PC & Hardware Recommendations

[Pello86]

Hi Guys, after being out the virtual flight sim loop for a good 10 years, I feel now is the right time to return after seeing how amazing DCS looks ????. Back in the day I was a keen flyer on Falcon 4.0 and Lock On Modern Air Combat.

 

I was wondering what type of PC, Monitors, VR and HOTAS you use. I currently have a budget of around £3,000. I want to play in VR and with high graphics, would this be possible on my budget ?

 

Is there any websites you can recommend for the hardware mentioned above? I live in the U.K. so websites will have to ship there.

 

Many thanks for your help and advice

Edited April 25, 2020 by seanpellington

[Svsmokey]

Welcome to the forums ! You certainly can have an amazing experience within that budget . However , be prepared for a lot of conflicting advice here ! A lot depends on your own preferences and tolerance for tweaking , as well as :

Are you comfortable building your own pc ?

What is your IPD ?

Do you plan to run VR games or just DCS and possibly other sims ?

[Pello86]

Hi SvSmokey and thanks for your reply, I will not be building my own PC, I am looking at a company to build it for me. I know this is going to be more expensive, which is why I asked if anyone knew any good websites. I will be buying the PC to run DCS in VR and Microsoft Flight Sim 2020. I do not plan to install any other games on the PC. It will be for flight simming only.

[Svsmokey]

Within that budget , and assuming no IPD problems , i would go with an overclocked 9700k with an AIO cooler , 32gb of 3200 or 3600 ram , at least one 1tb m2 nvme drive , Gigabyte z390 pro motherboard and a Coolermaster H500m case , driving a Rift S . Many like the Hp Reverb as well , but i prefer technology that works for me rather than the other way around .

You should be able to fit an RTX 2080 or 2080s in that build as well .

Thrustmaster Warthog is by far the most popular hotas for DCS , and will fit your budget .

Cheapest monitor you can find , Crosswind rudder pedals if the remaining budget allows , and PtCtrl (input/output forum) will prove most helpful in VR .

 

Personally , i am awaiting the launch of Nvidea's 3000x series gpu's come september .

And Intel's new gen launches in august . I elected to pass on that due to heating concerns .

Edited April 24, 2020 by Svsmokey

[Pello86]

Thanks for taking the time to pass on your recommendations. I really appreciate it

[Wolf359]

One thing you can start with in your research is to price out the items that have a fixed price: VR models, TM Warthog HOTAS, etc. Because if you truly want to include those items in your build/budget, then know how much of your budget they will take up will matter when shopping for your PC build. It will certainly help you make choices: do you sacrifice a 2080 for a 2070 to help the cost of the HOTAS...things like that. And, believe it or not, the type of modules you want to fly MAY impact your HOTAS set up. For example, do you want to fly the Hornet, thereby do you want to include the F-18 TM grip in your packaging? That kind of thing.

 

THEN! LOL sorry, but I have to include TM Warthog HOTAS things, too! Do you want an extension tube for the Warghog stick? Do you want to add the slew upgrade for the Warthog throttle?

 

But at least I THINK I threw enough in there for you to check out. Hope I did't confuse.

[CL30]

Do you plan to do anything else with the PC that would require a lot of CPU cores? As DCS really only needs one or two fast cores, you could save ~$180 over the 9700k by going to the 9600k. I know you're not even set with a parts list (as you're asking), but thought I'd mention that as the 9700k was thrown out there (a good suggestion!).

[BranchPrediction]

right, i agree with CL30. i7 9700K has 8 cores and while more cores can be usefull it is more expensive. i5 9600k and a r5 3600 are both 6 cores and a good price.

[Pello86]

Thank you for the Advice Wolf 333 a lot to think about and to take into consideration.

[Pello86]

I am going to use the PC for flight Sims only, my intentions are to have DCS and Flight sim 2020, so opting for the 9600k might be a good should to save me abit or money. Thanks again guys

[Pello86]

Hi Guys, This is the platform I am looking at buying but it isn’t Bluetooth compatible, Will this be a problem if I was trying play in VR. How are VR headsets linked up to the tower is it via Bluetooth ?

 

Would this spec PC get your guys approval for DCS ?

 

ZOOSTORM

Blue Tooth: N

Depth: 548 MM

Dongle Required: N

Intel Core i9-9900KF 8 Core, 16 Thread CPU

16GB Kingston HyperX Fury DDR4 2666Hz RAM

2TB Hard Drive

500GB NVME SSD

Windows 10 Home

Asus TUF Z390-PLUS GAMING

RTX 2080 SUPER

700W ATX Power Supply

Aura Sync RGB Fans, Chassis, Water Cooler

Cooler Master MC500M Gaming Case

Graphics: RTX 2080 Super

Hard Drive Storage: 2 Tb

Height: 528.6 MM

Processor: i9-9900KF

RAM Memory: 16 GB

Touch Screen: N

Width: 235 MM

Wifi Enabled: Y

[BranchPrediction]

VR is connected via cable. Ur buying the best gaming cpu but then ur not buying the best gaming graphics card. Not a very good choiche imo. Ur buying a prebuilt so it may be hard to find one but if ur gonna play VR then i would think a 2080ti is a must. There are new cpus and gpus coming later this year and or early next year. But maybe for prebuilts u will have to wait even longer. I recommend u build ur own pc, maybe get a friend to build it for u or something. In any case good luck.

[CL30]

VR is connected via cable. Ur buying the best gaming cpu but then ur not buying the best gaming graphics card. Not a very good choiche imo. Ur buying a prebuilt so it may be hard to find one but if ur gonna play VR then i would think a 2080ti is a must. There are new cpus and gpus coming later this year and or early next year. But maybe for prebuilts u will have to wait even longer. I recommend u build ur own pc, maybe get a friend to build it for u or something. In any case good luck.

