Ready to buy my PC for iracing/rift setup

[mr308gtb]

I got my seat, got my wheel/pedals.

Any suggestions on an off the shelf PC (Dell or HP) that would be a good fit for the iracing and rift usage.
I do think a laptop would appeal to me, but am not sure - do these have enough inputs, etc?
Also - if I go for a desktop, do I need to buy a monitor or TV if I am using the rift? Would I need the monitor to launch and configure everything, etc? Would the monitor or TV simply be cool so other could watch what I am doing?

I am considering to put a desk not too far from the playseat, maybe I could leave the computer and monitor over by the desk and have the playseat about 6' away or to the side?
Also - do i need to get up the Rift sensors on the left/right of my playseat?

Thanks - still a lot of questions but making progress after 5 years!

 

[RasmusP]

I don't know about whether or not you'd need a monitor but I would get one, even a used, cheap, little one. It's good to have one for bios stuff, installing stuff etc. The rift got a virtual desktop but I wouldn't trust it...
But others can help you better

About the PC specs:
You need a desktop for sure. Laptops are way too expensive when they are good enough to run VR and the hdmi + USB ports the rift requires... Plus the wheel etc. I really wouldn't want a laptop for this!

CPU: 8700k or 9600k! Maybe even a 9700k. VR and simracing is heavily cpu bound and while you can upgrade a graphics card by just swapping it out, a cpu upgrade is a lot more complicated!
Also you can lower graphic settings in every sim but they barely influence the cpu so when you're stuck cpu wise, you're stuck... And you might want to have the full 90 fps for the 90hz of the rift and now run interpolated frames (asw) at 45 fps.
So you need a beefy cpu!
You might want to wait for 3rd Gen amd ryzen as they look very promising. But if you wanna buy now: 8700k, 9600k or 9700k!

Graphics card: the resolution and image quality of the current VR generation isn't great but it can be increased by running supersampling. That means though:
2x 1080x1200 pixels at 90 fps. And maybe 2x supersampling. Standard PC resolution is 1920x1080 at 60 fps (low standards though).
That compared results in:
5.184.000 pixels vs 2.074.600 pixels.
And increased by 1/3 more fps needed.
While a gtx 1060 is plenty enough for iracing and the other Sims at the standard monitor thing, you'd want a 1080 or 1080ti for enjoying your VR experience.
Or a 2070/80 of course for the new generation.
On the amd side you'd want a Vega 64 minimum!

I wouldn't go below 16gb as 8gb are just barely enough currently and not future proof.

An important note: the games won't become more cpu demanding than they are currently as the development goes for better multicore usage and the current cpus have plenty of spare cores. However you do need their high end single core performance right now. So one of my listed cpus will be future proof!
Gpu wise it will be different so maybe grab a 2070 now and swap it for a 3070 in 2 years. Or grab a 2080 now and replace it in 3.5 years.

You can however go the budget route, not future proof and only run 45 fps with asw on. This will be okay with any current i5 or ryzen cpu (7xxx Intel and above or 2xxx ryzen) and a 1060 or Vega 56. I really wouldn't recommend it though if you have the money for the better parts!

Hope that helps

 

[callumjtc]

Origin PC are ones to look at, but very expensive. I'd avoid Dell and Alienware. HP and the Omen PCs are also good. Though of course for price you can't beat doing it yourself

 

[mr308gtb]

thanks. where would I go to buy the components and do it myself. Is there any DIY guide on how/what to buy. I did see a Dell with the very high end video card, was $2000+.

 

[callumjtc]

thanks. where would I go to buy the components and do it myself. Is there any DIY guide on how/what to buy. I did see a Dell with the very high end video card, was $2000+.

Amazon, Newegg if you're in the states both will do all the PC bits you'll need, and if you PM me I'll give a complete rundown of what to buy and a hand with building it if you get stuck. There are also plenty of DIY guides to PC building on YouTube, such as Linus Tech Tips, BitWit etc, for things like socketing the CPU, cable management and things. Currently I have built every PC for my gaming friends plus my own sim PC so I'm fairly adept

 

[GEO147]

You should check out a channel on YouTube called Carey Holzman. He does PC builds for newbs and explains the whole thing. If you bought the exact same components as one of his builds you could just follow along and copy exactly what he does when he does it pausing as you go .

That's how I built my 1st PC back in 2015.

 

[mr308gtb]

Hi. thank you all for the comments so far... I guess the video card is giving me pause... is the 2070 better than the 1080ti? I think I would prefer to just order out of the box... should I get the 2070 vs the 2080? will I notice any difference? thanks.

 

[callumjtc]

Hi. thank you all for the comments so far... I guess the video card is giving me pause... is the 2070 better than the 1080ti? I think I would prefer to just order out of the box... should I get the 2070 vs the 2080? will I notice any difference? thanks.

