PC for Sim Gaming

[williamforrest]

I know there are a few people on here that are into gaming and sim racing.

I have been offered a PC that has been used to run a flight sim for the last 3 or 4 years. Seems pretty decent spec to me, I'd intend to use it for KH video processing, Graphic and picture editing and possibly some PC racing.

My questions:

What is a decent spec PC to go for?
What is the best racing games?
Whats the best controllers? I'm used to console gaming such as forza and I do have the Microsoft Xbox wireless wheel if that could be used?

Any help is appreciated.
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R33 Skyline GTR
R33 Skyline GTST

[Struan Robertson]

What graphics card, RAM and processor do you have in you're current machine? If you're old pc was speced for flight sims then you may only need to upgrade the Graphics card for a couple of hundred quid.

Although if you're machine is 4 years old....!

RAM is cheap these days, I would go for a minimum 4G to comfortably run windows 7, get 8G if you want windows 8. Or more if you run multiple applications with the video editing and get enthused by discussions of large capacity RAM .

If you already have a decent case with at least 600W power supply then perhaps a motherboard bundle would be a good buy. I would recommend a I5 3570K or I5 2500K processor as a good buy and more than sufficient for any gaming or sim racing needs. (Or AMD equivalents for even cheaper). i would go for the I5 3570K simply because it runs cooler, is newer and has probably better suited to video editing than the very overlclockable 2500K.

PC components are plug and play almost these days and are like car components you can pay a heafty bonus for not much better performance

For a graphic card, it depends on what resolution you want and how much you want to spend.

I would love a GTX 690 or even 2 in SLI mode for running 3 screens over 5700 x 1200 resolution as my next upgrade.

But a GTX 670 is more than enough to run any games on high graphics settings.

I've been bored offshore and plotting more shite to spend cash on when I get back.

Get a wheel and pedal set for sim racing.

I want this next, http://www.fanatec.com/but their are many options out there with Logitech and you can literally spend thousands if you want.

PS get an SSD hard drive, best upgrade available in my opinion.

This site is not bad for pc builds or pre-built, http://www.overclockers.co.uk/index.php although maybe a tad more expensive than ebay or Amazon.

This is a good kit. http://www.thrustmaster.com/en_UK/products/t500-rs as well as logitech GT27. If you don't want to spend as much then Logitech DFGT is probably the best choice for a wheel and pedal set.

these are decent places to visit if you are interested in racing simulators and online sim racing. http://insidesimracing.tv/ and for the latest developments http://www.virtualr.net/

Lots of edits as I got carried away.