The 'Build Me A PC' Thread

[Trippy]

NFI what GPU to get. Raytracing sounds nice, if it's not out of the question. 4k ideally. VR ready. All that Jazz.

As someone wholly invested in VR but also dabbling more and more in 4K gaming, I will give you a quick two cents.  I have a GTX 1080, and I find it to be "barely good enough" for VR, and "a bit disappointing" for 4K.  This card, or even a 1070, would probably appear to do these jobs quite well initially, but it becomes clearer to me all the time that I need a faster card.  The only thing stopping me right now is the age old argument of Do I Really Want To Spend 1500 Fucking Dollars For 20% More Frames.

It can be a lot more than 20% more frames going from a 1080 to a 2080 Ti depending on the game and settings:

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/nvidia-rtx-2080-ti-benchmarks,review-5779.html

[Trippy]

4K is going to be tough to get solid 60 frames out of anything. I was watching a bunch of stuff when I got my 4k tv and the thought of entirely rebuilding my PC with high end parts and STILL having inconsistent frames was kind of nausea-inducing.
I solved it by just playing as much as possible on the PS4 Pro and letting it do it's thing. Still get rough frames in both Madden and the Witcher from time to time, but it works and didn't cost me a used car.
If my PC crapped out and I had to rebuild, I'd probably skimp on the gpu and stick to 1080p for another year or two.

I mean, am I better off holding off for another 12 months? I can do that. I'd like to upgrade this thing because its days as a games machine are pretty much long gone, but I can also eke out another year on the PSPro/XBoneX. I don't mind spending a bit on a new box, because unless my wife needs a new one, I'm happy to leave it be for another 4+ years once it's built, aside from storage. And it's something I use every day, and it gets used for both work and entertainment. Much more use than gaming or the consoles.

AMD might have a decent 4K solution with ray tracing in a year which would help drive prices down. But until then I would expect NVIDIA to keep prices where they are until they are ready to release their "Ampere" cards next year as well, and presumably out-classing AMD yet again.

[Cyrrex]

NFI what GPU to get. Raytracing sounds nice, if it's not out of the question. 4k ideally. VR ready. All that Jazz.

As someone wholly invested in VR but also dabbling more and more in 4K gaming, I will give you a quick two cents.  I have a GTX 1080, and I find it to be "barely good enough" for VR, and "a bit disappointing" for 4K.  This card, or even a 1070, would probably appear to do these jobs quite well initially, but it becomes clearer to me all the time that I need a faster card.  The only thing stopping me right now is the age old argument of Do I Really Want To Spend 1500 Fucking Dollars For 20% More Frames.

It can be a lot more than 20% more frames going from a 1080 to a 2080 Ti depending on the game and settings:

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/nvidia-rtx-2080-ti-benchmarks,review-5779.html

I know that, was thinking more about the VR improvements specifically, because that is where it would be needed the most.  In too many cases, real testing has shown it to be an improvement, but a disappointing one.

[Chimpy]

Cyrrex- the only man that actually plays games in VR on earth.

[Sky]

Only because the rest of us are waiting for the game devs to catch up.

[Azazel]

OK, I've had another go.

Please critique:

https://www.centrecom.com.au/buildpc/129424

CPU *
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 8 Core Processor - YD270XBGAFBOX

Motherboard *
ASUS X570 PRIME X570-P/CSM AMD MOTHERBOARD

RAM *
2x Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO 32GB (2x 16GB) DDR4 3200Mhz Desktop RAM - Black

Storage Device *
Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB NVMe PCIe SSD - MZ-V7S1T0BW
2x Seagate IronWolf 6TB 3.5" NAS Hard Drive - ST6000VN0033

Case *
Fractal Design Define R6 USB-C TG Mid-Tower E-ATX Case - Black

Power Supply
Corsair HX850M 850W 80 Plus Platinum Modular Power Supply

Optical Drive
Pioneer (BDR-209DBKS) - 15x Internal BD/DVD/CD Burner - OEM

Graphic Card
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2080 Ti OC 11GB Graphics Card

PC Assembly Labour

[Trippy]

Do you really need the 2 extra CPU cores?

[Azazel]

That would be because I only know what I'm doing in the most general sense,

Basically, I want to play games gud, do normal productivity tasks (ME office, etc) and some light photoshop/video editing. Also, store my accumulated data (music, games files, video files, images, etc) and not (need to) upgrade for 5+ years.

[Tale]

Cyrrex- the only man that actually plays games in VR on earth.

Many people who play Elite: Dangerous (on PC) use VR all the time. I don't, but a surprising number do, and it's a MMO-level timesink where they're putting in thousands of hours.

VR and a HOTAS is considered the best way to play it. The usual comment is "once I tried playing in VR, I couldn't go back".

I still haven't built myself a new PC, but I want to do it with VR in mind.

[Trippy]

That would be because I only know what I'm doing in the most general sense,

Basically, I want to play games gud, do normal productivity tasks (ME office, etc) and some light photoshop/video editing. Also, store my accumulated data (music, games files, video files, images, etc) and not (need to) upgrade for 5+ years.

I would switch the CPU to the Ryzen 5 3600X.

Also if you don't need the blingy RGB for your memory you can save a few bucks with these (also CL16):

https://www.centrecom.com.au/corsair-vengeance-lpx-32gb-2x16gb-3200mhz-ddr4-desktop-ram-black

[Cyrrex]

Cyrrex- the only man that actually plays games in VR on earth.

Many people who play Elite: Dangerous (on PC) use VR all the time. I don't, but a surprising number do, and it's a MMO-level timesink where they're putting in thousands of hours.

