Gaming your Machine

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You ready? You look ready.
Looking at turning an old Mac Pro into a gaming rig, but I am also thinking it’s not worth the effort.

I would need to do a lot to get everything installed correctly (firmware hack, bootcamp Windows, swap factory GPU) and buy some speciality parts (SSD/m.2 to PCI-E card and a 6pin-6pin PCI-E power cable). And to add insult to injury I have no place at home to do all the work.
Scrapped the gaming rig and finally set the damn thing up for what I originally intended: music production.

I can squeeze a few more years out of it, but I am already dreading the idea of having to replace it. New computers suck.
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"This is that human freedom, which all boast that they possess, and which consists solely in the fact, that men are conscious of their own desire, but are ignorant of the causes whereby that desire has been determined." -Baruch Spinoza



there's a frog in my snake oil
Damn those fluctuations sound crazy. Amazon uk has been much more stable on stuff I’m tracking. Maybe because it’s older stock?

2TB SSD for $50 woulda been a steal!

What are you thinking on CPU?
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there's a frog in my snake oil
Scrapped the gaming rig and finally set the damn thing up for what I originally intended: music production.

I can squeeze a few more years out of it, but I am already dreading the idea of having to replace it. New computers suck.
Probably for the best man. Mac gaming would have been an uphill struggle :/



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
Damn those fluctuations sound crazy. Amazon uk has been much more stable on stuff I’m tracking. Maybe because it’s older stock?

2TB SSD for $50 woulda been a steal!

What are you thinking on CPU?
Mybad. $50 LESS. Not total That put the M2 NVMe down to right around $349 US. Still kicking myself for not jumping on that.

I've been watching for months the i7-8700K and i9-9900k, but the i7 seems to only be available from 3rd parties now. I HAD hoped the 9900ks would have sent the k down a bit, but it's still hovering at 472ish. =\

I don't buy PCs often. I did get a tablet/laptop early this year but that's for work and drawing mostly. Too, I don't want to keep a battery device plugged into a wall socket all day. My last laptop purchase was 2011. my last DESKTOP system was around 2004. I'd really like to build a good, solid rack mount PC for music production with maybe an option for gaming/VR that will survive another decade . Then again, I've been saying that for a year or more so...

It all depends on what price drops I can catch next week.
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A system of cells interlinked
Still hacking around on my i52500k.

Running Assassin's Creed Odyssey on Ultra with just a couple things dialed back to high (I forget exactly what), and the game runs with no issues. Obviously I have upgraded my GPU, so i am not running on graphics tech as old as the processor. No new rig in the near future, so I will just keep on keepin on...
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“It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” ― Thomas Sowell



You ready? You look ready.
Probably for the best man. Mac gaming would have been an uphill struggle :/
Indeed. I would have dual booted it with Windows, though. So I dunno if it's still a problematic platform when you do that.

But like...the machine is 10 years old, so it's a testament to the engineering they put into this thing.



there's a frog in my snake oil
Still hacking around on my i52500k.

Running Assassin's Creed Odyssey on Ultra with just a couple things dialed back to high (I forget exactly what), and the game runs with no issues. Obviously I have upgraded my GPU, so i am not running on graphics tech as old as the processor. No new rig in the near future, so I will just keep on keepin on...
I was so fine with my old i5 / 970 rig, until I tried to play AAA games in VR

It is the beast that keeps on making draw calls...



there's a frog in my snake oil
Indeed. I would have dual booted it with Windows, though. So I dunno if it's still a problematic platform when you do that.

But like...the machine is 10 years old, so it's a testament to the engineering they put into this thing.
I just hit loads of faff with drive partitions when I tried on my old MacBook. (Couldn’t use my external drives because they weren’t in Mac format and I needed to keep the existing data). No doubt they’re slick kit, but some of the walled garden stuff gets old :/



You ready? You look ready.
I just hit loads of faff with drive partitions when I tried on my old MacBook. (Couldn’t use my external drives because they weren’t in Mac format and I needed to keep the existing data). No doubt they’re slick kit, but some of the walled garden stuff gets old :/
Yeah, definitely gotta have a whole extra drive reserved. It’s the only way I’ve had any success with it. It’s not easy by any means. I’ll give ya that.

If I need to game I’ll continue to use my Xbox. Long gone are the days of computer gaming. Using a computer these days feels wayyy too much like work. It is the technician’s curse I suppose.

You do know about slickdeals.net, right? Good place to keep your eye right now. Or are you across the pond? I can never remember



there's a frog in my snake oil
You do know about slickdeals.net, right? Good place to keep your eye right now. Or are you across the pond? I can never remember
Yeah I’m UK, cheers for the tip though!

—-

Anyone else got any thoughts on CPUs? Old i7 4 core still worth it, or are more cores / much threading the way?



The People's Republic of Clogher
Still hacking around on my i52500k.

Running Assassin's Creed Odyssey on Ultra with just a couple things dialed back to high (I forget exactly what), and the game runs with no issues. Obviously I have upgraded my GPU, so i am not running on graphics tech as old as the processor. No new rig in the near future, so I will just keep on keepin on...
Still running my 4870k and 980ti combo after 4 and a bit years and it's still a beast. Probably helps that I still have a 1080p monitor but since I do most of my gaming on the TV these days, I'm in no real hurry to change it.
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A system of cells interlinked
Still running my 4870k and 980ti combo after 4 and a bit years and it's still a beast. Probably helps that I still have a 1080p monitor but since I do most of my gaming on the TV these days, I'm in no real hurry to change it.

I am out on my TV, as well. I much prefer to just kick back with a controller playing PC games. Beats the hell out of sitting at my desk in the other room!



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
After watching prices for months, I pulled the trigger on RAM and a PSU last night.

