Who has what kind of PC today?

[RedWardancer]

Looks like I need to buy a new PC after mine has become obsolete after 7 years of service.  It was an Intel i6-6700 with 32GB RAM but a lousy NVIDIA 745.  To keep up with the trends and the gaming world, I want to know what to get so I'm not behind the power curve the moment the new PC arrives at my home. 

Do I need 64-128GB of RAM to play today's games such as SB PRO, ARMA 3, Skyrim SE, etc?  These are about the only intensive games I play now.  

Do I need an NVIDIA 4090?  

 

Or, can I get by with just 32GB RAM and maybe an NVIDIA 30xx?  

 

Who's sporting what to play a smooth SB game today? 

Price is important, but I refuse to invest in a cheap system just to have the same problems within a few months or so.  

[Ssnake]

2 hours ago, RedWardancer said:

To keep up with the trends and the gaming world, I want to know what to get so I'm not behind the power curve the moment the new PC arrives at my home. 

Do I need 64-128GB of RAM to play today's games such as SB PRO, ARMA 3, Skyrim SE, etc?

Certainly not for SB Pro, now, or in the foreseeable future. SB Pro V5, once available (and V4 is still going to stick around for a while), isn't supposed to require dramatically stronger hardware than right now.

2 hours ago, RedWardancer said:

Do I need an NVIDIA 4090?

No.

Personally, I settled for an RTX3070, and I don't expect to need anything dramatically better in the next years. NVidia's latest generation graphics cards seem to exhibit a nasty habit of spike power demands. There seems to be a bit of a disagreement between power supply vendors and NVidia who, exactly, is at fault. Whichever way you lean, the fact remains that these top of the line graphics cards require an equally top of the line power supply, all of which contributes to ballooning costs, increased noise from all the heat that needs to be fanned out of the case, not to speak of the electricity bill.

Maybe Linus Tech Tips has a particular axe to grind with NVidia, but just check a number of the videos they made over the last six months about the RTX4090 ... maybe it's not quite so bad, but the point stands that it'll cost a lot more for diminishing returns.

[RedWardancer]

This is good.  It means I don't need to spend a good $5000+ on a new PC.  I'm thinking on 32GB RAM, a RTX 30xx, and a 1TB SDD dual HD should be good for about ten years.  That's roughly about $2500.  The processor should be a 12th gen or so.  I feel a little better now.  Not that I have that kind of money at the moment, but I feel better.

[Gunn]

I run SB on an i7-12700k, RTX 3070Ti, with 64GB DDR4 @ 3200hz. I play with all graphical settings maxed out (assuming that's what's all sliders to the furthest right is), with no issues at all. I've built this system for DCS though, so it's likely quite overkill for what one would need for an enjoyable (subjective) experience in SB Pro PE, but as a reference point, this system does not struggle. And for what it's worth I'm playing on a 34" curved OLED monitor @ 3440 X 1440 ultrawide and it looks great!

[Falcon]

On 2/28/2023 at 11:34 PM, RedWardancer said:

Looks like I need to buy a new PC after mine has become obsolete after 7 years of service.  It was an Intel i6-6700 with 32GB RAM but a lousy NVIDIA 745.  To keep up with the trends and the gaming world, I want to know what to get so I'm not behind the power curve the moment the new PC arrives at my home. 

Do I need 64-128GB of RAM to play today's games such as SB PRO, ARMA 3, Skyrim SE, etc?  These are about the only intensive games I play now.  

Do I need an NVIDIA 4090?  

 

Or, can I get by with just 32GB RAM and maybe an NVIDIA 30xx?  

 

Who's sporting what to play a smooth SB game today? 

Price is important, but I refuse to invest in a cheap system just to have the same problems within a few months or so.  

A month ago, I was building a PC for my friend. He has a bit different preferences, as he works with CAD software and mostly plays modern racing sims - Assetto Corsa, etc.. these games are more demanding on GPU than the games you've mentioned. But I think the informations below might still be useful for you.


