Hi there, since I am stuck at home for the next month or so, I have decided to build a new rig. My current one is 6 years old, so it is time. Also, I need something to keep me sane.

I really don't have a budget. I typically build the best systems I can afford, because I keep them for a long time. I throw a lot at them (add on scenery and AI traffic). This will be a FS only rig (P3D and beyond). I think the only two things I am keeping from the current rig are the 1080TI and the 32" 4k monitor.

• Processor: It looks like the two processors in the running are the 9700k and the 9900k. Not sure which one is the best. I will OC, but I'd like one that is an easy overclock with lots of available info on speeds and settings. Buying more commonly OC'd parts has helped me in the past
• MOBO: I want something that is commonly paired with the selected processor. Again, I think this helps with setting things up, because there is more information available on the CPU/MOBO combo. 
• Drives: I understand that M2 drives are the ones to go for these days. Right now I have two hard drives and a SSD. P3D is on the SSD, but the OS is on a WD caviar black. Am I correct that splitting the OS isn't necessary anymore as long as the SSD has a separate partition for FS? This is one area I could really use some advice, because I'm not sure how to set this up. My current FS drive (P3D and all of the stuff that goes with it) is at 500gb on a 1TB 850 EVO.

So, if you were building a corona virus rig, what would you do?

 

Right now, I'd say cutting edge would be an i9-9900K.  i7-9700K is a close second...but does come in with 25% less L3 cache.  You'll need a top-shelf CPU cooler.

I run mine on an ASUS Maximus XI Hero--I have two of these mobos and they're both stable and easy to overclock. 

The nVidia 2080Ti is the king of the GPUs right now.

Don't scrimp on RAM...shoot for something with less than 9ns true latency.

No need to separate the OS from the sim.  I still do, but only to make backups of the OS drive go faster.  Really, there's no need to put the sim on a separate partition, either.  Most of that practice owed to minimizing the seek time due to head thrashing on HDDs...access time on an SSD is pretty much the same no matter where the data resides.  With SSD prices being what they are now, a 2TB M.2 NVMe SSD would be a good choice.

 

16 minutes ago, w6kd said:

Right now, I'd say cutting edge would be an i9-9900K.  i7-9700K is a close second...but does come in with 25% less L3 cache.  You'll need a top-shelf CPU cooler.

I run mine on an ASUS Maximus XI Hero--I have two of these mobos and they're both stable and easy to overclock. 

The nVidia 2080Ti is the king of the GPUs right now.

Don't scrimp on RAM...shoot for something with less than 9ns true latency.

No need to separate the OS from the sim.  I still do, but only to make backups of the OS drive go faster.  Really, there's no need to put the sim on a separate partition, either.  Most of that practice owed to minimizing the seek time due to head thrashing on HDDs...access time on an SSD is pretty much the same no matter where the data resides.  With SSD prices being what they are now, a 2TB M.2 NVMe SSD would be a good choice.

 

Thanks. That's where I was going with this. I like my current board, so for a new one, the Maximus Hero seems like a good choice.

About the drive, when I install the sim and add ons, are there any recommended install locations (folders)? I feel like I recall recommendations, but I didn't pay too much attention, because I was using a dedicated drive. I'm also still on Windows 7, so I haven't paid a lot of attention to recs for Windows 10.

10 minutes ago, duckbilled said:

Thanks. That's where I was going with this. I like my current board, so for a new one, the Maximus Hero seems like a good choice.

About the drive, when I install the sim and add ons, are there any recommended install locations (folders)? I feel like I recall recommendations, but I didn't pay too much attention, because I was using a dedicated drive. I'm also still on Windows 7, so I haven't paid a lot of attention to recs for Windows 10.

Don't install in the default location, or any other folder that starts with "Program Files..."  C:\P3D works well...nice and short, too.

2 hours ago, w6kd said:

Don't install in the default location, or any other folder that starts with "Program Files..."  C:\P3D works well...nice and short, too.

Thanks.

Here is what I'm thinking (will buy from Microcenter, so I may need to sub some things). What do you think?

I will be using my current 1080ti and my 32" monitor running at 4k.

