PC for ONLINE VR RACING

[colofsafc]

Returning customer after 8 years, looking for a new PC which would be used mainly for online racing games in VR.
Looking to spend around £2000.00 with graphics card (already have a GTX1080) don't know if upgrade to 2080 would be worth it.
Any ideas of changes would be appreciated. Thanks


Case
PCS CYCLONE GAMING CASE (Red LED Fans)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-9700K (3.6GHz) 12MB Cache

Get Total War: Three Kingdoms & More w/ select Intel CPUs!
Motherboard
ASUS® WS Z390 PRO: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2666MHz (2 x 16GB) (IS THIS TO MUCH)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2080 - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready! (ALREADY OWE A GTX1080 IS THE UPGRADE WORTH IT)
1st Storage Drive
4TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE (ONLY PICKED ONE AS DON'T KNOW IF I NEED TWO HARD DRIVES)
Intel Optane Memory
16GB INTEL® OPTANE MEMORY - USE WITH MECHANICAL HDD (DON'T KNOW IF I NEED THIS)
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
PCS FrostFlow 100 V2 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 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001] (ALREADY HAVE WINDOWS 10 BUT DON'T KNOW IF I CAN TRANSFER TO NEW PC)
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)
Keyboard & Mouse
CoolerMaster Devastator III Combo Keyboard and Mouse
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Price: £2,119.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[SpyderTracks]

What VR are you using?

What monitor are you using for gameplay?

 

[colofsafc]

I use a OCULUS RIFT S. I don't really play games through my monitor anymore. Thanks

 

[SpyderTracks]

I use a OCULUS RIFT S. I don't really play games through my monitor anymore. Thanks

If you can hang on for a couple of weeks, AMD are releasing their Zen 2 Ryzen 3000 series CPU’s which are set to demolish Intel at a lower price point. Plus new motherboards with PCIe 4, double speed NVME SSD’s, up to 5GHz RAM, well worth waiting for. All set to hit market on 7th July.

The intels have major security flaws and mitigation’s have been rolled out via windows which reduces performance currently by 20%. And they run needlessly hot.

 

[Scott]

If you can hold off, I would wait until after July 7th as there are new AMD processors due that may be a good shout for the VR loads.

I play Project Cars 2 and it benefits greatly from the 2080 over the 1080.

Something like this would be pretty good...

Case
FRACTAL MESHIFY C BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-9700K (3.6GHz) 12MB Cache

Get Total War: Three Kingdoms & More w/ select Intel CPUs!
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2080 - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB WD Black™ SN750 M.2 NVMe SSD (up to 3470MB/s R | 2600MB/s W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100x 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
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine 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 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 7 to 9 working days
Price: £1,984.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z370-pc/y0!RX4Fe6V/

 

[colofsafc]

If you can hang on for a couple of weeks, AMD are releasing their Zen 2 Ryzen 3000 series CPU’s which are set to demolish Intel at a lower price point. Plus new motherboards with PCIe 4, double speed NVME SSD’s, up to 5GHz RAM, well worth waiting for. All set to hit market on 7th July.

The intels have major security flaws and mitigation’s have been rolled out via windows which reduces performance currently by 20%. And they run needlessly hot.

I could wait but my current pc has given up, I think the hard drive has gone. Time is right for new pc though. Thanks

 

[colofsafc]

If you can hold off, I would wait until after July 7th as there are new AMD processors due that may be a good shout for the VR loads.

I play Project Cars 2 and it benefits greatly from the 2080 over the 1080.

Something like this would be pretty good...

Case
FRACTAL MESHIFY C BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-9700K (3.6GHz) 12MB Cache

Get Total War: Three Kingdoms & More w/ select Intel CPUs!
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2080 - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB WD Black™ SN750 M.2 NVMe SSD (up to 3470MB/s R | 2600MB/s W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100x 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
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine 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 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 7 to 9 working days
Price: £1,984.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z370-pc/y0!RX4Fe6V/

Thanks for reply, I could wait a couple of weeks but my pc has given up (hard drive i think) could you tell me what intel optane memory is please. I think I will upgrade to a 2080 and sell my 1080. Thanks for replying

 

[Scott]

Intel optane is used with conventional hard drives to cache frequently used data. It effectively turns a non-hybrid drive into a hybrid one.

Nowhere near as good as proper SSD drive IMO. They're really fast but unfortunately they will be sporadic with what they allocate.

 

[colofsafc]

Intel optane is used with conventional hard drives to cache frequently used data. It effectively turns a non-hybrid drive into a hybrid one.

Nowhere near as good as proper SSD drive IMO. They're really fast but unfortunately they will be sporadic with what they allocate.

Thanks, so not worth it really, can I ask why the need for two hard drives ? . Thanks again

 

[Scott]

Thanks, so not worth it really, can I ask why the need for two hard drives ? . Thanks again

The M2 drive, that's 500GB, is insanely fast. Great for loading windows and you're most played games. If the budget allowed you could go for 1TB in order to fit more games on, but 500GB is the minimum I normally recommend.

It's a no brainer with a modern system. They are so powerful nowadays that a conventional drive just doesn't cut it for anything but mass storage.

 

[colofsafc]

How about these specs if I was buying tomorrow and not waiting for new AMD ?

Case
FRACTAL MESHIFY C BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-9700K (3.6GHz) 12MB Cache

Get Total War: Three Kingdoms & More w/ select Intel CPUs!
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z390-E GAMING: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs, WIFI - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2080 - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB WD Black™ SN750 M.2 NVMe SSD (up to 3470MB/s R | 3000MB/s 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 H100x 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
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine 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 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 7 to 9 working days
Price: £2,107.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[Scott]

The Strix is a bit overkill but if you want the Wifi it's a decent option. I would probably go with the Aorus Pro and a separate card but up to yourself on that.

