Question Is my pc going to be compatible for VR?

[VoidExile]

So i am going to get an oculus rift vr headset soon and think i need to upgrade my graphics card and are running low on storage space and have for a very long time.

This is what i'm currently using:
I5 8600k cpu
16 gb ram
radeon rx 460
wd5000aakx storage
Asus Prime Z370-P motherboard

I am thinking of upgrading my graphics card to MSI - GeForce GTX 970 4 GB Twin Frozr V Video Card and i'm going to add/replace my storage to a Cruial mx500 1tb ssd already the next week.
As far as i know, pcpartpicker which i'm using to check compatibility tells me there are no issues but i'm not sure if it refeers to unusable or disabled parts or no slow down of the individual pieces which i'm concerned about.
I'm going to replace my graphics card later on but ones again need more storage.
So my question is: Do i have to replace my motherboard to use this ssd or do i need to replace it to use the graphics card?

 

[Wolfshadw]

No. You will not need to replace the motherboard in order to use either of those units.

-Wolf sends

 

[VoidExile]

Ty, computers aren't my expertise, i just like to use them.

 

[Wolfshadw]

You're welcome! Glad to be of help!

-Wolf sends

 

[VoidExile]

Not sure but i feel like you originally wrote yes they are compatible and editted it but i am probably mistaken. I have been looking into it a bit more and as it turns out, the storage and graphics card or at least the storage SHOULD in theory work.

How do i tell what transfer speed my motherboard uses and the storage i want to upgrade to? is it going to be 6gb/s or is there something else i should be looking for in checking compatibility?

What determines if a graphics card is compatible with a motherboard and how do i know if i will get the max potential of a graphics card with the motherboard i'm using?

I am looking to upgrade my storage very soon and as it turns out, we are unsure whether i will need to reinstall windows or any other programs in order to turn the new storage into default or whether i even HAVE to do it in the first place. Like, will i get more speed if i upgrade/replace it with the other or will it not make a difference? if 6gb/s is the answer to above, then i shouldn't be getting a speed increase at all but i most be missing something. After seraching around for the best hard drive for gaming i would expect such expencive and highly rated hard drives to be powerful but i don't even know how to tell if they are better than what i have, given that they provide more space than my current.

I have a lot of questions and i don't want to screw up neither do i want to wait a long time to upgrade everything and try to save up for such an upgrade.

edit: I have heard all about how the most you have on your computer, the slower it will run and startup speed is also slowed down by various factors. Right now and for a long time, my computer have been very slow on startup and a lot of things here and there are running and starting up slow for me, i am affected by the cursed 100% disk usage on startup and sometime when i try to startup programs.
I also discovered while playing Assassin's creed odyssey that i cannot run more than normal on each graphic settings (the default graphics option) and in order to run high and ultra, it's anything between 3000 to 5000 Vram while i'm currently running 1800/2000 avaliable vram, is vram a set amount and how much vram does the new graphics card i want to use have and do you think i will be able to run the game a lot smoother if i upgrade my graphics card or do i also need to upgrade processor and/or graphics card to run the game more properly.

I highly appreciate all the help i can get, would mean a lot to me

 

[Wolfshadw]

If you look at the motherboard's specifications page, under storage, it will tell you what the transfer rate is. I can tell you right now, without even looking, it's going to be SATA 6.0 and that is what you're going to want to get for storage (and if you get a 2.5" SSD), but there isn't going to be a compatibility issue as it's backwards and forwards compatible.

Graphic card compatibility has been pretty much a non issue since the switch from Advanced Graphics Port (AGP) to PCI Express around 16 years ago. As with SATA, PCI Express is also backwards and forward compatible. There have been some minor issues with UEFI, but if you're using a someone modern motherboard (manufactured in the last 10 years or so), that's not going to be an issue.

What you should be able to do is clone your current 500GB hard drive onto your new 1TB SSD. This should allow you to just move everything over without the need for reinstalling Windows and all of your programs. I'd probably recommend using something like EaseUS Hard Drive Clone. Upgrading to an SSD will allow for faster reads from the hard drive. Anytime you're loading a program, is should be somewhat faster, depending on how much you currently have installed on your hard drive. A pretty clean/organized hard drive is still going to load plenty fast, but an SSD is still going to be faster. Whether you notice is going to be somewhat subjective.

