FS2020 VR Build

[pumpkinking]

Hi folks, first build ever, would love your thoughts.

I've followed the build guides and advice on the forum, what an amazing resource - thank you guys.

Quite simply - I want to run FS2020 in VR. I have an Oculus Quest 2 on the way.

Aiming for £1500 budget.

Samsung 32" 1080p60 TV will be my monitor to begin with. A grown up monitor will come down the line, but VR is the priority.
If I understand correctly, if it does VR, it'll do 1440P just fine?

It wouldn't let me proceed with the B550-PLUS Motherboard out of stock, so I've edited manually... not sure why when other parts are out of stock too...
I'm happy to wait for this build and I know it could be months.

I don't need wifi - it will definitely be wired all the time.

Please let me know if you think this will do what I want, or where I've gone wrong.

Case
THERMALTAKE V200 2.0 TEMPERED GLASS RGB EDITION GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B550-PLUS
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 13 to 15 working days
Price: £1,536.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/c7gyeQP3Ux/

Best,
G

 

[Martinr36]

Minimum recommended power supply for the 3060Ti is 600W so I'd put a 750 RMx in as this will cover the minimum recommend and give you some overhead for upgrades in the future

 

[pumpkinking]

Thanks!

Is cooling going to be an issue?

 

[MrWilson]

Thanks!

Is cooling going to be an issue?

The thermaltake case isn’t great for cooling, a good alternative at this price point would be the NZXT H511.
The 5800x needs an aftermarket cooler, best budget option is the coolermaster 240 lite, the Arctic paste is worth adding alongside this cooler.

 

[pumpkinking]

Thanks, good to know!

Having done more research, it’s becoming clear that FS2020 in VR really needs all the power you can throw at it... and it’ll still be slow... so for me to get anywhere close to a smooth VR experience (the target is constant 30fps) I’m going to have to increase my budget to make this anything close to a worthy PC for this ridiculous sim!

Revised spec to follow.

 

[Gavras]

Also worth putting a dedicated M.2 for it, load times for MSFS 2020 are fun at times.

I would look at a PCIe 4.0 M.2 as you have the latest CPU to make it worth it.

Although some motherboards while they have 2 M.2 slots only one is PCIe 4.0 with the other being 3.0

How much real world time that would make is open to debate, however with more and more content being released for MSFS, every second helps.

 

[pumpkinking]

Cheers Gavras! I was just posting a Q about SSD storage then saw your reply.

So, upped budget, GPU, M2 storage.

Thoughts please!


Case
NZXT H511 MID-TOWER GAMING CASE (BLACK)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B550-PLUS
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
2nd M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster MasterLiquid Lite 240 High Performance Liquid Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 17 to 19 working days
Price: £1992.00 including VAT and Delivery

(if you re-config remember to change mobo back to Prime B550, can’t proceed with it atm)

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/DGnSzJjnNB/

 

[MrWilson]

Cheers Gavras! I was just posting a Q about SSD storage then saw your reply.

So, upped budget, GPU, M2 storage.

Thoughts please!


Case
NZXT H511 MID-TOWER GAMING CASE (BLACK)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B550-PLUS
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
2nd M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster MasterLiquid Lite 240 High Performance Liquid Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 17 to 19 working days
Price: £1992.00 including VAT and Delivery

(if you re-config remember to change mobo back to Prime B550, can’t proceed with it atm)

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/DGnSzJjnNB/

Nice to see an increased budget, it'll make it easier for us to spec you a build to handle everything.
Now you've added a second m.2 SSD you'll want to up the mobo to the TUF X-570 to get PCle on your second m.2.
Not sure on the step up to the 3080 though. The 3060ti will handle MSFS at 1080p and will be solid if you're looking at a 1440p monitor down the line. To make full use of the 3080 you would need to spend upwards of £750 on a monitor.

Let me know what you think.

