GameTech Support: We Answer Your Hardware-Related Questions Friv 0

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GameTech Support

GameTech Support is a new reader mailbag feature where we answer all of your hardware and tech-related questions.

Table of contents

Do you have any tech-related questions of your own? If so, please leave a detailed question in the comments below to get answers tailored to your specific curiosities.

Note: Questions have been formatted for spelling, grammar, and clarity.

Will there be cryptocurrency GPUs that will prevent the over inflation of gaming cards?

Nopers‏ @nopers on Twitter asks: Will there be new hardware specifically designed for cryptocurrency mining so that video cards will go back to being dedicated more for gaming?

GameTech Support: From what AMD has told me, the answer looks to be “no” at the moment. Gaming GPUs excel at parallel processing, which cryptocurrency mining just happens to also thrive on. Hindering GPU performance for mining would also negatively impact gaming performance.

Can you help me put together a cheap gaming PC?

Calvin Hatcher‏ @HatchCalvin on Twitter asks: I'm looking for a new gaming PC that could run and stream games at 1080p with high settings with a 60FPS frame rate. Any cheap recommendations?

GameTech Support: If you want a cheap gaming PC just to game on, this sub $650 build I spec’d out is really good: https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/best-cheap-gaming-pc-build-updated-august-2017/2900-953/. If you wanted something to stream with, however, you’ll want a higher-end CPU and perhaps 16GB of RAM. I’d replace the Ryzen 3 1200 in that link with a Ryzen 7 1700 processor, as that’s one of the better bang-for-your-buck streaming solutions out there.

How do I get HDR working on my PS4?

GameSpot user Marsupialman asks: I recently picked up a new 4K HDR Sony television, but I don't have a PS4 Pro. I noticed that games like Uncharted: The Lost Legacy and Ratchet and Clank will still display in HDR on a regular PS4, so I looked up a list of PS4 games that support HDR. For some reason, only some of the games on the list displayed HDR for me. For example, I could not get Helldivers to show up in HDR. Do I need a PS4 Pro for some of these games? Is this something that is up to the developer or is there a problem with my TV?

GameTech Support: You’ll want to make sure your PS4 and 4K HDR TV have HDR enabled.

With your PS4, navigate to the Video Output Information screen then go to [Settings] > [Sound and Screen] > [Video Output Settings] to see if your TV is HDR capable. From there, go to the Video Output Settings menu and set HDR and Deep Color output settings to Automatic.

You’ll also want to make sure that you’re using an HDMI 2.0 cable and have it plugged into a HDR-capable port on your TV. Check your TV’s manual to see if only certain HDMI ports support the HDR.

When are the next GPUs coming? Also, why should you pay more for a motherboard?

GameSpot user Myron117 asks: I'm thinking of buying an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (when all the Bitcoin inflation rubbish stops), but I'm wondering what the next high-end cards from AMD and Nvidia are, and when I should expect them.

I'm also not sure why motherboards differ so much and what's the real gain on performance.

GameTech Support: AMD recently released its Radeon RX Vega 64 and 56 GPUs, so I wouldn’t expect any major new graphics cards from the company anytime soon.

On the Geforce side of the equation, Nvidia hasn’t revealed a specific release date for its upcoming Volta GPUs, but rumors seem to suggest that they’ll be out early next year.

As for your question on what to look for in a motherboard, we’ve outlined it in this story here.

The short answer for why you may want to spend more for higher-end motherboards is that they may offer more overclocking options, more USB 3.1 ports, Thunderbolt 3 support, WiFi support, Bluetooth support, more RAM slots, more fan ports, more PCIe slots, NVMe support, and higher-quality integrated audio. Beyond that, there’s superficial things like the aesthetics of a board and RGB lighting.

Is it okay to leave PC parts out?

Varun Nandlal on Twitter asks‏: Is it safe to keep unopened PC parts in your house for long? I've had my RAM and GPU unopened in my house for a couple months now.