In my opinion, don't invest much into GPU. Something like RTX 3070/4060 is more than OK for your current "gaming needs". Choosing GPU also depends on how long you would like to stay "on High Graphics Settings" and how much are you into the newest games (both published, or soon to be published). If you are playing predominantely those 3 games and are not looking into any newly published/announced game, I wouldn't invest much into GPU.
If looking for some modern new GPU, I would consider Radeon. In recent years, they caught up the pace while keeping the price reasonable (unlike Intel/nVidia, which are currently overpricing their products a lot + the power consumption and heat generation starts to be a significant problem).


If you would like to invest a bit more into your PC while still wanting to play mostly those 3 games. I would invest in a better CPU and the Chipset on your MB and have some quick RAM sticks (DDR 5 instead of 4) and SSD (M.2/NVMe is standard nowadays). Be sure that you mix hardware which is compatible, as the DDR5 technology requires good CPU and Chipset to handle such speeds (otherwise you will have a bottleneck there, locking down your pricey RAM performance).
Also, newer high-end GPU (RTX 4080 Ti and higher) requires also a proper Chipset on your MB to transfer data to CPU as quickly as possible. Otherwise you will have a bottleneck there (not using the full performance of GPU).

32 GB DDR5 RAM is more than enough for the games you've mentioned (even 16 GB would be OK, but since you can buy 2x16 GB sticks, I would buy the pair of them, as you can save some money that way). Currently, I wouldn't recommend 1x32 GB sticks, as you pay quite a lot for the miniaturization of components. Since most MBs have 4x DIMM slots, max 64 GB RAM will be still very good for next 5-7 years (while max 128 GB will be still unnecessary). Currently, DDR4 RAM are more than good for Skyrim, ArmA and SB (but in few years, other games will start to require newer DDR5 to run, but here we go back again with question, if you are interested in newer games as well).


There are many websites where you can compare various PC Hardware (e.g. Tomshardware, you can also use Google and it will find you many articles and comparisons). Here are my specifications:

My HW Specs (PC built circa in 2016?):
Intel i7-7700K (8CPU, 4.2 GHz)
4x8 GB DDR 4 RAM
GTX 1080 (8GB VRAM)
SSD M.2 NVMe 500GB (for OS and DCS), the rest is on older 1TB HDDs (7200 RPMs)
MSi H270 Tomahawk Arctic MB

My friend's HW Specs (February 2023):
Intel i7-12700KF (because of CAD)
RTX 4070 Ti (because of high-end racing sims and because we found it super cheap, but it's very much not worth their regular price, I would look for RX 7090 XT instead)
2x16 GB DDR5 CL38
1TB SSD (Kingston KC3000 M.2 NVMe)
Gigabyte Z790 UD (it has very good Chipset Z790, supporting DDR5 and fast GPU on the first PCIe 16x slot)

Exact price values are irrelevant for this, as my country still uses our own currency (CZK).

Currently, both me and him can play any game at the Highest Graphical Settings. We've tested Cyberpunk and DCS and I have approx. 40-60 FPS while he has 200 FPS. (200 FPS is of course unnecessary, but he won't have to buy new GPU for some 7+ years to keep at this settings, while I am just about to drop down with Graphical Settings in a year or so). We both run ArmA at 50 FPS (there is an issue with Arma engine and CPU workload spread, as it's practically running only on 2 virtual threads)

Final notes:
- His PC requires Win11, I am still running Win10
- Consider, if you will stay on these games for next 5-7 years. This should be your main question regarding GPU
- your in-application performance (avg. FPS, microlagging, etc.) is also determined by your monitor resolution

Edited March 3, 2023 by Falcon

[TSe419E]

@Falcon  Is there a specific reason your friend can't use Win10?

[Falcon]

53 minutes ago, TSe419E said:

@Falcon  Is there a specific reason your friend can't use Win10?