I would spend a little extra and get the RMx PSU (Nice to see the 750w as an option now). It's a better PSU all round and has zero fan mode for lighter loads.

I would also spend a little extra on the mass storage, unless you already have some. The 3TB offering is a 7200 RPM drive which is as fast as it gets and worth it for the money.

You will be a little over budget with these options but it's a no compromise build to be fair.

 

[colofsafc]

Decided I am going to go a bit higher spec, would this be overkill for VR online racing games. (Raceroom, Assetto Corsa, RFactor 2 and maybe I Racing), or will this keep me going for a while.

Thanks

Case
FRACTAL MESHIFY C BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i9 Eight Core Processor i9-9900K (3.6GHz) 16MB Cache

Get Total War: Three Kingdoms & More w/ select Intel CPUs!
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
11GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2080 Ti - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB WD Black™ SN750 M.2 NVMe SSD (up to 3470MB/s R | 3000MB/s W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100x 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 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine 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 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 7 to 9 working days
Price: £2,504.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[Scott]

I would stick with the 9700k personally. The 9900k is likely to be somewhat held back with the security vulnerabilities with hyperthreading (I have one, I would advocate the 9700k if you can't wait for Zen2). Have a look at a pre-overclocked build to see if there is a cost difference.

The wireless you have chosen is the bottom tier. I would go with a 5Ghz offering if you plan to use the network for streaming etc.

Otherwise it looks pretty good. 2080ti will absolutely smash VR racing.

 

[colofsafc]

I would stick with the 9700k personally. The 9900k is likely to be somewhat held back with the security vulnerabilities with hyperthreading (I have one, I would advocate the 9700k if you can't wait for Zen2). Have a look at a pre-overclocked build to see if there is a cost difference.

The wireless you have chosen is the bottom tier. I would go with a 5Ghz offering if you plan to use the network for streaming etc.

Otherwise it looks pretty good. 2080ti will absolutely smash VR racing.

Thanks for replying, regarding Zen2 what do you think will be the big difference between it and the 9700k.
Will add the 5Ghz to my spec, so do you think the price difference between 2080 and 2080ti is worth it long term.
Thanks

 

[Scott]

Thanks for replying, regarding Zen2 what do you think will be the big difference between it and the 9700k.
Will add the 5Ghz to my spec, so do you think the price difference between 2080 and 2080ti is worth it long term.
Thanks

It's a bit of an unknown for now unfortunately. The single core frequency of the 9700k is going to be higher than any of the Zen2 lineup, but it's all about the efficiency and the IPC. This will all come out in time with the reviews.

I don't think you will necessarily gain anything with your usage in mind, but you may save some cash. Additionally the Zen2 will launch with a new motherboard configuration with some new chipset features such as PCIe 4.0 and extreme frequency RAM options.

Not to say that any of this will make any difference for your gaming but it's always nice to be at the cutting edge when cost is the same.

If I could have afforded the 2080ti it's what I would have gone with. It's an absolute monster of a card. Pushing VR framerate in Racing Simulators is very important in my experience. My 2080 does really well, a proper step up from the 1080 that I have. The 2080ti is another level again though.

 

[colofsafc]

It's a bit of an unknown for now unfortunately. The single core frequency of the 9700k is going to be higher than any of the Zen2 lineup, but it's all about the efficiency and the IPC. This will all come out in time with the reviews.

I don't think you will necessarily gain anything with your usage in mind, but you may save some cash. Additionally the Zen2 will launch with a new motherboard configuration with some new chipset features such as PCIe 4.0 and extreme frequency RAM options.

Not to say that any of this will make any difference for your gaming but it's always nice to be at the cutting edge when cost is the same.

If I could have afforded the 2080ti it's what I would have gone with. It's an absolute monster of a card. Pushing VR framerate in Racing Simulators is very important in my experience. My 2080 does really well, a proper step up from the 1080 that I have. The 2080ti is another level again though.

Just put 9700k in my specs, and guess what they are out of stock, (not due in until August) what would you recommend after the 9700k, but will be sticking with the 2080ti
Still not 100% if to wait or not as I currently have no PC

 

[SpyderTracks]

Just put 9700k in my specs, and guess what they are out of stock, (not due in until August) what would you recommend after the 9700k, but will be sticking with the 2080ti
Still not 100% if to wait or not as I currently have no PC

If it's just the hard drive that's dead, just pick up a replacement until you're ready to order in July, then you can be back up and running tomorrow.
A good SSD will cost pennies and then you can use it in your upcoming build anyway so nothing lost.

 

[colofsafc]

If it's just the hard drive that's dead, just pick up a replacement until you're ready to order in July, then you can be back up and running tomorrow.
A good SSD will cost pennies and then you can use it in your upcoming build anyway so nothing lost.

Any recommendations and are they easy to swap over?. How do I put Windows 10 onto new drive?
Sorry fir silly questions but don't do much with computer.
Thanks for replying

 

[SpyderTracks]

I would personally go for a 1TB Crucial MX500 SATA SSD for around £100

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-MX500-CT1000MX500SSD1-Internal-NAND/dp/B077SF8KMG?th=1

That will offer good performance at the moment for gaming, then once you've got your new build you can just swap it into that into a spare SATA slot as a game drive or even storage.

They're rediculously easy to install, literally plug in a SATA Data and seperate power connector, and done.

Then to install windows, you can create a bootable USB from here (assuming you're on windows 10):

Download Windows 10

If you need any help, just post here and we can guide you on getting setup.