 

[pumpkinking]

Nice to see an increased budget, it'll make it easier for us to spec you a build to handle everything.
Now you've added a second m.2 SSD you'll want to up the mobo to the TUF X-570 to get PCle on your second m.2.
Not sure on the step up to the 3080 though. The 3060ti will handle MSFS at 1080p and will be solid if you're looking at a 1440p monitor down the line. To make full use of the 3080 you would need to spend upwards of £750 on a monitor.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks, okay good to know on the mobo.

And on the GPU, remember my aim is FS2020 in VR - which I gather essentially I could spend thousands and the sim would still bottleneck when the graphics are slightly turned up. My understanding is that every little will help, but I know I’m never going to get 90fps in the sim any time soon even at lowest graphics.

There are lots of arguments and discussions going on about FS2020 VR expectations, whether it’s even worth it, etc etc but I’m new to VR and I’m eyes open to the limitations, many people say it’s epic and the sim is constantly evolving in the right direction.

I’m just hoping that this isn’t a fools errand, but people seem to be getting playable results with lower specs.

Sorry for rambling, but hopefully that’s useful context? Ultimately I’ll get a monitor to match the capability of the PC when not in VR.

 

[MrWilson]

Thanks, okay good to know on the mobo.

And on the GPU, remember my aim is FS2020 in VR - which I gather essentially I could spend thousands and the sim would still bottleneck when the graphics are slightly turned up. My understanding is that every little will help, but I know I’m never going to get 90fps in the sim any time soon even at lowest graphics.

There are lots of arguments and discussions going on about FS2020 VR expectations, whether it’s even worth it, etc etc but I’m new to VR and I’m eyes open to the limitations, many people say it’s epic and the sim is constantly evolving in the right direction.

I’m just hoping that this isn’t a fools errand, but people seem to be getting playable results with lower specs.

Sorry for rambling, but hopefully that’s useful context? Ultimately I’ll get a monitor to match the capability of the PC when not in VR.

That’s fair enough, glad you’ve done the research on MSFS VR. Just wanted to make sure you were aware of the current limitations with MSFS in particular, a 3080 will blast any other VR title out of the water. If you’re getting a monitor to keep up with the 3080 you’re pretty much good to go!
Only changes I would recommend is the motherboard as mentioned earlier, and upping PSU to 850W as the 3080 is a bit more power hungry than the 3060ti.

 

[pumpkinking]

Thanks all for the help. Nearly there - Windows 10 newbie question on storage...

Please could some kind soul explain to me the difference in usage of the primary and secondary drives?

My understanding is that the OS and all programs (i.e. FS2020) are installed on the main drive, and documents etc stored on the second drive. In the context of Flight Sim, is it just DLC content that would be on the second drive? Or am I missing something, could/should the sim itself be installed on the second drive?

Thanks in advance, apologies I'm sure this must have been covered many times but I'm struggling to find a simple answer.

 

[pumpkinking]

The reson being, does the benefit of having two PCIe 3 drives now outweigh the idea of getting one PCIe4 drive now, and a second PCIe4 later?

 

[MrWilson]

Looking at this again, I'm wondering whether you might benefit from having just one m.2 SSD after all. The main reason is I am not sure how much DLC we are talking here. But MSFS2020 is already 150GB in of itself. To fit, windows, DLC and other programs might be a bit too much for a 500GB SSD. As it reaches greater 75% capacity SSDs slow down quite substantially. So you can go for a 1tb 970, or put MSFS on the second SSD, where it will still have big load time improvements over a traditional SATA HDD or SSD, but wouldn't be as fast as on a 970.

 

[pumpkinking]

Hi Mr W,

I’m not planning on downloading any DLC in the short term, medium/long term yes. I don’t have the cash to be buying loads of add on scenery and the aircraft I’m interested in won’t be released for a while yet.

So I could get a single PCIe4 drive, then add another down the line for adding DLC?

 

[MrWilson]

Hi Mr W,

I’m not planning on downloading any DLC in the short term, medium/long term yes. I don’t have the cash to be buying loads of add on scenery and the aircraft I’m interested in won’t be released for a while yet.

