OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

Welcome to the Digital Sportspage forum.

Moderators: Bill_Abner, ScoopBrady

Post Reply
User avatar
TCrouch
DSP-Funk All-Star
DSP-Funk All-Star
Posts: 7050
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2003 3:00 am
Location: Houston, TX

Re: OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

Post by TCrouch »

I'm having something very similar with my Oculus Rift losing the sensor. Like it's got a USB conflict going on, but I removed all other devices other than M+KB and it still happens. So it could be something specific to Windows 10 (I'm running Windows 10 Pro 64).

User avatar
DivotMaker
DSP-Funk All-Star
DSP-Funk All-Star
Posts: 4131
Joined: Tue Feb 25, 2003 4:00 am
Location: Texas, USA

Re: OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

Post by DivotMaker »

The Win 10 Anniversary Update borked the XInput functionality of Xbox and PS4 controllers.....

User avatar
TCrouch
DSP-Funk All-Star
DSP-Funk All-Star
Posts: 7050
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2003 3:00 am
Location: Houston, TX

Re: OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

Post by TCrouch »

Is that why my XB1 Elite Controller "connects" to the dongle and then immediately shuts off?

If I connect it wired, it works fine. And here I wiped my brand new computer, rebuilt the HDD partitions, reinstalled Windows (twice), trying to solve these USB and device conflicts.

Motherf....

User avatar
DivotMaker
DSP-Funk All-Star
DSP-Funk All-Star
Posts: 4131
Joined: Tue Feb 25, 2003 4:00 am
Location: Texas, USA

Re: OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

Post by DivotMaker »

TCrouch wrote:Is that why my XB1 Elite Controller "connects" to the dongle and then immediately shuts off?

If I connect it wired, it works fine. And here I wiped my brand new computer, rebuilt the HDD partitions, reinstalled Windows (twice), trying to solve these USB and device conflicts.

Motherf....
Yep. There is a workaround for this by putting in the previous XINput driver from pre-Win 10 Anniversary update.....

http://windowsreport.com/fix-xbox-one-c ... ry-update/

OR

https://inputmapper.com/20-windows-10-1 ... e-mode-fix

Hope this helps....

User avatar
TCrouch
DSP-Funk All-Star
DSP-Funk All-Star
Posts: 7050
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2003 3:00 am
Location: Houston, TX

Re: OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

Post by TCrouch »

Thanks, man. I'll certainly try it!

I love that Windows forces the updates on us, I keep turning them off to AVOID crap like this, and then it turns itself back on.

User avatar
DivotMaker
DSP-Funk All-Star
DSP-Funk All-Star
Posts: 4131
Joined: Tue Feb 25, 2003 4:00 am
Location: Texas, USA

Re: OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

Post by DivotMaker »

TCrouch wrote:Thanks, man. I'll certainly try it!

I love that Windows forces the updates on us, I keep turning them off to AVOID crap like this, and then it turns itself back on.
They are almost as bad as EA....LOL, naw, not that bad yet.... :wink:

User avatar
DChaps
DSP-Funk All-Star
DSP-Funk All-Star
Posts: 3670
Joined: Tue Apr 01, 2003 4:00 am

Re: OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

Post by DChaps »

After Terry's posting about the Rift and racing sims, I have finally decided to upgrade my extremely ancient PC. My budget is limited to $1500 at the absolute max. I am trying to get something that will work with a Rift, and 3 screens in iRacing. While I don't have the time or expertise anymore, I was going to try to build my own, using MicroCenter and their CPU deals. One is very close to my house which is nice. However, as I was pricing I came across this:

PowerSpec G418 - $1,399.99

http://www.microcenter.com/product/4676 ... p_Computer

Intel Core i7-6700K Processor 4.0GHz
Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
G.Skill 16GB DDR4-3200 RAM
Toshiba 1TB 7,200RPM Hard Drive
Samsung 250GB Solid State Drive
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB GDDR5 VR Ready
ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K6 Motherboard
CoolerMaster EVO Hyper 212 Cooler
EVGA 750W Bronze Power Supply
802.11n Wireless
Display Not Included

The PowerSpec G418 desktop computer is a powerful gaming machine featuring the Intel Core i7-6700K unlocked processor, an Asrock Z170 K6 Fatal1ty motherboard, 16GB DDR4-3200 RAM, 1TB Storage Drive plus a 250GB Solid State Boot Drive, and an Nvidia GTX 1070 8GB discrete video card to provide an incredible experience playing the most demanding games in the market today! Note: This system is preinstalled with Windows 10 Professional software and also comes with a license and media for Windows 7 Pro software.
Is what I am trying to do even possible? Is $1500 just not enough to build a good gaming rig for the Rift? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Right now I have a AMD 5870 and it does run iRacing on three monitors, but not very well. It is also 3 1280x1024 monitors. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Terry, are you still high on the Rift as a racing sim necessity? Will it make me go back to PC's again for my racing sims instead of consoles?

