Unofficial Hardware FAQs

Unofficial Hardware FAQs

Contributions and additions gratefully received.

This is a small collection of general info about questions/ issues I’ve seen come up a few times when asking for advice on PC build options.

A lot of requests for build advice relate to gaming PCs and so quite a few of these notes and links therefore relate to gaming.

However, some questions relate as much, if not more, to office and productivity uses. (E.g. Whether SSDs are as reliable as HDDs? Whether an Intel –k CPU has any advantage over a non-k CPU?).

Questions about the performance of specific games/software - e.g. is a 7700k or R7 1700 better for my uses? - are best dealt with case-by-case. Though there may be scope for a reference topic.

Here’s a contents list:

CPUs:
Q: Is a –k Intel CPU (e.g. i7 7700k) only useful for overclocking?
Q: Which CPU is best for me?

RAM:
Q: How much RAM should I get for gaming?
Q: Does RAM speed matter for gaming?
Q: Quad / Dual / Single Channel RAM?
Q: How does my PC use RAM? How do I measure RAM usage? And what is the Page File?

Storage:
Q: Is an SSD really any faster than an HDD?
Q: How else does an SSD improve my PC's performance?
Q: Does SSD / HDD speed affect gaming performance?
Q: Are SSDs reliable?
Q: Does SSD capacity affect performance?
Q: What is an M.2 SSD?
Q: Should I defragment my SSD?

Graphics Cards:
Q: Is more VRAM better? Should I buy a card with more VRAM?
How do I pick the best GPU for me?
Q: Does SLI work? Should I avoid SLI?
Q: What video output cable should I use? What’s the difference between HDMI and Display Port?

Power Supplies:
Q: What size PSU do I need?


Wireless Cards:
Q: Do PCS's desktop computers have wifi?
Q: If I add a wifi card, can I still use wired networking / my ethernet port?
Q: What wireless card do I need? (desktop PC)
Q: What WiFi standards are available? What does Wireless g/n/ac mean?
Q: PCS offer a "vPro" wifi card for laptops. Is this better?

CPU :

Q: Is a –k Intel CPU (e.g. i7 7700k) only useful for overclocking?
A: The –k means that the multiplier is unlocked to facilitate overclocking. But, the –k CPUs are also clocked higher, so will be faster even if you’re not overclocking. You can see a number of benchmarks here: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1832?vs=1826
One example there is that the i7 7700k completed a series of Agisoft Photo Scan tasks almost 2 minutes faster than the i7 7700 (non-k).


Q: Which CPU is best for me?
A: That depends entirely on your intended use and budget. An i7 7700k is an excellent gaming CPU but if your budget is £800 for a gaming PC you’re not going to be able to buy one and still buy a decent graphics card, which you’ll need for gaming.

If you make a new topic and post your intended use for the PC and your budget, people can suggest what might fit best.


Q: Is there any point to an i7 CPU for general gaming?
A: An i7 can offer performance benefits over an i5 in some gaming situations. This was very true of older Intel gens when CPUs had fewer cores and threads than the 8th Gen (see first chart). But can also be true of the 8th Gen with its 6-core i5s and i7s. And perhaps will be even more the case in the future as games start tasking advantage of 6+ cores being more mainstream.

This is not just a question of average FPS, but but minimum FPS, making for a smoother gaming experience. Of course not all games will benefit, especially if you are more limited by the GPU's performance.

Plus the i7s are clocked higher than their i5 counterparts.

http://www.gamersnexus.net/game-bench/2182-fallout-4-cpu-benchmark-huge-performance-difference
https://www.pcgamer.com/amd-ryzen-7-2700x-is-better-than-its-predecessors-in-every-way/
https://pclab.pl/art75579-14.html

The Watch Dogs 2 example shows a preference for the extra threads of an i7, and is probably a rare example of the obsolete i7 7800x beating out an i5 8600k in gaming performance. Here the mainstream consumer i7 8700k is the clear winner.

