INTJ

I'll checkout Win Wing. I just want a USAF style stick. I have no idea how involved I'll get in DCS. I already have a couple of time consuming and expensive hobbies, and I haven't retired yet. I am heavily involved in competition shooting, 1000 yd Benchrest. There is no way for a guy just to stick his toe in. You either commit all in when you start and spend the money or you will never be competitive. There are other shooting sports where you can ease your way in, and that is what I am trying to do with DCS. At least I can use my PC for stuff other than DCS.

Got it. So I should pick a monitor and appropriate graphics card. Maybe get another SSD because they are cheap. Get a Thrustmaster A-10 stock, throttle, and rudders. Get a head tracker. Then I should be able to figure out DCS and fly the F-15.

My video card is an NVIDA GeForce GTX 1660 Super. Will that work with a decent monitor? Do I want OLED, or do I need to upgrade the card first?

I was thinking 2D might be the best way to start. Get maybe a 32-34" 16/9 monitor and an upgrade the video card. I would run three monitors--keeping my current pair of 24 inchers, and see how deep I get into DCS. I could see going with VR in the future. It's the closest I'll get to flying the F-15 that I wanted when I was in pilot training. What video card would you recommend? Should I just get one that will hand 2D, or should I get a VR capable card now?

I think I am posting in the right place. And yes, I have used search, but when you are as new as I am to this, you often don't even know what terms to search for. I recently stumbled across Growling Sidewinder's videos and am intrigued. Graphics look very realistic, some of the maneuvers and aircraft performance maybe not as much. I was a USAF pilot from 1983 - 2007. I was a C-130 CP and AC, was a T-38 IP, then was a T-1 IP and Evaluator--in that order. I mention that because I know how real airplanes maneuver in flight, know what sustaining 6gs feels like, and know what a real USAF stick feels like. That is what drives my first question. It seems that many use a head tracker like Track IR to slew the view to where they want. Now I understand I won't be looking hard behind my shoulder with a monitor, but the thing I don't like is that when you raise your head to move the view up, it looks like you wind up looking down your nose with you head back. That makes me thing a 16/9 monitor might be a better choice than a true widescreen. Thoughts? Second question is I am sure what gets asked a million times, but the answer probably has to change every six months. Is my current system adequate, say if I add a new graphics card, do I add a new CPU to fit my LG1151 motherboard, add another SSD, or do I upgrade the CPU, MB, RAM, card, etc? Current System (I built it about 4 years ago): CPU: i7-10700K MB: Gigabyte Z490 LG1151 RAM: DDR4 64 Gig (Don't remember latency) Video Card: Will need to upgrade. Don't remember specs SSD: 1 Terabyte (Need to add another) This is all in a Corsair 750 full tower case with a 750 watt power supply. I also have a Cooler Master CPU cooler. Thoughts or someplace to point me?