Gaming PC with GeForce 4070 for VR with Quest 3. Recommendations?

[Gongalong]

Hi folks,

 

I'm looking to get a gaming PC with GeForce 4070 mostly for playing VR games via a Quest 3. Budget around £1.5k.

 

My understanding is that it needs to have a GeForce 4070 to get decent performance.

 

I've built PCs in the past, but not for a good few years, so not averse to build my own.

 

My basic spec so far:

 

Case = ideal would be something with a handle for portability, but other then that quiet. I'm not worried about flashy lights etc.

Mobo = ASUS, on the basis they are still good for quality?

PSU = no idea!

CPU = i7, but I don't know what is the best version to go for

Memory = 32GB RAM

SDD = 1TB

Graphics card = GeForce 4070

 

From what I can see it's going to be tight on a budget of £1.5k, but possible if I build myself.

 

Any thoughts on spec for the objective, and any particular parts I'm best to go for?

 

Thanks

[Dos_Box]

Are you fixed on an i7 or would you consider AMD?

[Ditto]

My son got a £900 Alphasync PC from ebuyer just before Xmas and I have no complaints. Delivery quick and easy, build quality strong good spec and I'd struggle to build much cheaper for the components. See https://www.ebuyer.com/store/Computer/cat/Desktop-PC/subcat/Gaming-PC?brand=AlphaSync&price=1200+TO+1600 for a trio of PCs in or around your budget.

[Dos_Box]

I currently have this case and it's on discount today, but it does have a glass door which does make it easy for getting access to the motherboard. It also has a decent amount of room on the inside.

It's relatively light though and well built. The price has also come down somewhat in the year or so I've had mine. I paid £45 in a sale about 13-14 months back.

 

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/thermaltake-s100-tg-tempered-glass-micro-atx-chassis-120mm-fan-usb-30-usb-20-matx-mitx

Edited February 15, 2024 by Dos_Box

[PotNoodleTech]

If you are considering AMD I've got a 5800X3D which is excellent for games (better than the i9 mostly) that I am taking out of my rig tonight (due to uncontrollable upgradeitis) :-|

 

The X3D models pretty much spank every equivalent price intel model - my mate went i9 and I went AMD and I get better frames in almost every game we play and he's technically got a stronger GPU too!

[Rob_D]

(Assuming you're self-building) How important is the portability?

Most cases that have handles and/or are more portable will mini or micro-ITX, which is going to have a big knock-on as to what parts you can get.

Either way, you probably want to look at the GPU and case together as the 40 series can be pretty massive and effect which cases you can use.

[flyinghaggis]

Hi folks,

 

I'm looking to get a gaming PC with GeForce 4070 mostly for playing VR games via a Quest 3. Budget around £1.5k.

 

Any thoughts on spec for the objective, and any particular parts I'm best to go for?

 

I also have a Quest 3 so would be interested to hear what you end up going for. My "gaming PC' is 10 years old so it's now at the point where it's no longer capable of actually running anything. I've kept putting off upgrading it in the hope that GPU prices would fall but it doesn't look like there's any chance of that happening. Feels like £500+ mid range graphics cards are here to stay unfortunately.

 

If I was to build a PC I'd probably go with something similar to what you've spec'd. Maybe :-

 

Case = Probably either re-use my NZXT H510 (which I'd recommend) or buy a new Fractal Torrent as I like the look of them for airflow/design.

Mobo = Not sure what's good these days. I'd assume anything with adequate connectors/ports would do the job.

PSU = I've heard the Corsair RM 850x series are good/quiet

CPU = Probably an i7 of some variety would be a safe bet.

Memory = 32GB (2x16Gb) DDR5 RAM

SDD = 1TB+ M2 SSD at a decent speed.

Graphics card = GeForce 4070

 

I've sped'd up a few PC's but the price always puts me off once I tally it up. Half the issue is that IMO the Quest 3 is actually pretty good as a standalone headset on it's own plus I also own a PS5 so I don't really "need" a gaming PC. It's more of a want for PC/ PCVR exclusive titles!

[Gongalong]

Are you fixed on an i7 or would you consider AMD?

I've regretted getting AMD, the two times I chose it, as Intel just seemed to be a longer lasting better performing CPU. Times may well have changed!

(Assuming you're self-building) How important is the portability?

If it means markedly compromising parts and/or performance then I can ditch portability. Are Micro ATX cases a bad approach?

I've sped'd up a few PC's but the price always puts me off once I tally it up.

Yep, it's more than I expected, but I've seen that the 4070 is pretty much required for decent VR performance. That's a current gen video console alone costwise!

[Rob_D]

If it means markedly compromising parts and/or performance then I can ditch portability. Are Micro ATX cases a bad approach?

 

There's no reason you could't build what you want in a small case. You just need to make sure your parts will fit in the smaller form factor (motherboard, PSU length, GPU size, CPU cooler size, even the ram height), and it might be a trickier or more complex build. Generally speaking it will be easier to build in a larger case without making compromises.

[ICTDirect_Dave]

I've regretted getting AMD, the two times I chose it, as Intel just seemed to be a longer lasting better performing CPU. Times may well have changed!

AMD have been on top for a while now. I'm still happily running my Ryzen 3600X, and though underpowered compared to a lot of both intel and AMD's newer cpus, it still monsters through every single task I throw at it!

