BitMaster

I have about the same spec machine among the servers I need to service, Intel X99 chipset, 2133MHz, same CPU, I actually built that thing about 6 years ago. For a small server it's usually plenty but for DCS the clocks are not high enough and likely are the reason why you have severe fps drops. That is a nice machine for anything but games that need max performance on 1-2 cores only. Max frequency is 3.6GHz for a core euqivalent to 6thgen Skylake cores iirc. Skylake was somewhere around 4.4-4.7GHz, those MHZ missing are your missing frames...and even if you had them it would still likely struggle from time to time with that architecture.

Best practise was, is and likely will remain as such to separate the OS from other main Apps that do run as a main task, like DCS or other games (Steam and Origin libraries too ), music, pictures or videos you work on professionally, virtual machines and stuff like that. MS Office, Adobe apps, 7-zip, Teamspeak and alikes can all go to the C drive along with the system as they will need to be reinstalled anyway if you blank the disk. The data on your 2nd drive, usually, can be used as is across installs ( aka no install ( registry entries ) needed to work ). That is the reason behind why you splitt them, saves a lot of work, time, download volume ( back in the days when lines where slow.. ), all sorts of benefits when not putting it all on 1 disc. Still, it can be done with 1 drive only and with NVMe it will likely not even be slower with todays computers. You could buy a 2TB+ NVMe and splitt it up in different partitions but that is a different topic and also has + and - to be thought of.

Make sure your PayPal claim won't be too late. You can only claim your money back for so and so long iirc. Man, what bad luck !

Unless you want to experience a cold awekening, listen to Svsmokey and Bossco82, no matter how many $ you could spend, there is a performance wall money cannot overcome. The corner stones: Very fast CPU + Board with your features onboard - 64GB DDR4 - 2x NVMe - BIG FAT GPU - Your VR Goggles - 1000w PSU platinum grade -

Which tells me, stick with DDR4 for now until better days.

The only big difference is how you connect the peripherie on B550. If you plan on multiple NVMe drives X570 is better but if you just want 1 NVMe, some 2.5" SSDs and a GPU B550 is perfectly fine for any 5000 series CPU.

This is just going crazy: Scalpers and shortage, the two things you need to inflate prices but more interesting is the actual shortage of parts needed to build the module. https://www.tomshardware.com/news/scalpers-ddr5-ram-ebay-2500-dollars

OK...it deleted all the text I wrote to the pics....LoL....need to work now...will add the text again later but you can look and ask if things are unclear. Rad is a MoRa3 360 with 4x 180mm fans, Pump is a Eheim Aquaristic that works like a charm and is ultra silent but looks Meeh, the one built into the bottom of the Res as shown in the catalog pic is much much nicer, has more flow...but not that super silent..cant have both. Still, I would get the new kit with Res/pump and the kit to mount it on the MoRa3 and keep it outside. It looks so damn cool with that Res that one day I will get it, the latest when my pump fails haha ( Can be 20years with Eheim Aquarium pumps, reliable as hell ). The internal pics show the tubing between CPU and GPU and a Quick Disconnector between CPU outlet ( top ) and the GPU inlet ( inlet towards you on the mobo side going down into a U and up again to the QD and then to CPU_outlet ). The parts are from watercool.de but are sold world wide edit: ok, the catalog pics got deleted too.. oh my... watercool.de has all the items shown

I am using Primo Chill as well but tbh, my next tubing will be black EDPM tubing. IT#s not as nice but works better than all the rest afaik from reading it up.

I would certainly NOT do the hard tube as a beginner. If things dont work as planned it is so much more work and struggle to service it. Get 10 foot of soft tubing and start from there. You can always change to hard tubing once you have learned the basics in watercooling loops. just my 2 cents

Think about "Quick Disconnectors" from Koolance if you do your loop. It's not cheap I agree but it just makes it 10x easier to service and take apart without draining it all all the time for any thing you need to do. Get 2 Pairs and with that you can quickly disconnect your GPU from the loop. Take the biggest rad that fits your case or go external.

