Entry/midrange build for older games

[Scott]

Do you mean the Corsair 4000D? If so, I'll just ignore the amazon review nitpicks and go with this case, since everyone here seems to be quite positive towards it.

They aren't all winners in the configurator but none of the regulars will ever recommend a poor case. We all have our favourites with aesthetics in mind but performance wise you'll always be guided in the right direction.

As suggested, take anything written on Amazon with a large pinch of salt. The information can be taken on board, but always have it sanitised and clarified.

The 4000D is absolutely one of the best cases on the market. If you wanted to spend a little more, and have a tangible difference, the Meshify 2 Compact would be my next choice.

 

[FOX76255]

Morning all.
I've placed an order on a computer using Scott's template. Obviously with 2 bank holidays and a weekend straight after, it won't even reach pre-production until next week.

In the meantime, I randomly decided to catch up on some steam curators and ended up finding out about some issues certain games have on various hardware configurations.
DICE's Frostbite engine games like post-2012 NFS seem to have issues with AMD cpus, with commonly cited solution being to disable SMT.
Meanwhile, idtech5/6 engine titles like new Wolfenstein and DOOM games either have abysmal performance on AMD gpus or flatout crash and, as another example Horizon Zero Dawn has decreased performance on processors with high number of cores, but that seems unrelated to cpu/gpu brands.

Are there any other games I should avoid because of lack of developer foresight or I should attempt a last minute amendment of the order? I went with Ryzen 5 5600G and RX6600 combo. I'd prefer not to make any changes to an already placed order, but first I'd like to hear what PCS forum goers have to say.

 

[FOX76255]

Actually, I found out about the SMT issues with Frostbite from NFS Payback's PC Gaming Wiki article. Then I did some more google searches and it would appear that quite a few other games have that problem as well, Cyberpunk, Rainbow 6 Siege, Battlefield 1, just to name a few. It's a bit difficult to google, though, since SMT is what Shin Megami Tensei franchise is abbreviated to, and using too many keywords often gives you fewer results.
I'm not sure how persistent those problems are. Some people seemed to have fixed the crashes/BSODs by tinkering with other settings like bios, while others weren't successful at all and had to abandon those games.

Ryzen Users Crashing Constantly

Ryzen users are crashing every 5-15 minutes, sometimes even less. The game is unplayable. Reddit Thread with users having issues: https://www.reddit.com/r/battlefield_one/comments/8hmbrd/i_crashed_twice_already_exe/

answers.ea.com

Steam Community :: Guide :: AMD Desktop Fixes

This game has issues and every guide to fix them is written by some illiterate person who can't type correctly. This is the short and sweet version for all things Wolfenstein: The New Order and how to

steamcommunity.com

https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/7nf8gt

https://www.reddit.com/r/Wolfenstein/comments/o1rmm3

This is just a handful of links, I know it's not a definitive "yep, these games don't work on these hardware configs", nor is it a cause for alarm.
It goes without saying that I'm simply trying to find out whether or not AMD cpu/gpu combos could cause issues in the first place, rather than me panicking and trying to abandon the AMD ship prematurely without doing any solid research first.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Actually, I found out about the SMT issues with Frostbite from NFS Payback's PC Gaming Wiki article. Then I did some more google searches and it would appear that quite a few other games have that problem as well, Cyberpunk, Rainbow 6 Siege, Battlefield 1, just to name a few. It's a bit difficult to google, though, since SMT is what Shin Megami Tensei franchise is abbreviated to, and using too many keywords often gives you fewer results.
I'm not sure how persistent those problems are. Some people seemed to have fixed the crashes/BSODs by tinkering with other settings like bios, while others weren't successful at all and had to abandon those games.

Ryzen Users Crashing Constantly

Ryzen users are crashing every 5-15 minutes, sometimes even less. The game is unplayable. Reddit Thread with users having issues: https://www.reddit.com/r/battlefield_one/comments/8hmbrd/i_crashed_twice_already_exe/

answers.ea.com

Steam Community :: Guide :: AMD Desktop Fixes

This game has issues and every guide to fix them is written by some illiterate person who can't type correctly. This is the short and sweet version for all things Wolfenstein: The New Order and how to

steamcommunity.com

https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/7nf8gt

https://www.reddit.com/r/Wolfenstein/comments/o1rmm3

This is just a handful of links, I know it's not a definitive "yep, these games don't work on these hardware configs", nor is it a cause for alarm.
It goes without saying that I'm simply trying to find out whether or not AMD cpu/gpu combos could cause issues in the first place, rather than me panicking and trying to abandon the AMD ship prematurely without doing any solid research first.

Just test it? Disabled SMT and see if you still get the crashes?

 

[FOX76255]

I don't think I can do that until I actually receive the computer first.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I don't think I can do that until I actually receive the computer first.

Yes, that's a good point 🤣

 

[FOX76255]

Yes
Again, I'm not trying to start a panic or anything, just would prefer to know in advance if there are some titles I simply can't run.
I do like a bit of NFS, but if Frostbite doesn't want to play along, then it would be a shame.
Having done some more googling, it /might/ be that only 300/400/500 series AMD cards are affected by idtech5/6 shenanigans? I literally googled "doom 2016 rx6600" and got quite a few results of people playing the game as normal, so maybe it's just older gen cards like JustARandomPerson said. Also, Wolfenstein seems to have a neat tool developed called "idtech tweaker" so that would be another avenue to explore in case some oopsies occur.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I do like a bit of NFS, but if Frostbite doesn't want to play along, then it would be a shame.

It's not that it doesn't play, you just need to disable SMT, it's just a flick of a switch in the BIOS, takes 1 minute. But those are early reports, I wouldn't be surprised if frostbites been updated since then anyway.

