[SOLVED] Best upgrade gpu to match 6600k (building a racing simulator)

[northman11]

I am in the process of building a racing simulator for my son and I will be repurposing a 6600k paired with a Radeon R 390. I'm not sure if we are going to use three older monitors I have laying around or try to find a better single curved monitor. If I wanted to upgrade the gpu, what should I be looking for? No 4k resolutions here. At best, three 1080 monitors or one 1440 ultrawide. I understand that most racing simulators for the pc are cpu intensive but I think the 6600k should work. Just curious if the gpu needed a bump in performance.

 

[tennis2]

1440p = 3.7M pixels
3440 x 1440 Ultrawide = 5M pixels
3 x 1920 x 1080 = 6.2M pixels
4k = 3840 x 2160 = 8.3M pixels

What racing simulator you're using is going to determine the GPU need for something between 1440p and 4k gaming.

An R9-390 is roughly equivalent to an RX590/ RX5500XT / GTX1660 Super. Most wouldn't consider those 1440p tier gaming performance.

 

[northman11]

1440p = 3.7M pixels
3440 x 1440 Ultrawide = 5M pixels
3 x 1920 x 1080 = 6.2M pixels
4k = 3840 x 2160 = 8.3M pixels

What racing simulator you're using is going to determine the GPU need for something between 1440p and 4k gaming.

We are looking at iRacing right now. Minimum specs are:

• Windows 8.1 64-Bit, Windows 10 64-Bit
• 64-bit Windows
• 4 core CPU or better – Some examples (but not limited to): AMD FX-6300, Intel Core i5-4430, Intel Core i5-2320, AMD Ryzen 3 1200
• 16 GB of RAM
• A gaming graphics card with at least 2GB of DEDICATED memory – Some examples (but not limited to): Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 @ 2 GB / GTX 1050 or ATI Radeon HD 7850 @ 2GB / AMD RX 550 or better
• 25 GB of free disk space (50 GB for all cars and tracks)
• Microphone optional, required for voice chat

Mid-range specs:

You should be able to run all types of sessions on both dirt and asphalt tracks with medium graphic settings.

• Windows 8.1 64-Bit, Windows 10 64-Bit
• 64-bit Windows
• 6 core CPU or better – Some examples (but not limited to): Intel Core i7-8700K @3.70 GHz, AMD Ryzen 7 3700X or AMD Ryzen 5 3600 or better
• 16 GB of RAM
• A gaming graphics card with at least 6GB of DEDICATED memory – Some examples (but not limited to): GeForce GTX 1060 with 6GB or AMD RX 580 or better
• 25 GB of free disk space (50 GB for all cars and tracks)
• Microphone optional, required for voice chat

I have not overclocked my 6600k yet but will give that a shot to boost the performance. My gpu is a little behind the curve.

 

[tennis2]

Ok, but those system recommendations don't even list what resolution they're talking about, let alone what FPS you can expect from the recommended hardware.

 

[geofelt]

You will be pushing near 4k resolution pixels.
For that, you will want a strong graphics card, perhaps a RTX3070 class card if you can find one.
But, first see how you do with the R9-390 you already own.
You will get a better idea of what you actually need.

Sims are usually very cpu heavy, particularly the single thread portion.
If you will use a 6600K, see how much of an overclock you can get.
It will depend primarily on your luck in having a well binned chip.
As of 12/04/2016
What percent can get an overclock at a somewhat sane 1.40v Vcore.

I5-6600K

4.9 14%
4.8 38%
4.7 67%
4.6 87%

Your upper limit will be either the voltage you will tolerate or the max temperature.
Plan on a good cpu cooler.

Since you already have three monitors, try them out first.
But, I think a better user experience will come from a wide curved monitor would give a more immersive experience.
Such a monitor will not be cheap.
Here is an example:
https://www.newegg.com/black-asus-rog-strix-xg49vq-49/p/N82E16824236965

 

[Rogue Leader]

The important thing you said is you are running iRacing. iRacing can run on a potato.

I would suggest building the system AS IS using your current parts and see how you like the performance. iRacing is built off of a fairly old game engine, it is NOT CPU intensive, and while its graphics have been update it has plenty of graphical options to downgrade should you want to get more FPS out of that.

The system in my sig gets between 140 and 230 fps on triple 1080p monitors depending on the track. Maxed out. The R9 390 is roughly equivalent to an RX 580, it should do about half that at full detail, turns some stuff down and it is even higher fps.

Should he decide he wants to play something more intensive like Assetto Corsa Competizione, a CPU and GPU upgrade are in his future.

 

[northman11]

Thanks for all of the replies and advice. I am working on building the frame and seat mounting design right now. I will probably try to run it as-is and see how the performance is on one monitor before adding the others. We are not in a rush and are looking at it as a father-son project so we can either upgrade it as needed or build a new pc if this one is unable to run the three monitors.

 

[geofelt]

How old is son??

 

[northman11]

He's 12 and has become quite the gearhead. I thought building a racing simulator rig would be a good father-son project. We are going to construct the cockpit ourselves to save costs.

 

[geofelt]

He's 12 and has become quite the gearhead. I thought building a racing simulator rig would be a good father-son project. We are going to construct the cockpit ourselves to save costs.

How about posting some pics of the project??

 

[northman11]

How about posting some pics of the project??

Will do. I am trying to find a driver seat from a car to use instead of the plastic gamer racing seats right now. We will work on the construction of the cockpit once we get that.

I'm using this image I found as my inspiration for our build: