Helping friend build vr ready build.

[JustnM]

I'm helping someone build a VR ready computer. He has $1200 to spend, and I'm not new to building rigs, but I've never done a VR ready one. So was hoping to get a smarter/more knowledged set of eyes on the general specs I'm suggesting to him before I convince him to commit this amount of money. Any suggestions are welcome.

Build below:

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/QvKNjc
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/QvKNjc/by_merchant/

 

[Chugalug_]

Here ya go.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-7700 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($294.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG M9i 48.4 CFM CPU Cooler ($19.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock B250 Pro4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($76.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: ADATA XPG Z1 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($86.48 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($74.99 @ Jet)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1080 8GB DUKE OC Video Card ($499.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.90 @ Amazon)
Total: $1211.08
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-04-12 02:32 EDT-0400

 

[Chugalug_]

If he wants wifi, get this: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/r7RFf7/gigabyte-gc-wb867d-i-rev-42-none-wi-fi-adapter-gc-wb867d-i-rev-42
If the cost is too much, drop the case down to one of these.
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/vcbkcf/zalman-case-z1neo
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/pDphP6/corsair-case-spec01redled

 

[Geekwad]

VR really does perform best when it's not competing for CPU resources, so would certainly point you in the direction of looking at more threads:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1600X 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor ($248.98 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.98 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-AB350M-Gaming 3 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($94.79 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($119.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Plextor M8Pe 256GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Windforce OC Video Card ($379.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.98 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($56.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I PCI-Express x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter ($29.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case Fan: Cooler Master SickleFlow (Red) 69.7 CFM 120mm Fan ($6.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1197.33
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

[Sakkura]

VR is generally not particularly CPU-intensive, and much of the content is not well threaded.

A Core i5 (or Ryzen 3) thus makes more sense for VR than a Core i7 or Ryzen 5. If you have money for upgrades, it's better spent on GPU horsepower. Or even better, keep it and spend it later on VR content or maybe in a couple years on a gen 2 VR headset.

Swapping in a better power supply, more storage for the money, and some cheaper but basically just as good options for CPU cooler and memory, here's the build I would suggest:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-7600K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($234.69 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG M9i 48.4 CFM CPU Cooler ($19.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z270-A PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($102.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($109.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: ADATA Ultimate SU800 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($67.98 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Mini Video Card ($359.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.98 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ Amazon)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 PCI-Express x1 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi Adapter ($34.98 @ NCIX US)
Case Fan: Cooler Master SickleFlow (Red) 69.7 CFM 120mm Fan ($6.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1122.12
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-04-12 08:05 EDT-0400

 

[Geekwad]

Considering the advice here is all over the map, I thought I'd link this for a bit more of an in depth answer:
[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DJdkDms7Y0"][/video]

Steve certainly can write a book about testing and methodology:

http://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/2871-amd-vs-intel-vr-cpu-benchmarks-with-vive-and-rift

To clarify my own build suggestion: I don't think you really need a 6c/12t CPU for good VR, but considering the price-to-performance, would strongly consider it over the Intel 4-core options.

 

[Sakkura]

Note that the 7700K is generally slightly better than the R7 1700 in those tests, despite the latter having twice as many cores and way more multithreaded performance. That's a good illustration of the fact that current VR content really doesn't rely on multithreaded performance.

They're both pretty much at the performance cap all the time though. If they also had CPU load in the graphs, you'd see them both having lots of headroom left. That's why you can easily step down to a Core i5. Or probably Ryzen 3, when it arrives.

Meanwhile, the money saved on the CPU can be put to good use upgrading the GPU. Either to increase the game's graphics settings, or to increase the supersampling.

 

[Chugalug_]

Ryzen 7 gets rolled by an i7 in gaming performance, Ryzen 7 is best suited to applications of raw compute power, Ryzen 5 fares somewhat better in terms of gaming.

 

[Sakkura]

Ryzen 7 gets rolled by an i7 in gaming performance, Ryzen 7 is best suited to applications of raw compute power, Ryzen 5 fares somewhat better in terms of gaming.

Ryzen 5 isn't any better than Ryzen 7 in games. But they're both pretty close to a Core i7 anyway, in realistic scenarios.

As for VR, the difference is negligible as the games just aren't that CPU-intensive. The GPU matters a whole lot more.

That's why I recommend getting a cheaper CPU and spending the money on the GPU instead.