GameTech Support: Computer components are more durable than most people think. As long as you don’t shock them with static electricity or get them wet, they should largely be fine. If you know you’re going to be storing them for long periods of time, it’s good to place them in the anti-static bags and enclosures they came with.

Should I always update my GPU driver?

Vicky14‏ @vicky on Twitter asks: Should I update my AMD graphics card every time there's a new driver update?

GameTech Support: For the most part, yes. They can often offer performance improvements to certain games. There are rare instances in which new drivers will cause some slight hiccups, so if you’re really concerned, you can wait and see what the community thinks of a particular driver update before you dive in.

What is a PWM fan? And can I SLI two different GPUs?

Farhan Tasaddaq‏ @4han_t on Twitter asks: What is a PWM fan? I have two fans on an x62 radiator, one fan on GC radiator, and one fan connected straight to the motherboard. How do I control them?

Also, can I add two different graphics cards like a GTX 1080 and 1080 Ti in SLI?

GameTech Support: PWM stands for pulse-width modulation. These fans usually have cables with four pins and you’ll want to make sure that they are connected to a four-pin fan port on your motherboard. They will allow you to intelligently and granularly tweak fan speeds either in your computer’s BIOS or with third party programs like NZXT’s Cam software within Windows.

As for your graphics card question, unfortunately, they need to be the same GPU to run in SLI. You can run the same GPUs from two different vendors in SLI, however. For instance, you can run a Zotac GTX 1080 Ti in SLI with an Asus GTX 1080 Ti.

Can you help me put together a really high-end gaming PC?

Alexinthestudio‏ @Dubblasterz on Twitter asks: What are some good PC parts? I have $25,000.

GameTech Support: Wow, that’s quite the budget. With $25,000, you could pretty much build anything you want. Here’s a high-end rig I spec’d out for less than a tenth of that.

With your budget, however, I would add a second GTX 1080 Ti for SLI and go with a bigger SSD.

How do I get the sound out of my TV speakers from my PC?

Barry Monroe‏ @ApexPenguin on Twitter asks: When using a TV as a monitor, how do I get the sound to come out of the TV speakers from a PC?

GameTech Support: Assuming you use Windows, move your cursor over to the lower right corner of your desktop and right click on the speaker icon. Then click on Playback devices. From here, select your TV as the audio source and select “Set Default.”

How much would it cost to build a PC that can run modern games on high?

Assassin‏ @XxAssassin207xx on Twitter asks: How much would it cost to build a PC that can run games like GTA and Battlefield on high settings?

GameTech Support: You should be able to build a gaming PC that can max out both games at 1080p for less than $650. I spec’d out a good build for that here.

Specs and prices are also reflected below:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 1200 $109.00

GPU: EVGA GTX 1060 Gaming $220.00

Motherboard: ASRock AB350M-HDV $70.00

RAM: Patriot Viper Elite 8GB (2x4GB) 2800MHz $70.00

Storage (SSD): Kingston A400 120GB $55.00

Storage (HDD): IBM/Seagate Constellation ES 1TB Hard Drive $40.00

PSU: EVGA 500 B1 80+ Bronze 500W PSU $36.00

Case: Cooler Master MasterBox Lite 3.1 $40.00

Total $639.93

Why does the Titan Xp costs so much more than the GTX 1080 Ti?

Facebook user Rafael Molina asks: Haven't you ever wondered why people with a $699 USD graphic card like a GeForce GTX 1080 Ti claim their hardware is as fast as the $1,200 Titan Xp? What's the catch?

GameTech Support: The reason the Titan Xp costs so much more than the GTX 1080 Ti and is only marginally faster for gaming is that it’s not actually designed to be a gaming GPU. The Titan Xp is geared more towards compute applications with its higher CUDA core count.

While it’s a super expensive graphics card for gaming, it’s a relatively cheap and powerful one for research.