I want to get back into sim racing now that I have a house and room to put up a nice 3 monitor sim.
The video card, hard drive, and power supply died in my original rig......the motherboard is approaching 8 years old, so instead of upgrading the old RAM and everything, I'd like to just go ahead and buy/build a brand new setup with quality parts that I will be able to upgrade as necessary over the next 5-7 years. Would like to keep the computer itself in the $2k range.
I know iRacing isn't particularly graphics intensive, but I'd also like to be able to run things like Assetto Corse and Project CARS 2 on 3 monitors at high settings............and possibly down the line one of the headsets like Occulus Rift. But I'm not ready to bank on one of the VR headsets just yet since I haven't used one.
Thoughts?
Pre-build is easier, and might be cheaper (e.g. they will likely pay a lot less for Windows) if you can find exactly what you need.
Self-building is pretty simple these days and you can optimize it for exactly what you want. They is a slight danger of issues, but you can likely find a build someone has done that has been verified.
If you build, you can start with This and work backwards to stay in budget.
With a prebuilt system in your budget, I don't think many graphics options would last very long or perform well in a SIM setup, especially if you play other types of games at all.
Personally, I'd start with the 1080ti, back it up with an unlocked i7, 16 or so gigs of ram, and a healthy sized ssd for OS and install files. Or wait a little longer for the next gen cards to drop and run 2 of the 1080s.
I built my original rig and upgraded before, so that's not an issue. I already have a copy of Windows 10 Professional as well. So it's not about being "nervous" to self-build........more about getting what I need without paying too much either way.
I'd also really like something that is quiet and as thermally efficient as possible.
A big computer, wheel, pedals, 3 monitors, etc. heat up a room very quickly.
RevRico said:
If you build, you can start with This and work backwards to stay in budget.
With a prebuilt system in your budget, I don't think many graphics options would last very long or perform well in a SIM setup, especially if you play other types of games at all.
Personally, I'd start with the 1080ti, back it up with an unlocked i7, 16 or so gigs of ram, and a healthy sized ssd for OS and install files. Or wait a little longer for the next gen cards to drop and run 2 of the 1080s.
This is actually the video card I'm planning on building around. I've ready on www.logicalincrements.com for most gaming stuff, nothing more than a higher-end i5 processor is needed. I think 16gbs of DDR4 will be plenty, so I'm really trying to decide how much to spend (and on what) as far as the CPU + Motherboard.
I built my first computer last December. I was budgeting for $800 but came in right around $1000 out of pocket because I splurged here or there on components. I did also get some rebates back on a few of them which probably brought it down to around $900. I burned several hours of the build time trying to diagnose an issue, which I narrowed down to a defective motherboard. I went to a semi local computer parts store to buy another one the next morning, and had the computer up and running within an hour. It sounds like you have probably built a computer before. If not, tons of youtube videos on the subject.
I am running a 34" 720p television for my screen, so have my resolution set to around that on the PC for everything. No problems running many current games maxed out, Assetto Corsa, American Truck Simulator, Fallout 4....I am sure the less than 1080p resolution helps. My case is running 6 fans and has a lot of ventilation, I never hear any of the fans increasing speed, ever, so I dont think it is even breaking a sweat. Assetto Corsa Benchmark test is around 100 fps.
build specs:
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912
CPU: Intel Core i5 6600 @ 3.3 Ghz, Cryorig H7 heatsink
MB: ASUS Z170-AR LGA1151 ATX
RAM: CRUCIAL 16GB 2x8GB DDR4 2400
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 Gaming 6GB GDDR5
PSU: Corsair RM750x
SSD: Sandisk 120GB SSD (OS)
HDD: Seagate 1TB 6gb/s SATA
Monitor: LG 720p 34" LED tv
OS: Windows 10 Home 64-bit
I am with you on the VR Headsets, not sure if I want to go that route. I wouldn't mind one of those super widescreen curved monitors though.
I'm a big fan of self built as I usually can't exactly get what I want otherwise.
My recommendation would be to spend some money on quiet fans and a quiet PSU - my machine is pretty much inaudible under normal load with its massive Scythe CPU fan and Noctua case fans.
One thing to keep in mind is that graphics cards are rethar expensive and unavailable at the moment as everybody seems to be building their Ethereum mining rigs with them, specifically the AMD ones.
Speaking of AMD, it might be worth looking at the latest generation of AMD processors as well - they're finally competitive again performance wise and IIRC the 16 core Threadripper is currently the fastest desktop CPU. Boards are still a little thin on the ground for them though.
The threadripper is nuts, but it really isn't outperforming Intel on the gaming front. When a game comes out that uses 16c/32t... well that will be a different story. Video editing, rendering, etc. is awesome though.
Sounds like you are on a good track with the 1080ti. I'd grab a good i5, 16 gigs of ram and call it good. You should be able to come in well under your budget.
IMO, VR setups aren't ready yet. I'll be waiting for the next gen. You can find my comments on them here on other threads, but 3 monitors > VR. Consider a 21:9 for the middle monitor (if that works). Once you go 21:9, you can't go back.
