new PC Build for VR :)

[SniperJF]

Hi everyone I wanted your expertise on picking the best parts to build a system for VR.
I've mostly always scrapped pieces from others and from a company that closed down. So I've always kind of had to work with what I had, never have I actually purchased parts I wanted, it was more of making the best of what I had such as picking the best 4 ram sticks out of like 30 different ones lol. I can't complain though I had like 4 dell monitors hooked up at one point.
So this is kind of overwhelming now that I am building something from scratch from new parts.

I don't really have anything worth re-using other than my monitors/mouse/keyboard/speakers. The rest is either too old or I am passing down to relatives or I want to keep as is.

VR requirments are straightforward:

NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD 290 equivalent or greater. (Although I heard the 290 may not be enough, so it's best to use the equivalent of a 970 for AMD if I go the AMD route)
Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater. (i'd rather stick with intel)
8GB+ RAM. (I'd rather go with DDR4 at least)
Compatible Video port: HDMI 1.4, DisplayPort 1.2, or better
3x USB 3.0 ports plus 1x USB 2.0 port.
Windows 7 SP1 64-bit or newer.

Additionally I have a 144hz 2560x1440 monitor that needs display port so that means at least I need one HDMI 1.4 (for VR) and one DP (for the monitor) so I can avoid plugging and unplugging. Plus Ill prob get more monitors so good to have more ports since I'm used to having 3 monitors atm (laptop screen + 2560x1440 monitor + vga adapter for an old 1280x1024 monitor -good for old games)

My budget is 1,000 but can go up to 1300 but my ideology is that since I need to have this done by end of April, I cant wait for pascal so I can either buy a cheap card in a 1,000 pc and then spend 500 when pascal comes out and sell old card, or I can buy a good card and keep it for 2-3 years, maybe more, and buy pascal once its a bit more mature. In which case up to 1,300 would be ok-ish. I just don't know the prices. I don't want to go cheap on anything that may give me trouble later.

I've never tried a SSD and I dont know if it will benefit me. I really don't care about bootime, but I've heard for load times in games and in general for gaming its good, but it needs to be at least ~500gb probably. I do need a 2ndary HD that is at least 1 TB although here it can vary and dont really wanna consider as part of budget but rather if a good deal is on a 5TB then why not. I also have a bunch of old Hard drives I kind of want to add so would be nice for the MB to have a few extra plugs although not necessary.

I saw from a recent thread http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php/770965-Computer-died-in-need-of-a-fast-replacement , this list http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zQwsRB
seems cool salvo me wanting a full tower and probably a power supply with more kick for future proofing and reliability. Maybe something along those lines but a little better since i have the $$

Anyway any help is appreciated,

 

[bob4933]

Nows not the best time for VR builds, I'd recommend waiting for polaris gpu's to launch personally.

If youre going above 1080p, the 390 series is a better choice than the 970 in most scenarios (i.e. VR will be better supported on the 390). 290's arent even made any more though, would be a waste of money unless you found one super on sale.

 

[SniperJF]

Hi, I was considering a 380 or 380x as possible choice, I do agree that with either polaris or Pascal being around the corner it would be best to wait but I do need to have a system by the end of april that can do VR and keep me afloat until the new architectures come out. So I can always go with a cheap 380 and then in a year or so when the new tech is out upgrade. Its a loss but not too bad I guess.

If I do go more longer term, then yeah I'd be looking at a 970,980,390 which can keep me for this gen of VR, 2-3* years in which case do you think the 390 would be the best way to go?

 

[ATMINSIDE]

I'd build something like this:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/KLBkCJ

Personally, I'd find a used 980 and save a hundred or hundred and fifty.
You could run two 980's and the 6600K on the PSU here.

 

[SniperJF]

Thanks, do you have any case recommendations that are full size though. I'd rather get a full size case for better airflow and so I can expand a bit.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Just because the case is bigger doesn't mean airflow is inherently better.
Look at the Corsair Obsidian series though, the 450D would be nice if you want something different. Unless you're going for custom water cooling later I wouldn't go bigger though.

