HPET is most precise timer available to the system, but whole generations of CPUs are affected by what’s been called “HPET bug”: for them, accessing HPET takes ~7 times longer than it should. Similar to Meltdown and Spectre, this is a hardware issue, and cannot be fixed entirely. 

Skylake X and Kaby Lake X have the worst of it, but it seems to also affect Threadripper, Coffee Lake, and Ryzen.

You can read all the technical details in these articles:

• Anandtech – explains where it all began and gives a thorough explanation of system timers
• Overclockers.at – has a shorter summary and a specialized benchmark to highlight the issue

By default, HPET is simply on the list of the available timers in Windows 8 and 10. Different timers will be used for different purposes, which is the best case scenario. 

However, certain pieces of software, such as Ryzen Master and potentially anything related to overclocking, benchmarking or monitoring hardware, can force HPET to be the only timer used by the system. This may be necessary for the normal operation of that software, but on the systems that are affected by the HPET bug, it can lead to a decrease in performance, sometimes quite significant. 

HPET Configuration

HPET can be configured in two places:

1) On some motherboards, HPET can be Enabled or Disabled in BIOS.

2) Windows Command Prompt can Force HPET to be always used as the only timer, or you can set Default Settings.

So there are four total combinations of these settings:

1) Enabled in BIOS, OS uses Default Settings: HPET will be used as necessary. This is the desired configuration.

2) Enabled in BIOS, Forced in OS: HPET is always used. If your system suffers from the HPET bug, this is where performance problems occur.

3) Disabled in BIOS, OS uses Default Settings: HPET is not available at all. 

4) Disabled in BIOS, Forced in OS: HPET is not available at all and there could be a performance impact.

It is not recommended to keep HPET Disabled in BIOS, as it can cause stability issues. Additionally, if HPET is Forced in OS and Disabled in BIOS, it can result in skipped frames or otherwise impact your performance.

How to configure HPET through Windows Command Prompt:

• Windows Search for “CMD”
• Right Click the Command Prompt and click “Run as administrator”
• To Force HPET, type: bcdedit /set useplatformclock true
• To set Default Settings, type: bcdedit /deletevalue useplatformclock
• Reboot

If the command you entered has successfully changed something, you will get “operation successful” message. If the command was already active, then you will get an “error occurred” message.

For Intel

Use the Command Prompt to set HPET to Default Settings. If you get “operation successful” message – congratulations, you are likely to get increased performance. If not – too bad, not today.

For Ryzen

During Ryzen launch, there was a pronounced issue with HPET, and AMD gave an official recommendation to disable HPET in BIOS. However, those issues were supposedly resolved.

To find out whether your system benefits from completely disabling HPET:

1. Update your BIOS to the latest version.
2. Use the Command Prompt to set HPET to Default Setting. Restart your PC.
3. Run the TimerBench at low resolution with HPET Enabled in BIOS.
   • Do not click “Enable HPET” button in TimerBench, as it will force the system to always use only HPET, which is not desirable.
4. Run TimerBench with HPET Disabled in BIOS.
5. Compare results. If you see no difference, then keep HPET Enabled in BIOS and set to Default in OS.

A note on TimerBench: you can see a “Enable HPET” button, but it doesn’t actually enable HPET, it forces the system to always use HPET in all situations, which will cause a performance drop if your system is suffering from the HPET bug. This is the same as Forcing HPET through Command Prompt.

Similarly, the “Disable HPET” button in TimerBench does not actually disable the HPET. It does the same thing as setting Default Setting through Command Prompt. Only the BIOS setting can truly disable HPET.

My Benchmark Results

I’m using a Core i5 7600k, overclocked to 4.4 GHz on MSI Z270 Gaming M3 motherboard. I ran two sets of benchmarks, one with TimerBench – a benchmark produced by Overclockers.at to specifically demonstrate the performance impact of the HPET Bug.

I also ran a primitive benchmark in PlanetSide 2 – I just drove a Prowler near a tower in VR Training and fired HESH shells and Gatekeeper bursts for a minute, using FRAPS to record frametimes and these graphics settings.

As you can see, on my machine the performance impact of the HPET bug is quite significant.

According to that article from Overclockers.at, how much your particular system is affected by HPET bug – if it all – will depend on your specific hardware and what kind of games you’re playing. The impact seems to be most noticeable when your game is CPU-bound – paired with an overly powerful Graphics Card, in other words. This is a fairly common situation for PS2.

Credits

Huge thanks to /u/Oottzz for bringing this issue to my attention and to /u/DastardlyCoxcomb for his input in the same thread.

PlanetSide 2 is an MMO game released in 2012, with potentially hundreds of players in any given battle. As a consequence,  PlanetSide 2 puts more load on CPU than most games, and it’s less demanding to the Graphics Card. It is built on DirectX 9, which is more sensitive to CPU frequency and per-core performance than number of cores and multi-threading.

– PS2 Performance Guide

Depending on the amount of money they were willing to spend, I would offer them one of these typical builds, and then adjust it based on their wishes. Here they are, from cheapest and worst performing to most expensive and best performing.

Notes on listed prices:

• • They will vary a lot depending on where you live.

• • Prices include only the PC itself. Keyboard / Mouse / Speakers / Headset / Monitor / Windows are not included.

• • Prices assume a “barebones” build, so no SSDs or additional case fans. Cheapest case is used, which won’t be very convenient to build and maintain.

• • Stock CPU cooler is used whenever possible.

• Motherboard / Graphics Card and Hard Drive are selected based on good combination of price / performance / reliability / amount of features / upgradability. I don’t just blindly pick the cheapest components.

Finally, keep in mind that prices and recommendations are actual as of July 2018, and will no doubt change with time.

Ultrabudget

Ryzen 2400G Build

Approximate build cost: $420 USD
RAM: 8 GB

This is the cheapest build that can run PlanetSide 2 at all. It will require a lot of fine tuning and overclocking to squeeze the most performance out of weak hardware. There will be some tough compromises to make in terms of graphics settings, but you might squeeze more or less stable 60 FPS out of it.

The heart of the build is Ryzen 2400G CPU, which has 4 cores / 8 threads and comes with an integrated Vega 11 GPU and a stock cooler.

This is the second generation of Ryzen CPUs. The first generation featured a lot of cores and threads for considerably lower price than what Intel was offering at the time, and at first AMD razed some hell for sure, but gamers quickly realized that 1st gen Ryzens had poor per-core performance, and most games don’t benefit from multi-threading THAT much. So Intel remained better for gaming, while Ryzens offered a lot of cores for professional applications that benefit from such things.

The second generation of Ryzen CPUs (2000 series) improved upon many imperfections, and flagship Ryzen CPUs are a much better competition to similarly priced Intel CPUs.

