Gaming computer hardware

[Garey Guzman]

So all the talk of online SIM racing got me itchy so I asked my resident, know-it-all, gamer-supreme teenager to spec me out a computer for my use. Keep in mind that my son knows how "frugal" I am so everything listed below is based on VALUE first. To me, this means longer term compatibility and very good performance. Nothing here is Top-of-the-line but from our research, this should be a very good platform going forward. This included my hope of going VR at some point, maybe on a Black Friday sale.
I thought I'd share the parts, prices and sources in case it helps anyone.

Phanteks Eclipse P300A High Airflow Full-Metal Mesh Design, Compact ATX Mid-Tower, 120mm Black Case Fan, Black
$60
Newegg
Gigabyte B365M DS3H (LGA1151/Intel/Micro ATX/USB 3.1 Gen 1 (USB3.0) Type A/DDR4/Motherboard)
$75
Amazon
GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER DirectX 12 GV-N166SOC-6GD 6GB 192-Bit GDDR6 PCI Express 3.0 x16 ATX Video Card
$240
Newegg
Intel Core i5-9600KF Desktop Processor - 6 Cores And 6 Threads - Up to 4.60 GHz
$205
eBay
Seagate BarraCuda 2TB Internal Hard Drive HDD – 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM 256MB Cache 3.5-Inch – Frustration Free Packaging (ST2000DM008)
$50
Amazon

So for $630 (less a few online coupons I found and all, I think, were free shipping), I should have something very capable.
Note: From other computer builds and upgrades, we have a power supply and RAM so didn't list that.

[alangbaker]

I'll tell you the same thing I tell everyone who has ever asked me what computer to buy (and that's a lot; I've sold and support personal computers for the last 30 years or so):

Look at the software you want to run and check the system requirements for that software...

...and then by at least that much. If you can afford it, future proof by buying a machine you can expand and a processor faster than recommended (as they are typically difficult to upgrade later; RAM and storage being easy if you've picked the basic chassis and motherboard correctly)

You seemed to have picked components at the "Recommended" level for F1 2019, so you might at least consider getting a somewhat faster CPU (the AMD Ryzen 7 3800X will cost you about $130 more, but it has more than double the CPU benchmark score)...

...and I didn't see any RAM in that list.

Also, depending on how games load their files, you might want to consider a smaller, but much faster SSD over an HDD.

That's what I'd do if it were me, anyway.

[Bardahl77]

Don't forget you need a power supply with the appropriate wattage and connectors.

You can save a bit with the sale Amazon has on a 4GB Radeon for $99 right now. Helluva card for the price.
https://www.amazon.com/XFX-RX-560D4S...dp/B075LM7GYZ/

I also don't see your DRAM, you'll want at least 8GB DDR4 (screw anything from Micron, they sent my job to India. Heh.)

Also, don't discount the AMD processors, a Ryzen 5 with 6 cores and 12 threads gives comparable performance to the Intel i5 for about half the price.

On the other hand, although building is fun, it's sometimes better to pay a few bucks to get a built machine with warranty. Most places you can get a SquareDeal extended warranty for cheap, too. Sometimes you can find a deal on a basic machine and just drop in a better video card and away you go - no colored LED fans and visible cases needed!

Good places for reviews:
https://techguided.com/
https://www.pcgamer.com/
https://www.tomshardware.com/

Also note: I have 35+ years in the computer industry including QA for major PC and semiconductor manufacturers, and these days I still get aced out in current knowledge by my kids.

[BTennessen]

First https://pcpartpicker.com/ is a VERY useful site when putting together a computer.

Second is I'd look at used equipment. I was able to upgrade my simulator graphics card and cpu for cheap. At the time people were scrapping their bitcoin mining rigs so there were tons of gpus to pick from.

[Garey Guzman]

First https://pcpartpicker.com/ is a VERY useful site when putting together a computer.

Yes, that was checked to ensure compatibility between all the separate parts. Although it lists "best price" sources, I found lower prices using additional searches and coupon add-ins.

Additionally, a great site for ME, being frugal, was this:
https://www.userbenchmark.com/

There, I could see and compare various components and sort them in various ways, including Value. From that, I found that the i3 my son originally spec'ed was the top value CPU. But when I compared performance between that i3 and the i5 listed above, I decided to go ahead and spend the extra $125. I also compared the i5 to the Ryzen 7 Alan mentioned and found the there's no way I would spend ANOTHER $130 for a very minimal performance advantage. Interestingly, the User ratings for AMDs are worse .

Also, Alan's suggestion of checking minimum requirements for the games to be run is a great suggestion. But being a noob, I don't even know what games/sims I will be using! But my son's gaming experience hopefully has me covered.

Side note - it was also helpful getting him engaged in something else. Turned into good father/son time as we discussed pros and cons of various parts!

[phantomjock]

First https://pcpartpicker.com/ is a VERY useful site when putting together a computer.

Second is I'd look at used equipment. I was able to upgrade my simulator graphics card and cpu for cheap. At the time people were scrapping their bitcoin mining rigs so there were tons of gpus to pick from.

[Third?] I was looking for a Robust Desktop for CAD and possible CFD work. Found a great resaler/refurbisher on eBay. Came with a 1 year + guarantee too. Under $1000 delivered. Good luck! Been very satisfied with it.

