How much should i be spending on an iracing computer?

T

trainman101

22
United States
North East
zombieassxassin
I am a complete idiot when it comes to computers.

Ok I went to best buy and they could build a custom desktop with an upgraded graphics card and a bigger power supply for about $920(includes keyboard and mouse). They had a laptop with the specs to run iracing but that was $1200. Is 920 a good price? (USA Dollars)

I plan on running the game on a 42 plasma tv so the monitor doesnt matter to me.

And what is "core 3"? I have heard from some here that iracing will be going to "core 3"? What is that?

Thanks in advance
 
Are you sure it wasn't core i3? If it was that is an Intel processor for 920 I guarantee you could build something twice as fast.
Now I assume you don't want to build your own computer so I would recommend looking into Main Performance PC he operates out of the east coast and builds computers basicly just for iRacing last I checked his were not much more than the $1200.
I personally would not run iRacing on a laptop especially if you are using a TV for a monitor. I can't imagine the air flow being sufficient to cool the thing down but I know so guys do use laptops. Just personal preference.
 
I just bought a Dell xps 8300 i5 pc from best buy for $775 dollars out the door. It comes with a amd 6450 graphics card that will get about 45 fps with most details on low. I added a 6850 graphics card for $150 now have all details on high, fps locked at 95. The 6850 is plug and play with this computer no other upgrades needed. So it was $925 for a pretty decent pc for iracing. Could maybe do it a bit cheaper building your own but not a whole lot. Hope that helps.
 
Go to Newegg, find a nice Refurb and start from there, you shouldn't spend any more than 700 bucks for a PC that will run 125+ FPS on any track!
 
I run my 1 year old dell XPS 17 laptop on a 55" LCD TV, it runs test mode at 90-110 FPS on most tracks consistently, and at the default 84 FPS cap, it rarely budges from that but I keep it on a hard surface (wood), I'm pretty sure vents mostly out the side, and the fan runs for about 2 mins every few mins (a reasonably more time than when just using the web not on a tv)

On the dell site new XPS 17's run for between $900-1200 but I'd rather have a desktop
 
Acer 5560-sb613
AMD Quad-core a8-3500m
AMD Radeon HD 6620G
8 gigs ram

Runs perfect in test on "Max" settings.
I bump it to medium while racing others to be safe.
Only paid about $450.00 for it for school, didn't really plan on gaming with it.
But it does tend to surprise me with what it can do!
I play skyrim on max also, and battlefield 3 on medium.
It's a pretty nice laptop overall.

I should also mention I run it on a 42"LCD TV via HDMI with no problems.
No over heating or lag.

Overall, I too would rather have a desktop for gaming.
So if you have the money to build one, or buy a built one, I'd say go for it.
 
+1 to Main Performance PC. Michael Main is an iRacer and is even offering a special deal right now to iRacers where you buy a new computer with him and you get a free Logitech G27.

Great deal, great service, and Michael is a great asset to the iRacing community as well. He can build you a better computer for $900 than Best Buy can. Also he knows what iRacing runs best with.
 
Oh, and the size of your screen doesn't matter, it's all about resolution. A 200" 1080p screen takes just as much graphical processing power as a 37" 1080p TV.
 
superbike81
+1 to main performance pc. Michael main is an iracer and is even offering a special deal right now to iracers where you buy a new computer with him and you get a free logitech g27.

Great deal, great service, and michael is a great asset to the iracing community as well. He can build you a better computer for $900 than best buy can. Also he knows what iracing runs best with.
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+1

superbike81
Oh, and the size of your screen doesn't matter, it's all about resolution. A 200" 1080p screen takes just as much graphical processing power as a 37" 1080p TV.
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That is correct, I run 3 55" LCD HDTV"s with out any problem.
 