Moving to a 1TB SSD should alleviate your 100% disk usage issues; thus speeding things up, but if you're currently running at 100% disk usage, there's probably quite a bit of fragmentation. In this case, I probably wouldn't bother with trying to clone the hard drive to the SSD and just go ahead with the clean install of the OS and programs. This also gets rid of all the junk files that may be lingering and taking up storage space. It's really up to you. If you have the time, I'd probably go with the clone to see if things speed up sufficiently and if not, then go with the clean install.

The Radeon RX-460 only has 2GB of VRAM, whereas the GTX 970 has 4GB of VRAM. I'd probably consider looking at the prices between a GTX 970, a GTX 1060 (6GB version), a GTX 2060 (also 6GB), and an RX-570/580 (8GB versions) or Radeon Vega (also 8GB versions). All are still compatible with your motherboard, but the GTX 970 is already two generations old. If budget allows, I'd probably recommend going with something with more VRAM.

The I5-8600K should be able to handle anything you can throw at it for the next few years. I would not recommend upgrading it. The performance increases (if any) do not justify the costs.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

-Wolf sends

 

[VoidExile]

I feel fairly confident that Crucial mx500 1tb is what i'm looking for, the question is if i should go with a 2tb and ditch the old wd5000aakx completely or if it is possible to have all the important stuff like windows and all the slow loading or gaming related stuff on the 1tb Crucial.

Can i check the lifespan of my motherboard or is it linked to the type of motherboard i am using?

I assume that cloning is not the same thing as just using the copy right click option. Say, if i should use the copy cloning tool, will everything on one drive be copied to the other and i still have both drives with all the same files? Should i then delete all files from the previous drive or something like that? I assume that some of this might be explained if i use the tool you linked. Is the supposedly one time cloning free?
One thing that stuck out to me was that the wd5000aakx is a hdd which i have heard are generally worse than sdd's, so right away i should expect a slight difference in performance there.

I have had my computer for a while now and i am currently 19. While i have got better at taking care of my computer to some extent, i am still not quite there and it's possible that i have multiple times subjected my computer to a bunch of small unnoticable files, viruses, fragments of a program that failed to be deleted or multiple versions of it.
Now let me tell you that i know for a fact that i have purposely ignored disk fragmentation multiple times and started the process and canceled it because i couldn't be bothered waiting. I am using Avg btw. I have checked and googled how long such a process would usually take and i came to the conclusion that it would take me over 1 hour if not multiple hours to get it done. I am always on my computer when it is on, so if i should go through with the proces, i wouldn't have anything to do if i'm not allowed to use it at the same time, if i am, then i could probably start the process right away, otherwise, i probably wouldn't want to do it.
I have googled solutions and reasons for the 100% disk usage but the methods either don't work or i am simple not able to find the solution or notice the difference.
If i clone all everything to the second drive and notice little difference, i can still use disk fragmentation on that new drive and it would be just as efficient as doing it on the first drive right?
One thing that scares me is having to do a clean install, i never really do that unless my pc is in very bad condition as i don't feel comfortable having to do everything all over again. I am unsure if i need to reinstall and redownload EVERYTHING or just a clean install of windows, i do not know how long such a process will take either as i do it so infrequently.

The funny thing about my graphics card is that we upgraded it last summer or so, so it's relatively new. I had help in finding out the information of what would be compatible back then but i feel i know a little bit more now (thanks to age, time, motivation and funnily enough, pc building simulator).

So lets say you had my setup and needed to make a few upgrades. Storage space was running low, you would play heavy games and your stuff would be relatively old. Which part would you upgrade with a max budget of, lets say 800$ or so? It seems that my graphics card is way out of date, even for the gtx 970 and my plans of getting the 970 might not be the best decision i could make. If i am correct, 2gb calculates to 2000 mb and 2000 mb is what is displayed in ac odyssey, so in theory, if i get a 6 or 8gb card, i should be able to run ultra quality of 5gb or something like that, is this correct? In this case, it would be enough for me to get gtx 1060, the question is if it would be safe or cost efficient to get the 2060 or radeon vega.

I discovered that i at some point managed to reach 100% cpu and maybe even memory usage with AC odyssey, i am running at a little less than 50% cpu and memory right now as odyssey is using 45% ish cpu and google chrome is running 45% about 1560,0 mb memory, though i think that's just because i have about 30 youtube apps open at ones and about 10 other sites open right now... so i guess that one is on me but i'm sure there are computers able to handle that with ease, still though, i watch a lot of content and new ones come out everyday and many i still haven't seen...

One last thing that coems to mind right now is: What does this error mean that comes up in pcpartpicker system builder when i use a sumsung 860 evo ssd?

