Is this game actually realistic, or just for fun (ie will I learn more about building a pc from it)?

[Artoriaz]

I read that this game has official hardware from real manufactors, but do you actually have to find compatible parts and stuff like that, or is it just picking whatever you want and slapping it together. Also how in depth is it? Are there like 5 GPUs to choose from or are there lots?

I am only interested in buying the game if I will actually learn from it, as well as having fun.

Thanks in advance.

[🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊]

https://steamcommunity.com/app/621060/discussions/search/?q=learn&gidforum=1458455461478176146&include_deleted=1

Try searching first next time, quite a lot of topics have already discussed this and been answered.

[Running-Target]

yes, you can learn something from this game about the current state of PC building.

[Artoriaz]

Originally posted by Running-Target:

yes, you can learn something from this game about the current state of PC building.

Ok thanks

[RAMChYLD]

Yes, you can learn something from it, but note that it is not that realistic. In real life, a failed CPU or RAM will not give you an error outright. At best you get a system that won't turn on at all and beeps out codes, at worst you get a system that boots but then has all sorts of weird glitches, BSODs and random lock ups, sometimes with red herrings hinting at other devices - I had an issue with one of my own builds where the RAM module was DOA but the POST kept blaming the GPU and the chipset.

I suppose they made troubleshooting really easy to make the game not too frustrating- trust me, took me two days to iron out the cause in real life and was frustrating as heck, especially when the error code wasn't upfront and kept blaming the wrong components. If they made it NintendoHard like real life, I imagine the game wouldn't sell that well and would be considered boring and overly frustrating.

[Lusus Symphonia]

Originally posted by RAMChYLD:

I suppose they made troubleshooting really easy to make the game not too frustrating- trust me, took me two days to iron out the cause in real life and was frustrating as heck, especially when the error code wasn't upfront and kept blaming the wrong components. If they made it NintendoHard like real life, I imagine the game wouldn't sell that well and would be considered boring and overly frustrating.

Definately, also the hardware wiring is also childs play in this game compared to how it can be in real life, you can't insert the fans the wrong way, leaving the cases open doesn't attract dust etc etc.
Its a mix up of snapping components together and fun, it's just satisfying having a successful business.

[Skyblue]

The best I can say is, it won't make you a PC technician, but it does help tremendously on getting familiar with PC building world, especially if your previous knowledge is minimum

[SlammingBrutality]

Very realistic. Lots of REAL parts (and some fictive ones, like Mortoni and Shean).
Compatibility is important too! You can't install a Threadripper cpu into and LGA1151 motherboard, even you have to take in mind that you can't put an i5-8600K into an MSI Z270 motherboard (like in real life, 8th gen Intel cpus only compatible with 300 series motherboards),
Pick psus correctly: a 250W psu won't be enough to run an i7-8700k with 3 HDDs and 2 1070s.
Cooling: be lazy enough to not install some good fans for a powerful build and you'll end up with blue screen of deaths due to overheating.
Prices: realistic prices will make builds harder if you want want so profit too. don't expect i7's and 1080s to be cheap, but fortunately, graphics cards aren't overpriced like in real life because of miners.
Actually building a PC: don't expect that you just put in everything and start benchmarking. You have to remove case parts ()and screws, if necessary) to put hardware in, then put case parts back, than insert USB drive, install OS, install software, reboot, launch software.
Lighing: a lot of parts has LED lighting (white, red, blue, or even RGB), and you can control or turn off every single LED in your build with a software (in-game of course)
Cables: once you have every part on it's place, connect thme with wires, like you would in real life
Realistic enough, isn't it?
Learning from this game: if you're really that new into PC building, there's a simple but good "tutorial", which will explain which part does what, which part goes where, and how.
If you don't want to unlock every part by leveling up, and save a lot of money to build your dream build, just select the freebuild in the main menu. You can build what you want, without any limitation (except for compatibility)

So far my only problem is the installation of the cpu coolers. It's too simple, you buy the pre-built cooler, and just put it on the cpu, like you put RAM into it's socket, but maybe they will make it more realistic too.

