DCS budget build recommendations

[FreaknCuttlefish]

Hey guys I'm wanting to build my first PC in hopes of getting into DCS and going from there. I already have a kinda pricey hobby with motorcycle track days so I'd to keep down where possible. Here's what I have planned so far.

 

MOBO: MSI B450 Pro Motherboard Pro VDH

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600

GPU: XFX Radeon RX 570 RS

RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB)

SSD: Crucial BX500 240GB

PSU: EVGA 500 BT

 

Would this hardware provide a good DCS experience or does it fall short? Thanks in advance.

[cthulhu68]

Although not as familiar with AMD cpu and gpu they seem on par with an I5/i7 and gtx 970 4gig card like I have.Im able to run at pretty high settings but not maxed out with all eye candy on. The sim really gobbles up ram so I would consider, skipping a track day or two and getting more ram or better graphics card or make sure motherboard can be upgraded with more ram in future but keep in mind that can be a waste of money to replace 8gig with 16gig sticks. I own a Ducati so Im familiar with how much you can spend at the track in a day. A few hundred more now and dont have to worry about ram later.

[Gnadentod]

... Would this hardware provide a good DCS experience or does it fall short? Thanks in advance.

Depends on what kind of experience you're aiming for ... 1920x1080; 1440p or VR? You gotta tell everyone.

[Pilotasso]

if you could snatch a RX5700 that would be way better. DCS like GPU more than CPU at the moment.

[FreaknCuttlefish]

Thanks for the advice. I'll spend a little more on the MOBO and get one with more RAM slots. I'm pretty sure the M450 can only fit 2 RAM sticks. The RX 5700 is more than I'd like to spend right now, but there are some good deals on the GTX 970's.

[Pilotasso]

nonono, dont get the GTX 970, I had one, it doesn't have enough VRAM. The game will run but you will be severely FPS capped. When I switched from that to my 1080Ti I saw 68% improvement in FPS.

[cthulhu68]

I got my pc built from Cybertron PC. They have a lot of pre built models and you can customize or upgrade any of them to fit budget. Not much more than DIY builds and comes with zero bloatware. OS and Word were only 2 things on it when I got it.

[cthulhu68]

nonono, dont get the GTX 970, I had one, it doesn't have enough VRAM. The game will run but you will be severely FPS capped. When I switched from that to my 1080Ti I saw 68% improvement in FPS.

Not to talk him out of 1080 ti but those are still pretty expensive. Depends on what the budget is although 1080 and 32gigs of ram and youre in good shape. I typically get 40-60 FPS with 970gtx. If Im flying ovet giant forest and artillery going off or a lot going on might drop to 30fps.

[BitMaster]

not the 970

[Pilotasso]

I would rather get the RX570 with 8GB VRAM than a used GTX970 with half of VRAM that's for sure.

[DeltaMike]

I would not recommend the 2600, that CPU is garbage. For DCS you want the maximum single-core performance you can get, and don't count on overclocking. Sweet spot right now is the 3600X (and you want the X, you cannot overclock a 2600 or 3600 to "X" levels) but you could get by with a 2600x and upgrade later if you want

 

Nothing particularly wrong with B450 motherboards and MSI works well enough, just make sure you can update the bios without a gen1 or gen2 chip involved, get one with a bios flash button (I know the Gaming Plus series does this)

 

You're on the right track, you want as much CPU as you can afford, and just enough GPU to get the job done. Nothing in your price range will drive VR, if that's in your future (you need a minimum of 1080/Vega56 for that). NVIDIA is a better bet for flight sims in general, and DCS in particular. In your shoes I would way more want a 1060 than a 570 for the $

Edited September 9, 2019 by DeltaMike

[FreaknCuttlefish]

Thank you all for the input and advice. I've changed my plans a bit so far.

 

MOBO: MSI Tomahawk B450

CPU: Ryzen 5 2600X

GPU: Sapphire Radeon pulse RX 590

 

Still planning on 16gb ram. I don't plan on anything VR at this point. Some kind of IR tracking would be great though. I've got on track day left this year in the beginning of October and a little bit of work to do to the bike before then. After that I plan on diving into this. Just wanted a good plan and some advice before I jump into this. It's a hefty investment for me.

