What PC (Desktop)

Console user here. What computer is best As in Desktop gaming runs ki on max settings. NO DROPS!

That’s a more complicated question than you might think, as there aren’t really “standard” computer kits/models for the most part.

KI isn’t a particularly intensive game for nowadays though, so a lot of varieties of hardware combinations should be able to run it on max without issue (not sure if/how 4K resolution changes this).

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It seems like you can probably max out KI at 1080p on something like a 2GB GTX 1050Ti, and at 4K on a GTX 1070. 1080p max settings doesn’t even wake up my 1070’s fans. KI is really undemanding.

That said, I’d consider going a cut above each of these if I were building a new PC right now, since if you’re going to build a new gaming PC you may as well be able to comfortably run the typical big new release. If you’re sticking to 1080p I’d think about maybe a 6GB GTX 1060, and I’d want at least a GTX 1080 if I wanted everything to output at 1440p or 4K. AMD cards are also probably worth considering – they tend to be better about open standards and not forcing you to spend $200 extra for the privilege of adaptive sync – but I don’t know much about the AMD offerings at the moment.

Other stuff:

  • CPU is less important, it seems like there’s no reason to go above an Intel i5 at the moment. I wouldn’t dip down to an i3 though. If you want to stave off obsolescence for a few more years then getting the K version will allow overclocking, otherwise get a cheaper one.
  • Get a Hyper 212 Evo or Hyper 212X CPU cooler. They’re bulky, but cheap and effective.
  • You should probably get 16GB of memory, since 8GB can get pretty tight when you have a modern memory-hogging web browser and various other programs running alongside a game. You can probably get away with 8GB for a while if you’re happy to close the browser and any other serious software while gaming, though. If you get 8GB, make sure it’s 2x4GB – you actually need two sticks of RAM to get full speed.
  • Speaking of memory speed, games probably won’t benefit from “fast” RAM – that is, faster than DDR4-2400 – for the foreseeable future, so I wouldn’t fork out much more cash for 3200 speed memory or anything like that. Memory is expensive enough these days as it is. (I spent ~$130 Australian for 2x8GB 3200-speed Ripjaws at this time last year, which was ~US$100. Prices now are crazy, which I think has something to do with phones.)
  • If you’re going Intel for your CPU then I’d get a well-featured Z270 motherboard, so you have some confidence that you’ll be able to do whatever you want with it down the road.
  • You should care enough about the PSU to get a quality one – ideally a well-reviewed 80+ Gold Certified unit – because you don’t want a faulty unit destroying your PC, you’ll save money on power consumption in the long run, and you’re probably putting this PSU in your next build.

Starter list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/q2gM9W

You can mess around with the list on PCPartPicker to get it to where you want it (or make your own from scratch), which you should do since I can’t claim to have made the most suitable choice for everything.

A few notes about that build:

  • Went with the Z270 version of the motherboard I got: the ASRock Fatal1ty K6. It’s treated me well so far and the new one looks like it has some meaningful improvements. I’d also look at, e.g. the Tom’s Hardware 2017 best motherboards Z270 recommendations, since they helped me when I was researching my build. I think reasons to spend more on a motherboard seem to thin out by around the US$200 mark, but the K6 is probably worth it over cheaper boards. The ROG Hero is probably the ASUS equivalent, if you want a bigger-name brand.
  • From what I’ve heard from people who make their living building rigs, G.Skill make near-faultless memory. The Ripjaws are also on the lower end in price. (Well, considering that all memory is expensive these days.) You can shop around for Ripjaws in different colours if you want.
  • I have no idea what your storage requirements are, so you probably want to change it up a fair bit. Generally you want to boot your OS and load games you’re playing from a fast SSD if you can, and keep other things on HDDs. (Unless you’re swimming in money and can afford to keep all your data on NAND flash.)
  • The MyDigitalSSD BPX is probably the sweet spot for fast NVME SSDs: you’ll load a KI match in something like 2 seconds with it, which is probably optimal; and they’re not much more expensive than traditional SATA SSDs of the same capacity like the Samsung 850 Evo. You might also want to think about the Plextor M8Pe (make sure it comes with the heatsink sleeve), which is on sale for a little bit more than the BPX in various places at the moment and seems to be the superior product. I went with the 256GB version for the list, but in truth that’s pretty much Win10 and 2 big games these days (Allow ~70Gb for Win10, KI is 50GB, then e.g. DOOM is maybe 70GB…oh, and you don’t want your SDD to be more than 90% full for performance reasons), so I think it’d be a good idea to bump it up to 512GB if you can, unless you move games you’re not playing to the HDD immediately. (I personally got the Samsung 960 Pro 512GB, which is pretty much the fastest consumer SSD available, but it’s completely wasted on games and pretty much a waste of money. I got it because it was the first of all these products to ship and I had the money to blow. Don’t get one.)
  • Typical commodity 3TB HDD for storing your Steam library and whatnot so you don’t need to re-download games all the time (and whatever large amounts of data you have). Obviously remove if you have sufficient spare drives. If you’re really only playing KI for now and don’t have any other big data needs then maybe you can axe the HDD entirely for now and get one once you start to feel the pain. Alternatively you could get the HDD and put off the SDD, if you don’t mind long load times.
  • EVGA has generally great stuff and insane warranties, so I picked their GTX 1060 and their SuperNOVA G3 PSU. Feel free to switch out the graphics card for whatever hits the mark you want; I’d be hesitant to switch out that PSU (though there are other good, non-EVGA options out there).
  • Cases are up to personal taste, as well as features/build quality. That one’s mine and it’s pretty good, but shop around, read reviews, etc. The list has a loosely red/black/white theme to it (i.e. default gaming PC aesthetic, but also very KI) so I picked the case colours accordingly, but do what you want.
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Nice lengthy post. Well said.