Unlike Intel CPUs, Ryzens don’t typically come with integrated graphics, but 2200G and 2400G are exceptions. They use a cut-down version of the Vega GPU, which is the best GPU currently offered by AMD.

Typically, integrated graphics solutions are looked down upon by gamers, and rightfully so, but AMD was having none of that. Integrated Vega GPU is several times more powerful than iGPUs from Intel, and you can actually do some gaming on them.

It’s not quite enough to run PlanetSide 2 well, but it will work. Here is a testimony from a player with a similar build.

Entry-level Gaming

Core i3 8100 / Ryzen R3 1200 + GTX 1050 Ti / RX560

Approximate Intel + nVidia build cost: $550 USD
Approximate AMD build cost: $530 USD
RAM: 8 GB

This is the cheapest build that can run PlanetSide 2 at minimum settings with actually decent performance. Aside from intermittent performance bugs, you’re guaranteed stable 60 FPS no matter what, and you could potentially even turn certain settings up so the game doesn’t look that terrible.

Intel + nVidia build offers better performance out of the box, and doesn’t require overclocking or any additional fine tuning. Heart of the build is Core i3 8100, a budget 4-core / 4-thread CPU. GTX 1050 Ti is middle-of-the-road budget graphics card. It is said to be able to run many modern games at medium settings at 60 FPS, and it handles PS2 just fine.

The Ryzen R3 1200 is similar to Core i3 8100. It too has 4 cores and 4 threads, but worse per-core performance and doesn’t include an internal GPU. However, it is cheaper, and with some overclocking – which can be done with stock cooler and on cheap B-series motherboards – it can almost reach the performance of i3 8100. This build makes more sense if you plan to upgrade to a more powerful Ryzen CPU in the future.

The RX560 offers about the same performance as GTX 1050 (the non-Ti version). Depending on current prices and availability, it can potentially make a more economical choice. AMD Graphics Cards can be preferable if you use or plan to use a monitor that supports FreeSync technology.

PlanetSide 2 Specialist

Core i3 8350k + GTX 1060 3GB

Approximate build cost: $700 USD
RAM: 8 GB

This build tries to achieve the best PlanetSide 2 performance while spending as little money as possible. It can easily run PlanetSide 2 at mostly maximum settings and with 100+ FPS, but there are significant tradeoffs in terms of future proofing and convenience.

The i3 8350k has 4 cores and 4 threads, and it can be overclocked by multiplier, significantly boosting its per-core performance. It’s one of the most powerful 4-core CPUs out there, like a small racing car. Exactly what PS2 needs.

However, it’s not optimal in other ways. It doesn’t have a stock cooler, costs almost as much as 6 core i5 8400, and requires a more expensive Z-series motherboard in order to be overclocked.

The GPU is GTX 1060, which is often called the best Graphics Card for 1080p gaming. The 3GB version is chosen because PlanetSide 2 barely uses 1 GB of VRAM.

PlanetSide 2 faces some nasty effects when GPU-bound – weapon Rate of Fire is reduced and you can feel some input lag. Which is where the GTX 1060’s powerful processor comes in, pushing out the framerate at which you become GPU bound.

The big downside of this build is that it’s not so great at playing modern and upcoming games; it’s not future proof. 3GB VRAM / 8 GB RAM / 4 CPU threads may not be enough in the nearest future.

Another downside is that you will have to overclock the CPU, which is an additional step you have to go through, and it can potentially have negative effects, most notably it will void your CPU warranty.

Mainstream Gaming

Core i5 8400 + GTX 1060 6GB

Approximate build cost: $800 USD (including $300 for a GTX 1060 6GB)
RAM: 16 GB

This build tries to reach a healthy compromise between running PlanetSide 2 and more modern and upcoming games. With more RAM, VRAM and more CPU threads, it’s much more future-proof at a little premium, and it would run PlanetSide 2 almost as good as heavily overclocked i3 8350k build above, without any need for complicated fine-tuning or using an after-market cooler.

I believe this build accomplishes all you could ever want for 1080p gaming while spending a sensible amount of money. PC hardware is heavily subjected to diminishing returns; for every extra frame per second you have to pay more and more money.

For example, a typical GTX 1070 costs ~66% more than GTX 1060 6GB, while offering 30-40% better performance. This is even worse for CPUs, where an i5 8400 can accomplish in gaming 90-95% of what an i7 8700k can do, which is twice as expensive.

So past this point it’s better to invest into quality peripherals and other components, such as SSD and case.

December 2018 Addendum:

The core of that build is Core i5 8400 + GTX 1060 6GB, and it’s still a good combo, though not necessarily the best one, in terms of maintaining good bang-for-the-back while ensuring enoughperformance to run PS2 well.

The market for graphics cards is in turmoil, the release of new consumer-grade GPUs, is almost upon us. You can still easily buy a great GPU, but it’s a choice between buying something that’s gonna get outdated basically tomorrow, or waiting a few months and paying a premium for brand new hardware, which makes it less cost effective.

As far as current prices go, the RX 590 is probably the best consumer grade GPU, as it has better performance than GTX 1060 while being cheaper, but there are some tradeoffs as well. It has a major stock overclock and is prone to thermal throttling, so you must ensure good ventilation inside the case, and be more picky about GPU’s cooling system.

Situation with CPUs is also messed up. Prices for Intel CPUs – which you would normally want for PS2 – are on the rise due to production difficulties, while prices on AMD CPUs are lower than ever, so it’s a choice between getting decentperformance at dirt cheap (AMD), or paying an unjustified price for an Intel CPU to get better performance.

AMD builds ensure really great performance at low prices, but they are also more problematic, and it shows in everything. CPUs and memory must be overclocked to ensure competitive performance, but at the same it’s more difficult to do properly, especially for a beginner in the art of PC building. AMD BIOS is more complicated, the CPUs are more picky about the RAM, the GPU drivers for AMD are traditionally a bugged mess.

Meanwhile, Intel and nVidia are basically plug and play, no complicated setup whatsoever, and they will perform better with PS2, but they will also be more expensive, especially now. It still should be quite possible to fit a decent build into 800$, though.

So in short, I would recommend to get either Intel Core i5 8400 or Ryzen 5 2600 (overclock) for CPU, and still GTX 1060 or RX 590 for GPU. A Ryzen build should be combined with compatible RAM overclocked to 2800-3000 MHz in order to ensure good performance in PS2.

The rest of the components should be picked based on these core components.

If you’d rather watch a video than read.

Layered Memory

Computer memory is a fairly complicated topic. The general principle is that you always have to compromise – choose one: price, size, access speed. So the sensible solution is combine different types of memory in several layers.

Layer 1 – Registers

The absolute fastest type of memory are registers, located directly in CPU Cores.

