Ask a simple question, get a simple answer

[WeBmAsTeErR]

Most "Good" modpacks, if by "Good" you mean some of the larger ones, will require 4GB (without tweaks) to run well. If you're using Java 1.8 this will be the default setting if you have the memory for it available... If not you will need to set the command switches to 2GB to avoid potential crashes.

Your CPU isn't the best choice for running many games, depending on it's clock speed, but it's usable. I3's aren't the newest chips, but the faster the better. Minecraft doesn't really use multithreading well, so multi-core CPUs don't really help much.

You won't get "decent" fps with most integrated graphics... In addition to being designed to at best display HDMI video, they generally do not have their own RAM and steal what they need from the system reducing what you think you have available. If the integrated GPU needs 256MB, your system only has 3.75GB for example, 512MB reduces system RAM to 3.5GB and so on. Also, with integrated graphics the CPU and GPU have to "take turns" accessing system resources like memory. A separate graphics card will have it's own ram and be able to access what it needs with less impact on the system.

Judging from your specs, this is either an older Desktop or a laptop. If it's a laptop about the only thing you can do, unless you have a deluxe model, is add at least 2GB ram for reasons described above. This will account for what Windows10 requires for itself (1GB) and the RAM stolen from the system by the integrated graphics.

There's also a thread in "Ask a Simple Question" about running larger packs with limited memory by disabling some mods and other tweaks, Look there for info on pack tweaking... I think it's called something like "How to run Infinity Evolved with 1.0GB Allocation"

With a Desktop you have more options. after checking the system specs (ie the Motherboard) you could do the following, in order of preference (and cost, considering Intel prices):

1) Disable integrated graphics and add a GPU card. This frees up some ram (see above) and allows you to choose the GPU YOU want. For example, I'm running a $49 video card right now and seeing 60-70 fps constantly.

2) add 2 to 4 GB ram. This will compensate for Windows10 requirements and give you breathing space for Texture packs or, if you're the type, extra windows open for Teamspeak, Wiki, etc.

3) A CPU upgrade. You might be able to get an I5 (not sure, I use AMD) but even a faster I3 is better.

Hope this helps, or at least informs.

Wow, you really went all out with this and I deeply apreciate that.
Yes, it is a laptop and in fact it is just a 320 euro laptop which believe it or not might be decent for its price. I never intended this to be for "gaming" but I do want to be able to play some bigger modpacks, so I guess I will possibly add another 4GB ram in the near future, but is this going to do anything with the specific CPU or is it going to be a complete waste? Also, as far as I know, in most cases it is not possible to upgrade a laptop's graphics card, is that right? By the way the laptop I have is a "Lenovo 100 15iby".

Thanks again for being such a great source of information

 

[rhn]

Wow, you really went all out with this and I deeply apreciate that.
Yes, it is a laptop and in fact it is just a 320 euro laptop which believe it or not might be decent for its price. I never intended this to be for "gaming" but I do want to be able to play some bigger modpacks, so I guess I will possibly add another 4GB ram in the near future, but is this going to do anything with the specific CPU or is it going to be a complete waste? Also, as far as I know, in most cases it is not possible to upgrade a laptop's graphics card, is that right? By the way the laptop I have is a "Lenovo 100 15iby".

Thanks again for being such a great source of information

I always recommend buying a cheaper/simpler laptop(since it is usually plenty for "laptop use"), and then getting a proper gaming desktop that is geared for gaming. So if it is within your economical range then I would suggest saving a bit for parts and putting together a desktop instead of upgrading a laptop.

 

[WeBmAsTeErR]

I always recommend buying a cheaper/simpler laptop(since it is usually plenty for "laptop use"), and then getting a proper gaming desktop that is geared for gaming. So if it is within your economical range then I would suggest saving a bit for parts and putting together a desktop instead of upgrading a laptop.

That's exactly what I have in mind, but it might be a while untill I'm able to afford a proper desktop which I consider to be at least 700-800$ ?

 

[stry67]

using FTB Infinity Evolved on Normal mode. Im trying to automate the production of pure crystals from AE2. For some reason I can make a recipe to craft the various seeds in a Assembler and it works fine. But when I make machine recipes for the nether and fluix crystals starting from a seed, the system isn't recognizing the seeds? I can make the seeds via the crafting but a recipe using those seeds isnt working. Any thoughts?

