I started playing Raceroom on a pretty basic laptop, and after borrowing a friend's monitor I'm a bit hungry for more screen real estate. Just unsure of how much expandability I have given the modest hardware specs. The laptop is HP Pavilion Gaming, Core i5-9300H 2.4/4.0Ghz, 8GB, 256GB SSD, 15.6" FHD, GTX1650 4GB The borrowed screen is ThinkVision T22i-10 21.5” Wide FHD IPS Monitor How much bigger can I go in terms of screen size and still expect stable performance? Is a smart TV a feasible alternative to a new monitor for playing Raceroom? Will upgrading to dual channel RAM make a difference to the equation? Thank-you in advance
Any ideas? If a 40" TV, a 32" standard monitor and a 24" gaming monitor were all the same price...what would you use for sim racing?
Regarding performance it's not about size but resolution. But I don't know what your GPU is capable of, it doesn't look particularly powerful. Try using nVidia's DSR feature to see how much you can increase your pixel count until your GPU starts to be a problem. Once I used a 40" TV (an old one, 1080p 60 Hz) I don't want to get back racing on a 24" monitor. For me bigger is better: I can set a correct FOV and it'll still be wide enough not to cause much visibility issues.
Thanks, I'll check that (DSR) out. Obviously I am on a small budget, so is a small ultrawide monitor like a 25UM58 (25") better for sim racing than a standard ratio 27" ? The FOV calcluator makes it seem as though a 27" at 16:10 is superior to a 25" screen at 21:9 which I don't quite get. I suppose as you say, it all depends on the resolution. As it will only be used for sim racing I feel like a wide FOV is the primary consideration, but am I making the wrong assumption in considering the ultrawide above?
Performance (FPS) depends on resolution. But the correct FOV depends on physical width of the monitor. The wider the monitor, the wider FOV you can get. Aspect ratio (16:10 or 21:9) doesn't matter. However: 1) If we're talking about sizes like 25-27" I doubt the correct FOV will be comfortable enough, I suspect it might be too narrow. 2) Correct FOV is not a must-have option, it all comes down to personal preferences. I prefer having the correct FOV, but some people prefer it wider.
I found a 29" ultrawide and have snapped it up. On my 22" monitor which is native 1680x1050 (I got the model wrong above) I ran assetto corsa in a 1680x720 window keeping the same vFOV and compared the experience, I think the wide aspect is really rewarding and handles motion and especially panning (rotating the car) much better. I find that being scrupulous about the FOV means that while you can process the forwards motion better, turning the car provokes an unnatural acceleration due to the seat of rotation being not your eyes but 60cm in front of your eyes. The larger arc of which I suppose causes the landscape to spin faster when negotiating a turn. Having extra horizontal FOV for the same vertical FOV appears to compensate for this, at least for the brain.
29" ultrawide monitor is great! Laptop is not over-matched, definitely a good cheap option for people who can't justify 34"/VR/triples and who still want to see the apex on turn in
I'd also suggest using some form of headtracking, Found my old EDTracker lying around, paired it up with a 24" monitor and it worked really well. I'd advise to keep the curve as flat/as possible, and limited to horizontal (with a little vertical); that way you can look to the sides (mirros/apexes etc) without feeling disorientated. On a 24" monitor my head was moving about 30degrees to see a near-side apex (due to FoV), so the bigger the monitor the less you'll need to move your head; I was considering buying a 49" screen, now I'm maybe settling on a 34" screen with headtracking.