PC Specs Help

Alright. I hate PC gaming but I’m considering it for a couple of reasons. I want to play this game Caliber and I’m looking at what specs would be ideal for it. I’ll also play Socom games online through a PS2 emulator.

The site says the recommended are:

OS: Windows 7 or 10, 64bit

CPU: i5-4xxx or better

RAM: 8+ Gb

VRAM: 2+ Gb

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 960 or better, AMD HD 7xxx or better

DirectX: 11+

Free disk space: ~40 Gb

I’m not looking to go overboard, I game on Series X, PS5, and Switch. This is just to get maybe a few games I can’t get elsewhere, but Caliber and Socom specifically. What type of specs would you recommend?

https://playcaliber.com/en/download/

Whats your budget and do you plan on playing other games?

Right now its near impossible to find a gpu at MSRP. The only real way is to buy a prebuilt.

This is most likely the best bang for your buck prebuilt and is quite good for what it is.

LINK

@04dcarraher: I’m not worried about budget, but I don’t have a need to spend 2K+ on a PC for a few games. I just can’t play Caliber on console and Socom would be easier on PC than dealing with a PS2/PS3.

@04dcarraher: what do you think about this?

https://www.microcenter.com/product/637962/powerspec-g510-gaming-pc

Anything you find these days with a dedicated GPU will meet those specs. Most people here will probably scoff at me for even suggesting this, but it's $800 and for your purposes it will be just fine:

https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-envy-desktop-te01-1165t

But that's $800 wasted though, only having 8gb of ram is going to be an issue even with game selection the TC stated. Then that 4gb 1650 is around 30% faster than a GTX 960 4gb model. For $300-$400 more you can get Pc that has 2x ssd storage, 2x the system ram and get a gpu that is over 2x faster.

That will provide a much smoother and better overall better experience vs what the $800 HP will have making the TC compromise on multiple aspects of his gaming experience.

That would work, but I would spend an extra $100 and get an eight core based system , 6 core 12 thread systems are going to age poorly once devs start designing games and using game engines solely for XSX/ PS5 specs dropping the X1's and PS4's baggage. Here is a link for a system like the one you found but with an 8 core cpu LINK

Its not bad, but for another $100-$300 you can get a system with more recent and faster hardware as well.

@04dcarraher: I was looking at that one, sadly it’s out of stock at my nearest store. I mean is it that much of a difference to stress over? All the same specs except the processor.

@04dcarraher: here’s one the same price as what you showed me.

https://www.microcenter.com/product/637044/dell-xps-8940-gaming-pc-platinum-collection

@04dcarraher: also this one at the price you showed me.

https://www.microcenter.com/product/634663/dell-alienware-aurora-r10-gaming-pc

@04dcarraher: I told you people would scoff at my suggestion :)

But seriously, the OP isn't asking for a future-proof powerhouse. They want to play a couple online games and a PS2 emulator. The HP I linked would run those just fine.

@judaspete: it’s ok, I appreciate the honesty. I feel like I can go a little higher and I’d feel better about it, but knowing a weaker system would be just fine is great.

@nnoyinghusband:

Stay away from Alienware and you will be ok. All their cases suck, with cooling and everything being proprietary in nature

Now was I scoffing at it? Na I was being truthful about it. lol

Besides what was noted was bad about that PC, like the low amount of ram and low end gpu by today's standards. That PC will struggle with that Caliber game the TC is wanting to play. the Early Access preview a few months ago seen it using upto 9gb of ram and then even a RTX 3080 on default settings at 1080p seen around 140 fps and at 1440p seen an average of 120ish FPS.

Spending 800 vs 1200 and getting something nearly 2x faster at gaming and not having to worry about compromising anything from detail to performance is a no brainer.

@04dcarraher: @nnoyinghusband:

Fair enough about Caliber, I have not watched any performance vids of it. I just looked at the recommended specs and the HP met or exceeded them. Optimization may be an issue. However, I'm betting if you don't mind gaming at 1080p 60 on medium, it will run fine. Just got to decide if the extra $400 is worth it to max out one game.

