Hardware & Technical Upgrading current PC to VR

[vanillaslice]

Hey guys, I'm sorry to add to the pile of new build inquiries here but I'm also after a bit of understanding towards my current build as well.
I know a moderate amount about PC components but I get lost when it comes down to the specifics and integration. I'd really appreciate some expertise!
I'll try to keep it short.

My setup is 3-4 years old now, and my confusion is mostly about the motherboard and RAM.

OS
Windows 7 64-bit
CPU
i7 3770K @ 3.50GHz
RAM
16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 666MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard
ASRock Z77 Extreme4
GPU
4095MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (Gigabyte)
Storage
465GB Samsung SSD 840 EVO 500GB ATA Device (SSD)
2794GB TOSHIBA DT01ACA300 ATA Device (SATA)

I took the tech's suggestion for the ASRock Z77 because I know pretty much nothing about what to look for in a motherboard.
If I were to upgrade to a build that could run Elite Dangerous in VR with Ultra settings would it hold up?
I can't help but feel like the part that holds everything together is pretty crucial aha.

My other concern is the RAM. Is DDR3 old news? Do I really need more than 16gb?
I've seen suggestions for 64gb and that seems like crazy overkill to me.

A few hours of browsing tells me that a GTX 1080Ti and an i5 8600k is the requirement for running VR on Ultra with ~90 FPS.
Please correct me if I'm wrong here, I'm happy to pay what it costs but it would be a shame to pay for more than I need.


Thanks in advance guys, again I really appreciate the help! [smile][up]

 

[Lucifera Danzig]

Hey guys, I'm sorry to add to the pile of new build inquiries here but I'm also after a bit of understanding towards my current build as well.
I know a moderate amount about PC components but I get lost when it comes down to the specifics and integration. I'd really appreciate some expertise!
I'll try to keep it short.

My setup is 3-4 years old now, and my confusion is mostly about the motherboard and RAM.

OS
Windows 7 64-bit
CPU
i7 3770K @ 3.50GHz
RAM
16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 666MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard
ASRock Z77 Extreme4
GPU
4095MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (Gigabyte)
Storage
465GB Samsung SSD 840 EVO 500GB ATA Device (SSD)
2794GB TOSHIBA DT01ACA300 ATA Device (SATA)

I took the tech's suggestion for the ASRock Z77 because I know pretty much nothing about what to look for in a motherboard.
If I were to upgrade to a build that could run Elite Dangerous in VR with Ultra settings would it hold up?
I can't help but feel like the part that holds everything together is pretty crucial aha.

My other concern is the RAM. Is DDR3 old news? Do I really need more than 16gb?
I've seen suggestions for 64gb and that seems like crazy overkill to me.

A few hours of browsing tells me that a GTX 1080Ti and an i5 8600k is the requirement for running VR on Ultra with ~90 FPS.
Please correct me if I'm wrong here, I'm happy to pay what it costs but it would be a shame to pay for more than I need.


Thanks in advance guys, again I really appreciate the help! [smile][up]

A regular 1080 does just fine on my system on Ultra at 90FPS. Either a 1080 or 1080i is going to cost big bucks right about now, though, due to the shortage of cards caused by the bitcoin mining rush.

And I don't think you need more than 16 GB unless you're running a lot of other stuff in the background. I've never seen Elite use more than 2GB of RAM on my system, out of the 16 I have.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

To be honest, with that rig, I'd buy the VR headset of your choice, then see how it fares. Then upgrade accordingly.

You could also try borrowing a friend's VR headset if they have one (and are willing).

DDR3 is ok still, I still have it. Lol
16Gb should be plenty.
666mhz seems slow though. My old DDR 2 ran at 700~mhz. Lol

But yeah, I'd get VR first, then see how the 970 copes, while waiting for the GPU gold rush to end, then upgrade.

 

[vanillaslice]

A regular 1080 does just fine on my system on Ultra at 90FPS. Either a 1080 or 1080i is going to cost big bucks right about now, though, due to the shortage of cards caused by the bitcoin mining rush.

And I don't think you need more than 16 GB unless you're running a lot of other stuff in the background. I've never seen Elite use more than 2GB of RAM on my system, out of the 16 I have.

Cheers for the reply! Just to clarify, you're running Elite in VR?

What reason is there to get the 1080Ti if the 1080 runs that well? Just future proofing?
And why on Earth would people be recommending 32/64GBs of RAM if it never gets close to 8?

To be honest, with that rig, I'd buy the VR headset of your choice, then see how it fares. Then upgrade accordingly.

