Hi everyone, I am currently looking for advice/opinions on possible system builds, I am currently in the process of looking to upgrade my computer system by the end of 2022 as I have had my computer for almost 10 years now. As it approaches this point, I would like to see smooth performance at 60fps or greater with no stutters in gameplay. I would also like to set my graphics settings set to max at 1080p/1440p with no loss in performance. Along with playing TSW2 and Train Simulator, I also use this computer for work/video editing and American Truck Simulator/Euro Truck Simulator. Currently, I run TSW2. Often at times, when I play TSW2 at the highest graphics settings, I see somewhere between 18-30fps with stutters and/or frame freezes and audio lags every few seconds. After doing some research on current processors, I found a few processors that may be great for smooth gameplay and performance. My current budget for building a new computer system is $1200 or less. I would like to build a system that offers the most value for the performance while also having room for some upgrades /future proofing. Below are some processors that I have been looking at lately and trying to weight out the pros and cons of each. - Intel Core i7 12700k - Intel Core i5 12600k - AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D From what I can tell, the above processors appear to be good for what I am trying to achieve. The Core i5 12600K may be good value for the money as it comes close to the core i7 12700k in terms of fps. These 12th gen Intel processors are compatible with both DDR4 and DDR5 memory, which means there may be room for a mid-life upgrade in a few years if I was to go this route. I would go for a motherboard that supports DDR4 RAM for now as DDR5 memory is very expensive and outside of my budget range. Later on, once the price drops, I can look into a midlife upgrade to a motherboard that supports DDR5 RAM, which may further increase my performance from the 12th gen Intel processors. As for an AMD, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D seems to be a great processor under the Zen 3 architecture as it offers 96MB of L3 cache, which would not be found on other mainstream processors. With this amount of cache, it has similar or even better performance than a Ryzen 9 5000 series processor. I am sure TSW2 and TSC would run flawlessly under this processor. The only thing is, there is no room for upgrades in the future as AM5 is right around the corner. AM4 is approaching EOL. AM5 for now will be supporting DDR5 only but there are some rumors that there may be some Zen4 Ryzen 7000 processors coming out soon that may support DDR4 RAM and the AM4 architecture. If this rumor is true, it is unknown how much longer AM4 will be supported. For playing both TSW and Train Simulator Classic, which processor would be the best option for playing at either 1080p or 1440p max settings. I currently also have a GTX1060SSC 6GB but may look into a new graphics card for when I build a new computer. Below are the current specs that I run TSW2 and Train Simulator Classic. My current specs CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE @3.4Ghz (2009) GPU: EVGA Geforce GTX1060 SSC 6GB (2016) Mobo: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 ATX case (2012) RAM: 16GB DDR3 Corsair Vengeance @ 1366Mhz in Dual Channel configuration (2012) PSU: EVGA Supernova G2 1000W Modular Power supply (2016) OS: Windows 10 Home (2015) Case: Corsair Obsidian 650D ATX Midtower (2015)
For TSC, processor power is important. It's single-threaded, so the core frequency should be high. i7 or equivalent, don't go below.
If we are talking of the end of this year, then you don't want to plan anything just yet, as both AMD Zen4 and NVidia RTX4xxx series will be out by then, so it makes absolutely no sense to plan a PC build for the end of the year, now.
I am actually curious if a core i5 12600KF would suffice for running rail simulation. I am sure it would as I am coming from an AMD Phenom II X4 965 which is 13 years old now. At this rate, just about any processor would be a big upgrade for me. So far, I can run Train Simulator at an average of 15-30fps suprisingly on this processor
I hope AMD plans to release Zen4 for the AM4 platform as well. But if they go the AM5 route specifically, then the cost of building a new computer would be very high as the slowest DDR5 RAM sticks and DDR5 motherboards are crazy expensive. I would also look into the RTX4xxx series cards.
12600kf doesn't break a sweat with tsc. Most routes @60fps easily. With adequate cooling it will run at its turbo frequency 24/7.
I have been doing some more research on PC components lkately and almost have a finalized list but may make some more changes between now and Black Friday. It looks like the final build may be somewhere around $2,500. I definitely hope to get some Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals to reduce the final price. Out of curiousity, I have been looking into some of the Radeon GPU's as well. Would TSW benefit from having more VRAM or would the core clock, core count for CUDA cores/Compute Units matter? What have people's experiences been so far with TSC/TSW using Radeon GPU's. I see some NVIDIA GPU's like the RTX3060 have 12GB of VRAM while the 3060Ti, 3070 have 8GB of VRAM. Also, cards like the Radeon RX6700XT and RX6800XT have 12GB-16GB of VRAM. I ask this because I am looking to mainly run @ 1080p with a solid 60fps, raising all the graphic details to Ultra and Screen to 200%. Now that TSW3 has released, I notice my TSW2 routes mainly run decent but the TSW3 routes with the new dynamic clouds and lighting improvements bring my system very low FPS. I would definitely like to run the new TSW3 routes with max graphics settings at ultra settings.
You do not need more than 8Gb of VRAM for either game. In fact, you will not need it for any game at 1080p. I wouldn't decide anything yet. AMD are just about to release their new Zen4 CPUs and Nvidia 4xxx cards are just around the corner. It may be worth waiting for some independent tests of both of these, and seeing what the prices are. Even if you are not interested in the new CPUs and GPUs, current gen hardware will probably see a price drop once the new stuff is released, so it's still worth waiting.
