The state of VR...and where should I put my money

[tspesh]

I have a pretty old build on my hands but I'm thinking the core of my system doesn't matter here. I'm not positive that this is the right section of the forums for this so if it needs to be moved please move accordingly (and my apologies).

My current build is from 2014 and is as follows:

Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45
CPU: I7-4770 at a humble 3.7ghz (200mhz OC)
Mem: 2x8GB DDR3 1600
Vid: EVGA GTX 760
3 x 1080p monitors

My primary concern are two simulators I play: iRacing and DCS.

-iRacing is not very demanding at all. I'm more or less able to run it at max settings on 3 1080p screens and get respectable framerates.
-DCS makes my current system melt for the most part. I opt to run it on a single screen at "high" graphic settings vs 3 screens with lower settings as the details matter (you need to be able to read switches in the cockpit for example).



I would like to move to VR. I get the sense that VR is still very young and we're on the cusp of some large advancements in technology and hopefully some reduction in costs. Not within the next year perhaps but...soon. My thinking is that I would like to get 1st gen Vive (and upgrade to a modern system when I feel its worth the added cost) and a video card that will last me into the future. I just don't know where those cutoffs start to really happen. My GTX 760 more or less has lasted me 5 years before I started feeling it was lacking. I know it can't run VR right now, but what would be able to?

Is a 1080 the floor here? 1070? Should I just dive in and get a 2080? A 2080TI?

Any input is valuable...

 

[diaz]

Your 4-core 8-thread i7 will be your bottleneck with anything beyond the GTX 1070 in today's games. New games are designed with 6 cores in mind, with 12 threads being an added bonus.

IMO, VR begins at the GTX 1070, which may match your current CPU perfectly.

However, if you really want VR and are thinking of upgrading your CPU in the next year or two, then the RTX 2070 may be a better pick depending on DLSS support for VR games.

In my opinion though, the RTX 2080 is a big money strech for a 15-20% bump in performance over the 2070. After reading multiple reviews on many cards, I ended up going for the MSI RTX 2070 Gaming Z precisely because it came so close to the 1080Ti, and only about 15% behind the 2080.

That's just my take on it, others will surely chime in.

 

[tspesh]

Thanks!

My current thinking is this:

1.) Spend money on modern GPU
2.) Spend money on 1st gen Vive
3.) Plan to upgrade CPU when the 10NM Intel chips are released

 

[EarthDog]

Your 4-core 8-thread i7 will be your bottleneck with anything beyond the GTX 1070 in today's games. New games are designed with 6 cores in mind, with 12 threads being an added bonus.

They are? His CPU IPC will hold things back more so than the # of cores/threads in most titles. That said, it won't hold things back much, but strongly suggest overclocking it to get the most out of any mid-range or better GPU running at 1080p. Higher than that it won't really matter.

 

[mackerel]

I think the worry over bottlenecking is generally overstated unless the system is excessively unbalanced. While I don't have the exact dates, I believe when the 1080Ti was launched, you couldn't even buy a consumer mainstream processor with more than 4 cores. Ryzen 1st gen was about a month after, and for fps Intel quads were still far faster. Why is it better to be GPU limited than CPU limited? And it is a moving target depending on resolution, settings...

Anyway, back to VR, the i7 should be more than adequate for the current state of VR. It's not the best, but it is above minimum. I'm even using a 6600k in my Vive system having stole the 6700k for other uses.

I'd agree on a 1070 being a minimum with some degree of forward looking, but would stretch to a 1080 or 2070 if budget allows. I'm not that active on using my VR (lack of space) but when I look, recommended specs (as opposed to minimum) are creeping up over time, and I would not want to aim for bare minimum.

I think the plan stated is a reasonable one, but would add do consider Ryzen also especially when 3000 series comes out some time next year (assumption). Who knows how far 10nm are, or how much it will cost.

 

[tspesh]

Thanks for the input guys.

I pulled the trigger on a 2080. Go big, but not the biggest. Why not.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814137348

 

[Rossterman]

The CPU will be the biggest roadblock to VR in DCS. It’s su-optimized for multicore CPUs so you really need a high clock speed and 4 core processor for the best performance. For illustration, My newly added 2080ti and 6700k only runs 35-45 on max settings. As to headsets, the odyssey+ can be had occasionally at $300 which is probably the best gear out at the present time.