2020: Time for a new desktop

[Onkel Neal]

I've been using laptops for the last 6 years, at last it's time for e new PC desktop. I've lost track of what the best systems are, CPU, graphics cards, etc. Is Voodoo 3D Extreme still the way to go? How about Intel, cores, and other mysteries?

My laptop has an Intel i7 6700 @2.60 GHZ, it still runs plenty fast for everything I do but you know, I would want an upgrade, to future proof it. Would an i9400F @ 2.90 GHZ be sufficient?

[skidman]

Best bang for the buck:

AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Asus Prime B450M-A Mainboard
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4
Asus GeForce RTX 2070

[Onkel Neal]

Best bang for the buck:

AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Asus Prime B450M-A Mainboard
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4
Asus GeForce RTX 2070

Oh man, this is what I was hoping for when I posted, thanks, a solid recommendation. :Kaleun_Thumbs_Up:

Well, just saw the reviews at Amazon for the GeForce RTX 2070 card, not going to make the cut.

[Moonlight]

You haven't said what your price range is for this new machine or even what you're going to be doing with it so we'll start with the CPU and then you can get the rest to fit around it.
As you're on a games website I'll give you 4 CPU optons for you to mull over, if these are too much for your wallet I would have a look for some mid range CPU's.

Most powerful gaming CPU: Intel Core i9-9900K Intel thinks Onkel Neal is rich. :doh:
This is really only recommended for serious gamers.

Best value gaming CPU: Intel Core i7-8700K In your dreams baby. :o
A better value proposition with only a slightly worse gaming performance than the Intel Core i9.

Most versatile gaming processor: AMD Ryzen 3900X Not as pricey as the 2 above. :hmmm:
If you’re regularly dipping into multimedia editing tasks this is the one to buy due to its superior core and thread count.

Best budget gaming CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X I'd start here first and work my way up. :D
for those on a budget, or for those who are sensible about their wallets feelings. :O:

[Onkel Neal]

You haven't said what your price range is for this new machine or even what you're going to be doing with it so we'll start with the CPU and then you can get the rest to fit around it.
As you're on a games website I'll give you 4 CPU optons for you to mull over, if these are too much for your wallet I would have a look for some mid range CPU's.


Man, you're right, I didn't think about that. I'm looking for mid-range, not the best, not budget, something stout and capable but a good value. Honestly, my laptop CPU does everything as well as I need, but I have to get a desktop and a better graphics card than the 960m in my laptop.

Most powerful gaming CPU: Intel Core i9-9900K Intel thinks Onkel Neal is rich. :doh: I won't be after this!!:doh:
This is really only recommended for serious gamers.

Best value gaming CPU: Intel Core i7-8700K In your dreams baby. :o
A better value proposition with only a slightly worse gaming performance than the Intel Core i9. Hmmm. Not much cheaper.

Most versatile gaming processor: AMD Ryzen 3900X Not as pricey as the 2 above. :hmmm:
If you’re regularly dipping into multimedia editing tasks this is the one to buy due to its superior core and thread count. This looks pretty good, is there any downside to going with an AMD processor, any compatibility issues?

How about this? https://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/AMD-Ryzen-9X-Configurator

