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Need advice on 1st build - VR gaming PC

Hello,

 

New guy here. First of all I am going to say thanks to those who respond since I am sure this has come up before. I am building my first PC and could use some help especially since I am trying to build a VR capable PC. Probably bit off more then I can chew but I seem to make that a habit in my life. I have a friend who is willing to help me put everything together so I do have a helping hand in this endeavor.

 

Details about the space: I have a 8 ft x 2 ft standing desk to place everything on so I think I have decent enough space. I have a open area approximately 6 ft x 10 ft to move around for VR gaming. Good ventilation in the room w/ climate control. I have dogs but they aren't allowed in the office area.

 

1. Budget & Location - $1,000 USD, United States, CA. Willing to go over my cap by $300 to gain performance I desire.

 

2. Aim -  So the goal is really a multi-use computer but the reason for the build is mostly to get into VR gaming. I'd like something that can support the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive since I haven't really decided which one I want just yet and may end up just getting both. Currently I only have a MacBook Pro and have seen the light and want to depart from the price gouging and shenanigans of Apple. I am a major noob to the whole computer building world but have been learning as much as possible and think I have a reasonable understanding of components individually but putting it all together is where I get tripped up. I am also abandoning console gaming in favor the greater flexibility and availability of PC gaming. Would like to play a lot of the major console games but will just play them on PC instead. I am a graphic designer as well and do some very rudimentary video editing on occasion. (I use Adobe products and simple video editing software). Obviously I'll be using the PC for basic home computing, school work, and browsing as well. The goal is to eventually build a simple home server and VPN to stream media over my home network ( this would be a separate device from this build) . Tired of keeping a bunch of movies sitting on my hard drive and not accessible to my mobile devices, etc. Bottomline I want to be able to use VR systems and play any game for either platform (recommended specs sited: Rift - https://www.oculus.com/rift/ ; Vive - https://www.vive.com/us/support/category_howto/what-are-minimum-system-requirements.html)

 

3. Monitors - Initially I would be running 3 HD monitors but would eventually like to increase to a maximum of 6. Not sure on resolution just yet. I am not counting monitors in my budget. the budget is just for the cpu tower. Mostly I'm looking for recommendations on monitors and components necessary in the Tower build to make 6 monitors possible, eventually. I'm looking for something that can handle HD video and frame rates > 240 fps.

 

4. Peripherals - No specific peripherals in mind but would like the ability to connect high quality speakers/headphones. suggests on keyboard/mouse/etc. appreciated but no preference. TBH, I really don't care if it glows or changes color as long as it works well and doesn't break down easily. Likely going to want to run Windows. Have toyed with idea of making a "Hackintosh" (what my buddy called it) and have ability to boot into a Mac OS but have heard horror stories and just sounds super finicky to deal with (could be wrong).

 

5. Why are you upgrading? -  So as above, I have a MacBook and have become frustrated with the whole deal. I'm over chasing the newest  console  and PC's just seem like the best solution to my woes. I would like some upward mobility in the overall system so as I become a better builder and more versed in particulars I can upgrade components and such as necessary. As stated I am pretty new to this whole thing and have watched a ton of YouTube videos (mostly linus tech tips and tech quickie) but I figured now would be a good time to get some advice from a solid community.

 

Thanks for all the help. Cheers!

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5 minutes ago, BmartSmart9000 said:

I'm looking for something that can handle HD video and frame rates > 240 fps.

what type of games? 

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How important are details for you in games? Like do you demand cranking everything up, or are you okay with toning things down?

 

Granted I don't think most of the VR gaming lot is that demanding on details, but it'd be nice to know. VR also puts more weight on the CPU than non-VR because it's recommended to push out a high frame-rate.

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This is definitely pushing your budget to the max, the only reason I did this is because 1070s are not in stock anywhere. If you want to save some money swap out the 1080 for a 1070.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($199.89 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: MSI - B350M GAMING PRO Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($78.89 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($131.88 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: SanDisk - SSD PLUS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($80.99 @ Best Buy) 
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($47.88 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB G1 Gaming Video Card  ($528.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: NZXT - S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($69.99 @ B&H) 
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($74.88 @ OutletPC) 
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit  ($89.89 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $1303.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-19 13:56 EDT-0400

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PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/3ysZTH
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/3ysZTH/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($199.89 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: MSI - B350 GAMING PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($76.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($121.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: ADATA - Ultimate SU800 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($57.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K4000 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($65.92 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB WINDFORCE OC 8G Video Card  ($514.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: Corsair - 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($60.98 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Corsair - TXM Gold 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.99 @ Newegg) 
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit  ($89.89 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $1248.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-19 14:04 EDT-0400

 

Ryzen for better value and future upgrade path, gtx 1080 to ensure VR games run smooth.

