PC Sim Racing

[Tommy R]

Curious about upgrading my PC and I've got a stupid question... If I build a new PC, but move my current SDD (with Windows) to the new system, do I need to get a new copy of Windows? Would this simply be a matter of building the system with the old SDD and it should boot up just fine? School me! :mrgreen:

 

[Tommy R]

So to add to my previous post. My system does great with iRacing, but seems to struggle with American Truck Simulator and because I really like ATS I've begun to wonder about upgrading my system. But do I replace the GPU? CPU? If I replace my CPU I'll likely need a new MB. At what point do I consider just building a new PC altogether?

Here's my current system I put together with Steve's help 4 or so years ago:

Looks like according to this video from JayzTwoCents I could build a pretty solid system from the ground up for under $700. And considering I'd move my current SSDs into the new system, it'd be even cheaper. Check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hKW2EjMT04&list=PLzXbq7zQ0xX5LOXgJawwK3m_2h7uuWp98&index=10&t=0s

A friend of mine bought my old sim racing gear and will start racing, but needs a PC. I was thinking I could sell him my current setup for maybe $300 and then build a new one. I think this could be a good deal for each of us. Thoughts? He would need a SSD and a copy of Windows. As I asked earlier, would I also need a new copy of Windows?

 

[HumboldtEF]

Are you running ATS on max settings? It just seems like you should be okay.

Have you checked your CPU and GPU loads while playing?

As for Windows I believe its tied to your motherboard, so if you move your SSD over to a new system you may still need to get a new copy of Windows.

 

[STANG KILLA SS]

Tommy thats VERY common. iRacing has VERY low power needs to run. because its optimized so well. and the graphics are a bit last gen.
but yes every other sim will struggle.

Tommy im running nearly the exact build as you. except for one thing. the GPU. im running the 8GB 295X version. everything else is identical.
if i was you, i would simply upgrade your GPU. all the other stuff combined will only be worth about 5% of total performance.
get baddest GPU u can afford and be done.

 

[Sneetches]

The GPU is pretty old and as noted you could probably get away with just upgrading that. As for Windows you could probably just use your Windows 8 key to activate Windows 10.

 

[hpiguy]

If you have any desire to go to VR in the future, buy a Nvidia card. You can do the research yourself, but for whatever reason, they crush AMD cards in VR performance.

 

[STANG KILLA SS]

X2. i have no problems with my AMD, but my next card will be a Nvidia.

 

[Tommy R]

ATS is run on what I would call "middle" graphics settings. Many are turned down quite a bit. My FPS ranges between the teens up to maybe 50. Yep, sometimes it's pretty awful.

I downloaded a CPU/GPU analyzer and here's a snapshot:

For the most part, the CPU usage was in the 50% range. The GPU, however, was all over the place.....it wasn't pegged at 100% all the time, but hovered up there frequently! Sometimes it would bounce from 4%-98%-50% within a second's time! Overall, the GPU looks to be much more heavily taxed than the CPU. So perhaps y'all are right that I should only focus on a graphics card.

So what criteria should I look for and are there any compatibility issues to be concerned about? Looks like 8GB memory is what I should target and it appears they're all PCI-e x16, correct? So what else is there to consider besides price?

 

[Tommy R]

Looks like y'all posted while I was posting. Yes, I would like to be able to consider VR down the road so for that reason I think I would prefer to consider Nvidia. But any suggestions on specific criteria to consider would be much appreciated! Oh, and I'm running triples if that makes any difference.

 

[hpiguy]

8GB of RAM is pretty low these days. I have 24GB ran in a dual channel setup and there are times in VR where I'm using 18-20GB while gaming. I would say 16GB is the minimum these days for a mid tier and up gaming rig. Your processor is going to limit you somewhat as well. Intel dominates the CPU market, so most games are written for great performance on Intel chipsets. Again, in VR this becomes a big thing as well. I for one wish AMD would step up their game, because competition always benefits the consumer. It may actually be cheaper to just buy a pre-built rig than building these days also Tommy.

When I play ATS in VR I have to force the Rift into ASW (asynchronous space warp) mode and 45fps. But it runs great, and holds a rock solid 45fps almost all the time. I generally only get stuttering when coming into a large city.

 

[Tommy R]

I would consider a pre-built PC and it'd be nice since it would likely include Windows already. I would just need to learn what criteria to look for.

 

[hpiguy]

I personally would look for an Intel chipset (CPU), 16GB of RAM, and at least a GTX 1080 GPU. You can re-use the SSD drives you have, so I wouldn't worry as much about drives/drive space. Pre-builts tend to be cheaper due to the run on Nvidia Pascal series GPUs, as they're heavily desired for crypto mining. For whatever reason, pre-built rigs get the GPU at deal prices, but buying just the card is murder on the wallet.

 

[STANG KILLA SS]

Randy the 10 series (1070, 1080) are gone. the nVidia cards are now 20 series.

the 2070 super and 2080 super is what your after Tommy. assuming it fits your MB and case.
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/shop/geforce/

unless you sell the Ford. then get the Titan:shock:
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/titan/titan-rtx/

 

[hpiguy]

Yeah, I know. But, the 10 series are not gone yet in pre-built rigs though, So you can likely find a deal on one if you search hard. "thumbsup"

 

[Tommy R]

I don't want to rush into a PC purchase so I'm going to give myself some time to think about it before deciding on anything. In the meantime I decided to move forward with something that I know I want/need. I just placed an order for a Sim Lab triple monitor stand. They have two versions. The heavy duty version can handle up to 42" monitors, I believe. The lighter duty one can handle up to 31". I opted for the lighter duty since I only have 24s right now and the largest I envision going to is 32s....and I bet I could get by with the lighter duty version if I do. If not, I can always just buy some extra profile to strengthen it as needed.

While I was placing an order from overseas, I decided to get a keyboard and mouse tray to attach to my cockpit. Should be super nice when it's all done! I'm stoked! :mrgreen:

I opted for the bare aluminum finish so it'll match my GT1 Evo rig, but here's what it'll look like. And no, I won't have curver monitors, either. I should be able to get the monitors as close to my wheel base as I'd like and it should wrap around me quite a bit!

 

[hpiguy]

Oh man, been waiting a while for this one!

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QW0mGB7aDpY" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Topher Builds]

Oh man, been waiting a while for this one!

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QW0mGB7aDpY" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

That looks really cool! "thumbsup"

 

[Sneetches]

I tried my friend's Oculus Rift (original) last weekend. I played at least an hours worth with a few different games, no motion sickness or anything like that, so I might be getting my own soon just to mess around with occasionally. I would 100% be picking that up, and for anyone else that hasn't done it I highly recommend trying VR at least once, it's a bizarre experience to say the least.

 

[Topher Builds]

I tried my friend's Oculus Rift (original) last weekend. I played at least an hours worth with a few different games, no motion sickness or anything like that, so I might be getting my own soon just to mess around with occasionally. I would 100% be picking that up, and for anyone else that hasn't done it I highly recommend trying VR at least once, it's a bizarre experience to say the least.

I was just wondering about the motion sickness and headaches when watching that trailer. Appreciate the feedback.

 

[Sneetches]

I was just wondering about the motion sickness and headaches when watching that trailer. Appreciate the feedback.

It's definitely different for everyone, but I think the only bad thing I experienced was getting text to be clear required some finicky adjustment of the headset. Oh and I almost crushed my friends monitor while playing Gorn so I turned that one off before anything else bad happened :ror:. Otherwise after an hour straight of standing up I realized VR is a bit more exhausting than normal gaming.