Hey venom I've been doing a bunch of reading from the links that you sent me. Have 2 quick questions. First trying to figure out what CPU to get. In the one link u sent me it was a $600 build and an the article they Mentioned in there last build they used the intel i5 2400 and really liked it but in the build they were doing for the article is was to much so they went with the intel i3. Which was at least a 100 cheaper. Which would u choose? Is the i5 over kill and the i3 gd to do a middle of the line job? Is the i5 going to make a huge difference if that's the case it's def worth getting for me. Second looking at a radon hd 6950 graphic card 2gb 256 bit an ready crossfire x support video card (oc edition). They Offer the same card but it comes wit eyefinity for 10 dollars more. What is that an is it worth it? They have one more version for 40 dollars more with the core clock at 830 MHz instead off 800 an effective memory clock at 1300 MHz instead of 1250. Which verision would u choose.? Looking at these from egg head. Are these even a gd choice during the research there were so many different kinds but I see this brand used a lot and they were using it in the build in the link u sent me.. Is there a graphic card that u would recommend instead of those around 250-300 range? Thanks again for all the help with these nagging questions
Which CPU will depend on your choice of video card. You'll need more CPU to keep up with say a couple Nvidia cards in SLI running triple monitors. Certianly will be the case if you allow iRacing to render each monitor seperately. Running a single card with a single screen you could certainly get away with the i3. Hell I run 2 Nvidia 560ti's in SLI and triples screens with an older Q9600. I still get better than 100 FPS at most tracks. Spa and Suzuka are hard on the CPU and limits the cards to producing 65 to 80. You can of course get some framerate back by dropping the detail levels and shadows. Again the choice of cards will depend on what you plan to do. A single 1920x1080 monitor will not make any of those cards work very hard. A triple screen setup with eyfinity running at 5760x1080 will be a work load for the 6950. Clock speeds are only good for a hnadful more frames and say perhaps if you had a CPU that could feed the cads fast enough the extra cycles would be of no benefit. For me it's very easy to justify the cost when you look at it from a cost per lap perspective. I ran 4 hours of practice at Spa lasy night and turned better than 125 laps or so. Figure out what the cost of taking the bike to the track and turning 125 laps or so would be.
Looks the i5 would be the best choice even if I only stick with one screen to help with the tracks u mentioned that tax the CPU harder. Seems like it can't hurt to have a little in reserve. So with the I5 should I stick with the graphic card I mentioned or would u say a Nvidia would be a better choice even if one screen is being ran. Or at that point I wouldn't noticed a difference due to not pushing the 6950 to it limit so it wouldn't make a difference at all unless I went to a 3 screen set up.. Not nowing anything about computers as u already know I'm afraid I'm going to build something that in a month or so I'm going to grow out of an need to upgrade. Wanna do it right the first time an build it so I won't out grow it or find that I wish it was better in a certain area...
Oh...you can give that one up. Gaming rigs tend to constantly change. 6950 will be fine. I just happen to like Nvidia cards better so I reference them.
As far as monitors go. Would u reccommenned a pc monitor or would you choose to go with a lcd tv setup? Is there really a differnce. An what size would you reccommenned going?
Monitors are better simply because they don't try to post process the input. TV's can intoduce considerable lag with all the post processing trying to make them look like a good old CRT tube. If the TV you buy has a "gaming mode" that is simply a method of turning off ll the post processing and will give you output similar in time to a monitor.
Venom, I got my clubsport wheel and bmw rim last wednesday. I had the elite before and it was great but I love the CSW. The bmw rim is sooo much better than the elite rim. Do you have both the bmw and formula rim or just the bmw? The formula rim isn't back in stock yet in the US hopefully in a week or two it will be because I want to pick one up for driving the HPD,which is the road car I drive the most, and the williams f1.
You get spoiled very easily drive that HPD I tried taking the final kink @ Spa it 6th topped out Rolled it 6 times ! I have never been much of an Oval fan, but I'm having a blast with the modified.
BMW rim only. I'm not such a stickler for having the formula type wheel when in an open cockpit car. I like the layout and the feel of the BMW rim better.