*BASE_PRICE: [+1795]
CABLE: None
CAS: IN WIN 101 Mid Tower High Air Flow Gaming Case w/ Tempered Glass Full Size Window (White)
CC: None
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8GHz [4.6GHz Turbo] 12 Cores/ 24 Threads 70MB Cache 105W Processor
CS_FAN: Default case fans
ENGRAVING: None
EVGA_POWER: None
FAN: CyberPowerPC DEEPCOOL Castle 120EX ARGB 120mm AIO Liquid CPU Cooling System w/ Copper Cold Plate (Single Standard 120MM Fan)
HDD: 500GB WD Blue SN550 Series PCIe NVMe + 2TB SATA III Hard Drive Combo [+87] (Combo Drive)
HDD2: None
HEADSET: None
IUSB: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports
KEYBOARD: None [-5]
MEMORY: 16GB (8GBx2) DDR4/3000MHz Dual Channel Memory (Corsair Vengeance)
MICROPHONE: None
MONITOR: None
MOPAD: None
MOTHERBOARD: ASROCK X570 PHANTOM GAMING 4S ATX w/ WiFi, RGB, Intel LAN, 2 PCIe x16, 2 PCIe x1, 8 SATA3, 2 M.2 SATA/PCIe
MOUSE: CyberPowerPC Standard 4000 DPI with Weight System Optical Gaming Mouse
NETWORK: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network
OS: Windows 10 Home (64-bit Edition)
OVERCLOCK: No Overclocking
POWERSUPPLY: 850 Watts - Corsair RM Series RM850 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Fully Modular Ultra Quiet Power Supply [+81]
PRO_WIRING: None
RUSH: Standard processing time: ship within 3 to 4 Weeks
SERVICE: 3 Years FREE Service Plan (INCLUDES LABOR AND LIFETIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT)
SLI_BRIDGE: None
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
SPEAKERS: None
USBHD: None
USBX: None
VIDEO: AMD Radeon™ RX 5700 XT 8GB GDDR6 PCIe 4.0 [Navi] (Single Card)
VIDEOCAMERA1: Rocksoul 1080P HD Webcam USB 2.0 WK107SB [+19]
WARRANTY: STANDARD WARRANTY: 1 Year Parts WARRANTY
WNC: None
WTV: None
_PRICE: (+1977)

[mapuc]

May I give a recommendation

Buy a stationary gaming computer and a cheap desktop.

Stationary gaming computers cost almost the half of what a gaming laptop does.

Furthermore with a stationary you can upgrade your hardware, which you can't with a laptop.

Markus

[Moonlight]

This looks pretty good, is there any downside to going with an AMD processor, any compatibility issues?

None that I've heard of, a piece of advice if you didn't already know this, Amd cpu's and Intel cpu's are not interchangeable, so you can't put an Intel cpu onto that motherboard. :up:

A good rig, but how are you going to watch your DVD pron without a DVD player, :o and one last thing, I hope you're going to put a good monitor on that thing. :D

[Onkel Neal]

None that I've heard of, a piece of advice if you didn't already know this, Amd cpu's and Intel cpu's are not interchangeable, so you can't put an Intel cpu onto that motherboard. :up:

A good rig, but how are you going to watch your DVD pron without a DVD player, :o and one last thing, I hope you're going to put a good monitor on that thing. :D

Great help, thanks! I kinda assumed they motherboard and cpus were not interchangle, thanks for reminding me.

I think my skittishness with AMD came from 20 years ago, I recall buying a 2nd PC for gaming in another room, and there were issues with installing Microsoft programs, or a game or something. It's been a long time but my recollection was AMD was not the fail safe standard I was used to with Intel. I may be persuaded to test that theory, did you see the mass of 5 star reviews for the CPU on amazon? Impressive!

The rig I sketched out, it used the exact same cpu as the one in the amazon page? It was so easier back when a cpu didn't have so many name variations!

DVD player? What year is this, do they still exist?? :D

Good monitor? Why? explain! :arrgh!:

[ET2SN]

Before you commit to a new desktop, consider what you'll be doing with it. :up:

Are you playing old (5 years or older) games? Will most of your new system's time be spent playing those games or are you heavily into multitasking while you decimate convoys?

This is kind of a loaded example. The majority of games available are designed to run on one core of your CPU. There are some games out there that can run on two or maybe four cores but there aren't that many of them. :03:

Are you planning to get into streaming on Twitch or uploading videos to YouTube? Broadcasting will put a much heavier workload on your hardware to justify those extra cores. If you're not planning to start your own gaming channel, why over-build your next desktop? :hmmm:

Getting back to single-core gaming, cores don't mean squat compared to CPU clock speed. Older Intel CPUs ran just fine at 3.95 to 4 GHz. This is their rated clock speed, BTW. No over-clocking required. :yeah:

Put some thought into your display before you commit to a desktop. Is a "normal" 2K display that's 2 feet wide what you're thinking about or will the new monitor swallow most of your gaming room? Think this part thru, there's no wrong answer (depending on your budget) but people tend to put the cart before the horse and wind up with either an under-powered CPU/graphics combo or else they over-commit on hardware they will never fully utilize. :03:

Plan for the display you want, then figure out how much horsepower (CPU and GPU) you'll need to run it. :yeah:

Edit- Check out this thread https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=243475 and I won't end up repeating myself.

