Just getting into DCS

I’m in the middle of building a pc for DCS and I’m new to sim flying. I do plan on flying with VR headset as well.

My PC build:

I7 8700 CPU

ASUS ROG HERO Mother Board

32 Gb Memory - G. Skill 3200

Asus ROG Strix GTX 1080ti

Samsung Sata 1Tb SSD

Seagate 2 TB 3.5 inch HD

CORAIR AIO Liquid CPU cooler

EVGA 850 Watt power supply

I Plan on getting Thrustmaster Warthog Hotas, Wheel stand pro, pedals (not sure which brand)

Are there any other suggestions ? And are there any pitfalls to installing DCS that I should be cautious of? I’m nervous about getting DCS operating correctly after spending so much on this PC.

Yes, a few suggestions that might help you:

 

Purchase either a Samsung 970 Pro or EVO 1 TB Nvme drive to put DCS on. I compared performance in conjunction with a regular Samsung 850 SSD and the performance is nicer. Less stuttering and slightly higher FPS.

 

Get the Hero Wi-Fi AC version of that ROG board, ...the firmware is better. Less glitches.

 

In order of ascending quality and precision (based upon what I have owned previously), I would rate pedals as Saitek Pro Flight Rudder Pedals -> CH Pro Pedals -> MFG Crosswind Pedals -> VKB T-Rudder MK IV (no toe breaks but very good precision) -> Slaw Pedals

 

If you primarily want to fly jets in DCS, the TM Warthog is fine but the stick cannot go to the corners without modding or a custom base (ie... you cannot apply full left roll and full pitch simultaneously) .... this means you cannot perform all needed ACM in a tight fight with a master level online flier. If you want to fly both jets and WW2, then I recommend the CH Fighterstick or TM T-16000m. I used the CH Fighterstick for years until I finally got a VKB Gunfighter.

 

The HTC Vive Pro is better than the Oculus Rift and has less "screen door" effect but it is also $1100. Tough call.

 

You will want to add a Track IR Pro 5 to your order as well. Great to have when you tire of the VR headset.

 

Hope this helps :)

Awesome Info...!

This is the feedback I’m looking for.

I’m pretty tech savvy but is DCS tricky to install and get tuned correctly ?

I’m in the middle of purchasing all the parts to build the PC...man the GTX 1080 ti are still $$$

If you mean just downloading and installing the game, it's pretty easy. I'm not sure about equipment, I just use a lower-end laptop and a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro joystick. I've been playing for almost a year now, but I've never used TrackIR. I don't even have a VR headset, in fact.

I’m might upgr to a i 9700 cpu also and get the 1080ti with the most vram get two ssds one for os and one for dcs

I agree with Flanker, no, DCS is a straight forward install. With your 1080 Ti, you can up most of the in-game graphics settings to high and get everything close to maxed out

Perfect. I cant wait to assemble all my PC components. 2 more weeks and ill have all the $ for it.

Still need to buy the Throttle, Stick, pedals, VR googles, and gaming chair with mounts.

Just ordered “Slaw Viper RX” Pedals....stooked!

I know everyone always thinks Thrustmaster Warthog instantly, but I'd bring your attention to two of it's competitor's, namely VKB and Virpil. You can google all the problems people have had with Thrustmaster over the years, and they don't seem to be easy to get in contact with. For a few more dollars ( Ok, a little more than that :music_whistling:), you might want to take a look at VKB / Virpil as well. There are some videos on YouTube comparing them to Thrustmaster.

VKB doesn't have a throttle out yet, but Virpil does.

https://vkbcontrollers.com/

https://virpil.com/en/

P.S. Nice pedals!

Huh, really?

Did you have problems with VKB? I was liking their grips, but I've never dealt with them.

I gotta chime in. Every time I have tried and its been numerous times, I find almost all of

their products are "NO stock available". I will not go to their supposedly "New and Improved"

website again. Same story and I checked yesterday...Out Of Stock.

Yeah, I've heard they're hard to get. I guess they're trying to keep the value of their product high by not selling too much of it.

So - I fly VR only and I'm still pretty new to DCS, but a couple things you should be aware of for VR flying...

Don't just up all the graphics, even if your system can handle it (I've got a similar build to yours) because upping everything will start to make things hard to read/see.

Mess with the focus point settings in the VR settings until things look 'right'. The plane starts out feeling really small until you change the slider - do a little bit of research on the size of an AIM-9 or something, and also the wingspan of whatever you're flying and then tweak the focal point until the missile/wings look to be right and you can read the cockpit displays clearly.

Cheers!

I know everyone always thinks Thrustmaster Warthog instantly, but I'd bring your attention to two of it's competitor's, namely VKB and Virpil. You can google all the problems people have had with Thrustmaster over the years, and they don't seem to be easy to get in contact with. For a few more dollars ( Ok, a little more than that :music_whistling:), you might want to take a look at VKB / Virpil as well. There are some videos on YouTube comparing them to Thrustmaster.

 

 

VKB doesn't have a throttle out yet, but Virpil does.

 

 

https://vkbcontrollers.com/

 

 

https://virpil.com/en/

 

 

 

P.S. Nice pedals!

I’d love to get the Virpil throttle and stick but they are never in stock

He charged me $550 US dollars for mine, if you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay?

I’m paying the same...2 month wait.

I have the Thrustmaster Warthog and the VKB MCG Pro.

1. If you need to use full pitch and full roll at the same time, something is wrong. Most aircraft stall before reaching full pitch and respond even worse if you try to roll while at high AoA. I would not avoid the Warthog stick for not having a square movement range.

2. Both sticks have excellent X and Y axis precision and resolution. There is little or no difference in this regard that can be detected while flying in the game. Using a stick extension and a joystick testing tool, you can observe the full capabilities of both sticks if you have a very light touch. Still little or no difference.

