PC died, spec question

[Simoleum]

My PC recently became retired after stopping to function. I am therefore going to build a new PC. Being a total noob, I am wondering what to focus on for Paradox games.

I mostly (usually only) play Paradox games (Imperator, EUIV, CK3, Victoria 2 and Hearts of Iron IV). At times I may venture into some other strategy games (like Civ 6 and Anno). My goal is only to play these games (and the next generation of the respective titles) maxed out and smooth like knife in butter even at the highest speeds, all while listening to stuff in the background (YouTube, Spotify, large downloaded podcasts).

I assume RTX is unnecessary, and am considering GTX 1660 (6GB GDDR6, 1530/1860MHz). For processor, I have no idea and considering anything from Intel i5 (10400F, 10600KF), i7 (10700), to i9 10900. For memory I got DDR4 (3600MHz 16GB), and for SSD I got a Corsair MP600 1TB (4950/4250 MB/s, 1800TBW). Motherboard is ASUS PRIME B460M-A.

Now again, being a total noob, I have no idea whether these components are like ordering a Ferrari to do my grocery shopping, or if it is too puny. Do you guys have any experience to share?

P.S. Hopefully this thread isn't annoying, I am sure there are many similarily clueless people looking for help.

 

[Nostalgium]

Most critical aspect is CPU by far. I recently upgraded my CPU to a Ryzen 5 3700, and now experience literally no slowdown on speed 3 from start to finish (though some slowdown on speeds 4-5, but not as much as before) so anything equivalent or above and you're golden. Graphics card and RAM is fine - I have slower RAM and a GTX 1060 and can run all PDX games without a hiccup. They're really not graphically intensive. SSD will help with the initial load of the game, but other than that not improve your performance much, since PDX games don't do any heavy from-disk loading once the game is running.

TLDR: You're good. You can probably even save a chunk on a worse GPU.

 

[Simoleum]

Most critical aspect is CPU by far. I recently upgraded my CPU to a Ryzen 5 3700, and now experience literally no slowdown on speed 3 from start to finish (though some slowdown on speeds 4-5, but not as much as before). Graphics card and RAM is fine - I have slower RAM and a GTX 1060 and can run all PDX games without a hiccup. They're really not graphically intensive. SSD will help with the initial load of the game, but other than that not improve your performance much, since PDX games don't do any heavy from-disk loading once the game is running.

TLDR: You're good. You can probably even save a chunk on a worse GPU.

Thank you! I ended up with these specs, and an i7. Hoping it will keep me on top even for next round of PDX games. Have a good day!

 

[Nostalgium]

Thank you! I ended up with these specs, and an i7. Hoping it will keep me on top even for next round of PDX games. Have a good day!

Enjoy the new rig! May it serve you long and well!

 

[IsaacCAT]

These days RAM is cheap, do not save on that and if you can get 16Gb. And SSD is mandatory nice to have.

 

[Nostalgium]

These days RAM is cheap, do not save on that and if you can get 16Gb. And SSD is mandatory.

Disagree with you on the SSD. It's great for games that frequently load a lot from disk (open worlds with fast travel, mmos), but for games which do little loading in-game like PDX, you can save a lot of money per GB by settling for a HDD for your games and a smaller SSD for your OS. It's a nice-to-have, not a must-have, IMO.

 

[IsaacCAT]

Disagree with you on the SSD. It's great for games that frequently load a lot from disk (open worlds with fast travel, mmos), but for games which do little loading in-game like PDX, you can save a lot of money per GB by settling for a HDD for your games and a smaller SSD for your OS. It's a nice-to-have, not a must-have, IMO.

I am biased, I have suffered HDD problems so many years that I skip them whenever possible.

And the silence? Isn’t worth it?

 

[Shogun96]

I have an RTX 2060 and Ryzen 5 3600 and it runs most games on the highest settings. In my case the GPU it's largely overkill for paradox games but I assume you can get a 1060 or 1660 and still be good.

 

[Nostalgium]

I am biased, I have suffered HDD problems so many years that I skip them whenever possible.

And the silence? Isn’t worth it?

I've not had a noisy HDD since like 2007. Now I even have a soundproofed cabinet - I can't tell by sound if my PC is on or off, and I love it. <3 It's got three HDDs too.

 

[olivenkranz]

so, as a computertech noob, how do I compare any processor or CPU or similar if it doesnt start with the same (f.ex i5 and i7 or whatever)? I can compare RAM, but thats about it. If you want hit me in a DM with that wall of text.

 

[Emre Yigit]

so, as a computertech noob, how do I compare any processor or CPU or similar if it doesnt start with the same (f.ex i5 and i7 or whatever)? I can compare RAM, but thats about it. If you want hit me in a DM with that wall of text.

Go to this site: Here

 

[olivenkranz]

Go to this site: Here

I dont even properly know what the data says under "My Mac" (yes, I play on Mac) lol. I dont know what would be compatible, I dont know what the different names (for groups) say (except different producer)... etc

 

[Emre Yigit]

I dont even properly know what the data says under "My Mac" (yes, I play on Mac) lol. I dont know what would be compatible, I dont know what the different names (for groups) say (except different producer)... etc

Ah, sorry, forgive my not understanding your previous question. I'm sorry (again), but I can't help you there.

 

[svalan_i_dalen]

Google the stock fan you get with the cpu. They are often noisy and poor quality. A good silent CPU fan is a very cheap investment to make you PC much happier.

 

[Akbar The Great]

I am biased, I have suffered HDD problems so many years that I skip them whenever possible.

And the silence? Isn’t worth it?

SSD'S all the weay these days, they're that cheap they have relegated the old HDD's to storage purposes only. The new M2 dives are even better but not cost efficient at this point.

Once you go SSD you're never going back to clickety clack, whirring slow HDD's. Although I will concede PDS titles aren't the type of games that will benefit most form SSD's.,