• The motherboard M.2 slot #1 shares bandwidth with a SATA 6.0 Gb/s port. When the M.2 slot is populated, one SATA 6.0 Gb/s port is disabled.

Would it be a good idea to get the samsung 860 evo despite this issue or is this going to make it worse than the crucial mx500, or should i get another ssd hard drive instead of these 2?

 

[Wolfshadw]

I feel fairly confident that Crucial mx500 1tb is what i'm looking for, the question is if i should go with a 2tb and ditch the old wd5000aakx completely or if it is possible to have all the important stuff like windows and all the slow loading or gaming related stuff on the 1tb Crucial.

I have a 500GB SSD that has Windows and all of my applications installed on. I also have a 1TB HDD that I use for documents, downloads, my music/video library, etc... I'd recommend staying with your current plan. Use the SSD for Windows, your applications and games, and the old HDD for storage of documents, images, media, etc...

Can i check the lifespan of my motherboard or is it linked to the type of motherboard i am using?

Not sure what you mean here. Out of all of my dozen or so builds over the last twenty-plus years, I've only had one motherboard fail on me. Typically, a motherboard will outlast it's usefulness. I recently recycled a motherboard that housed my old Pentium III-800Mhz processor from 1997. It still worked. I just didn't have a use for it. As far as upgrades, that's entirely up to Intel. There are hints that the next generation of processors will require a new CPU socket which, if true, makes all current motherboard, obsolete, but your system should last you several years without the need for upgrades. That's just the nature of the business.

I assume that cloning is not the same thing as just using the copy right click option. Say, if i should use the copy cloning tool, will everything on one drive be copied to the other and i still have both drives with all the same files? Should i then delete all files from the previous drive or something like that? I assume that some of this might be explained if i use the tool you linked. Is the supposedly one time cloning free?
One thing that stuck out to me was that the wd5000aakx is a hdd which i have heard are generally worse than sdd's, so right away i should expect a slight difference in performance there.

Correct. It is more than just a copy and paste to a new drive. I must apologize, however. It's been a while since I used EaseUS and back then, it was a free tool. The Crucial MX500 may come with cloning software as well. Not sure about that. As for the rest, you are correct. Once the cloning process is complete, you erase (format) the old HDD to create empty storage space. I won't go into the differences between HDDs and SSD. You can look that up for yourself.

I have had my computer for a while now and i am currently 19. While i have got better at taking care of my computer to some extent, i am still not quite there and it's possible that i have multiple times subjected my computer to a bunch of small unnoticable files, viruses, fragments of a program that failed to be deleted or multiple versions of it.
Now let me tell you that i know for a fact that i have purposely ignored disk fragmentation multiple times and started the process and canceled it because i couldn't be bothered waiting. I am using Avg btw. I have checked and googled how long such a process would usually take and i came to the conclusion that it would take me over 1 hour if not multiple hours to get it done. I am always on my computer when it is on, so if i should go through with the proces, i wouldn't have anything to do if i'm not allowed to use it at the same time, if i am, then i could probably start the process right away, otherwise, i probably wouldn't want to do it.
I have googled solutions and reasons for the 100% disk usage but the methods either don't work or i am simple not able to find the solution or notice the difference.
If i clone all everything to the second drive and notice little difference, i can still use disk fragmentation on that new drive and it would be just as efficient as doing it on the first drive right?
One thing that scares me is having to do a clean install, i never really do that unless my pc is in very bad condition as i don't feel comfortable having to do everything all over again. I am unsure if i need to reinstall and redownload EVERYTHING or just a clean install of windows, i do not know how long such a process will take either as i do it so infrequently.

Newer versions of Windows are supposedly better at handling fragmentation. but nothing will work as well as a clean install on a fresh drive. I would recommend that you just leave your computer on, overnight and let the defrag work then, but even so, there is no guarantee that it would be complete by the time you wake up. For the record, I leave my computer on 24/7. I've suffered no ill effects from doing so. I just turn off the displays when I'm not using it. As for clean installs, I know some people who do that every 3-6 months just as a matter of course. I only do it when I do a new system build or if a Windows update totally borks my system (only happened once). But I keep my system relatively clean. I don't install a lot of junk. I never install any of those "helper" applications that supposedly make things easier. For the most part, I make do with what I already have and if I need something else, I search to find the cleanest, minimalist program I can find to do what I need.

A clean install of Windows should only take you around 15 minutes. How long reinstalling drivers and all of you applications/programs depends on how many you have. If I were to wipe my system today and clean install Windows, I'd have my system back up and running (barring unforeseen issues) in two hours.