Any value that participates in CPU’s calculations eventually passes through registers. For example, if you were to ask your CPU to calculate 1 + 2, the CPU would put “1” in one register, “2” in second register, and then run the calculation and write the result in one of the registers.

Registers are super fast, but they are also super small. Basically, each register can store only one value.

Layer 2 – CPU Cache

CPU Cache is the link between CPU and RAM. Even though RAM is pretty fast, it still takes time to access. 

So whenever a CPU does take something from RAM, it copies a few neighboring blocks of information as well, as it’s highly likely they will be needed next, and puts them into CPU cache.

The next time a CPU needs to take something from RAM, first it will look in CPU Cache.

If Cache contains the information CPU needed, it’s called a Cache Hit.

If it’s not there, and CPU still needs to look in RAM, it’s called a Cache Miss, and effectively the CPU just wasted time. 

Larger cache makes cache hits more likely, but it also takes more time to sift through, so you have to strike a balance. If you make cache too large, it will take so long to search all of it, that it would be faster to just address RAM directly. 

You are already familiar with solution to this problem – CPU Cache is made of several layers, called levels. Each next level is larger and slower than the previous one.

When CPU needs a certain value, first it checks Level 1 cache. If it’s not there – Level 1 Cache Miss – it checks Level 2 Cache, and so on. Most modern CPUs have three cache levels. 

Different CPUs will have different amount of cache, and CPU description at various internet shops will often list Level 3 Cache size, as if it’s a value that’s supposed to mean anything to you. It’s really not. Unless you’re a CPU architecture engineer, you cannot judge a CPU by its cache size. You simply don’t have enough information. With some research, you can find cache size for every level, but there are tons of other questions. What is the access speed for each level? What is the projected cache hit rate? How does cache work in this specific CPU architecture? What are the effects of cache performance on the overall PC performance? It’s just way more trouble than it’s worth. 

So when choosing a CPU, don’t look at cache size at all. 

Layer 3 – RAM

RAM – stands for Random Access Memory – is a temporary storage for things that CPU is likely to need in the near future. RAM needs a constant supply of power to store information. If the PC is powered down, all information stored in RAM is lost.

RAM modules have a lot of differences:

Generation

Currently, DDR3 and DDR4 are the most common generations. 

DDR3 was released in 2007 and is slowly being phased out by DDR4. Standard voltage for DDR3 is 1.5V, overclocked modules go up to 1.65V. Standard operating frequencies go from 800 MHz to 2400 MHz.

DDR4 was released in 2014. Compared to the previous generation, it  works at higher frequencies while consuming less power. Standard voltage is 1.2V, overclocked modules go up to 1.35V. Standard frequencies lie somewhere in 2133 MHz to 3200 MHz range, but there are overclocked kits that go all the way to 4400 MHz.

DDR3 and DDR4 are not cross-compatible.

Form Factor

Full-sized DIMMs are intended for desktop computers, while smaller SO-DIMMs are commonly used in laptops. They are not cross-compatible.

Frequency

Frequency determines the RAM cycle rate. When the CPU requests some data from RAM, a certain amount of cycles will have to pass before the data download can start. That amount of cycles is defined by RAM’s timings, and frequency determines how long does it take for these cycles to pass.

Once the data download starts, 64 bits of data per channel will be downloaded each cycle. 

So RAM frequency determines both how fast data can be accessed, and how long it takes to download it. Higher frequency both makes RAM more responsive and increases throughput.

Timings

Timings determine RAM’s latency – how many cycles does it take to access certain data. Shorter timings will have a positive effect on RAM performance, but this effect is less noticeable than higher frequency.

There are four main timings, usually listed in RAM’s tech specs. For example, this Crucial RAM has 8 – 8 – 8 – 24 timings:

However, there are many secondary timings. When you have several RAM modules installed, all their timings must be exact same. That’s why it’s highly recommend to buy RAM modules only in kits, which are guaranteed to have all timings to be exact same. 

There is no such guarantee if you buy several same kits from the same manufacturer. That said, you can “make” them compatible if you’re willing to fiddle with secondary RAM timings in BIOS, though not every motherboard provides access to all timings. You may have to first install kits separately from each other to find out which of their timings are different.

The important thing to understand is that timings’ effect on performance is directly tied to frequency. RAM with super short timings and low frequency can potentially yield better performance than RAM with higher frequency, but longer timings. And vice versa. 

Capacity

Most common capacity for one module is 2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB and 16 GB. For best performance, you should always use modules with the same capacity. At the very least ensure that all channels have the same capacity.

Rank

Memory modules can have 1, 2, 4 or 8 ranks. Having a multi-ranked module is more or less the same as having several separate modules in one. In other words, you could install four single ranked modules, or two dual ranked modules, and as far as your computer is concerned, both cases would count as having four separate RAM modules.

Having multiple ranks in the system increases performance. Think of each RAM rank like an open book on your desk. The more books you have, the higher the chance that when you look at those books, at least one of them will be open on the page you need.

Some tests were performed, and with all else being equal, dual ranked RAM provided up to 13.5% boost to minimum FPS in Hitman compared to single ranked RAM.

However, there is a maximum amount of ranks that a system can support. Additionally, using multiple ranks can potentially force the RAM to work at lower frequency. For example, AsRock B350M Pro4:

As you can see, it supports highest frequency when the system has 2 ranks, lower frequency when there are 4 ranks in dual ranked modules, even lower frequency when there are 4 ranks in single ranked modules, and lowest frequencies when there are 6 or 8 ranks.

Keep in mind that ONE dual ranked module will not work in dual channel mode. 

You can combine RAM modules with a different amount of ranks within the same channel. For example, having a single ranked RAM module in A1 slot, and a double ranked module in A2 slot will work just fine. I wouldn’t recommend having different amounts of ranks in different channels, though.

Number of Channels

Depending on CPU’s memory controller, RAM can work in 1, 2, 3 or 4 channel mode. Dual channel is the most common one.

RAM can transfer 64 bits of data per channel. So in dual channel mode it will be able to transfer 128 bits of data. While this does double theoretical throughput, the actual effect on RAM performance is somewhere between 20% and 50%. 

It is still a sizable boost, and you should always go for dual channel. Keep in mind that on motherboards with more than 2 slots, it does make a difference in which slots RAM modules should be installed in order to be able to work in dual channel mode. Consult your motherboard’s manual for that, as shown on the picture.

RAM Compatibility

What kind of RAM can you use depends on:

Operating System – determines maximum RAM capacity.

Motherboard and CPU, which contains the memory controller – determine maximum RAM capacity, RAM’s operating frequencies, which generation of RAM is supported, how many RAM modules can be installed.

Note that CPUs usually officially support a fairly low RAM frequency, but as long as the motherboard supports it, they usually can operate at higher frequency without any trouble.

