- Joined
- Dec 19, 2005
- Posts
- 23,252
Sounds like a really bad trade. Are the newer Surfaces still glued together, unable to open and upgrade them in a resonable way?
Unofficial PC Master Class Thread: Games to Hardware: Vintage and New
- Thread starter greedostick
- Start date
Sounds like a really bad trade. Are the newer Surfaces still glued together, unable to open and upgrade them in a resonable way?
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2000
- Posts
- 11,099
yes. like all small form factor devices....
you buy a bulky laptop or a tower if you want to get inside.
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2003
- Posts
- 4,475
That's what I was thinking... I admit, the surface pros do look pretty slick, but for the price of one you could have a really kick ass desktop and a cheap laptop for travel. You could even get a nice ASUS, Alienware, or Acer Predator for that cost. I guess it all depends on what your needs are. I just feel like Macs and Surface Pros are half the power for two or three times the price. You're basically limiting yourself to indie gaming at this point, and the necessity to have to upgrade every two years due to the already discussed soldered in RAM and GPU.
I use to own an Alienware M17x R4. I loved that thing. But after a year and a half it was already aging. A GPU upgrade was only available on eBay, at a cost of over 800.00. Its was ridiculous. If you spend that much money, then updradeability should be one of the top priorities considered pre production.
I guess I'm just a desktop guy now. To me there is no other option. I've had this old 1150 ASRock board now for a very long time, and it's still killing it. I will probably upgrade down the road after I figure out of Coffee Lake is here to stay, which I'm thinking it's not.
Does Windows 10 even run well on 4gb ram? Doesn't seem likely.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2014
- Posts
- 3,600
I was considering building a new rig this year but between RAM prices going through the roof and GPUs still in short supply thanks to coin miners, I think I'm gonna give it another year. My i5 2500k / GTX 1060 can still play pretty much everything on Ultra at 1080p anyway. I was just getting the 4K itch.
Whatever... that money can go to scoops. Or fixing up the kitchen. Or maybe one of those bomb-ass Toto toilets.
Whatever... that money can go to scoops. Or fixing up the kitchen. Or maybe one of those bomb-ass Toto toilets.
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2000
- Posts
- 11,099
Your rig is perfectly fine for 99% of the gaming out there. Updating Displays can sometimes feel like a refresh with the same hardware.
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2006
- Posts
- 8,790
1080p still looks great to me bro. I wouldn't bother upgrading if your Rig still destroys 1080p.
What kind of monitor are you using?
Last edited:
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2003
- Posts
- 4,475
With pc you always find a reason to upgrade. But if you have a 6gb GPU and over 3.0ghz i5 you're set. I would focus more a nice monitor as mentioned. Maybe even a dual monitor setup. I picked up a rotatable monitor recently. Great for Mushi and Ikaruga on steam. Ultra wide is also nice. Dariusburst action.
Mechanical keyboard and nice gaming mouse makes a world of difference too.
Right now with the mentioned ram spike, and gpu shortages, on top of intel most likely launching a new processor this year to replace the 1151 socket, everything points to hold on. Maybe end 2018 will be the time.
Mechanical keyboard and nice gaming mouse makes a world of difference too.
Right now with the mentioned ram spike, and gpu shortages, on top of intel most likely launching a new processor this year to replace the 1151 socket, everything points to hold on. Maybe end 2018 will be the time.
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2014
- Posts
- 3,600
My primary is a 27" 1440p IPS for gaming and then two older 23" Asus 1080p monitors I use to monitor my server/network and play fighting games on (that sweet 1ms lag).
1080p does look great. I just get the itch to build a new machine after a while and I built this one like 5+ years ago (whenever the Sandy Bridge processors came out).
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2006
- Posts
- 8,790
Yea, I hear you. I get the same itch but am going to hold off until I start noticing some slow down. I do want to upgrade my monitor to 144hz Display since I know I could get much higher fps than 60 @ max settings. It's like having a fast car that could do 160mph but it limits you to 120mph.
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2004
- Posts
- 3,711
I have several computers here. A 2011 27" iMac, a 2012 27" iMac, a 2014 13" Macbook Pro, a Xotic PC Gaming Laptop (i7-7700, gtx 1060, 16gb ddr4), a mini-ITX desktop(i5-4690k, radeon rx 580 4gb, 16gb ddr3)... although my primary system that I use daily is this:
Thermaltake Core P5 Case
Ryzen 7-1800X
Asus Prime B350-PLUS Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance LED 32GB DDR4-3000 (2x16)
MSI Gaming X GTX 1070 Video Card Water Cooled with a NZXT Kraken G12 GPU bracket / Thermaltake Water Riing 3.0 RGB 240 Edition
Samsung 960 Evo 500GB m.2 SSD
Samsung 850 Pro 1TB 2.5" SSD
Seagate FireCuda 2TB 3.5" SSHD (x's 2)
Asus PCE-AC55BT Wireless-AC1200 Adapter
Corsair RM750i PSU
Thermaltake Core P5 Case
Ryzen 7-1800X
Asus Prime B350-PLUS Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance LED 32GB DDR4-3000 (2x16)
MSI Gaming X GTX 1070 Video Card Water Cooled with a NZXT Kraken G12 GPU bracket / Thermaltake Water Riing 3.0 RGB 240 Edition
Samsung 960 Evo 500GB m.2 SSD
Samsung 850 Pro 1TB 2.5" SSD
Seagate FireCuda 2TB 3.5" SSHD (x's 2)
Asus PCE-AC55BT Wireless-AC1200 Adapter
Corsair RM750i PSU
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2001
- Posts
- 3,728
Since I no longer play games, I think I did alright. Runs every trying smoothly and am now able to do Photoshop and Illustrator on the go!
Windows 10 Pro boots up in about 30 seconds and I can upgrade the HDD if I need to.
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2001
- Posts
- 3,728
You will have to crack open the case and remove all the glue, but the hard drive inside is an M.2 class drive. Not saying it would be easy, but there are several videos on how to crack it open and upgrade the drive. So far I have ordered a 256GB MicroSDXC U3 for storage for now.
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2001
- Posts
- 1,448
I would strongly recommend going 21:9 for PC gaming over 4K.
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2004
- Posts
- 3,711
Sounds good, but where are the 5120x2160 monitors(and at a reasonable price)? Most 21:9's are 2560x1080 & that resolution is on the low side. There's 3440x1440 but those cost more then 4K(3840x2160) monitors. Not to mention there's currently more support for 16:9 / 16:10 then there is for 21:9. Of course that's gradually changing.
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2009
- Posts
- 1,379
The lack of 21:9 support in games is really too hit or miss. There are plenty of mods and hacks to add in the support but it's still not that great. 21:9 monitors are just cosmetically appealing for photo shoots to post on FB and reddit.
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2001
- Posts
- 1,573
Current cards can't even drive 4K displays at 60fps consistently, so why push for even higher resolutions?
I have a 34" 3440x1440 and think it's the sweet spot. High enough pixel count that a light dusting of AA provides a pretty smooth, detailed image, but low enough that a 1080 Ti can drive it at 60fps reliably. Getting the native resolution working on older games can be a hassle, but I haven't played anything new (meaning the last couple of years) where it's been a problem. Worst case, I play some older games at 2560x1440 pillarboxed.
I'd have a tough time going back to 16:9 after this.