RAM :

Q: How much RAM should I get for gaming?
A: Check out these benchmarks:
http://www.techspot.com/article/1043-8gb-vs-16gb-ram/page3.html
http://techbuyersguru.com/gaming-ddr4-memory-2133-vs-26663200mhz-8gb-vs-16gb?page=3

In short, 8gb is enough for many gaming systems. There is very little performance difference between 8gb and 16gb RAM even at very high settings. 16gb seems to be very future-proof. 32gb RAM for gaming seems to be unnecessary and a poor use of money.


Q: Does RAM speed matter for gaming?
A: Yes, it certainly can do. Benefits vary from game to game and depending on system configuration, but it can have a very real impact:
http://www.legitreviews.com/ddr4-me...finding-the-best-ddr4-memory-kit-speed_170340
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESeoexGLVFU#
http://www.techspot.com/article/1171-ddr4-4000-mhz-performance/page3.html

(credit to Retier, WoW EU forums for the WoW graph)

And with Ryzen CPUs: https://www.purepc.pl/procesory/amd_ryzen_r7_1800x_wplyw_taktowania_pamieci_na_wydajnosc


Q: Quad / Dual / Single Channel RAM for gaming?
For gaming with a dGPU the differences may be very modest. See:
http://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/1349-ram-how-dual-channel-works-vs-single-channel/Page-3
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2982...ing-truth-about-their-performance.html?page=2

There may be a greater difference if gaming on the iGPU:
https://youtu.be/QMCvvtaZ5Z0?t=323
http://nucblog.net/2015/09/dual-channel-vs-single-channel-does-it-matter/

For certain non-gaming uses there may be more of a difference to performance.


Q: How does my PC use RAM? How do I measure RAM usage?
https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?60067-Understanding-RAM-management-and-use (for measuring RAM usage, esp Pt.3)

Q: And what is the Page File?
https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?60093-The-Page-File-do-I-need-one

Storage :

Q: Is an SSD really any faster than an HDD?
A: Yes. Absolutely. The difference in loading times for Windows and programs are huge, and they offer an excellent boost to quality of life and productivity. See:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2048...-upgrades-deliver-huge-performance-gains.html
http://www.pcgamer.com/hard-drive-vs-ssd-performance/2/
https://www.bjorn3d.com/2015/08/kin...-ssd-review-savage-vs-laptop-platter-drive/3/
http://www.thessdreview.com/featured/wd-blue-ssd-review-1tb-wd-steps-ring/5/


Even if you had a very old computer that only had Sata II, it would be a big upgrade:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ssd-upgrade-sata-3gbps,review-32673-16.html


Q: How else does an SSD improve my PC's performance?
A: See: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/foru...-Hardware-FAQs&p=405823&viewfull=1#post405823
In short, it will make your system more responsive.

Q: Does SSD / HDD speed affect gaming performance?
A: SSDs / storage speed will affect loading times, but framerate (i.e. how almost all games measure performance) isn’t affected by storage speed. See:
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/12/10/hdd_vs_ssd_real_world_gaming_performance/5#.WCieG-Ro2Hs


Q: Are SSDs reliable?
A: Yes. Modern SSDs are generally very reliable. In fact some data shows substantially lower failure rates than mechanical drives at the consumer level:
http://www.enterprisestorageforum.c...sd-vs.-hdd-performance-and-reliability-2.html
http://www.hardware.fr/articles/954-6/disques-durs.html

Techreport found they were able to write over 2 petabytes of data to a 240gb HyperX Savage before it died:
http://techreport.com/review/27909/the-ssd-endurance-experiment-theyre-all-dead/4

Whatever storage you use, you should always back up your data.


Q: Does SSD capacity affect performance?
A: Yes, it can do. See:
http://lifehacker.com/opt-for-the-larger-ssd-capacity-to-also-get-a-speed-boo-1770691500
So just because you see - for example - a 480gb Kingston UV400 SSD outperform a 120gb WD Blue SSD in one benchmark, don’t assume the UV400s are all faster than the WD Blues.


