Building a rig for iRacing
 

I'm putting together a computer on the cheap and have a couple questions about graphics cards.

It appears AGP is dead, PCI is back. I want to run a 57" TV as a monitor right now, eventually I'll get a three monitor set-up.
I'm looking at these for the primary card, which would you pick and why?

• http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121714
• http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127679
• http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150641

Am I better off running a 128-bit 2GB card for half the price of a 256-bit card? What features am I paying for in the more expensive card? I assume I'll need an additional two cards to run the ancillary monitors, right? Cheaper is better and my target is 60FPS.

Is 16MB RAM a waste of money?

Will this CPU cooler from my old P4 work on a modern AMD processor?

Thanks for the help. I haven't pieced-together a computer since circa 2000. That computer was hot shit with 512MB PC333, 32MB vid card, and the mobo was awesome because it was jumperless.

Links aren't working for me.....
But this might be of interest to you:

How To Build A Great Gaming PC For Under $700

16MB of RAM is not nearly enough. 8GB is plenty though, no need for 16.

I'm guessing that the CPU cooler won't fit, or you will have to DIY attachment to the motherboard. Just get a retail version of the CPU you want (rather than OEM version), it will come with the factory cooler. Unless you are overclocking you don't need anything better than that.

You can easily run 2 (and probably all 3) monitors from one video card. You certainly don't need 3 of them. And yeah the links don't work.

MSI Z77 MPOWER ATX Intel Motherboard - Newegg.com
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K - Newegg.com
XIGMATEK Gaia SD1283 CPU Cooler bracket included dual fan push pull compatible - Newegg.com
Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound AS5-3.5G - OEM - Newegg.com
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9R - Newegg.com (or like spec)

i have 2 of these running sli MSI N660Ti PE 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - Newegg.com
i would get 1 if you want the best for less.
if you want to save $60 MSI N660TI-2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 660 Ti Video Card - Newegg.com
if you want better MSI N670 PE 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 670 Video Card - Newegg.com
if you want the best MSI N680GTX Twin Frozr 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 680 Video Card - Newegg.com
if you want lol my brain is melting MSI N680GTX Lightning GeForce GTX 680 Video Card - Newegg.com

Now lock this thing up.

Can we talk about the important things for an iRacing rig? Like what steering wheel and pedal setup do you plan on using? Are you going to actually use a real racing seat built on a frame to hold everything?

After I buy a new place, building a racing sim setup is on my to do list so this thread is relevant to me. So far I have a spare miata seat, spare comp, and a welder. My plan is to attempt to build some sort of frame to hold the seat, steering wheel, and pedals.

If you are going to run a decent size monitor setup, its best to have 256bit cards

So I need to find a vid card with three DVI plugs, basically?

I used this guide (albeit over a year ago, it's changed since then) and built something similar to what they call Tier 2.

http://www.hardware-revolution.com/b...ming-pcs-v3-6/

It runs iRacing without issue, and the video card I have is capable of running three monitors (I think...).

Anyway, check out that link, the website seems to provide decent info.

Jeffman is the expert on this though, so listen to him...

I think any combination of three decent video outputs.

I think mine has 1 HDMI, and 2 DVIs

my 670s have 1 HDMI, 1 Displayport (I have no idea what that is), 2 DVIs.

per card.

Lars, A friend of mine up here at school has an Iracing rig setup made out of some random car seat still on the slider, one piece of plywood, and a bunch of pvc piping, I can get pics if you would like next time I am at his house.

Thanks. It's a little irritating how everything that's 1-year old is no longer stocked or totally discontinued so I have no idea what to buy.

Is my 10-year old 440w power supply still usable?

Nvidia cards only support 2 monitors per card. My Nvidia Ti has 2 hdmi and 2 dvi but they share inputs . 2 max inputs. Some ATI cards will do more than 2.

Not with most of the better video cards. Especially if you want to do multiple monitors and maintain a decent frame rate.

