Apex Gaming PC

[StanHurley]

Greetings,

I like many others would like to get into DCS, but I would like to pursue an off the shelf system. Apex has a line that is recommended by Growling Sidewinder; The Sidewinder, The Sparrow and The Phoenix. I'm leaning towards the Phoenix, but changing the Ram from 16-32MB. With all of the experience out there, do you guys think this is a good setup? 

Details:

AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 8-Core 3.8 GHz

Apex 240 MM AIO Cooler

Asus B550- F Gaming Strix

16GB DDR4-3600 (Non-RGB)

NVidia GeForce RTX™ 3070

512GB NVMe SSD (Up to 3,500 MB/S)

750W 80+ Gold Power Supply (EVGA, Corsair, Apex)

Thank You

[Bossco82]

Hi Stan, what resolution monitor would you like to use for DCS. Or are you planning on using VR?

I dont use VR but that setup will be great for DCS at 1080p or 1440p resolution.

Also if your planning on playing multiplayer, 64gb of DDR4 would be better.

[BitMaster]

Unless you tell us the price we can't say if it's a good or bad deal.

Regardless of the money, it will run DCS, with 16 or 32GB but I would directly order 64GB if I was you. The answer or explanation to this can found many times over in this forum, right here.

Disk Space, well, my current DCS install is >400GB and I don't even own all modules but all maps, so depending what you aim for, prepare to buy more diskspace down the road.

If you really want only 1 drive, 500GB is way too small and cause problems pretty soon. Get a 1TB if you want to have OS + DCS on 1 drive. Get a 2TB if you want more than OS+DCS, like other big sims or games, music, videos, pics etc..

 

As Bossco82 pointed out while I am typing this, LoL, your 3070 will not be a VR or 4K Killer but very nice for 1440p and overklill for 1080p, mind that.

 

Also, I would not directly relate GS' top quality content to Apex, frankly speaking.

Usually they all cut corners here or there and usually, they hide behind general terms like "Apex AIO Cooler" "750W PSU Gold" , they neither make their own AIOs nor PSUs.

That's where you have to watch closely to not buy something you really didn't want to. Make sure it's a good brand name PSU and AIO.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 2, 2022 by BitMaster

[StanHurley]

I may be in over my head, reminds me of the time I decided to start fly fishing. The asking price is 2639.00. The monitor I chose is off of the Apex website; Apex Vision 34" 1440P - 144HZ that lists for 519.00. I don't plan on doing 4K or VR. Is there an off the shelf brand you would recommend or should I just start piecing it together? Maybe I should do some more homework on this before I move forward. 

 

 

[Bossco82]

HI Stan, I'm a bit stuck as i'm in the UK, I presume your in the USA. I build PC's for friends gaming setups quite often. I'm not sure of whats available and what stores to use. For example if you were in the UK I would say go to Scan UK.

If this is only for DCS you dont really need a 144hz monitor this is because DCS looks fine at 60fps.  However if your going to play on some FPS games you might need that high refresh rate monitor. If its for DCS I can recommend a few to you. Viewsonic, Acer, AOC, LG and Samsung all do very good 1440p monitors.

What I would advise is whatever you are looking at, type the brand and model number into a search engine, look for reviews.

Please feel free to send me a PM if you get stuck for an answer. However like Bitmaster has, I'm sure members like Lucshep, Skatezilla and SVSmokey to name a few will send you a reply. There advise is as solid as any other mate. All knowledgeable guys.

If all else fails, we can put together a shopping list for you and you could walk in a Micro Center and pick it all up.

[StanHurley]

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I'll take you up on that offer! 

[Bossco82]

Ok to enjoy DCS, 

CPU, and AMD 5600x/5800x or an Intel 12600k

Motherboard, Asus, Gigabyte or MSi B550 or X570 for the AMD, I used a X570 MSI Gaming Edge Wifi and it was excellent. For Intel it will a Z690, I would go for DDR4 version. Whatever you get one with a decent amount of rear USB ports, you will need them for Hotas and pedals

Memory 64gb of DDR4 3200Mhz C16, any of them will work

If its only for the Operating System and DCS get a 1tb Nvme Pcie 4.0 Gen 4 SSD, you can get a second at a later date if needed or a sata ssd for a steam folder etc etc. This is something you can add to later on.

