iracing.com

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I've seen two friends play it and its amazing. I must admit i'm not really a pc gamer anymore, made way for the console and Iracing's lack of "up to date" graphics are a bit annoying, but given the nature of the PC platform, any competitive individual would lower all settings to gain FrameRate anyways. If Iracing was on console, they could lock graphic settings for a better experience, while maintaining a proper frame rate... but who am i to judge ;)

The best way to answer your question on connection tho, is to try it for a month. Its pretty much the price of a movie ticket anyways.

Hey, I'm running on a crap computer, dual core 2.4Mhz, 400GB hard drive. It was on integrated graphic card before and it runs 30-40 fps max and yes the graphics was awful. But then, I bought a decent 'dated' second hand gaming graphic card (ATI HD 4650). What a difference it made!! Now I'm running on 1280x720/ 720p at full setting. All I can say the graphics looks superb and I run consistently 90-100fps at all time even on full race grid.


Another thing I noticed, i-racing physics does not like any frame rate below 60. It improves signifficantly above 60fps. Now I can go drifting smoothly at this rate!! And my lap times keep improving also!👍
 
I am very seriously considering iRacing, IMO the world of console sim racing is in it's death throws, the main developers are dumbing down to sell big numbers to the masses which means compramising on the Sim racing aspect in an attempt for mass appeal.

SimBin tried to break real honest sim racing to the masses on XBox and has failed miserably, I love it but the game just didn't sell well enough and I think it's because it was too serious a sim for the majority to put up with.

To me games like GT and Forza make us think we are driving gods, sims like iRacing prove that we are not, and I want a piece of that action. I don't expect to be fast, but I do want to get involved in clean racing with large grids and take part in some of the championships even if it means competing for mid table positions.

BUT!

I'm a complete PC dunderhead. I have no idea about PC sim racing and have no idea how to get started.

I know that my PC at home would not have a cat in hells chance of being able to play iRacing so am thinking about maybe building a computer specifically for that game, as my home PC located is too far away from my racing rig. I have a Playseat and a Fanatec PWTS with Clubsport pedals so I'm set for peripherals.

What should I do?

What do I need? (I've seen the minimum specs on iRacing.com but all the numbers and names of things you need confuse me. I would like to at least start with more than the minimum spec to kinda futureproof the box but I have no idea about gfx Cards and suchlike)

and how much would it cost (roughly) to build a PC with high enough specs to play iRacing?

Thanks
 
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Building a PC isn't really as hard as you think it is, there are even a couple of websites that have an outline for bargain builds all the way up to the most uber-leet gaming machine on the face of the planet, money no issue (tomshardware.com is one that I used to frequent). I'll just line out what some of the requirements on iRacing's website mean and then how I would go about interpreting them:

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* Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7
This is your Operating system, what you see your mouse in and what helps you run applications. We're in trouble if you get stuck here :nervous:

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 * Hyperthreaded Intel CPU, AMD Athlon 64 CPU, or any dual-core CPU
In terms most people understand, this means "A processor that is newer than 3 or so years old, or was cutting edge 4 years ago." Intel and AMD are two competing companies and both have their own designs as to how a processor works, so the processor socket and the motherboard socket MUST be compatible. Picking a processor and a motherboard pair is normally where I start building a PC. I would shoot for something in the range of 3.6-4.0 Gigahertz with two or four cores.

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 * 128MB Pixel Shader 2.0 (ATI 9700Pro or nVidia 6600 or better);
 256 MB Pixel Shader 3.0 (ATI X1600 or nVidia 6800 GT/GS or better)
 graphics adapter recommended
This part is decribing the minimum specifications for the graphics card, arguably the heart of a gaming PC. Since a graphics card is sort of its own computer anyways, it has it's own RAM (explained next) as well as a processor. Normally, the higher the number in the series (nVidia 6800GT vs. nVidia 6900GT) the better the processor for the graphics card. Just as an example, the recomended nVidia card can be far outclassed by other cards for under $50, so you can spend as much, or almost as little as you want in this area. IMPORTANT: Make sure the card fits in the motherboard! If your motherboard has multiple PCI slots, use a PCI card, if your motherboard has PCI Express(PCIe) slots (big difference) use a card that is a PCI express. Choosing a graphics card is normally around step 3 for me if I'm building a system that's going to be used for everyday tasks, and not hardcore gaming. Choosing a graphics card is step one... ONE... when building a PC for hardcore gaming. Just with some quick searching, a screaming fast card would only run around $150 and would probably be a good card to start with if you want to build for the future. Most new graphics cards use the PCIe 2.0 slot, so keep this in mind when choosing a motherboard.

