Hardware & Technical So it's come to this . . . . . .

[CMDR ONI Vox]

So it's come to this. I really need to get a new pc for gaming. I currently play on a Dell gaming edition laptop. i7 @2.5-3.5 with a Nvidia GT 650m gpu. Nice laptop but far from a gaming rig. I use it like a tower to run a 23' acer ips display, Razor deathstalker keyboard and naga mouse. After getting and playing Elite D for a while I decided to get a HOTAS x55 and it's been going well. However, things get a lil choppy. And considering Id like to also get Voice Attk and Oculus imma really start to have problems.

So my question is this: What would be a really good pre made gaming pc company to go with? I have about $3500 to spend on just the tower. I plan to run 3 monitors and or Oculus. Would something with like a Nvidia Titan black gpu play better than a rig with say 2x 700-980ti? is a dual card setup really necessary?

Any advice would really help thanks?

 

[Roybe]

I would take half that money, buy the parts and build it myself....

 

[Robonator]

If you plan on playing on 3 monitors you should think abut dual GPU set ups. but since the 980 is faster than i titan black i wouldn't get a titan black.
I also think that the performance difference between the 970 and 980 doesn't justify the price difference so 2x 970 would be good to go.

And you should build it yourself. that way you are more likely to save some money and you can make sure to only get quality products, not the particially cheap crap they put it pre made pc's.

With that budget i would probably go with an I7 4770k or Xeon 1231, 16GB Ram, 2x GTX 970, a decent bigtower with good fans and a high quality psu like the be quiet! dark power series. I think there would also be enough money left for a nice water cooling setup

 

[Kewbie]

Wait for the R9 390s [Feb 2015].
AMD gpus are overall better for surround gaming.

Also honest opinion, since you're aiming for an enthusiast grade PC - you really should do your own research and build your own set-up. Unless you want to get ripped, and/or be disappointed.

From my knowledge, if you want surround gaming (3+ monitors):
Go with either:
x2 R9 290s, x2 970s, x2 980s or x2 R9 295X2s

And if you change your mind on surround gaming - you can google "logical increments" for some fairly good build set-ups.

 

[CMDR ONI Vox]

Wow, okay first off thanks for the fast replying. Already some great advice.
Let me clarify a Lil. The reason I was going to buy a PC is due to the fact that my brother in law what supposedly knew his business about PC's and was going to build me one turned out to know less than me. So I just figured F it I'll buy one.

@Roybe, I think I will ty

@Robonator, thanks a bunch for that. Now that the black is out prices on other Nvidia GPUs has come down it seems. I will go with a dual GPU setup. Imma lookup that i7 4770k and the dark power PSU. Might shell out for the 980s though.

@Kewbie, I'm comfortable with Nvidia so I think I'll stick with them. Also your right. After looking at them most PC companies add better memory and such as extra cost. BUNZ it already cost a fortune. Yes I'll build my own. And damn thanks a bunch for the hookup with logical increments. Awesome site.

Thanks all! Please keep any new thoughts coming. I could use the help. Thanks

 

[Nauht]

If you're going multimonitors go AMD. Even though Nvidia has better performance and better drivers their support for Surround is pitiful.

With AMD you can create different profiles that you can switch around with hotkeys. For instance I had a profile for one screen setup for wife browsing, another setup for work which had three screens, main screen 1920x1200 with the two sides (1080 only) monitors in extended so I could drag different documents out. And Eyefinity for 5760x1080 gaming.
It's that versatile and easy.

With Nvidia there are no profiles, no hotkeys so you'd have to manually enable/disable each screen and res every single time. It's a PITA.

Why did I switch to Nvidia then? Simple - Oculus Rift. The Rift doesn't like multiscreen setups as nearly all games/demos run in extended mode. So there was no need to have 5760x1080 res with the Rift for ED.

With the Rift I don't miss my Eyefinity setup at all. In fact I really need to pack away the two side monitors as they're literally huge paperweights taking up room.

 

[CMDR ONI Vox]

Wow that's a lot of food for thought there Nauht. Deff going to have to digest that. Really great to know about the Rift. Really want to get one. So maybe from here my plan will be 2x Nvidia GPUs with the Rift and add some more displays in future.
Thanks for your time and input! ☺

 

[_Flin_]

I'd go for a 300€ CPU, a 300€ GPU (single), or 2 GPUs for the triple setup.

Plus 250 GB SSD, 1 TB Hdd, a good motherboard and 16-32 GB RAM.

