Gaming PC Advice

[GreigR]

Good Afternoon,

I'm in the market for a gaming pc mainly for sim racing. Problem is, I don't really know what I should be looking for with the finer details.

I've received a couple of quotes from providers, would anyone mind having a look over the specs?

Possibly a cheeky question but if anyone builds PC's as a hobby, it would be great to hear from you.

Many Thanks

[Si1295]

Will you be using a single monitor, triples or VR? That will dictate the components you’ll want. If you want to race in big grids then a minimum of 32gb of RAM is a must

[evenflow]

Also interested in this.
Hopefully not too much of a thread hijack, but I want to build a home sim rig and I cannot find a simple list of what I'll need etc.

[GreigR]

Si1295 said:

Will you be using a single monitor, triples or VR? That will dictate the components you’ll want. If you want to race in big grids then a minimum of 32gb of RAM is a must

It will be used with triple 32" monitors mainly on iRacing, Assetto Corsa and occasionally Flight Sim.

[ziggy328]

Hi,
I built my son a gaming PC.

Here's the build list. He's quite demanding in terms of tech requirement - and he's still happy with it and I built this in March 21. No monitor, inputs included as he already had them. All in at the time it was about £1400. Hardest, and most important bit to get right is the GPU - also the most expensive bit.

MSI GTX 1660 Super Ventus XS OC 6GB GDDR6

AMD Ryzen 5 3600 AM4 CPU/ Processor with Wraith Stealth Cooler - Qty: 1

Corsair Vengeance LPX Black 32GB (2x16GB) 3600 MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4 Memory Dual Kit - Qty: 1

Corsair RM750i RMi Series 750 Watt Fully Modular Power Supply Unit 80 Plus Gold Certified - Qty: 1

AvP Arion RGB Mid Tower Case - Qty: 1

Windows 10 Home 64-bit OEM - Qty: 1

Samsung 980 PRO V-NAND M.2 1TB - Qty: 1

StarTech.com 1.5g Metal OxIDE Thermal CPU Paste Compound Tube for Heatsink - cpu paste - thermal compound - thermal grease - Qty: 1

MSI MPG B550 GAMING PLUS ATX Motherboard - Qty: 1

CORSAIR MM350 PRO Premium Spill-Proof Cloth Gaming Mouse Pad - Extended XL - Qty: 1

[HRL]

Post the specs and your budget.

[GreigR]

Maximum budget up to £2500.

Option 1:

Case:
CyberpowerPC Bifrost Gaming Case - Black [-24]
Laser Engraving:
None
Laser Engraving Message:
None
Fans & ARGB Upgrades:
6x CyberpowerPC Hyperloop 120mm ARGB & PWM Fan Kit [+29]
Cyberpower Noise Reduction Technology:
None
CPU (Processor):
Intel® Core™ i7-13700KF - 16-Core [8P @ 3.40GHz-5.40GHz / 8E @ 2.50GHz-4.20GHz] - 30MBCache, Ultimate OC Compatible
CPU Overclocking:
No Overclocking
CPU Cooling:
Cooler Master Masterliquid Lite 240 Liquid Cooling System, Extreme OC Compatible [-8] (Cooler MasterCPU Water Cooling, Extreme OC Compatible)
Coolant for Cyberpower Hyper Liquid II Cooling Kit:
None Selected
Second Coolant for Cyberpower Hyper Liquid II Cooling Kit (Dual Loop Only):
None Selected
Motherboard:
MSI MAG Z790 TOMAHAWK WIFI: ATX w/ PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 6E, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 [+29]
Memory (RAM):
32GB (2x16GB) DDR5/4800mhz Kingston Fury Beast Memory
Graphics Card (GPU):
GeForce® RTX 4070 Ti 12GB - Ray Tracing Technology, DX12®, VR Ready, HDMI, DP - 4MIN. Monitor Support (Single Card)
Video Capture:
None Selected
PSU (Power Supply):
Corsair RM850X 850W 80+ Gold Modular Gaming Power Supply
PSU Braided Cable:
None Selected
NVME Drive:
1TB Solidigm P41 Plus M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD - 4125MB/s Read & 2950MB/s Write (Single Drive)
2nd NVME Drive:
None Selected
Solid State Drive (SSD):
None Selected
Hard Drive (HDD & SSHD):
None Selected
RAID (Stripe or Mirror):
None Selected
External And Portable Storage (USB / HDD / SSD):
None
Internal Optical Drive (BLU-Ray / DVD / DVD-RW):
None Selected
External Optical Drive:
None Selected
Internal USB Hub:
Built-in USB Ports
Wireless Networking:
None Selected
Wireless USB Adaptor:
None Selected
Wired Networking:
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT -- As standard on all PCs
Sound Cards:
HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD AUDIO

