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Old 18-12-2014
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rcmodelweek rcmodelweek is offline
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Default PC for VRC advice

Just after some advice regarding a tower style PC. I want to purchase a PC which will literally only be used for playing VRC on, and is capable of connecting to my TV screen rather than a monitor. I know absolutely nothing about PCs, but I'm guessing it would require a decent graphics and sound card, and a hdmi port to connect to the television. Can anyone advise on a suitable machine, which doesn't cost the earth, as like I said it will only be used for this (I have laptops and tablets for everything else). A work colleague recommended building my own as a cheaper option, but I wouldn't know where to start.
Cheers!
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  #2  
Old 19-12-2014
sparkyboy22 sparkyboy22 is offline
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Graphic requirements for VRC aren't all that high.
I use it on my laptop with the on board intel graphics with the settings on low.
Home PC has a GTX680 and will play with everything on Max without any issue.

Something mid range like a 750Ti or a 760 should be more than adequate.
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Old 19-12-2014
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HOTSHOT III HOTSHOT III is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sparkyboy22 View Post
Graphic requirements for VRC aren't all that high.
I use it on my laptop with the on board intel graphics with the settings on low.
Home PC has a GTX680 and will play with everything on Max without any issue.

On my home PC I can do this on the smaller tracks but on the bigger tracks I have to put the settings on low to avoid the frame rate slowing down which is a PITA because I can't see what the car is doing over the far side of the circuit/s. My PC is a Dell Vostro which was new in 2012 so it's not exactly ancient and performs well otherwise.

Something mid range like a 750Ti or a 760 should be more than adequate.
Are these graphics cards? I don't know anything about computers either How much should I expect to pay for a decent graphics card, and being competent with RC electronics/mechanics is it something I could install myself?

If you could post up some links to suitable graphics cards that would be great.
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  #4  
Old 19-12-2014
mattr mattr is offline
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TBH, graphics cards are one of the easiest things to fit.

I've just rebuilt a chunk of my PC (psu, graphics, RAM, SSD) turns out all ireally needed was a psu, it was below required spec for both the graphics card and the mother board, so running both at once (as you do) was expecting a bit much!

Think there's a listing on the vrc home page with system requirements. And TBH I reckon you'd struggle to find anything that *wouldn't* run vrc these days.
Unless you spent less than 200 quid.

I can run the whole thing at full chat on an i3 processor (almost bottom of the range) with a mid range graphics card.
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  #5  
Old 19-12-2014
mattr mattr is offline
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From https://www.vrcworld.com/support/faq...?question=7266

Minimal system configuration
- Windows XP SP3 or newer
- .Net framework 3.5 or newer
- Hyperthreaded or multi-core CPU
- 256 MB Pixel Shader 2.0 graphics card
(nVidia GeForce FX 5600 or ATI Radeon X600)
- 1 GB available system RAM
(min. 2GB recommended)
- 2 GB free hard disk space
- Soundblaster compatible soundcard
- DSL internet connection (512kbit/s)
- VRC USB adapter or controller (optional)

Recommended system configuration
- Windows 7
- .Net framework 3.5 SP1
- Dual core CPU
- 512 MB Pixel Shader 3.0 graphics card
(nVidia GeForce 8800 GT or ATI Radeon HD 4850)
- 2 GB available system RAM
- 2 GB free hard disk space
- Soundblaster compatible soundcard
- DSL internet connection (2Mbit/s)
- VRC USB adapter or controller

This looks like it probably meets minimum spec. Except maybe the soundcard. It *might* get a bit creaky once windows have sent you half a dozen security upgrades and VRC have improved the software a bit. (or you've browsed a few too many dodgy sites :wink: )
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dell-Precisi...8987508&sr=1-1
Spend another £100 and you aren't far off hitting the recommended spec.

Quite depressing really, my PC (tower only) was £800 4 years ago, can get something that will blow the current, upgraded spec into the weeds for about £500. :/

Have to see if i can persuade the missus that some upgrades are needed (and a second PC for running games in the other room.....)

Last edited by mattr; 19-12-2014 at 11:22 AM.
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  #6  
Old 19-12-2014
mattr mattr is offline
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Might be worth printing the minimum spec of and going into a PC shop (even somewhere like PC world) just to get a feel of what you are actually looking for.

Then buy it from someone who knows what they are talking about.

Or have a chat with your colleague from work, he might be able to show you how to build your own for the price of a bottle of decent whisky. Which will get you precisely what you want for much less than you can buy a complete one for (it'll save you more than the cost of a bottle of whisky!)
(You may well find a couple of guys at the car club are into this as well. I know i have probably a dozen or so colleagues/friends/etc who build their own. It's not actually that hard, just a matter of making sure its all compatible.)

Last edited by mattr; 19-12-2014 at 11:26 AM.
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  #7  
Old 19-12-2014
mattr mattr is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HOTSHOT III View Post
Are these graphics cards? I don't know anything about computers either How much should I expect to pay for a decent graphics card, and being competent with RC electronics/mechanics is it something I could install myself?

