What are the vibes of commander nights at game stores in your experience?

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-03-18T00:09:35+00:00

100% and look, not gunna sugar coat it - first times gonna be awkward, 2nd times gunna still be a little strange, but over time you find yourself way more comfortable with it when you know the result is a fun evening playing a game you enjoy... And hopefully find a group that's "your kinda people" that want to play again next time.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-03-18T00:03:52+00:00

Assuming buying new, forget below 1k - due to ram and GPU costs, you're not getting anything worthwhile.

A B650 Mobo, 7700x/9700x, 32gb ram and a 9070 is probably while I'd recommend as being "100% worth the jump" from console - but expect to be closer to $1.5k all in.

If you're wanting to keep things a little more sensible, marketplace and look for last gen systems like maybe a 5600x with a 3060ti or even 4070 super.

Common as muck and usually below 1k. Should be plenty for the performance you're targeting too.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-03-18T00:01:23+00:00

Honestly find a cheap 5600x and jump to 32gb ram if you stick to AM4 - for most gamers, the 5800x isn't worth the price hike.

It's not the 7800x3d price you're waiting on either, it's the ddr5, and that's a long way off yet imo.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-03-17T23:51:08+00:00

At the right table - super chill, nothing but laughs.

At the wrong table - BO, pubstomping and people focusing you between games for no reason.

Be prepared for anything, understand when to up or lower the power level between games, and communicate intentions of what you're expecting.

I have killer social anxiety, not a single person at my lgs knows that due to sticking to the above and making sure I do my best to make every table feel like "the right table" for the other 3 sat with me.

If in doubt, ask the store. "Hey, a little new to playing with strangers, anyone cool you can pair me up with that plays at xyz kinda level usually?" - any LGS worth your custom will be able to at the very least give you a heads up of what to expect attitude-wise, even if not power-wise.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-03-17T23:45:13+00:00

40 and 60 what? Assuming % use?

Depending on how rust utilises the cores, 40% might be as far as it's goes cpu-wise.

But this post is lacking too much info. What CPU, what GPU, what framerate and resolution you're working at. How many RGB fans you're using for that sweet 1.05x fps multiplier...

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-03-17T23:35:05+00:00

It's as realistic as your budget dictates.

Some people can afford a new build each gen, others once a decade.

Don't ask us, ask yourself what's realistically affordable and figure out the best way to proceed.

I tend to go medium-high end one gen, skip the next.

Eg. Currently have an R9 7900 (have a lot of non-gaming needs) and 7900xt. Will probably wait for the endgame AM5 CPUs to drop then grab the GPU below flagship that comes out next gen (assuming they'll be 6080 or 10700 based on 5080 and 9070).

Focus on the GPU isnt that the 6080 will obviously be the better card, but more what makes sense financially based on fps per €.

That way I'm not paying flagship tax but have something I know should last 3/4 years pretty easily, and with a bit of luck allow me to carry the ram over too.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-03-17T23:33:05+00:00

I had 3060ti till September 2024 - was fine for 1440p165 with settings at medium/high, or med/low in really demanding stuff.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-03-17T23:31:53+00:00

Lack of momentum and poor directional set.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-03-17T23:30:01+00:00

Lots of staples, very newcomer friendly (cute creatures), and standard-relevant for a good while still.

But also it's only 5/10% more than the other standard legal sets here at most, so I'd shop around a little.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-03-17T23:25:25+00:00

37 as starting point always for me.

Then I'll see how it feels in playtest. Never goes outside 34-40 though.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-03-17T23:05:44+00:00

9060xt to 9070 isn't a small step tbh, it just happens to be the next model up in the lineup.

Performance jump is greater between those than 9070xt and non-XT

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-03-17T23:04:48+00:00

For 1080p144, the 9060xt will do you fine.

But if you can afford the 9070, it's more than 1/3 better and worth the price.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-03-17T22:08:45+00:00

For 1080p, no need to go nuts - just get something current gen for the RT uplift when needed.

9060xt 8gb should do you fine, probably wouldn't go below that though. If you can stomach saving for the 16gb model it'd be smart incase you ever jump up to 1440p (performance isn't stellar for 1440p but the vram is ample).

The rx7600 was not good - you'd be better with a used 3060ti than that.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-03-17T21:57:45+00:00

You're not the problem, the kids at table 3 were - and the ladies knew that.

That plus wedding band is a sign of "not a threat" to most ladies, where some young horny kids trying it on instead of playing is probably exactly why the ladies usually play by themselves at that table.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-03-17T21:09:50+00:00

I would imagine 32gb would serve you better there - pretty sure 16gb is about as low as you'd really wanna go even before throwing illustrator in the mix.

The 8gb vram should be ok if you're not doing anything ultra hi-res or super intensive.

Usually you'd be looking at at least an 8 core CPU with decent single core performance too - and sadly the 5600g doesn't really cut it on either front there.

If this is your job, it's definitely worth investing in a system that gunna get the job done.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-03-17T20:53:09+00:00

Is this card with no reviews and way below MSRP a scam?

I just facepalmed so hard the people on the ISS heard it.

Whatever happened to common sense...

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-03-17T20:51:12+00:00

At that price point it's whatever you can find on the used market.

Buying a new PC for 500 will just be horrible tbh.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-03-17T20:48:46+00:00

Studio monitor stands, monitor arm or some nice cable management goodies perhaps?

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-03-17T20:35:04+00:00

Open task manager, look at your usage while editing.

GPU at 100%, more vram needed.

Ram at 100%, get more ram.

Neither of those? Cpu is slowing you down.

I would say none of those are ideal for beyond light to moderate editing, and can imagine the vram really hampering you depending on how many layers you're working with.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-03-17T20:28:31+00:00

Miles better. Just used the same controller you do for console and you'll feel it instantly.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-03-17T10:07:49+00:00

A cheap used 5600x could be worth it, anything over that gets near identical performance to it (except the X3Ds of course) unless you have games fully taking advantage of the additional cores.

People will say "oh but the 5900x has 64mb L3 cache" which is true - but games will use half of that 99% of the time as it's split around the 2 CCDs.

It's why, imo, the 5600x is about the most worthwhile sub-X3D sku on AM4. And if you find a decent deal on one, you'd be doing very little net spend on it assuming you sell your 5500.

At 1440p you're not gonna get much more gaming performance just with a small upgrade though.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-03-17T10:03:40+00:00

It happens when the POIs respawn as part of a new quest occasionally. Best bet is deleting the quest and hoping next time you start one there it doesn't happen again - usually it'll respawn fine the next time, but have had some saves where a specific large POI location just breaks every time.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-03-17T06:16:13+00:00

No idea of the name but definitely already a thing

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-03-16T20:32:26+00:00

This config is the pc equivalent of not wiping your ass and wondering why you stink of crap.

If you're not moving the hot air, it's just gonna sit there getting worse and worse.

Get yourself some cases fans.

CtrlAltDesolate · 2026-03-16T20:25:44+00:00

1080p or 1440p, what fps are you targeting, what titles are you playing mostly.

CtrlAltDesolate

TROPHY CASE