Good Day everyone, I would like to take the time to thank everyone for providing me with advice and suggestions on building a new PC After some delays with computer parts arriving throughout the holidays and some trial and error, I have finally built the successor to the 1st computer that I built back in 2012. I kind of went all out with this command station PC build, kicking it up a notch with some high performance parts and RGB fans. What I enjoy about building computers is that I have an idea of how it will operate based on the components. So far, I am very happy with it's performance. The difference between this computer and my old computer is night and day. This was a long overdue upgrade and I am amazed at how well it handles Train Simulator and Train Sim World. Now, with all the settings cranked up to ultra, along with the 165Hz monitor and Gsync enabled, I am getting over 80fps in Train Sim World 3 and Train Simulator Classic with very little to no stutter. This is amazing Below are the specs of my new PC build and some pictures. The only thing I wonder as this 27" monitor is 1080p, at times, Train Simulator Classic may look a bit pixelated with all the settings cranked up. I am wondering if it is due to the size of the screen or if there is something I might be able to do to get it to look sharp without it being a bit pixelated. Overall, it is not that bad and I am very happy with the end result of building my new computer. Thank you everyone and I hope everyone has a Happy Holidays Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Midtower Case Motherboard: Gigabyte Z690 UD AX DDR4 ATX Graphics Card: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3070 8GB GDDR6 OC Edition Processor: Intel Core i7 12700K LGA 1700 @ 3.6 Ghz Cooler: CoolerMaster MasterAir MA612 Stealth Memory: 32GB DDR4 G.Skill Ripjaws CL16 RAM @ 3600Mhz in Dual Channel Storage #1: 1TB WD_Black SN850X NVME SSD @ 7300 MB/s (x2) Storage #2: 2TB SP A55 SSD (x2) Storage #3: 240GB Inland Professional SSD (X2) Fans: Corsair SP120 @ SP140 with Corsair iCue Commander Core XT Smart RGB Fan Controller Power Supply: EVGA Supernova G2 1000W 80+ Gold PSU UPS: APC Backup UPS 1500VA The components before the build Finished result. First boot of my new gaming computer Interior of the gaming PC Trying to improve my cable management skills
Good Morning everyone, has anyone had any issues with losing data from an SSD after a recent Windows 11 update? I just ran Windows update and after my PC rebooted, I appeared to have lost connection to 3 of my SSD drives (2 were merged in a spanned dynamic volume for video recording) The 2 that were merged were free Inland 240GB SSD's that I received from Microcenter which I use for video recordings, and the other 2TB SP A55 SSD is used for my Steam games. Now all of that appears to be gone. Would anyone know if this has been happening with Windows? I am starting to wonder how reliable Silicon Power A55 2TB drives are, as one out of two in my computer seems to only have worked for 6 months before not showing in my system. After checking the driver, it appears to be a possible issue where driver files for the solid state drive failed to migrate after the Windows update. The option to roll back the driver are greyed out. I have been noticing lately though after the last few weeks, shortly after rebooting my computer after a Windows 11 update, it would take a few minutes to successfully boot. I am starting to think if using less drives in a computer is better than using multiple drives. I have 2 NVME's on my motherboard, and 4 SSD's in total, (3 SSD's appear to be having issues). Please help if possible or would there be suggestions that anyone can provide?
Question 1 - What real advantages do you see with a dynamic disk over a basic disk? I thought that MS had actually stated that Dynamic disks are no longer needed? In the Not initialized disks have you tried to initialize them via diskpart? https://www.easeus.com/partition-ma...ere are the steps to,click "Next" to continue. On the unallocated disk, I guess that you have tried "Extend Volume" via disk management. Having several disks SSD or spinners (I have 5 plus 2 external drives) can slow the boot process and it can be idiosyncratic working fine one minute and slow boot the next. The reasons that the disks may no longer "showing" are complex and varied including say a corrupt MBR some failure in the IO system etc etc, and not easy to fix. I use very few partitions - I see no advantage for me especially using SSDs so using basic disks gives me no issues,
The only feature I know of that dynamic disks allow for is to span volumes across 2 drives, somewhat like merging 2 drives. I think that may have been a bad idea though as one or my drives in the spanned volume failed or malfunctioned Unfortunately, I am unable to initialize the disk due to an IO error. After looking at the driver details, it appears the drivers for the solid state drive may have failed to migrate over after the latest Windows 11 update. Unfortunately, rolling back the driver is not possible as the option is grayed out. I think I am going to reinstall Windows 11 and restart from scratch. I created a backup image for reimaging the machine but I think the safest thing is to use disk part to clean each of the disk partitions and start from scratch. I am thinking, I can setup the below configuration #1: 1TB Nvme to boot the OS #2: 1TB Nvme for Train Simulator #3: 2TB SSD for Steam games #4 2TB SSD for program installs
I have my SSD connected to my laptop via external sata adapter. One of the drives appeared when connected to my laptop so I am in the process of formatting it and will try to reattach it to my computer
I was able to recover one of my Silicon Power A55 SSD's while the other appears to be dead. I assume these drives are not really meant to store stuff like steam and steam libraries. I just purchased a 2TB Samsung 870 Evo to store my steam library of games on. Sometime down the line, I may opt for a 4TB WD Black 7200RPM drive for storage
Have a look at a Seagate Firecuda Gaming Hub these have up to a 40Gb transfer rate via a Thunderbolt cable and port (most modern mobos now support Thunderbolt - USB c is slower) and can include a large spinner plus provision for a Nvme M2 SSD. Curved Monitors with higher resolutions >1080p make the gaming experience much better. GSync/FreeSync - which you have - virtually eliminates Video card latency - one of the causes of stutter in TSC.
Thanks for the suggestion. It appears I may have resolved the issue. After plugging my new Samsung 870 Evo 2TB SSD, it appears in my PC fine. I went through the process of formatting it, and turning it into my own. I also decided to format my other drives instead of the C drive so I can get a fresh start along with installing Steam. I definitely enjoy gaming on 1080p so far. I have an ASUS G-Sync monitor. It definitely helps with the screen tearing and stuttering