 

[SniperJF]

I am probably not going to do water cooling anytime soon, but it seems even with the 450D I could if I decided. The 450D looks really nice though, but I am still worried I am going to be a little cramped in there, I am definitely adding at least one more HDD later on and an optical drive and i don't want to have issues with the gfx cards not fitting or taking up bay slots. And since I have the space for a full tower that's why I was siding with full tower.

But you guys know best I dont want to end up with a full tower that is actually less efficient at cooling than a mid tower, so with that said any full towers that would be okay?

One last thing, just to have as an alternative, what would be a 2nd option for the SSD just to have as a comparison since everywhere I read everyone points to that Samsung 850?

 

[ATMINSIDE]

As I said, the Obsidian series would serve you well.

Never looked into a second option... Always used an 840 EVO or 850 EVO for my daily machine.

 

[SniperJF]

Okay cool so I guess now I just need to really decide on whether to go with a 980 or a 390x I guess I'll check ebay for used 980s but if I have to get a new one which will work better with VR?

From what bob said I understand the 390 series is better than the 970 but what about versus the 980 which is about 80$ more than the 390x ?

PS: I am kind of tempted to get my feet wet with liquid cooling (lol pun) for the sake of noise reduction when not doing any intensive stuff, so maybe something on the cpu (won't matter for gaming because either headphones or loud speakers will cover gpu fans). Any recommendations for that...I love innovating, hence my like for VR, and I've always been tempted to liquid cool when I built a PC but the stories about leaks kind of kept me back. I guess I'll stop by the water cooling section and read up there. I just don't want to get carried away into over spending as I tend to do that and later have buyers remorse lol

 

[ATMINSIDE]

I'd go 980, personally. Much quieter, much less power draw, and equal to better performance.

If you're only going to WC for the idle noise there are better options.
NH-D15 for the CPU, stick to a 980 for the GPU, and get all PWM case fans.
The NH-D15 is dead silent, the Maxwell GPU's cut off their fans under 60°C (which you'll easily stay under at idle).
Control the case fans off the CPU fan header with a PWM splitter (Swiftech makes a nice one), then they'll quiet down when idling and ramp up at load.

 

[SniperJF]

Okay so I will go ahead and get the NH-D15. I found it on amazon and everyone says its incredible

As for the Case I was thinking the obsidian 750D but I am not sure whether the airflow version or the regular version, both are same price though. Apparently the Airflow version is better but less quiet? I dont know which to pick. I like the PWM case fan idea, would you mind directing me to according fans for that case and the swiftech PWM splitter to make sure I dont screw up configuration

Lastly I will be getting this ram instead since a friend of mine insisted he had issues with G.Skill, I think it's the exact same http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233863
Also I think I will get that same power supply you posted but the 750W version because its only 20$ and it kind of future proofs me for anything that I could ever throw in it. Plus those things last forever.

I will update the partlist with all these changes to make sure I got everything right. So far I am thinking if its 1,500 I will be more than happy.

Thanks so much for the help so far

Update:
Tom's Hardware has posted some benchmarks on Oculus, seems that GTX 980 is indeed a good way to go http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/oculus-rift-virtual-reality-hmd,4506-7.html

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Either case will be fine, but you'll need to clean the airflow edition more often.

I use all Noctua industrialPPC 2000RPM PWM fans with the Swiftech SATA 8way PWM splitter.

I would stick to the G.SKILL kit, it has better timings. Also, their customer service is way better.

 

[EarthDog]

For VR... you want to be looking AMD at this point honestly. Unless NVIDIA has corrected their latency issues????

 

[ATMINSIDE]

For VR... you want to be looking AMD at this point honestly. Unless NVIDIA has corrected their latency issues????

Last testing I saw was a whopping 1ms difference?

 

[EarthDog]

That was on one title, I saw that too... but not sure if that goes for the rest??? Just putting it out there... but there also isn't great information on it in either direction...

 

[ATMINSIDE]

That was on one title, I saw that too... but not sure if that goes for the rest??? Just putting it out there... but there also isn't great information on it in either direction...

