DCS SPECIFIC NEW BUILD HELP

[Heatskr18]

Hello all. I will try to keep this as brief as possible yet still detailed. I’m building a gaming PC specifically for DCS World. May also play Falcon BMS as well. I have done a ton of research over the last several months. Unfortunately the majority of gamers play COD, fortnite, etc. etc. Not a lot of info specifically related to DCS World. So here I am. The following is my build so far.

Case: Fractal Design Meshify C

Case Fans: 3 high speed 120mm Intake (2 front 1 bottom)

                    2 high speed 120mm Exhaust (1 back 1 top front)

                     1 Standard speed 120mm Exhaust (top Back)

                      All Fans Bequiet Light Wings RGB

Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING WIFI

CPU: AMD RYZEN 7 5800X

CPU Cooler: BeQuiet Dark Rock PRO 4 (2 Fans on cooler)

RAM: Gskill Trident Z RGB 64GB (32x2) DDR4 3200 16-18-18-38

SDD: Samsung 970 EVO PLUS 1TB NVME M.2

Thermal Paste: Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut

PSU: EVGA 850 GA GOLD

OS: WIN 10 Home

Now comes the million doller question (or 2). Budget limits my GPU so no 3080 or 3090.

I could spend hours (and have) on gpu research. So of course its time for the experts to weigh in. I have narrowed down my selections to a few different cards. They are as followes….

 

ASUS ROG STRIX 3060 V2 OC Edition

                VRam 12 gb

                Boost Clock 1912 mhz (oc mode)

                CUDA Cores 3584

                Mem Speed 15 gbps

                Mem Interface 192 bit

                Max res 7680x4320

                Power slot 1 x 8-pin

                Current Price $695

                *NOTE: wanted this in the 3060 Ti however according to specs its about 5 mm to long for my case.

EVGA RTX 3060 Ti FTW Ultra Gaming

                VRam 8 GB

                Boost Clock 1800 mhz

                CUDA Cores 4864

                Mem Speed 14000

                Mem Interface 256 bit

                Max res 7680x4320

                Power Slot 2 x 8 pin or 6+2 pin

                Current Price $886

So personal preference im leaning more towards the ASUS ROG due to RGB effects and 2 fan ports on the card (nice touch if I need more fan control as the MB only has 4 fan headers one of those dedicated for CPU).

So what is more important in DCS. Boost clock and memory speed OR amount of dedicated VRAM?

I can and will ignore personal preference if there is a worthy gain in performance and visual clarity by using the EVGA 8gb card.

Also that said I would like to get the smoothest and visually appealing picture quality possible.

Any recommendations as to gaming monitors. Also 1 or 3 monitors with Tracker IR. Not getting into VR yet as those cards I don’t believe will give a decent performance in VR (and budget at the current moment).

Also haven’t yet but will get into multi-player at some point.

This is my last and most important piece of hardware left to buy so any help here would be awesome!

[Mr. Big.Biggs]

Vram is king…..

[LucShep]

14 hours ago, Heatskr18 said:

Any recommendations as to gaming monitors. Also 1 or 3 monitors with Tracker IR. Not getting into VR yet as those cards I don’t believe will give a decent performance in VR (and budget at the current moment).

Also haven’t yet but will get into multi-player at some point.

This is my last and most important piece of hardware left to buy so any help here would be awesome!

That will be more of a matter of personal preferences, and budget. 

After testing pretty much all sizes, formats and resolutions, curved and non-curved, my own opinion is that the computer monitor screens with 32-inch size, 16:9 format and 1440P resolution (2560x1440, aka "QHD" or "2K") still provide the best balanced choice for most people - it's big without being too big, great for a single-screen. At that size, 2560x1440 is still really good resolution (very clean and clear) that is now fairly easy to drive with latest graphics cards (good ones, of course), which is another nice plus. 

