Sim Racing: Ask an Expert

[John Powell]

[quote="PMcD"]RFactor is a huge download at 668 megs. With dialup your looking at a week [insane]
no no just kidding but at least 3 maybe 4 hours. Took me over an hour and I'm on cable light. You just drop the download to the bar and it will do its thing. You can do it overnight also so you won't miss the phone.
Actually for you, if your not in a hurry you can now order it on CD. Running these games is all about flow through ram. 1 gig of ram and video card ram as mentioned will suffice. Your processor is great.

P.[/quote]

OK, and thanks to everyone for the advice. I'm going to mull all this stuff over for a while, have a look around at some stores, and then see what I can do.

[gkierst]

So I did a lot of tinkering on the weekend, and I've decided I'm going to buy a video card. I have only one PCI-E slot, and I'm not sure how much I'm willing to spend yet. Looking at Best Buy, the following look interesting:

[url=http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0926INGFS10082999&catid=20397&logon=&langid=EN]Foxconn 7600GT 256MB PCI Express Graphics Card - $180[/url]

[url=http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0926INGFS10083235&catid=20397]Foxconn GeForce 7950GT OC 256MB Video Card - $300[/url]

Bang for the buck is a priority here. If I can get satisfactory results for $200 then that's what I'd look for, but looking at Tom's Hardware the performance of the 7950GT looks tempting.

I'm currently using an ATI X600. In both GTL and GTR2 I get about 1/3rd the frame rate of Jeff's X800 with the same settings. In order to run solidly over 30fps at Mosport with a large grid I've had to drop the resolution to 800x600 end use DirectX 8. On average I'm running about 40-45fps in daytime racing now. If I up the resolution I'm frequently as low as 20 fps, and average close to 30fps. With my current settings nighttime racing bogs things down to about that level again.

Any recomendations would be appreciated.

Greg

[PMcD]

I use an ASUS (ATI) x 1600 pro 256 meg PCI-e card. A hundred bucks at Orleans computer. They have a website. My frame rate is fine and I've increased my page file size which also helps to flow ram through.

Having said that, buy the best you can afford. You won't be disappointed. I use x8 also and sometimes x9. Go into your game and carefully scrutinize you settings. Do not leave all your settings on full. It takes a lot of resources. Turn the sound down a notch, disable some other stuff, watch your drawing distance rate. Lot of stuff you can turn down that will not make a big difference in the game.

P.

[el_torpedo]

I have the nvidia 7600GT and it works fabulously with rFactor and is still good for 2006 1st person shooters. I think it only has about 6 months of usefullness left though, as newer games keep demanding more performance. I guess my point is if you can afford it get the 7950 or at least a 7800GT - they will give you more longevity if you decide to buy newer games.

[rmicroys]

[quote="PMcD"]RFactor is a huge download at 668 megs. With dialup your looking at a week [insane] [/quote]

I've got rFactor on a CD if anybody wants to borrow it, then all you need is to unlock it by buying it. Then comes all the extra downloads for cars/tracks/etc.

[gkierst]

Thanks for the advice. I'm picking up a used 7800GT tomorrow.

Regards,
Greg

[silverfox]

All I can say, is WOW!!! Like old fart, JP, I have never even tried this sort of racing. Sounds as if one can sip a single malt; stay warm & cozy at home and race? Good deal!

And you don't spend endless gobs of money. Where Friday nights...? At iPlay...?

Ronald Woltman

[rmicroys]

Ron, from the comfort of your own Den, Living Room or Office where ever you happen to have your computer setup. Sipping a single malt whilst playing may have drastic effects on your laptimes and performance. Well, you can still spend a pile of cash if your machine isn't up to snuff. I did just spend over 450$ to get the steering wheel and a new video card for the computer. Now it's amazing and though I haven't analyzed my frame rates, I pretty much can crank up the detail to 'full' on most tracks and I don't have any loss in performance. YMMV with your PC.

[quote="gkierst"]Thanks for the advice. I'm picking up a used 7800GT tomorrow.[/quote]

Darn, I'm still looking for a second 7800 GT OC PCIe card for my SLI setup if I can. If you find another line on one, let me know. In comparison to my X700 - it's a world of difference in performance. I run at 1680x1050 @ 32bil colours - and it's pretty sweet.

[-Ferdinand-]

[quote="rmicroys"]Matt likes to remind me; traffic lights timed for 35mph are also timed for 70mph[/quote]

Rob, I've been meaning to ask, what is that supposed to mean exactly? Shouldn't it be the other way around? [?]