User avatar
TCrouch
DSP-Funk All-Star
DSP-Funk All-Star
Posts: 7050
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2003 3:00 am
Location: Houston, TX

Re: OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

Post by TCrouch »

My old rig had a lesser processor and slower RAM...only thing it had over that one is a Titan X, and it easily ran Rift titles. So that would do it.

The question on whether or not it's a necessity comes down to personal taste. Because what you'll notice right off the bat is a resolution drop. Everything in the rift is lower res (although you can use a tool to boost the pixels per display, essentially upscaling it), and if you get your face right up next to a screen, you can see the individual pixels light up. That's sort of 'screen door effect' people talk about. So if resolution and absolute clarity are your most important thing, then a triple screen setup might work better for you--and that machine will easily still do that.

But where I think the Rift is a NECESSITY (I could never personally go back to a triple screen setup, although now I don't have any in any case) for racing is this: Depth perception and scale. Once you get past the 'everything in the UI is sort of blurry' effect and look around, all of that stuff disappears. You can see every rise or dip on a track surface. You can tell exactly how far away that braking point is. You can literally hang your head out the window and look down at the road surface, if you so choose. And no matter what you do on triple screens, a car you're racing against is about 4" tall. In the Rift, it's the full-blown size of A CAR, literally right next to you. Scale is the single biggest thing that cannot be conveyed unless you've tried the Rift. Go 200MPH down through the Nordschleife, and your butthole puckers up like few other experiences in gaming.

So to me? VR displays and Sim-Racing are a perfect match...it's almost like they were designed with them in mind. However, if resolution is your killer (and coming from 1280x1024, I don't think it will be, but to each his own), then it might differ for you.

I ended up settling on...both. :lol:

I have the Rift for all titles that support it, and then I run everything else through the Asus ROG Swift PG348Q monitor--34 inches, 100Hz, G-Sync and a curve. It was pretty much the cherry on top for my sim-rig, but there's that to think about, too. Not everybody is on board with the Rift, so while I think it is definitely the future...you have to have an alternative for the present, too.

Things like F1 2016 and the new NASCAR game have no intention of being on the Rift, while things like Dirt Rally, Project Cars, Asseto Corsa, and iRacing already work beautifully.

User avatar
dbdynsty25
DSP-Funk All-Star
DSP-Funk All-Star
Posts: 21550
Joined: Mon Aug 19, 2002 3:00 am
Location: Thousand Oaks, CA
Contact:

Re: OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

Post by dbdynsty25 »

Dammit. So I got a new job working from home so I've spent the last few days re-doing my entire office. Which got me down the 34" Widescreen Rabbit hole. Needless to say, I just added the Asus ROG PG348Q...ugh. Replaces a standard widescreen BenQ 27" so essentially the same height, but I get quite a bit more space horizontally for work. So yeah, the wallet isn't exactly happy, but at least I can write it off. :)

User avatar
F308GTB
DSP-Funk All-Star
DSP-Funk All-Star
Posts: 1784
Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2004 4:00 am
Location: Houston, TX

Re: OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

Post by F308GTB »

dbdynsty25 wrote:Dammit. So I got a new job working from home so I've spent the last few days re-doing my entire office. Which got me down the 34" Widescreen Rabbit hole. Needless to say, I just added the Asus ROG PG348Q...ugh. Replaces a standard widescreen BenQ 27" so essentially the same height, but I get quite a bit more space horizontally for work. So yeah, the wallet isn't exactly happy, but at least I can write it off. :)
Picked up the Dell 34" curved widescreen earlier this year. Took a little getting used to for work-related stuff. Hell of a lot of real estate on the thing to the point I actually have to turn my head to get to everything. The only bad thing is that not all games support 3440x1440 (e.g., PES16) :evil:

User avatar
TCrouch
DSP-Funk All-Star
DSP-Funk All-Star
Posts: 7050
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2003 3:00 am
Location: Houston, TX

Re: OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

Post by TCrouch »

dbdynsty25 wrote:Dammit. So I got a new job working from home so I've spent the last few days re-doing my entire office. Which got me down the 34" Widescreen Rabbit hole. Needless to say, I just added the Asus ROG PG348Q...ugh. Replaces a standard widescreen BenQ 27" so essentially the same height, but I get quite a bit more space horizontally for work. So yeah, the wallet isn't exactly happy, but at least I can write it off. :)
:lol: How funny--I just bought one of those a couple of weeks ago. If you enable G-Sync, do you still notice any screen tearing? I do, which is the only complaint I've got with it, but on something like F1, it's friggin' awesome no matter what.

I just still see screen tearing even with G-Sync on, the monitor in 100Hz turbo mode, and more than enough power to run it at higher frames.