+1 That's what I did too. Skip the LED and save some bucks...and the LED controller software that usually only causes headaches

There you go. We could debate for hours what's best and what specs and fps it would get and then comes the awakening...none to buy far and wide. and I believe with the current Covid thing going south again it can only get worse with availability.

People with a 3090 and VR state in here that they have seen DCS having 32-40GB RAM usage on heavy MP servers. Any questions ? I would maybe not buy 64GB if I already had 32GB, I actually havent for my last system, I kept the 32GB but when you buy new you really should consider 64GB. Not saying it's a must but if you own a fat GPU with max VRAM you can buy, big fat CPU, NVMe all over the place, what holds you back getting also more RAM if ´certain scenarios alrerady show usage well above 32GB. In addition, it has been mentioned in one of the recent threads that Vulkan will benefit from 64GB. IIRC it was a dev/tester being referred to.

I am happy you took it easy. I know it wasn't what you wanted to hear. By the time you have saved enough money all HW things may have changed to such an extend that any recommendation I/we do now is likely obsolete. The general rule of thumb, as the HW topology looks right now, you cant go wrong with either AMD or Intel as long as you dont pick the smallest one they have. Any Ryzen 5000 ( 5600, 5800, 5900, 5950 ) will be OK, so are the 12thgen Intel 12600k/12700k/12900k. There are plenty boards and most of them are really OK, it's not the tough part to find the right board. It will be A LOT harder to find a performance wise sufficient GPU for acceptable money. No one can tell you what the market looks like in 6 months, 9months or a year down the road. The rest is easy. SSD ( any will do but some are better in quality and speed but for DCS that wont matter that much ) Case, check for good good airflow PSU, dont cut corners here, If you cant afford a Seasonic Prime PX or TX you can safely pick a Seasonic Focus and still be assured it's a top notch product for a fair price. WEattage wise you will end up somewhere between 750W-1kW, depending on the GPU hunger for watts. Once you got the money together, check back in and we can guide you through. PS: Now download that installer and give it a try, you can loose time, that's all you risc. See if you like it and how far your system will take it. Nothing will break.

I think I would take the Gigabyte Aorus Pro DDR4. Asus has not a single DDR4 Z690 listed on the german Asus page. Availability may differ from country to country.

I just got the Gskill 64GB kit 3200-14-14-14-34 1.35v and with 1.4v it now is a 3600-16-16-16-36 kit with mostly the same sub settings as my original 3600-16-16-16-36-kit uses. All kits are B-die btw. I would get the 3200 kit and oc it to 3600. 1.4v are not a downside. 4 sticks usually need a little more than 1.35v on most boards anyway to run stable. Even if I was buying a 12thgen I would sticj with DDR4 for now and get the exact same kit. ~400€ for 64GB 3200/14 and about 500€ for the same kit with 3600/16, no LED. LED is about 45€ more for each kit.