[Moonlight]

Normal screen sizes vary from around 21.5in to 28in, and 24in is currently the sweet spot, if you've already got one of this size then you've just saved yourself some $$$$$.

You have to ask yourself this question, are you going to be streaming movies on this new PC regularly, if so you'll probably be better off investing in a better television and streaming to that than a new monitor, stick to a monitor of 24in for everyday computing and you'll not go far wrong.

Remember, the bigger the screen and the higher the resolution means that your graphics card has a lot more work to do. Besides that you'll have to sit further away from the PC, not much point in getting a 48in monitor if you have to watch it from 30ft away is there?. :O:

[mapuc]

Screens and its inches.

Until beginning of January this year i had a 17.3 inch screen(laptop) as you may remember this laptop had a major meltdown and I had to buy a new computer, which was gaming computer and i bought a 24 inch to this computer.

What a different those extra inches made to the experience.

In the start I said in same distance to the screen, which made my eyes hurt
now some month later I have a little further distance to my 24 inch screen.

Markus

[Onkel Neal]

Before you commit to a new desktop, consider what you'll be doing with it. :up:

Are you playing old (5 years or older) games? Will most of your new system's time be spent playing those games or are you heavily into multitasking while you decimate convoys?

This is kind of a loaded example. The majority of games available are designed to run on one core of your CPU. There are some games out there that can run on two or maybe four cores but there aren't that many of them. :03:

Are you planning to get into streaming on Twitch or uploading videos to YouTube? Broadcasting will put a much heavier workload on your hardware to justify those extra cores. If you're not planning to start your own gaming channel, why over-build your next desktop? :hmmm:

Getting back to single-core gaming, cores don't mean squat compared to CPU clock speed. Older Intel CPUs ran just fine at 3.95 to 4 GHz. This is their rated clock speed, BTW. No over-clocking required. :yeah:

Put some thought into your display before you commit to a desktop. Is a "normal" 2K display that's 2 feet wide what you're thinking about or will the new monitor swallow most of your gaming room? Think this part thru, there's no wrong answer (depending on your budget) but people tend to put the cart before the horse and wind up with either an under-powered CPU/graphics combo or else they over-commit on hardware they will never fully utilize. :03:

Plan for the display you want, then figure out how much horsepower (CPU and GPU) you'll need to run it. :yeah:

Edit- Check out this thread https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=243475 and I won't end up repeating myself.

Planning to run two displays, ViewSonic 24". Games: No, not exclusively 5 year old games, I want to get into Battlefield and PUBG, so, AMD Ryzen 5-1600 / Intel Core i5-7600K or better; Graphics: Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB or better

Not planning to watch movies on the PC much, that's what my den is for.

Not planning to stream either.

My current laptop has i7 6700HQ with 4 cores (https://www.game-debate.com/hardware/index.php?pid=2379&cpu=Core%20i7-6700HQ%204-Core%202.6GHz) so I can't see dropping below that with a new system. But you're saying I really don't need something with 12 cores, like the AMD chip discussed above?


https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/amd-vs-intel-budget-battle-royale-3300x-vs-10100/?__twitter_impression=true
Today's game engines still care more for single threaded performance and raw clock speed than they do about having multiple CPU cores floating around. That extra silicon is great for serious computation and doing many different things at the same time, such as gaming, recording, and streaming, but aren't going to do much to your solo gaming frame rates.

So having a quad-core, eight-thread chip at the heart of your system will be more than enough for a pure PC gamer. And with both Intel and AMD launching head-to-head with new budget chips, with the same specs, it will be fascinating to see who comes out on top.

Ok, I think I see what you're saying. :)

[ET2SN]

Normal screen sizes vary from around 21.5in to 28in, and 24in is currently the sweet spot, if you've already got one of this size then you've just saved yourself some $$$$$.

You have to ask yourself this question, are you going to be streaming movies on this new PC regularly, if so you'll probably be better off investing in a better television and streaming to that than a new monitor, stick to a monitor of 24in for everyday computing and you'll not go far wrong.