Cheers -Jim

[Keith Carter]

Phanteks Eclipse P300A High Airflow Full-Metal Mesh Design, Compact ATX Mid-Tower, 120mm Black Case Fan, Black
$60
Newegg
Gigabyte B365M DS3H (LGA1151/Intel/Micro ATX/USB 3.1 Gen 1 (USB3.0) Type A/DDR4/Motherboard)
$75
Amazon
GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER DirectX 12 GV-N166SOC-6GD 6GB 192-Bit GDDR6 PCI Express 3.0 x16 ATX Video Card
$240
Newegg
Intel Core i5-9600KF Desktop Processor - 6 Cores And 6 Threads - Up to 4.60 GHz
$205
eBay
Seagate BarraCuda 2TB Internal Hard Drive HDD – 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM 256MB Cache 3.5-Inch – Frustration Free Packaging (ST2000DM008)
$50
Amazon

So for $630 (less a few online coupons I found and all, I think, were free shipping), I should have something very capable.
Note: From other computer builds and upgrades, we have a power supply and RAM so didn't list that.

I just built 2 very capable gaming computers with a bunch of research. Even though I'm in IT as a profession, I lose touch with PC hardware since I've gone about 10 years since I built my last sim racing PC. It takes me a bit to get back into the hardware scene, but it doesn't take long to figure things out... So my sim racing PC is thrifty, and then my secondary gaming PC, I was able to upgrade and I consider VERY thrifty. Both are very fast and capable of running any of the sims out there. So being that I'm probably as thrifty (cheap) as anybody else out there, here are my suggestions on your build.

2TB is crazy large for a personal PC. Even though games are big nowadays (80GB per install), I would HIGHLY recommend getting an M.2 hard hard drive since that MB has a slot for it. Go nvme if you're willing to spend the extra money. The biggest bottleneck on your PC will be a spindle hard drive without a doubt. Buy a 1 terabyte M.2 drive for $100. If you run out of space, you can upgrade later to a 1TB SSD to expand your gaming library to it. Stay away from spindle hard drives unless you're using it to store backups or things you can easily replace. They are SLOWWWWW by today's standards.

To save on cost, AMD Ryzen processors are huge bargain. I just bought a Ryzen 7 2700X for $130 over the holidays and I also bought a Ryzen 5 1600 for $80 new. Both come with CPU coolers where the Intels DO NOT which will cost you at least another $20. You can get an equivalent Gigabyte B450 motherboard for about $75 as well.

For RAM, go with what is compatible. 16GB is a minimum and at the sweet spot for pricepoint.


To save on cost again, consider a used graphics card from ebay. The bitcoin mining market flop has caused a flood of used cards for super cheap prices. I bought a GTX1070 which is a much more capable card for $180. I bought a lesser card, but still VERY capable AMD RX 480 for $60 shipped for my secondary PC.

When in doubt when comparing hardware, use https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/ and https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/ like you mentioned. I used it a lot.

I also watched a lot of videos from this guy. Don't let his hair and teeth distract you, he's a geek through and through and super thrifty and announces deals when he sees them on youtube and twitter. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCs...BkF8BAetIo0qXA

[Bardahl77]

If you're not afraid of refurbs, this is a pretty hot deal - add $70 for 1 year extra warranty

https://www.newegg.com/tempest-blue/...9SIADGYB5P8662

[Keith Carter]

Here is an email I sent to a friend who was asking about building a sim racing PC after I had upgraded my sim racing PC over the holidays with links to the hardware. Prices may have fluctuated since November/December, but it should be a decent guideline if interested...

I recycled my case, DVD rom drive, keyboard, mouse, etc... My new system was a budget build with older hardware (still available new) so it was only about $500 to do the upgrade (complete). There's no way I was going to pay $500 for a processor, $1500 for a video card, etc... for what I need it to do. Depending on what you want though, it's going to dictate the costs and the hardware you're going to need. I have a single monitor 1080p so no 4K, Virtual Reality, or multi-monitor setup is needed for me which allowed me to go lighter on the video card hardware. When I build a PC, It's been so long since I've previously built one that I need to learn about all of the hardware all over again. It's kind of fun though and this time around I used Youtube with a lot of channels based on PC hardware and building systems. Lots of information to be had... I ended up taking advantage of Black Friday, CyberMonday, and Christmas deals so my prices may be a bit less for what I got, but here's what I ended up getting. I ended up staying with an AMD processor which is very close to Intel performance and a fraction of cost. Most of the pieces I picked were due to them being on uber sale for what they were. Let me know if you have any questions!

AMD Ryzen 7 2700X - https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
MSI B450 Tomahawk motherboard - https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Corsair Vengeance 16GM RAM - https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (3200 Mhz seems to be a better pricepoint now though)
EVGA 600BQ power supply ($45 after rebate ending Monday) - https://www.newegg.com/evga-600-bq-110-bq-0600-k1-600w/p/N82E16817438100?Item=N82E16817438100

Western Digital Black NVMe M.2 500GB hard drive (I have a 1TB SATA drive to install Steam and all my games on) - https://www.newegg.com/western-digit...82E16820250109


Video Card - EVGA Nvidia 1070 GTX SC - I bought this used off of eBay because new cards comparable in performance are another $100 or so. The used GPU market is so saturated right now because of all of the people selling off their bitcoin mining hardware. I paid $180 for a very capable gaming card, but if you want to go new and have close performance you could go with an NVidia 1660 Ti of any of the top brands listed in the post below. It's an entry level card for VR so it wouldn't be the best experience, but for my single monitor setup, it's going to work great. For VR or multi-monitor setups, you would want to go with something like a 1080Ti or higher.

Here's a GREAT post for learning the basics. It helped me out a bit since the article is about a year old which would put the hardware at the pricepoint I was looking to spend.
https://www.reddit.com/r/simracing/c...for_simracers/

PC Hardware Channels I liked and used:
Tech Deals: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCs...BkF8BAetIo0qXA
Paul's Hardware: https://www.youtube.com/user/paulshardware
JayzTwoCents: https://www.youtube.com/user/Jayztwocents

An example of a decent Intel based system:
https://www.pcgamer.com/pc-build-gui...get-gaming-pc/