back to sim racing after quite a while. What sort of hardware can you
really get away with? Are the minimums listed at iRacing.com
realistic, or is that really scraping the bottom of the barrel?
-Dirt-
-Dirt-
Hardware-wise, I think the biggest factor I've seen is whether you have a dual core
processor. iRacing really seems to benefit significantly from that. As for graphics,
it seems remarkably flexible if you have a relatively modern card. Exactly how
modern though, I'm not sure. I started with what is now a relatively dated (in
enthusiast terms anyway!) 8800GTS 320Mb and it coped very well with the shadows
turned down to basic settings. An E6600 processor running at 3GHz probably helps a
lot though for throwing the physics around.
I really do wish iRacing would open up parts of their forums to the general public.
It would help greatly with queries like yours. But the minimum specs look pretty
realistic to me, if you can live with a few compromises.
Andrew McP
-Dirt-
Cheers!
Remco
The 7300 chipset was initially a bit more of a concern, but I've just set iRacing
graphics card. iRacing configured the video setting automatically, and it runs well.
Nowhere near the setting on my main games box, but acceptable for racing rather
than staring at the scenery. :-)
The RAM footprint is harder to judge, but it looks to me (using the ctrl ALT DELETE
Task Manager) that iRacing is using about 445k. So as long as you have 1Gb+ of
system RAM you should be fine. It may even run ok with 512Mb, only with longer
pauses when entering & exiting.
Andrew McP
Yes, that is the video RAM. System RAM is 1G.
I haven't simmed since GPL, so I'm used to 30 fps!
-Dirt-
-Larry
> -Larry
>> So, I just found out about iRacing and it has me thinking about coming
>> back to sim racing after quite a while. What sort of hardware can you
>> really get away with? Are the minimums listed at iRacing.com
>> realistic, or is that really scraping the bottom of the barrel?
>> -Dirt-
Now on to a different question. I still have my Thomas Super Wheel
but it has a serial port interface. Is there any way to make XPPro
recognize a serial interface properly? I tried once a year or two ago
when I put away my Win98 GPL machine but was never successful in
getting it calibrated properly. I contacted TSW but they essentially
suggest a complete rewire to their USB connection. My other option if
the TSW can't be made to work is the wireless PC control adapter and
my XBox360 wireless FFB wheel. Anybody use this wheel for iRacing?
The TSW is a brick and I love it, but FFB might be nice. My only
experience with FFB is on Forza Motorsports on the 360. I'm not
convinced yet.
-Dirt-
PS: Any of you approaching 40 like me and wondering just what the
hell you're still doing thinking about sim racing all the time? ;)
You are a young pup.......:-). There are lots of folks on iRacing in their
50s and 60s.
Ed
As far as XP is concerned, I installed my trusty Turtle Beach Santa
Cruz sound card into my home built box, and the joystick port works
just fine.
speedmd
-Larry
Eight years ago at 52, I discovered Simming with GPL. It was like a
dream come true for me. These Sims that we're talking about aren't
games, but a fairly realistic racing experience - especially when you
factor in a good wheel, pedals and shifter.
Now at 60, I don't see this stopping ever. The "***" aspect just
isn't there in iRacing, GPL and the other fairly realistic Sims/Mods,
although there is a time and place to play games for recreation.
I can see that when I explain my hobby to others, they assume that
it's a game, but staying at it happliy for 8 years and more, they must
realize that it's a serious activity.