New PC build...need some critique and advice

[Allentc2]

Okay, so after staring at my DCS icon on my laptop for a year, I finally broke down and started to assemble a new PC. Yes, it will do other things than DCS but I'm not gonna lie....the main goal is to fly in DCS with a Reverb G2.

 

What I have so far;

1. Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite mb

2. Ryzen 7 3700X CPU

3. 128GB G.Skill Trident Z Neo DDR4 RAM 3200MHz CL16

4. 2x Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB M.2 SSD

5. Samsung 870 QVO 2TD SATA SSD

6. EVGA Super Nova 850 G5 80 Plus Gold

 

Put it in a Fractal Design Meshify 2 case, EK 240mm AiO, with another 3 EK fans hither and yon. LOL

 

Obviously, I'm missing a GPU. 

I THINK I have done okay so far. I'm not really into computers that much, though I do like putting things together, etc. Obviously the GPU thing is holding me back, but I believe all those parts should play pretty well together. Am I missing anything?

Now the touchy subject....GPU. I was planning on an RTX 3080, but right now they're scarcer than hen's teeth. I was also reading that while the Radeon 6800XT generally comes up 2nd behind the 3080, it does okay and does better when paired with an AMD CPU? Any recommendation between those two, based on what I've done so far? And what about third choices? 

 

Thanks for the input. 

Edited February 28, 2021 by Allentc2

[Beirut]

128GB of RAM? That an awful lot of RAM. Even 64GB of RAM is luxury level for gaming as I understand it. You don't want to use the savings for something else?

[GoodHope]

Great choice on the SSDs (I've got two myself and love them), but don't forget to give some consideration to your case and GPU cooling as well.   

 

Edit: meant to mention power supply.  All of those parts: case, cooling, and power supply need to play well with each other.

Edited January 16, 2021 by GoodHope
clarification

[Allentc2]

Ooops...added. LOL

[Sn8ke_iis]

Take some of the budget for RAM (128 GB) and get an AMD 5000 series or Intel 10600 or better. 

 

Unless you are planning on doing video editing all that RAM and data storage isn't necessary for DCS. You can ditch the second M.2 drive as well. 

 

The main limiting factor in DCS is single core CPU performance. Especially in VR. You want the fastest CPU you can afford. Right now those are the AMD 5600x, 5900x, 5950x and the Intel 10600K, 10700K, and 10900K.

 

For GPU you want an Nvidia 3070 or better or one of the AMD 6000 series. Other than marketing material, I haven't seen any evidence that a system will be faster if you combine an AMD CPU and GPU. 

 

IIRC the new AMD CPUs don't come with a cooler, so you'll need to add a CPU cooler as well. 

[Allentc2]

I should point out the stuff I listed....it's sitting on my kitchen table, mostly assembled. 

 

Oh, and my CPU did come with some huge heatsink/fan combo on it. 

Edited January 17, 2021 by Allentc2

[BitMaster]

Can you send the CPU back ?  Obviously money is not a hard factor for you ( 128GB make me assume that ).

 

You better follow Sn8ke_iis' advice with a better CPU. It just screams for a better one.

 

Just curious, what do you need those 128GB for ?  Reason: They may cause trouble as they are very dense and you have 4 of those. 

If you don't really need them, 64GB is painful enough. The more modules, the denser ( more Gbit per IC ) and the faster they are the harder it is for the board and IMC of your CPU

to master that task.

[Allentc2]

LOL Your third paragraph.....I have no idea what that means. I'm not a computer guy, obviously. 

 

I can't return the CPU, though I could give it to my son for his build when he gets back (maybe).

 

Why 128GB? The mistaken assumption that more is better. LOL

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

Simon said in an interview that the new graphics engine in development for DCS will benefit from having 64GB of RAM. 128GB is overkill unless you really need it for productivity tasks.

 

For the graphics card (the term GPU is just the processing chip on the graphics card, they are not synonyms), you'll want a 6800XT, 6900XT or 3090 because of the VRAM. There are a gazillion threads already about recent hardware so if you do a forum search you'll see other people's recommendations as well.

Basically, even a 2080Ti doesn't have enough VRAM to run Syria on High Terrain Textures (in VR with a recent headset), so don't bother with a 3070 for VR DCS.

If you're willing to turn down texture settings, you can go for a 3080 for example. AMD graphics card seem to be doing quite well in DCS by the way: a 6800XT is quite a bit faster than a 3080 in VR in DCS judging by the testing various people have been doing these past few months.

A 6800 non-XT blows a 3070 out of the water in everything (not just DCS): just watch some YT reviews. The only problem is finding one, obviously.

About the pairing of an AMD CPU with an AMD graphics card, yes SAM can provide a performance boost but it's situational and depends on the application. nVidia graphics card work with resizable BAR as well but require a VBIOS update for it to work.