External USB Port and Hub:
Built-in USB Ports
Operating System:
Windows 11 Home

Option 2:

Case CORSAIR iCUE 5000X RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™ i7 16-Core Processor i7-13700K (3.4GHz) 30MB Cache
Motherboard GIGABYTE Z790 GAMING X AX (DDR5, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM) 32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 5200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card 12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4070 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive 500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st Storage Drive 2TB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 470MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply CORSAIR 750W RMe SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable 1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling CoolerMaster Hyper 212 (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler Black Edition
Thermal Paste ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card NOT REQUIRED
USB/Thunderbolt Options MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT
PORTS
Operating System Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence

Option 3:

Case CORSAIR iCUE 4000X RGB Tempered Glass Mid-Tower ATX Case
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™ i7 16-Core Processor i7-13700K (3.4GHz) 30MB Cache
Motherboard ASUS® ROG STRIX Z690-F GAMING WIFI (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) -
ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM) 64GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 5200MHz (2 x 32GB)
Graphics Card 16GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4080 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive 1TB SAMSUNG 990 PRO M.2, PCIe 4.0 NVMe (up to 7450MB/R,
6900MB/W)
1st Storage Drive 4TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB
CACHE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable 1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling CoolerMaster Hyper 212 (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler Black Edition
Thermal Paste ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card NOT REQUIRED
USB/Thunderbolt Options MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT
PORTS
Operating System Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence

[mmm-five]

Couple of suggestions:

• the air cooler on the 2nd and 3rd options is not sufficient for a 13700 CPU, I'd want a 240mm AIO cooler as a minimum
• with the transient power spikes we're seeing from the 40x0 GPUs, I'd want at least a 1000W PSU to protect myself a little (or an ATX v3.0 PSU if you can find one - in Corsair speak these are the RMx 'Shift' models)
• I'd also suggest waiting a few days/weeks until the latest AMD x3D CPUs come out with their extra/3d cache
• as per the 2nd/3rd options, you want a fast boot m.2 SSD and a larger, slightly slower m.2 SSD for games/mods - I'd only use a SATA SSD for slow storage if I didn't have enough m.2 slots as they're no cheaper (and I'd not recommend the Samsung 990 or PCS branded SSDs myself - Samsung 980 as boot and Solidigm as secondary would be my choice)

Edited by mmm-five on Tuesday 21st February 17:32

[HRL]

If you’re not going to upgrade again for a few years I’d blow the budget and get a 4090 personally.

That’ll give you the most frames across triple screens if that’s what you want it for.

I’d echo the previous comment about the 1KW PSU too TBH.

[Brainpox]

CPU: If 13th gen Intel and only for for gaming, go for 13600k(f) instead of 13700k(f). You don't need the extra cores and the i7 needs a liquid cooler if it's going to be pushed. With the 13600k you save money on the CPU and also on the cooling as a decent air cooler will be fine. If you are only sim racing the upcoming 7800X3D is probably going to be overkill.

CPU cooler: to never need to worry go for a big air cooler like the Noctua DH-15 (quieter) or Deepcool AK620 (cheaper)

Graphics: 4080 over 4070ti for multiple screens. 4070 ti has 12GB VRAM and with PS5/Xbox Series X having 16GB we may be entering a time where you need 16GB to run AAA cross platform games properly. Sounds ridiculous but best to be sure if budget allows. Again though if you are going to stick to sim racing this may not apply. The 4090 blows the socks off everything else and runs super cool and quiet, but it would swallow over half the £2500 budget, so not likely an option.

Power: a good 750W power supply is fine for a 4070ti or 4080. 1000W is overkill unless you go for a 4090 but you can't have a power supply that's too highly rated and leaves you with room to upgrade later on. I made the mistake of going for a 650W with my 3070 then needing a new power supply for my 4090. In the long run it cost me more.

Storage: Unless you need high storage capacity I wouldn't bother with mechanical hard drives. Start with a 1 or 2TB NVME SSD for Windows and a few games and then add more storage if and when you need it.