If you could post up some links to suitable graphics cards that would be great.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...ilpage_o05_s00
I bought that in the spring, it'll do a whole lot more than run vrcpro.
I'd reckon anything over about 50 quid will do the trick. Unless you want this years colours......
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Old 19-12-2014
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RogerM RogerM is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sparkyboy22 View Post
Graphic requirements for VRC aren't all that high.
I use it on my laptop with the on board intel graphics with the settings on low.
Home PC has a GTX680 and will play with everything on Max without any issue.

Something mid range like a 750Ti or a 760 should be more than adequate.
Not sure I agree with this. I was running 750 series card in a quad core machine with reasonable amount of memory and struggled with anything over minimum settings.
I also found that without the dust / smoke effects and at least the basic shadows it was very hard to be accurate with the car ... sounds odd but these cues effect your driving more than you might think!


I recently built a new machine, top line i5, 16GB ram, SSD and an AMD R9 280X graphics card and can now run it at pretty much maximum settings but if I do I still get some frame stacking / stuttering.
I'm working my way through the options to remove this stuttering / frame stacking (any suggestions more than welcome) but as it's not too disruptive I'll live with it for now.

As I say to get the most out of it as a simulator rather than a game you need to have good graphics settings IMHO.
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  #9  
Old 19-12-2014
Wig Wig is offline
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Hi
If you arnt happy building your own pc give the guys at

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/

a call,they can build you a pc to your requirements or will probably have something already for you to buy.
I have bought loads of stuff from them, they are cheap and know what they are doing.
To have a pc build by these guys costs very little more than buying all the items seperately.

Please what ever you do DONT go to PCWorld, they are a joke and will sell you any old crap to get you out the door.

Wig
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  #10  
Old 19-12-2014
mattr mattr is offline
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RogerM, There might be something else involved then. Your machine appears to widdle all over mine , yet I'm running flat out with no hesitation, stutter or anything.

I should really switch the frame rate indication on, so i can see how fast it's running.

Last edited by mattr; 19-12-2014 at 01:56 PM.
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  #11  
Old 19-12-2014
mattr mattr is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wig View Post
Please what ever you do DONT go to PCWorld, they are a joke and will sell you any old crap to get you out the door.
Too right, the only reason i suggested PC world is that it's generally the only place you can actually lay your hands on an actual computer and have a poke round. Unless it's got far worse than it was last time i was there. (8 or 9 years I'd guess)
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  #12  
Old 19-12-2014
DynaMight DynaMight is offline
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You really dont need a top spec PC to play on maximum detail. Please dont go out and spend £1200 on a top of the range gaming PC, well not just for VRC anyway.

My PC is fairly modest by todays standards and I've just played VRC and get anywhere between 120 & 170FPS. Most monitors/TV's are 60Hz so anything over 60FPS is a waste in theory.

My PC is a AMD @ 4Ghz, 8GB ram with a AMD 7850 graphics card. The graphics card costs about £100-110 these days.

If you've got the know how to build your own PC (it is fairly easy but has a steep learning curve if you've never done it) then you can buy the bits fairly cheaply. If you are unsure, then just buy a pre-built one. Specs are comparable and usually, the bigger numbers are better! If you've got the budget, Intel are currently the faster CPU's but AMD offer better performance per £.
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  #13  
Old 19-12-2014
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rcmodelweek rcmodelweek is offline
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Thanks for all the info posted up. I'll be avoiding the easy option of just walking in my local pc world to purchase anything. I like the idea of building my own, seems like a nice challenge as I've never done anything like that before. I can see the evening being spent watching numerous "how too" guides on youtube!
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  #14  
Old 19-12-2014
DynaMight DynaMight is offline
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I'd recommend watching this video:


You could build that PC too, the specs will be plenty to run VRC at max graphics. Its over-spec'd by quite a bit actually, the graphics card is better than what I have.
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  #15  
Old 20-12-2014
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I think they've massively improved the software in the last 12 months. I used to have issues running the software on a core 2 duo processor with on-board graphics, it would crash frequently.
I can't remember the last time I had any display issues with the game and I'm currently using it on a business spec i5 laptop with on board graphics
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  #16  
Old 21-12-2014
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mattr View Post
RogerM, There might be something else involved then. Your machine appears to widdle all over mine , yet I'm running flat out with no hesitation, stutter or anything.

I should really switch the frame rate indication on, so i can see how fast it's running.
You might well be right there.

As a trial I've just run with no other processes running except anti virus and firewall but both forced in to "GAME mode" and it was better.

Turning off V-sync seems to have helped too, shows I'm getting about 250FPS and it has smoothed it out no end.
Actually just fiddling with those settings has meant an improvement worth 0.5s/lap ..... that's how off it was running before!

Moral, make sure that everything is optomised external to the game.
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  #17  
Old 21-12-2014
mattr mattr is offline
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Managed to get mine to stutter, everything turned up to 11, filled the track with cars. Then it stuttered, barely noticeable. Except I was looking for it.
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  #18  
Old 21-12-2014
Ninjagordy Ninjagordy is offline
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http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_9844.html


this will play VRC no problem.

if you list the spec's of your pc you may find a simple graphics card upgrade will suffice!!

;-)
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  #19  
Old 22-12-2014
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rcmodelweek rcmodelweek is offline
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Thanks for all the info guys, certainly given me plenty to consider and look into over the Xmas period. Might even be able to get a deal in the post Xmas day sales!
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  #20  
Old 22-12-2014
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where do you get the module to link transmitter to PC ?
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