Not if you want to run 3 monitors, to run 3 monitors you're going to need 2 video cards, heck even running 1 decent gaming card is most likely going to take more than a 440 can handle, and if you are from the land of AGP that PS likely doesnt even have the correct connectors for any modern card. Video card wise, dont get too caught up in the features and numbers, buy a range topper card from the previous generation or two and it'll be fine, hell even a mid level card from the previous generation will be enough to run practically anything.

Honestly Trey, I would use the older computer you where talking about before with a single monitor for a while. You could get a decent enough frame rate out of it and have minimal investment. Get a decent wheel, and you will be out $300-$400 total. Plus if you do decide to go more advanced with the setup, your main expenses from your first setup would transfer over.

I racing is not a very computer intensive game. Whatever you're running with that 440 watt PS is probably enough to play it, maybe not maxed out, but iRacing isnt a very pretty game to begin with. As long as you can do your native resolution and maximum viewing distance with everything else turned all the way down you can play it. In the order of spending your money with iRacing assuming you've got a computer made within the last decade wheel/pedals/shifter->racing seat->motion simulator->top end computer

False. It can support 3...

...just need a 2 card SLI minimum...

:makeout:

Thanks everyone. Right now the only worthy computer I have is a notebook without a real video card so I expect the computer to have a tough time running the game and I fully expect it to look like shit.

doesn't the iRacing site say that I can't play the game with an onboard vid card? I don't know since it's blocked at my office, lol.

I can play without the motion simulator, right? That's like another $700.

Yeah but why bother.

AGP... PCI... lol

Don't cheap out on the PSU. A lot of undiagnosed problems are the result of shitty PSUs. Also,w there are expensive, shitty PSUs.
I'd suggest a corsair.

You probably don't need more than 4gb of ram, although its not much more to get 8. You definitely don't need more than 8.

Get a CPU with a cooler. Your old cooler is probably crap compared to the stockers nowadays. If you think you need a better cooler, noctua DH14 or go home.

No need for sli or crossfire. A modern and card can run 3 monitors through eyefinity.

why not build a small system for what you want in size and stuff?

Like a shuttle barebone 600watt, with some cheapish i5 cpu, GTX560 256bit, 8gb, and some hard drive?

Just for iRacing I would guess that is still overkill. But yeah, that's more like it.

Also, hustler, this site is you're friend.
Tom's Hardware: Hardware News, Tests and Reviews
Lots of articles titled "best xxx for your money 201x"

Hustler, I used my 4 year old pc with a new video card. The video card had 1 DVI and 1 Display port.

Display port is a serial connector so you can daisy chain off the one. I used the 1 x DVI and daisy chained the display port to two other DVI inputs on the 27" screens using display port to DVI adaptors.

I predominantly play Rfactor but had a 6 month period on iracing as well. Video card performance was the key. My pc has 2 GB ram and a quad core cpu from approx 3 years ago....

Games run no problem on the 3 x 27" lcds with graphics on full.

I cant recall the video card as I am at work but can if you need it. It wasn't mega high end. ( I own a little IT company so I could go high end if I needed but it just hasn't been required...)

Display port should be able to run 3 monitors on a single video card however at a little lower resolution. From memory 1500 x 900 ish pixels per monitor. With dual video cards (ensure you buy the same video cards) you shouldnt need anything fancy like that and just be able to connect the 3 monitors and run them at full resolutions.

I can't open your links however ensure your motherboard can run the video cards at full speed. Most mobos run 1 at 16x and 2 at 8x.

Fairly sure I ran at 3 x 1920x1080.

Card was an Asus hd 7870.

The power supply will not work. Wrong connectors, and too small.

Besides modern power supplies are so much nicer in that they are modular. You don't have a giant octupus of cables hanging out of it - you just plug in the cables you need.

I went with this Thermaltake:


You will need a new case as well. I again went with Thermaltake - this case has 4x usb on the front (requirement for me) and is completely toolless. And no sharp edges to extract sacrificial blood for the computer gods.

And it's got a swing-out hook for a headset. And it does not have a window. It is surprisingly hard to find reasonable cases without CR.net type asshattery on them.