 

Agreed, definitely a good CPU, but overkill for DCS. Really just throwing money away on it. Spend the money on one of the other processors and throw the savings at something else...maybe 32 GB RAM?

[Demon_]

Hello. What is that 700W ATX Power Supply? What is the warranty of this cheap PSU? Get a PSU with a 7 year (at least) warranty or better. You have expensive components here.

Edited April 25, 2020 by Demon_

[Pello86]

Hi guys, I took on board all your advice and this is what I’ve opted for. I cant wait to get started now !!

 

CaseTHERMALTAKE V200 2.0 TEMPERED GLASS RGB EDITION GAMING CASEProcessor (CPU)Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-9700K (3.6GHz) 12MB CacheMotherboardASUS® ROG STRIX Z390-F GAMING: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB ReadyMemory (RAM)32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)Graphics Card11GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2080 Ti - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!1st Storage Drive2TB SEAGATE IRONWOLF PRO 3.5", 7200 RPM 128MB CACHE1st M.2 SSD Drive1TB INTEL® 660p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (upto 1800MB/sR | 1800MB/sW)DVD/BLU-RAY DriveNOT REQUIREDMemory Card ReaderUSB 3.0 EXTERNAL SD/MICRO SD CARD READERPower SupplyCORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIETPower Cable1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)Processor CoolingCorsair H60 Hydro Cooler w/ PCS Ultra Quiet Fans (Special Offer)Thermal PasteARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUNDLED Lighting50cm Blue LED StripExtra Case Fans2x 120mm Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof)Sound CardCreative Sound Blaster® Audigy RxWireless/Wired NetworkingWIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0USB/Thunderbolt Options2 PORT (2 x TYPE A) USB 3.1 PCI-E CARD + STANDARD USB PORTSOperating SystemWindows 10 Professional 64 Bit

 

Thanks again

[panton41]

I'd suggest looking into AMD Ryzen parts. They're consistently benchmarking faster than Intel in nearly every measure for about 2/3 the price. You might be only talking saving US$200, but that's still money you can apply to something else. Hell, AMD is shipping a laptop CPU that runs faster than a high-end Intel enthusiast desktop CPU. Meanwhile, Intel is bragging about a laptop part that pulls around 140 watts at peak draw which is a joke.

 

Essentially, Intel dropped the ball on transitioning to a newer node about 3 years ago and have been iterating on the same architecture and node for 5 years now. AMD is using superior transistor technology from TSMC on an efficient architecture and the only answer Intel has is in the marketing department, not engineering.

 

Not to mention, AMD is benchmarking faster at lower TDPs, which means lower costs in the long term running and lower requirements to cool it. (Your air conditioning bill will thank you.) For AMD 65 watts TDP means 65 watts balls to the wall maximum, while 65 watts for Intel means at the lowest power state, while maximum performance might mean 2-3 times more power even at otherwise stock settings. The heatsink/fan AMD processors ship with are more than enough to cool them even at maximum performance, while with Intel you need a third-party cooling solution for similar capability.

 

I'll just add, I go with what works. I'm formally educated in a field that teaches you to avoid fanboyism in favor of looking at real-world performance and judging that way. If Intel was comparative I'd be all over them, but they dropped the ball and AMD is eating their lunch.

Edited April 26, 2020 by panton41

[CL30]

Hi guys, I took on board all your advice and this is what I’ve opted for. I cant wait to get started now !!

 

CaseTHERMALTAKE V200 2.0 TEMPERED GLASS RGB EDITION GAMING CASEProcessor (CPU)Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-9700K (3.6GHz) 12MB CacheMotherboardASUS® ROG STRIX Z390-F GAMING: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB ReadyMemory (RAM)32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)Graphics Card11GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2080 Ti - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!1st Storage Drive2TB SEAGATE IRONWOLF PRO 3.5", 7200 RPM 128MB CACHE1st M.2 SSD Drive1TB INTEL® 660p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (upto 1800MB/sR | 1800MB/sW)DVD/BLU-RAY DriveNOT REQUIREDMemory Card ReaderUSB 3.0 EXTERNAL SD/MICRO SD CARD READERPower SupplyCORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIETPower Cable1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)Processor CoolingCorsair H60 Hydro Cooler w/ PCS Ultra Quiet Fans (Special Offer)Thermal PasteARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUNDLED Lighting50cm Blue LED StripExtra Case Fans2x 120mm Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof)Sound CardCreative Sound Blaster® Audigy RxWireless/Wired NetworkingWIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0USB/Thunderbolt Options2 PORT (2 x TYPE A) USB 3.1 PCI-E CARD + STANDARD USB PORTSOperating SystemWindows 10 Professional 64 Bit

 

Thanks again

That's gonna be a great machine! You'll love it. Congrats!

[BranchPrediction]

Good setup. But just out of curiosity, how much does it cost?

[DocSigma]

I would always suggest you build it yourself, but that machine will run DCS very well. My only issue is timing. Intel will drop their 10th gen cpus and nvidia will drop their 3000 series cards, not to mention intel getting in on the discrete graphics card market with their offering sometime this summer. If I was you, I'd just wait a bit longer.

[Pello86]

It cost me £3,000. A little over my budget but I am hoping it will be worth it !

[BranchPrediction]

3000! Holy shxt. 3000 for the pc alone? U can build a better gaming pc for less than 3000$. Is building a pc urself and with help from someone not possible for you?

[Pello86]

Not just the PC alone, I got a 28 inch 4K gaming Monitor and a pair of HD speakers with Subwoofer too. I also got 3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour) unfortunately I don’t know anyone who builds PCs and I didn’t trust myself to do it