Up to date suggestions for pc build for pinball x?

[aldub516]

Hey all. I did an ample amount of research, but a lot of the articles were outdated. even a few months can drastically change prices and options. Im looking to build a pc for my pinball cab. Ill be running a 32" lcd, 28" lcd for backglass, and either real dmd, or a 3rd monitor of some sort for dmd. I use my personal pc to program my software, and my pc is a beast, but i also put a lot of money into it as its my work pc. Ill be running tables on pinball fx2 / pinball arcade, as well as visual and future pinball. I know that i7 processors are basically a minimum starting point now a days for pinball. So without beating around the bush, im hoping some people can point me towards what i need to focus on for pinball, or maybe even a pre-built rig if its worth it. I dont want overkill, i just want what i need for a sturdy system that will handle all the graphics nicely. Ive built a few PCS for arcade gaming, but the graphics and needs of pinball is a little different.. Ill be happy to supply any more information, but i just need a good system that i can throw together and drop in my cab. My software is just about done. Thank you for all your time, and i know this is a redundant question.

 

 

[Carny_Priest]

Depends on what you want to run and how much you want to spend. My CPU is over three years old, an i5. So far, everything I've thrown at it runs just fine.

[aldub516]

Hey. as i said, i dont know whats overkill and whats not. But im going to run pinballx running pinball arcade, fx2, visual pinball and future pinball with 3 screens/2 screens and dmd. Going in a pincab. I assume pinball fx2 is one of the more intensive programs. But yea, i will be running all that.. Directb2s glass where applicable and such. Basically a pincab thats going to run whatever it can to look sweet and work right with 2 screens and a dmd. If an i5 will work, then it is what it is. I just want something that will hold up over time. A used system cobbled together will probably do fine, i just dont know what to look for in the pinball department.. video card requirements, or mother board requirements in that case to accomodate video cards. Ideally a few hundred im hoping will get me a sweet system that i can drop in my system and handle the workload of a nice running system. Maybe one day throw led lights and such in it, but i know thats all just voltage power and software. Open to pre built pc links, or just list of parts. I have a local microcenter which is great for parts

[Draco1962]

Following are my pincab stats:

• OS: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

• CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz

• RAM: 16GB
• GPU 1: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660
• GPU RAM: 2GB GDDR5
• Displays: 3

My setup is a few years old. I recommend at least a 500gb SSD for your OS and executibles for the launch speed. 

It is always best to build as current as you can and to what you can afford.

[aldub516]

may i ask what motherboard you are using or what i should be looking for in a mother board. Id normally assume it should have room for 2 video cards, but it seems i can get away with one? Im looking at a few cpu/mobo combos and just really wondering if the $170 mobo is justifiable or if a 70$ would do the same job? As i said pinball is a whole different beast as far as graphic and game processing so im a little lost.

I found both of these for 250$

Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz LGA 1151 Boxed Processor
Intel Core i7-4790 3.6 GHz 1150 Boxed Processor

Now wondering what to do for the mobo.. Ram and HDD's all that is pretty simple. Im just lost on cpu/mobo combos and graphic cards for the most part on this build. I assume im going to spend between 200-250 on the cpu, and another 100 atleast on the mobo. Im going to search for used pre builts in the mean time. Thank you for input on the mobo. I dont know whats overkill or wasteful for that. Im going to go with one of the above cpus

 

[Draco1962]

My mobo is an Asus but I am not certain as to the model. I recommend doing some solid research as you may find some first rate mobo deals on some lesser known manufacturers.

You will also want to check around the various pinball forums to see member builds to get a good idea of what others are using.

[djrobx]

I'm a little surprised to see that my new GTX 960 barely pulls off VPX at 60fps (vsync) with all the quality settings turned up.    That said, it's absolutely worth having AA on.   Some VP tables are super jaggy and ugly without it.    AA was a no-go on my 650ti.   So I'd get the best video card you can afford.  

I also upgraded my CPU from an i3 (3.6ghz) to an i7 (4.00ghz) but that doesn't seem to have made much difference.   I think the video card is key. 

 

[hlr53]

An i7 is not needed for pinball. Today, I personally would use an i5 vs an i7 to save money, but hey if you want an i7 that is great too. I personally love my i7 Aienware laptop. 8 or 16 gig of RAM. A good midrange video card is absolutely necessary. I use NVidia because that is what I am used to running. I would go with a 250 gig (plenty to hold a thousand tables) or 500 gig SSD drive. Once you've booted and used SSD you never want to go back :-).

For mobo/video card combos I would pick something and maybe check/post at Tom's Hardware. I've used them on and off since he started the site. Most mobos have built in Soundblaster compatible sound and wireless networking. Do NOT worry about Haskell vs the latest and greatest architecture. It is ALL fast.