Definitely go AMD I'd say.

[ICTDirect_Dave]

I'm also not sure where you're seeing that a 4070 is needed for VR.

 

That seems a lot. I played for years in vr on my 1080, max setting across the board for most games.

I've a 2080 super now it handles all vr just fine.

You would have no issues with a 4060 or 3070 I'm certain.

[Dos_Box]

I also have a Quest 3 so would be interested to hear what you end up going for. My "gaming PC' is 10 years old so it's now at the point where it's no longer capable of actually running anything. I've kept putting off upgrading it in the hope that GPU prices would fall but it doesn't look like there's any chance of that happening. Feels like £500+ mid range graphics cards are here to stay unfortunately.

 

If I was to build a PC I'd probably go with something similar to what you've spec'd. Maybe :-

 

Case = Probably either re-use my NZXT H510 (which I'd recommend) or buy a new Fractal Torrent as I like the look of them for airflow/design.

Mobo = Not sure what's good these days. I'd assume anything with adequate connectors/ports would do the job.

PSU = I've heard the Corsair RM 850x series are good/quiet

CPU = Probably an i7 of some variety would be a safe bet.

Memory = 32GB (2x16Gb) DDR5 RAM

SDD = 1TB+ M2 SSD at a decent speed.

Graphics card = GeForce 4070

 

I've sped'd up a few PC's but the price always puts me off once I tally it up. Half the issue is that IMO the Quest 3 is actually pretty good as a standalone headset on it's own plus I also own a PS5 so I don't really "need" a gaming PC. It's more of a want for PC/ PCVR exclusive titles!

 

I've started to take a 'long upgrade' route now. My i7 4770K really wasn't cutting the mustard anymore a year or so back, so bought a bundle of a Ryzen 2600 + B450 motherboard for £70 from Gumtree.

All I needed to get up and running was 16GB DDR4 3200 RAM and a PCIe (3.0) SSD. The speed jump was very noticable, and the PC no longer took 3 mins to boot + 2 mins to finish logging in and firing everything up.

 

From here I upgraded the processor to a Ryzen 5600x last summer (used, from FB Marketplace for £90) and have just upgraded the motherboard to a B550 and an extra 16GB RAM.

Just about to order a PCIe 4.0 SSD and am keeping an eye out for a reasonable GPU for £200 or under (got my son a RTX 3060 for £190 for Xmas from FB).

Whilst there were a lot of GPU bargains just before and after Xmas, these seem to have dried up recently.

There is really a alot to be said for going down the used route.

My RX580 really needs replacing soon!

[Dos_Box]

Likwise my current PC is a bit of a frankenbuild. Most of the core components in it at from when I originally bought it into 2014 (Geforce 980, 500Gb SATA SSD, 32Gb DDR4, Corsair 600w PSU). However the motherboard died in 2020 so I replaced it with a B550/Ryzen 3100.

 

So there are no shortage of upgrade paths. As you've done maybe drop in a 5600/5600x CPU and an M2 SSD for the OS. Then add a used 3060/3070 video card. So I could certainly upgrade to something capable of running modern games for ~£400-500 if I wanted to do it on a budget

 

The biggest annoyance is the the current NVidia GPU range feels like it's been deliverately rigged to force those seeking the optimum price/performance towards the RTX 4070 which is a £500+ card!

 

I was cetainly surprised at just how cheap doing it this way is, especially as you can stagger the upgrade process, and AMD are to be thanked for the AM4 platform, which means there are a lot of cheap used components out there for a long supported socket. The 'extras' such as M.2 drives and RAM are now silly cheap (I wouldn't buy used RAM - saying that, I have bought some for the kids PC's from CEX without issue).

Still, I think the gods its not the early 2000's where an upgrade was almost an annual event to keep up!

[flyinghaggis]

The 'extras' such as M.2 drives and RAM are now silly cheap

 

Yeah, I was pleasantly surprised how cheap M2 Drives and DDR5 RAM are these days!

[Dos_Box]

Yeah, I was pleasantly surprised how cheap M2 Drives and DDR5 RAM are these days!

 

DDR5?! Posh kid

[flyinghaggis]

DDR5?! Posh kid

 

Only if I upgrade my motherboard I'm currently using 2014 early spec 2133Mhz DDR4 Memory (and a SATA SSD) at the moment!

Edited February 15, 2024 by flyinghaggis

[Rob_D]

I wouldn't buy used RAM - saying that, I have bought some for the kids PC's from CEX without issue.

 

Storage is the only thing I'm a bit iffy on getting second hand. But I guess RAM could have the same write-endurance issues as SSDs.

[Gongalong]

I'm also not sure where you're seeing that a 4070 is needed for VR.

A quick bit of googling turned this up as recommended. I'd like to play Microsoft Flight Simulator, and I hear that's really demanding.

[ICTDirect_Dave]

Ah, flight sim is probably the single most demanding thing you'll put through it, but I wouldn't build to its top spec unless you really expect to put the hours in on it.

 

MS recommend a 2080ti or better for VR at top specs (1080 or better minimum). So you should be fine with a 3070, 4060ti (16gb) or 4070. All of which are superior to the 2080ti.