RAM Overclocking

Overclocking RAM is done by increasing frequency and reducing timings. That can potentially make the system unstable, so the voltage is increased to compensate. Note that this puts additional stress on the memory controller, especially if multiple modules are installed.

Most high-frequency RAM kits come with factory overclock in the form of one or more XMPs – Intel Extreme Memory Profiles – they are basically presets with frequency, timings and voltage. That memory kit underwent factory testing with those settings and it’s guaranteed to operate in a stable manner. All you have to do is to select the XMP in BIOS.

How to choose RAM

First, figure out how much RAM do you need.

For modern gaming, 8 GB is enough, including Witcher 3 at maximum settings, though you might be cutting it close in some of the “heavier” titles. 

Some games eat more RAM than others, and that doesn’t necessarily happen because of better graphics – some games are just poorly optimized. Eventually, there will come a time when 8 GB RAM will not be enough.

16 GB is recommended if you can spare the extra expense. If your motherboard has 4 RAM slots, you can always go for 2 x 4 GB modules now, and move to 4 x 4 GB later. 

More RAM might be required if you intend to run a lot of background applications, or perform any professional work that benefits from more RAM.

What happens if there’s not enough RAM? When the system runs out of RAM, Windows starts moving extra data to the Page File – a special file on your hard drive. This takes time and reduces performance.  Storing Page File on an SSD helps to mitigate that negative impact, but since even the fastest SSDs are much slower than slowest RAM, there will be a steep decline in game’s performance.

Is there a point where adding more RAM won’t do anything? Not exactly. Windows, with all its flaws, is a fairly smart operating system, and it will utilize unoccupied RAM by caching frequently accessed data to improve response time.

For example, the system keeps track that you’re frequently playing the same game every day, so while idling Windows will pre-load game’s files into RAM just in case you decide to launch it. 

And if Windows needs RAM for something else, it will remove the cached data without a second thought, so there’s no harm in doing this.

That said, just having the game on an SSD is a much more economical solution.

General Recommendations

You always want to go for the maximum amount of channels your motherboard and CPU can support. Usually this means two channels, so you want at least two modules.

Go for dual ranked memory, when possible. Or go for a RAM kit with 4 modules from the get go. This will improve performance. 

Once that is figured out, try to balance cost, frequency and timings. Just keep in mind the maximum frequency supported by your system.

Usually, going for high speed RAM is not worth the expense, especially for gaming, but sometimes you can get faster RAM for nearly the same price.  You can do some manual overclocking later, if you so desire. 

Overall, RAM performance means less for gaming than CPU and GPU, so as long as you have enough RAM in an optimal configuration (dual channel), you don’t have to worry too much about it.

Layer 4 – Storage

HDDs and SSDs fit into this category. They can store a ton of information for their price, but they also take a lot of time to access, and their data transfer rate is comparatively low. 

They keep all the data safely stored even without any power.

Simple Analogy

Imagine the CPU is an engineer, working in a workshop somewhere in a city. He also rents a large storehouse (storage) on the outskirts of the city. Storehouse is cheap to rent, and has a lot of space. But transferring stuff between the workshop and the storehouse means a 30 minute ride. Obviously, the engineer wants to avoid that hassle as much as possible, so when working on a project, he tries to cram as many tools and materials in his truck as possible.

Then the engineers takes those materials to his workshop and unloads them on shelves (RAM). On the other side of the workshop, there’s engineer’s working desk (CPU cache).

Engineer grabs a few tools and materials that he will likely need soon, and carries them to the working desk. The desk has a lot of drawers (Level 3 CPU Cache), and there is also some space on the desk’s surface (Level 1-2 cache).

Engineer sits down and starts working. His hands are memory registers. To work on something, the engineer has to take it in his hands first.

Engineer keeps working and realizes that to do next part he needs another material or another tool. First he looks on the desk’s surface, as it would be closest to get from. If it’s not there, he starts going through desk’s drawers.

If Engineer finds it, it’s a Cache Hit and he keeps working. If he doesn’t, it’s a Cache Miss, and he just wasted time. He will begrudgingly stand and walk to the other side of the workshop to get the needed tool or material from one of the shelves. While he’s there, he’ll grab some other tools and materials.

When the engineer finishes working (power down), he cleans up the workshop, throwing away all tools and materials he used today. If something could still be useful, he takes it to the storehouse (permanent storage).

Recently I was contacted by a UK resident, asking for some help building a gaming PC. They did not set a specific budget, but instead provided me with a sample build and asked for my input. That build had good intentions, but lacked any direction, to put it mildly.

So instead I suggested a build with a similar price, but with more focus on gaming performance and overclocking. Meet the Balanced Gaming Build.

CPU: Core i3-8350K

This is a recently released mid-tier Intel CPU. Intel CPUs are known for their excellent per-core performance, and this CPU can be overclocked. 

Overclocking makes the CPU work at a higher frequency (making it more powerful), at the cost of drawing more power and producing more heat. Maintaining a stable and effective overclock requires that other components, such as Motherboard, Cooling and RAM, be of higher quality as well. So pretty much the whole build is centered around overclocking.

When pushed far enough, overclocking will also reduce CPU’s lifespan, but PC components usually go morally obsolete long before reaching the end of their lifespan.

This i3 is the cheapest “decent” CPU you can get. It is still fairly expensive, but it offers excellent performance / cost ratio, and overall makes for an economical choice right now. 

For example, a 6-core i5 8600k costs £90 more, but with equal clock frequency it has only slightly better performance in games.

Another example: 6-core i5 8400. It has maximum Turbo Boost frequency of 4.0 GHz, same as stock 8350k. They also cost about the same, with i5 8400 being marginally more expensive.

However, i5 8400 cannot be overclocked, and in most games will lose to overclocked 8350k.

Six cores might be more relevant in the future, where we could potentially see more multi-threaded games, but it doesn’t make sense to pay extra now just so you could maybe have better performance in a few years. At that point, it would be It would be better just to upgrade to another CPU.

Currently, all motherboards that can work with Coffee Lake CPUs have Z370 chipsets. They allow to overclock “k” CPUs by multiplier. Motherboards with cheaper B- and H-series chipsets are not available yet.

When they do become available, i5 8400 might become a more competitive choice, because going for a non-overclocking build would significantly reduce overall cost.

But right now, you’re paying a premium for a motherboard that can overclock regardless of whether you actually intend to overclock or not. In these circumstances, it doesn’t make sense to go for i5 8400. 

CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2

This inexpensive cooler is powerful enough to easily handle overclocked i3 8350k. It comes with a high quality MX2 thermal compound, and the fan uses a Fluid Dynamic bearing, which makes it very durable. Comes with 6 year warranty.