Q: What is an M.2 SSD?
A: Motherboard manufacturer Asus have a decent explanation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-kACJLKNOI which sets out what M.2 SSDs are and what specifically NVMe SSDs are. In short, an M.2 SSD plugs into an M.2 slot on the motherboard rather than a sata port. This allows space-saving in laptops, and can allow much faster speeds. But not all M.2 SSDs are faster than a good Sata III SSD. When people say "you should get an M.2 SSD" what they often mean is "You should get an M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD".


Q: Should I defragment my SSD?
A: The short answer is no. If you have Win 10, it will automatically optimise the drive on a periodic basis. See: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?53493-defrag-or-not

Graphics Cards :

Q: Is more VRAM better? Should I buy a card with more VRAM?
How do I pick the best GPU for me?

Don’t judge a card by the “GB” VRAM it has alone. Both the GTX 1080 and RX 480 have 8 GB VRAM but the GTX 1080 is vastly more powerful.

Also, the RX 480 comes in two flavours - one with 4 GB VRAM and the other with 8GB VRAM. The performance in the great majority of gaming scenarios is nearly identical. See:
http://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/2503-amd-rx-480-4gb-vs-8gb-benchmark-is-it-worth-it
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2016-amd-radeon-rx-480-4gb-vs-8gb-review
http://www.legitreviews.com/amd-radeon-rx-480-4gb-versus-radeon-rx-480-8gb_183576/5
https://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2016/11/24/sapphire-rx-480-nitro-oc-4gb-and-8gb/6

However, the GTX 1060 has 3gb and 6gb versions where the performance difference between those two versions is greater than between the RX 480s. This is because the GTX 1060s have different core counts.

To pick the best GPU for your needs and budget, you can look up benchmarks for your favourite games at the resolution you will be gaming at. And of course ask for advice on the forums.


Q: Does SLI work? Should I avoid SLI?

SLI does work, and gives substantial benefits in many games, depending on your system and the settings and resolution you’re gaming at:
https://uk.hardware.info/reviews/72...eview-incl-sli-faster-card-for-the-same-price
http://www.babeltechreviews.com/gtx-1080-ti-sli-performance-25-games/3/

However, not all games benefit as much as others. Nvidia’s high bandwidth SLI bridge has helped in some titles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWcsaociTjE
But in some titles there will be no gain. Some titles may support multi GPUs in DX11 but not DX12 (Battlefield 1 may be an example of this). There are also potential issues like Microstutter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX_BsVJdOvo

Nvidia also dropped support for more than 2-way SLI for gaming in its Pascal generation of GPUs:
http://www.techspot.com/news/65164-nvidia-no-longer-support-three-four-way-sli.html

SLI is often said to be less preferable than a single card solution that offers the same or sufficient performance.On the other hand, a pair of GTX 1080 tis in SLI would overall greatly outperform a Titan Xp for a similar price.

Whether SLI is right for you therefore depends on a many factors, including what monitor you will be gaming on. If you’re considering an SLI setup, why not make a topic to discuss your build and the pros/cons for you.


Q: What video output cable should I use? What’s the difference between HDMI and Display Port?

That depends on what monitor you’re using. For a 1080p 60hz screen there’s not going to be much difference. For high resolutions and/or refresh rates you’ll likely want Display Port.
http://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/1312-cables-dvi-differences-hdmi-vs-displayport
http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/hdmi-vs-displayport-vs-dvi-vs-vga-which-connection-to-choose/

Power Supplies :

Q: What size PSU do I need?

PC Specialist’s configurators have a built in system that checks your PSU is adequate for the system you’re speccing, so you’ll get notifications if there’s an issue.

You may want to choose a larger PSU than you need depending on your upgrade plans e.g. leaving scope for multiple GPUs.

