New high-end gaming rig

[tfboy]

It's been a while since I've built anything aimed for gaming so am completely out of the game, pun not intended.

A good friend of mine wants to have a nice new platform and has given me a spec asking for advice. But I thought I'd ask here as I'm not sure what works best together nowadays, so any advice is gratefully received.

I've asked what he wants to do and he's come back with a list of things: 3D, flight sim, 4k VR stuff. He already has some nice 4k monitors and would obviously need a headset if he wants to get into the VR side of things - again, suggestions? Although I gather this is probably the wrong thread for VR-related questions.

Regarding hardware, he's suggested:
Asus ROG ZENITH II EXTREME alpha
Ryzen 3990X
128GB RAM
4x 1TB M2 storage in RAID
2x nVidia Titan RTX in SLI or other
Decent PSU to run all that and a case for it to all go in.
Also like to venture into watercooling for the CPU, GPUs, etc.

I haven't priced that up, but it's a princely sum of money. I just want to ensure this makes sense, maybe with a few mods and not just throwing a huge lump of cash and not get something that good in return.

So thoughts?

Thanks!

[kalniel]

I'd probably go for HEDT over threadripper at the moment - flight sim needs better single threaded performance than TR can provide. Something like the 5950X.

SLI is dead to most intents and purposes, so just go for the top GPU in flightsim as and when they're available - today that's the RTX 3090 rather than any titan product, though it might be worth waiting for the 6900XT reviews in case they fare better for flightsim. Another reason to avoid TR is the lack of resizable BAR which could be important for another 10% or so at the high end - for that you'll need either a 5000 series from AMD or an Intel chip (support coming soon).

Urgency might dictate what is practicable before next year though as general availability of components is poor - can your friend wait?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would second what kalniel says. Either get a Ryzen 5000 series CPU,ie,a Ryzen 7 5800X or Ryzen 9 5900X or an Intel CFL CPU such as Core i7 10700K or Core i9 10900K if Zen3 isn't available. Also,AFAIK Intel Rocketlake is being released in Q1 2021 too. However,certain things such as RAM and NAND are quite cheap now,and apparently prices might start to rise next year,if things such as the Micron factory fire have an effect.

Also dual GPUs don't work very well with a lot of modern games.Another thing is Titan GPUs made no sense for gaming rigs due to their additional cost. Even higher end "normal" GPUs such as the RTX3090 and RX6900XT are stupidly expensive for the small performance difference over the GPUs in the tier below,ie,the RTX3080 and RX6800XT.

[tfboy]

Thank you both for your input, great stuff as always
Maybe he can wait, but I have a feeling he has a money burning a hole in his pocket and fancies using Christmas as an excuse to have a go. I'll find out how soon. Also, if I'm tasked with procuring and buildling buying stuff in the UK, it might have to be this year as he's in France and the whole Brexit mess might complicate things further.

[kalniel]

I think you're going to have to go 10900K/10850K + RTX 3090 if you need it soon. I think 5950X + 6900XT will actually perform at least as good if not better, for less, in flightsim but stock is going to be iffy this year.

[tfboy]

Thanks - I've been looking and you're right, availability seems damn near impossible! A result of lockdowns + run up to Christmas ?

Scan have very little if anything available. Will look at other suppliers.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Intel and Nvidia are easier to get hold off. Also AMD Zen2 parts availability and pricing has made it relatively poor value for money against Intel at many pricing tiers!

[kalniel]

Thanks - I've been looking and you're right, availability seems damn near impossible! A result of lockdowns + run up to Christmas ?

Yes - lockdowns have impacted production/assembly and logistics, and PPE ordering has jammed up shipping ports - and once you've got a delay in one port there's a huge knock on effect as empty containers don't get returned on time etc. etc. Perfect storm really so you're kind of reliant on what stock has already made it (or is high value enough to be flown - but again lack of passenger flights means there's less space for cargo carry-alongs, which make up something like 40% of air cargo trips)

[DanceswithUnix]

Thanks - I've been looking and you're right, availability seems damn near impossible! A result of lockdowns + run up to Christmas ?

Scan have very little if anything available. Will look at other suppliers.

Look on https://stockinformer.co.uk/ and find their Discord server. Costs nothing, and I do see stock flying around. The 5900X was on pre-order yesterday at Currys (who are doing sane prices as well).

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

People are in long queues for Zen3 based parts looking on a few forums,so anyone in a pre-order queue now is at the bottom of the list. So if you want to do a build right now,get a Core i7 10700K/Core i9 10850K. If you want a "cheaper" option a Core i9 9900K is now £330 too.

[tfboy]

It looks like it doesn't have to be a Christmas present to self and buying the bits could be put back a month or two, so now that I know that, it probably makes sense to wait for things to stabilise a bit and availability to increase. Point taken about the RAM though - I had missed the Micron fire incident.

[DanceswithUnix]

If they are looking to get a VR headset, then by modern standards the minimum requirements for VR really aren't that bad so they may be able to just dive in there with an existing PC. The Oculus Quest 2 has a built in CPU so can even play games stand alone (you need to buy a cable to plug it into a PC).

It looks like VR headsets are pretty much back in stock since they all sold out after Half Life Alyx launched, though the Valve Index seems to lack base stations atm. The HTC Vive Elite seems to get good reviews if you have the budget (£900) and the Quest 2 can be had for £300 if you want the small memory version. Flash storage is not upgradeable, so if you want to play lots of stand alone games the extra £100 could be worth it. I'm personally tempted by the cheaper Quest 2 as a second headset, my old Rift gets used daily by most of the family and it might be nice to get that back to have a go on Elite Dangerous while they are playing Beat Saber

Edit: OFC if this person doesn't wince at the cost of a TR 3990X then the current price of a 5950X at Novatech might not seem so bad, assuming they haven't already sold out which even at nearly £1000 I'm sure they will.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

It looks like it doesn't have to be a Christmas present to self and buying the bits could be put back a month or two, so now that I know that, it probably makes sense to wait for things to stabilise a bit and availability to increase. Point taken about the RAM though - I had missed the Micron fire incident.

Are the parts being bought in the UK or France?? If its the UK,a month or two is not going to actually improve things,especially if the EU talks don't end well,because they will be the need for even more checks and warehousing of essential items. I don't think this will actually improve the supply situation IMHO.