Feedback appreciated on this proposed build...

[FlyingNutcase]

Hi all,

 

After 3 years of no PC, I'm ready for my comeback. It's a damn shame about the state of the 50 series cards but it's time to pull the trigger.

 

Highest requirement games:

 - IL2 Great Battles and Korea

 - That "other combat flight sim", let's say "DW".

 - That civ sim FS.

 

Related Hardware

 - I have a 32" 4K 165Hz gaming monitor (Odyssey Neo G7). I'll use this until I get VR and then primarily use it for coding, Vassal "boardgaming" and a little IL2 1946.

 - I plan to get a Quest 3 soon (not sure about availability) to see me through until something better comes along. Most of my gaming with be with that.

 - I'm one of the patient Yaw2 (now Yaw3) Kickstarter bros and may pay the full price balance to get it soon rather than the likely 2026/27.

 

Here's a build which has been proposed to me:

1) What do you think?

2) If I were to spend a little more, where would the biggest bang for the buck be?

 

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 - 9800x3D 8c/16t
Motherboard: Gigabyte B650m Gaming Wifi PLUS
CPU Cooler: Corsair 240mm AIO Watercooler
RAM: G.Skill 64GB DDR5 6000Mhz CL36 White
GPU: MSI Nvidia Geforce RTX 5080 Ventus 16GB OC
Case: Silverstone FARA 511Z Black
Fans: 6x 120mm case fans
PSU: Silverstone DA850R ATX 3.1 80Plus
SSD: HP FX700 4TB M.2 NVMe 7100+ MB/s
Operating System: Windows 11 Pro Licence
Complete System Build service
MAX performance package & Full Tune

 

Thanks chaps!

Edited February 20 by FlyingNutcase
+ Yaw3 mention (related to VR choice)

[Panzerlang]

I'd sooner get a 4090 than a 5080.

In either case, you'll do better with at least a 1000w PSU. An 850w is going to struggle.

[FlyingNutcase]

6 minutes ago, Panzerlang said:

I'd sooner get a 4090 than a 5080.

In either case, you'll do better with at least a 1000w PSU. An 850w is going to struggle.

Noted, thank you!

 

Does anyone have experience with DLSS4 with 50 series and Multi Frame Generation in these flight sims? Any real benefit? That hope has me erring on the side of a 50 series card but if it's mislead fantasy, it would be good to know. 😁

[Aapje]

They seem to like MFG in MSFS: https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/5090-dlaa-multi-frame-generation-wow/703087/15

 

As for the build, aside from the PSU, the motherboards sticks out as low budget in such a build. It's good value for money, but very bare bones. You could consider upgrading that to the MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk Wifi. Then again, it would in large part be futureproofing, with PCIe 5 for the GPU & M.2 and Wifi 7. And you can tune the CPU much better with the Tomahawk. They locked a lot of that down in the Gaming Wifi PLUS.

 

 

Edited February 20 by Aapje

[FlyingNutcase]

4 hours ago, Aapje said:

They seem to like MFG in MSFS: https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/5090-dlaa-multi-frame-generation-wow/703087/15

 

As for the build, aside from the PSU, the motherboards sticks out as low budget in such a build. It's good value for money, but very bare bones. You could consider upgrading that to the MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk Wifi. Then again, it would in large part be futureproofing, with PCIe 5 for the GPU & M.2 and Wifi 7. And you can tune tune the CPU much better with the Tomahawk. They locked a lot of that down in the Gaming Wifi PLUS.

 

 

Taken under serious consideration. Thank you!

[Panzerlang]

Also be aware of how they rate PSUs. 80+ Bronze, silver, gold, platinum and titanium. They all relate to efficiency and thus reliability too. If you push a Bronze at or past peak, it'll not live as long. Titanium has the best (and most expensive) components. However, get a high-wattage bronze (lots of overhead) and it'll work out the same as a lower-wattage titanium (theoretically, lol). If money is no object, a 1600w Titanium.