Remember, the bigger the screen and the higher the resolution means that your graphics card has a lot more work to do. Besides that you'll have to sit further away from the PC, not much point in getting a 48in monitor if you have to watch it from 30ft away is there?. :O:

Egg-zactly. :yeah:

This always winds up sounding like heresy on a gaming forum :o but sometimes it pays to really consider those budget pre-built desktops you see at the hardware store or on-line. We're not talking two grand, more like $300-$500. I'm big on telling people to wait for "back to school" sales to check out a pre-built rig and really try to tear it apart based on what you really need for gaming. :03:

I mostly play Flight Sim 2002 and Dangerous Waters when I'm not watching YouTube or reading a forum, so I'm pretty easy to please. I still check out new games but I really haven't found anything else that I'm itching to play.

I run a big enough monitor at 2K graphics with a 60 Hz refresh rate. Playing any Flight Sim at 60 Hz is pure joy. :yep:

To do all of this, I'm running a pretty cheap i3 CPU (3.8 Ghz stock clock, which is what makes the difference) with a $40 fanless vid card. The only reason I'm running a card at all is because I wanted something better than Intel graphics. :up: My rig is something like 4 years old and it was "yesterday's tech" when I bought it. I don't know how I'll replace it when it finally wears out, maybe 4 to 6 years from now. I also have it running for something close to 12 hours per day, every day. :yeah:

I think that brings up the big point I wanted to make. Start a game on your current gaming rig then bring up Win Task Monitor. Check out how much horsepower your current games really need. :yep:

[ET2SN]

BTW, here's a little thought experiment you may want to try. :D

Go to a store that has salespeople. Go in and tell one of them the following:

"I'm looking for a new computer for my Mom/Aunt. She needs something to play Mah Jong, watch YouTube, and drive my wife up a wall with e-mails, what have you got that won't break my budget?"

Pay attention to what they show you. :D Don't even think about a graphics card/GPU yet.

Or, play the same game but replace Grandma with your kid who's going off to college next fall.

Let them think you don't have a lot of money to spend. Pay attention to the specs of the towers they show you. :up:

[THE_MASK]

Its the graphics card that runs the games .

[Onkel Neal]

BTW, here's a little thought experiment you may want to try. :D

Go to a store that has salespeople. Go in and tell one of them the following:

"I'm looking for a new computer for my Mom/Aunt. She needs something to play Mah Jong, watch YouTube, and drive my wife up a wall with e-mails, what have you got that won't break my budget?"

:

Hmmm... I think that will be like "What can you tell me about a strange rash right around the back of the thigh... asking for a friend." :timeout:

I'm slowly getting back up to speed on PCs. In the 90s I had everything memorized, but it was a bit simpler then, for sure. Trouble is, once I know all the ins and outs of M.2 and NVMe SSDs, the flavors of Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random-Access Memory, and ALC662 audio codecs.... I'll buy a PC and lose track of the updates in the teck industory for 5 years until I go to buy another PC. :wah:

But you guys have done a great job of helping me dial down what I think I need!!

[ET2SN]

OK, check this out for a minute:

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-TC-885-UA91-Desktop-i3-9100-802-11AC/dp/B07R8WK8VP/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&keywords=basic+computer+desktop&qid=1589122909&sr=8-7

Notice I found it by searching for "basic computer desktop".

Now, let's take a look at what you get for $400. Its pretty bare bones, the keyboard and mouse look cheap and there's a lot of info we're not seeing, like why the graphics card isn't listed (there isn't one) and what the power supply is rated to (I'm guessing its at the low end of the quality scale).

Still, you are getting:

- 9th Generation Intel Core i3 9100 Processor (Up to 4. 2GHz)
This is a nice CPU, its just a tad on the old side but it clocks at 4.2 Gigs. :up:

-8GB DDR4 Memory, 512GB SSD & 8x DVD Writer Double Layer Drive (DVD RW)

Again, its bare bones but its not that bad. You've got a 1/2 terabyte SSD , 8 Gigs of DDR4 RAM, and they even throw in a DVD player. :D

What they don't talk about is the power supply, but its mostly safe to assume that you can throw a mid-range GPU/video card into the box without too many problems. :03: You also get a licensed copy of Win 10. Since they don't say what flavor of Win 10 Home it is, assume its 32 bit.

..and you're in the hole for 400 bucks. :up: This is a stock, low dollar system aimed at students and small business. It just needs to work, it doesn't have to look sexy.