Incompatibility with drivers (I don't know if nVidia GeForce GPU, or some other).

When he got the PC, he installed Win10, but he was unable to finish installation of some driver.
He gave the PC to customer service and they told him that it is not working under Win10 anymore and that he has to use Win11.



There are also some performance restrictions when using Win10 with that hardware:
When doing a research about the hardware, we found out that Win11 is better handling the DDR5 RAM (5 FPS difference, not much, but noticeable).
There is also something with Intel's 12th generation CPU and Win11. They handle it better than Win10, giving some better performance from it.

Edited March 3, 2023 by Falcon

[TSe419E]

Thank you!

[munckmb]

Hi,

I run SB on an Asus ROG strix laptop.  

 

Intel i7

GTX 1660ti

16GB memory. 

 

Runs fine, even DCS world is running fine.

[RENEGADE-623]

OS Name    Microsoft Windows 11 Home
System Name    RENEGADE-623
System Manufacturer    HP
System Model    OMEN 30L Desktop GT13-1xxx
System Type    x64-based PC
Processor    AMD Ryzen 5 5600G with Radeon Graphics, 3901 Mhz, 6 Core(s), 12 Logical Processor(s)
Installed Physical Memory (RAM)    32.0 GB (came with 16 GB  added 16GB more)
Total Physical Memory    31.8 GB
Available Physical Memory    23.5 GB
Total Virtual Memory    33.8 GB
Available Virtual Memory    21.8 GB
Page File Space    2.00 GB
NVIDEA RTX 3060 12 GB video card

Came with 1 TB SSD nmie 

added additional 2 TB nmie SSD and  2 TB sata ssd

 

SB Prp PE ran fine with the 16 GB memory, just wanted more, and also  play GTA V and MSFS 2020 on this machine, and yes, still play TFC on it

Edited March 4, 2023 by RENEGADE-623

[stormrider_sp]

5800X3D, 32Gb RAM 3600mhz CL18, RTX 3080

[Vikingo]

i-7 4770K@3.9 (from 2014), 32GB RAM DDR3, 1080GTX 8GB,  SSDs 1TB+2 TB + HDDs 4TB+4TB, TrackIR and X52 Pro. Play quite fine SB, DCS, IL-2, ARMA 3 (and C=64 + AMIGA emulators 🤘) 

[ben]

9900K@4.8, 64GB DR4 3600, rtx4090, 4TB of 980Pro ssds, LG C2 40" OLED 4k/120hz

[Scrapper_511]

I've got a handful of AAA titles that run extremely well at 1440p on Ultra graphics settings. The only ones that run around 40-60fps are DCS and Cyberpunk. Steelbeasts, punishes my build the most at 12-25fps in a very busy scenario (lots of units, buildings, smoke), so this is the only title where I can't max out visual settings. It's a very humbling feeling 🤣.

 

As has been mentioned in the past, Steel Beasts prefers a CPU with excellent single-core performance. If I were building primarily for SB I would focus on the best CPU you can get (I believe Intel continues to reign supreme in this regard). Any of the outgoing cards from nVidia or AMD will probably still serve you well. Also, invest in the fastest and largest storage you can get which will help a lot with SB load times.

 

My specs:

Ryzen 7 5700X

32Gb DDR4

Radeon RX 6800 XT

[Arch]

MSI B550M PRO-VDH

Ryzen 5 5500 with Arctic Freezer 34 CO (A bit overkill but the best acoustics I could get for the price)

Asus GTX1650 LP OC (For whatever reason I bought a low profile for an ATX case, go figure. We all have aneurysms sometimes. The price was okay but I could have got a 6500XT for a lot less, doh!)

EDIT: Bought a Sapphire Pulse 6700 10G because the price was too good to pass on, and it should perform better than my old 3060 12G.

