Selecting components for PC to play Rfactor2 - advise please

[Ian Franssen]

Hello guys,

I’m selecting components to build a new computer primarily for the purpose to drive racing games, Rfactor 2 and Asetto Corsa and all the other simulation race games. I want to ask you to give some feedback on the system I chose because I’m completely new at this and it took me a while to figure out what everything means, and I want to check that with others. I wrote down the specs I have in mind, where I want to use it for, what my considerations are, and some specific questions. Any remark or tips are very welcome.

Now I’ve selected the following components:
Processor: Intel i5 4670, s 1050
Motherboard: Asus Z-87k, s 1050
Work Memory: Corsair Vengeance 1600 8GB
Harddisk: 2 or 1 TB 3,5inch, think Western Digital Green
Power supply: Corsair CX 600M or CX 750 (haswell certified)
Cooling: Mugen game 3 cooler or Mugen 4
Graphics card: probably MSI GTX 760 Twin Frozr Gaming,2GB`(is there a huge difference in the 760’s?)

Computer Case: Corsair 300R or Cooler Master CM 690 II lite

Windows 8



My intention is to keep this hardware for many years, at least 5 years or more, and if I want to upgrade it would be a better graphics card as what I have been reading that is the factor which gives me the most gain when upgrading hardware.

I will be playing on my television, but want to keep the option open for 3 screens.

I am not intending to overclock, don’t know enough about computers to make sure it doesn’t go wrong. On top of that, I expect to have around 80-100 frame rates on my tv screen(correct me if I make a wrong guess), is an increase from overclocking really that much noticeable?

If people can tell me that it increases the frame rates with 20% or more (or another advantage which is noticeable in race games) I might consider to buy the i5 4670k, but would like to hear your opinions. (Based on the gain on Rfactor2 by preference, other games I will be playing from a console)

I picked the 1150 socket over the 1155 socket, because it would give me the option to change the motherboard or processor separately, and not both. With that said, is it realistic to say that in 5 years intel will still be selling the 1150 sockets for their newest components?

I picked the i5 because the biggest difference with i7 is hyper threading, of which a game like RF2 doesn’t really gain performance as it doesn’t use that many cores. So what I figured is that the i5 is almost as good. I7 would only be beneficial if I would do rendering etc.

In the future I want to install a SSD.



-Is this machine I Picked good enough with a possible graphics card update in the future to be playing racing games well over 5 years from now?

-Are the components I selected well matching with each other?

-Can I for instance install the current GTX 780 or other graphics cards that will be released later on, on this machine without me having to buy other components?

- Is an SSD possible to install easily in the future

-Did I make logical conclusions, or would you suggest something else?

-Do I have all the connections and options that are needed to have a good pc for the future?

-Any other stuff that I need to consider?


-Other tips?


Thanks in advance!

 

[Jari Vinnari]

I would consider buying SSD right from the start installing OS and other frequently used programs to it.Normal hard disk would be used less important software/storage.

Nowadays GPU is very important so buing the fastest card you can afford is wise move but GTX 760 is one good choice.

 

[RaceNut]

I added one SSD for the OS and most used programs and later added another SSD just for games. All other data resides on standard HD with another drive serving as backup. The green drives tend to be a bit slow to respond coming off idle.

I like the i7 for multitasking while working.

 

[Ian Franssen]

Thanks fellas for the advise ,

The reason I didn't put it in right now the SSD is to save some money for now, and from the information I got I understood that the SSD starts everything up very quickly, but doesn't improve the gaming itself. So for that reason I will buy it later on so I was able to put more money in the GPU now, I'm already over budget I'm not used to a SSD so the pain is not that big for now
Reinstalling Windows is not that hard to do.

The SSD I will defintely buy in the future and wil take your advise to install the OS and the most frequent used programes on it once I get it.

But if it does make a big difference in gaming itself and I understood it incorrect, let me know!

The gtx760 is max of what my budget allows. First wanted the 660ti but for 20 euro more I already had the 760

Will look into the green harddisk to read some reviews of them. I don't do multiple things at once as I don't need my computer for my work, the most multitasking I do is when I am making mods for RD, but even with the current laptop I can manage. I also need to save money somewhere on my system, just like the SSD, I am already over budget and because multitasking is not that important for my purposes, I chose the i5. Probably the same as the SSD, what you don't know doesn't hurt as much

 

[RaceNut]

I understand - it's all relative to what you are used to having now and yes, the SSD will help programs load faster. With racing sim's generally having long load times - SSD's can reduce that by quite a bit.

