PC Rebuild Advice

Hi all,

I wasn't planning on buying a Samsung CRG49 (120Hz) monitor, but someone I know bought one and didn't like it, so I got it for a bargain. My gaming PC however, can't power it properly. I built my PC in 2014 and I only play old games like CSGO, TF2, BF4 usually on a 24" monitor in low/med graphics.

My main desk usage is Mac, and the PC is purely for gaming. I've never played sim racing but always wanted to get AC, now I have a monitor that'd be decent for it, I feel it's time to upgrade the PC and jump in. I'll keep my ATX case, SSD, and modular 650W PSU, but the rest (GTX 970, i5, 8GB RAM, mobo) will be replaced, and I'll likely get a G29 wheel/pedals to get started.

Can anyone recommend me a GPU/CPU (and bonus for mobo) combo? I have a budget of about £1k for CPU, GPU, Mobo (wheel + memory etc excluded). I've seen an RTX 3060 Ti on a deal for £399 which seems good, but I'm unsure whether it'd be enough? I also don't know anything about AMD (which seem to be the way to go) as I've always used Intel, so should I finally switch sides and if so what's a good model to aim for?

I'm not looking to use ray tracing, or max out the graphics on games. As long as it powers my 49" 120Hz monitor on mid-high graphics I'll be happy.

Any advice appreciated.

 

Currently an AMD Ryzen 5800X3D is the best for ACC, get some B550 mainboard for that.

But AMD will release a new CPU generation in 3 weeks, I'd wait for the first tests.
https://wccftech.com/amd-ryzen-7000-desktop-cpus-x670-motherboards-launch-on-15th-september/

 

Ah nice thanks, I wasn't aware of that.

 

Current spec list looks like this:

 

What resolution is that monitor? If it's 1440p or 4k then the 3060ti will struggle and you'd actually be better off putting less money into the CPU and more into the GPU. I think you'd want a 3070ti or higher, maybe pair that with 5700x or even 5600x.

The 5800x3d will also require a reasonable cpu cooler.

Personally I'd also save the money on 32gb ram and just get 16gb (2x8) 3600mhz

 

I built almost the same system as you have on the picker there (even an MSI motherboard), albeit I had a 3080FE to go in it and went for Crucial 3600MHz CL16 RAM at about that same price, and it's been very nice so far. I've a Corsair H100i cooler on the CPU and the temps have been fine.

 

For CPUs:
https://www.purepc.pl/test-recenzja-procesora-amd-ryzen-7-5800x3d?page=0,21

Polish site, works very well with English Google translate. The benchmark graphs are in English anyway.

From my perspective, there are 3 possibilities right now:
- I5 12400f + B660 mobo (best bang for the buck right now)

- Ryzen 5600x + B550 mobo (can support a 5800X3D in the future and is the cheapest combo right now)

- Ryzen 5800X3D + B550 mobo (expensive, but superb fps in ACC)

- I5 12600k + Z690 mobo (expensive, medium performance, might support 13600k or 13400f in the future though)

If waiting is an option, the 7600X or 7*** X3D next year might be the better bang for the buck while being more expensive at first with the new mobos and DDR5 but possibly be cheaper over the next 5 years when you can slap in a 9800X3D or so.

If you get an Intel, it might become worthwhile to buy some DDR5 5600 or even higher, depending on your local pricings to make the 13400f or 13600k even better in the future.
DDR4: B660 around 150€ ; Z690 190€
DDR5: B660 around 180€ ; Z690 210€


Graphics card... It's still a mess. 40xx series around the corner, 30xx series just barely below their release price over 2 years ago.
I would strongly recommend nvidia for ACC. AMD for everything else though.

I'm using a 3080 and a friend has a 6800XT. DLSS is just awesome in my opinion. Nametags over opponent cars are a disaster, but everything else is totally fine. The anti-aliasing part of DLSS is as good as the TAA options, while you gain quite some performance from the lower internal resolution!
FSR on AMD is "okayish", but looking at cables just outside of the track at Spa in example show that with TAA, you have very jaggied cables, with DLSS the cables are a bit smoother than with TAA and with FSR, THERE ARE GAPS IN THE CABLES!

I really don't like what nvidia did to the GPU market over the last years, but for ACC I'd always recommend nvidia, sadly.

At 5120x1440, and up to 120 Hz, I would definitely recommend a 3070 or better. 3060ti will be okay at 60-80 fps with medium-high settings thanks to DLSS, but it'll be borderline enjoyable imo.