Motherboard: MSI Z370 SLI PLUS ATX

This motherboard is a bit unorthodox choice for this build, because clearly we’re not going for SLI. Moreover, SLI is not something I’d recommend to anyone outside of some very specific circumstances. 

However, even if we are overpaying for unnecessary SLI capability, this motherboard still makes a great pick. It is fairly inexpensive, and its 10 phase power delivery system will ensure stable and powerful CPU overclock. Heatsinks on the VRM system further improve overclock quality and system longevity.

MSI motherboards come with loads of useful performance-enhancing features, and they can automatically overclock the CPU in one click, so it will be super easy even for those who’ve never overclocked before.

Memory: Patriot Viper Elite 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000

This is a high quality, high speed memory that will ensure the 4-core CPU will not become (as much) of a bottleneck in highly-threaded applications.

8 GB might not be as comfortable as 16 GB would, but it should be enough for the next few years. We are more or less trying to stay in a budget, after all.

SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB M.2-2280

This is the cheapest decent SSD available at the time and place, costing as much as MyDigitalSSD BPX 128 GB.

850 EVO’s 250 GB is enough to house operating system and other programs, and a couple of games, but the rest of the storage will have to be handled by a hard drive.

Storing the Operating System and programs on an SSD significantly improves performance and load times, that’s why having at least some form of SSD is highly recommended.

However, if you don’t care about load times at all, you can in fact save a lot of money by not getting any SSD at all, though this approach becomes less and less popular.

HDD: Toshiba 1TB 3.5″

Toshiba makes the most reliable HDDs at the moment, with excellent quality to cost ratio. A perfect choice for any mainstream build.

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1060 3GB GT OC

AMD and nVidia often bump heads at this price point, depending on GPU performance and the amount of available VRAM.

VRAM is a weird beast. You either have enough or you don’t. If you have enough, adding more RAM won’t do anything for you. If you don’t have enough, gaming performance will plummet. 

However, it is always possible to reduce certain settings to reduce VRAM consumption. Resolution, anti-aliasing and texture quality are the biggest VRAM eaters.

First up is GTX 1060 3GB variants. The GTX 1060 itself offers excellent performance, and 3 GB of VRAM is enough to play vast majority of current titles at good settings at 1080p resolution.

Right around the same price point, there is RX 570 4 GB. It performs slightly worse than GTX 1060, but some extra VRAM may come in handy later down the road.

Then there is RX 580 4 GB. It is as powerful as GTX 1060, but ~10% more expensive than GTX 1060 3 GB. 

Finally, there is ~28% more expensive GTX 1060 6 GB version, which also has about 5% better performance than a slightly cut down chip of the GTX 1060 3 GB.

If you don’t plan on using resolution higher than 1920 x 1080, and you’re fine with occasionally turning down a few specific settings, GTX 1060 3 GB makes for a really economical choice. 

It’s not as future proof as it could be, but even if you are faced with VRAM issues in a few years, it would make more sense to sell your GTX 1060 3 GB then, and get another Graphics Card, which should both offer better performance and come with more VRAM. 

Otherwise, RX 570 and RX 580 seem like good “in between” solutions. GTX 1060 6 GB seems hard to justify.

MSI GTX 1060 3GB GT OC in particular offers good clocks and cooling for its price, though I wish it had a dedicated heatsink for the VRM system.

Case: BitFenix Nova ATX Mid Tower

This a really cheap case. There is nothing particularly wrong with it; it does what a case is supposed to do, but it’s not necessarily the most convenient in terms of assembling and maintenance.

If you don’t mind spending some extra time fiddling with cables and crawling around with a screwdriver, then this case is perfectly fine. Otherwise, I suggest something more expensive, like Zalman Z3.

In addition to more convenient assembly and cable management, more expensive cases are more likely to have higher quality ports on the front panel, and they often come with nice extras, such as fans, dust filters and removable carriages for HDDs and SSDs.

Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W

Corsair makes excellent, reliable and durable power supplies, though this is one of their cheapest products.

430 Watt may seem unusually small, but GTX 1060 is not particularly power-hungry,  so it should be more than enough to power overclocked CPU and GPU, and have plenty of juice left for other components.

Comments and Considerations

This is definitely a fine gaming build, but I am not as happy with it as I was with the previous $2200 “Make your dreams come true” build.

Things that I would consider changing:

Getting a better case or at least an extra case fan. The BitFenix Nova comes with only one case fan at rear exhaust. I would like to add one intake fan to the front panel to supply some fresh air to the Graphics Card.

Getting an extra cooler for Motherboard’s VRM system to ensure stability and longevity of the overclock. It is highly likely an unnecessary overkill, as 10 phases and heatsinks should already provide more than enough durability, but better safe than sorry. What’s a $10 fan and a couple of paper clips compared to peace of mind?

Normally I would just pick a CPU Cooler that directs some airflow towards the Motherboard, as I did with the previous $2200 Build, but in this time and place there were no coolers available that would be able to handle an overclocked 95 Watt TDP CPU and still fetch a modest price.

Getting a higher grade Power Supply. While there is no reason to doubt Corsair in this regard, I would feel a bit more comfortable with a 500 or even 550 Watt PSU. It would also somewhat “future proof” the Power Supply itself, making it more relevant in future builds, which could be potentially more power-hungry.

Power Supplies are also usually more efficient at load that is significantly below maximum.

Getting a GPU with more VRAM. Enough said about it in the GPU section.

This build is not as efficient as it could be. While overclocked i3 8350k offers excellent performance, it has no Turbo Boost, so it runs at higher frequency ALL the time, drawing more power and deteriorating faster than it should.

There is a way around this problem: MSI motherboard software allows the user to create some keybinds to change the CPU Multiplier. So while doing some light office work, you can switch the CPU into lower frequency mode, and crank it up while gaming.

This build is not as “future proof” as it could be either. Bare minimum of RAM and VRAM, 4-thread CPU, bare minimum power supply, no VRM heatsinks on the GPU. There’s no airflow through Motherboard’s VRM either, though it’s the smallest problem, and even then it could be easily corrected.

However, not every build has to be “future proof”. In fact, “future proof” builds are hard to justify economically. Overclocked i3 8350k is enough to tear through vast majority of current and upcoming titles. So is GTX 1060 3GB – with a few concessions.

It will be ultimately cheaper and better to upgrade specific components when it becomes necessary, swapping them out with the next generation of mainstream components with good value.

This closes this build. If you’d like for me to make a PC Build for you, check out my PC Building Services.

One of my recent customers from United States asked for my help with creating a PC Build. They wanted to get the best PC within ~$2250, including a gaming monitor. The case should provide easy access for dusting, and the PC itself should be able to last a long while without any upgrades. Their previous PC lasted a decade, and they wanted the same from their new PC.

