New PC Build for DCS 2.5

Hello fellow pilots. Well, the title says it all. I vowed that my last PC build in my signature back in 2013 would be my last....but well....who am I kidding? Had not fired up DCS since 1.5 back in July of 2017 and when I updated and flew 2.5 the other evening, I was not happy :joystick: Long story short, I'm running dual 980 Ti's in SLi (which after several attempts to create a working profile via nvidia inspector based on suggestions around here, yield barely any performance gain) in 3 monitor portrait surround. All maxed out I'm chugging and stuttering around 20-25 fps. p.s. as a matter of fact I saw better performance on a single 980 Ti as opposed to 2 in SLi.

That being said, here is my current gaming PC:

Intel i7-3770k Ivy Bridge@4.6GHz 1.35v

Maximus V Formula BIOS 1903

EVGA GTX 980 Ti ACX 2.0+ SC+ SLi

G.Skill Ripjaws-X 16GB DDR3 1600

Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E Extreme

OCZ Vertex 4 128GB SATAIII SSD (OS)

Crucial M4 128GB SATAIII SSD

Hitachi 500GB 7200rpm

Corsair Ax1200i 1200 Watt PSU

Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced

Here is what I am trying to achieve: 60+ FPS, all maxed out in game graphics options, on my 3 monitor IPS at 3240x1920 resolution, and dont want anything to do with SLi any longer.

Here is what I am thinking after reading around the forums and getting caught up on latest hardware:

Case: Re-use my existing HAF 932

PSU: Re-use my Corsair Ax1200i 1200 Watt (Should be fine I assume, but it is a 5 year old PSU)

CPU: AMD RYZEN 2700X

RAM: 32 GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB

MOBO: (I need suggestions here, prefferably ASUS ROG)

GFX: GTX 1080Ti

OS SSD: (Please help recommend)

SSD for games: (Please help recommend)

Cooler: (Need suggestions, Some type of AIO I guess ??)

Monitor: 3 x ASUS PB278Q IPS 27" LED 1440P in 3 monitor surround

What do you guys think? My budget is around $3k I appreciate any info, tips, and suggestions.

There are far better people more qualified than I am in this department, but for a Ryzen 2700x system i was piecing together, I chose the X470F ROG Strix for the motherboard. Not sure what your budget is, but I would recommend for the OS the Samsung 970EVo NVMe M.2 in either the 250 or 500gb range, and for the games drive, I'd go with either an 860 EVO 2.5' drive or a the 970 NVMe M.2. 1Tb drive. In any case, there are a lot of competitors entering the M.2. NVMe market so you have lots of options.

I'd just stick it out with a 980ti for now, and pick up the new 1180 or 2080 cards which are due to drop pretty soon, hopefully.

As far as RAM is concerned, just make sure you confirm motherboard compatibility and also make sure it's fast RAM to get the most out of the CPU. For that CPU I wouldn't throw in anything less than 3200.

For closed loop coolers, I'd look into either the Corsair H115i or the new NZXT Kraken x72.

In any case, that system will be very nice.

The guys you want to take serious advice from are Pilotasso, Bitmaster, and a few others on the forums. They are the go to guys when it comes to all things DCS hardware related.

Thermalright are second (after Prolimatech) best air cooler in the market. Silver Arrow SB-E Extreme is excellent. You will see a tiny improvement compared to a AIO liquid cooler. Not worth the money. Keep it.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/Recommended_Heatsinks

The Corsair AXi made by Flextronics are excellent. Tier 1 (Tier 1 provides the best quality power, great for overclocking, super high-end systems, and bragging rights. The best of the best. Very good longevity.) . Keep it.

Gigabytes MoBo are excellent. Gigabytes X470 AORUS Ultra Gaming, or better.

I doubt that any gpu in the present or near future is going to run 2.5 at a constant 60fps at 6k resolution... maybe with some settings reduced.

Read up about VR if you want the surround experience before you go for triple displays.

I would suggest a single 4k screen, 21:9 screen, or 3 1080 screens, or VR and even running with those setups you will be on a constant quest for the latest and greatest GPU at every turn.

Avoid the NZXT Kraken, they had a real bad review at [H]ard|OCP.com...and that is something.

For AIO, right now, the only thing I would buy was a Corsair, as lame as it sounds.

If you dare, venture into DIY Loops and dump AIO, it's a better investment, serviceable, expandable, flexible.

Thing is, ther eis no hardware yet that really pleases your wishes, consolidate your wishes and ground them, otherwise you might get disillusioned once it's firing up and still not what you thought it will be.

There is neither NV-4080-Ti_64GB_HBM3 out yet, nor Vulkan ready....

Awesome! I appreciate you guys! I'm going to digest all this after work.

I have a little bit different rig, 4790k, but went from 2 780ti's to an asus posiedon 1080ti, 32gb ram, and closed loop water cooling. Stable 4.6 ghz on the processor and the 1080ti is always above 2ghz. Triple 1080p ips monitors or cv1 rift it performs very well with the last few updates. 60 frames capped with almost maxed settings on the monitors, so you might want to upgrade your gpu first. You might be surprised by the difference![or not].