Like Boxhead, the reason I don't buy a prebuilt is just that I don't get exactly what I want.
BoxheadTim said:
I'm a big fan of self built as I usually can't exactly get what I want otherwise.
My recommendation would be to spend some money on quiet fans and a quiet PSU - my machine is pretty much inaudible under normal load with its massive Scythe CPU fan and Noctua case fans.
One thing to keep in mind is that graphics cards are rethar expensive and unavailable at the moment as everybody seems to be building their Ethereum mining rigs with them, specifically the AMD ones.
Speaking of AMD, it might be worth looking at the latest generation of AMD processors as well - they're finally competitive again performance wise and IIRC the 16 core Threadripper is currently the fastest desktop CPU. Boards are still a little thin on the ground for them though.
Are they still lagging far behind on the power consumption to match? That's always been one of AMD's problems, many more watts consumed for equal performance which equals more heat.
Comparable TDP, not sure about in-use.
1800x is 95w, i7 K series goes up to 140w, i5 K is 91w.
A difference of a few watts is not going to be noticeable in your room. But I get it, mind the ounces...
If you're not worried about space, building is still incredibly easy, and often cheaper than pre-built for GPU oriented computing. Alienware still produces some good prices products, but the laptops and Steamboxes justify the costs better than the towers.
Where it gets interesting is in the SFFPC (Small Form Factor) marketplace.
Not really worried about space. I guess I need to come up with a hypothetical build, then compare similar from the gaming pro's and see which is worth it to me.
With gaming-grade components (higher end video cards and the like), you often save money building yourself. Especially if you worry about things like noise pollution by your computer. The AMD Ryzen series is a great bang for the buck right now.
Side note: I just upgraded from 1.6GHz of fury (Xeon E5-2603V3) to an i7-5960X for my work desktop. It's got me eyeing a decent video card now that it's suddenly quite gaming capable. I need a 2nd so that I've got 1 for Linux and 1 for passthrough to VMs. I've got a Be-Quiet PSU, and a Cooler Master Evo 212 cooler, and the only thing I can hear on it is the 1TB platter hard drive or the DVD-ROM when they're spinning.
Yeah, I'm starting to lean back to building my own again this time around.
Main thing I'm trying to figure out is if the CPUs and GPUs that come with a liquid cooler pre-installed (which I would prefer) will the lines be long enough to reach where they need to go in a full size ATX case.
My previous mid-tower ATX, I had to cut the drive cage to get the video card to work.
Why liquid? Do you overclock that much?
Pretty high frequencies are easy and stable on today's CPU coolers, with relatively quiet fans. GPUs have a litte bit more improvement, but I'm not sure they like being overclocked that much anyway.
I would only be liquid cooling if I was building in a very tiny case.
I was hoping a liquid cooler would be able to get away with lower fan speeds to help with noise.
How silent do you need? Modern air coolers are very efficient. With good fan selection and you'll have a very quiet PC without any of the troubles of liquid cooling... assuming you have a roomy case.
Doesn't need to be silent, just my previous rig with an older AMD Black CPU and Sapphire Radeon R290x...........it ROARED at full blast.
I guess I should rephrase to:
I'd like to make it as quiet as possible as easily as possible........does that make sense? When I would stop playing on the previous rig, I could still hear it in the next room as it was trying to cool things down. But I'm not sure I had the best air coolers, wire routing, or case for that one either.
I'd just get a Hyper 212 Evo cooler with 1 or 2 quality "quiet" fans. For the 1080ti, read some reviews as noise levels will vary greatly from one manufacturer to the next. I'm sure you can make it pretty quiet and avoid the hassle of water cooling.
If I had a way, I'd measure my setup. I use a Hyper 212 on a not-efficient AMD Piledriver, and a GTX 970. Its plenty quiet. Quieter than the water cooling setup I had like 10 years ago.
^That would be ideal. I'll look into some of the best air cooled CPU fans/heatsinks and cases for airflow vs noise.
This is an interest of mine. I'm watching, as I need to decide what to do about my desktop that croaked a few months ago.
Kiddo and I are building a machine over Winter break. Having bought all the parts around Black Friday, I'm in for around $700 so far with graphics card not bought yet (but getting an amazing deal from a coworker). We're doing this:
- Ryzen 5 1600
- Gigabyte B350 motherboard
- 1TB HD
- 128GB SSD
- 16GB RAM
- nVidia 980 secondhand from coworker
I recently opted to build, if I were to do it again I'd smack the easy button instead.
Price and end product would have ended up being nearly a wash and I'd have a warrantee plus several hours of my life back.
IMO an off the shelf 'budget' gaming rig (ibuypower/etc) will be more than enough for anyone but a hardcore '60 FPS on ultra high settings' kind of person.
There's nothing wrong with buying instead of building, if you hate having money 
If you can't build a PC for hundreds less than buying one, you're either finding some smokin' deals on prebuilt PCs, or you're doing it wrong.
I've always built my own, I only wish it were possible to build phones and laptops too!