Thanks guys! I got the model below. Watched several YT videos about the GPU/CPU, benchmarks comparing. I could have spent less but this makes me feel safe that it’s overkill without going into 2K+.

The salesman did try to show me the Alienware I posted above. $100 more, half the RAM, no reason to get that GPU vs what I got. Hopefully it all works out. Thanks for the assistance.

https://www.microcenter.com/product/637962/powerspec-g510-gaming-pc

@nnoyinghusband:

Enjoy, you will be pleased. It will allow you try other games as well.

Says "I hate PC gaming"

Buys a modern beast of PC

$1500 for the whole rig, nice. Lot nicer than 1K for GPU alone. :(

@gerygo: and I feel absolutely gross about it. Last night I played Caliber for a little bit. M&K just doesn’t feel like gaming. It’s just not right. And a mouse to shoot? Felt like having aimbot or something. I’m gonna try and get a controller to work with it today, saw a video on how to do it. At least Socom 2 was running the way it’s supposed to, at least I think so.

First of all play FPS and TPS is recommended with Mouse and Keyboard because you have more precise control.

I do have controller to play some arcade and combat games like Batman, Mad Max and anything that involves fighting or controlling just the movement of the character, it's also pretty neat to play racing games with it (certainly better than keyboard) but I recommend buying a wheel for that.

@gerygo: now for the TV vs monitor debate…

I’m playing on a beautiful 2021 Samsung 4K QLED 43 inch 60hz TV (on a desk, I sit like 1-2 feet from it). Monitors are expensive for what you get (small, 1080p-2K, but better fps). If I wanted to get a monitor, what do I need to look at beyond 2K and fps? Like response time, the type of display? What else is important? Cause there’s monitors on sale and the panels are different, response times are different, stuff like that.

I know my system can pump out over 200fps cause Caliber was showing that yesterday but since my TV can only show up to 60hz I limited that in game to 70fps.

As long as you have 6ms or less it's fine, 60Hz is fine by my standards, I do not compete in any sort of MLG competition so I do not need more than that and I appreciate vivid colors more than refresh rate or input lag.

I say stick with what you've got, or else you'll be paying far more than you want to to enjoy the same quality combined with low input lag and high refresh rate.

@nnoyinghusband:

It depends on how big you want the monitor to be, that will determine what resolution target you should get. 1080p under 27" is ok, 27"-32" 1440p, 4k 27"- what ever size you want.

You have monitors that use TN panels VA panels and IPS panels. TN are usually the cheapest and typically have the fastest refresh rates and lowest latency but have the worse color accuracy. VA are abit more expensive, have good refresh rates, low latency, and provide good color accuracy. Now IPS can be the most expensive panels, the cheaper models have the lowest refresh rates , ok latency and the better color accuracy.

Now if you spend the money and get top end IPS based gaming monitors You have the best of everything in refresh rates, low latency and best color accuracy.

Of the options mentioned, I think a high end VA panel is the best as it offers much better contrast ratio than the others. VA technology has also gotten to the point where the flaws which were once brutal, are not really an issue anymore.

Got another question and figured I’d ask it here instead of making a new thread. I love my new PC BTW, running Valorant and CS:GO all high settings and what not, but I’d like to get a cooling solution. This thing has vents all over which is great, but there are no fans or anything at the back.

The link below are the cooling options they have. There’s a ton so I don’t expect anyone to look through them all. What’s the difference between going with fans vs water? Is it worth to spend a little more than basic fans? Thanks.

https://www.microcenter.com/category/4294966928/air-water-cooling

@nnoyinghusband:

Does that PC come with two case fans? One in front and one on top? Or both in front? Or non at all?

If it does have two fans included, I would buy two of the Arctic P12 (LINK) inexpensive static pressure designed 120mm fans and install them in the front of the case to maximize airflow through small vent slits. Then move the old fan/s from the front to the back rear and top rear of the case.