If the traffic lights are timed for the 35mph and you're going 35mph, you'd be hitting each light just as it turns green. If you're going 70mph though, you're going twice as fast, covering the same ground in half the time, meaning you'd have to sit and wait out the other half of that time period at each signal waiting for the light to change, no?

On the other hand, traffic lights timed for 70mph could also be done at 35mph without stopping. At 35mph you'd be arriving at each intersection on every second cycle of green lights.

This has been a public service announcement. We now return you to your regularly scheduled program. [insane]

[rmicroys]

[quote="-Ferdinand-"][quote="rmicroys"]Matt likes to remind me; traffic lights timed for 35mph are also timed for 70mph[/quote]

Rob, I've been meaning to ask, what is that supposed to mean exactly? Shouldn't it be the other way around? [?]

If the traffic lights are timed for the 35mph and you're going 35mph, you'd be hitting each light just as it turns green. If you're going 70mph though, you're going twice as fast, covering the same ground in half the time, meaning you'd have to sit and wait out the other half of that time period at each signal waiting for the light to change, no?

On the other hand, traffic lights timed for 70mph could also be done at 35mph without stopping. At 35mph you'd be arriving at each intersection on every second cycle of green lights.

This has been a public service announcement. We now return you to your regularly scheduled program. [insane][/quote]

Yes, that would be true with the assumption that all of these lights are timed so that they cycle only once as one goes from one light to the next. That's likely not the case. ie, Hunt club. As one drives between Green Bank and Merivale - I'm sure the light cycles more than once. So, if you find they are set so that at speed X it's always green, and there is an even number of cycles... then voila, 2 times X works better :)

Now say, in short sequenced lights such as on Jarvis street in toronto where you can hit one light from the previous one, then that theory may not work. Hey. I'm not the one who says it's true... ask Matt ;)

[gkierst]

[quote="rmicroys"]

[quote="gkierst"]Thanks for the advice. I'm picking up a used 7800GT tomorrow.[/quote]

Darn, I'm still looking for a second 7800 GT OC PCIe card for my SLI setup if I can. If you find another line on one, let me know. In comparison to my X700 - it's a world of difference in performance. I run at 1680x1050 @ 32bil colours - and it's pretty sweet.[/quote]

Oh really, I had assumed you picked up the pair posted on this forum. I found this one on the newsgroups at work today under a "Computer Parts" post. I check the newsgroups semi-regularly so I'll let you know if anything else comes up. Who knows, if a good deal on an equal or better card comes along I'd have no problem parting with this one.

Greg

[rmicroys]

The ones on this newsgroup ended up being no good. They got damaged in the guy's move. So I found one at work by posting to the Nortel newsgroup as well ... somebody saw my post and rang me up... a little more expensive than the two on this site, but still I couldn't turn it down. Turns out that I should have gone to work today instead of staying home sick.

[racinhard]

Hi all, I'm new to your forum... reading the comments and opinions on which is better (console or PC) and what equipment to use. I've raced both types, from Pit Stop (for Commodore 64) and Bill Elliott's Nascar (Nintendo), to rFactor on the PC and GTA on Playstation. No doubt in my mind that PC sim racing offers the best bang for the buck, if you're seeking realism and mod-ability. For example, in my Nascar Racing 2003 Season folder, I have accummulated close to 200 tracks of all types, with a whole spectrum of car classes and physics models to race on them. rFactor, GTL and GTR2 are the next generation... designed in Europe, not North America. The PC needed to run the latest releases, needs to be as robust as your budget allows, whether for off- or online racing. The lower-end graphics cards don't allow much of the visual quality of the newer sims to be seen, at all, in order to yield an acceptable frame-rate for high-speed driving. My own current setup: P4 3.0 gig, 1 gig of memory and 6600 GT OC nVidia card, I consider to be borderline low-end now that I have a 19" widescreen LCD monitor hooked up to it. With the old 17" tube, that setup worked quite well. My Logitech MOMO is low budget, too, but it gets the job done. I keep breaking my Act Labs shifter, so I've quit buying them. [pissed] While it's possible to learn tracks and enjoy hot-lapping in offline play, there's nothing like "live" competition to bring out your best... or worst.

Just my 2 cents worth...

Rick Brownhill

[PMcD]

Obviously this forum is taking right off. Tecky Geek racing. Love it. Suggestion for Kev:
You should Contact Aleida and ask her if you can be a forum administrator for this thread and post stickies ( if its available) for guys and gals on how to's in setting up their games for on line playing. For example how to downloads and installs like the FTP program, links, and guys can even post their car setups for tracks.
Even I yesterday only found out where to download the GTL tracks. I don't know how to install the FTP program. Just a suggestion.