Where the problem with televisions may or may not arise is in the input response time (not to be confused with the G2G 'gray to gray' response time). Televisions vary wildly in their input response time, you may not notice it now, because your brain has compensated for it. But, if you suddenly switch to something like a Dell U2312M monitor which supposedly has the lowest average input lag of any LCD out there (0.6ms average) you will find that you drive like crap because you are so accustomed to compensating for it without even knowing it.
 
superbike81
Where the problem with televisions may or may not arise is in the input response time (not to be confused with the G2G 'gray to gray' response time). Televisions vary wildly in their input response time, you may not notice it now, because your brain has compensated for it. But, if you suddenly switch to something like a Dell U2312M monitor which supposedly has the lowest average input lag of any LCD out there (0.6ms average) you will find that you drive like crap because you are so accustomed to compensating for it without even knowing it.
Click to expand...

Since he has a plasma, input lag probably isn't a problem. LCD seems to be alot slower in most cases then plasma TV's. IT's really hard to beat plasma when it comes to gaming.

What brand and model of TV is it?
 
bevo
Since he has a plasma, input lag probably isn't a problem. LCD seems to be alot slower in most cases then plasma TV's. IT's really hard to beat plasma when it comes to gaming.

What brand and model of TV is it?
Click to expand...

You are doing exactly what I said to be careful not to do, confusing input lag with response time. Plasmas have just as much input lag as any other display.

Here is a good explanation of what I am talking about and how it differs from response time:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_lag

Here is a thread listing input lag on some plasma televisions:

http://72.9.159.100/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1166196
 
While we are on the subject of monitors/TV's...
I have been looking to upgrade to a 3screen setup, I wanted to get DisplayPort monitors so I could avoid using adaptors, I'm a little out of touch when it comes to specs etc, what do you guys reckon about these....
http://www.playtech.co.nz/afawcs0139235/CATID=259/ID=17185/SID=1013152689/productdetails.html
These are probably the cheapest I've seen down here in NZ that's 27'' and DisplayPort, hoping to get a bulk deal but I'm used to paying top dollar down this end of the world anyway, there doesn't seem to be too many options here in NZ too, so will probably pick them up unless you guys talk me out of it :lol:.
Advice will be appreciated (or any other ideas).
:cheers:
 
In this link i found a computer for $709. (bottom right) http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/landingpages/intel/i7/

Does that computer have what i need for iracing?

Is that a "core 3"? Someone told me iracing will be going to core 3 in a few months.

I have a 50" plasma i would like to use an hdmi cable.

Thanks for your time and advice guys, I am a noob when it comes to computers.
 
There is no operating system with that computer and youll probably want to upgrade the graphics card. With tax shipping and windows 7 is around $900 and you got to still upgrade GPU.
 
Please contact Main Performance PC. They will build you a computer to run iRacing very well within your budget. You don't have to use the pre-built systems on their site. I assure you, Michael will take care of you.
 
trainman101
In this link i found a computer for $709. (bottom right) http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/landingpages/intel/i7/

Does that computer have what i need for iracing?

Is that a "core 3"? Someone told me iracing will be going to core 3 in a few months.

I have a 50" plasma i would like to use an hdmi cable.

Thanks for your time and advice guys, I am a noob when it comes to computers.
Click to expand...

What you have heard is that iRacing is meant to be releasing an update to allow the game to utilise 3 processor cores.

Most processors today have 2+ physical cores inside them, which for one reason or another improves the efficiency and performance of the processor. The computer you highlighted has an i5 2500k which is a 4-core processor. It's pretty excellent for performance, as I have one myself. It will run iRacing on max settings no problem. Really you want to be looking at the Intel i5 and i7 series processors. Core i3 processors have two cores and are good, but for your budget you can do better than that.

I'm not sure about the graphics card in that system though (NVIDIA GT520) is a low end card. I hear iRacing is mainly CPU dependant, so you might be ok with that, but it would be safer to go for something more high end. (A Radeon HD 6770 perhaps - which is still a low-mid range card but can handle most new games on medium settings)

If you go over to the Computers and technology section of this forum (Maybe get this thread moved) you will get a lot more replies on PC advice.
 
trainman101
Spoke to mainperfomance pc and the best they could do was $1299 before shipping.
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Not worth it, build yourself a computer, it will cost HUNDREDS LESS for the same performance and same warranty.