Question to those running triple screens: what's the preferred way of doing that? List up some examples, yo!

I was just about to post an iracing thread. I picked up a g27 this evening for 400 dollars. Conveniently it was attached to a playseat with shifter bracket and slider.

I would not pay 400+ for a playseat. I dont like the pole between your legs and its not super stable. Id definitely build something myself-- I really like the looks of the fanatec design.

CSL Seat US

Really enjoying this so far-- I think anyone who does not own an iracing setup should think about making the investment. Too bad my main 2 tracks aren't on here yet.


I cant help with a computer build because I am not familiar with 3 monitor setup requirements. I can tell you that I built a gaming rig a couple months ago after about 2 months of research and ended up with this. $450 w/o video card. I went with the radeon 7850, but the gtx 660 is a good choice as well (i chose based on price). Obviously those cards alone will only run 2 monitors unless you sli/crossfire them.

ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX Intel Motherboard - Newegg.com
Asrock z77 extreme 4 with free 8gb corsair ram

Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K - Newegg.com
i5 3570k


CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply - Newegg.com
Corsair PSU

ATI is definitely the way to go for video cards, I have one card driving three monitors and it runs with a decent frame rate. With only one video card you can buy pretty much any motherboard, unlike SLI setups needing two fast PCI-E slots.

I'm using a G25 wheel but I have shimmed the brake pedal so it feels more realistic. In standard form it is very light. I have some Fanatec Clubsport pedals but they are missing a spring so can't try them yet.

seriously? Motion simulator for a run of the mill basement cheap iRracing set-up?

Hustler's trying to put together a cheap affordable computer to run iRacing, and you're advice is to buy a motion simulation system first...?

I think he's saying that a motion simulator comes before a beefy expensive PC for iRacing, because a regular run-of-the-mill PC can play it.

For a wheel get the Logitec G25 and mount a regular wheel on it. Yes it also has forced feedback that will pull it around just like a normal car.

Its simple enough to allow tons of modifications such as a standard wheel and shift knob. The pedals are also simple enough so u can take them out and mount them on a top mount so they are from the top like a normal car. The G27 is also pretty cool however too arcade and modifying it is harder since theres more buttons on the steering wheel.

Exactly.

Benchmarks for this setup http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5149830

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1361038450

Plus win 7/8 key I have, 3 250gb for raid 5, and power supple I can dig up.

Lock this bitch boys.

I know its an old thread but didnt feel like making a new one for iracing.

If you get a chance to play it with an oculus rift (Oculus Rift - Virtual Reality Headset for 3D Gaming | Oculus VR) do it, I've got a rift and it makes viability issues a thing of the past.

I've just been torn on if I want to buy the dev kit rift or wait a year for the consumer version.

How do you do pit setup and all the other buttons when you cant see the keys/buttons? The 6 buttons on the wheel are easy, but beyond that?

Dev version of the Rift sucks.

Don't get me wrong, it's awesome and i'll probably buy one when the consumer version comes out. But the Dev version has to low of a resolution, and a few other issues they need to fix. I used it for maybe an hour, and i was was loving it though.

Wait for the consumer version. They'll be fixing a bunch of things, and make it much better.

I still have a monitor hooked up for anything text based and just lift it up and lower it back down when I'm off. I'm honestly tempted to install it into a helmet lol. Besides issues reading text its fine otherwise.

Its 720p isnt it? Is the consumer version really going to be worth waiting until this time next year? Its not like I couldnt buy the dev now and the consumer version next year. I would still be out less money than buying 3 new monitors.

the dev kit is much lower 1280×800 (640×800 per eye) the consumer is suppose to be 1080


edit:
I also only really play a few games, I dont play any of the top tier games on pc so it pretty much looks great on minecraft, iracing, and tf2. though fallout is pretty fun with it too

^^

Plus the thing sucks for FPS's. IMO.

Racing, or driving games are awesome. So was watching youtube videos.

Yeah I've heard great things about the "theater mode" thing, looks pretty cool. Until the full release though I'd go with something like TrackIR.