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Another budget thread (Digital Storm)


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I am making preparations for my return to flight simming and in particular DCS combat sims. It has been a long time, and I cannot wait.

 

While researching rig builds and specs I came across Digital Storm and their well received gaming rigs. One of their machines, the Vanquish II (level 4), falls within my expected price range. The hardware seems great and sufficient for A10C, but I really have no idea how well it will actually perform.

 

I would love to get some feedback from people here on this. Please let me know if you think this build would provide a good DCS simulation experience:

 

- NVIDIA GTX 770 2GB

- Intel Core i5 4570 CPU

- 8GB 1600MHz Memory

- 120GB Samsung EVO SSD

- 1TB 7200RPM HDD

- Upgraded CPU Air Cooling

- ASUS H81 Chipset Motherboard

- 600W Corsair CX Power Supply

 

You can take a look at this product here:

https://www.digitalstormonline.com/configurator.asp?id=927501

 

This is my long awaited first post on these forums. It feels good :)

 

Boone

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Please let me know if you think this build would provide a good DCS simulation experience:

 

Absolutely it will.

 

Although in my (not very expert) opinion it seems like they've got a pretty pricey GPU in that setup and have skimped a little on the CPU. I would be interested to see what others say.

 

 

P.S. welcome to the forum!

F-15E | AH-64 | F/A-18C | F-14B | A-10C | UH-1H | Mi-8MTV2 | Ka-50 | SA342 | Super Carrier | Nevada | Persian Gulf | Syria |

Intel Core i7 11700K - 32GB 3200MHz CL16 DDR4 - MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Gaming X 12GB - Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe SSD 1TB

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...

- NVIDIA GTX 770 2GB

- Intel Core i5 4570 CPU

- 8GB 1600MHz Memory

- 120GB Samsung EVO SSD

- 1TB 7200RPM HDD

- Upgraded CPU Air Cooling

- ASUS H81 Chipset Motherboard

- 600W Corsair CX Power Supply

...

 

CPU: get "K-model" (unlocked multipier = easy overclocking, trust me, you'll need it)

GPU: 2GB might be just enough for full-hd (with future "edge" engine being still question mark). If you want to try higher resolution (or multi-screen), go for GTX770/4GB.

SSD: if you can, take 240GB-version (bigger cache, higher i/o-speed, higher iops, more space for over-provisioning, better price_for_capacity ratio)

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After installing the 1.2.8 ob on a hdd and riding it a few times, I suddenly forgot the reason for buying a SSD...

 

Yes, it saves a little bit of loading time... But in most circumstances, that does not amount to much, and imho is not worth the extra dollars. If you are on a budget, your dollars are better spent somewhere else (on a better GPU or the K version of the CPU, probably).


Edited by blackbelter
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A 4670 would have been even faster (stock at least) and K would be better if your are thinking to overclock. An i7 with faster stock speed would be faster, but once the i5 is overclocked to the same clockspeeds the i7 should give you none to neglectable advantage in DCS (and most gaming/flight simming)speacially when you consider the extra price on the i7. As for that rig in particular. You could probably build a system that would cost less and had the same components or even better ones if you were to source the parts yourself. All in all it's a good system, but the motherboard is a bit on the budget side and with limited features, and would have to do some math to figure if the PSU is really adequate for the rig (it probably is, and the corsair is an exelent PSU, I'm talking watt wise), a lot of people don't realize but a PSU is usually at it's ideal output up to about 80% of it's rated power wich for a 600W PSU is up to 480W. Say if your system was using 540W when gaming, that's 90% of the rated power of a 600W PSU but only about 67% on a 800W PSU, so the 800W PSU would actually use less power, because a PSU only uses the power that's beeing demanded of it but the 800W one would do it more effeciantly with less power waste.

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I just want to reinforce Rhinox proposal for 4Gb video boards and the K variant for CPU and also Lxsapper proposal for another motherboard.

 

To be more precise your choosed motherboard does not fully support SLI, even there are 2 PCI-Express slots. Read more carrefully the documentations, but as far as I am aware the "B" chipsets are not recomended for multiple GPU boards. H81 is just the 3rd generation of B series.

