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[Captain Dawson]

Hello, Captain Dawson here again!
(Sorry if I'm being annoying. I'll be done asking questions eventually, don't worry!)

While I really appreciate all the input I've gotten on computer building, after a few weeks of researching I've realized I don't have the time (or skillz) to correctly choose parts and assemble a machine myself at the moment. If I ever get more time on my hands, maybe I'll try building a desktop.

I've heard from a few of you that with my limited budget, buying a pre-assembled desktop may be the best option since I couldn't afford super high spec parts with a custom build anyways. I've also heard that many pre-builts are traps and can sometimes mix low-quality parts in with the higher quality parts and deteriorate the overall performance of the product. I agree and have seen that first hand.

I would like to be able to run IL-2 CUP or VP modpack on max settings with decent framerate. Any other programs I will use should work fine on such a machine. From a previous thread similar to this request:

Any currently available dedicated GPU will do.

If however you want to see smooth gameplay and not just perfect mode, but maxed out settings all around, then you need something with more than 10.000 3D Mark 06 points, that's for instance a GPU like the following:
From the 600 family a GTX660M or better (the tenths digit counts, the higher the better)
From the 700 family a GT750M or better
From the 800 family a GTX850M or better
From the 900 family a GTX950M or better (maybe a GTX940M will do, but not sure).

Best regards - Mike

What should be the requirements (if any) for CPUs? Is i5 series good enough, or do we need i7 series?

Now that we're talking about Notebook processors, the answer cannot just be one or the other, it depends.
Notebook CPUs have many specs to take into account for the one thing that counts for IL-2:
Single Thread Performance.
This is all that counts, nothing else.
You can see a chart showing how different CPUs perform on single thread operation here:
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html

You will soon notice that it's not that easy to spot the Notebook CPUs.
The fastest one is the Intel Core i7-4940MX @ 3.10GHz with 2193 Passmark points.
2nd place is Intel Core i7-4930MX @ 3.00GHz with 2160 points.
3rd place is Intel Core i7-4910MQ @ 2.90GHz with 2160 points (yep, surprise surprise, 100MHz less but same points on single thread operation).
4th place is an i5 then, the Intel Core i5-4340M @ 2.90GHz with 2104 points.
There's another 6 or so i7 mobile CPUs on the following places before the next i5 comes up (Intel Core i5-4330M @ 2.80GHz, 1925 points).

Aynthing below 1800 points won't make you happy with IL-2 on large missions, so you should really take a look what CPU precisely is working in that laptop of your choice and check it's single thread performance from the above given list first.

Best regards - Mike

I know many of you are experienced with computers (unlike me). If you could take a look at these three example desktops and give your opinion/critique given my situation, I would appreciate it! Which is the best value? If you like, you could point out any glaring issues, such as bad value components or anything else.

Cyberpower: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883230155

Lenovo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16883798487

ABS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883102196

The prices are similar. All three have SSDs. All three have 8GB DDR4 memory. All three have over 1800 CPU single thread points, though the Lenovo has quite a bit more. All three have graphics cards at GTX 960 or above. Ideally, I would want all high specs, but such is not possible for these prices in a pre-built as far as I have seen. These three machines are very similar to everything else I've been seeing, but for less money. If you could suggest something better for a similar price, please do so.

So you see I may need to sacrifice something. Is it more important to have the better processor or video card for IL-2?

Thank you so much!

[Captain Dawson]

I've fixed the links now. Sorry about that.

Any suggestions on these computers?

[Zoran395]

I am not Storebor (I bow down respectfully before him...) but you are a smart man and have understood the basics.
I did follow these basics myself and my waters are telling me that you will be able to run CUP at 60 FPS with these machines.
VP Pack should run with no problem, it is a bit less resource intensive than CUP.

They have similar specs to the one I built a bit more than an year ago (around a GTX950). Interestingly I built mine for $800...
Maybe you get the Lenovo with the better processor?

For expectation management I still can put my PC on its knees if I get crazy with explosions/smokes, too many planes starting at the same time or a city with way too many buildings. But in all I run CUP at max settings very happily. Me thinks $800 is the right price range, if you could build it yourself (or get a mate to do it for you) you would probably save ~$150 maybe? That's with sourcing the parts separately where they are the cheapest plus giving a 6 pack of beers to your mate.

[Captain Dawson]

Thank you for your reply Zoran!

Maybe you get the Lenovo with the better processor?

Do you think the need for the better processor outweighs the 1060 graphics card on the others?

[Edit: Question resolved on another thread]

P.S., I'm hearing bad things about Cyberpower and ABS, but I don't know whether to trust.