The downside will come when you open the tower and look at the mother board. :o I'm willing to bet dollars to donuts its a mini (or even a micro) ATX board. It probably doesn't have any extra connections for a traditional hard drive (but its older tech so it might) and its probably glued or pop riveted to the case. :yep:
These are not "boutique" towers. :03:

So, why would you want something like this? Its dependable. It has to be, the company would be suicidal to sell junk at this price range.
It can be tricky, but it is upgrade-able. Find a video card the power supply can run, or throw a larger power supply at it. The odds are 50/50 (IMO) there's a second RAM slot on the mother board. For a generic "gaming/home" rig you really don't need 16 gigs of RAM, but its not a big deal if you do.

You're in the hole for 400 bucks. That leaves $1600 before you get to your old $2000 plateau. That's plenty of spare change to sink into a monitor and a graphics card. And a good keyboard and mouse. And another SSD or a remote hard drive. And several cases of beer. :up:

See where this is going? :yep: Am I saying to buy this tower? #### no, please no. But this is already a LOT cheaper than what you were looking at.

There are a LOT of good deals out there, you just have to find them.

:Kaleun_Cheers:

[Onkel Neal]

I'm studying the available components, and I don't really care about a case that lights up like a christmas tree. But I do want at least an i7 variant, that much I'm sure. I can spend more than $400, I will probably use it for at least 5 years.

[Mr Quatro]

Use SSD hard drives ... they boot faster

and maybe more ram memory you are at

16GB (8GBx2) DDR4/3000MHz Dual Channel Memory (Corsair Vengeance)

but the board has four slots so go for four (4) 8gb or (2) 16gb

remember this is for 2025

who's going to put it together for you?

I would pay someone to put the MB/CPU together and the rest is easy mostly labor of waiting for the Window's 10 (yuck) to boot and claim you for the rest of your life.

I hear they even want your cell phone number now. :o

[ET2SN]

But I do want at least an i7 variant, that much I'm sure.

Can I ask why? :hmmm:

M$ has already announced the minimum specs for the new M$FS (aka: flight sim) and its an i5 CPU. :yep:
That's for M$FS, which probably won't be ready for this year. Which will tax a lot more hardware than the CPU. Which will require a very broad and very fast internet connection. Which I'm really not interested in. :yep:

Traditionally, new M$ flight sims are designed for hardware and clock speeds that don't exist yet. Still, they're saying an i5 can run it.


If you're planning to do some multi-tasking (while you're gaming) I can see the i7. For a pure gaming system, its still over kill. :yep:

That brings up one last point to ponder. :yeah:

Let's suppose that AMD and Intel get into a serious price war and suddenly the price of hardware (all hardware) drops though the floor. Everything gets cheap, would it be a good idea to "yolo" your new hardware and go for broke?

Remember, more power requires more power. And, someone will have to pay for that extra power when the utility bill shows up. :o

That was what broke the small bitcoin "farmers". They were paying more for electricity than the machines were earning. :03:

[Onkel Neal]

Use SSD hard drives ... they boot faster

Oh yeah, I certainly agree. I made sure when I chose my current Dell XPS15 laptop to get an SSD drive, boots up and into Windows in about 7 seconds.

Can I ask why?

Instinctively I go for the upper 2/3 of the current tech tree, I guess. I mean, if I'm going to spend money, I want to make sure I don't have any regrets.

Your feedback has been super helpful! I really think you are right, there's no need to reach for the high end. I mean, if you had not stepped in, I would be building a super computer :)

Seems like you're right, I keep seeing build videos and the AMD 5 is what they reach for.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9-x3jRSQvQ

Let's suppose that AMD and Intel get into a serious price war and suddenly the price of hardware (all hardware) drops though the floor. Everything gets cheap, would it be a good idea to "yolo" your new hardware and go for broke?

Ha! The Rules of the Universe will only allow that to happen 91 days after I buy my system.

Hmmm... is there a chance this could happen? :arrgh!:

[Commander Wallace]

^ I seem to remember Gary ( GT182 ) built an 8 core AMD Ryzen unit fairly cheaply and liked it very much. He had said it would run anything he was doing and anything that he would anticipate in the future.

That may be the way to go and put more money into a higher end video card and Ram to better enjoy your simulations.

[Mr Quatro]

Notice anything funny about that case in the video you posted, Neal?