Graphics, Nvidia 3070 or a AMD 6750xt for 1440p@60fps in DCS

Cooling a reputable 240mm AIO. There are a few but Corsair's are solid enough. 

The case thats a personal choice. You want something with 2x 120mm intakes if not more, a roof space for the 240mm AIO and a rear 120mm fan. Corsair, NZXT, Phanteks are all very good.

A decent 650-750w gold rated PSU. Your budgeting, I have used the Corsair HX semi modular range. I have a 850w powering my 5900x 3090 rig.

For you monitor I play DCS @60fps so that 60hz in monitor speak...I can recommend something like a 32" AOC Q32E2N or Viewsonic vx3211-2k. I have used both, they are both good. Add a headtracker to look around and your sorted.

I got these prices off Amazon USA, please remember I am in the UK...

5600x, $190 or 5800x, $300. MSI X570 Gaming Edge, $165. EVGA 3070 FTW3, $680. 64gb DDR4, $200. {Cooling 240AIO $80-120 or Vetroo V5 Air cooler $35.00} 1tb Sabrent Rocket 4.0 NVME, $130. Corsair RM 750x $150. Case {Corsair 4000d or NZXT H510 flow, $120-140} Pick your own those are guides. Viewsonic VX3211 1440p monitor $280. Thats $2165 on the high side if you build it yourself. Thats leaves you $500 for Hotas etc over the Apex PC

Now this is all advise, please check reviews. You would have to put this together yourself but its ok once you get started, plenty of videos on Youtube. If you want to play first person shooters at 120fps, you would need a different monitor. This is all to have a great experience gaming on DCS.

As a guide check this video out, dont take it personally that a kids building it LOL! Its just a good guide video. 

 

[StanHurley]

Thank you very much for taking the time to provide that information! I really appreciate all of that. 

[StanHurley]

I looked at their website, but it's numbers that I don't understand. Is there a tangible difference between the NVIDIA 3070 & 3070 Ti? 

Thank You

[BuzzU]

Stan.........I just bought this and it's a much better deal than what you showed. The company is much better too. I researched everybody before buying and this is the best company and deal on a system. It also has free shipping and no tax, so the price is all you pay.

https://maingear.com/product/vybe-rtx-3080/

Edited July 17, 2022 by BuzzU

[BuzzU]

Did you buy the monitor yet? This is what I bought.

https://www.newegg.com/black-asus-tuf-gaming-vg27aq-90lm0500-b013b0-27/p/N82E16824236987?nm_mc=AFC-RAN-COM&cm_mmc=AFC-RAN-COM&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_source=afc-Hatch&AFFID=2879876&AFFNAME=Hatch&ACRID=1&ASUBID=s16573076881624q6ha52417&ASID=&ranMID=44583&ranEAID=2879876&ranSiteID=9SHw.8narkE-vEWCCznqTtzhDpMb3Hi4Dw

[Hector45]

20 hours ago, StanHurley said:

I looked at their website, but it's numbers that I don't understand. Is there a tangible difference between the NVIDIA 3070 & 3070 Ti? 

Thank You

Tangible, no. Observable, yes.

The 3070Ti has more working cuda cores and faster VRAM.

[StanHurley]

Thanks Buzz! I like the Vybe as well, I will probably order something similar to that.

Thanks Hector 45.

Edited July 17, 2022 by StanHurley

[StanHurley]

Is the MSI MEG X570S ACE MAX overkill or should I go for the MSI X570 Gaming Plus? I don't plan on playing DCS over wifi, the Max does have more USB ports but its also a lot more expensive. Maybe I've been staring at this stuff too long.

Thank You 

[BitMaster]

Take the ACE MAX, plenty USB directly from the board, 2.5G, WiFi ( sometimes, it just comes in handy, believe me ), likely better components used as well.

Best of all, it's actually a 570S, S for silent, no chipset fan, a big PLUS. No fan that can fail after a couple years...

Alternative, the board from my sig, about same spec and it runs very very robust. Best board I had in 10+ years hands down.

[StanHurley]

Thank you!

 

[Burt]

Check out Origin gaming rigs too that’s what G S is using now. 

[StanHurley]

And just like that...Maingear no longer carries the 5800 Series.