Sim racing laptop/desktop

[Simon Fillingham]

So my laptop is virtually dead and will need replacing imminently. I'd like any new purchase to be able to handle titles such as rfactor, rfactor2 and gtr2.

Bit of a broad question, but will standard laptops with integrated graphics be able to run these games or am I going to have to look at desktop pc's with better components?

I've only got a small budget after Xmas (about £350) and would like to get the best I can.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,
Simon.

 

[AndrewBo]

CLICK for a video how to build a gaming PC for 350.

 

[Alexj]

Andrew that's 350$, which is about £240. He has around 500$ to spend. I do not have any good advice on the built itself, I just close my eyes and pay up, good luck with the build however.

 

[Simon Fillingham]

Hi.

Thanks for the link to the build, it's certainly something that I would attempt if need be.

Space for a desktop is an issue, so if it has to be a laptop would an i5 & integrated hd5500 be enough to run rfactor2 smoothly?

 

[Jeff]

Hi.

Thanks for the link to the build, it's certainly something that I would attempt if need be.

Space for a desktop is an issue, so if it has to be a laptop would an i5 & integrated hd5500 be enough to run rfactor2 smoothly?

I highly suggest getting something with a dedicated videocard.

 

[Ulli Haus]

Hi Simon,
until 5 years ago, I raced GTL, GTR2, GTR-Evolution, rFactor and iRacing with a Desktop PC all in full HD with all Details and stuff set to maximum. When Alienware introduced the M17x R3 witht the ATI 7970 stand alone graphics Card, I bought that Laptop and it pretty much flat out outperformed my Desktop PC by far.

You might get a strong second Hand Alienware Laptop for around 500$.

 

[Trimaz]

You don't have to spend big bucks to get yourself an adequate sim racing rig. If you're looking to build or buy second hand desktop system, maybe look at an i3 or an i5 processor from Intel, look for a budget gaming GPU from Nvidia like the GeForce 750 (while it's old, it works well), as always, 6 to 8GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive should be a standard.

If you go down the laptop route, then the integrated graphics might be fine with the older games, but if you're wanting something with better performance for your newer sims, than look at a laptop with a dedicated GPU. You wont regret it providing it's within your budget.

 

[Richard Roberts]

I recently sold my laptop, even with i7 4700hq and 850gtx graphics I dont think it would have handled assetto corsa or rfactor 2 very well. IMHO The CPU clock speed is the most ciritical spec. Desktops are much better value for money for performance.

 

[Metalogic]

I'm using a laptop (see below for specs), don't have space currently for a full desktop setup and I like the portability, and it doesn't seem to have any problems running modern racing sims at 1080p on nearly the highest settings, though it wasn't cheap and I very much doubt you'd be able to get a laptop for £350 that would be able to run racing sims well (or pretty much any recent game, for that matter).

XMG P505 (re-branded Clevo P651SE) - 15.6" Full-HD (1920*1080) Matte IPS, Intel Core i7-4720HQ Quad Core@2.60MHz 6MB cache, Nvidia Geforce 970M 3GB GDDR5, Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR3L RAM @2133Mhz CL 11-11-11, Samsung Evo 850 1TB SSD, Intel Wifi 7265 ac+BT, 180W PSU

 

[Cote Dazur]

IMHO The CPU clock speed is the most ciritical spec.

Richard, I am not knowledgeable in PC performance and particularly in what aspect is important when playing a SIM. Why are you stating the CPU clock is most critical, what advantage a high CPU clock does bring? Also what would you consider an optimum CPU clock speed?

 

[Richard Roberts]

Richard, I am not knowledgeable in PC performance and particularly in what aspect is important when playing a SIM. Why are you stating the CPU clock is most critical, what advantage a high CPU clock does bring? Also what would you consider an optimum CPU clock speed?

I am not an expert. I had an i7 4700hq @2.4ghz laptop I now have a i5 4660k @4.4 ghz desktop, my new system is a lot better. There isnt much difference between i5 and i7 because I dont think games are designed yet to properly use all the cores in an i7, although the i7 has hyperthreading and is slightly better. The clock speed makes a lot of difference. Google benchmarking cpus with different games to see. I think the cpu is more of a limiting factor on fps than gpu.

The intel Pentium K G3258 was highly regarded by PC Gamer Magazine as a budget CPU recently. Within your type of budget and overclockable (You should overclock it).... Oh but not ideal for Assetto Corsa which i think uses 4 cores whereas this chip is dual core.