3. The Warthog's gimbal feels horrible near the center due to the transition between left and right spring mechanisms and up and down spring mechanisms. Many Warthog sticks also suffer a "sticktion" problem where it takes so much force to overcome static friction when first starting to move the stick that you move it too much. Both of these problems cause problems when trying to make small adjustments near the center. "Sticktion" can be reduced or eliminated by buying and applying the right lubricant, but this requires opening the stick and violating the warranty. A fairly long stick extension (10 to 15 cm or more) reduces both problems and allows you to appreciate the precision of the X and Y axis.

3. The VKB MCG Pro, which comes with a very long extension, is equal or better to the Warthog in almost every way... except for price and availability. For less than the price of a VKB, you can get the Warthog throttle and stick together.

I suggest starting with a Warthog. If you have problems with the "feel" or "sticktion", get a stick extension and see how that works. Then keep an eye out for VKB MCG Pro availability and order it if you aren't 100% happy with the Warthog. You can have your cake and eat it too, it just costs a lot of money and in the case of VKB, time, too.

I don't have any experience with the Virpil. Early on, I compared the VKB and Virpil products which aren't quite identical and decided the VKB had a slightly better button/switch/axis combination for my purposes and I decided in time to catch the first pre-order for the VKB. There were a few delays on the order of weeks, but the end result was worth the wait.

So I use the VKB as a center mounted stick and put the Warthog stick on the side when I want to fly the F-16 or A-10C which use that same style of grip.

I flew with a TM- Warthog for years, and added an extension to it and used it that way for the last 3-4 years.

Since then, I have added both a Gunfighter Pro with MCG Pro grip, and also a Virpil T-50 Mongoos and have been using both of these center mounted with extension. 150mm with the Virpil and the stock 200 mm with the Gunfighter Pro.

I am extremely pleased with the Virpil and Gunfighter Pro both. Both are high quality and oh so smooth.

However Virpil just recently announced the T-50 gimbal/base has been discontinued. Only offering they currently have now is the WarBRD gimbal/base, which is designed as a desktop unit. They do not recommend using extension with it, at least nothing over 50 mm.

I would suggest for someone new to the hobby, Warthog setup would be great to get going with. It is quite durable and will give you plenty of buttons and switches. If and when it becomes obvious one will stick with it and wants a more serious setup, the Gunfighter Pro with MCG grip would be a great option.

VKB recently posted that they are building up inventory and should have plenty available here in the near future. Time will tell on that one.

I think your observations are all spot on StreakEagle except #1. Not only do I actually use full pitch and full roll at the same time in some combat situations, there are many times when I have ridden my airframe back to base in IL2 1946 or IL2 BOS badly injured and needed some combination of extreme inputs to get my crate back home. Very common to have rudder or ailerons shot up and needing excess input to stay stable.

Just curious: Have you used full pitch and roll at the same time in combat in DCS?

No,... not yet. I just purchased my first modules and have yet to try multi-player. That said, I would never give up my Gunfighter MCG Pro (or my back up CH Fighterstick), which can reach the edges, bc I must have that both for combat and for flying injured planes home.

Ah gotcha, cheers

Full aileron and elevator should give you a snap roll. Is that what you're after?

Full aileron and elevator should give you a snap roll. Is that what you're after?

There are several reasons to need full aileron and full elevator at times:

 

1 - As you point out Buzz, the snap roll. There are times when an enemy is coming down on you and you cant out turn their lead trajectory, so as a last ditch effort, you can pull a snap roll and usually they overshoot. Sometimes they do get some lead on you, but since they usually weren't expecting a snap roll, you can often recover and sometimes break off. (Especially if your buddy is now coming onto their six)

 

2 - If someone is coming in from your high 5 o'clock, you push down almost full pitch down and right aileron and skid under their lead trajectory line.

 

3 - And there are many times when your plane has been hit in the ailerons or elevators and you need extreme inputs just to keep the crate flying until you can make it back home.

 

Yes, .... you absolutely need full elevator and full aileron at times.

Thank you both, valuable learning for me, the instant action missions I fly often involve me winding up with a bogie on my tail, so I'll have to try the snap roll ... and perhaps it's a reason I should keep hitting up the VKB page until they get stock...

Probably trimming the aircraft takes more time than setting up the game. The millions of keybindings though! :mad:

If you mean just downloading and installing the game, it's pretty easy. I'm not sure about equipment, I just use a lower-end laptop and a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro joystick. I've been playing for almost a year now, but I've never used TrackIR. I don't even have a VR headset, in fact.

Great thread! My man cave is much like the above.

I'd need a HOTAS + pedals + head tracking combination. What would be the mid range budget range for DCS? Also can you still use old joysticks with a game port connection in this decade?

I'm primarily helicopter oriented. Looking to try a few fixed wing with DCS as well plus I'll be flying various things in games like ARMA to Star Citizen.

We've come a long way from the 320x200 resolution computers with 64kB RAM for flight sims :pilotfly: Those were the days... took a VERY long vacation at some point and I've never even built a simulator setup with pedals and such.

Computer built !!!

Watercooled? :worthy: LEDs are the same color too :thumbsup:

Watercooled? :worthy: LEDs are the same color too :thumbsup:

Thanks Ya..first PC build I’ve ever attempted....such a nervous feeling firing it for the first time...a lot of $$

Looks Great. I just built about the same thing. LOL stupid upload keeps turning pics sideways. But anyways.

Looks Great. I just built about the same thing. LOL stupid upload keeps turning pics sideways. But anyways.

Looks great! A lot of fans

I wind up opening up my side hinged glass side panel when running it to keep the heat flowing out.