[Griffith4ever]

iRacing will run very very happily on far far less than a 4090. I had it running triple 2k monitors on full detail on a Gtx970. It ran happily on VR too, though it would have benefited from more grunt in VR (PC to CV1).

Looking at your spec list you are getting some serious quotes, and if you really don't mind splurging £2500 then go for it, but a touch over £1k would make you a machine that ran iRacing and Asetto at full tilt without breaking into a sweat. i5, air cooled, RTX 3070, 16gb ram.

A 4090 is just potty, unless you are into one upmanship or you spend every day doing rendering work.

[Rick101]

Really?

Sadly I decided to come off iRacing as the overall cost of keeping it was too high. Pretty much all my gear is ready for an update.

I started with a GFX for PC. 3070 as the cheapest manageable option. That was near £400 alone and when it arrived it was 8 pin vs my 6. That's the limit of my PC knowledge so it was send back. Specialist suppliers were fk all help. I thought sod it and bought a PS5 and GT instead (completely and utterly ste).

I think I still want to do iRacing but in my mind I need a pot of around 5K to get set up with new gear (PC, VR, Wheels, Pedals, Rig). I'll prob let my 10yr+ account expire and restart when I'm in a position to do so.

Edited by Rick101 on Wednesday 22 February 09:10

[Griffith4ever]

Rick101 said:

Really?

Sadly I decided to come off iRacing as the overall cost of keeping it was too high. Pretty much all my gear is ready for an update.

I started with a GFX for PC. 3070 as the cheapest manageable option. That was near £400 alone and when it arrived it was 8 pin vs my 6. That's the limit of my PC knowledge so it was send back. Specialist suppliers were fk all help. I thought sod it and bought a PS5 and GT instead (completely and utterly ste).

I think I still want to do iRacing but in my mind I need a pot of around 5K to get set up with new gear (PC, VR, Wheels, Pedals, Rig). I'll prob let my 10yr+ account expire and restart when I'm in a position to do so.

Edited by Rick101 on Wednesday 22 February 09:10

What put me off, and stopped my iRacing "career" was the ongoing subs, plus new cars, plus new tracks. They dropped the attractive promotional subs, and each season they changed tracks for the basic championships so you kept having to buy more. It became a money sink, ands then, to top it off, they started adding VAT. Just felt like a piss take to me and as I had stints of not playing at all (summer, basically) it became a pointless monthly outgoing that needed topping up come winter time.

iRacing start up? I'd go Quest 2 VR (VR is a totaly game changer in iRacing IMHO), £1k ish on a PC, then whatever a nice wheel and pedals costs these days, plus a seat.

[simonwhite2000]

Brainpox said:

CPU: If 13th gen Intel and only for for gaming, go for 13600k(f) instead of 13700k(f). You don't need the extra cores and the i7 needs a liquid cooler if it's going to be pushed. With the 13600k you save money on the CPU and also on the cooling as a decent air cooler will be fine. If you are only sim racing the upcoming 7800X3D is probably going to be overkill.

CPU cooler: to never need to worry go for a big air cooler like the Noctua DH-15 (quieter) or Deepcool AK620 (cheaper)

Graphics: 4080 over 4070ti for multiple screens. 4070 ti has 12GB VRAM and with PS5/Xbox Series X having 16GB we may be entering a time where you need 16GB to run AAA cross platform games properly. Sounds ridiculous but best to be sure if budget allows. Again though if you are going to stick to sim racing this may not apply. The 4090 blows the socks off everything else and runs super cool and quiet, but it would swallow over half the £2500 budget, so not likely an option.

Power: a good 750W power supply is fine for a 4070ti or 4080. 1000W is overkill unless you go for a 4090 but you can't have a power supply that's too highly rated and leaves you with room to upgrade later on. I made the mistake of going for a 650W with my 3070 then needing a new power supply for my 4090. In the long run it cost me more.

Storage: Unless you need high storage capacity I wouldn't bother with mechanical hard drives. Start with a 1 or 2TB NVME SSD for Windows and a few games and then add more storage if and when you need it.

13600 is ok for a 4090?

[Brainpox]

simonwhite2000 said:

13600 is ok for a 4090?

Absolutely. If you were playing at 1080p you might end up CPU limited but then you wouldn’t have a 4090 to play at 1080p. 1440p and 4K are both great with a 13600.

[GreigR]

Apologies for the late reply. Thanks for the very useful replies above.

Would anyone be willing to spec a suitable PC build on here and list the parts or even via DM if you prefer?

Many Thanks