I may resurrect an old DX4870 Gateway desktop i5, 8 gig I TB drive purchased in 2012. I used to use it for remote VPN login to work but I now use my laptop. I would put it on an open air benchtop testing case. It has built in Intel 3xxx graphics so the 300w PSU has to go for a new video card. I need a new 24 pin to 12 power cable for the mobo, since Acer uses a 12 pin plug for this mobo, and a new PCI E 16 midrange card. It all ready has Win 10 installed. I've built a few PCs starting in 1985 with an 8088, 640K memory and a 10MB Seagate 225 HD. We have come a LONG way - LOL.

ADDITION: I am not saying buy here (I do because they are local) but they will recommend mobo combinations that work together. Give you some ideas.

http://www.microcenter.com/site/stores/sharonville.aspx

[tthurman]

After swearing off ASUS for years following a bad experience, I went for the Z-170 Pro (not the gaming edition).

Seemed a good price to performance ratio, and with a 6700k it should be good to go for a long while.

Went with this memory

[Kustom Kid]

@aldub516 You said you live near a Microcenter. The metro Detroit one is having a huge clearance blowout sale right now. You might be able to find some good open box sales. Don't forget the processor (I would also recommend the i5)/motherboard bundle saves you $30, and that's applicable to open box motherboards as well. You get a percentage off RAM when you buy a motherboard, too so that's another few bucks saved. They price match, so on the off chance they aren't cheaper than Newegg, Tiger Direct, B&H Photo, they'll match the price.

For my emulation PC I was able to get an "open box" case for half off. They're weren't even any finger prints on it, the outer box was simply opened and damaged. My open box motherboard was $20 off because the bundled SATA cables and driver disc were missing, and I was still able to get the $30 off for bundling the CPU, plus a mail in rebate of another $20 off. So in effect I got my mobo for $30. They price matched Newegg's price on the CPU cooler which saved me $5 and that had a $10 mail in rebate as well. I purchased the rest of the items from Amazon, but if you do a bit of homework you can save a ton of money at Microcenter.

[Draco1962]

Another thing to consider is your PSU. If you are considering running any extras off of the PSU,  such as LEDs, servos, fans, and/or decent GPU, 300w will not cut it. Having some extra available wattage and connectors for 5 and 12v for growth and added devices is not a bad thing IMO.

[aldub516]

How would something like this fair ?

 

Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz 1151 Boxed Processor -$200
Gigabyte Z170X-Gaming 5 LGA 1151 ATX Intel Motherboard--$70 after open box and discount, down from 150
EVGA 16GB 2 x 8GB DDR4-3200 PC4-25600 CL16 Desktop -$74
EVGA 500B 500 Watt ATX Power Supply --$ 30 after rebate
Crucial MX300 525GB 2.5" SATA III Internal SSD -$127
ASUS GeForce GTX 950 2GB GDDR5 PCIe White Shroud Video Card w/ Dual-Fan Cooling--$117 after rebate

based on price and build, how would that run do you think? Mind you again ill be running 3 screens and pinballx with visual pinball, pinballfx2, pinball arcade. I will be using table videos and backglasses and such, so id like this all to run stutter free. Whats your opinions?

 

 

[aldub516]

also as for ram, theres a fair price jump in different speed ram.. how important is ram speed? say from 2400 to 3400. I really want to keep this as cheap as possible but it must be able to run what i need. I have a pincab that needs to be finished and i want to sell it. its been taking up too much space for now

[Kustom Kid]

That looks aces, @aldub516. That will do nicely. I'm running a factory overclocked GTX 960 at the moment and it runs everything well with the settings dialed up for VP9, VPX, PBFX2. I would suggest getting a GTX 1060 as it's comparable to the high-end graphics cards from the last generation for considerably less.

As for RAM, unless you plan on overclocking you won't need anything above 2133. To be honest I've run with the least expensive name brand RAM, more often than not Crucial Ballistix Sport, for the last 4 PCs I've built and I've had good success with that.

[aldub516]

well then.. without spending the next two years "researching the perfect ever changing build", i may just go with that.. between rebates and open boxes im saving a lot

[Kustom Kid]

I just got an email today that Microcenter is offering an additional $25 off video cards $239.99 and up when purchased with an i5 6600K, so you can save a few more bucks.

[aldub516]

the question is do i want to spend 239 on a video card? or do i need to ? lol

[Kustom Kid]

If it were me, driving 3 screens, I would get at least a GTX 960, which is about $200. For an extra $55 after the $25 in store coupon for a GTX 1060 you get 6GB of video RAM as opposed to 2GB, lower power consumption, and performance comparable to a GTX 980 which still goes for $380. It's a slippery slope though. You spend a bit more here, and a bit more there, and the next thing you know you've blown your budget.

