Please help! Will it work

[76561198227647040]

Hi all.

I'm desperate to play cities skyline!!! I've only got a very poor laptop at the moment and due to the games high specs the game is unplayable on it.

I've been looking for a while for a good enough computer and as usual at an affordable price (an all in one pc so it doesn't have a tower so I can save space). I would be grateful if you guys with more knowledge could see if this PC I've found will run the game as I'm no expert with computers and would hate to buy one that doesn't work.

The specs are:

Chassis & Display
VanGuard Series: 32" Non-Touch 2K QHD Screen (2560 x 1440)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-7600 (3.5GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME Z270-P: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
8GB Kingston DUAL DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
1GB AMD RADEON™ R5 230 - DVI,HDMI,VGA - DX® 11
1st Hard Disk
500GB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 350W VS SERIES™ VS-350 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
INTEL STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence

Is there anything on there that I may be overdoing and can downgrade to save some money?

Also I've read in some places that people have played the game fine with Integrated Intel HD Graphics, can this be done if the ram and processor is good enough?

I know you've all probably been asked this a million times so thanks in advance. :)

[Hextravert]

I'm afraid you can't downgrade at all, on the contrary, I think you should spend a bit more.

I have a feeling you'll be disappointed if you settle on such a cheap graphics card.

Although I don't know what your budget is, that one is hardly worth buying nowadays.

Originally posted by SalopianUK:

The specs are:

Graphics Card
1GB AMD RADEON™ R5 230 - DVI,HDMI,VGA - DX® 11

Is there anything on there that I may be overdoing and can downgrade to save some money?

[76561198227647040]

Thank you, I really don't know much when it comes to graphic cards.

My other option to upgrade Is 2gb nvidia geforce gtx 1050 - DVI, HDMI, DP. Is that much better?

[Hextravert]

It looks like the AMD R5 230 is 11 tiers below the minimum requirement (GTX 230).

And 16 tiers below the recommended graphics card (GTX 660).

The table over at Tom's Hardware might come in handy.

www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html

[Hextravert]

Definitely.

Originally posted by SalopianUK:

Thank you, I really don't know much when it comes to graphic cards.

My other option to upgrade Is 2gb nvidia geforce gtx 1050 - DVI, HDMI, DP. Is that much better?

[CHMulti]

If you plan to use the ''All Areas Purchasable'' Mod, you should consider one with a 4GB 1050 (or 1050Ti if you can find one, it's more powerful). Also, Careful not to have too much mods, at 8GB the game can run out of memory during loading, forcing you to reboot.

[ttower]

IMO, anything Nvidia is better than AMD, but, even without my opinion there, the Nvidia GTX 1050 would be plenty, for most games, not just this. I run a Nvidia GTX 750ti, and im ok in that way. My processor could need an upgrade, but the i5 would be plenty for you. As stated above, the only thing other than the graphics card that could need to be changed, would be to add more RAM, if possible. This game tends to use a lot of it, and 8GB is okay, but I recommend 12GB or more if you plan on using many mods or assets.

[MarkJohnson]

Integrated graphics are not supported. Some use them, but you will be limited by city size. A few full tiles [around 100k] is around average.

Here are some YouTube videos that may get you an extra tile or two.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJvJCFCcF3E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeLFu8F1izU

The r5 230 is about the same as Intel graphics. So you'll have about the same performance.

Tho 1050 will be minimum with you high resolution monitor. [1440p]

Your power supply is a little weak. 350 watts may not be stable for your system. 80-plus is old. I recommend 80-plus gold, or minimum 80-plus bronze.

8gb ram is minimum. the game wants 4.5gb and windows wants 1.5gb, so you'll have roughly 2gb left over. 16gb will allow a lot of workshop items for your game.

I do not recommend workshop for a few games until you learn the game a little to help you decide which workshop items you need, rather than what looks cool or handy.

[76561198227647040]

Thanks so much everyone! I'm slowly but surely understanding what I need.

I've updated the specs:

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-7500 (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME Z270-P: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB Kingston DUAL DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1050 Ti - DVI, HDMI, DP
1st Hard Disk
500GB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Processor Cooling
INTEL STANDARD CPU COOLER

How does that look? Is the processor ok or over the top? Could do with trying to save money where I can as this £30 game is ending up costing me just over 1k! 😂 (Which is way over budget, wait until the Mrs finds out!!)

Does anyone recommend anywhere to buy a PC good enough for this game at a reasonable price?