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* 1 GB system RAM
RAM (or 'memory') is like your system's desk; It's used to file things that you're going to need immediately, but not for long-term storage. RAM is what things like tracks, cars, and skins are loaded to while they're being used. Normally, the bigger the number, the better with RAM, just remembering that 512 KB is smaller than 1 GB (512 kilobytes < 1 Gigabyte). RAM is another one of those things that MUST fit the motherboard socket. Stick with around 2GB of RAM. This is more than enough to run most of our racing sims. For the socket type, 240-Pin DDR2 has been the standard for quite a while, and with plenty of products still being made, will stay around for quite a while.

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* 3Gb free hard disk space
This is your hard-drive, the computer's long term storage. Get something that is 500GB or more and you wont have any problems. Get a Hard-drive that connects via a SATA 3.0Gb/s style connection (Serial ATA: 3 Gigabytes per second) since most new motherboards have plenty of SATA 3.0 connections.

Basically this is what I would personally do if I had to build a PC for gaming.

1. Pick a graphics card. Bigger $$$ will get you further down the road. Note what kind of connector the graphics card uses. (AGP, PCI, PCIe, PCIe 2.0, etc.)

2. Pick a processor. pick AMD or Intel, then pick what kind of speed you want (3.6-4.0) and the number of cores (2 OR 4). Note what socket type the processor is (LGA775, Socket AM2, etc.)

3. Pick a motherboard that uses the type of connection for your selected graphics card AND your selected processor. Make sure the motherboard supports 240-PIN DDR2 memory. Make sure the Motherboard supports SATA 3.0 style connections. This isn't as hard as it sounds, but can be the most frustrating part. Just take your time, double, tripple, and quadruple check your connections. Most newer motherboards come with built-in stuff like audio cards, network cards and USB drive cards, so we can keep our case less cluttered. TAKE NOTE of what style of power connector is used for the motherboard and CPU power supply, as well as the form factor (ATX, microATX, etc.) we'll need these later.

4. Pick memmory that is supported by the motherboard. 2GB should be fine.

5. Pick a hard-drive. At least 500GB and uses the SATA connection.

6. Pick a power supply unit (PSU). If you're going to run one graphics card, a 600 watt PSU is recommended. If you're using two graphics cards, go for at least 1KW of power. Make sure the PSU form factor is the same as the Motherboard's. This makes life easier.

7. Pick a case. This is just a wrapper to hold everything in. It can be as plain, or as fancy as you want it. BUT.... make sure it's in the form factor of your motherboard and PSU. I even broke out a CNC plasma cutter to cut custom designs in the side of my case, but that's just because I used to frequent LAN parties.

8. CHECK
9. EVERYTHING
10. MULTIPLE
11. TIMES... Checking to make sure everything is compatible is where I spend about 50-60% of my time when building a PC. It only takes one component not fitting to grind everything to a halt.

12. Add periphrials like a mouse, keyboard, monitor(s) and sound.

13. order it... All of it. All at once. Do not try and stagger your orders, as you can loose place of what you have and haven't ordered, possibly leaving you rig-less for 2-3 weeks.
14. Put it together. Don't get intimidated, just remember that it only goes where it fits. Two different types of connectors (anymore) cannot be interchanged. The guts of a PC are arranged so that most anyone could put it together correctly on their first try. The first time I put a PC together it only took about an hour. 10 minutes before that, I had never even seen RAM, a hard-drive, or a motherboard. It can be done, and it's quite easy.

15. Pick an Operating system and install. OS's can be ordered through most hardware vendors, so you might just want to tag that on to your shipment. I would personally just stick with Windows XP for now... Too many people are still using it for XP to be phased out, and Windows vista sucks.

15a. Install the drivers. They come on CDs with the hardware.

16-end... ENJOY! PLAY GAMES! SURF THE WEB! YOU are now one of the few people in this world that can BUILD a computer... Go out and advertise yourself! Just keep in mind that your grandparents will now automatically think that you can fix their e-mail for them every time Solitaire crashes:boggled:

As a cost sort of thing, you can go as wild or as tamed as you want when building because you are the one in control. Just by glancing at the minimum requirements, a system that would just barely run iRacing could come out to anywhere between $400-500 (Don't quote me on that, I'm just guessing). A PC that would last you a good 4 years (as the one I'm using now) will cost you in the range of $900-1500 ($1500 obviously is a large number, but think about having to re-build a $400 computer every year when a new sim comes out... for 5 years. You'll come out ahead if you spend more now.)

If you have any questions, just PM me... I tend to build a computer for someone at least once a month and I'll help out as much as I can.

And to make this post a little more relevant to the thread, I just renewed my iRacing account. They have a good Black-Friday promotion going on if you want to get back into it.. Like, one year's worth of subscription for $75 instead of $99. Epic win on iRacing's part.
 