CPU: i7-2600K 4751MHz 1.44V (software) --> 1.47V at the back of the socket Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Extreme4 (BCLK: 103.3MHz) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 RAM: Adata XPG 2x8GB DDR3 (XMP: 2133MHz 10-11-11-30 CR2, custom: 2203MHz 10-11-10-26 CR1 tRFC:230 tREFI:14000) GPU: Asus GTX 1070 Dual (Super Jetstream vbios, +70(2025-2088MHz)/+400(8.8Gbps)) SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB (main boot drive), Transcend SSD370 128GB PSU: Seasonic X-660 80+ Gold Case: Antec P110 Silent, 5 intakes 1 exhaust Monitor: AOC G2460PF 1080p 144Hz (150Hz max w/ DP, 121Hz max w/ HDMI) TN panel Keyboard: Logitech G610 Orion (Cherry MX Blue) with SteelSeries Apex M260 keycaps Mouse: BenQ Zowie FK1

 

Model: HP Omen 17 17-an110ca CPU: i7-8750H (0.125V core & cache, 50mV SA undervolt) GPU: GTX 1060 6GB Mobile (+80/+450, 1650MHz~1750MHz 0.78V~0.85V) RAM: 8+8GB DDR4-2400 18-17-17-39 2T Storage: HP EX920 1TB PCIe x4 M.2 SSD + Crucial MX500 1TB 2.5" SATA SSD, 128GB Toshiba PCIe x2 M.2 SSD (KBG30ZMV128G) gone cooking externally, 1TB Seagate 7200RPM 2.5" HDD (ST1000LM049-2GH172) left outside Monitor: 1080p 126Hz IPS G-sync

 

Desktop benching:

Cinebench R15 Single thread:168 Multi-thread: 833 

SuperPi (v1.5 from Techpowerup, PI value output) 16K: 0.100s 1M: 8.255s 32M: 7m 45.93s

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Just some tips for VR as a Vive owner, incase you haven't done alot of research.

Try to plan it out to be as simple to setup as possible, because otherwise the setup discourages you from playing it. I now have a laptop for my VR but before I had my laptop, I had to drag my PC, keyboard, mouse and monitor to the lounge, clear space and stack boxes to put the cameras up.

Make sure you have somewhere to screw the cameras into the wall so you don't have to keep taking them down and putting them up, see if you can get the Vive deluxe strap so you don't have to bother about the headphone wire, and set aside a decent amount of money for games (raw data, Arizona sunshine, Onward are all fantastic) otherwise you'll get bored quickly.

 

Also, for the build, I'd take any build someone makes you with a Ryzen CPU and a 1080. When it comes to VR, you really, really want to push the graphics card budget. The Vive has scale-able resolution, you can change the multiplier from 0-2. It's quite a nice difference if you have a good GPU to push the resolution higher, in games that have realistic graphics it becomes hard to see things that aren't large or close to you. VR isn't that CPU intensive (my laptop with a 7700HQ runs it perfectly) so any Ryzen CPU (i advise the 1600) can run it fine. I'll comment in a minute with a part list.

 

 

Main Rig

CPU: Ryzen 2700X 
Cooler: Corsair H150i PRO RGB 360mm Liquid Cooler
Motherboard: ASUS Crosshair VII Hero
RAM: 16GB (2x8) Trident Z RGB 3200MHZ
SSD: Samsung 960 EVO NVME SSD 1TB, Intel 1TB NVME

Graphics Card: Asus ROG Strix GTX 1080Ti OC

Case: Phanteks Evolv X
Power Supply: Corsair HX1000i Platinum-Rated

Radiator Fans: 3x Corsair ML120
Case Fans: 4x be quiet! Silent Wings 3

 

 

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Here's two builds you could go for:
 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/DZL2cc

This build is an "all around" build, it's got a watercooled 1080, good AIO for CPU, B350 motherboard, fast RAM, 6c/12t CPU etc. It's fast, it'l push frames well in VR and everything else, it's good a boot SSD and mass storage, it's like mario in mario kart, does everything well. It even looks pretty nice with a white color scheme.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/2RGcnn

This PC won't have the "nice to haves" of the other one, like an SSD boot drive, lots of overclocking headroom, watercooling for lower RPM fans, and it won't look as cool as the other, but it'l push frames really well because it's squeezed a 1080ti in. Especially for VR and high resolution games, this will do a better job FPS-wise (1080ti is around 30% faster than the 1080)

 

 

 

 

Main Rig

CPU: Ryzen 2700X 
Cooler: Corsair H150i PRO RGB 360mm Liquid Cooler
Motherboard: ASUS Crosshair VII Hero
RAM: 16GB (2x8) Trident Z RGB 3200MHZ
SSD: Samsung 960 EVO NVME SSD 1TB, Intel 1TB NVME

Graphics Card: Asus ROG Strix GTX 1080Ti OC

Case: Phanteks Evolv X
Power Supply: Corsair HX1000i Platinum-Rated

Radiator Fans: 3x Corsair ML120
Case Fans: 4x be quiet! Silent Wings 3

 

 

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Thanks everyone. I'll start looking into these.

 

@M.Yurizaki I don't usually set everything to max but it would be nice to have the ability if necessary. I don't mind pulling back on stuff just as long as the game play can be smooth and clear enough to not impeded play. I don't want to have to deal with lag or choppy frame rates that get in the way and make the gaming experience frustrating. I'd like the VR to be immersive enough that I can occasionally get lost in the game and not be constantly reminded that I am using a computer.

 

@Armakar thanks for the tip. The space I plan on placing it is rather open and the desk is large so I am planning on keeping the rig in the same place. I have plenty of wall space for  mounting cameras and the like. I will keep this in mind though. A laptop is not a bad idea for the future possibly though.

 

Again thanks everyone. Looking forward to any other suggestions or clarifications.

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23 minutes ago, BmartSmart9000 said:

Change the PSU to the Corsair TXM 650W. It's a better PSU, tier 1, and it costs $60 after rebate.

:)

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