IF YOU HAD 4K TO BUILD A NEW BOX, WHAT WOULD YOU BUILD?

Hello everyone,

I am a newbie here. Been flying puter games/sims since the 80's.

I am a commercial ME pilot (in real life) and my first true love is helo's but flight school was too expensive.

So I have 4k, maybe 5k to play with:

What kind of box would you build? ALL WELCOME TO HELP ME WITH THIS.

I want VR for sure but not sure of which one to choose. I have my eyes on either the valve index, star VR, pimax 8K plus or oculus rift s.

I want this unit to be totally kick ass.

Thanks for the help.

I built whats in my signature for that. Probably 4 -6 months ago max.

Maybe 5k by time you factor in the IO stuff.

Cant wait to blow another grand on the 3080ti :/

2.55 runs pretty nicely tho fwiw.

Regards

Yup, $4500 with everything below...

Pretty happy with the specs in my sig. Built it in Jan 2019.

Using Rift S I am able to run some pretty high graphics settings and it is gorgeous.

I appreciate the info everyone. You have some kick ass boxes and I want MINE!

I am like a little kid on Xmas and Xmas is 2 months away and all my friends parents bought THEM a cool box but not MY parents. They suck and don't love me. LOL

I am going to pick apart everyone's info to help with mine.

THANK YOU

Put it in a Roth IRA, or a Mutual Fund that is split between small cap, and bonds.

A $5K PC will be obsolete within a few months.

However, I am jealous, so build a righteous rig, and have fun!

Put it in a Roth IRA, or a Mutual Fund that is split between small cap, and bonds.

 

A $5K PC will be obsolete within a few months.

 

However, I am jealous, so build a righteous rig, and have fun!

$2500 for a computer that will support DCS for hopefully 3-5 years is better than $1500 + $500/year in upgrades. The other $2000-2500 for I/O stuff will last a long time. Plus, no need to worry about “fine tuning” settings. Everything on high and fly.

Not to make this about trading but $5k in an IRA? Learn to trade currencies and you can buy a new rig every year, easy... :thumbup:

I’m waiting for the new set of upcoming processors and next set of GPUs which isn’t that far off.

But isn’t that always the story?

What MegOhm said. Point is that the actual RTXes are to expansive for just 8Gb Ram.

Bigger screens. WQHD or even 4k. This is where the fun begins aside from VR.

So I'd wait for the 30XX RTXes and maybe that brings me close to the next gen ryzen, too. Where the last might not be worth the wait having 3700 in the shelves as of yet.

What's in my sig now. Not quite equal to 4k but with the money difference, I'd probably throw a 2080Ti in instead of the Super.

Thank you everyone. I truly appreciate all of the input.

Does anyone have any input on Intel's Xeon W-3175X CPU's????

Are they better than the new chip coming out?

The new Intel chip is going to go for roughly $2,500.00

One other question.

With VR, which would you prefer? TracIR, Oculus, etc....

I have never used one and I would hate to get the wrong VR headset.

Some say you cannot wear glasses (I do) and others are on about the size of the lenses...

Cannot wait to get online after all this reading.

One other question.

With VR, which would you prefer? TracIR, Oculus, etc....

I have never used one and I would hate to get the wrong VR headset.

Some say you cannot wear glasses (I do) and others are on about the size of the lenses...

Cannot wait to get online after all this reading.

I can only speak from experience so I, and a few others I fly with, have the Rift S. One wears glasses and another purchased the prescription lenses so he didn’t have to wear his glasses. Both are happy. I’m not sure about other HMD’s...

The computer part of this was like a bit over 2k in my signature below.

For VR... Currently the reverb is the best thing going resolution wise for DCS. The Pimax "might" be good, but with DCS it might not run well. I'm pretty sure you can't afford a StarVR on your budget since I think they sell in excess of 5k. Index is a good choice if you are gonna do something other than play DCS. RiftS is the budget choice.

Peripherals wise. I basically have a separate stick/throttle combo for most modules but a WH is not a bad place to start, nor is Virpil or realsim. I would reccomend the MFG crosswinds, but other high end pedals are good.

Thank you everyone. I truly appreciate all of the input.

 

Does anyone have any input on Intel's Xeon W-3175X CPU's????

Are they better than the new chip coming out?

The new Intel chip is going to go for roughly $2,500.00

For DCS single core performance is king. So you are looking for clock speed and single core passmark scores. Xeon's are server procs running a 3.1ghz, so good at multicore, but probably not single core.

IF YOU HAD 4K TO BUILD A NEW BOX, WHAT WOULD YOU BUILD?