[Dustin Dalby]

Originally posted by SalopianUK:

Does anyone recommend anywhere to buy a PC good enough for this game at a reasonable price?

If you're looking to save cash, I wouldn't recommend buying a pre-built PC. Building your own machine nowadays is litterally child's play, and it'll save you a bunch of cash. There are tons of very well made video tutorials to help you along, too.

As for the specs, it looks good, and there's still room for small improvements in the future. A small SSD for your OS (120GBs SSDs cost about 60€) and a new CPU cooling unit (Be Quiet's Dark Rock 3 for about that same price) will make for rather significant quality of life improvements (basically, 3 seconds start-up time and a near inaudible PC).

EDIT : As for the Mrs, with a machine like that, I'm sure there'll be tons of coop games you can play together to justify the purchase! :3

[daniel.mantione]

How does that look?

It looks like a resonable system to me.

Is the processor ok or over the top?

It is a good cpu, saving some money on the clockspeed would be acceptable though. You will want to have 4 cores, so don't downgrade to an i3. An i5-7400 would be acceptable.

If you have spare cash, first priority should be to invest in a small SSD, it is the difference between a slow and a fast computer. You only need a small one, as you can use your harddrive for big files.

Could do with trying to save money where I can as this £30 game is ending up costing me just over 1k! 😂 (Which is way over budget, wait until the Mrs finds out!!)

Your power supply is overkill. A system like you propose uses 150W max, so a 650W power supply is way too much. Go for a +/- 350W power supply with 80Plus Bronze certification, that should allow you to save some money.

Can't you fit a 3.5 inch harddrive? You would be able to buy more capacity for less money.

[daniel.mantione]

Originally posted by rmjohnson144:

Your power supply is a little weak. 350 watts may not be stable for your system. 80-plus is old. I recommend 80-plus gold, or minimum 80-plus bronze.

I disagree here, his selected components consume approximately 150W max. That 650W that he did upgrade to is way overdimensioned. Not only is it wasted money, overdimensioning a power supply is also a bad idea from an efficiency point of view.

[76561198227647040]

Originally posted by daniel.mantione:

How does that look?

Your power supply is overkill. A system like you propose uses 150W max, so a 650W power supply is way too much. Go for a +/- 350W power supply with 80Plus Bronze certification, that should allow you to save some money.

Can't you fit a 3.5 inch harddrive? You would be able to buy more capacity for less money.

Thanks for the help.

I'm using {LINK REMOVED}https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/configuration/ so I've only got certain options. I've changed to - Power Supply CORSAIR 350W VS SERIES™ VS-350 POWER SUPPLY - but I don't know if it's 80Plus Bronze Certification.

I've also added - M.2 SSD Drive 128GB M.2 2280, SATA 6Gb/s (534MB/R, 150MB/W) - was this what you were referring to?

[76561198227647040]

Could anyone put up the specs of their PC that runs the game to its full capabilities so I can have an idea to compare it to? Thanks :)

[dadyrghluv69]

I have a i7 6700k
Nvidia gtx 1080
32gb 3000mhz ram
480gb sandisk ssd
Asus rog maximus ix motherboard

I get 70-80fps on a large developed city with the 81 tiles mod. These specs are overkill and afford me future proofing later on.

Do it yourself for around $1200. Pre built, around $2500 or more. So save the mo ey and do it yourself

[MarkJohnson]

Originally posted by daniel.mantione:

Originally posted by rmjohnson144:

Your power supply is a little weak. 350 watts may not be stable for your system. 80-plus is old. I recommend 80-plus gold, or minimum 80-plus bronze.

I disagree here, his selected components consume approximately 150W max. That 650W that he did upgrade to is way overdimensioned. Not only is it wasted money, overdimensioning a power supply is also a bad idea from an efficiency point of view.

I think you read my post out of order. I made my suggestion before he selected new parts.


@SalopianUK

yes, a 350 watt psu is fine for the 1050 ti (75 watts). But I do not recommend 80Plus power supply. That is first gen and has a weaker standard. bronze is a little better, but gold is a lot better. The prices are very similar and if on sale can be inexpensive. But quality is what you want, and VS is value series that I never trust.

hopefully you have more options and a great warranty available.

but if you're not comfortable building your own, then buy prebuilt with good service history. building yourself means if something goes wrong, it's up to you to fix it yourself. If you turn it on and it doesn't turn on, then you'll play hell trying to determine anything without spare compatible parts lying around.

I have been buying Lenovo lately with great success. I call and get answers quickly but I've never had to return anything so far in last 5 years and well over a dozen machines. not sure about UK though.