New computer soon

[Warpig]

Hey gents,

I am planning on buying a new computer in the coming months, but wanted your thoughts on type of hardware. My question is with DCS 2 coming in the future (TBA), what hardware components would be most important to have to run the game seamlessly. I tend to splurge every 3-4 years on new gaming rigs, so I would like to get your feed back what gaming hardware components you would personally choose.

[Oliver]

Obviously depends on your budget. As always you can go for the fastest model in their series (CPU/GPU). But often you can get 90% of the performance in games for 65% of the price so your bang-for-buck ratio increases drastically. And another rule of thumb is, always go for the latest generation/series unless there is a very specific advantage found in a previous generation of hardware.

What are you planning to spend?

Personal opinion: ASUS Maximus and MSI Gaming series motherboards are great, and they have a great bang-for-buck ratio. Beware though, within these series you will find motherboards ranging from USD 200 to USD 400. The difference is often the number of bells and whistles you get extra. I.e. more USB ports, onboard WiFi, more SATA connectors, etc. The core of the board, the chipset, which is what is important for you, is the same within a certain series.

[Warpig]

$2,500-3250 range.

[Oliver]

Here's a quick example:

- ASUS MAXIMUS VIII Ranger
- Intel Core i7-6700K
- Noctua NH-D15
- Noctua PWM 140mm and 120mm fans if your case comes without fans or with crappy fans
- Kingston HyperX FURY PC-17000 4x8GB (alternatively you can go for 4x4GB, do not go above 2133MHz RAM, instead aim for lower CAS latency @ 2133MHz)
- Samsung 850 PRO 512GB or 1TB, depending on budget
- Asus STRIX GTX980TI DC3OC 6GD5 (alternatively you can go for EVGA GeForce GTX TITAN X Hydro Copper, depending on budget)
- Any 7200RPM HDD, go for the lowest buck-per-GB price, probably gonna end up with Seagate or Western Digital. I wouldn't go for any RAID speed setups since you have the SSD for speed, the HDD is just a data dump.
- An ATX case + PSU, you gotta see what's available and dig into reviews. You definitely do not want to buy the cheapest case available that fits your hardware. Ideally you want one that's super cool and super quiet, be prepared to spend USD 350 on a case + PSU. If you're like me and you don't want a Star Trek case, you're probably gonna end up paying another USD 100 extra for subtle and discrete case that you could reasonably put somewhere in the corner of your living room.

When looking for GPUs you're probably gonna find a lot of models with 2% to 3% difference in clock speed and VRAM speed. My advice is to not go nuts over this subject since you're going to use the OC utility anyway so who cares if the manufacturer puts in an additional percent at vanilla clock settings. It wouldn't be the first time that a slightly cheaper GPU with a 1,120MHz clock has a higher OC potential than a GPU wiht a 1,150MHz clock.

EDIT

These are the prices in EUR incl tax I'd have to pay if I'd buy the above via Webshops in The Netherlands:

MB: 185
CPU: 370
CPU cooler: 90
Fans 3x: 72
RAM 4x8GB: 300
SSD 512GB: 250 / SSD 1TB: 490
980Ti: 790 / TITAN X: 1490
HDD 2TB: 75
Case+PSU: 350

Grand total if you go for the uber GPU: 3422
Grand total if you go for the high-end GPU: 2722

Honestly, seeing as the TITAN X is 200 bucks over your budget, but the 980Ti is at the lower end of your budget, I'd go for the TITAN X. If you go for an EVGA TITAN X which has a few MHz less, you'll end up perfectly at your 3250.

Note, if you're a heavy multicore user, you're gonna need an Intel 5th Gen CPU which, together with a socket 2011 mother board is gonna cost 500 extra. But since you've stated you're focusing on gaming, I did not opt for such a CPU w/ MB and went for an Intel 6th Gen CPU (this is what I meant with certain specific advantages an elder generation might have over newer one).

Hope this gives you at least some insight in what you're up to. Good luck!

[Baxter]

Jealous

[Isimus]

Good machine! I currently own a GTX 970. Thinking about going sli, but not sure what kid of performance I would gain on DCS 1.5 and 2.0. Also with the rest of modern games. Is it worth? Anyone has tried sli before?

[Oliver]

Back when the 970 and 980 were released, two 970 would outperform one 980 for only a few bucks extra. However with the 980Ti and the TITAN X available that's no longer the case. IMHO if you want to get rid of your 970 in favor of a 980Ti or better now is the time while you can still get a decent price for the 970 when selling it to people looking for a very good mid-end card.

As for EDGE, nobody can tell, and those who do, can't... But you should be able to draw your first conclusions within 9 days. If ED will not disappoint us again.

[Dojo]

(*$W&%#!

Let's start there.

I began the day, resolute on upgrading my PC's core components by end of month, just in time for the 950 Pro to be out. While examining my chassis for a mobo I'm considering, I noticed the chipset fan was dead. The machine has been running fine, and a check of the temp monitor reports a little warm, but nothing alarming. I likely lucked out by disabling my overclock profile when I got the 980Ti a couple months ago and forgot to re-enable it after testing, thus running it "cooler" than it has been typically.

In any case, called up Asus, board still within warranty, and they won't issue an advanced RMA, because, while they have them in stock, my board is no longer on the list for Advanced RMA. "Can you just Advanced RMA the fan? I'll happily replace it myself"

"No sir, you'd have to purchase individual components, we only RMA the entire board".

...

I've been religious about Asus motherboards, but it only takes one bad customer service experience to push me off. The only sensible thing I can do, is go ahead and purchase the new components now, so that the RMA down time doesn't affect me.

The new board definitely won't be Asus.

[Ragtop]

I've never had an Asus board myself but two close friends have received 3 DOA boards between them in the past few years. Personally always been Gigabyte and never had a problem.

[Dojo]

I had that experience with Gigabyte and MSI years ago, so last 3 gen PC's have been Asus based. I don't have an issues with occasional failures, happens. It's the service that matters.

Likely will be an eVGA or Gigabyte next though.