I’m about halfway to saving the money necessary to completely max out a Talon from Falcon Northwest with the i9-10980XE CPU, 128GB RAM and two 2080tis w/11GB each in SLI. I’ll probably have the total amount in another two months, possibly less, and will not have to go into debt to do it. About $10k.

Overkill? Yeah, sure. But the Mach V I have now is eight years old and cost me $4500. The way I see it, I want to ensure my next purchase will last that long, and I think it will.

I also don’t want to regret not getting as much as I could.

With a 4K budget, you could go down a little on CPU and RAM, only get one GPU, and still have a pretty awesome machine.

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#1 you shouldn't need nearly that much money. $1500 will build a very decent machine, plus a few hundred dollars for peripherals and call it a day.

Sli doesn't help VR, afaik. And ''moar cores'' is also pissing in the wind. Educate yourself before you buy.

I’m fully aware I don’t NEED that much.

I mainly don’t want to have to mess with it for a very long time.

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I’m about halfway to saving the money necessary to completely max out a Talon from Falcon Northwest with the i9-10980XE CPU, 128GB RAM and two 2080tis w/11GB each in SLI. I’ll probably have the total amount in another two months, possibly less, and will not have to go into debt to do it. About $10k.

 

Overkill? Yeah, sure. But the Mach V I have now is eight years old and cost me $4500. The way I see it, I want to ensure my next purchase will last that long, and I think it will.

 

I also don’t want to regret not getting as much as I could.

 

With a 4K budget, you could go down a little on CPU and RAM, only get one GPU, and still have a pretty awesome machine.

 

 

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Whoa there buddy, put that wallet away before you hurt yourself.

If you really want to spend that much money I could build you a rig with the same specs that has a custom cooling loop and overclock it as far as she'll go and still keep stable.

The 10980XE is a workstation CPU not a gaming CPU. It won't beat a 9700K/9900K or a 3900x/3950x in single core performance. The only reason to buy that CPU and 128 GB RAM is if you are rendering, editing video, or some kind of scientific software for simulation and modeling. They won't make a difference while gaming.

The SLI will help with 4K and AA settings but only in 2D games. VR games don't use it except for a few novelty use cases.

Also, the 3000 series from Nvidia should be available within the next 6 months or so. There's a good chance new cards could be announced this month at the GPU Technology Conference.

Generally speaking trying to future proof is just a waste of money. Do yourself a favor, just build it yourself with a 9700K/9900K or a 3900x and buy AMD, Nvidia, and Intel stock with the money you save. After a couple years sell your old components on Ebay and buy the best again at that time.

In 8 years I wouldn't be surprised if a typical gaming CPU was 64-128 cores for < $500 in today's dollars adjusted for inflation with single core performance we can only imagine right now. And that $5000 in stock will probably have doubled several times in 8 years with dividend reinvestment.

Thank you everyone. I truly appreciate all of the input.

 

Does anyone have any input on Intel's Xeon W-3175X CPU's????

Are they better than the new chip coming out?

The new Intel chip is going to go for roughly $2,500.00

That's not a gaming CPU. That money won't get you any more performance in games. It's intended for servers.

The best CPUs for gaming right now are the 9700K, 9900K or AMD's 3900x, 3950x. I would go with the 3900x if you want AMD though. The 3950x is too expensive if you are just gaming.

One other question.

With VR, which would you prefer? TracIR, Oculus, etc....

I have never used one and I would hate to get the wrong VR headset.

Some say you cannot wear glasses (I do) and others are on about the size of the lenses...

Cannot wait to get online after all this reading.

I do both and would recommend you get both Track IR and VR. As immersive as VR is you will probably find yourself on the flat screen too for various reasons.

Go with the pro not the hat clip.

I’m fully aware I don’t NEED that much.

 

I mainly don’t want to have to mess with it for a very long time.

 

 

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You're missing the point. If you have a clue what you're doing when building a computer you should be familiar with the concept of diminishing returns. A $1000 10-core intel is not magically superior to a $300 fewer core cpu unless you're doing something that benefits from it. Gaming in general and DCS specifically will not benefit from it, so all you've done is piss away an extra $700. Get it?

So, returning to my original statement, you don't need to spend ''4 or 5k' unless you either don't care or (more probably) don't know what you're buying or what you need. $1500, $2000 if you splurge, $2500 if you run SLI. More than that screams ''chump'' not ''poweruser''. Sli will not benefit VR or reliably benefit DCS so that's your first unnecessary expense you can avoid.