I'm noticing the lack of support for 3440x1440, as well...stuff like Deus Ex actually has the UI so screwed up that you can mark a guy and it shows his "skeleton" wire frame a good 3 inches to the right on the screen. Oh well, no worse than crappy UI support in triple screen.

User avatar
dbdynsty25
DSP-Funk All-Star
DSP-Funk All-Star
Posts: 21550
Joined: Mon Aug 19, 2002 3:00 am
Location: Thousand Oaks, CA
Contact:

Re: OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

Post by dbdynsty25 »

Been looking at a lot of different models, that Dell included. I had originally wanted to save a few hundred and bought the LG 34UC88, but the motherf*ckers at Fry's sold me a used monitor. Everything was opened, had fingerprints all over it and the OSD was locked to Korean. Literally couldn't change it...called LG and everything, so returned it with the intent on getting the cheaper Asus 75hz model (not the Predator, the other one)...but then did some more research and just said F it. With my GTX 980, G-Sync will probably be worth it, and I've pretty much sworn off AMD cards, so might as well just spend the money now and support NVidia in the future as well.

My 2nd to last monitor lasted me 10 years (it was the original Dell Ultrasharp 24" I think I spent 1400 on). So yeah, this isn't even the most expensive one I've bought!

I haven't even gotten around to gaming on it, just got it mounted to the desk mount (the stand on the Asus is horrendous btw) and everything rewired, so I'm good to go this evening sometime.

Support for the resolution will probably pick up now that there are more and more models showing up at a little more affordable prices (that Dell is 699 on Amazon, there's also a Samsung on sale at Fry's for 699 as well). I probably should have just gotten one of those, but then I'd just regret not getting the G-Sync upgrade (upcharge). So yeah...oh well.

User avatar
TCrouch
DSP-Funk All-Star
DSP-Funk All-Star
Posts: 7050
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2003 3:00 am
Location: Houston, TX

Re: OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

Post by TCrouch »

Exactly my thought. Any time I've ever "settled" on a PC part, I've regretted it and ended up buying the better version later, anyway. Actually better in the long run to just go large up front.

User avatar
dbdynsty25
DSP-Funk All-Star
DSP-Funk All-Star
Posts: 21550
Joined: Mon Aug 19, 2002 3:00 am
Location: Thousand Oaks, CA
Contact:

Re: OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

Post by dbdynsty25 »

Interesting...on the Asus site it says you need a GeForce GTX 980 TI or above to get 100hz to work w/ G-Sync. My GTX 980 works fine. I got scared for a min. LOL.

User avatar
dbdynsty25
DSP-Funk All-Star
DSP-Funk All-Star
Posts: 21550
Joined: Mon Aug 19, 2002 3:00 am
Location: Thousand Oaks, CA
Contact:

Re: OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

Post by dbdynsty25 »

Ironic. Can't play Forza on Windows 10 in 3440x1440 but you can in Project Cars. So yeah, there's that.

And holy crap. 100hz in PC @ full res is simply ridiculous looking and performing, even on my paltry GTX 980.

User avatar
TCrouch
DSP-Funk All-Star
DSP-Funk All-Star
Posts: 7050
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2003 3:00 am
Location: Houston, TX

Re: OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

Post by TCrouch »

That actually makes quite a bit of sense, since it's just porting the XBox One version over, and Project Cars had a PC development cycle.

I wondered about that, though. Sucks if Forza Horizon 3 is going to be the same way.

I hope developers start hopping on board with so many models of 21:9 monitors hitting the market lately.

So you haven't seen any screen tearing so far? I wonder if the 1080 and G-Sync aren't talking nicely yet. I know there was a new driver this week, so I'll have to examine it again.

User avatar
dbdynsty25
DSP-Funk All-Star
DSP-Funk All-Star
Posts: 21550
Joined: Mon Aug 19, 2002 3:00 am
Location: Thousand Oaks, CA
Contact:

Re: OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

Post by dbdynsty25 »

TCrouch wrote:So you haven't seen any screen tearing so far? I wonder if the 1080 and G-Sync aren't talking nicely yet. I know there was a new driver this week, so I'll have to examine it again.
Didnt notice any on the 980...but only played PC and Forza so far. I'll find some shooters to play today sometime and check it out. And yeah, forgot about the porting aspect.

User avatar
robschina
Mario Mendoza
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Aug 20, 2007 3:00 am

Re: OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

Post by robschina »

Hey...not sure if you guys know this, but both gsync & vsync need to be on in the nvcp but off in game for the best gsync experience. If you have gsync on but vsync off in the nvcp once you go over the monitors refresh rate gsync turns off and that is where you'll get screen tearing. Having vsync on only acts as a framerate cap so you don't go over your monitors refresh rate. Vsync never kicks in as long as gsync is also on. So in theory gsync overrules vsync. For me it's the smoothest most responsive lag free gaming experience.