You can see the build I suggested in the spoiler above, it was accepted and the happy customer donated $25 as a token of their gratitude for my services. With their permission, I am publishing the build, along with my reasoning why for each specific part was selected.

CPU: Intel Core i7-8700K

This beast of a CPU does not need an extensive introduction. At the moment, this is the best gaming CPU money can buy. Excellent per-core performance will carry the CPU in the present, and 6 cores with Hyper Threading ensure the CPU stays relevant in the future, where hopefully multi-threading becomes more commonplace. 

It overclocks well, and we’ll definitely be counting on overclocking to future proof the build.

CPU Cooler: be quiet! DARK ROCK TF

Here I was looking for three things:

1. Airflow directed towards CPU and motherboard. This lets some of the airflow to reach VRM heatsinks on the motherboard, greatly reducing chances of power system failure, and generally increasing system’s lifespan and overclock quality. Relevant article.

2. Hydro / Fluid Bearing of the cooler fans. This type of bearing offers by far the best longevity.

3. Cooling powerful enough to handle 95 Watt TDP of the 8700k + some headroom for overclocking

At first I considered cheaper and less powerful Slimhero, but since budget could handle it, I decided to go with be quiet! DARK ROCK TF, which is a good deal more powerful, and unlike the Slimhero doesn’t block any RAM slots.

Instead, DARK ROCK overlooks the RAM slots, giving them a good portion of the airflow. I made sure there is enough room under the DARK ROCK to fit the suggested RAM modules.

DARK ROCK comes with an unspecified thermal compound, so I decided to also get  ARCTIC MX4, which offers both excellent heat conductivity and longevity, with the manufacturer claiming it to be able to last up to 8 years. I still recommended to reapply it after 5 years, though.

Motherboard: MSI Z370 TOMAHAWK ATX

MSI are a great brand overall, they offer many useful features that make overclocking better and easier. OC Genie will automatically overclock the CPU for you, and all MSI Z370 motherboards come with Load Line Calibration (LLC). In short, LLC reduces negative effects of overclocking on system stability and longevity. 

The Tomahawk comes with a 10-phase VRM with heatsinks, which also increase system longevity and overclock quality.

This is pretty much the ideal motherboard for this build. The only thing we’re overpaying here for is ATX form factor, which is not really necessary for this build, but there aren’t many good mATX Z370 motherboards to choose from at the moment.

Memory: Patriot Viper 4 (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3400

This is a high quality RAM set with good reviews and excellent performance. 16 GB should be enough to last a long while, but I warned the customer that in 5-7 years an upgrade may be necessary. 

SSD: MyDigitalSSD BPX 256GB

SSDs use several types of Flash memory: SLC, MLC and TLC (single-, multi- and triple- level cells respectively).

They go SLC > eMLC (enterprise MLC) > MLC > TLC in terms of price, speed and durability.

For an average consumer, TLC is usually good enough, but we are building a really durable machine that can last a decade. This is why I recommended against Samsung 960 EVO, which uses mostly TLC memory.

MyDigitalSSD BPX 256 GB uses MLC memory, and offers minblowlingly amazing value for its price. It is by far the most durable and performing consumer-grade SSD on the market, and comes with a 5 year limited warranty – “limited” implies you do not exceed a certain amount of written data.

Ideally, I would really like to go for eMLC or even SLC memory for this build, but SSDs like that are intended for enterprise customers and professional grade server equipment, and their cost is disproportionally higher.

As long as you don’t make a habit of moving large volumes of data in and out of the SSD daily, you are very unlikely to exhaust its resource. If it comes to worst, it can always be replaced with another ~$100 SSD later down the line. It simply doesn’t make economical sense to go for a vastly more expensive SSD just to avoid that one occasion.

HDD: Western Digital Gold 1TB 3.5″

Conventional hard drives have moving parts, so they are more prone to failure than SSDs, and we should pay a premium to ensure durability. We’re looking for something like an entry-level server-grade or data-center HDD.

There were two good choices here, Toshiba MG03ACA and Western Digital Gold WD1005FBYZ. They both have 7200 RPM speed and 1 TB size, and both should have excellent longevity, though WD Gold is more marketed. In the end, I went with WD Gold because of its larger buffer size (128 MB vs 64MB).

Video Card: Aorus GTX 1080 Ti Xtreme Edition 11G

Similarly to 8700k, the GTX 1080 Ti is the best gaming Graphics Card you can buy right now.

I went with the Aorus’ variant over the competition because it has a dedicated heatsink for VRM system, which ensures durability and overclock quality. Heavy heatsink with triple fans ensures it stays quiet under heavy load. 

It also has a theoretical power maximum of 375 Watt, so there is a lot of headroom for overclocking. 

Case: Phanteks ECLIPSE P400 ATX Mid Tower

This case offers easy cleaning and good cable management for a modest price. The front panel is easily removed, and so are several dust filters. 

I also suggested getting a few aftermarket dust filters to cover the front panel, though they are not included in this build.

There’s definitely a lot of decent cases out there, but most of them are a good deal more expensive than what I’d consider justified.

Power Supply: Corsair RMx 650W

Corsair builds their PSUs to last, which is exactly what we need. The RMx series are built from even higher premium components than usual CX series, and come with a high-end bearing fan, ensuring it will stay quiet and efficient for years.

This particular PSU has a 10-year warranty, and it is also energy efficient. Fully modular cable system means unused cables won’t be left dangling inside the case.

How I arrived at the 650W number:

The 8700k draws up to 180 Watt when overclocked and under load.

Aorus’ GTX 1080 Ti draws up to 375 Watt – that’s the maximum physical limitation of 2x 8 pin power connections + 75 Watt from PCI-Express slot.

180 + 375 = 555 Watt

So we need a Power Supply that can output that many Watts, plus about 50 Watt for other devices, such as SSD, HDD and Motherboard itself.

Might also want to add an extra 50 Watt just to be safe.

This all comes down to 650 Watt. 

Case Fan: 2x ARCTIC F14 PWM PST CO

Phanteks Eclipse P400 does come with two 120mm fans included. I wasn’t able to find what kind of fans they are. They are unlikely to use a high-end bearing, and will probably wear out with time and get noisy. Until that moment, however, there is no reason not to use them. 

So we will be needing just a couple of extra fans.

The Arctic F14 offers a perfect combination of price, airflow and low noise. I use them myself, actually.

The MSI Tomahawk uses 4-pin PWM connectors for all of its case fans, which means it can be programmed to regulate the speed of case fans, making sure they work at maximum RPM (and maximum noise) only when it’s necessary.

We will engineer the following airflow in the case:

The lower front panel fan will capture the cold air outside the case and direct it towards the Graphics Card. Its triple fans will capture it, push through the heat sink, and disperse hot air all around the graphics card, heating other motherboard components.

