First custom build - advice needed

JLP731

New member
Good afternoon,

I’m after some help with a new rig after my 10 year old system has given up the ghost. My current/broken spec was an i5, 8GB RAM, GTX 970, RoG MOBO, 500GB HDD.. which did me just fine for the games I play, the main one being Flight Simulator X.

In light of Black Friday, I have been shopping around but I’m loathe to buy something off the shelf and I’ll admit, I know a bit of what I’m talking about but I am by no means an expert so I’m after some brutally honest advice, ie I would like a 3070 but I think that might be the snob in me, and I’m not sure whether I actually need it. Alternatively, I also don’t know whether to go Intel or AMD, I admit to not being very clued in on how well AMD are doing these days.

The games I’ll be playing are MSFS 2020, Star Citizen (one day, maybe!), DCS World. Some other regulars of mine are Planet Zoo, Crusader Kings 3, Euro Truck Sim 2. I am by no means a hardcore PC gamer, I have no interest in streaming, I don’t use photoshop or anything else. Mainly a simming guy and casual other gamer as I rely on my Xbox for the likes of The Witcher, RDR2, Assassins Creed etc.

My budget is £1000-£1400, but I’m more than happy to spend less if I’m honestly told it isn’t needed. I would like to have enough hardware to entertain branching out into VR, no headset as yet. I don’t believe I have a 4K monitor yet but I’m happy to shop around in the new year for a couple of those so the ability to play in 4K would be nice. Ultimately I would really like to run MSFS or P3D very well and utilising VR in the near future so any help with a build would be nice.

Thanks in advance.
 

JLP731

New member
Thanks for replying so quickly - is the cooling on that build sufficient enough? I notice just the standard CPU cooler, no liquid cooling or additional fans though. I’m not overly fussed about 4K, 1080p would be just fine - I’ve gotten along with it for years.
 

JLP731

New member
Sorry for the further question.. I don’t think I’ll need to be considering 4K anytime soon. I have 3 monitors at 1080p and they’ll do fine. With this in mind, is the 3070 going to be wasted on me for my needs, the main one being MSFS 2020, would I be better off saving money and going for a 1660 Ti?
 

JLP731

New member
Hi again, sorry for the duplicate post, apologies if it’s not correct. I posted asking for a flight sim build capable of MSFS at 4K, but having thought about it, my current three monitors are all 1080p and it’s done me just fine so far so I think it’s time to be sensible and spend less where possible.

Having spent all day looking at MSFS posts and forums, it seems development on it will be slow in terms of add on aircraft and scenery packages so I’m fairly confident at least for the next 18-24 months I’ll be sticking to FSX or even P3D and using the software I already own as it does the job. The visuals of the new sim are great but we’re a long way off any intricate aircraft simulation that’s “study level”.

Main monitor is a Lenovo T24M 10, which will be the flying monitor and my others for planning software and web browsers. With that in mind, I don’t believe I’ll need a 3070.

Other games in mind are Star Citizen (one day, maybe!), DCS World. Some other regulars of mine are Planet Zoo, Crusader Kings 3, Euro Truck Sim 2. I am by no means a hardcore PC gamer, I have no interest in streaming, I don’t use photoshop or anything else. Mainly a simming guy and casual other gamer as I rely on my Xbox for the likes of The Witcher, RDR2, Assassins Creed etc.

I will hopefully buy an Oculus or similar in the next year so ideally the build I’ve previously been given seems slightly excessive given the restriction on the monitor but I’ll paste the link here; https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/wjqh6mkPHx/

I guess I’m really after some brutal honesty in that given my restrictions on the monitor and the lack of AAA titles that I play, do I really need to be spending £1500+ on a PC when I could be spending some of that on a VR headset.

Having said all of that, would the Black Friday AMD Fusion PC suit my needs? It’s a shame it can’t be specced with a 2070 Super.

Again, sorry for the extra post, just keen to get something purchased and ordered so I can get back in the flight deck.
 
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