 

[Hambeau]

That's exactly what I have in mind, but it might be a while untill I'm able to afford a proper desktop which I consider to be at least 700-800$ ?

I looked at your laptop model online and it looks great for any non-graphic intensive application like school or travelling on business. Aside from that, you mentioned that you're considering a desktop. If you build it yourself you can actually spend a lot less than 700-800$US.

This one is a top-end system as reviewed here. He mentions the "bare-bones" config that I looked up on the Fry's electronics site (it's on sale for $295 right now), which would be much cheaper way to go if you start right.

You don't have to use all the top-of-the-line parts shown here... You could start out with the slowest clock speed CPU and do away with the need for water cooling, for example. Start off with only 8GB ram. Use a SATA3 SSD instead of the M2 type, if those are expensive. Use a $49 video card to start... You get the idea. If you build it yourself you can choose to go cheapest route for now and upgrade a piece at a time.

Here's MSI's site showing the "bare-bones" model. There is a very good "How to upgrade" video on the site, and the specifications will tell you which parts you will need to provide:
https://us.msi.com/product/barebone/Aegis-001BUS.html#hero-specification

As stated in the first video, You could probably do better building completely from scratch, but this is a good place to start too, given that a good current motherboard will run between $100-200, a capable power supply between $75-$150 and even a cheap case will cost about $50, and it still won't be as portable as this one, nor have completely separate airflow for the power supply and the electronics.

 

[Someone Else 37]

using FTB Infinity Evolved on Normal mode. Im trying to automate the production of pure crystals from AE2. For some reason I can make a recipe to craft the various seeds in a Assembler and it works fine. But when I make machine recipes for the nether and fluix crystals starting from a seed, the system isn't recognizing the seeds? I can make the seeds via the crafting but a recipe using those seeds isnt working. Any thoughts?

You can autocraft the seeds if you request them directly from an ME terminal, correct?

If so, the problem is likely in whatever system you're using to grow the seeds. If you've got AE2 Stuff, its crystal growth chamber works well and is simple to automate- just stick an Interface with seed->pure crystal recipes on one side and an import bus set to extract pure crystals on another. If not, or if you just like the challenge of automating the vanilla AE2 way of growing crystals, you'll first need some way to drop the seeds into a puddle of water. The ME Interface cannot do that on its own, so you'll need to use your Interface to push the seeds into a dropper or some similar block (such as Botania's open crate or an AE2 subnet with another Interface to receive the seeds and a formation plane to drop them into the puddle). Once you've got that working, you'll need some way to get the grown crystals back into your network. In addition, crystal growth accelerators are highly recommended, but not strictly required.

If you've got all that figured out and set up, but your system still doesn't want to craft pure crystals, you might be running into issues if your ME terminal, crafting CPUs, molecular assemblers, and crystal growing setup are not all on the same network. Crafting requests cannot reliably move from one subnetwork to another (they may be able to move one way, but not the other; I'm not sure offhand). Try placing an ME Terminal right next to your crystal growing setup and ordering pure crystals from there.

 

[Greystoke]

Ok so mob farms, is there any way to filter out the ender minis? Or creepers, they cause issues

Is there a specific issue with the Enerminys/creepers that you're trying to mitigate?

I have a mob grinder in my base, uses a lot of cursed earth plus random spawners collected from Twilight Forest. Just a simple 26-block drop chute to hoppers and some transport ducts, I haven't bothered to tinker with it after I built it. Maybe in the future I'll add a killing chamber and XP collectors - as it is, it's a completely self-contained system.

Anyways, it generates a ton of basic mob drops - gunpowder, bones, string (some kind of swarm spider, I think?), and every so often I see Enderminies as well. I covered the water channels (it's a really basic mob grinder!) with quicksand, and that catches/suffocates mobs quite nicely - I get a slow but steady feed of ender pearls and ender fragments. There are creepers too, but the drop kills them most of the time. If I was setting up an XP farm to kill them myself I'd look into obsidian and half-height slabs to keep exploders to a minimum.

 

[OniyaMCD]

Is there a specific issue with the Enerminys/creepers that you're trying to mitigate?