Best of luck with your new system

 

[Calum McLure]

Seems good to me, I bought a 1TB WD Green last month and not had any problems with it, very good HDD for the money. Like you I decided against the SSD for now, not enough space for the cash at the moment but the prices are dropping already. Also have 2x4GB Corsair 1600mhz RAM and again no problems.

I think you will have similar kind of performance to me if not more and I have no problems playing a lot of games at there highest settings so you should have no problems with rF2 and AC.

Good luck with the build

 

[Chris Partridge]

An SSD drive will reduce stuttering in game. Just get s 60GB vrrsion for OS and 2 or 3 of your favourite games.

 

[Ian Franssen]

thanks, haven't heard that before. Will take an extra look at it .

 

[Tamás Fóth]

You won t have stuttering with HDD, and SSD-s arent as reliable yet. If it dies, forget restoring anything you had on it. Only loads faster, then no difference. Mine is only for the system since i lost one. You put together a good config, just spend some € on optional case coolers.
And don t forget to create some partition on the harddisk.

 

[Chris Partridge]

You won t have stuttering with HDD, and SSD-s arent as reliable yet. If it dies, forget restoring anything you had on it. Only loads faster, then no difference. Mine is only for the system since i lost one. You put together a good config, just spend some € on optional case coolers.
And don t forget to create some partition on the harddisk.

Had my SSD since 2011 and it hasn't missed a beat.

 

[Scott Webber]

Ian, may i ask how much your budget is?

my friend who is starting out simracing has £1300 max for a PC (box... mouse & keyboard included in the box, no screen etc

your rig looks nice, and ofcourse add the SSD etc, but how much are you willing to spend?

 

[Ian Franssen]

Ian, may i ask how much your budget is?

my friend who is starting out simracing has £1300 max for a PC (box... mouse & keyboard included in the box, no screen etc

your rig looks nice, and ofcourse add the SSD etc, but how much are you willing to spend?

My budget was €800, but that was to little The system I have written down above is €`1050, that's my maximum as it is already 250 over the budget I intended too. I also need to buy everything, but the only thing that is not included is a monitor, I will use my television for racing. If I had more money to spend I would add the SSD, buy the I7, and perhaps go for the 770. I think that with 1300 pound I would be able to get that. But going for the GTX 780 would be a fantastic thing to do if I see the benchmarks, gives a lot more framerates but is very pricy.

BTW I read this on the ISI website, perhaps something to consider for your friend when selecting videocard.

 

[Jari Vinnari]

In my opinion you have chosen very good components for your budget. I have i5-2500k + Nvidia GTX 670 which makes our computers perform quite similar. Both rF2 and AC tech demo runs well with single screen on my computer.

 

[Howard]

The difference in overclocking is pretty negligible in games - especially games with lower requirements such as most simulators. The performance of your game is 95% down to your graphics card, only CPU intensive games i.e. Battlefield 3 or Crysis will show any change and even then it'll be relatively useless. Overclocking is only really beneficial for CPU programs, rather than games.

If you're not overclocking, you don't need a K series processor, so 4670 as opposed to 4670K. Whether or not you overclock also affects your motherboard choice. Z87 boards are for overclocking, so you technically don't need it. Instead look for H87 boards. Generally speaking, H87 boards are cheaper.

I don't know if you use reddit, but there is a subreddit named www.reddit.com/r/buildapc
Build your computer using www.pcpartpicker.com then upload the parts list to /r/buildapc, and tech genies there will tell you what's what.

You won't need a powersupply over 500W. People tend to really over compensate with their power supply, if you're only running one GPU then you'll only need 500W.

I suggest buying an SSD now, with the rest of your computer. I have a 250GB SSD for programs, operating system et cetera. I also have a 60GB SSD as a scratch disk for my photoshop and video work, along with two 1TB Seagate Barracudas in my system and a 3TB external.

The SSD boots significantly faster into the operating system. I can press the power button, and be at the desktop in around 10 seconds, and it turns off in around 4 seconds. If you get it later, you'll have to reinstall windows which is a pain in the ass to do. My 60GB was only around £50, and the performance gain is huge. Don't buy the "SSDs are unreliable" crap, it's about as unreliable as any other drive - just be careful with the brand you use as you would with any component.

The cooler you've listed isn't particularly common. Corsair, Noctua, Cooler Master, Zalman, Phanteks and Thermaltake are most common. You can get a decent cooler for around £30 such as the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus. It's way better than the stock cooler. I'm currently using a Corsair H80i, with an overclocked i5 3570k @ 4.8 GHz, and under load is still under 80C.