It doesn't have any front panel slots anymore. I know I bought one.

https://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/ProductImage/11-146-285-V08.jpg

Lucky I had an external USB DVD player, plus mine doesn't have enough fans

Make sure your case has enough fans ... for my budget I went with AMD CPU and AMD video card ... AMD makes a CPU that has the video on it which is great if your video card goes bad.

Good luck :up: it is a learning curve in today's market ... read the reviews and try out the reviews on newegg too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9-x3jRSQvQ&feature=emb_logo

[ET2SN]

Neal, I used to live this stuff. Actually, I used to be an EE/EET with the degree and everything.

I hate seeing people over-commit and over-buy tech hardware.

It always comes down to "what some guy said".

What guy?
"Dunno. I think it was a review I read."

Do they work for Intel or AMD? Sometimes they goof with people to get a better quarterly bonus.

"*Shrug*"


:yep:


This hobby is famous for this stuff. Remember reading about sticking video cards in a 300 degree oven to "remelt the solder" and make them faster? :haha:

[Onkel Neal]

Yeah, I didn't think of that, that these build videos were likely to be sponsored.

And what is the deal with no front drive bays? I was joking about not having DVDs since my XPS15 did not have a dvd player but I see all mid tower cases are missing front drive bays..?

https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-pc-tower-cases

I do like the move to clean and elegant designs over the mech warrior cases. :shucks:

In the last few years, we've seen some clear trends among tower cases, too. Aggressive sci-fi and mecha themes were big for a while, but that has given way to subtler aesthetics: clean designs with neutral themes and an emphasis on the quality of external materials.

[Catfish]

I just had to re-install Win 10 with some programs since my boot 'disk', a six-year-old Kingston SSD with 240 Gb, died.
I prefer those solid state disks meanwhile, they seem to work as long as normal HDs, but are way faster. They are also more expensive, but.. depends:
Bought a 500 Gb Samsung Evo for 80 Euros, also much faster than the old Kingston. Booting up Win 10 with all bells and whistles takes 10-12 seconds, shutdown appx. the same. I put all sim games on the SSD, and they runs smooth as silk.

Still have an older 4-core i4 working, at 3,8 GHz and with 16 Gb ram, with an old Nvidia.
Indeed i will rather get a faster graphics card than a new PC ..

Still use a normal mechanical HD for data, photos, correspondence and the like, and an external one via USB3 for backups. The latter one is easier in case than using the off-room NAS.

Go for a fast processor (3.8 to 4.7 GHz), the number of cores is not (yet) mandatory; few programs and games can use more than 2 anyway.
And use a good/fast graphic card.

If you use HighTec 3d-building things like Solidworks it will still do fast enough.

[Onkel Neal]

Yeah, I'm still researching. ET2SN and Quatro have been really helpful, probably talked me off the ledge of getting too much computer (I never thought there was such a thing).

[Mr Quatro]

Here's a nice case Neal for only $50 notice that it has plenty of fans and two front slots mine in post #23 is made more for water cooling which I don't trust or have. This one is sold out at newegg, but maybe you can get it somewhere else.

https://www.newegg.com/white-fractal-design-focus-g-series-atx-mid-tower/p/N82E16811352067?Item=N82E16811352067

https://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/ProductImageCompressAll1280/11-352-067-V01.jpg

[Onkel Neal]

Yeah, that's what I', looking for, especially like the white. Looks like a lot of components are out of stock, PSUs especially. :k_confused:

[blackswan40]

Hi Onkel Neal heres another thought on upgrading with a lot of new hardware coming out this summer maybe its a good idea to wait a while until late September then all the prices of the older Cpu's Gpu's M/b's Ram ect comes down in price.
Theres nothing worse than spending $1500-$2000 of your hard earned money on a new rig in May/June this year then by August same Rigs $1250-$1500 that would leave a bitter taste in ones mouth for sure also to get rid of the old stock giving you a freebie a good gaming keyboard and mouse.

[Skybird]

If you plan for a PC-bound VR set, you need to invest seriously to have performance reserves. You want these reserves in VR.

I know that Oculus Quest does not depend on and link up to PC like Rift did, but its range of titles is more limited and it cannot do some of the stuff you find for the Rift. Oculus runs some strange policies there, banning some Rift titles that have good reputation from being tested on Quest, although the developers say they are ready and have working versions. Also, no Google Earth+Streetview on Quest. Which is an absolute KO criterion, at least for me. Also, its all sold out currently.

i7 8700K is good stuff. I bought this one myself in autumn 2017. It eats everything I throw at it both in VR and 2D, but you need very good and huge air cooler (I have, it can be done, silently), or water cooling.

