Best "Bang-for-your-buck" PC Racing Sim?

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Watevaman

Watevaman

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Watevaman78564
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Watevaman78564
Alright guys, after getting my Playseats Evolution to go with my DFGT, I've decided that it should be time I got a good racing sim on the PC for those days when GT5P and GT4 just don't cut it. Now, there's a problem: there are too many racing sims out there and it's hard for someone like me to get a good idea of what is the best overall product.

To start off, I've played GTR2 and absolutely love it. I don't own it, but I have played enough to know it's a fun game and the different elements make it great. One of the other things I like about it is the modding. I've been to NoGripRacing and have seen all the addons there are for GTR2 and wow, it's great to see modding in numbers that are comparable to HL2 in terms of creativity.

I've also played LFS (the demo version) and earlier today I was playing it after taking a break for 8 months and I realized how fun it was. However, while there seems to be mods, LFS seems more about the community and online play rather than custom stuff. I also find it a bit expensive ($40+ for what you get content wise).

rFactor, I haven't played, but have heard great things, and I guess it's a mix between GTR2's wide variety and LFS' online community? I've heard a ton of stuff about this.

iracing (or whatever), doesn't appeal to me much as I don't have the money to spend on a monthly subscription to that. However, if I have my facts wrong, please tell me.


So, to you guys, what's the best overall race sim out there at this time? GTR2 is currently the one I'm looking towards, but if either LFS or rFactor have significant advantages (physics, content, etc.) over it, I'd like to hear about 'em.

And for reference, I'm running a fairly old system: P4 2.6GHz, 1GB RAM, Geforce 6800GT, and a SB Audigy 2ZS soundcard. I was running LFS at 1024x768 (which is a fine resolution for me) at around 90fps earlier with pretty high details, but newer games (like the GTR:Evo demo) slow me down at the same res. I'd like to be able to keep at least a 30 if possible.

Edit: One thing I forgot to mention is that I love GTR2 because I love that style racing. GT racing in general is my cup of tea, and while street cars and other stuff are fun, GT/LeMans/Formula One is really what I look forward to. Ovals and stuff are not my thing, just to clarify, so if you were thinking of suggesting ARCA Sim Racing or whatever, please keep that in mind. :D
 
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GTR2/GTR Evoltution, Race 07, rFactor and liveforspeed
should all be alright on your pc and they all have tonnes of free mods
all these are under £30 as far as I can remember
 
For me GTR2 is an utterly amazing sim, I have spent so long driving this game. the last time I checked I've done 40,000 laps on the various tracks I have (since the end of 2006). the Vanilla game is brilliant but the add-ons just take this game to another level. I too frequent Nogrip a lot and I also love GT racing. Physics wise the game is solid altho some say it's showing it's age, I'm perfectly happy with it and have an excellent setup with my DFP and FFB settings. Icing on the cake for me is the fact that there's some truly excellent SuperGT models coming out for GTR2. I've been playing driving games since F1GP on the Amiga and it's only since GTR2 that I've found a game that has really let me develope my skills. I was never consistent (i.e. 5-6 quick laps then off the track!), but with GTR2 I can consistently put in lap after lap after lap (i've done a couple of 12hour races at Sebring and laptime only varied by 1 or so seconds (unless traffic was involved)). I only play offline tho, I've heard that rfactor is the better bet for online.
 
How much RAM does that GeForce has?

Reading that your system has 1Gb of RAM available, I'd definitly put another Gb in there to make sure games like rFactor and GTR2 are going to run perfectly smooth.

Have you ever tried the first GTR game? I still have it, and still best racing game I own but I don't play it so much because my PC cannot handle everything maxed out with a full field...
 
GTR2 for me. Online racing is intense, I did a dynamic weather race the other day and it was awesome. Tyre choices were very hard to judge, and I had to keep using the wet line after my tyres overheating on the quickly appearing dry line. There are plenty of mods, loads of tracks and skins, not to mention leagues and servers to race in.
 
I went to BB the other day and picked up GTR 2 Game of the Year edition, which includes GT Legends, for $10. It is definitely a game that I enjoy thoroughly, and I haven't even dragged my wheel by the computer yet. I'm loving P&W2 and the Super GT mod.
 
Watevaman
And for reference, I'm running a fairly old system: P4 2.6GHz, 1GB RAM, Geforce 6800GT, and a SB Audigy 2ZS soundcard.
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Speaking with personal experience (my specs on my oldest computer are identical save for an overclocked/unlocked 6800 Vanilla rather than a 6800GT), I can say that you can get probably about 50-60 @ 1024X768 in rFactor with most things turned on and a 24 car grid. However, on downloaded tracks (Le Sarthe or Nurburgring, for example), I've seen the game drop into the low-20s.
Bram Turismo
How much RAM does that GeForce has?
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I think the P4 would be a bigger bottleneck, but 256.
 
Aldo001
GTR2/GTR Evoltution, Race 07, rFactor and liveforspeed
should all be alright on your pc and they all have tonnes of free mods
all these are under £30 as far as I can remember
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I recently bought Race07/GTR Evolution for 27 euros on STEAM. Runs excellent on my crappy laptop GPU at 1440x900/High.

Toronado
I think the P4 would be a bigger bottleneck, but 256.
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I think you are right. As stated above, GTR/Evo runs great on my crappy laptop GPU which is backed by a decent dual core CPU.
 
I've just got my mitts on GTR Evolution. Damn its hard to get to grips with so far! I'm coming to this from a position of being relatively okay to quite good on games like GT4 and Toca 2. I guess it takes time to get the hang of this one?
 
does anyone know if it is possible to get just the playseat stand thing without the seat or something pretty similar to it?
the setup i have now is not exactly ideal
 

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