[Leaderface]

Yes: That build is crying for a 5900X

[Allentc2]

Given how long I may be looking at to get a graphics card, I can probably upgrade the CPU by then. LOL

 

I should point out, this is not a DCS-specific computer. My thought with the memory was one of the M.2s would be just for DCS, the other for booting (overkill, I know, but I'd rather have too much than too little) and the SATA to store pics. I haven't had a desktop PC in ages, so I'm not sure whether it'll replace my trusty laptop for surfing or mundane stuff. It'll definitely be used for DCS and ArmA3.

[Leg2ion]

Also currently in the middle of a new build - with similar (ish):

 

Asus Rog Strix X570 MB

AMD 5600x Processor

500gb Firecuda 510 M2 boot drive 

2 tb Samsung 870 EVO

DVD RW Drive (old fashioned traditionalist)

32gb Patriot Viper Steel Memory

Coolermaster MWE 850 PSU

 

All stuffed into a BeQuiet case (which is quite nice TBH). DCS, IL2, Falcon, ARMA, Steam will occupy the Samsung. Once the PC is up and running intention is to move 2 x 2TB Hybrid SATA HDs from old PC into it for photos, editing, office etc.

 

Same issues - getting a GPU is - errr - problematic.

[rapid]

On 1/16/2021 at 1:53 PM, Allentc2 said:

Okay, so after staring at my DCS icon on my laptop for a year, I finally broke down and started to assemble a new PC. Yes, it will do other things than DCS but I'm not gonna lie....the main goal is to fly in DCS with a Reverb G2.

 

What I have so far;

1. Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite mb

2. Ryzen 7 3700X CPU

3. 128GB G.Skill Trident Z Neo DDR4 RAM 3200MHz CL16

4. 2x Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB M.2 SSD

5. Samsung 870 QVO 2TD SATA SSD

6. EVGA Super Nova 850 G5 80 Plus Gold

 

Put it in a Fractal Design Meshify 2 case, EK 240mm AiO, with another 3 EK fans hither and yon. LOL

 

Obviously, I'm missing a GPU. 

I THINK I have done okay so far. I'm not really into computers that much, though I do like putting things together, etc. Obviously the GPU thing is holding me back, but I believe all those parts should play pretty well together. Am I missing anything?

Now the touchy subject....GPU. I was planning on an RTX 3080, but right now they're scarcer than hen's teeth. I was also reading that while the Radeon 6800XT generally comes up 2nd behind the 3080, it does okay and does better when paired with an AMD CPU? Any recommendation between those two, based on what I've done so far? And what about third choices? 

 

Thanks for the input. 

 

Your build is very similar mine so you are on the right track.

I too was planning on buying a 3080 but my plans have been thwarted by the Miners - Popped a 2070 in there in the mean time.

 

My build:

Asus ROG Hero 8 Wi-Fi

Ryzen 3900X

Ram popped 32 megs in as was also planning on putting 128mb in until my mates at work asked if I was building a Server! I think 32 Megs is the "Sweet spot for gaming"

2x Corsair MP 600 pcie4 M.2  2TB

2x Samsung Qvo SSD 2x TB

RTX 2070

EVGA PSU 850watt

 

[Allentc2]

So to update and ask for some more advice.....

I did manage to get a Radeon RX 6800 XT card, and now I have the opportunity to upgrade from the Ryzen 7 3700X to a Ryzen 9 5900X. Still no VR headset, though a coworker of mine is going gaa-gaa over his Oculus Quest 2. 

 

Would it be worth $550 to bump up my CPU for DCS and VR? I am pretty sure I still have the box and fan from the 3700X, so I should be able to resell it and recoup some of my cost on that one. 

Edited June 9, 2021 by Allentc2

[Taz1004]

11 minutes ago, Allentc2 said:

So to update and ask for some more advice.....

I did manage to get a Radeon RX 6800 XT card, and now I have the opportunity to upgrade from the Ryzen 7 3700X to a Ryzen 9 5900X. Still no VR headset, though a coworker of mine is going gaa-gaa over his Oculus Quest 2. 

 

Would it be worth $550 to bump up my CPU for DCS and VR? I am pretty sure I still have the box and fan from the 3700X, so I should be able to resell it and recoup some of my cost on that one. 

 

 

I'd say yes based on this comparison to 5600X.  But only you can decide if the performance is worth your money.

AMD Ryzen 5600x vs 3700x in Sim Racing & VR (Wow! What a difference!) - YouTube

[Allentc2]

I guess what I'm asking is if the performance jump between the two CPUs is pretty significant. I'm not techy enough to translate the metrics I'm seeing online to what I'm actually seeing. LOL

 

Though I suppose Ryzen 7 vs Ryzen 9 is pretty self explanatory. LOL Trigger pulled. 

[Taz1004]

4 minutes ago, Allentc2 said:

I guess what I'm asking is if the performance jump between the two CPUs is pretty significant. I'm not techy enough to translate the metrics I'm seeing online to what I'm actually seeing. LOL

 

Though I suppose Ryzen 7 vs Ryzen 9 is pretty self explanatory. LOL Trigger pulled. 

 

I thought I answered that.  Significant is relative term.  What's significant to me may not be for you.  The video shows you frames per second between two CPU's.  And he clearly answers your question in Conclusion part.  I don't think you need to be techy or able to translate metrics to understand FPS?