[FlyingNutcase]

1 hour ago, Panzerlang said:

Also be aware of how they rate PSUs. 80+ Bronze, silver, gold, platinum and titanium. They all relate to efficiency and thus reliability too. If you push a Bronze at or past peak, it'll not live as long. Titanium has the best (and most expensive) components. However, get a high-wattage bronze (lots of overhead) and it'll work out the same as a lower-wattage titanium (theoretically, lol). If money is no object, a 1600w Titanium.

Thanks for mentioning that. I've been proposed a Gold 1200W by my PC builder.:

DeepCool PN1200M 1200w ATX 3.1 80Plus GOLD

[[CPT]Crunch]

And make sure the PSU you do choose has the purpose built 12 pin sleeved GPU cable for your uber graphics card, save you a bunch of cable management mess and it's purpose built for power flow.  

[FlyingNutcase]

2 hours ago, [CPT]Crunch said:

And make sure the PSU you do choose has the purpose built 12 pin sleeved GPU cable for your uber graphics card, save you a bunch of cable management mess and it's purpose built for power flow.  

Confirmed as such. Thanks for mentioning that. 

[robbiec]

Cpu is fine, Ram is fine, storage is OK. If you can find a 4090 for close to the price of a 5080 then focus on the latter 2 digits than the first 1. The PSU is the heart of your system, spend 3 - 400 on that and it'll look after you for the next 5 to 10 years. Personally I'd go with a Seasonic Prime but they're expensive. In lieu of a Quest 3, pick up a used Reverb G2 V2 and install Win 11 23H2 LTSB, I got one last month on the bay for 91 USD, you'll get 18 months out of it and get to figure out VR without losing a kidney while you decide what to do. On the AMD motherboard side, research the VRM's and timely bios updates. 

If you're flying war birds then you don't need a stick with a hundred buttons, but you do need a set of rudder pedals (MFG Crosswind) and a throttle you can use by feel. Good luck with the build. 

Edited February 21 by robbiec

[Aapje]

Windows 11 23H2 stops being supported in November, so not sure where you get those 18 months from. I would definitely not get a Reverb G2 anymore.

[robbiec]

Ltsc 23H2 (ltsb) is being serviced till 2026-11-10

 

A Reverb G2 V2 is conspicuously good value if picked up 2nd hand and would allow the OP time to refine his requirements for smaller outlay. If they decide they want newer and more, then upgrade to the fairly troublesome to date 24H2 and a more expensive VR option that will require more GPU and potentionally more accessories such as dedicated cabling or base stations. But hey, if you're recommending that the OP needs a Quest 3 or Aero or Crystal something or other for an extra 400 to 1200 of your favoured currency + higher end GPU + a buggy variant of Win 11 to fully enjoy IL 2 be my guest. 

 

S! 

[FlyingNutcase]

On 2/21/2025 at 2:56 AM, Aapje said:

They seem to like MFG in MSFS: https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/5090-dlaa-multi-frame-generation-wow/703087/15

 

As for the build, aside from the PSU, the motherboards sticks out as low budget in such a build. It's good value for money, but very bare bones. You could consider upgrading that to the MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk Wifi. Then again, it would in large part be futureproofing, with PCIe 5 for the GPU & M.2 and Wifi 7. And you can tune tune the CPU much better with the Tomahawk. They locked a lot of that down in the Gaming Wifi PLUS.

 

 

 

Thanks all for your feedback. A 4090 wasn't a viable option due to price, besides availability here. I went with the suggested upgrades to power supply and mobo. The final build, coming this week:

Package Description:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 - 9800x3D 8c/16t
Motherboard: ASRock X870 PRO RS Wifi 7 ATX
CPU Cooler: Corsair 240mm AIO Watercooler
RAM: G.Skill 64GB DDR5 6000Mhz CL36 White
GPU: MSI Nvidia Geforce RTX 5080 Ventus 16GB OC
Case: Silverstone FARA 511Z Black
Fans: 6x 120mm case fans
PSU: DeepCool PN1200M 1200w ATX 3.1 80Plus GOLD
SSD: HP FX700 4TB M.2 NVMe 7100+ MB/s
Operating System: Windows 11 Pro Licence
Complete System Build service
MAX performance package & Full Tune

 

I'll be given a loan 2080Ti until the 5080 arrives.

