Prepping for VR

larsv8

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Hello All,

Closing on a house in the next month and am setting up a media room for HTC vive room scale.

I am looking at either upgrading my current system or building a fresh new system, if what I have is not salvageable. Here is the system from 2013:

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/rwP2VY

General thoughts:
- Want to be able to smoothly run Vive
- Outside of VR, play alot of Overwatch, RPGs. Last couple of games I played were Witcher 3, Division (PVE intensive), Fallout 4, GTA 4.
-Generally have a dedicated gaming rig, no music or videos, so I never touched my Seagate. 1 SSD in the 256 - 500 gb, seems to work for me.
- Will probably buy one of those fancy 800-1200 monitors with the g-sync, high rez, high refresh, and low response time, so I want to be able to take advantage of it.
- I don't know how to overclock things, so unless it is easy and safe, then its probably not for me.
- Money is always a concern, don't want to spend, just to spend, but including the Vive and Monitor, trying to keep it under 4k.
-Aesthetics are mildly important. Media room should look clean, so a professional looking case / routing / colors could help. (less important than everything else though)
- I have peripherals so don't need to include that at the moment.

Thank you in advance for the help and I look forward to the discussion.
 
Solution
This is all you need for smooth VR gaming in your living room:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer 120 74.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($62.16 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170M Extreme4 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($101.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($72.25 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($169.99 @ B&H)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($309.11 @ B&H)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Mini ITX OC Video Card ($385.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: BitFenix Prodigy M Fire Red MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($92.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($107.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Case Fan: BitFenix Spectre Pro LED 56.2 CFM 120mm Fan ($14.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1627.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-22 16:02 EDT-0400
 
Here is 4K VR build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H110i GTX 104.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($119.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VIII HERO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($199.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($66.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($66.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk X400 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 1080 8GB STRIX Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($629.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 1080 8GB STRIX Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($629.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($168.79 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus ROG SWIFT PG348Q 34.0" 100Hz Monitor ($1182.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $3713.07
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-22 16:13 EDT-0400

For Vive you will have to wait till October 13. SONY Playstation VR will be launching with massive 5.7" OLED Panel and 120Hz Refresh rate. It will be around $400
 

larsv8

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I don't think I need the second 1gb SSD, the one GB would probably be sufficient. Would it make sense to remove that and turn the 1070 into a 1080?
 

Schweet

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Sep 12, 2015
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Your 3570k is very comparable to the 4590 (the system req cpu for the vive):
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i5-4590-vs-Intel-Core-i5-3570K

If you look around you can find forum and reddit threads with people using your cpu with the vive and it works fine. It's not that CPU bound anyway. Here are a few:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/4doru3/first_4_hours_with_my_vive_on_a_i5_3570k_and/
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/916373-pc/73537134
https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/4cti60/3570k/
but look around yourself of course.

And everything else other than the GPU is more than good enough for VR.

Honestly man, I'd just buy a GTX 1080 (or even a 1070) and you're good to go. You don't need to dish out another 2k on a whole new system.

Even if it doesn't work then just buy the rest of a new build and put the 1080 in there.
 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($150.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Avexir Core Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($66.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M4 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($309.11 @ B&H)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 1080 8GB STRIX Video Card ($629.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black/Blue) ATX Mid Tower Case ($64.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($104.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: Dell S2716DG 27.0" 144Hz Monitor ($549.89 @ Amazon)
Total: $2131.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-22 21:12 EDT-0400

Wasn't sure how much of your old build you wanted to keep. This is maxed out 1440p. Also will handle VR very nicely.
 

 

Schweet

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Sep 12, 2015
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It looks like maybe there was a quote fail there, but CPU boss was only one of the sources I gave, and is a decent source of general info, even if you take the overall score with a grain of salt. Look at the individual metrics it gives.

But, picking one source out of many like that, claiming it's discreditable with no evidence, and then using that to dismiss everything else I said, is intellectually dishonest.

This guy doesn't need to shell out 2 grand for a new computer to play VR. His system is mostly fine. Just buy a 1070 or 1080 and throw it in there, with maybe a light OC on the CPU, and he's good to go. Plenty of people are playing VR right now with the same setup, as shown in my links above.

At worst, he puts the 1080 in his old computer, it's not good enough, and then he orders the other parts and puts his whole new computer together with the 1080 he already had. Nothing lost.
 
Here is the same build but with 4K monitor:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H110i GTX 104.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($119.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VIII HERO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($199.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($66.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($66.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk X400 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($149.98 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 1080 8GB STRIX Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($629.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 1080 8GB STRIX Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($629.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($168.79 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus PG27AQ 27.0" 60Hz Monitor ($899.00 @ B&H)
Total: $3429.07
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-22 22:51 EDT-0400
 
Never said anything about the other sources. And you saw that I actually agreed with you that he really only has to upgrade his GPU. Maybe it is you who should be reading everything that's posted. Ask anyone in this forum, CPU boss is the worst possible place to get information.
 

Schweet

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CPU Boss is an aggregate, looking at the individual metrics, like i said, is fine. It's just one more source to help out among many.

i didn't see much agreement from you, because you posted a whole new build. Anyway, the guy's been presented with the info he wants/needs, so I'm out.

 


Absolutely. The XFX XTR 750W is good enough even for a second 1080.
A SLI-ready build is not a bad idea when dealing with new tech like VR.
 
Solution
First of all you skipped out $800-$1000 monitor OP asked for. Ajpaolello provided monitor but a 1440p one most probably according to price OP provided for monitor he would like to use a 4K or 3440 x 1440 monitor with G-Sync . And to run games at that resolution at higher fps GTX1080 SLI will be perfect. As the build includes GTX1080 to attain higher fps at 4K resolution the PC can easily handle VR with no problems at all.