The CPU cooler’s double fans will capture air in the case, and also push it towards the motherboard, pumping air through motherboard VRM and RAM heatsinks.

In this case, both Graphics Card and the CPU Cooler do not direct heated air in any particular direction. So instead of focusing on pumping cold air into the case, we’ll focus on directing hot air out of the case.

So our pair of Arctic F14 fans will be installed at the top side of the case, helping hot air escape the case.

Monitor: AOC G2460PQU 24.0″ 1920×1080 144Hz

This is a highly praised and well-reviewed monitor, and it’s more or less a steal for that price. It lacks G-Sync or FreeSync, but high refresh rate should compensate for it. Screen tearing is barely an issue at high framerates, and you will want to have a high framerate in competitive online games anyway. And for a more demanding and cinematic single player games, you can just use V-Sync, since you won’t care about input lag as much. Then again, the PC we’re building is likely to easily handle even heaviest titles at an excellent framerate anyway. In this context, it doesn’t really make sense to pay nearly double for a G-Sync monitor.

The only gripe with this monitor is that it has to be calibrated to properly display all the colors. It’s easy to do using a windows’ built-in calibration tool, but it may get tedious, as this has to be done after every windows reinstall. 

Important to note that this monitor still uses 1920 x 1080 resolution, which is slowly but steadily going out of style. However, slightly larger 2560 x 1440, 27-inch monitors are at least twice as expensive and it’s hard to justify a huge display for gaming anyway.

Consider this article a preview of my PC Building Services.

Anyone looking to buy or upgrade their CPU in the nearest future will face an interesting choice.

Early in 2017, Intel released 7th generation of CPUs, such as Core i5 7600k that I’m using. They use Kaby Lake architecture and are usually slotted in motherboards with 200-series chipset, such as Z270.

By the way, “k” at the end of the CPU name indicates it can be overclocked by multiplier, which is how CPUs are usually overclocked. Only motherboards with “Z” in their chipset name can overclock Intel CPUs by multiplier. You can read more about it here.

And just recently Intel released 8th generation of CPUs, such as i5 8600k. They use Coffee Lake architecture and require a motherboard with the new 300-series chipset, such as Z370.

Normally, you’d want to go with the newer generation without a second thought, but the problem is that Coffee Lake CPUs got a ton of hype, which led to stock shortage and significant price increases in both Coffee Lake CPUs and 300-series motherboards.

The hype is well deserved. Tom’s Hardware confirms Intel’s claims to i7 8700k being “company’s best gaming processor ever”. Coffee Lake is the first generation in years to give consumer-grade Intel CPUs more cores, though otherwise it’s not very different from Kaby Lake.

For example, the i3 7350k had 2 cores, while i3 8350k has 4 cores. These two CPUs are supposed to have the same price, but for the moment newer CPU is nearly twice as expensive. Eventually, the price will drop, but that can take months. 

Both Kaby Lake and Coffee Lake use the same LGA1151 socket, but Intel decided to be a dick, and made Coffee Lake CPUs incompatible with 200-series chipsets.

So it doesn’t make sense to get Z270 motherboard with something like i3 7350k, and hope to upgrade it to Coffee Lake later, or whatever comes after Coffee Lake. If you get a Kaby Lake CPU right now, you will have to replace the motherboard later as well. 

So if you’re looking to buy or upgrade your CPU, it might make sense to wait a few months and wait until Coffee Lake CPU price drops. This would be more cost efficient.

Let’s compare a few of the noteworthy CPUs:

• i3 7350k: 2 cores, 4 threads (Hyper Threading)
• i5 7600k: 4 cores, 4 threads, + Intel Turbo Boost 2.0
• i3 8350k: 4 cores, 4 threads

All of these CPUs can run the same amount of threads, though obviously having a whole core for each thread is more effective.

Intel Turbo Boost lets the CPU automatically increase multiplier, as long as it can avoid overheating. It’s basically an automatic overclock. However, if you’re getting a “k” version, obviously you’re going to overclock manually, so you don’t really care about Turbo Boost.

The point that I’ve been leading up to: when prices drop to where they should be, i3 8350k will be a good deal cheaper than i5 7600k, while offering basically the same performance.

It will also let you use a Z370 motherboard, which is less likely to become the dead end that Z270 became, and there’s a good chance that you will be able to simply swap the CPU when time comes, saving some money on replacing the motherboard as well.

Four cores should be enough to run vast majority of modern and upcoming games at good settings. Even if more new games will be optimized for multi-threading, the Intel’s excellent per-core performance and overclock should carry you quite far. 

If you’re anxious to upgrade right now, but don’t want to overpay for Coffee Lake – there is another option.

You can get a used Z270 motherboard + i5 7600k or even i7 7700k CPU. 

Modern electronic components are usually quite durable, and since they were released only this year, they shouldn’t have been subjected to too much wear and tear. 

Meanwhile, the Coffee Lake pretty much made them obsolete, which should significantly reduce their price point, even past the price reduction that used components usually get.

As always when getting used parts, there is a considerable risk of being tricked into buying broken or otherwise inoperable hardware. Never get used hardware unless the seller can offer a full suit of documents, including warranty, and only if you get to personally test that hardware. 

PlanetSide 2 gets a lot of heat for being a poorly optimized game with terrible performance, that requires some sort of super computer to run properly. 

There is some truth to these statements. PlanetSide 2 was released in 2012, but still uses DirectX 9.0, released in 2004. Newer versions of DirectX would be able to utilize modern hardware more efficiently, especially when it comes to taking advantage of multiple CPU cores and Hyper Threading.

PlanetSide 2 also uses Forge Light engine, which is not exactly a dream come true when it comes to performance and graphical quality, but it’s the only engine that can handle so many players on such large territories. Hundreds of people playing on 5 by 5 km maps was a miracle in 2012, and it’s still beyond impressive in modern days. 

However, contrary to popular belief, PlanetSide 2 is actually not that demanding, you just have to keep certain things in mind:

(1) Sometimes, performance-reducing technical issues can arise. The cause could be different each time, and it’s probably safe to say that 95% of players never experience them.

(2) The game can sometimes have performance-reducing bugs. These bugs appear, get fixed, reappear later, etc. Either way, they usually don’t affect performance all the time.

For example, that one bug that caused Capture Points to generate an excessive amount of particle effects due to Esamir continent bonus. Or a bug when a rocket hangs in the air for a few seconds, again, producing an excessive amount of particles that eat FPS.

(3) No reasonable PC can handle the game at full ultra settings with Shadows enabled. Ultra shadows just eat too much FPS. It’s literally the difference between having 60 and 120 average FPS on the same PC.

Most people that constantly complain about performance being an all-time issue, usually refer to one of the points above, or they use inadequate hardware, like old laptops or PCs with integrated graphics, or run the game on a virus-ridden, old and cluttered installation of Windows.