Thank you very much for your help Jac, I'll start loking around and think very seriously about doing this.



Edit.......Jac I can't PM you, tried clicking on your name but I think you've got that stuff disabled
 
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My Logitech Momo wheel arrived yesterday. I still have to get used to it, so for now I'll keep playing the rFactor trial, GTR 2 and the Race On demo (maybe I'll buy the Race On bundle this weekend). But later on I'll have to try at least a month of this game, it looks awesome!
 
The codes will go inactive on Monday, I think. I read that somewhere on the forums. Still, those are what got me back into it, so obviously, it worked for them!
 
Hey guys,

Better hurry, just for today only I think! One year for $75.

Sounds like a bargain.

Unfortunately for me, iRacing is still slightly beyond my budget as I would have to build a PC specifically for the task, but thanks to Jaczilla's help I now know what I'm loking for and how much I'll need to spend in the future.

Hopefully in about a year from now iRacing's subscription will reduce again, then I can justify the cost with my Missus and make the switch from console racing.
 
Hopefully in about a year from now iRacing's subscription will reduce again, then I can justify the cost with my Missus and make the switch from console racing.


Also remember that iRacing might end up to be moneysaver for you... like it is for me. I rather spend my free-time by driving/testing it, than go out to play pool and drink some beers like before. :) It's god damned magnetic simworld and community. I love the structure, hardcore-mentality, and deeper meaning of it. ( :sick: )

Also building your own PC is highly recommended, and educating. Year before now I didn't know anything about PC's, but after I bought someones old gaming-machine, and started to get familiar with it, I can now do everything whats related to building PC... heck, just in few days I changed my Power supply to 650w Corsair, Graphics-card to Radeon HD4890, sweeped old Nvidia-drivers, downloaded new ones, updated my Bios to 1.60, overclocked my AMD x2 7750 BE to 3.0Mhz in there, and made many stability-runs with different voltage and frequency settings with 3DMark06.

I cant believe I'm really nowadays doing this kind of nerdy stuff!

I'm so happy about this new area of knowledge... I really scared computers earlier. :D


Just do it... (now)
 
Is my computer good enough for iRacing?

Acer Aspire 5738

Processor: Pentium Dual-Core CPU T4300 @ 2.10GHz
Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 512 MB
RAM: 3.00 GB
Operating system: 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium

I so want to be a part of this game! :nervous:
 
Is my computer good enough for iRacing?

Acer Aspire 5738

Processor: Pentium Dual-Core CPU T4300 @ 2.10GHz
Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 512 MB
RAM: 3.00 GB
Operating system: 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium

I so want to be a part of this game! :nervous:

i have iracing installed on my laptop (acer aspire 5535) though ive never actually used it to race on only watch replays to study my lines when im slacking off at work. the only way i can get it to run a decent frame rate is to turn the GFX down to minimum. ill average between 20-40FPS in a replay that is just of me or 1 or 2 other cars in it. your best bet would be to spend the $8 for a 1 month subscription and see how well it runs for you. if its not running smoothly in a race with a full field of cars then your out $8 if not then it was a wise investment.
 
Even better offer is Radicalsportscars.com's 1-month free-trial, and you also get Silverstone and Radical for free. (...and all basic starting-content ofcourse)

Ask your code immediately, cause it can take some days before you receive it to your e-mail. There is no hurry to use it after that. It starts counting days when you create your iRacing-account.

Welcome! You will love it if you like one-make racing with unforgiven physics, and unbelievable fast drivers beating you again and again.
 
Even better offer is Radicalsportscars.com's 1-month free-trial, and you also get Silverstone and Radical for free. (...and all basic starting-content ofcourse)

Ask your code immediately, cause it can take some days before you receive it to your e-mail. There is no hurry to use it after that. It starts counting days when you create your iRacing-account.

Welcome! You will love it if you like one-make racing with unforgiven physics, and unbelievable fast drivers beating you again and again.
It's a five dollars' 1 month trial actually, but it's better than paying the regular 15 dollars' price. Thanks for the tip, I've just applied for a code.

http://www.radicalsportscars.com/racing/virtual-racing
 
The Radical trial used to be free. That was the one I tried a few months back and I didn't pay for it.
 
Yeah, I was watching an episode of InsideSimRacing on youtube the other day where they went to the iRacing headquarters and one of the developers talked about the free trial. They had to cut it because it became a mess with lots of people screwing around on the races. A five dollars' trial should avoid that while giving serious people interested in the game a chance to try it for a low fee.
 
After the Radicalsportscars.com's 1-month free-trial expires you still got to keep Silverstone and Radical if you pay the subscription?