MOBO: either ASROCK Taichi, or the ASUS crosshair VII (the strix gaming F is also a good one if you want to save some money).

As far as RAM is concerned, I am pretty dead set on going with 32GB G.Skill TridentZ RGB. My question is, do I go with 4x8GB or 2x16GB. I would think the latter? My motherboard of choice is ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero and since its a dual channel mobo im thinking 2x16gb is in order.

EDIT:

Here is what I'm looking at so far:

CPU: AMD RYZEN 2700X

RAM: G.Skill TridentZ RGB 32GB (2x16GB)

MOBO: ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR HERO VII

GFX: GTX 980Ti (Re-Unisg my exisitng GPU until new chips come out)

Cooler: NZXT Kraken x72 or Corsair H115i (I will probably go with the NZXT)

Storage: Samsung 970EVo NVMe M.2 500GB (OS) + Samsung 970EVo NVMe M.2 1TB (Games)

PSU: Corsair AX1200i 1200 Watt (Re-using Old existing PSU)

OS: Windows 10 Home 64-bit

Both are good as long as they are sold in a kit.

Fox, wait...is that memory kit certified for that vendor? be careful man, you might run into issues. That seems to be a dual sided RAM, the best compatible kits are single sided (i.e. 8 GB per stick, not 16), do you have the part number of that 2X16Gb kit? let me check that with the QVL list in the MOBO support page.

EDIT: here it is (there are some 2X16 configs listed in there check if yours is one of them). The boards are usually compatible with more part numbers than those in the list but this is a safe way to go:

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/SocketAM4/ROG_CROSSHAIR-VII-HERO/C7H-Memory-QVL-Ryzen-2nd-Generation-Processors.pdf?_ga=2.207113878.442678731.1528625507-476160962.1493509646

You will want sticks made with SAMSUMG B-Die chips. If you cant find a kit from that list, there are others that will work fine (they will as long as they all are SAMSUNG B die) even though they might be running at different speeds.

Usually SAMSUNG B dies are memories rated with the lowest timings (for example all kits @ 3200 MHz CL 14 are SAMSUNG's, a few are CL 15 but you need to double check those)

Hynix and micron have nothing above 3600 (my kits weren't on the list but I knew they would work as SANSUNG is the only one making chips rated at 4266Mhz)

Fox, wait...is that memory kit certified for that vendor? be careful man, you might run into issues. That seems to be a dual sided RAM, the best compatible kits are single sided (i.e. 8 GB per stick, not 16), do you have the part number of that 2X16Gb kit? let me check that with the QVL list in the MOBO support page.

 

EDIT: here it is (there are some 2X16 configs listed in there check if yours is one of them). The boards are usually compatible with more part numbers than those in the list but this is a safe way to go:

 

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/SocketAM4/ROG_CROSSHAIR-VII-HERO/C7H-Memory-QVL-Ryzen-2nd-Generation-Processors.pdf?_ga=2.207113878.442678731.1528625507-476160962.1493509646

 

You will want sticks made with SAMSUMG B-Die chips. If you cant find a kit from that list, there are others that will work fine (they will as long as they all are SAMSUNG B die) even though they might be running at different speeds.

 

Usually SAMSUNG B dies are memories rated with the lowest timings (for example all kits @ 3200 MHz CL 14 are SAMSUNG's, a few are CL 15 but you need to double check those)

 

Hynix and micron have nothing above 3600 (my kits weren't on the list but I knew they would work as SANSUNG is the only one making chips rated at 4266Mhz)

From my own experience with the recent chipsets from AMD and Intel..you better obey the Memory-QVL.

Memory handling got very complicated imho. Rushing all those new chipsets out last 1.5 years means so much more work for the vendors to make them stable before release that it just did not happen to the extend we were used to.

I am stuck with a 4-module 32GB kit that is awesome fast at XMP and CL16-16-16-36-2T...IF your board accepts it..and mine won't run all 4, jjust 2 work. If I insert 4 modules I have to reduce the speed to 2666 with the latest and greatest Bios Asus released. I may reurn to an earlier Bios if the next Bios won't fix the issue. I can skip Meltdown & Spectre Bios patches and rely on the Win-OS fixes.

If RAM was at normal prices I'd consider buying a new set but with the current situation I am not, i am sitting it out and fight my way through.

Yeah, avoid that headache by buying QVL !

As long as he stays with SAMSUNG B-die kits hes okay, the difference between those in the QVL and those outside of it is that they may not run at spec speeds right out of the box and may require manual configuration in UEFI like mine did. They work great just not at the 4266 rated speed.

