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Thread: Somebody stop me... (Gaming PC Build Thread)

  1. #661
    S'pose I'll throw my semi-hypothetical in here...

    Let's say I wanted to build a new sim racing rig for about $800 (assume my existing case will work and I already have monitor etc). I'm out of the loop on current tech. What is important to spec these days? I'm still rocking a 2010 build with a 5870 and 4GB RAM...

    - I heard last year that iRacing ran better on one type of chip, I forget which one... recently I've heard about a new Ryzen - does that change the landscape for iRacing?
    - I've heard such great things about NVMe that it seems like a no-brainer if I can afford enough capacity in the build. [500GB minimum?]

    I'd like to be able to handle triple screens and/or VR for sim racing.

  2. #662
    Junior Potato
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    I'd pick a 3rd gen Ryzen just because they'll have a lot of lifespan in them. They're a massive step above the Intel chips and at a better price range.

    For the GPU, it's all up to you. I picked an RTX 2070 because I'm somewhat unashamedly a fan of the potential of ray tracing. That would be the minimum baseline if you want to play something like ACC (the new one) at 1080p as that game is very graphically intensive. I've not tried iRacing so can't comment, but it looks like it's easier to run than AC (the old one).

    Maybe look at the Radeon stuff. The 5700XT offers similar performance to the 2070 Super for around the $400 mark, whereas a 2070 might hit you for $600.

    I can run Assetto Corsa at a flawless 4K/60, which is the same amount of pixels as a four-screen setup, so that would have no trouble at all running triple screens, and potentially at super high frame rates.

    So: 3rd gen Ryzen 5 and a 5700XT for $600, leaving you with $200 to spare on other stuff. You'll need 16GB of RAM and a motherboard. I think it could be done.

  3. #663
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    I have definitely heard that iRacing doesn't need the hardware that many other games need for VR. I've heard of people getting it to work on lower spec than the official minimum requirement video card (a GTX 960). It looks great with my GTX 1080. Well, as great as anything can look on the Rift at any rate, framerates are awesome but it's still lower resolution with god rays and the screendoor effect.

  4. #664
    High Plains Luddite George's Avatar
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    Back in December of 2018 with a lot of helpful suggestions from you guys, I bought a PowerSpec G316 gaming computer from the one Microcenter store in Colorado. PowerSpec is Microcenter's store brand, and one of the sales pitches for buying one of their machines was/is that all the parts are in stock in their store.

    Well, that's pretty convenient for them, I guess. Yesterday I returned the computer for the THIRD time in less than one year. It just shut down and wouldn't restart. Again.

    The first time, they replaced the motherboard and the power supply. The next time they gave us a whole new machine. I don't know what they'll do this time, but I'm concerned about what's going to happen when my one-year warranty expires if this thing breaks down every three months.

    The service department at Microcenter is great. They're very helpful. Yesterday we walked in literally five minutes before closing on a Sunday evening and the guy started tearing down the machine right then, hoping he could fix it while we waited. He couldn't, but his willingness to try is indicative of the service I've always had there.

    It's just a shame I've needed so much of it.

  5. #665
    Director Freude am Fahren's Avatar
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    My 2700K and GTX 770 paired with 16GB RAM did triple screen (1080p) iRacing just fine. I think I had a few graphics options turn just down from all high, and I don't think it ever dipped below 30 fps even in the worst conditions. Usually I think I was up around 50-60.

    So iRacing isn't that intensive to run triple screen. I think VR might be more taxing though.

  6. #666
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    Quote Originally Posted by George View Post
    Back in December of 2018 with a lot of helpful suggestions from you guys, I bought a PowerSpec G316 gaming computer from the one Microcenter store in Colorado. PowerSpec is Microcenter's store brand, and one of the sales pitches for buying one of their machines was/is that all the parts are in stock in their store.

    Well, that's pretty convenient for them, I guess. Yesterday I returned the computer for the THIRD time in less than one year. It just shut down and wouldn't restart. Again.

    The first time, they replaced the motherboard and the power supply. The next time they gave us a whole new machine. I don't know what they'll do this time, but I'm concerned about what's going to happen when my one-year warranty expires if this thing breaks down every three months.

    The service department at Microcenter is great. They're very helpful. Yesterday we walked in literally five minutes before closing on a Sunday evening and the guy started tearing down the machine right then, hoping he could fix it while we waited. He couldn't, but his willingness to try is indicative of the service I've always had there.

    It's just a shame I've needed so much of it.
    I wonder how much of it is the power supply. That tends to be one of the parts that computer builders cheap out on, but it's crucial to having a stable system.

  7. #667
    Director Freude am Fahren's Avatar
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    Just finished building a custom Ikea desk.


    desk pc.jpg

    Made up of two drawer parts and a counter top basically. Takes up the same amount of space as the old setup, except instead of the tower on the floor next to the desk, now it's on it. I'm just testing this setup out, as I know this case isn't exactly made to be on display, but I wanted easy access while I figure out the Windows situation and still need to install the M.2 and GPU. Cable management is a lot easier this way too. I'll end up putting it underneath, giving me a lot more desktop surface area. That's obviously the more obvious, and useful setup.

    I've got two more ideas on the Windows front before I give up and buy a new key. First, I'm going to hook up my old Mobo/CPU to the SSD with windows on it and double check I had actually linked it to my Microsoft account. Then I'll do a clean install and see if I can do the "I changed my hardware" troubleshooting option, which currently doesn't work.

    Then I'm going to hope I can find my Win7 key, which Microsoft support says should be sufficient for them to activate me, but I don't think I'll be able to find it.

    I'd also like to go to some kind of UltraWide solution, if I'm going to go with VR for racing sims. I do love the triple for productivity, but the whole setup is very bulky as you can tell. The stand alone is like 20 lb. In the mean time I may look into finding a clamp to replace the base.

  8. #668
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    That's a nice desk setup. Yeah, an ultrawide would be the go. They're even viable as a sim racing screen.

    Y'see, my fantasy projection of your life sees you getting a 49" ultrawide. It's the same width as my 55" TV that I use for racing, just half the height.

    At the distance I sit to the screen while racing, my horizontal FOV needs to be set to 25 degrees. Narrow, but not too narrow. If I had an ultrawide mounted closer to me on a proper rig, I'd be able to swing that out to maybe 35 degrees. I'd retain the same vertical FOV, but the horizontal would be much wider.

    I'm assuming you either clamp your wheel to the desk, or slide a seat underneath it to go racing. If you do, you'd biff the keyboard out of the way and drag that screen right up to the edge of the desk, and bask in the splendourous glow of a nice seamless, wide, fairly large display.

  9. #669
    Director Freude am Fahren's Avatar
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    Hmm, I'm not sure if I'd want to go Super Ultra Wide 32:9 or just regular Ultrawide 21:9

    Not sure even the new rig can support 32:9 1440p. I think that's SLI territory

  10. #670
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    Quote Originally Posted by Freude am Fahren View Post
    Not sure even the new rig can support 32:9 1440p. I think that's SLI territory
    SLI and Crossfire are things of the past: useless waste of power from the PSU, few performance advantages, there are no more optimized drivers for them and most, if not all, modern games and programs are not compatible anymore with dual (or triple) card systems.
    It's like this since at least 5 or more years.

    Get the most powerful card your budget can afford and that's it.
    Last edited by Blerpa; October 22nd, 2019 at 02:21 PM.

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