Those GPU isses were on the older RX5000 series, it's not the current GPU's. There was something inherently wrong with the last gen cards.

 

[FOX76255]

I hope so, but given that BF2042 is a colossal disaster, I don't know if EA will do what they usually do - cut their losses and blame devs for everything that went wrong with the game, then shut down the studio

 

[SpyderTracks]

I hope so, but given that BF2042 is a colossal disaster, I don't know if EA will do what they usually do - cut their losses and blame devs for everything that went wrong with the game, then shut down the studio

Yeah, EA are certainly good at blaming Devs. They're desperately trying to get themselves bought out, I'm hearing Apple and Amazon are both hearing bids.

From what I'm hearing, EA are vastly overrating their market worth which is putting everyone off.

 

[FOX76255]

I watched a few theory videos on what might happen to EA. Apple don't seem to be interested in gaming, while Amazon just don't have a clue how to make games. There are speculations that Sony might buy them, but no matter where they end up, nothing will bring back all the franchises and studios they killed. I'm hopeful that MS will do something good to Activision/Blizzard, but seeing how Halo Infinite is faring, I'm somewhat skeptical there as well.
Another game industry crash when???

 

[SpyderTracks]

I watched a few theory videos on what might happen to EA. Apple don't seem to be interested in gaming, while Amazon just don't have a clue how to make games. There are speculations that Sony might buy them, but no matter where they end up, nothing will bring back all the franchises and studios they killed. I'm hopeful that MS will do something good to Activision/Blizzard, but seeing how Halo Infinite is faring, I'm somewhat skeptical there as well.
Another game industry crash when???

Apple, now they have the Apple Silicon GPU's I think are going to start buying studios out left right and center.

Apple Arcade is the first move to try to get into the industry, and it's been pretty successful. Of course these are smaller "mobile" titles, but now they have Apple Silicon GPU's which are suprisingly capable, and are just about to enter the VR space, I wouldn't be surprised if they start to concentrate more on gaming.

 

[FOX76255]

Hi again.
I'm a very incompetent consumer who once again should have researched stuff prior, but having gone with FD Meshify C, I've done more digging on the case, and a normally simple task of opening up the case, plugging/powering an SSD drive, looks like it might be a horribly tedious thing to do, given how the case is designed. I was under the assumption that the metal divider that separates mobo from PSU can be removed, but this doesn't seem to be the case.

Now, should I swap the case to another, possibly a bigger one since I don't mind full ATX cases --or-- should I just suck it up and buy a SATA-to-USB adapter?

Again, don't want to sound super dramatic, I just want a nice case with good airflow, easy to clean/maintain, but also one that's easy to get to in case I need to quickly plug something into the mobo/psu.

 

[Aza]

Have you placed the order already? If so, has it started building yet?
You can amend orders without an amendment fee before they start building and just pay the difference for the parts, they will charge once building has started.

Can you link your current configuration? (The build youve ordered/going to order?

 

[FOX76255]

https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/Ww8BWYYhMm/ this is the build, logged into the account and it says "processing" with production time stated as 2 working days. I don't think anything will happen until monday, since we have double bank holiday and then the weekend.

 

[Aza]

I can see some of the advice has confused you... youve got a cpu with inbuilt graphics and a graphics card in that build.
Scotts point was if the games you are playing are old, they wouldnt really need a gpu, so you can drop the gpu and get a cpu with inbuilt graphics.

If you want a graphics card (which would give a more powerful machine anyway) then dont take a cpu with inbuilt graphics.

If its still processing now is the perfect time to amend, if taking a GPU then take the 5600 cpu (not g or x variant), if going with onboard graphics then you can drop the gpu. You can also amend the case, the 5000D is a very good case and lots of room to work in, the 4000D is its smaller cousin but still a good case, Lain Li lancool 215 is an excellent case at its pricepoint, very good airflow.

If you are dropping the gpu i would actually suggest the 5000X, its more but dropping the gpu is gonna lower the price a lot, and thinking of future upgrades and potential to reuse the case, the 5000X is a very good choice. Also with the 5000 series, you can swap the front panels around, so if you dont want a glass front you can buy the lattice front panel that teh 5000D models come with (costs about £15) and change them over, which can be a big improvement on airflow. The 5000X model also comes with 3 Airflow front fans already (which cant be bought seperately)

 

[Aza]

So if going with intergrated graphics, perhaps this? You would be able to upgrade the cpu and add a gpu in very easily should you want to in a few years etc

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 5000X RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600G Six Core CPU with Radeon™ Graphics (3.9GHz-4.4GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler Black Edition
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Supplied on USB Drive
Office Software
Microsoft® Office Home & Student 2021 (1 Digital License)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 3 to 6 working days
Price: £1,197.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/UebWGBbc8e/

 

[Aza]

I'd even suggest maybe going Intel with intergrated graphics, take advantage of the motherboards being a newer platform so if you then upgraded the cpu and added a gpu, youd have the choice of more recent cpu's where you should get another generation or two that will fit the socket.

 

[Aza]

If sticking with the GPU, then amend your order to a 5600 cpu, not a 5600G, and if changing case, perhaps the 5000D (that way its only going to cost an extra £26 for the amendments)

 

[FOX76255]

Alright, I'll ditch IGPU on the processor [5600G -> 5600] and swap to Corsair 5000D. Everything else I reckon can stay as is.
Sorry for wasting everyone's time, I'm quite illiterate when it comes to hardware, if only because I've been out of the loop for a long time.
5000D also looks like a better case, since the PSU compartment isn't fully "locked off" compared to 4000D/MeshifyC/Lancool.