Well, if you haven't already, give this game a change, it's literally worth it. I have more than 100 hours in this game, "completed" carreer mode 4 times (basically, carreer mode is infinite, but after level 20, you won't level up anymore, and you won't get story "mission", just normal jobs). Don't be afraid about content, as more parts, brands and even functions are coming frequently. Give this game a chance, it deserves it, and if you don't like it and you're under 2 hours, you can refund it, but I doubt anyone won't enjoy it if s/he interested in the game and like the idea of building PCs virtually.

[RAMChYLD]

The one thing I find annoying tho, are the standoffs. Usually when I pick up a case, usually the standoffs are already pre-installed (and some cases even have snap-on standoffs that are not only tool-less, but doesn't requires screws at all). Removing the standoffs when you remove a mobo is a bit excessive, especially since in most cases you don't even need to change them as you're dealing only with ATX mobos in this game.

[Caliell]

So.... after being inspired by this game (stupidity, or feeling of being useless meatbag needing to stick his hands somewhere? You be the judge) I gutted my PC and rebuilt it with ASUS x370 i7-8750K, 32 RAM with the rest of my parts being transplants from the old horsie I killed (still functional if anyone wants to buy old mobo with DDR3 memory slots, 64 RAM, and 3 PCI E slots plus Wireless adapter).

This was my first ever build. No help. Just this videogame as some kind of idiotic learning tool.

Was it like this videogame? Yes to a degree. Attaching two 1080s in SLI was easy, especially the fact that E Sports mobo came with HB SLI bridge (didn't know that and ordered SLI bridge from NVIDIA before mobo arrived. Not even going to bother returning it for 39 bucks.)

Here is two HUGE things I learnt from this build though as complete Newbie. - SLI is worthless for gaming, at least for the vast majority of the games. One game in particular did really good with SLI (Kingdom Come: Deliverance almost doubled my FPS on full Ultra settings) but the rest that I have blew me out of my mind to find out that SLI actually made their performance WORSE. If I knew that when I bought my computer as factory stock configuration several years ago from Best Buy, I would of never gotten SLI PC.

Also found out having 64 RAM was also throwing money on fire when it comes to gaming. There is not a single game that exists that need 64 RAM. Even with my 32 gb RAM "Upgrade" at 3000MHz (the only reason I "downgraded" is due to ASUS x370 coming with only 4 RAM slots) there wasn't a single issue with any of videogames.

So in the irony this game actually taught me a few (expensive lessons) that several years ago, I threw money on my old pc unknowingly like a spoiled rich frat boy throws 1 dollar bills at the titty bars, without knowing that the stripper without make up and lingerie is actually pretty ugly broad.

How the game got it right?

1) Attachment of PCI E devices i.e. GPUs (graphics cards).
2) SLI (still need to go to settings on iOS like NVIDIA settings and activate it).
3) RAM sticks. That simple. Modern mobos will only let you attach sticks that only will fit into their sockets (thought any will do and tried to stick my old RAM sticks, only to find out they will not fit).
4) Hard drives (should also ad CD ROM/BLUE RAY even though PC Building Simulator does not have one) relatively simple but depends on a motherboard.
5) plugging in and attaching fans.
6) Not yet in game but simple as well water cooling closed loop rigs. These days you don't need to build your own. One of the baffling parts that baffled me, the backplate for CPU cooling unit did not have to be tight against the mobo. It only needed to be attached, with the cooling plate actually doing all the pressure,
7) Applaying thermal paste. However Corsair 55H I bought already came with the thermal paste attached to the heat plate.
8) PSU. Mine was 1200 Watt non modular older version with limited set of cables it came with (♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ cheapskate factory stock PSU sold to Best Buy).
9) CPU attachment.

How the game got it wrong?

1) BiOS set up. Oh boy the headache of getting things right and formated. I am still struggling with unfinished RAID set up and my old hardrives are not booting up correctly since I know ZILCH about setting up RAiD configurations. They still work haphazardly, but I bypassed this nightmare with buying external hard drive (which I could use to download stuff and transfer to another computer anyway which is kind of silver lining).
2) Wiring front panel for the chasis case. I used my old chasis case since it is full tower (CybertronPC Cosmos case).