Kingston Fury Beast 4*8GB 3200 CL16 DDR4

Samsung 980 Pro 1TB (I really should have bought an 870 Evo, but whatever. Maybe this will come in handy with Direct Storage, but I still feel like a fucking idiot.)

Some kind of Seagate 1TB HDD I got from a friend for free

Corsair CV650 (I know, I know, but it was the most suitable option for my budget)

Fractal Design Define S2 TG

 

Total price: Rounds to 1200 Australian Dollaridoos, or about 800 Dollar Dollars for these components. I bought on sales.  Built it myself, of course.

 

I am very satisfied for this price although I should have bought an 870 Evo as a 980 Pro is simply overkill and provides no benefit for my use case (I thought it was like the old Pros with the high longevity, do your research!) and at least a GTX1660Ti because I'd have effectively paid 100 AUD more for a whole heap of performance while being more optimized. My use case is 2D and 3D media creation, game modding, sim gaming and older-gen gaming at 1080p Low with a single monitor.

 

The big bottleneck is GPU due to thermal throttling and overall 1650 being a tad weak. My likely upgrade path is either a GTX1660Ti/Super or specifically an Asus Phoenix RTX3060 12GB. I have experience with the 3060 and my only complaint would be the lack of 0RPM fan mode, but otherwise it is excellent with incredible cooling potential. My old 3060 is in good hands now, being used for CUDA stuff.

 

I'm also waiting to get a good offer on a 2-3TB budget M.2 SSD for some additional high-performance storage as my drives are fairly close to being full.

EDIT: Bought a Silicon Power P34A60 2TB on sale.

EDIT 2: Do not buy the Silicon Power P34A60. Failed after like 10 hours. Returning and probably getting WD Green SN350. Good job SP.

EDIT 3: Oof, did not realize SN350 1TB is a QLC drive (unlike the 960GB). Cancelled and went for a normal Samsung 980. Bit more price, but lot more peace of mind, and it won't grind to a halt when transferring anything bigger than a few mb. Oh and the QLC SN350s have godawful TBW which is not exactly a plus.

 

Performance in SB is acceptable, hitting the 64~ FPS cap in smaller scenarios most of the time and tanking a bit when things get heavy that could likely be remedied via buying anything stronger than a 1660. Never becomes unplayable even in Battalion level scenarios with artillery pounding. 16GB RAM was sufficient but I went with a few more sticks some time later just to have a massive overhead and for media creation. However I didn't find more than 16GB RAM necessary for SB and played it with almost identical performance in most scenarios for some time, with the real bottlenecks being elsewhere.

 

A further optimization would be to go with a B560 and 12100F, which should offer strictly better performance in SB due to better single-core potential, but the value proposition for the AMD setup was better in my case.

 

I will likely buy a VKB NXT Evo Premium later on for flightsims, but it should be more than usable for tank sims too. I have experience with the NXT Gladiator Premium and it is excellent, with the Evo being a slight upgrade allegedly.

 

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

 

 

Edited April 10, 2023 by Arch

[Gibsonm]

This appears to be the most current "machine spec" thread.

 

Its about time for my machine's mid life graphic card update.

 

Thinking of going from:

 

Current Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070

 

to

 

Proposed Graphics card: MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Ventus 2X OCV1 8G LHR (or similar)

 

Most likely the card will run a 1080p screen (I don't need 3 screens or some massive curved 4K behemoth).

 

Any SB specific thoughts?

 

Edited March 12, 2023 by Gibsonm

[TSe419E]

I recently updated my RX 580 8g to an RX 6750 XT 12g.  Steel Beasts performance improved slightly and I am able to run at higher resolutions, 2560 x 1440, with no noticeable loss of fps (at 3840 x 2160 there is a noticeable slowdown).  I tested it today, playing with Kanium, and had very good results.  The only drawback to the higher resolution was the massive increase in the file size of the recording I made of the session.  The new card has been great for video editing, too.  What used to take an hour now takes about 25 minutes (@ 1080p for the raw video).