Fairly big difference, maybe the Radeon Vll is worth a look too if you don't want ray tracing or G-Sync? But I would choose a 2080 for longevity's sake if going the Nvidia route.

 

[mr308gtb]

I think I should be good to go with the following HP machine - price tag is $2100, with no monitor:
Winddows 10 Professional
Intel Core i7- 9700K 3.6 GHz 8C 95W
HyperX® 16 GB DDR4-2666 SDRAM (2 x 8 GB)
16 GB NVMe™ Intel® Optane™ Memory for storage acceleration
1 TB 7200 rpm SATA
No Secondary storage
No Third storage
NVIDIA ® GeForce ® RTX 2070 (8GB GDDR6 dedicated)
750W ATX ESTR
802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2x2) Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth® 4.2 M.2 combo
Omen by HP Obelisk Desktop 875-1040st
Intel Z390 Coffee Lake

 

[mr308gtb]

ok, so upgrade from 2070 to 2080 is ok, but to 2080TI is big bucks. advice? thanks.

 

[mr308gtb]

also read comments about these 2080 cards being crumby, causing issues, frying machines, etc.

 

[Petey Spangles]

Don't be afraid to build your own. It's not difficult and will save you money that could go towards better components.
If you can handle lego, you can handle this

Also, definitely get a monitor. You really don't want to be doing everything on a virtual desktop, especially when you're setting things up or trying to troubleshoot issues.

 

[callumjtc]

I think I should be good to go with the following HP machine - price tag is $2100, with no monitor:
Winddows 10 Professional
Intel Core i7- 9700K 3.6 GHz 8C 95W
HyperX® 16 GB DDR4-2666 SDRAM (2 x 8 GB)
16 GB NVMe™ Intel® Optane™ Memory for storage acceleration
1 TB 7200 rpm SATA
No Secondary storage
No Third storage
NVIDIA ® GeForce ® RTX 2070 (8GB GDDR6 dedicated)
750W ATX ESTR
802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2x2) Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth® 4.2 M.2 combo
Omen by HP Obelisk Desktop 875-1040st
Intel Z390 Coffee Lake

Looks good, but oof no boot drive SSD. I would demand that from any new PC these days. The 2080 upgrade is worthwhile but going to the ti is not imo. The rest of the specs look pretty good except from lacking an SSD

 

[callumjtc]

Don't be afraid to build your own. It's not difficult and will save you money that could go towards better components.
If you can handle lego, you can handle this

Also, definitely get a monitor. You really don't want to be doing everything on a virtual desktop, especially when you're setting things up or trying to troubleshoot issues.

^^ this. I have offered my help in choosing your components and giving you a guide, and the rest of the forum will be happy to help too if you go this route.

 

[mr308gtb]

Thanks - I sent you a PM... I could def build my own PC... I can do lego,
Price of this other machine was now up to $2500... so saving some $$$, but getting better stuff would be great. Thanks everyone, really appreciate the enthusiasm. Excited to get the seat and wheel/pedal setup.

 

[RasmusP]

What I would buy as an example:

 

[Motowntom]

I got my seat, got my wheel/pedals.

Any suggestions on an off the shelf PC (Dell or HP) that would be a good fit for the iracing and rift usage.
I do think a laptop would appeal to me, but am not sure - do these have enough inputs, etc?
Also - if I go for a desktop, do I need to buy a monitor or TV if I am using the rift? Would I need the monitor to launch and configure everything, etc? Would the monitor or TV simply be cool so other could watch what I am doing?

I am considering to put a desk not too far from the playseat, maybe I could leave the computer and monitor over by the desk and have the playseat about 6' away or to the side?
Also - do i need to get up the Rift sensors on the left/right of my playseat?

Thanks - still a lot of questions but making progress after 5 years!

If you are strictly sim racing, skip the rift and get a Samsung WMR headset, much better visuals and a whole lot easier to set up and run.
Cheers

 

[mr308gtb]

Man, you guys are all really great. Thank you. I am going to assemble my shopping list and come back for a double check .Will also watch the YouTube videos. Thanks.

 

[GEO147]

Yeah watching the videos will prove to you that it is easy to build by yourself. One thing I'd point out is that the video card you choose could have 3 display ports or in Asus cards two HDMI and two display port . This is only important if you will be using a triple monitor setup where using 3 of the same ports is preferable. Evga and gigabyte cards normally have 3dp and at least one HDMI which is simpler to setup triples on .
If you watch a Carey Holzman build he will waffle on a bit but will get into the detail of how to put it together and how to install Windows. If you run into problems the lads on here can assist too .

 

[mr308gtb]

Mate, that is really great I fo.thank you very much for that post.... Good detail... Appreciated