You dont need more. Save the money and buy another rig in 3 years.

Everything over this is throwing money away imho.

 

[TheNameIsJambo]

If you want to seal the deal even further with NV in regards to Oculus, they are directly addressing the technology, if you're not aware of this, then give thus a read: http://beta.techradar.com/news/comp...-reality-with-geforce-gtx-980-and-970-1266191

What I particularly liked about the new GTX970/980 in SLI was the fact they actually use each GPU to render each eye I can't wait for the consumer version of Rift to hit the shelves. They're gonna make monitors/TVs obsolete!
I'd agree with just buying all the components yourself and building it, at least you've got a healthy budget. My setup is getting old but it still kicks ass:
Intel i7 2600K @ 4.6GHz.
Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3@1600MHz.
Seasonic Platinum X 860W
ASUS Z68 Pro (Not Gen3).
NVIDIA GTX TITAN.
Corsair 600T w/ mesh.

The better parts you buy now, the less you need to spend I'm the long run. In the last few years all I've bought/replaced was my PSU, case and GPU - bloody expensive GPU, but I can play everything maxed out at 1080/1440! I don't plan on upgrading my rig again until a single GPU can run a 4K monitor; by that time I'll probably upgrade the whole rig.

Oh, and don't forget your aftermarket CPU heatsink there's tons out there. Just read some reviews.

I have ED cranked and am playing it on a 55" TV w/ a 360 pad. 60FPS until I hit up the Cartographics or there are a whole ton of CMDRs around (like the launch of Gamma!)

 

[Bog]

I love my Titan Black and have zero complaints running it either at 4K or with a Rift DK2. Admittedly, gaming is this machine's secondary purpose, and you can probably get equal performance from cheaper kit.

 

[jpinard]

With that kind of budget, absolutely go NVidia GTX 970 in tri-SLI. That is the best bang for the buck and SLI already works well if you decide to not run 3 screens.

 

[Ghost1]

Wait for the R9 390s [Feb 2015].
AMD gpus are overall better for surround gaming.

Also honest opinion, since you're aiming for an enthusiast grade PC - you really should do your own research and build your own set-up. Unless you want to get ripped, and/or be disappointed.

From my knowledge, if you want surround gaming (3+ monitors):
Go with either:
x2 R9 290s, x2 970s, x2 980s or x2 R9 295X2s

And if you change your mind on surround gaming - you can google "logical increments" for some fairly good build set-ups.

the 390x are coming around then just saying and judging by the leaked specs they blow the 900s out the water with out even lifting a finger

 

[StuPer]

Currently running a self built rig using gear a generation or 2 old (except my R9 290, but I got that second hand), i5 2500k overclocked to 4.5ghz (water cooled) 8gb 1600hz ddr ram, ssd with, extra 1tb hd, 1x26" monitor, 1x24" monitor and Oculus DK2. Im running the game pretty much max settings at the default DK2 resolution, and its as smooth as butter with a very rare judder (once every 5-10mins) which I think is network based anyway (I live in Australia).
Using Voice Attack I can control everything within the Rift and my Logitech Extreme3D Pro (getting x55 at christmas), it is honestly like being on the bridge of the Star Trek or something, talking to the computer issuing commands... love it.
Setting it all up was not that much of a chore, there are some very informative guides in Youtube, Linus Tech Tips springs to mind as a stand out.
Regards StuPer

 

[starjump]

I would go single 24 inch monitor and an OR. Of course, i wont buy it until its CV1 since i want high resolution. Gives me time to upgrade the power needed. Ive had 3 monitors and trackir for many many years, and its great. However with OR on the horizon its not needed anymore and it gets way more immersive with OR (granted the games/sims have support for it). Monitors are cheap enough these days that they can be bought at any time if a taste for 2 more gets too much to bare.

 

[Zvanya]

Definitely build it yourself, you'll get twice the computer for whatever you spend. You don't have to know anything - just be able to work carefully and follow directions. Plenty of videos and articles to instruct you if you have no clue.

 

[Doomus]

Definitely build it yourself. You can hand pick your components and build it to your own specifications. It's really not that hard and what you don't know you can learn without too much effort. There are plenty of forums and YouTube videos that can guide you through anything you're unsure of. Linus Tech Tips, OC3D and TomsHardware are some that I recommend.

 

[AndyC77]

if you dont want to go to the trouble of building your own i would suggest using a custom made one from the many online shops that do this. i got mine from computer planet but there are dozens of them out there.

 

[Sir.Tj]

Moved to Hardware.