Go instead for Intel Z87 chipset, which will give you all the features needed for a gaming rig: overcloking, SLI/Crossfire, multiple extensions... etc... and choose full ATX form factor...

Romanian Community for DCS World

HW Specs: AMD 7900X, 64GB RAM, RTX 4090, HOTAS Virpil, MFG, CLS-E, custom

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For everything but the case it'd be around $941

 

So if you budget in an ATX Case for about $50-90, and look for Combo Deals/Items on sale.. you can prolly drop below $900.

 

 

329.99 GTX 770

199.99 i5-4570

79.99 8 GB 2x4GB DDR1600

78.99 Samsung Evo SSD

86.95 WD Black 1 TB

29.99 Hyper 212 Plus

65.99 ASUS H81 Mainboard

69.99 Corsair CX

Windows 10 Pro, Ryzen 2700X @ 4.6Ghz, 32GB DDR4-3200 GSkill (F4-3200C16D-16GTZR x2),

ASRock X470 Taichi Ultimate, XFX RX6800XT Merc 310 (RX-68XTALFD9)

3x ASUS VS248HP + Oculus HMD, Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS + MFDs

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My word fellas, thank you all so much for your valuable input and welcoming messages :thumbup:

 

I now have what I need to proceed and formulate my plan. It may be a few more months before I'm in the virtual sky, but I have taken the first step - which I have been looking for, for quite some time.... It has been 10 years since I last had a flightsim rig. And I have dreamed about owning one ever since.

 

SkateZilla - You pricing this out for me (to build my own) is the cherry on the top. Thanks so much. You didn't happen to moderate the old Forzacentral forum back in the FM2 days did you? (If so my username was Kartman then) :smilewink:

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SkateZilla - You pricing this out for me (to build my own) is the cherry on the top. Thanks so much. You didn't happen to moderate the old Forzacentral forum back in the FM2 days did you? (If so my username was Kartman then) :smilewink:

 

I didn't moderate Forza Central no, I was there all the time from FM1 Demo -> FM4 Limited Edition, and bailed on FM Series when MS Decided they wanted me to not only buy a $400 console and $60 game, but yet another $400 Wheel setup. Not to mention FM3 took FM from Decent MP to that Match making BS.

 

I did Moderate Forzamotorsport.net, Xbox.com and Bungie.net forums for 5 years before they all merged into that clusterbomb they call the Xbox Community Just before the FM3 Release. I did enjoy going to see Che Chou and Turn10 studios though. I think when Turn10 parted ways with Che Chou, they demoted most of the Moderators he brought in.

 

I'm Still waiting for MS to Fulfill the promises to Xbox and Xbox Live beta testers from 2001, and stupid avatar items on XBL Dont count.


Edited by SkateZilla

Windows 10 Pro, Ryzen 2700X @ 4.6Ghz, 32GB DDR4-3200 GSkill (F4-3200C16D-16GTZR x2),

ASRock X470 Taichi Ultimate, XFX RX6800XT Merc 310 (RX-68XTALFD9)

3x ASUS VS248HP + Oculus HMD, Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS + MFDs

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.... I was there all the time from FM1 Demo -> FM4 Limited Edition, and bailed on FM Series ...

 

Cool, well we chatted a bunch then. I was one of the first round of FM1 artwork creators along with Duffman, Jamesways and co. I too bailed after FM3 and MS / T10's complete lack of support especially with offering repeated unupdated tracks year after year.

 

Forza fulfilled my simming needs while I was no longer able to fund flight-simulation (you know, family kids, mortgages etc.) . It's good to see a familiar name, here of all places. Thanks again for pricing that out for me.

 

 

So, for monitors. I was thinking 3 x 27" eventually (probably just starting with 1 monitor in the beginning). Is there any real need to spend greatly here?

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Cool, well we chatted a bunch then. I was one of the first round of FM1 artwork creators along with Duffman, Jamesways and co. I too bailed after FM3 and MS / T10's complete lack of support especially with offering repeated unupdated tracks year after year.

 

Forza fulfilled my simming needs while I was no longer able to fund flight-simulation (you know, family kids, mortgages etc.) . It's good to see a familiar name, here of all places. Thanks again for pricing that out for me.

 

 

So, for monitors. I was thinking 3 x 27" eventually (probably just starting with 1 monitor in the beginning). Is there any real need to spend greatly here?