I run a two year old pc built around an I7-6700k, 1080ti, 32gb of RAM, which was top tier at the time. That was less than $2k brand new at the time. I will be using it untouched at least another 2-3 years. Money was no object to me, but I know what I'm doing.

So, if you somehow think you need to spend $4-5k to be ''future proof'' you should probably let somebody else do the shopping, because the $2k you'll waste could be used for top end HOTAS and rudders + VR and enough left over to buy something nice for your wife.

Or you can make a sales rep somewhere really happy. Whatever.

IF YOU HAD 4K TO BUILD A NEW BOX, WHAT WOULD YOU BUILD?

I could be persuaded to go down from the X299 chipset to the Z390 I suppose, but limiting myself to 64GB of RAM is what bothers me. The i9-9900k is the fastest CPU offered, and I know new CPUs will supplant it in the future (and can be upgraded to later). But the 64GB limit is hard and fast.

I’m rather surprised at the pushback here, though. If you were in the position to do so, wouldn’t you want the best possible?

Edit:

Saw the HOTAS comment at the end. I’m already there, with:

Grips: TM F/A-18C & A-10C; VPC T-50CM2, WarBRD, & VFX, RS F16SGRH CE, Winwing

Bases: VPC T-50CM2 & WarBRD, RS FSSB R3L, TM Warthog, Winwing

Throttles: VPC T-50 (v2) and T-50CM (v3), TM Warthog, Winwing F/A-18C

Rudders: TM TPR

I chose to spend on this stuff first before upgrading the computer, because it could be done a bit at a time.

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You're missing the point. If you have a clue what you're doing when building a computer you should be familiar with the concept of diminishing returns. A $1000 10-core intel is not magically superior to a $300 fewer core cpu unless you're doing something that benefits from it. Gaming in general and DCS specifically will not benefit from it, so all you've done is piss away an extra $700. Get it?

 

So, returning to my original statement, you don't need to spend ''4 or 5k' unless you either don't care or (more probably) don't know what you're buying or what you need. $1500, $2000 if you splurge, $2500 if you run SLI. More than that screams ''chump'' not ''poweruser''. Sli will not benefit VR or reliably benefit DCS so that's your first unnecessary expense you can avoid.

 

I run a two year old pc built around an I7-6700k, 1080ti, 32gb of RAM, which was top tier at the time. That was less than $2k brand new at the time. I will be using it untouched at least another 2-3 years. Money was no object to me, but I know what I'm doing.

 

So, if you somehow think you need to spend $4-5k to be ''future proof'' you should probably let somebody else do the shopping, because the $2k you'll waste could be used for top end HOTAS and rudders + VR and enough left over to buy something nice for your wife.

 

Or you can make a sales rep somewhere really happy. Whatever.

True !

For the price of a 2nd GPU in the 2080ti realm you can get a very beefy DIY Custom Watercooling Loop that will help you sustain higher clocks on CPU & GPU, and maybe still some cash back.

My really decent DIY Loop was about 900€ total with real nice parts, make it 1100€ if you go all nuts with Quick Connectors, best fans money can buy and some Drain Valve and maintenance accessories right with it. Much better way to spend that money.

You're missing the point. If you have a clue what you're doing when building a computer you should be familiar with the concept of diminishing returns. A $1000 10-core intel is not magically superior to a $300 fewer core cpu unless you're doing something that benefits from it. Gaming in general and DCS specifically will not benefit from it, so all you've done is piss away an extra $700. Get it?

 

So, returning to my original statement, you don't need to spend ''4 or 5k' unless you either don't care or (more probably) don't know what you're buying or what you need. $1500, $2000 if you splurge, $2500 if you run SLI. More than that screams ''chump'' not ''poweruser''. Sli will not benefit VR or reliably benefit DCS so that's your first unnecessary expense you can avoid.

 

I run a two year old pc built around an I7-6700k, 1080ti, 32gb of RAM, which was top tier at the time. That was less than $2k brand new at the time. I will be using it untouched at least another 2-3 years. Money was no object to me, but I know what I'm doing.

 

So, if you somehow think you need to spend $4-5k to be ''future proof'' you should probably let somebody else do the shopping, because the $2k you'll waste could be used for top end HOTAS and rudders + VR and enough left over to buy something nice for your wife.

 

Or you can make a sales rep somewhere really happy. Whatever.

Sooo, he’s a “chump” for wanting “top tier” in 2020 but you were a well informed and educated consumer when you bought “top tier” in 2017???

How very hypocritical of you.....

Regards