As long as you’re willing to disable Shadows, and can keep your Windows fresh and clean, pretty much any entry-level gaming PC can handle PlanetSide 2. 

Links:

• Typical builds I recommend for PlanetSide 2
• Get help building a PC

If you wish to upgrade your existing PC, or buy a whole new one, but you lack experience picking cost-efficient components – Iridar is your guy.

What exactly do you offer?

Help, advice and consultations in picking PC components and optimizing their performance. Tell me what you want your future PC to do, and how much you’re willing to spend, and I will tell you which PC components to buy and how to set them up.

I will sift through as many highly technical reviews as necessary to ensure that hardware that I recommend is actually the best pick for you, and can perform the tasks you set out while fitting in a set budget.

You will be getting regular progress reports and in-depth explanations so you can make informed decisions and learn more about your future hardware.

If you end up following my recommendations, I will also provide unlimited technical support in configuring that hardware for best performance, including overclocking, and maintaining your operating system in good health – as long as you keep it reasonable and don’t actually expect me to do everything for you.

Why should I listen to you?

I have built tens of PCs, including with my own hands. I’ve read hundreds of reviews on different hardware pieces, and spent a lot of time cherry picking perfect components for my own system. You stand to benefit from this experience.

• • For a preview of my services, you can check out already completed builds here.

• There are also a few articles you will find useful.

What will it cost?

Due to lack of time, I can no longer avoid to do these builds for free.

For $20 USD, I will provide you with a list of PC components that will allow your future PC to do what you want it to do while spending as little money as possible. I’m all about being cost-efficient and finding components with best bang-for-the-buck.

• The list of components will be accompanied by brief commentaries on what place of the “food chain” this or that component occupies, what its strength and weaknesses are, what kind of performance can you expect out of it.
• I will also provide a few alternatives in situations where it makes sense, with detailed explanations of tradeoffs.

For another $20 USD, I will walk you through the process of actually building a PC out of those components with detailed step-by-step instructions. We can trade messages back and forth for as long as necessary until the build is complete.

• I will also provide you with instructions on how to configure your new PC for optimal performance after it is assembled.

To ensure that I am being objective in my hardware suggestions, I refrain from being affiliated with electronic commerce platforms, such as Amazon or Newegg.

Since it doesn’t make a monetary difference for me whether you buy a 500$ or 5000$ PC, I am not tempted to suggest overly expensive or cost-inefficient parts. It also allows me to look for best prices for components that I recommend, without worrying about getting commissions from shops.

How to get started?

Contact me any way you like and we’ll figure it out from there. You can greatly accelerate the process by including the following information in your initial message:

1. Your country of residence.
2. Budget: how much are you planning to spend? A rough estimate is fine.
3. What tasks do you plan to perform on that PC? If gaming, then which games?
4. How “future proof” you want your PC to be? How often are you willing to upgrade?
5. Can you handle assembling a PC? Or do you have a friend that can help you with that?
6. Describe your current PC, if you have one.
7. Do you have a preference between nVidia or AMD Graphics Cards? Intel or AMD CPUs?
8. Do you use, or plan to use, a monitor with refresh rate of 120 Hz or higher?

The more information you provide, the better I can help you.

Why do I need this information

(1) Your country of residence.

Different countries – and even different cities – will have different prices and availability for PC hardware.  So I’ll need to know where you live in order to find best prices for you. This information will never by published anywhere, so you can count on your privacy.

(2) Budget.

A lot of what I do boils down to finding the best possible hardware for the money you’re willing to spend.

Ideally, I need an answer like this: “I’m willing to spend X amount of money, but I can shell out additional Y money if it’s necessary, but I can’t possibly spend more than Z”.

If you have no idea how much a modern PC costs, that’s okay. Just tell me what you want your PC to do, and I’ll give you an estimate, and then we’ll work out whether we can go up or down from that price.

If budget is limited, it may be necessary to go for used parts, so let me know if that sounds acceptable to you.

Modern PC parts are fairly durable, and usually become morally obsolete long before their lifespan is over. However, there’s always a risk of being scammed, so you you’ll have to be extra careful. Ideally, you only want to buy items with intact warranty.

(3) PC’s Purpose

Different applications will require different hardware. For example, PlanetSide 2 is a 2012 game, still running on DirectX 9.0. It requires a lot of processing power, but it doesn’t do multi-threading very well, so ideally you want a few very powerful cores, which usually means an Intel Core i5. But you can save some money on the Graphics Card, since PS2 isn’t demanding in that regard.

This is different from modern gaming, where Graphics Cards have a much higher priority than CPU, and for the CPU itself it’s fine to go with a larger number of weaker cores, like is the case with AMD Ryzen CPUs.

And if you intend to do a lot of professional 3D modelling or image or video editing, you’d want to go with a larger amount of RAM, and again balance of power shifted towards CPU.

(4) Future proofing

If you’re fine with upgrading every 2-3 years, you can get cheaper hardware right now, and simply replace it later, with newer, better hardware. Given the fast pace of technological progress, I recommend to go this route.

If you want a PC that will last a longer time, you could purchase more expensive parts. Usually you will also want to overclock. This will result in better performance right now, and make the hardware more relevant in the future. But overclocking will also require more effort than simply “plugging and playing”.

There are also significant diminishing returns in the cost / performance ratio. In simple terms, a PC that costs twice as much will not be twice as powerful, but more along the lines of ~30% more powerful.

Overall, I don’t recommend trying to build future proof PCs unless there’s a good reason for it.

(5) Can you handle assembling a PC? Or do you have a friend that can help you with that?

If you don’t have any experience building a PC, but still willing to try, I will walk you through the process step by step. It’s not that hard, as long as you are careful, slow and methodical, and follow simple instructions to the letter.

Otherwise, I will look for services that can assemble a PC for you, or look for pre-built PCs. It is likely to be slightly less cost-efficient, and puts certain limitations on component choices, because you will have to buy all components in one specific shop, which doesn’t necessarily guarantee you’re getting best possible price for each individual hardware piece.

(6) Describe your current PC, if you have one.

I need this info to determine whether we can reuse any components from your old build, as well as to manage your expectations, and figure out which specific components need to be upgraded first.

The simplest way to convey this information is by using the portable version of Speccy. Download it, launch it, click “File -> Save Snapshot” and send me that snapshot file in the opening message.

(8) Do you use, or plan to use, a monitor with the refresh rate of 120 Hz or higher?

It’s important, because the usual monitors have refresh rate of 60 Hz, and going above 60 average FPS on them is more or less a waste. You could save some money by getting less powerful hardware.

And vice versa, if you want to actually take advantage of that high refresh rate, you need to be prepared to pay extra for more powerful hardware that can sustain more than 60 FPS.