Joining PC master race: help a console noob

Spike Spiegel

Onigami Isle Castaway
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Another stupid question from the noob extraordinaire: I have my computer completely built sans graphics card and ram. Will the machine turn on without ram so I can fart around in the bios or will it not give me a screen at all? I'm antsy. Ram arrives tomorrow, gtx1080ti arrives ????. Should I wait to start installing things or will that somehow fuck things up for me if I put the graphics card in after putting windows/etc on?
 

thirdkind

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Another stupid question from the noob extraordinaire: I have my computer completely built sans graphics card and ram. Will the machine turn on without ram so I can fart around in the bios or will it not give me a screen at all? I'm antsy. Ram arrives tomorrow, gtx1080ti arrives ????. Should I wait to start installing things or will that somehow fuck things up for me if I put the graphics card in after putting windows/etc on?

It won't POST without RAM.

In regards to gaming on monitors at higher resolutions, generally speaking you can get away with lower AA or supersampling settings depending on your tastes (not everyone likes the smooth look of strong AA) -- but it's not like you have much choice because running more sophisticated AA or supersampling on higher resolutions has a bigger performance impact, so you often have to lower your settings anyway.

I have a 34" ultrawide (3440x1440). On some games, I like stronger AA, and on some I turn it down.
 

Heinz

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With a 1080ti I'd set everything to max and leave super sampling alone completely. If you do want to use super sampling however I'd suggest 120% sampling rate, too much looks stupid.
 

thirdkind

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With a 1080ti I'd set everything to max

Depends what his monitor resolution and frame rate goals are. Even at 3440x1440 (which is fewer pixels than 4K), I can't completely max out every game on my 1080 Ti if I want to maintain 60fps. G-SYNC helps with the occasional dips, but it's still noticeable when it drops below that threshold.
 

Spike Spiegel

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So update, the machine is all put together and windows is installed. All I'm waiting for now is the graphics card. Speaking of which, the damn thing isn't showing any tracking info from Amazon, and has said for the last four days "Package has left seller facility and is in transit to carrier." So there's no telling when the damn thing will arrive.

I'm using this like a big video game console, so I'm using my Oled 65 inch TV. I have 1080p coming out from the motherboard at the moment, but hope that the sound will also come out of the graphics card when I get it installed and updated. I haven't sound from the HDMI out of the mother board yet, but it's a temporary thing as it's not my final output. So I guess I'll keep my fingers crossed.
 

thirdkind

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You'll get audio via HDMI from your graphics card. Surprised you're not getting it from the on-board graphics, but there's probably just a setting somewhere you missed.

Are you planning on gaming at 1080p or sending 4K to the TV? A 1080 Ti will absolutely crush pretty much any game at 1920x1080 (complete overkill really), but since your display is fixed at 60Hz, you might as well run it at native 4K and drop your settings a bit to hit 60fps. Even with reduced settings, native 4K will look better than 1080p upscaled.
 

Spike Spiegel

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You'll get audio via HDMI from your graphics card. Surprised you're not getting it from the on-board graphics, but there's probably just a setting somewhere you missed.

Are you planning on gaming at 1080p or sending 4K to the TV? A 1080 Ti will absolutely crush pretty much any game at 1920x1080 (complete overkill really), but since your display is fixed at 60Hz, you might as well run it at native 4K and drop your settings a bit to hit 60fps. Even with reduced settings, native 4K will look better than 1080p upscaled.

I'm planning on doing native 4k. I also REALLY wanna do VR, which is why I went with the processor and graphics card that I did.
 

Spike Spiegel

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So I have it built now. And it's amazing. It's amazing the difference between games I play on ps4pro and this (and hi was a big ps4pro fan). Much higher resolution and mich faster frame rate. It makes the games almost look.... weird in comparison.
 

thirdkind

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So I have it built now. And it's amazing. It's amazing the difference between games I play on ps4pro and this (and hi was a big ps4pro fan). Much higher resolution and mich faster frame rate. It makes the games almost look.... weird in comparison.

"Weird" is what it feels like after you get used to higher frame rates and then try to play some 30fps console jank.

Enjoy :)
 

Spike Spiegel

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Oh yes. I can imagine. I rebought fallout 4 and division for pc and they're like different games. I refuse to play them on ps4 now.
 

Kid Panda

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The PC space is a little different than console though, yes you get more, fps, resolution, etc. But at the same time, a console is meant for just plug n play, wait til a patch breaks your game on PC, it can be weeks or months before it gets fixed, if at all. Look at Nier Automata, the PC version is in shambles, til someone taht wasn't Platinum came and fixed it. Don't get me wrong, I love my PC and gaming on it, but there are some games you will never see on the PC.
 

thirdkind

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The PC space is a little different than console though, yes you get more, fps, resolution, etc. But at the same time, a console is meant for just plug n play, wait til a patch breaks your game on PC, it can be weeks or months before it gets fixed, if at all. Look at Nier Automata, the PC version is in shambles, til someone taht wasn't Platinum came and fixed it. Don't get me wrong, I love my PC and gaming on it, but there are some games you will never see on the PC.

There are plenty of PC games that never make it to consoles or don't translate well if they do. But yeah, shitty ports are part of the deal in PC land. Best to keep your preferred console around for exclusives and broken ports.

Of course, there are some games that are broken on all platforms and the community patches actually make the PC version the best choice. (I'm looking at you, Bethesda.)
 

Kid Panda

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There are plenty of PC games that never make it to consoles or don't translate well if they do. But yeah, shitty ports are part of the deal in PC land. Best to keep your preferred console around for exclusives and broken ports.

Of course, there are some games that are broken on all platforms and the community patches actually make the PC version the best choice. (I'm looking at you, Bethesda.)

Agreed, stuff like RTS games really don't need to be on consoles at all and lol @ Bethesda.
 

Heinz

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I really don't know how anyone plays an FPS on a console, it looks like poo and plays like poo in comparison.
 

RAZO

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I really don't know how anyone plays an FPS on a console, it looks like poo and plays like poo in comparison.

This. For most the most part, mouse and keyboard trumps a controller any day of the week when it comes to playing FPS's. Plus the game always looks much better.
 

Spike Spiegel

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Mouse and keyboard has it's flaws. Walking around with keyboard keys sorta sucks. And the buttons simply will never be as ergonomic. But Yes, aiming with a mouse is a million times better.

With that said, I'm playing mouse and keyboard with everything except fallout. I simply can't play it without a controller.
 

thirdkind

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I use this and remap the movement keys to the thumb stick. The other benefit is having a larger mouse area and being able to rest my hands closer together, which is more comfortable. I sit at a desk, though. From the couch, I'd probably lean towards a controller for everything except twitch FPS.
 
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RAZO

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Mouse and keyboard has it's flaws. Walking around with keyboard keys sorta sucks. And the buttons simply will never be as ergonomic. But Yes, aiming with a mouse is a million times better.

With that said, I'm playing mouse and keyboard with everything except fallout. I simply can't play it without a controller.

Yea, I understand, I guess it's a matter of preference. I'm not a hardcore PC gamer but I started at young age playing games on PC from Wolfenstein all the way to the New Doom so it just feels right on the keyboard and mouse. When I first played Halo on the original Xbox it felt so weird playing a FPS on the Xbox Controller. Eventually it just became a normal thing playing FPS's with a controller.
 
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