I've had several brands in my AMZ cart but yesterday the Corsair LPX 3200 2x16Gb sticks dropped to $119 US, the lowest I've seen it since I started tracking. Considering prices of the other sticks float around $150-300, I jumped and ordered 2 sets. So whenever I get around to fulfilling the other components, I'll have a solid 64Gb.

Also ordered the EVGA superNOVA 750 G5 from Newegg. It was apparently on sale and had a $30 rebate on top. Not bad.

I'm still watching other item prices but likely nothing else will drop nearly as much. I'll be watching on cyber Monday to see.

Btw, I just checked and the ram is back at $119 on amaxin5 if anyone needs an upgrade.



there's a frog in my snake oil
So I took the lazy option,and just maxed out my current mobo, rather than retool completely. The 16GB ram (to make me HLVR compliant ) came in at a relatively ok £50.

The dafter aspect was that I've bought a 4 year old CPU design (i7 4790K), with only 4 cores, for £350... :/

But hey, it is a beast for what it is, and it should hold a bit of value... (when the next lazy person decides to just max out their old mobo )


Build Drama:

My giant lumpen cooler refused to unscrew at one corner, leaving me kinda stumped initially. (Its brace screws into the custom back brace, via some nuts. One of which had come loose / bonded to the screw, so was just spinning...)

Loathe to untangle the whole mobo, and with a ninja dab of WD40 not doing the trick, I realised I could insert a tiny spanner through an unused card slot and hold the damn nut in place


Result:

Old Test: i5 / 1080



New Test: i7 / 1080




Not quite the mad FPS jump of adding the GPU, but the 1080 was definitely bottle-necked. Those extra 25fps at the high end are definitely going to be useful . (And the slightly raised lower floor means I should enter 'reprojection' less in VR hopefully).

Should help with those darn proc gen games like NMS & Elite too, which are heavy on the CPU

This is my kit now anyways, I'm sticking with this until I have to bite the bullet and build mobo up. (In my head now the only absurd purchase on the horizon to save for is the next gen VR set to come out, if they're a step up. I can see that happening, once they've had a price drop )

(I can also see them being even more demanding, with higher resolution etc . Fingers crossed for the foveated rendering miracle tech...)

EDIT:

Holy crap, NMS VR actually works now



The People's Republic of Clogher
Nice one. From memory, my 980ti/4670k gets mid 90s in that benchmark.

And yeah, old CPUs are as expensive as new models, if not more so, because they're banking on them being bought as emergency repairs for business setups - People will pay that much so that bizniz keeps getting done.



there's a frog in my snake oil
Nice one. From memory, my 980ti/4670k gets mid 90s in that benchmark.

And yeah, old CPUs are as expensive as new models, if not more so, because they're banking on them being bought as emergency repairs for business setups - People will pay that much so that bizniz keeps getting done.
The VR beast will still devour it

Yeah, I am feeling kinda foolish for paying a premium for such old tech, but hopefully it will become a virtuous circle of foolishness down the line

(And hey, all the proc gen space games I play are practically 4 years old. It almost feels cutting edge there )



The People's Republic of Clogher
Hey, if it works for you, go for it!

I'd thought about getting a 4000 series i7 a while back but the price put me off. My rig is fine for all I use it for gaming these days.



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
I'm KINDA freaking out right now. I just pulled the trigger on a processor---the last component for a new PC build. Within minutes, UPS arrives with the other components (minus RAM). I'm upset a little as prices for the CPU have gone UP 40 bucks everywhere this week since Black Friday. Go figure. I should have ordered weeks ago but thought I'd catch a sale. Just the opposite. I did get a few items less than expected and decided to go with a cheaper EVO Plus boot drive and hold off on the larger storage drive for now. I guess it averages. Still...

I've never built a PC, though I have replaced RAM and HDs. I'm looking forward to it.

I'm probably most excited for the case, being rack mountable to put in with some other music gear. At the moment, I'm digging through a box of fans and a motherboard feeling somewhat excited but mostly ...nauseous.



there's a frog in my snake oil
I'm KINDA freaking out right now. I just pulled the trigger on a processor---the last component for a new PC build. Within minutes, UPS arrives with the other components (minus RAM). I'm upset a little as prices for the CPU have gone UP 40 bucks everywhere this week since Black Friday. Go figure. I should have ordered weeks ago but thought I'd catch a sale. Just the opposite. I did get a few items less than expected and decided to go with a cheaper EVO Plus boot drive and hold off on the larger storage drive for now. I guess it averages. Still...

I've never built a PC, though I have replaced RAM and HDs. I'm looking forward to it.

I'm probably most excited for the case, being rack mountable to put in with some other music gear. At the moment, I'm digging through a box of fans and a motherboard feeling somewhat excited but mostly ...nauseous.
Haha yeah, I get the proper sweats when I'm about to slam expensive bits of silicon together

But it's cool, if a technical numpty like me can do it you'll be fine . (Honestly, if I were to try and build a cupboard, I'd end up nailed inside it...)

What helps is there's a ton of handy video guides around. (Your mobo provider may well have a whole end-to-end tutorial. MSI did and I've def started from those). Plus the internet rabbit hole can answer every question. (With 7 different answers . But at least you get a feel for the detail )

There'll be a million little things along the way though doubtless. Staring at jigsaw pieces that just won't go together. Realising you've been manhandling your memory while unearthered, for half an hour. Looking for the screw that's magnetised itself to the end of your screwdriver...

S'all good though. The sweat means you're paying attention

(As it drips straight onto the CPUnnooooooooo)




there's a frog in my snake oil
This is a low blow, but I can't resist. At least we all hit Star Citizen's Kickstarter specs