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[War Eagle]

I thought there might be others in my boat, so could this be a thread to help first time PC builders build a rig specifically for VR (DK2 and beyond).

My budget is ~ $1500. Here is what I am thinking right now:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks
Type Item Price
CPU Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor
$269.99 @ Micro Center
Motherboard ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Killer ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
$109.99 @ Newegg
Memory Kingston 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
$129.99 @ Newegg
Storage Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
$64.99 @ Newegg
Video Card Zotac GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card
$491.98 @ SuperBiiz
Case BitFenix Shinobi Window ATX Mid Tower Case
$76.02 @ NCIX US
Power Supply Silverstone 600W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply
$94.99 @ Amazon
Optical Drive LG WH16NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer
$59.99 @ Micro Center
Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)
$84.99 @ NCIX US
Total
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. $1367.93

How would this rig handle VR? How future proofed is it? Should I hold off and wait for the Maxwell cards I keep hearing about? What exactly are the Maxwell cards anyway? Sorry for being such a PC newb, but it's time I join the master race.

Spoiler

I still love my PS4 though.

 

[Double D]

What's DK2?

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

What's DK2?

oculus rift developer kit 2

for the op, http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=745567

why do you need a new thread for stuff that should go there?

 

[Bsigg12]

What's DK2?

Rift Development Kit 2

OP, I'm no expert but I would consider a larger PSU.

 

[Sinatar]

Should I hold off and wait for the Maxwell cards I keep hearing about? What exactly are the Maxwell cards anyway?

The answer to this is *always* no. There is always the 'next big thing' on the horizon hardware wise, if you keep waiting you will never pull the trigger.

As for what is Maxwell? It's the next generation GPU chipset from nVidia that their future cards will be using.

 

[War Eagle]

What's DK2?

Oculus Rift Dev Kit 2. Sorry, I did not have enough room in the title to write it out.

 

[Qassim]

If you're buying an NVIDIA card - go with EVGA and you can benefit from the stepup scheme if you're worried about new cards coming out.

http://www.evga.com/support/stepup/

 

[turcy]

The answer to this is *always* no. There is always the 'next big thing' on the horizon hardware wise, if you keep waiting you will never pull the trigger.

As for what is Maxwell? It's the next generation GPU chipset from nVidia that their future cards will be using.

this is seriously sound advice.

i just built my first PC in ten years [started building when i was 13, couldn't afford to during/after university, only just got back into it at 29 because i have a business now], and i'm already experiencing that should-have-waited regret.

nice to hear someone remind us all that it's just a trick, a consumerist devil's trick.

 

[turcy]

If you're buying an NVIDIA card - go with EVGA and you can benefit from the stepup scheme if you're worried about new cards coming out.

http://www.evga.com/support/stepup/

wow, i never even knew that existed - thank you!

i just got a 780ti dual classy, so feeling pretty safe, but now i'll sleep even better.

edit: also going to register for all these warranties, this link has been a LIFEsaver.

edit #2: couldn't we just move this discussion to the "need a new pc thread"? great thread, helpful folk, tons of knowledge already pooled & sorted for new-comers;

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=745567

 

[War Eagle]

this is seriously sound advice.

i just built my first PC in ten years [started building when i was 13, couldn't afford to during/after university, only just got back into it at 29 because i have a business now], and i'm already experiencing that should-have-waited regret.

nice to hear someone remind us all that it's just a trick, a consumerist devil's trick.

How hard is the actual building of the PC once you have all the parts? I have ZERO experience in this, and plan to watch youtube videos and ask questions on Gaf and r/buildapc. I'm just nervous I'm going to make a costly mistake and have to buy a new CPU or something because I'm an idiot.

 

[Bsigg12]

How hard is the actual building of the PC once you have all the parts? I have ZERO experience in this, and plan to watch youtube videos and ask questions on Gaf and r/buildapc. I'm just nervous I'm going to make a costly mistake and have to buy a new CPU or something because I'm an idiot.

It's pretty simple. I built my first one last year. For the most part it's plug everything in and turn it on. Make sure you read the instructions for the RAM in the MOBO book as certain lane setups run the RAM differently.

 

[GhostTrick]

I think you should get a cheaper CPU like i5 4670k and add the money for a GTX780ti or R9 290X.

 

[Qassim]

How hard is the actual building of the PC once you have all the parts? I have ZERO experience in this, and plan to watch youtube videos and ask questions on Gaf and r/buildapc. I'm just nervous I'm going to make a costly mistake and have to buy a new CPU or something because I'm an idiot.

There isn't too much to worry about - just watch some videos, read some guides to get the best practices and you'll be fine.