VR and a HOTAS is considered the best way to play it. The usual comment is "once I tried playing in VR, I couldn't go back".

I still haven't built myself a new PC, but I want to do it with VR in mind.

I am so spoiled sometimes that I forget I have E:D.  Elite in VR makes your brain think you are flying a spaceship, and that is all that needs to be said about it.  And it isn't even the best VR game.  So you can all eat my underpants.

[Sky]

I am so spoiled sometimes that I forget I have E:D. 

[Cyrrex]

Heh, that was a little easter egg for you, good catch.

[Yegolev]

What is the best VR game, if it isn't Elite?

[01101010]

What is the best VR game, if it isn't Elite?

Spectre VR... duh. 

[Cyrrex]

Skyrim

[Azazel]

Beat Saber? Pc version with your own music  seems like it could be good...

[Cyrrex]

Beat Saber is indeed good.  For me it doesn't have a lot of longevity, but my oldest son loves it.  But half of you old fucks complain about even having to stand up, so Beat Saber would kick your ass.

[Azazel]

I would switch the CPU to the Ryzen 5 3600X.
[/quote]

https://www.centrecom.com.au/amd-ryzen-r5-3600-6c-12t-35mb-cache-65w-tdp

https://www.centrecom.com.au/amd-ryzen-r5-3600x-6c-12t-35mb-cache-95w-tdp

Thank you - which one of these two?

[Trippy]

Up to you. X is slightly faster / more expensive.

[MisterNoisy]

I really like GORN for dumb VR games.  Just make sure you have lots of room around you.

Playing Everspace sold me on VR for flight/space/racing sims tho.  Being able to actually look around in 3D is a game changer when spatial awareness is important.

[Cyrrex]

I have Everspace, but have not tried to play it since my PC upgrade last winter.  Ran like total crap before, may have to give it another whirl. 

[Yegolev]

A good VR racing sim would be great.

[Cyrrex]

Well....Dirt Rally.  Project Cars 2.  Can confirm the former is pretty cool, the latter I have not tried.

[MisterNoisy]

Well....Dirt Rally.  Project Cars 2.  Can confirm the former is pretty cool, the latter I have not tried.

I've played a bit of PC2 on a friend's rig, since he had the full racing setup (wheel, shifter, 3 pedal set).  It's pretty great.  I just don't have it in me to drop $600 on a racing setup just yet.

[Cyrrex]

That is pretty much why I haven't tried it as well.  It would probably still be cool with just a controller, but I would really want at least a basic setup.

[Salamok]

My biggest fear with VR is that it would cost me $10k in the first 3 months, I don't think I would be able to resist things like the vive pro and some sort of Yaw VR or treadmill setup.

[Azazel]

Just wanted to say thank you - I've rejoined the Master Race! 
now for a full weekend of setting up software and figuring out the little qol things I had set up on the old machine...

[Cyrrex]

Did you get that 2080ti?  Because if so, I am officially jealous and you can just get fucked.

[Cyrrex]

Shit, I caved.  Ordered a 2080 Super, should be here tomorrow.  I blame Azazel.

[Azazel]

Yeah I did, though don't feel bad. I've been trying to buy this thing for 2 or 3 years now, and I'll doubtless still be runninmg it when you're ruinning a 6080xsti in another three years. :)

And I guess you can also thank me for the 2080 in the meantime. 

[Cyrrex]

Yeah.  But mind you, it is a 2080 "Super", so it is at least 1.3% better than that sucky old regular 2080.

It was actually Asgard's Wrath that put me over the edge.  That game is too interesting for me to settle for turning down the resolution and IQ.  It should also improve Fallout 4 and NMS significantly and make them more playable.  With everything else, it is probably just image quality improvements and possibly moving up to 120hz.

All for the low low price of just over 800 fucking American dollars.

[Cyrrex]

Got it, installed it.  Wasted an hour, because I think it wasn’t seated properly the first time and for some reason when shit like that happens, it will mess up all the video outputs such that simply plugging stuff back in doesn’t help. It was booting into safe mode, but with no easy way to get video up on any screen.  Even plugging into the onboard graphics did not work.  What finally did work was plugging in the new card, but not plugging in the power connectors, and then using the onboard video out to boot up and get it out of safe mode.  Then I could re-connect the power to the new card and reboot.  Stupid.

Anyway, working now.  Can confirm at least that it has made both NMS and Fallout 4 totally playable, so that is fucking great.

[Mosesandstick]

Update from me on my tiny PC build. Got it working, I'm almost surprised everything fit. Had some stability issues which I think i've fixed by re-doing my GPU connection and using two ATX connectors, instead of using one with 2x outlets (or whatever they're called).

Pretty awkward to get used to the small case, but once you're used to it, it's amazing how much fits in the small case. I genuinely can't believe how small it is. Though half the case is cables, and I'm having to use an external enclosure for my 3.5" HDDs. Apart from the cost I'm digging the mini-ITX mobo too, it just doesn't have as many of the additional options that ATX mobos have that I'd consider unnecessary.

Next time I build one I think I'd consider a slightly larger case, just so that it could be air-cooled. The AIO is a bit of a faff, and it wastes the cooler my AMD chip came with by default.

Thanks to everyone for their help and input.

[Azazel]

Now it's my wife's turn...

Her requirements are norrmal productivity stuff, and sometimes playing games with me at a reasonable quality. Doesn't need to run 4k or photograph black holes, etc.
I'm trying to find another case that will better fit in some HDDs from the older machines, so only the boot SSD is included here.

Please peruse and critique.

https://www.centrecom.com.au/buildpc/130968#