You can keep them even you would not continue to being paying subscriber. Your account stays in their database, and you can activate it whenever you want, and continue your career from that point where you left it. I recommend to fullfill licence-promotion requirements, so your licence will raise when it's promotion time, even you would not be active-member anymore.
 
Thank you.

I've used that other 5 Bucks Trial and that doesn't have Silverstone or the Radical. That's more $14.95 for the Track and $11.95 for the car.

I think I'm going to make a new account. ;-)
 
Just got the code from Radical on my email. I'll activate it as soon as I have time to play this.
 
Hello guys. Recently got into this game and am very pleased :D I'm waiting for the promotion date so I can become class D in both Road and Oval. Got there pretty quick :D
If anyone is going to sign up, if you put in alexgibbo27@hotmail.com as the referral it gives the referrer $10 to spend on iracing each time someone enters that email :eek: So you can see why I'm really after a referral or two :)
 
I`m thinking to play iRacing, many people says iRacing is great, i`ve seen iracng recaps on youtube and looks amazing, is really so good simulator?
 
I`m thinking to play iRacing, many people says iRacing is great, i`ve seen iracng recaps on youtube and looks amazing, is really so good simulator?

Yeah, iRacing is a great simulator (the best to date IMHO) but it's not for everyone. It's online only and it's full of rules so you have to treat it very seriously to be succesful.
 
I sent in for the $5 trial from Radical and got a reply a day later.
I signed up for the service that night and now am hopelessly addicted to it.

I have a blast in every race I do, even when I don't finish well. This sim has given me a much deeper appreciation of clean racing and I am trying very hard to go faster without doing so recklessly. Something I never really bothered with while playing GT and other racing games.

The beginner cars are very fun to drive for me. The Pontiac Solstice racer was a surprise to me. I just got bumped up to D and bought the Jetta TDI although I haven't had a chance to race it yet. Have yet to try any oval racing yet.

I could go on forever about how great this service is, but I can definitely see that is not for everyone. Be ready to put in some time in practice to be competitive and stay clean enough to rank up... unless your already a great racer I suppose! Such is not the case for me, but I am slowly working up speed while maintaining a clean racing style. I have been able to podium a few times in some rookie level races and they felt so much more rewarding than any other racing game I've played.

Bottom line: Get the 5 dollar trial and give it a whirl if you are thinking about it. I'm sure glad I did! 👍
 
I sent in for the $5 trial from Radical and got a reply a day later.
I signed up for the service that night and now am hopelessly addicted to it.

I have a blast in every race I do, even when I don't finish well. This sim has given me a much deeper appreciation of clean racing and I am trying very hard to go faster without doing so recklessly. Something I never really bothered with while playing GT and other racing games.

The beginner cars are very fun to drive for me. The Pontiac Solstice racer was a surprise to me. I just got bumped up to D and bought the Jetta TDI although I haven't had a chance to race it yet. Have yet to try any oval racing yet.

I could go on forever about how great this service is, but I can definitely see that is not for everyone. Be ready to put in some time in practice to be competitive and stay clean enough to rank up... unless your already a great racer I suppose! Such is not the case for me, but I am slowly working up speed while maintaining a clean racing style. I have been able to podium a few times in some rookie level races and they felt so much more rewarding than any other racing game I've played.

Bottom line: Get the 5 dollar trial and give it a whirl if you are thinking about it. I'm sure glad I did! 👍
I love the Jetta, will you be racing it tonight?
 
I`m thinking to play iRacing, many people says iRacing is great, i`ve seen iracng recaps on youtube and looks amazing, is really so good simulator?

It is a great simulator and like the others say its not for everyone because you cant just pick it up and race you have to put some time in to it. But its the only sim Ive ever had the opportunity to race real life drivers in like will powers (who happened to hand me a nice beat down in the solstice) and Dale Jr.

The only down sides i see are the price (its not the cheapest sim on the market) and recently the forums have gone down hill with the number of rude people on them. so just avoid the forum for the most part and have some extra cash to spend and you should be good to go.
 
Yeah, that's pretty kool. Now iRacing has the "highest" form of road racing and oval racing. Soon, it may have everyone's favorite tracks. I have been so busy w/ school and life, along w/ malfunctioning pedals/wheels that i havent played much iracing :( and my subscription runs out in august.
 
Woke up and found this on the news page of iRacing and I was speechless. Great news for iRacing and should give them a great boost in the European market that they have been trying to get. With this and the aussie V8 supercar coming out soon theres just going to be to much to race that i wont know where to start.
 
Just got iRacing last night for 3 months due to the $32 iRacing Basic + NASCAR COT and Daytona package. Having a lot of fun with it thus far, name is Christopher Little.

I'm gonna have to paint some cars :p

From,
Chris.
 

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