I've never damaged a component building a PC and I'm sometimes rather careless.

 

[War Eagle]

I think you should get a cheaper CPU like i5 4670k and add the money for a GTX780ti or R9 290X.

How different is the ti?

 

[Chettlar]

Rift Development Kit 2

OP, I'm no expert but I would consider a larger PSU.

It's probably adequate, but I would recommend going with 750w if the OP can.

 

[GhostTrick]

How different is the ti?

More powerfull.
I think that your Oculus Rift will want more of a good GPU than a good CPU.

 

[Baka Sempai]

How different is the ti?

That's not precisely good advice.

The i5 will work great with the 290x but will bottleneck the ti.

Your current configuration is fine, just change the HDD to an SSD.

 

[Qassim]

How different is the ti?

It's a decent step up from the 780.
http://anandtech.com/bench/product/1036?vs=1072

It's not massive, but there are probably more tangible gain from a 780 to a 780Ti vs a i7 4770K to a i5 4670K for gaming.

 

[Sentenza]

How hard is the actual building of the PC once you have all the parts? I have ZERO experience in this

Anyone willing to spend ten minutes watching a youtube tutorial could probably do it.
But let me point that you are too lazy/scared to handle that part yourself there are other options.
For instance if you buy everything in one place (say, newEgg) you can usually add 30 bucks to your budget and they will assemble and test the whole thing for you.

 

[fade_]

ti is a decent step above 780 but the price to performance ratio isn't worth it. 780 is definitely the best bang for buck if thats what you're looking for. If money is not an issue definitely go for the ti.

 

[thesuperfunk]

I would probably have a 128gb SATA drive for the O/S and then something like a Western Digital for storage.

 

[fred]

How hard is the actual building of the PC once you have all the parts? I have ZERO experience in this, and plan to watch youtube videos and ask questions on Gaf and r/buildapc. I'm just nervous I'm going to make a costly mistake and have to buy a new CPU or something because I'm an idiot.

It's very easy. You screw the motherboard into the case then just slot the different pieces in. All you need to worry about is to earth yourself on the inside of the case before you pick the pieces up and slot them in. A central heating radiator and a kitchen/bathroom tap are also good alternatives, although the latter would mean putting it together in your kitchen or bathroom lol

 

[fade_]

It's alot easier than you think. Don't be scared. If you know how to use a screwdriver and insert a sege genesis/super nintendo cartridge then you shouldn't have any problems. Try getting a modular power supply to help make things less confusing if you have the cash to spare too.

 

[Aureon]

SSD missing. It's important.

 

[Dankul]

I was just on the same boat as you; preordered the DK2 and then needed a PC. My budget was similar to yours and this is what I ordered: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3dtrl

From what I have been reading, you don't need 16gb of ram or the 4770k for gaming, and may want to consider a better power supply.

 

[Baka Sempai]

I was just on the same boat as you; preordered the DK2 and then needed a PC. My budget was similar to yours and this is what I ordered: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3dtrl

From what I have been reading, you don't need 16gb of ram or the 4770k for gaming, and may want to consider a better power supply.

xfx are terrbile PSUs, the silverstone in the list is sufficient for his needs, will even support an 780ti (great OEM psus)

 

[Iced_Eagle]

If this rig is mainly for gaming, get an i5 instead of an i7. i7's mainly add hyper threading, which gives really minimal improvements for games. It mostly helps with video editing, compiling and other tasks which are easily spread across cores. You can still get a k-series for overclocking too.

Second, you're getting a k-series, but you need to get a CPU cooler if you're going to overclock. If you aren't planning to overclock, don't get the k-series because the ability to overclock is what you're paying for. If you decide not to overclock, you should also look into a different motherboard which doesn't have the overclocking features. Again, you would be paying extra money for things you won't use.

For a cooler, I recommend something like the Noctua cooler ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018 ).

Next, I highly suggest looking into getting an SSD, even 128GB is good. Install the OS on it, and your main programs. It is absolutely worth it for the insane speed you'll get. You will still need a large HDD for storage though, so 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD is decent.

If you have any money within your budget, upgrade the GPU to the 780 Ti if you can. Rift games will likely be more GPU bound than CPU bound, so it will give you good bang for the buck and will be more "future proof".

Finally, it's worth considering looking into Windows 8.1. Yes, there are a few things you need to learn for the UI, but the performance is overall better than Windows 7, and DX11.1 and DX11.2 aren't available on Windows 7. For example, BF4 takes advantage of the CPU optimizations they added in DX11.1 and it provides better framerate on the same hardware on Windows 8 compared to Win7. MS is also releasing another free update next month which continues to make the OS more mouse/keyboard friendly. It's still your money, so you can do what you want of course, but I think the benefits to Win8 are worth it over the day or two it takes you to learn and configure Win8 to your liking. There's even start menu utilities that you can download to make it like Win7 if you really want.

