I originally planned to spend around $2,500 on a new gaming PC, but I can sell some items and now expect to have roughly $4,000 available. I'm in the United States and would appreciate advice on how best to use the extra budget.
The system will mainly be used for heavily modded Arma servers with around 128 players, online Digital Combat Simulator in VR, and Assetto Corsa VR. I already own a Quest 3 headset. I also plan to buy flight-simulation and racing-simulation equipment separately.
I currently have a 1080p 165Hz monitor and will need a better display, probably 1440p or higher. I'm also set on 64GB of RAM because of the demanding multiplayer servers and simulation workloads. Should I spend the full budget on a faster graphics card, more storage, a higher-end monitor, or other upgrades?
1 Answer
With a $4,000 ceiling, you can step up to a faster graphics card for better VR performance, including an RTX 5080-class card if you find one at a reasonable price. It’s more than necessary for ordinary 1440p gaming, but the additional GPU performance can help with high-resolution Quest 3 VR and demanding DCS settings. I’d still keep the 9800X3D-class processor, 64GB of memory, and a 4TB NVMe drive, because upgrading the GPU while weakening the CPU or storage would be a poor trade for your particular games. Check current prices carefully, since premium cards can carry a large markup.
A higher-end card sounds appealing for VR, although I’d want to compare its actual price and performance against the more value-focused options before committing.