Loads of great info in here for you to look at.

 

[CMDR ONI Vox]

Hi all
Let me start by saying thank you. Thank you all so much for the good advice, views and opinions. This is a very intimidating project and the more I look into it the more overwhelming it all seems. That being said, the advice I've gotten here has helped so so much. Can't do this without you guys!

@_Flin_, I'd like to have the rig future proof for a lil longer than 3 years. Swapping gpus isn't a big deal but Id like the rest to be solid for quite a while. Deff going to get a real nice SSD and a big HDD and as much RAM as possible right?

@TheNameIsJambo, thanks a mill for the link! Great to see Nvidia has got things going. Interesting point in regards to single gpu 4k, and I'm totally going to max out cooling as much as I can.

@Bog, What settings do you run Elite D on with your OR? And what do you mean by 'gaming is secondary' what is its primary roll?

@jpinard, do you recommend the 970 specifically? or is another option any better?

@StuPer, sounds like you have almost the end setup I'm looking for. 1-2 monitors with OR. Good idea to check YT lol shoulda thought of that. Will deff checkout Linus Tech Tips for sure.

@starjump, will deff go with OR. Any idea when CV1 comes out?

@Zvanya, will deff build it myself. Professionally I'm a transmission tech. fairly use to following directions and careful work. Good to hear its not to hard. Thanks for the confidence booster!

@Doomus, thanks a bunch for the hookup on OC3D and TomsHardware. And again, good to know its really not to hard.

@AndyC77, thanks for the shout out to comp planet, but I think I've setteled on building my own. Thanks though.

@T.J., sorry guess that's deff where the original post should have been. I'll check out the rest of that section for useful info thanks!

 

[Roybe]

Best comp site I use when building my own computer....http://www.anandtech.com/bench/CPU/39

They have benchmarks for all major brands of GPU and CPU.

Start by deciding on the CPU and GPU performance you are aiming for. You can do side by side comparisons across benchmarks...if you don't know what a benchmark does, you can either look it up and find out what it measures..but generally, I just use these for comparison across items. Once I have the name of the item I go shopping! My suggestions on shopping:

Buy your CPU first. Choose it based on comparative performance, then shop it to be sure you are willing to pay for it. Once you have the CPU, choose the video card in a price range you are comfortable with. I generally buy mine in the $270-300 US range. That is not bleeding edge, generally is 2 gens from top edge...again pay for what you can afford, the faster the better..but the more expensive. If you are using Oculus Rift, then go as high as possible...

As far as RAM...this is dependent upon who you want to believe...name brand or cheap...some claim name brand only for specifics related to timing, heat dissipation, etc. Honestly I've run it all and have never had a problem...since all RAM comes with limited lifetime warrantees...your choice, I would say 8 Gigs will do most with gaming no problem...particularly with 32 bit games...however, I you do any photo/video editing 16 Gigs is the way to go.

Ok brands I always use..because I found them most stable. Building computers for a living for 10 years also shapes my opinions...but again, these are mine. Your mileage may vary.

Mainboard: Asus. I love their new GUI BIOS, all models within a family have a huge set of base features..their base model in any family has many great features...and all family related boards are identical to the base, with more bells and whistles. Asus BIOS has some great features including (all can be handleed with their automated system or you can pick and choose your settings), multiple core load balancing, auto overclocking, memory overclocking, etc.

CPU: Intel. Sorry AMD I have no love for you. Intel just works. Always.

GPU: Nvidia. Personally like the EVGA company for their versions. Anytime I've had warrantee issues, RMA's issued quickly and can work with you for cross return rather than the regular one way then the other way return process. Can get you back on your feet faster.

Personally, I just pick whatever is on sale for HD's...most are fine...I would look at Solid State drive if you are playing games...Most will advise you to put your OS on an SSD for faster boots...I'm still leary of this, as SSD's failures are non recoverable. Regular HD's will sometimes give you warnings before they fail...SSD's do not. They work, then they do not. If you want to you can spend money on a HD that spins at 10,000 RPMS for faster reads and writes.

Sound. This is interesting as I've come to believe the exterior sound setups are much better than the internal cards and onboard sound. I suggest some research on computer sound cards, DACs, and Amplifiers. I watch videos with my external computer speakers, but play games with my headset and USB mixing board, increases immersion..but also sounds way better! My suggestions with your $3000 could be spent entirely on the sound setup very easily! ;P


Anyway, there's my suggestion on how to move along with your project! Good luck!