 

 

[Ssnake]

1 hour ago, Gibsonm said:

Thinking of going from ... NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 to ... RTX 3060 Ti Ventus 2X OCV1 

 

Most likely the card will run a 1080p screen

...then... why?

If you continue playing at (just) full HD, the 1070 is still adequate. I upgraded from a GTX980 to an RTX3070 because

- new PC, to begin with

- three-generation GPU leap

- 4K monitor

- testing needs for SB Pro V5

Upgrading "just because" ... well, it's your money, so your call, but I wouldn't do it until I really wanted to get rid of the 1070 because of some real grievance with it. Otherwise, for 1080p gaming it's a nice and perfectly adequate card.

[Gibsonm]

5 hours ago, Ssnake said:

...then... why?

If you continue playing at (just) full HD, the 1070 is still adequate. I upgraded from a GTX980 to an RTX3070 because

- new PC, to begin with

- three-generation GPU leap

- 4K monitor

- testing needs for SB Pro V5

Upgrading "just because" ... well, it's your money, so your call, but I wouldn't do it until I really wanted to get rid of the 1070 because of some real grievance with it. Otherwise, for 1080p gaming it's a nice and perfectly adequate card.

 

Ssnake,

 

I appreciate the reply and the down to earth advice re not just upgrading for the sake of upgrading and I don't want to turn this into a Windows fault finding post.

 

The underlying issue is that I have spent weeks now trying to get to the problem of a persistent blue screen issue (refer attached) and of course there are a multitude of suggested fixes.

 

I've tried an ancient GTX 560 Ti (with ancient performance) and the error seems to have gone away.

 

[Ssnake]

Sounds like a real grievance then, an absolutely valid reason to upgrade. What's the price difference between your pimped 3060 model and a basic 3070?

[Gibsonm]

41 minutes ago, Ssnake said:

Sounds like a real grievance then, an absolutely valid reason to upgrade. What's the price difference between your pimped 3060 model and a basic 3070?

 

MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Ventus 2X OC 8G: A$639.00

 

MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 3 x Plus OC 8G LHR: A$849.00

 

MSI Geforce RTX 3070 Ti Ventus 3X OC 8G: A$959.00

 

Edited March 13, 2023 by Gibsonm

[Ssnake]

Yeah, I see why one would rather go for the little brother. Prices aren't much different over here, didn't check them for a while.

[Scrapper_511]

On 3/12/2023 at 2:12 PM, Gibsonm said:

Current Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070

 

to

 

Proposed Graphics card: MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Ventus 2X OCV1 8G LHR (or similar)

 

Most likely the card will run a 1080p screen (I don't need 3 screens or some massive curved 4K behemoth).

 

Any SB specific thoughts?

 

The AMD counterpart, RX 6600 XT has comparable performance for much less money. Also there are 12GB versions of the RTX 3060 for about equal price of a 8GB 3060 ti. Radeon has great value, but GeForce has that Ray-Tracing thing and arguably better driver reputation. Goodluck!

[Gibsonm]

22 minutes ago, Scrapper_511 said:

The AMD counterpart, RX 6600 XT has comparable performance for much less money. Also there are 12GB versions of the RTX 3060 for about equal price of a 8GB 3060 ti. Radeon has great value, but GeForce has that Ray-Tracing thing and arguably better driver reputation. Goodluck!

 

Thanks for the information..

 

Unfortunately the query was time sensitive and the new card is already installed.

[Scrapper_511]

10 hours ago, Gibsonm said:

 

Thanks for the information..

 

Unfortunately the query was time sensitive and the new card is already installed.

In case anyone else is in the GPU market for a good 1440p card in the $400(US) range, I should add that the Radeon RX 6750 XT is not a bad choice in the current market. The reference card can be had directly from AMD at $420(US). The 6600 that I recommended previously should be considered if gaming only at 1080p and within the $260(US) range.