A whole new rig building question for DCS

[Vnavspeed]

Hi there fellow flyers,

 

A NON-VR guy here (But might jump into that world if things work out as i plan) and im hoping to get some helpful advices that might save cost and still get me the results im expecting. 

 

Currently planning to build a new rig for DCS and MSFS and running a 2K 165HZ IPS Monitor. The specs in mind: 

 

I9 14900K

MSI or ASUS Z790 MOBO

RTX 5070TI 

64GB DDR5 RAM

2TB M2

 

Many people say Intel is dead already and some say AMD will do a huge replacement in architecture and firmware which will require new MOBO and Intel still beats amd's single core performance. I also looked up AMD 9950x3d CPUs and its hefty price tag for what it offers kinda pushed me away. 

* So should i stick with INTEL 14th gen or go for Ryzen CPU at least 9900X3D? 

* Should i seek for 128 GB RAM instead of 64 as a future investment? 

* RTX 5070TI for sure  is a decent card for 2k gaming and simming but when i see that 100% performance difference with 5090, im getting seduced... Budget-wise i can actually afford but kinda feeling guilty...

 

 

I want a build a rig that'll not require an upgrade for a real long time at least for the next 6-7 years and should also let me run DCS with eye candy graphics and great performance if i decide to go for a pimax or similar VR google.

 

Thanks

Edited March 17 by Vnavspeed

[speed-of-heat]

I would definitely go with a 9800x3d, as for RAM 64gb is more than  enough for now, and by thee time you need more, it will lik3ky be cheap enough, as for the card, I would say more thw. Sufficient for now, and you likely only need more for vror4k.

[Aapje]

The 9800X3D is the best gaming processor at the moment. You don't need a 14900K or 9900X3D/9950X3D, unless you want your PC to be very quick for non-gaming use cases where lots of cores help.

There is no reason to go for Intel based on speculation that AMD is going to move to a different, incompatible motherboard, because for Intel there is no upgrade path for sure. Also, I don't think that the speculation is correct and that we will see at least one more generation for AM5.

Going for 128 GB means that you will have to use all 4 slots, which tends to create a less stable system. I would just stick with 64 GB. If you really want more, then I would go for a a 2 stick 96 GB kit, but I don't see the point at this moment in time.

As for the video card, everything is overpriced right now, especially the 5090. You pay almost 4 times as much for twice the performance (and even then, only when the GPU is the bottleneck). Ridiculous. Most likely you'll be much better off financially by getting the 5070 Ti now and upgrading the card later on when prices normalize, even if you have to pay a guy to do the upgrade for you. By that time new video cards may be out anyway. But purely for flat screen on 2K, the 5070 Ti is plenty powerful and the 5090 would definitely not give you twice the quality. It only makes sense if you move to VR.

So my suggestion is to not get a 5090 until you move to VR, and even then to start out in VR with the 5070 Ti, and only upgrade if you are unhappy with the quality.

Edited March 17 by Aapje

[EightyDuce]

Really not much more to add to what has already been mentioned.

I would say 9800X3D. Seeing that your projected upgrade path is a 6-7 year plan, longevity of the platform/chipset isn't much of a concern as at that point you should be upgrading that anyway.

64Gb is plenty right now. In the grand scheme of things RAM is cheap and can be upgraded when you do your next upgrade.

M.2, any reputable brand PCIE4 (no significant benefit to PCIe5 speeds right now) unless price is negligible. I'd prioritize capacity, something like a 2-4Gb.

GPU is where your biggest gains and losses will come from. Current situation is a mess and only NVIDIA and AMD know if/when/how things will change. This is where the 6-7 year plan will suffer. That's 3 generations of GPUs. I would honestly get a 5070Ti now and do incremental updates as you go rather than blowing your wad on a 5090 now and hope it lasts the 6-7 years. 

[Qcumber]

3 hours ago, EightyDuce said:

I would honestly get a 5070Ti now and do incremental updates as you go rather than blowing your wad on a 5090 now and hope it lasts the 6-7 years. 

I'd agree with that. I had planned to get a 5080 but they are so overpriced. I found it easier to get a 5070ti for about 10% over MSRP. I "hoping" there will be a 5080 super with 24Gb VRAM.

So far the 5070ti has impressed me. I use only VR and it produces good results although you will still need quad views foveated rendering. 

[Mk1_Trebuchet]

Here to add to the recommendations for a 9800x3d in a gaming rig.   

I had a 14900K and built a new system with the AMD just for gaming.  (the 14900k is now a dedicated CAD workstation)

I run VR with a 4090 and typically ran around 90fps (Refresh rate of the Varjo Aero) with some dips to the high 80's.  Jumping to the 9800x3d didn't 'boost' my fps, but now the fps is super stable at 90fps with no dips. Guess that Vcache is doing its thing. 

[BitMaster]

Just forget the Intel option, 

not for a gamer, even less for a simmer

[corbu1]

Also recommending the 9800X3D which I have now for a few weeks and I‘m really happy with it.

Was Intel user for a long time but not anymore actually. They lost track with us gamers.