So I could get a single PCIe4 drive, then add another down the line for adding DLC?

No, any DLC has to go on the same drive as the rest of the game. You could get a 1tb 980 if you wanted PCI4 4.0, but obviously that's a bit more expensive.

 

[pumpkinking]

No, any DLC has to go on the same drive as the rest of the game. You could get a 1tb 980 if you wanted PCI4 4.0, but obviously that's a bit more expensive.

Ah right I think I get it!
So in essence my choice is:

A) single 1tb 970 for speed, everything on this drive.

...or...

B) 500gb 970 for OS, and second M.2 drive for FS2020 + DLC + documents + other gubbins

 

[Scott]

I would definitely opt for 2 M2 drives. Given the spend involved here I would seriously consider doing it all once and doing it all right. With that in mind, this is how I would configure the build........ you're a 5900X away from my proposed build that I'm planning this year. Avid VR user and FS2020 is one of my main games (Along with iRacing etc).

I understand this has somewhat blown the budget but you can be absolutely sure that you can't do any better in this price bracket and you know that no stone has been left unturned.

It's an expensive 1 off outlay that in a number of years you can simply upgrade the CPU/GPU and be back up and running with the best of the best.

Case
NZXT H511 MID-TOWER GAMING CASE (BLACK)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (4 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 2500MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i RGB PLATINUM Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 17 to 19 working days
Price: £2,182.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/bgrtnayRjB/

 

[pumpkinking]

I would definitely opt for 2 M2 drives. Given the spend involved here I would seriously consider doing it all once and doing it all right. With that in mind, this is how I would configure the build........ you're a 5900X away from my proposed build that I'm planning this year. Avid VR user and FS2020 is one of my main games (Along with iRacing etc).

I understand this has somewhat blown the budget but you can be absolutely sure that you can't do any better in this price bracket and you know that no stone has been left unturned.

It's an expensive 1 off outlay that in a number of years you can simply upgrade the CPU/GPU and be back up and running with the best of the best.

Case
NZXT H511 MID-TOWER GAMING CASE (BLACK)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (4 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 2500MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i RGB PLATINUM Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 17 to 19 working days
Price: £2,182.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/bgrtnayRjB/

Makes sense to me! Thanks Scott and Mr W!

So what I’m hoping is the final question before I put this all to bed... 3080 vs 3070 for VR, I’m lead to believe it’s night and day and I NEED the 3080 for FS2020 VR.

That statement is true... right? I shouldn’t save my cash (over £2k is a stretch), get a 3070 and wait for next gen hardware and (maybe) better optimised FS2020 in a year or two?

Just ironing out all my doubts! Thanks so much in advance.

 

[Scott]

Makes sense to me! Thanks Scott and Mr W!

So what I’m hoping is the final question before I put this all to bed... 3080 vs 3070 for VR, I’m lead to believe it’s night and day and I NEED the 3080 for FS2020 VR.

That statement is true... right? I shouldn’t save my cash (over £2k is a stretch), get a 3070 and wait for next gen hardware and (maybe) better optimised FS2020 in a year or two?

Just ironing out all my doubts! Thanks so much in advance.

With the Valve Index and the HP Reverb2 the 3080 is a no brainer. With the Quest2 in mind, the 3070 should easily have you covered IMO. That being said, the quest 2 is no slouch so it comes down to the margins of the card price. Everything else I would keep firm as any upgrades in the future will rely upon these requirements.

With regards to the improvements, the GPU will likely be hammered MORE with any development. DX12 should allow for better multi-core which will then make the GPU the bottleneck. The software improvements will likely benefit the CPU for the most part.

 

[StuRan]

Folks - I don't want to hijack this thread but I have ordered the spec below for FS2020 use (and thats it - nothing else) - am I better switching to the above spec?

I will amend my order of thats the case.

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 465X RGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i RGB PLATINUM Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 17 to 19 working days
Price: £2,248.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/fSPzCSF3HD/