However if you don’t want to build your own pc, You can buy a pre-built system from someone like Asus, specifically the ROG desktop or laptop line.

Oh, by-the-by, probably should update those CPU and motherboard picks a generation: Intel Coffee Lake Coming October 5, Here Are The Details | Tom's Hardware

I’d wait a week or so for motherboard reviews to hit. Generally it’s a good idea to just get the new-gen stuff when it comes to CPUs and motherboards, because they’re better and the price difference is almost non-existent.

Other notes I forgot:

  • For keyboard/mouse you can get away with a cheap Microsoft wired combo. It’s what I did – I still haven’t found a good reason to replace the mouse, but I did eventually move to a Corsair K70 LUX keyboard because I take my Typeracer far too seriously.
  • If you don’t already have a monitor, you should actually consider which monitor and which graphics card to get in unison. I bought a 1070 because it seemed like great deal at the time (and free Gears 4), and then paid a premium for a gsync monitor later on because I was a sucker. If you’re not going for 1440p or 4K then I’d seriously think about the AMD Vega graphics cards and a freesync monitor. (But also I can’t tell you about specific cards.) Conversely, I’d think of 1440p as being a big investment requiring at least a GTX 1080 and a US$700 monitor like ASUS’s PG279Q. 4K gaming monitors won’t really be here yet until next year if you’re serious about the “no drops” thing, and even then they’ll probably retail for thousands, sell out immediately, and only be available on ebay from scalpers for the cost of your soul.
  • We’re coming off the end of a cryptocurrency mining craze, which has warped the pricing landscape for graphics cards. I don’t know whether prices have settled yet or not. It seems like a lot of AMD cards were in high demand for mining, as well as GTX 1060 and 1070 cards maybe? I recall hearing that the 1080 was underwhelming for mining for some reason, so its price barely moved. Regardless, it seems like the bottom fell out of mining, so prices should settle eventually if they haven’t already.

Probably a reasonable thing to do, but building your own these days is easier than Lego, fwiw, plus all the obvious benefits of being in control of your own build and whatnot.

Ok, now you’ve piqued my interest, what’s your average WPM?

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Still not great: http://data.typeracer.com/pit/profile?user=fnrslvr

Average is still only somewhere around 100wpm when I’m not rusty, which I always am these days. The all-time average is trying to drag the dead weight of my pre-being-able-to-touch-type scores out of the abyss.

Petty excuses include getting used to two new keyboards, and being far to preoccupied with complexity theory and teaching duties to breathe.

122 WPM peak is pretty good though! Hope grad school isn’t strangling the life out of you (yet?).

Haven’t seen this site before actually, I usually just do a test at typingtest when I’ve been curious. It’s pretty cool that it plays a replay of your typing and that the tests aren’t super long.

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You guys are absolute nerds. And I love you for it :3

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Thanks. Il take a look. And stuff i wanted to join the Pc master race Later next year. Build my own rig. And stuff.

Edit: Im going to be buying xbox one x to enjoy that sweet 4k res on my Tv and gameplay.

Can’t wait to play ki on 4k and My new rig as well