Furthermore, wattage isn't the only thing to consider when buying a PSU. Compared to the Corsair VS 550, the Corsair RM850x obviously offers 300W more, but is also better build quality, fully modular, and is semi-passive, meaning it can cool itself silently under many load conditions.

Depending on the PSU model, running a PSU at a lower % of its total capacity may help reduce noise. For instance this PSU model: https://www.hartware.de/2012/11/27/be-quiet-dark-power-pro-10-650w/8/ (not one offered by PCS) can show larger units producing less noise than smaller units when at the same load. Corsair also wrote articles about some of their PSU series and whether larger units can mean less noise:
http://www.corsair.com/en/blog/2014/june/rm_fan-speed (updated link: https://www.corsair.com/uk/en/blog/RM_fan-speed )
http://www.corsair.com/en-us/blog/2014/may/axi_fan-speeds (updated link: https://www.corsair.com/uk/en/blog/AXi_fan-speeds )

Just an additional point about SSDs...

It is absolutely true that an SSD will greatly improve the time taken to boot the system and improve program load times, but that's not all an SSD will do for you. If Windows is installed on your SSD (and it certainly should be) then every read and write that Windows does to that SSD will be much faster than if Windows were on an HDD. Windows accesses the disk very frequently so having an SSD greatly improves the performance of Windows, and since Windows is managing the entire computer and running all the user programs, improved Windows performance means improved overall performance.

An SSD for Windows and programs (even a smallish one that's just big enough) will make a very noticeable difference to the overall responsiveness of your system.

Wireless Cards :
Many thanks to all contributors!

In this section:
- Do PCS's desktop computers have wifi? (Oussebon)
- If I add a wifi card, can I still use wired networking / my ethernet port? (Oussebon)
- What wireless card do I need? (desktop PC) (ubuysa)
- What WiFi standards are available? What does g/n/ac mean? (ubuysa)
- Wifi card summary (ubuysa)
- Do I need the "vPro wifi" card for my laptop?(Tony1044)


Do PCS's desktop computers have wifi?

Only if you include a wifi card in the spec.

In the configurator, usually under Section "5) SYSTEM REFINEMENTS" there is a "Wireless/Wired Networking" menu, where you choose your networking option.

Traditionally, PC Specialist did not include wifi cards by default. Recently they have changed the configurators to include a basic wifi card ("WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD") by default. Select whichever option is appropriate for you. If you are using a wired network, ditch the wifi card, save £8, and free up space on your mobo and in your case!

If you are going for a small form factor PC with a mini ITX motherboard, there will not be room for a separate wifi card, so any wifi will be built into the motherboard. Whether the motherboard has wifi varies. Usually the Z motherboards PCS sell (e.g. Z370-I) have it, and the H (e.g. H110) do not, but check if in doubt.


Q: If I add a wifi card, can I still use wired networking / my ethernet port?

Yes, the wifi card is in addition, not a replacement for the ethernet port. The ethernet port is built into the mobo, so you will always have it.


Q: What wireless card do I need?

WiFi uses a set of complex protocols (rules) for communication between your router and your wireless card, these are defined in various standards. It's essential that both the router and any wireless card you buy use the same standards. All the common wireless standards you'll come across in a home environment are 'backwards compatible', that means that if you buy a card supporting the very latest standards it will work with your old router. BUT (and this is a very big but) just as a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, the data rate you'll be able to achieve is only as fast as the slowest device.

What this means is that if you buy a wireless card that advertises data rates up to 800 Mbps (Mega bits per second) you will only achieve that if your router is also capable of 800 Mbps. If your router only supports a data rate of up to 150 Mbps and you buy a wireless card that can support up to 800 Mbps you're only ever going to see a maximum data rate of up to 150 Mbps. Similarly, if your router is capable of up to 800 Mbps and you buy a wireless card that can only achieve a data rate of up to 150 Mbps, then you will only ever see a maximum data rate of up to 150 Mbps.