[Onkel Neal]

Thanks guys.

Once again I am leaning toward a simple prebuilt solution, like this
https://deals.dell.com/en-us/productdetail/4jnv

It's simple and easy and takes any worry of issues, mistakes building, and compatibility out of the equation. Plus half the components I look up are out of stock. When nothing goes wrong, building a PC is simple lego block building. I'm sure it's satisfying. But if I make a mistake, or there's BIOS issues, or anything else goes sideways, I have to figure it out.

Or maybe this, quieter with wc
https://deals.dell.com/en-us/productdetail/4ioh

[ET2SN]

Water cooling kinda died down after the "big horse power"/bit coin mining thing died out.

Think about it, would you put a fish tank on top of your TV and stereo? In case anything goes wrong, it will go wrong in very big way. :timeout:

Silicon, electricity, and water still don't mix. :up:

Even a fully sealed water cooling set up will require maint. after a while. :03:

[Onkel Neal]

True, I'll probably regret that at some point, but it should be a quieter rig.

[Onkel Neal]

Done. Based on my XPS15 laptop being 4 years old and still more than enough PC, this desktop PC should be viable until 2030.

Dark Side of the Moon chassis with High-Performance CPU Liquid Cooling and 850W Power Supply
16GB Dual Channel HyperX(TM) FURY DDR4 XMP at 2666MHz
NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) RTX 2060 SUPER(TM) 8GB GDDR6 (OC Ready)
9th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 9700 (8-Core, 12MB Cache, up to 4.7GHz with Intel(R) Turbo Boost Technology)
Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Initial Year
US Power Cord
Microsoft(R) Office 30 Days Trial
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 Processor Label
Wireless Driver for Killer 1650 Card
Custom Configuration
Killer(TM) Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 (2x2) 802.11ax Wireless and Bluetooth 5.1
1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD (Boot) + 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s (Storage)
Dark Side of the Moon
Windows 10 Home 64bit English

Now... the wait :haha:

Thanks so much for your feedback and help.

[Skybird]

Water cooling kinda died down after the "big horse power"/bit coin mining thing died out.

Think about it, would you put a fish tank on top of your TV and stereo? In case anything goes wrong, it will go wrong in very big way. :timeout:

Silicon, electricity, and water still don't mix. :up:

Even a fully sealed water cooling set up will require maint. after a while. :03:
Just asking: is there any new alternative to air coolers, good air coolers? I know these can work well since I use a good (and BIG one) myself (Noctua ND15), still there are two or three games that can out the temps to dangerous maximums bove 90°C that you do not want to run as default temps without wanting to shorten the lifespan of your CPUs, it happens even easier in VR.

[McBeck]

Just asking: is there any new alternative to air coolers, good air coolers? I know these can work well since I use a good (and BIG one) myself (Noctua ND15), still there are two or three games that can out the temps to dangerous maximums bove 90°C that you do not want to run as default temps without wanting to shorten the lifespan of your CPUs, it happens even easier in VR.Too late for me to jump in, but here are a few comments for others:
1) AMD Ryzen 3600 is king at this point. It may loose a few FPS compared to Intel, but at a MUCH lower cost. If you wan to overclock Intel makes it impressivly difficult for you as you have to buy a specific line of CPU and MB.
2) The AMD MB to get should be ASUS and with the new 550 chipset to support PCI express 4. Asrock has recently seen poor quality.
3) Cooling, this has been tested extensively on various channels, BUT the fact of the matter is that closed loop water cooling is only better if you simply dont like big coolers like the Noctua ones. Aircooling using Noctua 15 is still just as good as the best watercooled ones.

[McBeck]

The setup I have in mind for my next build:
mATX (because I dont need a build in CD/DVD drive)

ASUS PRIME B550M-A motherboard
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X Wraith Spire CPU
Noctua NH-D15 SE-AM4
ASUS Radeon RX 5700 XT ROG STRIX OC - 8GB GDDR6 RAM
Fractal design meshify C tower mini (because it looks amazing!)

Add MEM, disks, PSU etc as you need.