> Hardware Obsolescence > CPU Temperatures > The End of PC Gaming
City Building
General question: I have a system with Win 10 64- bit, an Intel Core i5- 4460 @ 3.2GHz, 16GB RAM, and Intel 4600 Graphics. I would like to play Cities:Skylines. I believe I need a video card; which one would you recommend? Do I also need to upgrade anything, such as my PSU? Thank you!
– Peter H EXECUTIVE EDITOR ALAN DEXTER RESPONDS: If you take a quick look at the minimum hardware requirements for Cities:
Skylines, you’ll discover one interesting caveat under video card support, and that is that the game specifically doesn’t support Intel Integrated Graphics. This is unusual, because while there are plenty of games around that barely run on integrated GPUs (we know, we keep trying to test with them to hit that single- digit frame rate nirvana), to say outright that they’re not supported is strange. At least, it would be if it weren’t for the fact that the specifications dictate that you have 512MB of dedicated video RAM, which isn’t possible with integrated graphics.
If we were going to suggest a graphics card to play Cities: Skyline on, we’d say to look at the recommended specification as opposed to the minimum specs, as this means you should be able to run with the settings pushed up a bit (for more pretties). The main takeaway from these specs is that your graphics card of choice needs to have 2GB of dedicated video RAM. The suggestion here is for either an Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 2GB or an AMD Radeon HD 7870 2GB.
Our recommendation would be to go for something a little newer if you can, so you can play other games—something like the GeForce GTX 1050 for $130, or if that’s a bit pricey, the GeForce GT 1030 for $ 85. These cards draw all the power they need from the PCIe bus, so you shouldn’t need to upgrade your PSU, but it’s worth checking beforehand, as we have no idea what PSU you have.
Drive Upgrade
Now that prices have started to come down a little for M. 2 drives, I wanted to update my Samsung 960 PRO NVMe M. 2 512GB to a Samsung 970 EVO 2TB NVMe PCIe M. 2. I don’t want to lose all of my settings and software on this drive, especially considering I just upgraded the system and did a fresh install. So my question is: What will I need to clone the existing M. 2 and add the OS image to the new one? I know that Samsung has some type of software, but will I need some sort of external device to plug into the desktop?
– Daryl Austin EXECUTIVE EDITOR ALAN DEXTER RESPONDS: Good news, Daryl: We look at this very topic this issue in our drive cloning feature. Turn to page 48 to find out more. You need a way of accessing both drives at the same time if you want to do this directly, but you can use Clonezilla to clone your original drive to a file, then write that file to your new drive after you’ve swapped it in.
A Moment in Time
Taken from “The Builds” in the October 2018 issue, page 98: “… approaching the realms of obsoletism.” Respectfully, that is a fantastic PC. No matter what new hardware comes out, that is a machine anybody would be proud to own. Besides, there is new hardware coming out every week. Trying to stay on the fringe is simply impossible. Calling this near obsolete is not realistic in the least. Nevertheless, I still love the magazine!
– Serge Desaulniers EXECUTIVE EDITOR ALAN DEXTER RESPONDS: One of the features of the builds at the back of the magazine
is that they act as an overall recommendation. A key part of that is to have a machine that will last for years to come, something that is particularly true of the Turbo build, which costs upward of $ 3,000. When we pieced together that particular build, new hardware was on the way that directly affected that system, so it made sense to warn readers that something bigger and better was coming. You’re right— had you built this monster yourself, you’d be delighted with its power… right up to the point when you realized that the core components had been eclipsed by new hardware released just a month after you’d bought everything.
A Hot Issue
Here’s an interesting story I thought I would share to help others. I put this system together back in January 2018: • AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X • Enermax Liqtech TR4 280 AIO liquid CPU cooler • Gigabyte X399 Aorus Gaming 7 • Radeon R9 Fury X • Intel 750 800GB PCIe 3 x4 MLC SSD • 2x G. SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (4x 4GB)
All seemed to be working very well until about a month ago. First, Windows Media Player would not load sometimes, then maybe 20 minutes later it would work fine. Then other programs started doing the same thing.
I restored a backup from a few months back, taken when all was working fine. The problems persisted. I was going nuts. I looked over Event Viewer and could find nothing useful. Then, finally, last week it started shutting off randomly. It quickly got to the point where it would shut off before Windows finished booting. I thought it could be the power supply, so I subbed another one—same problem. Then I got into the BIOS before it shut off, and saw my CPU temp was climbing above 80 C in those few seconds.
In the BIOS, all fan speeds were showing good, including the pump on the Enermax Liqtech TR4 280. I then shut down and took the block off the CPU— it was so hot, I could hardly touch it. The Enermax Liqtech TR4 280 was failing, and not showing any outward signs. I ordered a CRYORIG A40 Ultimate hybrid liquid cooler and installed it, and all is running smoothly now. When I looked at the reviews of the Enermax Liqtech TR4 280 AIO liquid CPU cooler, it turns out this is happening a lot on that model. Lesson learned: When things get flaky, check your temps!
–Tom Martin EXECUTIVE EDITOR ALAN DEXTER RESPONDS: Heat is the root cause of so many problems, that we keep an eye on temperature far more than we probably need to. As you’ve discovered, though, it can be tough to spot what’s happening if you don’t get any kind of warning from your cooler. Hopefully, your experiences will help other readers.
Game Over?
I’ve been testing Google’s Project Stream, which is to play Odyssey in the Chrome browser strictly over the Internet. The quality is pretty awesome. I’m sure Google will eventually expand this concept, and I’ve heard that Xbox will have a streaming console as well. Do you think eventually this service will make PC hardware irrelevant for gaming?
–Tian Jin EXECUTIVE EDITOR ALAN DEXTER RESPONDS: While streaming services certainly do have their place, there will always be people who want to have total control over their entire gaming experience. We can’t see the likes of Project Stream replacing that anytime soon.
Under the Radar
I was wondering whether you would consider putting together an article that details how to use your PC more privately. In particular, you could report on which web browsers provide the most privacy when using the web, privacy settings on those web browsers, privacy settings on Window 10, the best search engines for privacy, free private email, and so on.
With all the privacy issues surrounding Facebook and Google, I personally have stopped using Google as my primary search engine, and now use Duck Duck Go instead. I also no longer use social media. I have been searching for a free private email service, and a friend recently referred me to Proton Mail, based out of Switzerland.
– Scott Cortese EXECUTIVE EDITOR ALAN DEXTER RESPONDS: We’ve looked at keeping various aspects of our computing lives private before, but haven’t produced a feature that covers everything. Watch this space.