The GTX 760 sits at around the same performance as the HD Radeon 7950, but is somewhat cheaper. It's a great choice of card, and the Twin Frozr cooler is fantastic. To be completely honest, games like rfactor 2 are not very intensive on your graphics card whilst using a single monitor. Your GTX 760 should handle every game released now, and pretty much every racing game for quite a while on single monitors on full settings - maybe 3 monitors on high/medium settings.

If the computer is on a desk, I highly recommend a sound proofed case such as the CM Silencio 650, especially if you're adding extra fans. I am using a Corsair 350D with my watercooler, the included fans and two Corsair SP120 silent editions, and it sounds like a small fighter jet is taking off when the fans are spun up to their full speeds.

You didn't specify the resolution of your monitor, however it can be safely assumed it's 1920 x 1080, so everything will run fine.

If you want to save money, you could also considering moving to AMD processors. At lower budgets, they out perform intel CPUs. People bash AMD, by comparing both 'top of the line' processors. Usually they match the I7 3770k and FX 8350, however realistically, the FX 8350 is the same price as the I5 4570. The 8350 is a good overclocker, and shouldn't be discarded because of the AMD Bulldozer disappointment rumours. It's tough to research the FX 8350, or any AMD CPUs for that matter for gaming. Gamers are very opinionated, and generally big up whatever they bought to justify their purchase. Realistically, they're just jumping on the misguided bandwagon, and are comparing the wrong CPUs, so bare that in mind!

I would advise against buying an I7. It has no gains in gaming whatsoever over the I5, and is extortionately expensive. The I5 will not bottleneck any GPUs, not even the GTX Titan behemoth. If you're putting more money into anything, put it into the GPU. If you come to the I7 + 770 situation, don't do it, get the I5 + 780 as you'll get a significantly better performance gain.

Generally speaking, the way GPU upgrades works is like this:

The first number is the generation, and the second is the position within that generation. As a new generation comes out, a card in that is as good as the card up from the gen before. For example: GTX 770 = GTX 680, GTX 760 = GTX 670 and so on. It's not exact, so you could feasibly get better performance per euro from a GTX 670 if it's priced right, but it generally makes no difference whatsoever. Driver support will be better on newer GPUs in general.

I hope this helps!

 

[Ian Franssen]

Yeah thanks that is great advise.

Is installing Windows 7 as hard as installing Windows 8?
I don't have troubles with re-installing windows 7 on my current laptop, it only takes a lot of time is my experience so far. I will think about the SSD, as many people are mentioning it.

Good to hear that with the specs I chosen I can play almost most racing games at max for the coming years

I chose the corsair cx 750 because it was haswell certified which at idle should save some power I believe and to be able to run future GPU's in 2 or 3 years, assuming that in time they will get better and also need a higher power supply. I could see that the GTX780 minimum was 600, so assuming the trend will continue I figured in 3 years they might be asking for 750 as a minimum for the GPU's than.
Is that a logical assumption that I did or should a 600 be enough for the future?

I will have the computer on the ground, and when playing games I will have my headphone on, so sound isn't a hige issue during playing. It must be reasonable silent when at idle and not playing games, from what I have been reading it should be reasonably silent in idle. please correct me if it's not

The cooler I will look into, that one was suggested by a store, it's the part I did the least research on.

 

[Tamás Fóth]

Don t forget to mention your impressions when u got it

 

[Scott Webber]

Yes please let us know how it went, if it went good then im going to use your PC Build as a base for my m8s new one, her budget is £1300

 

[Ian Franssen]

computer should arrive monday or tuesday, and I will let you know after testing
With 1300 pounds you can get an amazing system, I have only spend 900 pounds on my system if I convert it from Euro's.

If I had that budget, buy a K processor to overclock, probably an i7 for hyperthreading, buy a water based cooler, a GTX 780 and add a SSD.

In the end I chose this combo:
Processor: Intel i5 4670, s 1050
Motherboard: Asus Z-87A, s 1050 -> this one supports SLI, the k version didn't
Work Memory: Corsair Vengeance 1600 8GB
Harddisk: Seagate Desktop HDD 2TB - 3.5inch
Power supply: Corsair CX 750m (haswell certified)
Cooling: Mugen 4 cooler
Graphics card: Asus GTX 760 DCII OC, 2GB (had MSI but had to wait to long for it, in the end this one was also good in reviews, very good overclockable and GPU boost, because it's very cool.)
Computer Case: Cooler Master CM 690 II lite
Keyboard and Mouse: Logitech MK260
Windows 8

 

[Scott Webber]

Ian, myself and my family have no idea how to do watercooling stuff, and im a amateur for overclocking

 

[Stefan Woudenberg]

This will be a mega boost to the laptop you are using now

Congrats m8!