These will be, in my opinion, the top pics:
- SAMSUNG Odyssey G7 Series C32G75T 32'' 1440P (2560x1440, 16:9 format), 240Hz, 1ms, G-Sync and FreeSync compatible, Curved (1000R)
- ASUS ROG Swift PG329Q 32'' 1440P (2560x1440, 16:9 format), IPS, 175Hz (Supports 144Hz), 1ms, G-Sync compatible, non-curved.
- GIGABYTE M32Q 32" 1440P (2560x1440, 16:9 format) IPS, 165Hz, 0.8ms (MPRT), 94% DCI-P3, HDR Ready, FreeSync compatible, non-curved.

 

14 hours ago, Heatskr18 said:

I could spend hours (and have) on gpu research. So of course its time for the experts to weigh in. I have narrowed down my selections to a few different cards.

They are as followes….

ASUS ROG STRIX 3060 V2 OC Edition

EVGA RTX 3060 Ti FTW Ultra Gaming

memory speed OR amount of dedicated VRAM?
I can and will ignore personal preference if there is a worthy gain in performance and visual clarity by using the EVGA 8gb card.
Also that said I would like to get the smoothest and visually appealing picture quality possible.

It's widely known that DCS devours VRAM (video memory) due to how the textures are set, unfortunately. Especially if with texture heavy maps and modules like, for example, Syria + F14, F16, Mi24 (etc) and on Multiplayer.

The thing is, while more available VRAM is important, you absolutely need horsepower on a GPU for framerate AND visual quality.
For GPUs, performance (and bandwidth) will always rule above all else. It doesn't matter if you have a gazillion VRAM in your GPU if it's lacking "uumph" in itself. 

So, between RTX3060Ti 8GB and RTX3060 12GB... 
No doubt, definitely get the 3060Ti 8GB. It's ~25% more performant (stronger) than the 3060 12GB, and way more capable despite the apparent VRAM deficit.
That difference in performance is a whole tier, really noticeable, +/- equivalent to using 4x AA on the former, and not being able to do any AA on the latter (choking down low).

The RTX3060Ti 8GB is basically a slightly downscalled RTX3070 8GB (~10% difference), and has good bandwidth for 1440P+ (Memory Bus 256 bit, Bandwidth 448.0 GB/s).
It may look like a modest GPU but it carries a big stick. And if you undervolt the RTX3060Ti, you get even better performance than stock, at same time that you get lower temperatures and lower wattage consumption (a "win-win", I should know having done it in mine ). It will perform then pretty much the same as a stock RTX3070 FE (and RTX2080Ti FE), and it's one of the reasons why the RTX3060Ti became popular, more so now that their prices have slowly decreased.

The RTX3060 12GB doesn't come close, not even if overclocked to the brink (or likewise undervolted), and despite of having more VRAM (12GB vs 8GB).
Also, it's somewhat chocked on the bandwidth (Memory Bus 192 bit, Bandwidth 360.0 GB/s).
The problem with it is that, it doesn't have enough "uumph" to justify the 12GB VRAM - do not pick it just because of the bigger number there.

As side note, and on this matter of the 12GB on the RTX3060, Nvidia came to an impass before getting it into production, because of how the memory blocks are built in it -  it was either 12GB or 6GB (one or the other, no more no less). They concluded that, for the price segment that it would fit in today's market, it would have to get at least 8GB, so they went for the bigger ammount - same as has happened with the recently re-released RTX2060 12GB (which was 6GB before, almost four years ago).
In the end, in practice, both the RTX3060 and RTX2060 waste the big VRAM ammount (12GB) that they have, simply because they're not performant enough for it.

If you're not sure of what model of RTX3060Ti to get, have a look to this video, very good recommendations on it: 

If you do get the RTX3060Ti, definitely try undervolting it (with MSI Afterburner), for example like in this tutorial:  

Lastly, some game average scores at 1440P, simply to reflect and digest (all stock):

 

Edited February 28, 2022 by LucShep

[Burt]

I’m my experience with 2 rigs to run DCS in VR go for the 3090 … yes because of the vram. Keep in mine that DCS and it’s maps are growing by the year. Syria map is a vram hog. 2D no prob VR … is another story.