 

Eyefinity/Surround Gaming is prolly not a good idea until we see the impact of Oculus Rift has....

 

Depending on what you like, there's different screen types, IPS, etc..

 

I have 3 ASUS VS248HP 2MS LED Displays, ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236153 )

 

They are tons better than the Cheapo $70-140 Acer 5-10+MS LCD Screens that most people end up getting.

 

My first one was $230+Shipping, then they went on sale for $199 and I bought two more.

 

But I use them for more than gaming.

 

I will be jumping on the Oculus Rift Bandwagon as soon as I can, I had DK1 for a short period of time and was impressed with it, I havent touched any of the newer units.

 

But 1:1 Tracking VR Headset if the price is right is just one thing that's too good to pass up, Since I'm on iRacing and stuff too.


Edited by SkateZilla
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Windows 10 Pro, Ryzen 2700X @ 4.6Ghz, 32GB DDR4-3200 GSkill (F4-3200C16D-16GTZR x2),

ASRock X470 Taichi Ultimate, XFX RX6800XT Merc 310 (RX-68XTALFD9)

3x ASUS VS248HP + Oculus HMD, Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS + MFDs

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For $50 off (with MA tax calculated in, I don't know if they bother charging for WA state if you order, and you may get an even better deal that way), you could build with the 4670K, double the RAM, a quad-SLI compatible motherboard, the same storage, and the same case from Micro Center. Or, for $20 more, the 4770K with the upgraded RAM and motherboard.

 

Asus Z87 Pro $169.99

Intel 4670K $189.99

Crucial Ballistix 16GB DDR1600 $144.99

Asus GTX770 2GB $339.99

Crucial M500 120GB SSD $74.99

WD Black 1TB $79.99

Corsair CX750M PS $54.99

Corsair Graphite 230T Case $74.99

 

For $50 less, you're getting future SLI (with at least power for dual on the 750M), a better processor, and twice the RAM.

 

If you can turn a screwdriver, you can build a computer. Do it.

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Get a much better PSU. Stick with Corsair if you like but upgrade it.

ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero, i7-6700K, Noctua NH-D14 Cooler, Crucial 32GB DDR4 2133, Samsung 950 Pro NVMe 256GB, Samsung EVO 250GB & 500GB SSD, 2TB Caviar Black, Zotac GTX 1080 AMP! Extreme 8GB, Corsair HX1000i, Phillips BDM4065UC 40" 4k monitor, VX2258 TouchScreen, TIR 5 w/ProClip, TM Warthog, VKB Gladiator Pro, Saitek X56, et. al., MFG Crosswind Pedals #1199, VolairSim Pit, Rift CV1 :thumbup:

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One more question; what about sound card? or is that part of the video card nowadays?

 

Windows Vista and later use WASAPI now, hardware accelerators are pretty much pointless,

 

there are some scenerios where cheap mainboards have on board audio that kills game performance.

 

$30 Dell OEM X-Fi Gamer from Ebay for PCI Slot will remove that issue.

 

Most high end boards tend to have decent onboard audio, its just a matter of how well the drivers are compiled, as I've seen several issues with Realtek and VIA Audio Chips on budget and performance tier boards.

Windows 10 Pro, Ryzen 2700X @ 4.6Ghz, 32GB DDR4-3200 GSkill (F4-3200C16D-16GTZR x2),

ASRock X470 Taichi Ultimate, XFX RX6800XT Merc 310 (RX-68XTALFD9)

3x ASUS VS248HP + Oculus HMD, Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS + MFDs

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One more question; what about sound card? or is that part of the video card nowadays?

 

Part of the motherboard actually. Very few people use dedicated Sound cards nowadays, and very few dedicaded cards will give you advantages over the onboard ones, except for a few very high end ones.


Edited by lxsapper
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I would recommend you upgrade your Gtx770 to 4 Gbs. I have just moved to 2560x1440 and the the Gtx770 4Gb and I have been playing around with it and watching framrates and memory use, and I have seen 2.48Gbs used in some missions. Some say that the more GPU memory you have, that more of it will be used just because it is available. I Just wanted to share this with you as it seems more and more computer games are using higher and higher GPU ram. Good luck.

S!Blade

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