FYI. Riva Tuner just got released in a new stable version at guru3d.com

It's actually pretty simple: Either get a FAST recent Intel or AMD that fits your bill. 12700k and 5900X where my choices, I went AMD a month ago since I dont trust Z690 yet ( very personal thing ) Get a decent board, some like the real fancy ones, some like it not so overloaded with features but cheaper. That is maybe the hardest pick to do. Likely you will end up in the 275-400€ corner where most solid boards are advertised, you have ample choices there. Asus has the best Bios but MSI or Gigabyte are also very capable, each one has drawbacks and even if it is the price only. Among the best ones usually are Asus Hero series , Gigabyte Master series. I would not overload the board with features and stuff like the 800€+ boards have. The CPU has a limited amount of lanes and PCI bridges add complexity, cost and Bios complications. If you dont need the features listed, dont buy it. If you go Intel 12thgen you also need to decide DDR4 or 5. DDR5 does not really show what it can deliver with those specs yet. Once far beyond 10k MHz DDR5 becomes relevant, not before, dont fall for the advertising, read the numbers..and the price tag..and availability. This all goes contra DDR5 as of now. No doubt, DDR5 will rock our socks off...in late '22 or early '23. For now, it's hard to beat a DDR4 3200 CL14 or 3600 CL16 kit in price/performance ratio, for AMD this counts even more. Get 64GB right away. Get 1, better 2, PCIe v4 NVMe drives, Samsung 980 Pro 1TB if you want a simple answer. I just did that as well, my DCS is 300+GB meanwhile. Get a decent PSU, 850W-1kW is reasonable again. Platinum grade efficiency is desired as it also usually comes with 10-12y warranty, much better components used, clean currents without noise and ripple that stresses/destroys your components over time much more than the better PSUs do. Dont cut corners on the PSU. Seasonic PX-850 or 1000 is among the best you can buy for money, the TX1000 being the top tier Titanium grade with even better scores but the Seasonic Prime PX is really good, no need for another 80€+ for the TX unless you want the best of the best. Get a case with good airflow, if you aircool you will pump 350-450w of heat into the system while gaming. Consider that. I would at least get an AIO for the CPU, 280 or larger. GPU... as much as you can afford and what's available. Very simple. Here in Germany, 3080ti sells for roughly a notch below 2k€, a 6900XT a little less and the first really usefull card is still above 1k€, absolut insane. You have to make this up with yourself how much you can pay and how far you are willing to play this absurd GPU game. I know I am lucky to still have this 1080ti...heck...if it dies I am screwed LoL. As long as you get one of the fastest CPU's, at least 32GB, 1 or 2 SSDs and a fast GPU you are all set. Just match your desired resolution & LOD with your GPU, if you misjudge that relationship you will have a nasty surprise in your fps counter.

I am no fan of beating around the bush when it comes to Hardware capabilities. There is a 5% chance that you will be able to get that PC to run DCS with smooth frame rates without spending considerable money. Your RAM is too little, 8GB is more often than not not even enough to properly run Win10 or 11 in many scenarios, not even thinking about starting a serious simulation. The CPU will hardly deliver what you ask for but may be up to the task if you play very easy missions, Single Player and are willing to accept some struggle with the game here and there. Running all this off a HDD just makes it look even worse. At least, you need double the RAM, better 32GB, a SSD ( ANY one will be fine ) and maybe a better CPU. I would save for a new PC and get some PC expertise till then, it will pay back if you understand more of this yourself. It's not that I like to tell people that their PC is meeh, it is easier to talk about what to change if the user himself already knows what his PC actually "is", out of his own knowledge. It saves us from being the bad guys and gives a better overall start. Convincing people to accept our view ( administrators and PC Builders view ) is not easy but again, one can argue about taste and colours but not about measurable capabilities.

It won't neccessarily temper fps but a HDD will cause some stutter here and there when it needs to load things. The less RAM/VRAM the more this happens...I think you get the idea. Try it out.

Don't forget Riva Statistics part of MSI Afterburner. Best to deinstall both, reboot and install the newest one again, reboot and it should work. Never had any issues with it tbh.

Tbh, if you can give that DDR5-Board back, DO IT !

I cant answer VR questions but I want to emphasize again the incompatibility of the Asus Hero Z690 with many big air coolers. YOu should only think AIO or DIY-Loop and cancel any AIR idea for this specific setup. Asus has nice some AIO as well, so it would match with Asus Aura RGB etc.., Anyway, most AIO are made by 1 company and rebranded to Asus, Corsair, beQuiet, NZXT, etc etc etc. The real name is "Asetek", they make those AIO's. Get a nice tower that can fit a "280" AIO ( 2x140mm ) or bigger ( 3x 120mm "360" or even 3x 140mm "420" ), the bigger the cooler and quieter it gets. Most towers accept at least 280, some do 360 and the 420 is usually only found with full size towers ( 6x CD slot size ). I like Phanteks cases, Evolv-X is what I currently use, very sturdy, solid Aluminium mostly but others have nice towers too, just check the AIO sizes and maybe read a review or two about it.