The funny thing about my graphics card is that we upgraded it last summer or so, so it's relatively new. I had help in finding out the information of what would be compatible back then but i feel i know a little bit more now (thanks to age, time, motivation and funnily enough, pc building simulator).

As I mentioned, aside from a few minor hiccups, most any graphics card made in the last 15 years is going to be compatible. It just turns out that the RX-460 is kind of a low-end card (I just shelved one btw). It's more than enough for general computer use (videos, browsing, e-mail, office applications), but if you're gaming, they're coding for higher VRAM cards and you'll want a higher-end card. When it was released, the GTX 970 was considered a top-end card, but it's already starting to show it's age, as it's two generations old already.

So lets say you had my setup and needed to make a few upgrades. Storage space was running low, you would play heavy games and your stuff would be relatively old. Which part would you upgrade with a max budget of, lets say 800$ or so? It seems that my graphics card is way out of date, even for the gtx 970 and my plans of getting the 970 might not be the best decision i could make. If i am correct, 2gb calculates to 2000 mb and 2000 mb is what is displayed in ac odyssey, so in theory, if i get a 6 or 8gb card, i should be able to run ultra quality of 5gb or something like that, is this correct? In this case, it would be enough for me to get gtx 1060, the question is if it would be safe or cost efficient to get the 2060 or radeon vega.

If this is your current system:

This is what i'm currently using:
I5 8600k cpu
16 gb ram
radeon rx 460
wd5000aakx storage
Asus Prime Z370-P motherboard

...and I had an upgrade budget of $800, the only things I'd change would be the graphics card and the storage solution. I am budget minded and spending more than $300 of a graphics card is outrageous to me, but this is the world we live in. Given your budget, I'd probably recommend something like the following. Disregard the "Purchased For" items. I just put them there to show you it's all compatible:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor (Purchased For $0.00)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master - Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (Purchased For $0.00)
Motherboard: Asus - Prime Z370-P ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (Purchased For $0.00)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 1 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($134.95 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB Black Video Card ($499.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $689.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-02-22 08:17 EST-0500

Again, this all depends on your personal usage. I only have a 500GB SSD. I also have a 1TB HDD (SATA 3.0 btw). With Windows, a few applications, and some games, I've only used 1/4 of my SSD space, where as I have over 600GB of data in use on my 1TB HDD.

I discovered that i at some point managed to reach 100% cpu and maybe even memory usage with AC odyssey, i am running at a little less than 50% cpu and memory right now as odyssey is using 45% ish cpu and google chrome is running 45% about 1560,0 mb memory, though i think that's just because i have about 30 youtube apps open at ones and about 10 other sites open right now... so i guess that one is on me but i'm sure there are computers able to handle that with ease, still though, i watch a lot of content and new ones come out everyday and many i still haven't seen...

That is on you. I'll assume that you're not some super-genius, able to watch and take in multiple feeds at a time, so just tone it down. One at a time. Just like us regular folks. I can see where you might run into issues with a game that requires (as an example) 4GB of VRAM and you're also running a video that takes up an additional 1GB of VRAM and your graphics card only has 2GB of VRAM installed. These are NOT actual numbers, I'm just tossing them out. A better graphics card with more VRAM will help, but so will toning things down (and at a lower cost).

One last thing that coems to mind right now is: What does this error mean that comes up in pcpartpicker system builder when i use a sumsung 860 evo ssd?

• The motherboard M.2 slot #1 shares bandwidth with a SATA 6.0 Gb/s port. When the M.2 slot is populated, one SATA 6.0 Gb/s port is disabled.

Would it be a good idea to get the samsung 860 evo despite this issue or is this going to make it worse than the crucial mx500, or should i get another ssd hard drive instead of these 2?

The ASUS Prime Z370-P motherboard has four 6Gb/s SATA ports. What this "error" means is that if you install an M.2 SSD, one of the four SATA ports will be disabled. You still have three others that you can use for hard drives and/or optical drives.

-Wolf sends

 

[VoidExile]

Hmm, i'm sure i will figure out more about this whole safety of deleting all the files from the hdd ones i copied everything to the ssd ones i have the drive.

The lifespan of a motherboard has to be pretty long since it is the most important component of a computer, so there is no big surprise there, mine should be more than fine then, assuming that it can handle all the components i need and i don't need to replace it, which i'm not entirely sure i need to.

