Wanting to build/upgrade to a VR(Vive) machine

[Tiz68]

Firstly, I’m on mobile so I apologize if the formatting isn’t correct.

So my last build that I did was back in 2011. This is her right here. It’s held up very well over the years and runs modern games decently for being so old. It’s time for an upgrade, though, and I’d like to get the HTC Vive in the near future.

With that being said, I was really hoping to just upgrade my older machine and save money on having to replace things that didn’t really need replacing, like the case, HDD, PSU, etc. Well after doing some research it seems my case isn’t big enough to fit my GPU I’m thinking of getting. So now I’m thinking my best bet would be to sell this machine and just do a complete new build. Any advice on if that’s the right path to take would be great.

So if I do sell this current machine, how much do you think it’s worth? I’d like to know a round about price to start trying to sell it, so I can use the money to put towards the new build.

As far as the new build goes, I wanted to keep a budget of under $800 for the upgrade. After discovering that I might need to make a whole new build I realized that probably wouldn’t be possible now. I’d like to keep cost down as much as possible, but still be able to run the Vive in the future when I get it.

I’d like to be able to run modern games on max settings on a 1080p 48 inch tv(I do all my gaming in the living room using the steam link). Games such a Doom, Prey, Witcher 3, Evil Within, etc and of course any VR games I would get in the future. I’m more of a casual gamer and prefer single player games over competitive multiplayer games. So as long as the build can make my games look pretty I’m happy. And I have no experience with VR so I’m not sure what’s required to get that running properly.

And as for the VIVE, I don’t know exactly when I’ll get it. I’d say maybe in 2018 sometime. I’d like to get it as soon as possible, but I can’t afford the new PC and the Vive at the same time. So whenever I can save up enough to get it, I will. I’m trying to space out the cost as much as I can without losing too much from waiting too long between purchases.

Thisis the build I put together. I’d like some advice on if this build would be good for the Vive and for modern games on my tv. As you can see it’s a good amount over my $800 budget I had planned to use to upgrade my old system. I’m hoping if I can sell the old one it will make a dent in the new build costs. So I guess my main questions are is this good enough for the Vive? If so, is any of it overkill? Since I won’t be getting the Vive right now, I want to make sure I have something that will still be able to run VR next year sometime.

And the reason for the 500GB SSD is because I will use it for my OS and my steam games. I don’t keep many on my computer at a time. And when I’m finished playing them I delete them from my system. So I figure I can keep most of what I need on just the SSD instead of getting a smaller SSD and an HDD. If that’s not such a good idea please let me know.

Thanks in advance to everyone for the help. I really appreciate it. And if you have any other questions you need answered please feel free to ask!

 

[Sakkura]

If you want to save money, an Oculus Rift is a no-brainer. Not only is it cheaper, but it also has lower PC hardware requirements because of the ASW feature.

Either way, you can keep a few parts in the new system - the power supply is fine, the case still works, as do the HDD and DVD drive.

Here's a set of components that would work with either Vive or Rift, and has a CPU and motherboard that'll hold up for a good amount of time:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($199.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($74.33 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Team - Dark 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($179.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB GAMING Video Card ($259.99 @ B&H)
Total: $714.10
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-12-10 15:30 EST-0500

You can of course also add an SSD. But that can be added later if it breaks the budget initially.

 

[Tiz68]

If you want to save money, an Oculus Rift is a no-brainer. Not only is it cheaper, but it also has lower PC hardware requirements because of the ASW feature.

Either way, you can keep a few parts in the new system - the power supply is fine, the case still works, as do the HDD and DVD drive.

Here's a set of components that would work with either Vive or Rift, and has a CPU and motherboard that'll hold up for a good amount of time:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($199.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($74.33 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Team - Dark 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($179.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB GAMING Video Card ($259.99 @ B&H)
Total: $714.10
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-12-10 15:30 EST-0500

You can of course also add an SSD. But that can be added later if it breaks the budget initially.

The only thing I’m iffy about is the 1060. Would that be good enough to run all the current games maxed at 1080p and would that be good enough for a good VR build? While the 1080 seems a little overkill I always think maybe the 1060 isn’t quite enough. What do you think?

Oh and how much do you think my current PC is worth if I do try and sell it? I’m thinking it might be easier to sell together than if I pick parts out and sell just certain things. Or do you think I can sell just certain parts easily and keep the PSU, HDD, etc?

 

[Sakkura]

The 1060 is very good at 1080p. There are a few titles it won't quite max out, but it's close. If you want to be on the safe side, then a 1070 would be plenty.

It's hard to say what you'd get for the old system. Probably not very much. The parts you can reuse are the most viable ones for 2017, while the CPU and GPU are really on their last legs. So I don't think you're sacrificing much by not selling it whole, even if the leftover parts won't get you much.

 

[adamscurr]

I agree that you would be fine with the 1060... To me, the 1070's are way too overpriced for what you get right now, I'd jump to a 1080 before a 1070, it's not that much more...

I think the Ryzen is the best bang for your buck right now as well and the high core count should keep your system viable for a long time. If it were me, I would run the 1060, then upgrade the graphics card later down the road to whatever comes down the line in the future. The 1060 is good for todays stuff and you can buy a similarly priced brand new card in two years or so when your 1060 starts to really cramp future games...