Edited February 28, 2022 by Burt

[Eldur]

The system looks decent. I have almost the same board, but the A version without WiFi (who needs that on a desktop? Cable FTW) and I went with an NH-D15 and a Seasonic PSU, but the stuff looks good anyway.

As for the GPU. Get the 60ti. VRAM might be great for DCS, but not down in that range where the 60 non-ti is at. The ti has a lot more CUDA cores and is much closer to the 70 in terms of overall performance, and the 70 pretty much does like the 2080ti did. Also, I've seen someone with a 1070 running a G2 at 50%, getting a 3070 and being able to bump the HMD up to 100% as well as some graphics settings while going from aroun 35fps to 55 - and I recently did the same coming from a 1080 (on the 5800X) and can confirm the boost - that card is good enough, for me at least - I'm getting my 45fps  almost everywhere, including servers with a good bunch of people doing stuff and a lot of scripts running. You wouldn't be much below that with the 60ti either, so VR would absolutely be possible, and most favourable in your case would probably be the Quest 2, but you might wanna wait until May when they probably will drop the Pro (Cambria) and the Plus (just my wild guess, being a Q2 with the new controllers) models. So you could either get one of those by then or grab a used Q2 for bargain.

DCS allocates all the VRAM it gets and probably also uses it, but it seems it actually doesn't really need the 24 Gigs of a 3090 for VR.

[Bossco82]

Its only an idea... 

You could save money and get a 5600x for the CPU, then save on the cooler and fans too. That saved can be put towards a bigger GPU.

If I was building a system from scratch for DCS in todays climate. I would carefully as I could buy used for a lot and save as much as I could for the best GPU I could afford.

[LucShep]

3 hours ago, Bossco82 said:

Its only an idea... 

You could save money and get a 5600x for the CPU, then save on the cooler and fans too. That saved can be put towards a bigger GPU.

If I was building a system from scratch for DCS in todays climate. I would carefully as I could buy used for a lot and save as much as I could for the best GPU I could afford.

Ryzen 5 5600X instead of Ryzen 7 5800X seems good option to stretch budget for GPU, yep.
Still an awesome processor and more than enough for DCS, and whatever fight-sim.

Buying an RTX3070 is not really worth it over a RTX3060Ti (more expensive for similar performance).
The next best option to the RTX3060Ti is the RTX3070Ti, but it's ~350,00 Euros (~45%) more expensive for ~20% performance gains, and the same 8GB VRAM ammount.
Then there's the RTX3080 10GB (and now also 12GB) and RX6800XT 16GB, both are fantastic choices, but they're double the price (or more) of an RTX3060Ti, much stronger but not double the performance (they're ~50% faster).

Unless you can stretch the budget, and from recent experience, used prices won't really get you there.
The problem is current used prices on PC hardware of the category needed for DCS 2.7 @ 1440P+ res.

The AMD RX6700XT 12GB is a good alternative to the RTX3060Ti, more or less same performance and more VRAM, just a little more expensive (+120,00 Euros on average), although with less bandwidth. I'd say to also consider it, even if Nvidia is preferable for DCS.

Edited February 28, 2022 by LucShep

[Heatskr18]

Thank you all for the information. Some of you mentioned getting less expensive or used parts to save more to put towards a better GPU. Unfortunately since ALL other parts are currently new in box and sitting on a shelf in my "man cave" that wasn't a viable option . I watched the video LucShep sent and went down the list. The GPU i wanted was #2 (ASUS ROG STRIX OC) however it is 4mm to long for my case). Eliminating those that were either to expensive for my budget ($916) and cards that were unavailable i ended up ordering the Gigabyte 3060Ti Gaming OC PRO. It will be here on the 8th. I was slightly disappointed that the ASUS 3060ti version wouldn't fit, but after looking at multiple reviews I can honestly say i made a good, informed, decision and I'm good with that. Again thank you for your input.