Now i'm a bit confused as to how a clean install of windows only takes 15 minutes while defrag may take a night or more but i suppose defrag affects the whole drive while windows only affects... well, windows. I am always so scared that leaving my computer on overnight will harm it on some way or even cause some overheating or fan issues which i don't want, guess that might be my paranoia but i shouldn't be wrong to at least worry a little bit, hardware and stuff could get dangerous. Should i try defraging my pc first and then doing a fresh install or should i do a fresh install and then defrag or should i only do one or the other?

Btw, i'm not actually watching more than 1 youtube video at a time, i don't see the point, i just have 40 tabs open and can't seem to get any less. Did i mention that i have 661 files in Bookmarks where as like 90% of them are youtube? (youtube channels or youtube videos/playlists) Yeah... goodluck getting rid of those one by one me. I bet i will probably just magically get rid of them all without my intention and starting fresh. I bet like 50% of those i could just remove without watching them, but that's a lot of work. Have probably watched a couple thousand youtube videos overtime, assuming that i watch 10 videos per day, that's already 3650 videos in a year... gulp oh boy, it's like one of those shows where you watch how many callories a person eats in a year! No wonder i am triggered about youtubes "new"(ish) system.
I'm getting the impression that upgrading my graphics card is going to make a substantial difference to my pc's overall performance in handling graphics but i feel no need to get my hopes up too far just yet, as long as it helps me run vr, then i'm fine. As far as i have heard, running vr requires 4 by 4 meters of space, but i feel my real concern is the roof being on the top floor and the roofs shape and length from the ground may not be sufficient, i see the struggles here and there, just hoping i will at least get a little fun watching and experiencing it, interacting with the enviroment might be a little tricky.

Still don't understand what the issue at the end was implying and if i should be concerned. I spoke with my father and i'm getting vr and he mentioned after having spoken with some friends or helped research it that i will need 4 additional ports to put in the vr stuff. Assuming that i don't have to upgrade my case after upgrading storage and graphics card i should be fine as i only have 4 remaining ports. Then again i could probably disconnect my keyboard or mouse.

I got a new question that have been on my mind for a bit. So i sit in various positions when i play and watch videos. The 2 most common in sitting sideways on rolling around a dumbbel i have on my floor, or i have my feet or my legs over my pc (dotted holes right underneith, might be fan related). It also sometimes happened that i manage to slightly tilt the pc on knock onto it in one way. I have also heard something unrelated about not having it tilt sideways because the fans may get damage by the angle, is this true? Is the way i handle my computer very hazzardous and i should get out of my way to fix something else equally as comfortable to have my feet and legs on instead?

 

[Webmetalreese]

so..much information here! Seriously it's good stuff.

Well, I honestly didn't read all of it when you started in with your drive. SSD's are pretty cheap now and my advice would be just to start fresh with a fresh copy of windows 10.

Depending on what VR set you choose - you must consider a couple of things: if you want a rift - it will automatically install on your boot drive - there is no way around it. The same with Vive and SteamVR. BUT you can set your downloaded games to another drive (I wouldn't just partition your drive and then run them from there) and these games are quite large considering they are very short lol around 5gb or so - certainly not DOOM but still - there are a lot of free things you can try so you might be downloading quite a bit.

So personally I went with a 1TB SSD as a BOOT and an M.2 on the mobo for storage and games. I wanted to actually switch them, but my mobo won't boot from an M.2. So 2 drives. For your storage you could go with HDD or SSD as the VR and drive read/write aren't really an issue. Before I upgraded I had everything on a 500GB WD my Essential and they ran fine.

RAM/VRAM capacity are going to be playing a big part in your setup. I would not go for the 2133 but instead find something that is at least 2400+ 16GB will be SUFFICIENT but if you are building towards tomorrow, I'd go for 32 just to be safe. (I was running 16@2400 and it was using roughly 50% while running, sometimes more)

CPU barely moves when in VR - not totally sure why but on a ryzen 5 1600 3.2 it was using around 12%. I upgraded to the 7 2700x and the activity barely changes (unless its like SKYRIM or something)

VRAM at 2GB is going to hurt you bad because once that is maxed its headed straight for your drives VRAM therefore increasing the work your drive has to maintain. I've always gotten 8GB cards and I saw you mention Mobo as being the most important part of a build, I disagree. If you are gaming I would spend the most on GPU then RAM then SSD and finally get motherboard at a decent price. (Primes are nice, B350/450 - sorry I'm an AMD guy) Don't sink all your cash into a board like a hero and then skimp on a low end card, you'll regret it in the future and you'll be pushing that card hard.

Anyways, my experience and opinion. Hope you got something from it.