This may get long, so I will apologize in advance. I am just starting to get back into sim racing after a long while. The last game I bought was GT Legends, so you know how long it's been. I got the urge again from playing Project Cars 2 on my son's PS4, but it's not the game for me. It's okay, but i'm more of an offline racer than online and their AI is horrible. My biggest gripe with them is that they don't drive like human drivers have to. Their braking points are all off, but that's not a discussion for here. Since their are no other good PS4 racing games (yes I know about AC, but it's limited on the PS4 version), I have decided I am going to build a new PC just for racing games and that's where I need help because i've been out of the loop for so long when it comes to PC equipment. I will say upfront that I am not someone who needs to run max graphics in 4k resolution. Honestly, I used a laptop with only a mobile nvidia graphics card attached to my TV to test RRE and still enjoyed myself even using the lowest graphics settings. Also, I am on somewhat of a budget so price is a bit of a concern, but I am willing to spend up to say the $600-$700 range if I have to. With all of that out of the way, here we go with the questions: 1.) CPU reccomendations: AMD or Intel? I was looking at either a Ryzen 2600 or 3600, but I keep reading that Intel's are better for gaming. Is that true and does it matter for RRE. Remember, I won't be using this for other types of games so I only want to know what's best for RRE. Also, I read that RRE is still a DX9 title which makes it more CPU hungry than GPU hungry, is that true and if so do I need a more powerful CPU than what I was looking to get? 2.) Memory amounts: Is it worth spending the extra for 16gb? Does RRE ever need more than 8gb during gameplay? I often found in the past that memory recommendations are sometimes overblown and you never come close to maxing out your total system memory. 3.) Any benefit to SSD over HDD? This may be a mute point because SSD prices have dropped so much lately that I may just get an SSD and be done with it, but i'm just curious. Also, is their any benefit to a small SSD for the operating system and then loading RRE on a separate HDD, assuming I can figure out how to force Steam to install games on the separate drive? 4.) Video Card: Probably the hardest decision i'm having right now and the most confused. I don't want to go too low, but I don't want to break my budget on this if I don't need to. I will be playing this on my TV which has a max resolution of 1920 x 1080 so I will never need to use a higher resolution than that. As I said above, I can live with sacrificing graphics quality if need be. So, should I be looking at an AMD or Nvidia card? Does RRE seem to run better on one vs. the other? Obviously the more video memory the better, but does the game actually benefit significantly by going with an 8GB or higher card vs. a 4gb or 6gb one? Any suggestions on a card that will get me good FPS numbers so that the game renders smooth with a decent amount of AI on the track? 5.) I'll throw this one in here for kicks. I can install just about any operating system I want and I won't be browsing the internet with this PC so security is not a concern, so should I use Windows 10 or does RRE run better on Windows 7? Boy, this got longer than expected. Sorry about that. I guess I could have rambled less and shortened it, but I tend to want as much info as I can get before I make a big purchase so I was trying to cover all basis. Thanks for any help on any of these questions and maybe some day I will see you on the track if I ever get brave enough to drive online...
1: If you're not pushing max details and stuff, a Ryzen 2600 is a decent choice. A 3600 is significantly better but more expensive (although it does tend to have better memory compatibility). Any recent AMD or Intel CPU with 4 or more physical cores would be fast enough 2: Yes, get 16gb 3: R3E needs about 40gig + replays. It loads faster from SSD but as there's a fair bit of server->client data transfer going on it takes some time on SSD anyway so running on an HDD wouldn't be a major issue 4: It works on AMD or nVidia, with the usual driver related caveats. Not sure if the game will be using >6gb of video memory - 4 would be enough I expect. Anything mid-range should do the business 5: better on Windows 10 Don't be too keen to make it 'just good enough' - you might regret saving a few quid in a few months when you're looking to use triple screens or VR
It’s German but the configurations are usually good. Have a look at the parts of the Ryzen Allrounder. Teileliste = parts list. https://www.heise.de/ct/artikel/Der-optimale-PC-2020-4564302.html#nav_ryzen_allrounder__0
Thank you for the info. I don't think I will ever be using triple screens or VR, but I will keep that in mind. You did make me think of another question though. If I did ever consider triple screen or VR, would that require more GPU or CPU power or both. If I am going to go a little extra on one of the components now, I would want it to be the one that would benefit me for triple screen or VR use the best to future proof myself. Just to help answer my question better, I was considering a Nvidia 1660. Would that fit the bill or should I go the new RTX route for a $100 more instead.
A Ryzen 2600 is fine for vr (3600 is better obviously). Even tho r3e is an old engine it still needs an expensive gpu for decent vr performance
Regarding the HD, you may as well go for a 512GB SSD over a traditional HD just for better boot times and all round Windows operation and format it with 2 drives, one for windows/steam and one for secondary programs/steam games so you can make clean installs of windows without needing to reinstall all your games every time. I´d say an SSD gives a bigger performance boost than 16GB RAM will over 8GB and costs a lot less. For OS, Windows 10 makes the most sense as even if you won´t be using the web, you´ll still need internet for steam and to update the game so you´ll want a system that has the latest security updates. One thing you don´t mention is what controller and input devices you are going to use. I´d think about that before buying a new computer as it will make a bigger influence on your enjoyment of the game.
Once again, thanks all for the input. I am writing everything down before I make my purchase. As far as the input device goes, I'm going to steal the wheel\pedals from my son's PS4 since he doesn't use them anymore. Don't have them in front of me, but i'm pretty sure there are a Thrustmaster T300 wheel with T3PA pedals. Probably not the best combo set, but good enough for now so I can focus on getting the hardware to run the game.
Absolutely nothing wrong with either of them. The T300 is a very popular mid-range wheel, I use one myself.
Here is what I think i'm going to get. CPU: Ryzen 5 3600 (did consider a Ryzen 5 2600 or Ryzen 7 2700, but was concerned about having to lower the number of AI opponents with a lower end CPU. If you think these other two CPU's would have no issues with larger AI numbers, I have no problem dropping down to save some money.) MOBO: MSI B450 Gaming Max Plus GPU: MSI GTX1660 Ventus XS 6gb Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury 16gb SSD: Crucial MX500 500gb Totals around $630 and will be put into an existing case with a 750 watt power supply. I sure hope this is enough to run RRE adequately or even worse, not overkill. I certainly don't want to overspend if I don't have to. Thanks again for all the help guys. Now I just have to make myself hit that 'Confirm Purchase' button.
Yeah, I just got done running some laps at Spa in a BMW Z4 on the test laptop I was using just to make sure I wanted to do this and it's a no brainer. Hit the Confirm Purchase button right away. The whole driving experience is just so much better than PC2 on the PS4. That game looks great and has some nice lighting effects and night time racing, but those are small pluses compared to everything else I get from turning laps in RRE. Be in touch in a few days with another 'New User, lots of questions 2' thread. I got lots of things in the options that I don't understand, like the difference between difficulty settings. I opted for Get Real, but don't understand how that differs from the other options. Everything below it in the menu stayed the same even when I change the overall difficulty setting so I don't understand what is supposed to be different. All I want is the most realistic settings there are based on the type of car I am driving. No assists unless the car I am driving has them in real life. I.E, if it has ABS, TC, etc. I want to make sure they are enabled properly. But this can all wait until my new setup is complete. I really excited. I loved sim racing so much back in the day, then real life and kids got in the way and it will be so much fun to get back into it. I was never very good, but I sure did love turning lap after lap trying to pick up that one extra half second.