[Draco1962]

For a pincab with 3 screens, I have to agree with Kustom Kid. The GPU is going to be the driving force between your playfield, backglass, and DMD videos and you will want as much GPU and DDR 5 graphics RAM as you can afford to keep these animated displays smooth and frosty. You have economized on everything else to keep costs down so the GTX 1060 would be a great buy IMO. Keep in mind that you will want to ensure that your playfield and backglass ports match your GPU's outputs. Various form factors of this GPU have only one HDMI output but multiple Display Port outputs, so you will want to factor in at least one Display Port to HDMI converter into your costs to accomodate these, or maybe 2 if you are using a monitor for the DMD that only has HDMI, unless you are going with one of the USB driven mini monitors.

[tthurman]

On 8/19/2016 at 8:28 PM, Kustom Kid said:

As for RAM, unless you plan on overclocking you won't need anything above 2133. To be honest I've run with the least expensive name brand RAM, more often than not Crucial Ballistix Sport, for the last 4 PCs I've built and I've had good success with that.

I admit it, I bought some of the more trendy, speedy ram, but as infrequently as I purchase new machines.....no biggie!  

My last full on build was a E8500 dual core, and I sprung for some high end Mushkin DDR2 with pretty aggressive timings, 5,5,5 IIRC.  It made it perhaps five months, as did my buddy across the hallway at work (who had followed my lead).

Long story short, it was replaced with another performance series, albeit less than what I paid for.  When I mentioned this I was told, "it makes no difference!", I laughed and told him that their marketing department sure thinks it does.

I'll tell you, I was a Mushkin loyalist for years, but after being burned six times in a row I don't buy it anymore.  Crucial has been 75/25 for me, but I've never bought Sport series, just Ballistix, and I think this was just a hiccup they had with a particular line or two.  Both stand behind their product for certain, I just hate jacking around with RMA'ing.  Corsair has been rock solid for me every time I've used it for builds I do for others and myself

[Kustom Kid]

13 hours ago, tthurman said:

I'll tell you, I was a Mushkin loyalist for years, but after being burned six times in a row I don't buy it anymore.  Crucial has been 75/25 for me, but I've never bought Sport series, just Ballistix, and I think this was just a hiccup they had with a particular line or two.  Both stand behind their product for certain, I just hate jacking around with RMA'ing.  Corsair has been rock solid for me every time I've used it for builds I do for others and myself

Upon further inspection it was Ballistix, not the Ballistix Sport series. At any rate, Crucial is is a good brand. They're one of the few companies that make their own PCBs and supply their own (through parent company Micron) RAM chips. But RAM is RAM for the most part. I've even used Microcenter branded RAM for a dirt cheap build I did for a co-worker. That's still chugging along 4 years down the road with no problems. There's only like 4 companies that make the actual chips. The PCBs are where quality issues pop up.

[aldub516]

all things taken fully into consideration and i will spring for that upgraded gpu.. hoping to buy the parts in the next day or two

[aldub516]

thanks guys. Im actually on my way to microcenter to purchase the above said list, with the added gtx 1060. Hope i can find all the open box items and make a nice little bundle deal

[Kustom Kid]

Godspeed!

[aldub516]

haha.. god speed me @$$... got my money together..got my microcenter drive doobie ready... and boom.. sunday hours = closed at 7.. The level of dissappointment in my evening is of epic proportions.. Expected to have a $700 pile of parts to play with and get my project done.. i guess now ill eat a chicken parmasian hero and watch summerslam.. LORD, IF YOURE LISTENING, IM TRYING TO BE PRODUCTIVE!!

 

anyways.. ill take the extra day to price shop and such, but between rebates, bundles and open boxes i hope to find, i dont think ill beat microcenter. Found this beast which is the same price as another gtx 1060 but with considerably better specs http://www.microcenter.com/product/467456/GeForce_GTX_1060_Gaming_X_6GB_GDDR5_Video_Card

although it seems in the hour since ive checked, my microcenter sold out of it... im batting 0 tonight anyway. funds are in hand, and im ready to buy buy buy. thank you for all your help.  My final build is as follows

Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz 1151 Boxed Processor
Gigabyte Z170X-Gaming 5 LGA 1151 ATX Intel Motherboard
EVGA 16GB 2 x 8GB DDR4-3200 PC4-25600 CL16 Desktop 
EVGA 500B 500 Watt ATX Power Supply 
Crucial MX300 525GB 2.5" SATA III Internal SSD
GTX 1060 GPU

 

Hope it all does the job.. thanks again!