Good luck!

 

[licktheenvelope]

this is seriously sound advice.

i just built my first PC in ten years [started building when i was 13, couldn't afford to during/after university, only just got back into it at 29 because i have a business now], and i'm already experiencing that should-have-waited regret.

nice to hear someone remind us all that it's just a trick, a consumerist devil's trick.

Not necessarily true.

I was looking to help someone PC build the other day and was shocked to find out how much RAM costs now. The 4X4 GB Ram I bought for $80 2 years ago is now $200...

 

[ChiefofCitadelSecurity]

How hard is the actual building of the PC once you have all the parts? I have ZERO experience in this, and plan to watch youtube videos and ask questions on Gaf and r/buildapc.

That's what I did. Follow it step by step and pause/rewind if need be.

I'm just nervous I'm going to make a costly mistake and have to buy a new CPU or something because I'm an idiot.

i7 4770K? Nah, you're good bro lol

You could even go down to an i5 and still be good. i7 to me is video editing and work-related shit otherwise you don't really need it.

 

[chaosblade]

Second, you're getting a k-series, but you need to get a CPU cooler if you're going to overclock. If you aren't planning to overclock, don't get the k-series because the ability to overclock is what you're paying for. If you decide not to overclock, you should also look into a different motherboard which doesn't have the overclocking features. Again, you would be paying extra money for things you won't use.

For a cooler, I recommend something like the Noctua cooler ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018 ).

"Bumping" this topic when it could be discussed in the OT for this stuff, but I disagree with this.

Get the K CPU and Z87 motherboard even if you aren't comfortable overclocking at the moment, unless you simply can't afford it. Even then I'd recommend getting the money together for that before pulling the trigger if possible. Overclocking is basically a cheap CPU upgrade, or alternatively, getting the full amount of performance out of the product you paid for. I've seen loads of people in the Need a New PC thread say they wish they had gone for the overclockable CPU/motherboard because now they want to do it when they initially did not.

And that cooler is ridiculously overkill. The CM 212 variants, T4, Xigmatech Gaia, and other similar coolers are plenty good for a solid overclock for less than half the price of a NH-D14. The marginal difference in performance is nowhere near worth the price for a gaming build.


However, I do agree that you shouldn't bother mixing overclockable and non-overclockable parts usually. K CPU in a non-OC motherboard is a complete waste of money. You can get a Z87 motherboard and a non-K CPU with the intention of maybe upgrading, but CPUs usually don't drop in price, so by the time your CPU is outdated you are better off upgrading the CPU + motherboard to take advantage of newer features and better performance than just upgrading to an old CPU for more than it's likely worth.

 

[kharma45]

xfx are terrbile PSUs

No they're not, they're amongst some of the best on the market.

 

[Kalnos]

No they're not, they're amongst some of the best on the market.

I'm pretty sure XFX is rebranded Seasonic right? If true, then yes, they're one of the best.

 

[Terbinator]

xfx are terrbile PSUs, the silverstone in the list is sufficient for his needs, will even support an 780ti (great OEM psus)

XFX are based on Seasonic...

 

[kharma45]

I'm pretty sure XFX is rebranded SeaSonic right? If true, then yes, they're one of the best.

99% sure that every single unit they have on sale now is a Seasonic inside.

 

[Objectively Bad Opinion]

That's not precisely good advice.

The i5 will work great with the 290x but will bottleneck the ti.

????

This doesn't make any sense. The i5 will give you identical performance in games compared to the i7.

And the 290X is no less bottlenecked than the 780Ti unless you exclusively play BF4 or Thief. I love Mantle but let's be honest, it's only in two games right now...

 

[Hagi]

Was wondering why you needed a good rig for Donkey Kong 2.

 

[Vanillalite]

Go with an i5 and just overclock.

Make sure you grab an SSD. It'll make all the difference in the world.

Also if you are building for the future (while I get the complaints) I see no reason to actually spend money on buying Win 7. Just get Win 8. If you already have a copy of Win 7 and don't want to upgrade I feel ya. Spending money to box yourself into Win 7 just isn't a sound idea in 2014 though.

 

[eot]

I don't know what resolution monitor you have, but unless it's higher than 1080p you're probably fine with a 770 over a 780. Of course a 780 will perform better, so it comes down to how much money you're willing to spend, and I guess for VR you really want a consistent framerate. Anyway, don't assume that you need the absolute best because you end up paying a lot more for marginal gains.