Guess we'll have to wait and see

 

[Dlaw]

Okay so I will go ahead and get the NH-D15. I found it on amazon and everyone says its incredible

As for the Case I was thinking the obsidian 750D but I am not sure whether the airflow version or the regular version, both are same price though. Apparently the Airflow version is better but less quiet? I dont know which to pick. I like the PWM case fan idea, would you mind directing me to according fans for that case and the swiftech PWM splitter to make sure I dont screw up configuration

Lastly I will be getting this ram instead since a friend of mine insisted he had issues with G.Skill, I think it's the exact same http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233863
Also I think I will get that same power supply you posted but the 750W version because its only 20$ and it kind of future proofs me for anything that I could ever throw in it. Plus those things last forever.

I will update the partlist with all these changes to make sure I got everything right. So far I am thinking if its 1,500 I will be more than happy.

Thanks so much for the help so far

Update:
Tom's Hardware has posted some benchmarks on Oculus, seems that GTX 980 is indeed a good way to go http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/oculus-rift-virtual-reality-hmd,4506-7.html

I have the 750D (Check the link in my sig), so I'll tell you about some of the differences I've seen. I bought the regular version last year, before the Airflow edition came out. Then, while I was tearing the case down to thoroughly clean it before I watercooled it, I broke a couple of clips off of the front fascia. So I needed to order a new one, which I did direct from Corsair, and also found and ordered the Airflow kit. Literally the only difference is the front panel/filter assembly.

The nice thing about the original style is that it looks elegant, and as ATM said, it keeps dust out better (more restrictive filter plus solid panel). The downside is that the front fans don't get much air, and the filter feels flimsy. The filter on the Airflow edition is built into the front panel, and is less restrictive (allowing for more dust to enter the system), but doesn't look as good in my opinion. It also doesn't muffle the fan noise as much, but I think we covered that already.

In all, I would order the airflow edition if I were to do it again. My system temp dropped by 2 degrees under load just by switching, and my fans stay silent for longer.

 

[SniperJF]

I just got word that my Vive arrives tuesday so I went and purchased everything so hopefully by the end of next week everything is up and running.

Only thing left is figuring out the PWM Splitter:
This is what I found http://www.amazon.com/Swiftech-8W-PW.../dp/B00IF6R4C8

but people say you cant really individually control fans, I dont know if this is what i Need or not. I would be hooking it up to these http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CP6QLY6/?tag=pcpapi-20

Could you guys give me some advice on the right fan controller to use. The total possible fans the 750D case can have is 8. Though I may end up with 7 (the top can have 3 120s or 2 140s so not sure what's best.)

The Asrock card has 2 CPU connecters which I will use with the NH-D15 and 4 Fan Connectors of which I could potentially split like Front, Top, Bottom, Back. but idk, this thread gives me some ideas http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?p=775858 but not sure how to do this.

Thanks so much! I promise this is the last you'll hear at least until I'm stuck building it

PS: This is the build I did http://pcpartpicker.com/p/HsDDrH but not all was bought new, the SDD I got as a present (good timing) and the GFX I found an amazing deal on. The ram also go a good deal. so that list is more a 1,400 price when everything is considered. The exception is the splittler and additional fans listed there, those I am waiting for your guys advice before purchasing.

 

[Dlaw]

I use that same splitter. What I did was I hooked 7 of my fans up to it, and the last one (rear exhaust) to one of the other board connectors. I did this because that way, I could control the pressurization with the rear exhaust. So, front bottom and top all run at the same speed (theoretically), and the rear runs at a different speed, either faster or slower depending on whether I want negative or positive pressure.

Solid choices all the way around. Good stuff.

Edit: I'm on water, so the rear fan made sense for me. You may want to pick a different fan to do the adjustments on, since the rear will effectively be the exhaust for your cooler.

 

[SniperJF]

Ah I see so now I understand how it works and that's good method. I'll try with different ways and see what works best.
I'm so excited to put this together. Hopefully most of the pieces arrive by Monday! Thanks a lot for everyone's help! I couldn't have gotten this far without you guys