700$ is all you need for a good gaming pc. But if you want a 2500k (most popular cpu) 800$ is all.
 
Ok i just made another trip to best buy just to take a look.

Here is the computer and graphics card. I wont be buying the keyboard or monitor so the tower is acutally 520. The power supply was another $70(450w).

All put together with a 1 year warranty it turns out to be about $850. Any thoughts or opinions? Again I am an idiot when it comes to computers.

And my plan is to run it with a 50" hdmi samung tv.

http://deals.bestbuy.com/desktops+a...memory+1tb+hard+drive+++20quot+led+hd+monitor

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/XFX+-+R...010812&skuId=3504394&st=RADEON 6750&cp=1&lp=1
 
I still say this is your best deal from best buy http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Dell+-+...4972.p?id=1218501937788&skuId=4634972&st=dell xps&cp=1&lp=1. Then get you a good graphics card from amazon. This is the one I got its plug and play http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0047ZGIUK/?tag=gtplanet-20. I said earlier 95 fps, but after rechecking I get a steaidy 125fps in iracing. Main performance maybe be a nice company, but its seems a bit high priced for what your getting. Im very happy with this combos performance.
 
Have you checked newegg.com? I got a ibuypower pc from there last august when I first got into iracing. It was just the tower, keyboard and mouse. It has 4 GB ram, quad core processor and came with a ATI HD 5700 series video card for $500 shipped. A couple months ago I upgraded the graphics card to a Sapphire ATI HD 6850 for $125 after a mail in rebate so I can run triple monitors. So I have a total of $625 into my pc setup and I can run about everything on max settings with all the details and stuff turned on with 25 cars on track and I get 110 + FPS on every track I go to. You can spend as much as you want on a built pc, but you can get a good starter package for around $500.
 
I found a good quote on iracing forums which sort of goes like this:

iracing is expensive if you treat it as a game
iracing is ok if you treat it as a sim
iracing is a cheap if your a hobbyist vs real life racing
 
$1299 before shipping? Wow, I've heard of other people configuring computers from them for under $1000 before, maybe they switched equipment standards or something.
 
superbike81
$1299 before shipping? Wow, I've heard of other people configuring computers from them for under $1000 before, maybe they switched equipment standards or something.
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I couldnt get them to budge. I told them my budget was no more than $900 and he kept referring back to the $1299 computer which is the cheapest they offer.
 
trainman101
Ok i just made another trip to best buy just to take a look.

Here is the computer and graphics card. I wont be buying the keyboard or monitor so the tower is acutally 520. The power supply was another $70(450w).

All put together with a 1 year warranty it turns out to be about $850. Any thoughts or opinions? Again I am an idiot when it comes to computers.

And my plan is to run it with a 50" hdmi samung tv.

http://deals.bestbuy.com/desktops+a...memory+1tb+hard+drive+++20quot+led+hd+monitor



http://www.bestbuy.com/site/XFX+-+R...010812&skuId=3504394&st=RADEON 6750&cp=1&lp=1
Click to expand...

Stay away from hp. The Graphics card you chose might need more power then your power supply that computer comes with (hp skimps on power supplies badly) (also they are terribly unreliable, and geeksquad is a b*tch to go through).

Honestly just build a computer.It's not that hard and will save you money. I'm referring this from someone else

"building a computer is like putting together a high tech lego"

This is a decent build for someone only spending about 680$

Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
amd 965 black edition cpu 3.4ghz
4gb of ram
500gb hard drive (samsung by seapoint)
evga gtx 550ti (a great graphics card for gaming)
asus m4a87td
silverstone strider series 600w psu (Never skimp on your power supply)
windows 7
and an anti-static wrist wrap

If your worried about choosing parts, they are all listed in a fashion. Ask an eggxpert on how to choose parts.
 
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