[Aapje]

23 hours ago, robbiec said:

Ltsc 23H2 (ltsb) is being serviced till 2026-11-10

 

It's also not being sold to consumers, so it's only for grey market buyers or those using software illegally. I'm not going to suggest that. And 2026 is still only 2 years away, and lots of people want to use their device longer than that.

 

It seems that FlyingNutcase is having his PC built for him, so he is probably not into faffing about like that and the builder surely isn't going to go along with this.

 

23 hours ago, robbiec said:

But hey, if you're recommending that the OP needs a Quest 3 or Aero or Crystal something or other for an extra 400 to 1200 of your favoured currency + higher end GPU + a buggy variant of Win 11 to fully enjoy IL 2 be my guest. 

 

The Quest 3 is not a more demanding device, so why would he need a higher end GPU?

 

And I'm not seeing any drama regarding 24H2 on the IL-2 forum outside of the Reverb issue, so I assume that it works fine with this game.

[FlyingNutcase]

Hi all,

 

Indeed the build was done by a professional. I've got better things to put my limited time and mental energy into. I got it set up and it's running nicely.

 

I would love to buy a Pimax Crystal Light but they specifically exclude New Zealand from their shipping destinations for some reason (along with Switerland, South Korea etc) and the theoretical local suppliers are all out of stock. So the Quest 3 will be a good-enough stop-gap until better options arrive, perhaps around the end of the year or next year.

 

It's nice to be flying again! I sorted out IL2 '46 too which took a bit of doodling about given the 4K monitor (one key factor is to set monitor Scaling to 100%). 

 

Now just awaiting my Quest 3, which I bumbled by ordering a 3S, being returned now. 🤣

 

Thanks again for all the input, which changed some important parts of the build (PSU and mobo).

 

[Panzerlang]

Maybe Japan amazon will ship to you?

Amazon.co.jp : pimax crystal light

[FlyingNutcase]

4 hours ago, Panzerlang said:

Maybe Japan amazon will ship to you?

Amazon.co.jp : pimax crystal light

 

It's a good point. I can actually get it from Amazon Australia. Which model would be the one (mainly for flight simming, a little racing and it would be nice to have the option of other stuff from time to time? Any other things needed?  (I don't know - tracking stuff, better head mount or whatever? I'd get prescription lense inserts from VR Rock)

https://www.amazon.com.au/s?k=pimax+crystal+light&crid=2N4O1Y1W81BRY&sprefix=pimax+crystal%2Caps%2C260&ref=nb_sb_ss_mvt-t11-ranker_1_13

 

So Pimax Crystal Light VR Headset for PC (Headset only) is the most expensive and doesn't have comtrollers.  Why is the Crystal LT VR Headset with Controller, which I assume is Crystal Light, cheaper with controllers?

 

I assume controllers would be nice, for say VTOL VR as well as various other games that may be of interest.

 

My only hesitation is the hassle should there be quality issues.

Edited March 2 by FlyingNutcase

[FlyingNutcase]

BTW I have a Yaw 3 (360 degree) motion chair in the pipeline, so that swings things back towards wireless Quest 3. Rotation is restrictable but it sure would be nice to have limitless rotation.

[[CPT]Crunch]

On 3/1/2025 at 11:19 PM, FlyingNutcase said:

 

 I'd get prescription lense inserts from VR Rock)

 

Be wary, threw mine in the trash, was all they were fit for.  Made in China, suspect pulled from a quick ready made parts bin, you'll get them way too fast, and it will show.