User avatar
TCrouch
DSP-Funk All-Star
DSP-Funk All-Star
Posts: 7050
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2003 3:00 am
Location: Houston, TX

Re: OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

Post by TCrouch »

Thanks for that! I'll check it out, but I never had to even look using the other G-Sync monitors I had. That very well may be it, because I think I saw that it was off by default in the NVCP when I was digging through settings trying to make Deus Ex run better.

User avatar
robschina
Mario Mendoza
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Aug 20, 2007 3:00 am

Re: OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

Post by robschina »

Yea...I found that info from the guru3d website. I almost didn't want to use the settings because I have 2 1080gtx's in sli and most games run well over 100 to 200 fps on my Dell 1440p monitor. But after testing with vsync on & vsync off, I can tell that everything is so much smoother when I don't go over the 144hz that is my monitors refresh rate. So I lose the uncapped fps in games but actually gain smoothness, less lag, and better responsiveness than I had when my framerates were above 144hz.

User avatar
TCrouch
DSP-Funk All-Star
DSP-Funk All-Star
Posts: 7050
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2003 3:00 am
Location: Houston, TX

Re: OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

Post by TCrouch »

That's exactly what I'm running...dual 1080s in SLI on that Asus ROG PG348Q. And screen tearing is NOTICEABLE, even though the machine is more than capable of pushing a hell of a lot more frames than the monitor is capable of displaying. The weird thing is it's not even in games that demand much. Something like World of Warcraft: Legion, where there's a slow pan around a cutscene or something has horrible tears, like 2 or 3 as it slowwwwwly creeps its way up the screen. It's bizarre, so I hope this turns out to be it.

I didn't have the same issue on two other G-Sync displays, but those were 144Hz and not 100Hz, so maybe I had it but the monitor refreshed so much quicker that I didn't see it. It's noticeable on 100Hz, though.

User avatar
robschina
Mario Mendoza
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Aug 20, 2007 3:00 am

Re: OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

Post by robschina »

I actually didn't notice any screen tearing on my monitor over 144fps and everything seemed great. But after reading about the proper way gsync was supposed to be used, I gave it a try, & the difference is huge. When I go over 144fps in games I can see the studdering and the feel is not as smooth as when gsync is on. Like I said, anything over the monitors refresh rate (144hz in my case) gsync shuts down and that's where you lose the smoothness & responsiveness.

User avatar
Danimal
DSP-Funk All-Star
DSP-Funk All-Star
Posts: 12099
Joined: Mon Apr 12, 2004 3:00 am
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Contact:

Re: OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

Post by Danimal »

robschina wrote:Hey...not sure if you guys know this, but both gsync & vsync need to be on in the nvcp but off in game for the best gsync experience. If you have gsync on but vsync off in the nvcp once you go over the monitors refresh rate gsync turns off and that is where you'll get screen tearing. Having vsync on only acts as a framerate cap so you don't go over your monitors refresh rate. Vsync never kicks in as long as gsync is also on. So in theory gsync overrules vsync. For me it's the smoothest most responsive lag free gaming experience.
Ok I'm definitely not a tech guru with this stuff. I have the Acer XB270HU and whenever I play a game I just use the onscreen display to turn on Gsync. I find when it is on and I'm not gaming the screen seems darker.

So if I follow you I need to have it on for the display. Go into the NVCP and turn both it and vsynch on but in game disable it?

Disabling it in the game seems to not make sense to me what is the logic behind that?
Follow Me on:
YouTube - www.youtube.com/maxpixelation/
Twitch - twitch.tv/maximumpixelation
Twitter - twitter.com/maxpixelation

User avatar
TCrouch
DSP-Funk All-Star
DSP-Funk All-Star
Posts: 7050
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2003 3:00 am
Location: Houston, TX

Re: OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

Post by TCrouch »

The V-sync in the game uses the game software to 'wait' for the monitor to refresh, which creates input lag and framerate dips.

G-Sync is the technology written by Nvidia so that the graphics card and monitor speak directly to each other, and the game doesn't have to worry about it.

So enabling it in the Nvidia Control Panel is sort of a direct line from the video cards to the displays, and the game is left out of it by disabling the software-side vertical sync.

User avatar
Danimal
DSP-Funk All-Star
DSP-Funk All-Star
Posts: 12099
Joined: Mon Apr 12, 2004 3:00 am
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Contact:

Re: OT: PC Gaming Hardware Thread

Post by Danimal »

But you leave your monitor is Gsynch mode all the time? You don't see a dark screen on the desktop or using everyday programs like Word or a web browser?
Follow Me on:
YouTube - www.youtube.com/maxpixelation/
Twitch - twitch.tv/maximumpixelation
Twitter - twitter.com/maxpixelation

Post Reply