VR and Futureproof Gaming PC

[SierraKilo117]

Hi guys,
I have put together this potential build as I am looking for a new PC and decided I'd like to build something to play VR games well for the next few years. What do you think? Be honest, am I going overboard? I feel like I may have gone a little over the top considering the price its gone to...

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL II GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-10700K (3.8GHz) 16MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF Z490-PLUS GAMING
(LGA1200, USB 3.2, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2080 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
1TB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 470MB/W)
2nd Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i RGB PLATINUM Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
LED Lighting
50cm RGB LED Strip
Extra Case Fans
2x 120mm Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof)
Sound Card
Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy™ FX OEM
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour)
Delivery
TIMED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND - MON-FRI (BEFORE 10.30AM)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 12 to 14 working days

If anyone has any alternative suggestions that could keep the price down im definitely open to them!

Thanks!

 

[SierraKilo117]

Sorry meant to say, price is erm... £2,363

 

[JoeStevens610]

What monitor are you using with the pc as I know the mods will need this info but from experience not much difference between the 2070 super and 2080 super other than price, I’ve also gathered that AMD are dominating the CPU market so might be worth considering

 

[SierraKilo117]

I'm likely only going to be using a 144mhz 27inch (maybe a bit more) monitor. The reason for the 2080 super is purely for VR performance. I believe the 2070S just doesn't hold up in that field (apparently). Same for the intel CPU, I've heard reports of AMD's having problems with VR.

 

[JoeStevens610]

I can’t say I’m a big user of vr so probably best for someone else to advise on that, only other thing I note is that you don’t need upgraded thermal paste as the Corsair cooler comes with a very high level paste already applied

 

[SierraKilo117]

Ah thanks for the heads up on that one. I know the 2070S is the far better value for money, and that 32gb Ram is probably overkill. I just want to make sure I can play games like Elite Dangerous, Eve Valkyrie, No Man's Sky, Blade & Sorcery etc without having to severely limit the experience. Would prefer not to have broken the £2k mark.

 

[JoeStevens610]

I’ve personally gone 32gb of ram on my build but I’m streaming and editing as well so a little different but I also think 32gb of ram looks better in a motherboard, other than that it looks a really solid build

 

[SierraKilo117]

Thanks Nursemorph, that has definitely given me something to go by and drop a bit of cash. I suppose it should be easy enough to upgrade the GPU and stick a couple more RAM sticks in later. I've notice i can actually get 3200mhz Corsair Vengence ram cheaper than the 3000mhz Corsair Vengence RAM. Any idea why this is?

 

[SpyderTracks]

Any idea why this is?

Supply and demand, people tend to go for 3200mhz as it’s the optimum.

 

[SierraKilo117]

With a few minor revisions and a price drop to around £1900, how does this look?



Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX MB530P RGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-10700K (3.8GHz) 16MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF Z490-PLUS GAMING (LGA1200, USB 3.2, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
NOT REQUIRED
2nd Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i RGB PLATINUM Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour)
Delivery
TIMED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND - MON-FRI (BEFORE 2PM)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 12 to 14 working days
Price: £1,963.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z490-pc/6Dq0US7x2S/

 

[Scott]

Seems that Intel have finally got their prices in check. That's a reasonable value system with all things considered. I personally wouldn't go down the Intel route, and I would definitely advise AMD, but other than that it looks ideal for your uses

 

[SierraKilo117]

Hi Scott, genuine question, can I ask why? I'm not strictly set on intel (I know some people are), but intel are all I have experience with. Could you maybe give me some pointers if I were to look at an AMD build instead. Was only looking Intel cause of what I had heard about VR issues, but if that doesn't turn out to be the case I would potentially be willing to go down the AMD route.
Is there a chip that would be comparable to the i7 10700K in terms of gaming (and maybe VR) performance?

 

[SpyderTracks]

Was only looking Intel cause of what I had heard about VR issues, but if that doesn't turn out to be the case I would potentially be willing to go down the AMD route.

I think you're getting confused with GPU's, there are no issues with AMD CPU's and VR.

 

[Scott]

There are a number of issues with Intel right now. There are obvious security problems that are well known. The main issue though, for me, is that the platform is effectively at a dead end. They are still re-hashing the same technology and are now using different sockets. It's rumoured that the next chip from Intel won't even fit on the same socket as it's said they are going to change, again.

With AMD, the next 4000 chips are going to fit on the current sockets. It's possible that the next iteration again will also be compatible. They seem to have a really good grip on what's important for gamers.

Below would be a high end AMD VR gaming rig.

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL II GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3800X Eight Core CPU (3.9GHz-4.5GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2080 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i RGB PLATINUM Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 12 to 14 working days
Price: £1,989.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/qXnGubs6ST/

 

[SierraKilo117]

That looks good, but really doesn't that kinda work out the same price as you've dropped a couple of things to compensate (like the warranty). Is that card actually better than the intel overall?
And honest question, would the 2070S be enough for decent VR or would it be 2080S at a minimum?

 

[Scott]

That looks good, but really doesn't that kinda work out the same price as you've dropped a couple of things to compensate (like the warranty). Is that card actually better than the intel overall?
And honest question, would the 2070S be enough for decent VR or would it be 2080S at a minimum?

Warranty is a subjective thing of course. I tend to be quite happy with a year as electronic things tend to wrong rather quickly when they are faulty.

It depends on what headset you are using and what games you are playing. I have the standard 2080 and it's just about enough to power my Valve Index with games like Project Cars 2. The 2070S isn't that far off power wise so it would only be a marginal drop I imagine.