A note on the words 'up to'... WiFi uses microwave radio signals and these are very sensitive to interference, so cordless phones, microwave ovens, and many other home electronic equipment can interfere with your WiFi signals. Microwave radio signals can easily be degraded (and even blocked) by concrete walls, bushes and trees (it's the water in the leaves that is the problem here), and in fact almost anything that gets in the way. The maximum data rates specified in the standards that define how WiFi works assume direct line of sight, in your home of course there will be walls in the way and interference from other devices, this means that you won't be able to achieve quite the maximum data rate advertised - that's why vendors use the get-out-clause 'up to'.

From the above you can see that buying an expensive wireless card that supports the very latest standard is a waste of money if your router doesn't also support that standard. To get value for money you should always ensure that any wireless card you buy supports the same standard that your router is using. Anything faster is a waste of your money, anything slower is a waste of available bandwidth.


Q. What WiFi standards are available? What is g/n/ac?

There are actually a wide range of wireless standards in use, fortunately there are only three that you will meet in a home network situation (and in most small business networks too). All these standards are maintained by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and the standards relating to wireless networking are known as the 802.11 series of standards....

802.11g is a very old standard from 2003 supporting a data rate up to 54 Mbps and using the 2.4GHz radio band (this band suffers a lot from interference). If you have a very old router (prior to 2009) it will be 802.11g and there is no point buying a wireless card that supports anything better. TBH if you do have an 802.11g router it will be well worth you replacing it with a more modern one.

802.11n is the most common standard at the moment (introduced in 2009) supporting data rates up to 150 Mbps using either the 2.4GHz or 5GHz radio band (5GHz suffers much less from interference but it doesn't penetrate walls as well as the 2.4 GHz band does). There is an advanced version of 802.11n that uses a feature called MIMO (Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output) supporting data rates up to 450 Mbps using multiple antennas and both the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz radio bands. To utilise MIMO both your router and your wireless card must support it.

802.11ac is the latest common standard (introduced in 2013) supporting data rates up to 800 Mbps using only the 5 GHz band, so it is affected much less by interference but has reduced penetration. It uses multiple antennas and MIMO.

There are of course emerging standards that we might well see in consumer devices in the next few years. One to watch out for is 802.11ad which can theoretically achieve data rates up to 7 Gbps but with a very limited range (and it cannot penetrate walls). This will be probably be used for wireless TVs (in place of an HDMI connection) and possibly even wireless hard drives....

Summary

Find out what wireless standard your router supports. If it's only 802.11g then seriously consider upgrading it.

Buy a wireless card that supports the same standard as your router, only consider an 802.11n MIMO card if your router also supports 802.11n MIMO.

An 802.11ac wireless card only makes economic sense (they're expensive) if your router supports 802.11ac. Gamers will probably want to be on the 802.11ac standard, so consider a router upgrade if yours is only 802.11n.


Q: Do I need the "vPro wifi" card for my laptop?

Tony1044 said:

The advice from myself - and others - is usually a flat nope.

vPro basically has additional hardware and coding that allows additional remote administration.

Unless you're in a corporation, any added "remote management" type items should be eschewed as they ultimately increase the potential pathways for hackers.

So the advice still stands...if you don't need it, don't get it.
https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/foru...ded-management&p=417507&viewfull=1#post417507

Click to expand...

Oussebon said:

Power Supplies :

Corsair also wrote articles about some of their PSU series and whether larger units can mean less noise:
http://www.corsair.com/en/blog/2014/june/rm_fan-speed

Click to expand...

FYI, this is now a dead link - but one of the best dead links I've seen in ages - please keep it in!

polycrac said:

FYI, this is now a dead link - but one of the best dead links I've seen in ages - please keep it in!

Click to expand...

That is brilliant!

polycrac said:

FYI, this is now a dead link - but one of the best dead links I've seen in ages - please keep it in!

Click to expand...

Tony1044 said:

That is brilliant!

Click to expand...

Ha ha! That’s amazing!

Updated links added, and links to ubuysa's RAM posts added