3) Wiring the motherboard with items like Sound Card, peripheral fans that are directly wired to the panel therefore have to be rerouted from the panel to the mobo. The worst offender on this list I found to be front panel wiring to mobo. The game have it in the infity bundled pin attachment to the motherboard. Power, Reset, HDD + - HPL + -.

4) Wiring supply from PSU to GPUs. Mine came with non modular cables (permanently attached to PSU) two PCI E cables with no instruction of how to attach them to GPU. My old rig had 6 pin GPU attachment wiring for 1080s in SLI but the new Mobo would not be having it. Oh boy the pain in the ass it caused me. First it demanded to "Power Down and connect power to my GPU(s)). Then it wasn't recognizing one or both of GPU(s).

Then it (mobo) IOVERHEATED GPUs everytime I tried to play any videogames. My GPUs was seizing and spewing heat like ore smelting plant and they would only go into full RPM mode of cooling the cards AFTER they would shut themselves down on the failsafes before melting threshold. What did my (non)sensible mind decided to do? Oh I downloaded this fancy free EVGA Overclocking program from Steam (another crazy ass program to fry your GPU(s) if you dont know what you are doing) and overclocked my GPUs' fans to the MAX.

Now my computer sounds like it is about to begin the countdown and fly into the space. I think my insomniac ass keeps neighbors awake at night with the sound of rocket engine coming out of my desktop.
The worst offender on this list I found to be front panel wiring to mobo. The game have it in the infity bundled pin attachment to the motherboard. Power, Reset, HDD + - HPL + -.

WHAT THE ♥♥♥♥ IS THIS ♥♥♥♥? nope, I had to painstaikingly play with each individual capble and cut the zipties Cybertron used to tighten up the wires.

5) Wiring Hygiene. In this game wires magically happen to be the length you need them to be. Not too short, not too long. In real life you could tie your pc to your neck and arms with all the wiring going on inside and wiring is confusing as hell.

6) Mobo is extremely hard to attach if you dont know how. I did not put all of the screws in. I attached the most as I could, leaving many out.

Since my writing of this reply (I dont know why I bothered to write such long answer of personal experience), it been 1 days since built this new rig.

- It looks like ♥♥♥♥, but it is way better, more efficient.

- it looks like the party on ACID going on with all disco balls and laser beams, with all that fruity RGB lighting going on inside of it.

- Outside it looks like it belong in a scrapyard with all the wires sticking out and panels off, with the guts hanging ons keleton frame and panels removed. I don't know about all that shpiel about the dust getting into it, but I run home fan as "Hillbilly cooling fan" one side of it and it keeps most of the dust away.


So there you go. In short:

In short, it is 60 - 70% ish realistic coming from someone who never build one before but tried because of this game (and sunk about 900 dollars into it).

However those 30-40% of "NOT" realistic parts, are critical and can be success or failure if you know or dont know how.

[Skyblue]

Congrats on your first build.

I think that using this game as a sole guide to building a PC is not wise. The game is just that, a game. For someone who knows PC building, this would be a fun game, for someone who's not familiar, this could be a proper gateway to start learning about PC building.

At least some of your concerns are already on the roadmap, like cable management and RAID setup. I can't wait for it.

[RAMChYLD]

Indeed. As a seasoned PC builder, I can attest that there is no reason to go beyond 16GB for gaming rigs. Video editing workstations however benefit greatly from the additional memory- if you plan to do youtube video editing, then going 32GB or higher is worth it. Also applies if you're a researcher who need a network of VMs on a single box to test stuff on- the additional memory is godsent for creating test windows installations.

As for your SLI build, don't write off SLI just yet. Tweak with the global settings (I recommend switching the global SLI mode to AFR from the default SFR). For some games, turn off SLI and allocate the second card to PhysX instead. And for video editing setups, set up the program to send rendering jobs to the second card instead.

[Samael]

VM's and RamDisk are fun to use. Not only for working situations. Having more RAM never hurts. If you are on budget then i understand.

A RamDisk is several times faster than a regular SSD drive.