Technical Advice

[nocarename]

So my hard working desktop of many years has hit the end of its life-cycle. In particular, the motherboard appears to have failed. (No BIOS messages, CD drive will open and shut if I time the button pushes correctly, fans make 'whir' noises as they are supposed to)

If anyone can suggest a current model for purchase in western Canada, that would be great.
I don't mind paying a bit more for capacity, and it would be nice if there is enough capacity that starting up Planetary Annihilation doesn't make the fans sound like the case is preparing for take-off...

[Bluemage]

I can't advise on the models available for purchase in Canada, but I can give you advice on what to look for.

Processor: If you like Intel, go for an i5 for most uses, or an i7 if you do hella multitasking, video editing, or just really want excess power. The bigger the number, the better... an i5-85xx is a midrange current-gen chip that'd work well enough. For AMD, anything from a Ryzen 5 3600X up should be good- the bigger the number, the faster and the spendier. Can't testify too much to the AMD high-end, but IDK if going past the Ryzen 7 will get you anything.

RAM: At least 16GB. PA wants 12GB recommended.

Graphics: Again, the bigger the number, the better/longer until an upgrade. For PA, I'd aim for the midrange... a GTX 2050 (or even a 1050-1070) would be ample. Again, not sure about AMD options.

Fans: Bigger fans equal slower spinning, equals quieter case. A desktop with 120mm fans will be a LOT quieter than one with 60mm fans under load.

It boils down to a few simple points.
-Get at least the recommended specs for PA.
-Get an SSD (if only for Windows and PA). Everything else can be on HDD. It makes life SO MUCH SMOOTHER.
-The more you spend, the further away that 'this computer won't run what I want it to' point is.
-At some point, you end up spending way too much for way too little. That's why you don't need an i9 or a Threadripper or a Titan- too much cash for a few percent more speed than the next steps down.
-Check the case.

[nocarename]

Thank-you for something to start from. I was just sort of flailing around without context.

Some of this advice was met when I did the previous incarnation of my desktop, the SSD for the OS for one point. It's just that the last incarnation was assembled 2012-ish and the links from then for what I ordered/considered just don't work anymore.

I'll double check the case and the rest too before I start throwing money around. Just in case.

...And I'm going to have to finally migrate to Windows 10 on the desktop too, I guess. Bleh.

[Star Ranger4]

Bluemage pretty much has covered the same decision tree I went through when I bought a new desktop a year and a half ago.

[Dragonflight]

This is a link to the rig my friend, who's also a really good computer tech, came up with. It's what I"m using now. I've added an additional 240GB M2 drive to serve as my games drive for stuff I play all the time, which I picked up on sale for a song.

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/user/nmyates...iew=rHgFGX

[Black Aeronaut]

If you're after more bang for your buck, I'd recommend the offerings of AMD. They've been making considerable waves lately with their Ryzen CPUs, which have been showing to be fair competition against Intel's lineup.

My laptop has the mobile Ryzen 7 2700u CPU, and now that it's memory is up to 16GB, Cities Skylines runs considerably smoother even with a city with a population of over 110,000 cims. It's not fast enough that running at 2x or 3x speed is any faster, but at least it doesn't crawl at even 1x speed.

You should be able to snag something even better without spending a whole lot for a desktop unit.

[Wiregeek]

I can't recommend 'a model', since I built all my compy out of raw hardware and good steak. But I can give you some guidelines.

- spring for the biggest M.2 or NVME ssd you can get. 2tb of ultra fast storage. Use it for everything. It's worth it. If you're a data hoarder, throw an 8tb or 10tb chunk of spinning rust at that problem.
- i7, one notch down from 'top shelf'.
- 32gb memory minimum.
- nvidia graphics, 10_70_ ti superclocked wtf OC ultra whobit edition or 1080 ti - you want one from a big name (Asus is my go-to, MSI, Gigabyte) with three big 'ol fans on it.
- Corsair Hwhatever all in one 'water cooling' unit. Quiet, reliable, plenty of cooling overhead for moderate overclocking.

I'm currently happy as a clam with a 7th gen i7 running six cores at 5.0ghz stable. I wish I had 64gb of ram, I wish I had a 1080ti instead of a 1070.

I am intel / nvidia biased. I do not want to discuss the merits.

[Shader]

Take the advice with a grain of salt.

Take a look at logical increments website - and compare the builds (and prices) from US and Canada. (http://www.logicalincrements.com/)

People rave about 4k graphics, but if your monitor can't support it, and you aren't going to be getting a monitor that fancy, dial back a little on the graphics card.

A computer that costs about 1.5 grand in the US, costs about 2.5 grand here in Aussie land, so it pays to shop around and design your system to your requirements.

[nocarename]

Thanks for the advice everyone. Components have been purchased but are not yet assembled.
A list may be posted after I stop flinching at the total at the bottom of the receipt and I figure out exactly what is going to be transplanted from the previous incarnation.