You could also try borrowing a friend's VR headset if they have one (and are willing).

DDR3 is ok still, I still have it. Lol
16Gb should be plenty.
666mhz seems slow though. My old DDR 2 ran at 700~mhz. Lol

But yeah, I'd get VR first, then see how the 970 copes, while waiting for the GPU gold rush to end, then upgrade.

Haha thanks for the insight on the RAM, are the speeds fixed? Or can it be overclocked like a CPU?

The general consensus on VR headsets for Elite seems to tilt towards the Rift, anyone here have hands on experience?

Your system looks good to go other than graphics card. Try looking into some of the bundle deals where you can get a 1070 or 1080 plus a vive and save a few hundred quid (this might offset the current GPU prices)

Awesome tip man thanks heaps!

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

Hey guys, I'm sorry to add to the pile of new build inquiries here but I'm also after a bit of understanding towards my current build as well.
I know a moderate amount about PC components but I get lost when it comes down to the specifics and integration. I'd really appreciate some expertise!
I'll try to keep it short.

My setup is 3-4 years old now, and my confusion is mostly about the motherboard and RAM.

OS
Windows 7 64-bit
CPU
i7 3770K @ 3.50GHz
RAM
16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 666MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard
ASRock Z77 Extreme4
GPU
4095MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (Gigabyte)
Storage
465GB Samsung SSD 840 EVO 500GB ATA Device (SSD)
2794GB TOSHIBA DT01ACA300 ATA Device (SATA)

I took the tech's suggestion for the ASRock Z77 because I know pretty much nothing about what to look for in a motherboard.
If I were to upgrade to a build that could run Elite Dangerous in VR with Ultra settings would it hold up?
I can't help but feel like the part that holds everything together is pretty crucial aha.

My other concern is the RAM. Is DDR3 old news? Do I really need more than 16gb?
I've seen suggestions for 64gb and that seems like crazy overkill to me.

A few hours of browsing tells me that a GTX 1080Ti and an i5 8600k is the requirement for running VR on Ultra with ~90 FPS.
Please correct me if I'm wrong here, I'm happy to pay what it costs but it would be a shame to pay for more than I need.


Thanks in advance guys, again I really appreciate the help! [smile][up]

You system looks fine apart from Ram speeds and GPU. The ram looks very slow and you may need faster ram. Are you sure it is only 666Mhz?

 

[Severn]

Hi I have had the same setup as you for years mine was overclocked to 4.5 ghz
Recently upgraded to 4.5 and it was okay for be but still not comfortable enough
For long Hours Vr . Now I have it running totally smooth on a i8700 with an extreme 4 Z370 board with Corsair 3200 MHz ddr4 ram. I can get double FPS now with the 1080ti and for the 800 I spent I really like the performance I got back
I’ll pm you the specifics of the components if you want to

Sev

 

[vanillaslice]

You system looks fine apart from Ram speeds and GPU. The ram looks very slow and you may need faster ram. Are you sure it is only 666Mhz?

I got the results from Speccy. Just opened up CPU-Z and got this;

 

[vanillaslice]

Hi I have had the same setup as you for years mine was overclocked to 4.5 ghz
Recently upgraded to 4.5 and it was okay for be but still not comfortable enough
For long Hours Vr . Now I have it running totally smooth on a i8700 with an extreme 4 Z370 board with Corsair 3200 MHz ddr4 ram. I can get double FPS now with the 1080ti and for the 800 I spent I really like the performance I got back
I’ll pm you the specifics of the components if you want to

Sev

That sounds like a dream man, you're saying you upgraded from essentially my setup to what you have now with $800?
It would be great if you could PM it through, as well as your VR gear if you're using it.

 

[Severn]

I did have same cpu as you etc etc though my gpu is a 1080ti and even my old i7 3770K@ 4.5ghz was bottlenecking this beast .

So in essence I upgraded my cpu / ram and Mobo and doubled my frames

I’ll pm you my setup once I get home

Sev

 

[Severn]

I got the results from Speccy. Just opened up CPU-Z and got this;
https://i.imgur.com/6PmryEh.png

The amount of RAM is perfectly okay . I haven’t ran into any problems with 16 GB ( yet)
Maybe in future games but not yet


If you compare speeds , your ram seems to be running at 1333 MHz
We are now @ 3200 MHz

With current games RAM speed does matter , especially with VR

4000 MHz ram is overpriced, for a new setup I think 3200 MHz is good value for mobey