for older games and smaller ones, but most new
>>> games list an SSD as a requirement.
>>
>> Good tip, I'll check requirements when deciding the drive to install on.
>> He has a lot of older games, or things like Ravenfield, Minecraft,
>> slower moving games.
>
>If you do go SSD, see if the board has an m.2 slot, as those are between
>2-5x faster than a 2.5" SSD and cost barely any more now. I'd try not
>to buy any that are really off brand as I've been having a lot of
>trouble with the ones HP especially but to some extent Dell and Lenovo
>are putting in that have brands that I've never heard of.
>
>2tb is fine if you don't mind uninstalling larger games now and again.
>I don't know that I'd get any lower than that as some games can be very
>large, and between the os and a couple really big games you'd fill up a
>1tb. Definately not a 500gb or lower though.

Also, the faster your M2 SSD, the more important that it has some sort
of cooling, whether active (a fan blowing air over it) or passive
(some sort of heatsink). Heat kills the tiny transistors and too many
cheap M2 SSDs are sold as bare cards.

>>> You can use the hard drive to
>>> store the games you're not playing though, as Steam makes it easy to
>>> move installed games from one drive to another.

It should be noted that a lot of modern games still work quite well on
spinning rust. As well as on SSD? No. You'll see the occassional pause
or jerk as the game streams more data from the spinning rust, but the
games are generally still quite playable. If you're massively into
online gaming playing the most modern and top-end games, and where
every millisecond counts then these jerks can be a bit of an issue but
for a lot of games you'll barely notice.

And as much as I dislike SMR on modern drives, it mostly affects
WRITES, which is not something that games do a lot of. A 7200 RPM SMR
is fast enough for a lot of games.

TL;DR It's not the end of the world if you buy a slower spinning rust
drive to save a few bucks ;-)

On 07/12/2024 16:00, Justisaur wrote:
> On 12/6/2024 5:00 AM, Geeknix wrote:
>> On 2024-12-05, Ross Ridge <rridge@csclub.uwaterloo.ca> wrote:
>>> Geeknix  <usenet@apple.geeknix135.net> wrote:
>>>> Haha that was luck, I just searched for gaming optimised HDD and
>>>> WD_BLACK came out top.
>>>
>>> There's no such thing as a gaming optimized hard drive.  Get the WD
>>> Blue 8TB drive instead.  It's also a CMR drive, you just save money by
>>> getting a blue sticker instead of a black one.
>>
>> I see, hmm, wonder why I see so much discussion on the topic. I'll check
>> out the basic stats between WD_BLACK and Blue versions.
>>
>>> You really don't want to be playing games off a hard drive anyways
>>> these days.  It's fine for older games and smaller ones, but most new
>>> games list an SSD as a requirement.
>>
>> Good tip, I'll check requirements when deciding the drive to install on.
>> He has a lot of older games, or things like Ravenfield, Minecraft,
>> slower moving games.
>
> If you do go SSD, see if the board has an m.2 slot, as those are between
> 2-5x faster than a 2.5" SSD and cost barely any more now.  I'd try not
> to buy any that are really off brand as I've been having a lot of
> trouble with the ones HP especially but to some extent Dell and Lenovo
> are putting in that have brands that I've never heard of.
>
> 2tb is fine if you don't mind uninstalling larger games now and again. I
> don't know that I'd get any lower than that as some games can be very
> large, and between the os and a couple really big games you'd fill up a
> 1tb.  Definately not a 500gb or lower though.
>
>>> You can use the hard drive to
>>> store the games you're not playing though, as Steam makes it easy to
>>> move installed games from one drive to another.
>>
>> Another good tip thanks. Never thought of that, it would certainly make
>> swapping AAA games around faster.
>>
>>
>> EVERYONE WHO GAVE ADVICE ON MONITORS:
>>
>> I wish I could afford two monitors, two 27" or two 32" would be epic.
>> Unfortunately, I can afford only one 27" or maybe can stretch to 32".
>> Another upgrade added to Wishlist.
>
> Personally I don't care much for 27" for gaming if it's within the about
> 4-5' mine is, you can't really focus on everything well.
>
> Even a second very cheap smaller monitor - especially if it can be
> rotated to portrait can be very handy when playing to look stuff up, or
> just half watch something else.
>

I have a 24" monitor and although I have thought about going for a
larger size ultimately I think what do I practically get out of it
beyond that's cool for about two weeks before I've got used to it and no
longer really notice. I put 4k gaming in the same category - why spend
the money for something that will have no practical effect on improving
my gaming experience.

For other tasks, I just don't see the need for it and nor do I really
have the space on my little desk. The few times I do think another
screen would be useful I just use my iPad and a book-stand.