Heres a suggestion of 32 GB kit B die memory outside the QVL list:

F4-3200C14Q-32GTZR

https://www.gskill.com/en/product/f4-3200c14q-32gtzr

A comprehensive list of B die memories can be found here:

https://www.hardwareluxx.de/community/f13/die-ultimative-hardwareluxx-samsung-8gb-b-die-liste-alle-hersteller-27-05-18-a-1161530.html

Fox, wait...is that memory kit certified for that vendor? be careful man, you might run into issues. That seems to be a dual sided RAM, the best compatible kits are single sided (i.e. 8 GB per stick, not 16), do you have the part number of that 2X16Gb kit? let me check that with the QVL list in the MOBO support page.

 

EDIT: here it is (there are some 2X16 configs listed in there check if yours is one of them). The boards are usually compatible with more part numbers than those in the list but this is a safe way to go:

 

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/SocketAM4/ROG_CROSSHAIR-VII-HERO/C7H-Memory-QVL-Ryzen-2nd-Generation-Processors.pdf?_ga=2.207113878.442678731.1528625507-476160962.1493509646

 

You will want sticks made with SAMSUMG B-Die chips. If you cant find a kit from that list, there are others that will work fine (they will as long as they all are SAMSUNG B die) even though they might be running at different speeds.

 

Usually SAMSUNG B dies are memories rated with the lowest timings (for example all kits @ 3200 MHz CL 14 are SAMSUNG's, a few are CL 15 but you need to double check those)

 

Hynix and micron have nothing above 3600 (my kits weren't on the list but I knew they would work as SANSUNG is the only one making chips rated at 4266Mhz)

Ah I see. I was going with the 2x16GB g.kill tridentz F4-3200C14D-32GTZR but they are in fact not on the QVL list for that crosshair VII mobo. Looks like I'll need to go with a 4x8GB kit.

Or is the right thing to do is grab two 2x8gb kits that are on the QVL List? For example, should I buy two of these 2x8gtb kits instead?

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAG7R7AP7945&cm_re=F4-3200C14D-16GTZR-_-20-232-485-_-Product

It would appear from the QVL List that the fastest I can go with DDR4 is 3200 and these are my options.

G.SKILL F4-3200C16D-16GFX 2 * 8GB SS 16-16-16-36 1.35V ●

G.SKILL F4-3200C16D-16GFXR 2 * 8GB SS 16-16-16-36 1.35V ●

G.SKILL F4-3200C16D-16GTZR 2 * 8GB SS 16-18-18-38 1.35V ●

G.SKILL F4-3200C14D-16GTZR 2 * 8GB SS 14-14-14-34 1.35V ●

Am I to take this as i am only limited to 3200 DDR4? Sorry guys. Ive been out of touch for while.

there are more speeds possible. If you cant find kits from the QVL choose the kits in this list:

https://www.hardwareluxx.de/community/f13/die-ultimative-hardwareluxx-samsung-8gb-b-die-liste-alle-hersteller-27-05-18-a-1161530.html

As long as he stays with SAMSUNG B-die kits hes okay, the difference between those in the QVL and those outside of it is that they may not run at spec speeds right out of the box and may require manual configuration in UEFI like mine did. They work great just not at the 4266 rated speed.

 

Heres a suggestion of 32 GB kit B die memory outside the QVL list:

 

F4-3200C14Q-32GTZR

https://www.gskill.com/en/product/f4-3200c14q-32gtzr

 

A comprehensive list of B die memories can be found here:

 

https://www.hardwareluxx.de/community/f13/die-ultimative-hardwareluxx-samsung-8gb-b-die-liste-alle-hersteller-27-05-18-a-1161530.html

Pilotasso, so with this 32gb kit you suggested, would I be able to run at 3200 out of the box or would I need to modify settings in UEFI?

you will need to set the timings manually in UEFI. But theres a few presets in there to make life easy. You should be able to get 3200 with any B die kits.

you will need to set the timings manually in UEFI. But theres a few presets in there to make life easy. You should be able to get 3200 with any B die kits.

Got it. Sounds simple enough. I'll go with what you suggested. I'm going to grab a NZXT X62 like yours and be on my way

Alrighty then, post pics when the time comes!

Oh I almost forgot. Really dumb questions. So u...the last time I built a gaming PC 5 years ago we still installed the OS via DVD drive. How are all the cool kids installing Win 10 these days? USB?

Crap sorry for the double post.

Alrighty then, post pics when the time comes!

Thank you brother!

Oh almost forgot. Really dumb question. So uh....the last time I built a gaming PC 5 years ago I installed Win 7 via a DVD drive. How are all the cool kids installing Win 10 these days? USB?

yes, by USB. You may want to start here:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10

yes, by USB. You may want to start here:

 

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10

Got it.

Also, are there any general nuances I need to be aware of or consider? What I mean by that is things like, install the OS NVMe M.2 drive first then the second after installing the OS? Or can I just go for gusto and slap my CPU in there, slap the AIO cooler on it, pop all 4 RAM sticks in, GFx card in, both NVMe M.2. and push the power button and go from there? Or is there a smarter approach?

I made the complete build and then during installation of the the OS I chose the drive (NVMe one) for installation. Once in windows you need to go to the drive manager in order to create a partition and format the other one, otherwise it wont show in explorer.