[FreaknCuttlefish]

Finished my build a couple weeks ago. It's been running DCS really well so far. Hell of a learning curve with this game! My track IR goes wonky when I lay headset down at times. Other than that its been great. Ended up not sticking as close to the budget as I had planned though. Oh well. The PC is working great.

 

Mobo: MSI Tomahawk

CPU: Ryzen 2600X

Ram: G Skill Flare 3200 32gb (8 x 4) its overclocked a bit to cl14

GPU: RX590 Nitro+

SSD: XPG SX8200 Pro 512GB NVMe

[Demon_]

Oups! Too late. What is your PSU?

[FreaknCuttlefish]

The PSU is a Evga 600BR.

[BitMaster]

Wise move to get the 32GB kit :thumbup:

 

Your PSU might struggle a bit as it will likely run at 75% load, I estimate 350-400w power draw in DCS, maybe more due to the 590 GPU.

 

Keep an eye on the PSU, it's a Bronze and rather low quality, a real oven so to speak!!!

 

*edit:

After a DCS session, open the box and TOUCH the PSU..tell us what you "feel" , it's an indicator. It should not get more than hand-warm. If it feels rather hot, CHANGE it asap to a 750-850w Platinum grade. Ask Demon, he's da PSU Guru on this forum :book:

Edited October 26, 2019 by BitMaster

[FreaknCuttlefish]

I'll check out the power supply temps tonight and update. Thanks for the tip on the PSU. I might be pushing that cheaper PSU a bit close to its max.

[Demon_]

I might be pushing that cheaper PSU a bit close to its max.

YES!:chair:For gaming (high current for hours), you need a solid unit.

Garbage PSU= 3 year warranty

Cheap PSU= 5 year

Good and very good PSU= 7-10 year

Hulk= 12+ year

Edited October 26, 2019 by Demon_

[FreaknCuttlefish]

Haha I'm learn'n! This is my first PC build. I just finished about 2-3 hours of DCS and the PSU was almost cool to the touch. I'll try to score a deal on a better PSU upcoming Chirstmas sales and get my DCS machine ready for the long haul.

[Demon_]

You can keep it for 2-3 years. Don't forget in 2-3 years. I don't think you need a fire extinguisher.

Edited October 27, 2019 by Demon_

[David OC]

Many cheap PSU's don't even reach there spec under load.

 

If they do this, it most likely will take something with it.

 

 

[BitMaster]

I will get some of those in the vid for New Years Eve in case fire crackers are sold out :lol:

 

:holloween:

[Flashman73]

Not that I claim to be an expert on what HW is "Best" to run DCS, but here is an article from TechSpot that says there is only a 5% performance difference between an OC 3600 and OC 3600X. Link This is the same as what I have heard from many other respected online sources.

 

"At stock, we found the 3600X to offer a very mild performance increase (5% or less) compared to the vanilla 3600. This small difference does not justify the extra $50.

 

Both CPUs tend to overclock to similar levels, and the boost offers negligible performance advantages.

 

Whatever we learned in years past with the 1600 and 2600 series does not apply here."

Edited October 28, 2019 by Flashman73

[BitMaster]

true, same with 3700x and 3800x

[DeltaMike]

Not that I claim to be an expert on what HW is "Best" to run DCS, but here is an article from TechSpot that says there is only a 5% performance difference between an OC 3600 and OC 3600X. Link This is the same as what I have heard from many other respected online sources.

 

"At stock, we found the 3600X to offer a very mild performance increase (5% or less) compared to the vanilla 3600. This small difference does not justify the extra $50.

 

Both CPUs tend to overclock to similar levels, and the boost offers negligible performance advantages.

 

Whatever we learned in years past with the 1600 and 2600 series does not apply here."

 

Overclocking is irrelevant to DCS. So, don't do like I did and get a 2600 and hope you can overclock it to 2600X levels, doesn't work that way with Ryzen. Not for single core performance.

 

Also keep in mind Ryzen has increased number of instructions per cycle, from what I can tell the 3600 should boost to the Intel equivalent of 4.5 and the 3600X, to 4.8 or so.

 

I don't want to leave anything on the table in terms of single core performance and take some consolation that I saved some money on motherboard and cooler. (And spent it all, and then some, on RAM)