Subtotal (8 Items): $1,984.92

• Processors - Desktops: Intel  (599)Intel Core i9-9900K Coffee Lake 8-Core, 16-Thread, 3.6 GHz (5.0 GHz Turbo) LGA 1151 (300 Series) 95W BX80684I99900K Desktop Processor Intel UHD Graphics 630 $549.99
• Intel Motherboards: ASUS  (108) ASUS ROG Maximus XI Hero (Wi-Fi) Z390 Gaming Motherboard LGA1151 (Intel 8th and 9th Gen) ATX DDR4 DP HDMI M.2 USB 3.1 Gen2 Onboard 802.11 ac $279.99
• Water / Liquid Cooling: NZXT NZXT Kraken Z Series Z63 280mm - RL-KRZ63-01 - AIO RGB CPU Liquid Cooler - Customizable LCD Display - Improved Pump - Powered by CAM V4 - RGB Connector - Aer P 140mm Radiator Fans (2 Included) $249.99
• Desktop Memory: G.SKILLG.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 64GB (2 x 32GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) Desktop Memory Model F4-3200C16D-64GVK $299.99
• Computer Cases: Corsair  (536) Corsair Obsidian Series 750D Airflow CC-9011078-WW Black Brushed Aluminum and Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case $179.99   
• Power Supplies: SeaSonic USA  (18) SeaSonic SS-1050XP3 1050W ATX12V / EPS12V 80 PLUS PLATINUM Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply $249.99
• CD / DVD Burners: ASUS  (5916) ASUS DVD Burner 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B3ST/BLK/G/AS $24.99
• Operating Systems: Microsoft  (695) Windows 10 Pro 64-bit - OEM $149.99

 

A 1050W PSU is serious overkill...that's the kind of PSU you'd use with multiple high-end GPUs in SLI, or a RAID array with 4-5 hard drives.  I think 850W would be more than enough. 

More than 3/4 of that 64GB of RAM is going to sit unused.  3200MHz@CAS 16 is average-performance 10ns consumer grade memory.  It'll work, but it's something of an undermatch to the rest of the system.  You'll actually get at least some performance benefit by buying 16 or maybe 32GB of good performance memory.  With your current config, P3D won't get anywhere near the 16GB mark.

Using an existing SSD or HDD?

 

8 minutes ago, w6kd said:

A 1050W PSU is serious overkill...that's the kind of PSU you'd use with multiple high-end GPUs in SLI, or a RAID array with 4-5 hard drives.  I think 850W would be more than enough. 

More than 3/4 of that 64GB of RAM is going to sit unused.  3200MHz@CAS 16 is average-performance 10ns consumer grade memory.  It'll work, but it's something of an undermatch to the rest of the system.  You'll actually get at least some performance benefit by buying 16 or maybe 32GB of good performance memory.  With your current config, P3D won't get anywhere near the 16GB mark.

Using an existing SSD or HDD?

 

Yes, I forgot the SSD. That should be: Samsung 970 EVO+ 2TB SSD V-NAND M.2 2280 PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4 Internal Solid State Drive

For the power supply, I tend to keep rigs for 5 years, and I do smaller upgrades along the way. One day, I could see myself having two higher end cards in SLI. I really wanted to wait for FS2020 for this build, but I'm stuck at home for a month, so I'm doing it now. Just trying to future proof a little.

The memory is what I'm finding challenging. I really want to use the XMP profile, and I see what you are saying about 64GB. I originally thought 32GB would be appropriate, so I'll go back to that. In the past I have played "Cities: Skylines", but my current 16GB isn't enough when you load it up with mods.

This one is CL16 - G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3600 (PC4 28800) Desktop Memory Model F4-3600C16D-32GVKC.

If I am correct, this one is 8.8ns?

Thanks again for the advice. I really appreciate it.

 

I think that 3600MHz CAS 16 kit (yes it's 8.88ns latency) is a better RAM choice...that will allow much better use of all that super-fast L3 cache on the 9900K.

Even with two cards in SLI, without having multiple HDD platter drives in the system you'd still be well-served by a smaller PSU with lots of headroom still above the actual load.  The systems I first built with my kilowatt-class PSUs had multiple hard drives, multiple current-hungry GPUs, a heavy-duty 12v Laing D5 water pump, and 8-10 fans.  The 9900K portable I built recently is all solid-state drives, a single 1080Ti GPU, and 5 fans, and I used a Corsair RM850x PSU. 

Anyway, a bigger PSU certainly won't hurt anything and the extra power capacity isn't a large amount of extra expense, so hey, go for it!

Present Tech may be cheaper soon Intel are expected to go public with the new 2020 tech April.

https://www.guru3d.com/news-story/intel-comet-lake-successor-rocket-lake-to-get-pcie-gen-4-support.html

Reports Intel`s new top end 10gen CPU hitting 5.3hz.

 

Edited March 23, 20206 yr by G-RFRY

I'd also go Windows 10 now....  There's no better time to do it then with a whole new build.

Also I believe it was confirmed that the new flightsim will only support win10

On 3/14/2020 at 12:29 PM, duckbilled said:

 

This one is CL16 - G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3600 (PC4 28800) Desktop Memory Model F4-3600C16D-32GVKC.

 

 

Good choice going with faster 32GB ram. This should be all you need.

Also I have the same case as you selected. The 750D is a great platform, lots of room for everything.