If an Endermini encounters a Creeper (at least the last time I played a pack with them), there's an explosion. Unless you have Mob Griefing disabled, this would probably destroy the grinder in no time.

 

[Greystoke]

If an Endermini encounters a Creeper (at least the last time I played a pack with them), there's an explosion. Unless you have Mob Griefing disabled, this would probably destroy the grinder in no time.

That's quite possibly the case on the DireWolf20 server. The only other time I've even seen Enderminys was on our home server, and there I don't think they spawned in the mob grinder, I only saw them outside the base and never collected any Ender shards. They're kinda cute, and I was trying to spawn more of them to have around as wild mobs.

Come to think of it, I don't know why they are spawning in my current server base, maybe there are grass blocks somewhere.

 

[Greystoke]

For a crafting recipe that requires a bucket of water, like paper from sawdust, can this be automated using the RFTools Crafter or the Auto Workbench? Conceptually I'm not sure how to set this up, without an attached inventory full of filled water buckets.

 

[RavynousHunter]

I know it can be automated with the TE cyclic assembler, not familiar with RFTools crafting things except that they're handy for making uranium pellets for ReC.

 

[Greystoke]

I know it can be automated with the TE cyclic assembler, not familiar with RFTools crafting things except that they're handy for making uranium pellets for ReC.

"If a recipe calls for a container of liquid, it may also be piped directly into the internal tank instead of supplying the containers."

Nice! Thanks, I'll build one of this and give it a try!

 

[rhn]

"If a recipe calls for a container of liquid, it may also be piped directly into the internal tank instead of supplying the containers."

Nice! Thanks, I'll build one of this and give it a try!

Extra Cells can also do it. If you place the pattern(with fluid buckets/containers in the recipe) in a Fluid crafting chamber, it will be able to use fluids stored in the system instead of the buckets.

 

[Greystoke]

Extra Cells can also do it. If you place the pattern(with fluid buckets/containers in the recipe) in a Fluid crafting chamber, it will be able to use fluids stored in the system instead of the buckets.

I haven't built an AE system, so I'm looking into more "low-tech" options to do some cleanup tasks. I run a tree farm for logs, pass those through a sawmill for planks, and from there to a bank of furnace generators. Not very fast or efficient, but it runs and doesn't need much maintenance. But I do end up with a surplus of sawdust, so I figured I'd make that into paper - perhaps down the road I'll automate spell books, magic wood, etc.

 

[Someone Else 37]

I haven't built an AE system, so I'm looking into more "low-tech" options to do some cleanup tasks. I run a tree farm for logs, pass those through a sawmill for planks, and from there to a bank of furnace generators. Not very fast or efficient, but it runs and doesn't need much maintenance. But I do end up with a surplus of sawdust, so I figured I'd make that into paper - perhaps down the road I'll automate spell books, magic wood, etc.

Or craft the sawdust into charcoal and burn it for a bit more power.

 

[Greystoke]

I am was/am trying to do something similar and ended up with Black Stained glass as the closest thing.

Just wanted to let you know I'd followed your suggestion, and the Black Stained Glass is very nice, quite close to what I was shooting for. Still a work in progress (completely underestimated how much glass I'd need to make), but it's coming along nicely. I used the Chisel mod to morph it to Glass Panel - adds a little border, and I think makes it a bit more opaque.

Spoiler: Tech Base

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hnrovtany3o5qvi/2016-09-24_15.02.17.png?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kkrj9bc28zcz5ud/2016-09-24_15.02.02.png?dl=0

 

[jdog1408]

Do any official FTB packs have Metallurgy?

 

[malicious_bloke]

Does the oldschool Forestry Multifarm use player block placing mechanics?

As in, I can't place water with a bucket in the nether...but does the same apply to the Multifarm when it creates source blocks for irrigation?

 

[PhilHibbs]

On the FTB Insanity map (yes, I was inspired to try this out by DW20's latest series), how do I get my first bees?

Is there an active thread somewhere for the Insanity map?

 

[Henry Link]

On the FTB Insanity map (yes, I was inspired to try this out by DW20's latest series), how do I get my first bees?

Is there an active thread somewhere for the Insanity map?

I'm pretty sure the starter bees are part of a quest reward. But I haven't played that map in years. As for an active thread about it I haven't seen one.