P.

[John Powell]

Yeah, I agree. If not this thread would get way too long and it'll be hard to find the tips or info you're looking for.

[echocarver]

[quote="gkierst"]Thanks for the advice. I'm picking up a used 7800GT tomorrow.

Regards,
Greg[/quote]

Greg, if you don't mind saying...how much did you pay for the 7800GT?

My Radeon 9600XT is getting a little long in the tooth...

--Echo

[PMcD]

JP said: OK, and thanks to everyone for the advice. I'm going to mull all this stuff over for a while, have a look around at some stores, and then see what I can do.

...John, I've had some conversations with my racing colleagues and to run Grand Prix Legends is not a problem for dialup but I hear now that RFactor is. The transfer rate of the dialup signal is just not strong enough although I don't know which service provider you have. Time to move into the city?

Pat.

[John Powell]

[quote="PMcD"]JP said: OK, and thanks to everyone for the advice. I'm going to mull all this stuff over for a while, have a look around at some stores, and then see what I can do.

...John, I've had some conversations with my racing colleagues and to run Grand Prix Legends is not a problem for dialup but I hear now that RFactor is. The transfer rate of the dialup signal is just not strong enough although I don't know which service provider you have.Pat.[/quote]

Sympatico.

[quote="PMcD"]Time to move into the city?Pat.[/quote]

Only when I'm too old to drive and have to take a bus! [blind]

[gkierst]

[quote="echocarver"][quote="gkierst"]Thanks for the advice. I'm picking up a used 7800GT tomorrow.

Regards,
Greg[/quote]

Greg, if you don't mind saying...how much did you pay for the 7800GT?

My Radeon 9600XT is getting a little long in the tooth...

--Echo[/quote]

Hey,

Sorry for the late reply, I was away for the weekend. I paid $200. Not a great deal, but after tax I figure it saved me up to $100 over the big box stores.

Greg

[PMcD]

Need help, I've dumped a race series and would like to come out for a few laps. Questions:

1. I've downloaded the GTL upgrade and Hamachi to my program files. How do I connect Hamachi to my game in order to join in? I need a good howto like go hereA, click on hereB, do this C blah blah.

2. I am one of those guys who cannot get the CD key to work. If I use Hamachi do I need to register the game or can I just bypass this?

3. In GTR2 one can play with individual gear ratios . In GTL I cannot, only the diff setting which gives me a long or short box. I find this frustrating because I can't get my gearbox set to where I want it. I am doing something wrong? Even with the long box I'm maxing out in top gear long before I want to.

thanks for any replies.

[racinhard]

[quote="gkierst"][quote="echocarver"][quote="gkierst"]Thanks for the advice. I'm picking up a used 7800GT tomorrow.

Regards,
Greg[/quote]

Greg, if you don't mind saying...how much did you pay for the 7800GT?

My Radeon 9600XT is getting a little long in the tooth...

--Echo[/quote]

Hey,

Sorry for the late reply, I was away for the weekend. I paid $200. Not a great deal, but after tax I figure it saved me up to $100 over the big box stores.

Greg[/quote]

For a comparison, I just purchased a new BFG 7800 GS OC, online at NCIX.com, for $239 and tax. Shipping was $10 by Purolator ground. Doubled the frame rate in rFactor, with all settings on high. Sale ends tomorrow. [burnout]

Rick Brownhill

[XL51]

[quote="PMcD"]Need help, I've dumped a race series and would like to come out for a few laps. Questions:

1. I've downloaded the GTL upgrade and Hamachi to my program files. How do I connect Hamachi to my game in order to join in? I need a good howto like go hereA, click on hereB, do this C blah blah.

2. I am one of those guys who cannot get the CD key to work. If I use Hamachi do I need to register the game or can I just bypass this?

3. In GTR2 one can play with individual gear ratios . In GTL I cannot, only the diff setting which gives me a long or short box. I find this frustrating because I can't get my gearbox set to where I want it. I am doing something wrong? Even with the long box I'm maxing out in top gear long before I want to.

[/quote]

1. Pat. Power Hamachi up (left button) to get a connection. Middle button select "join an existing network". Enter "mco1" under name and "mco" for password. In GTL, go to multiplayer and then select LAN/IP instead of Internet. When the server is up a session will show up. Select join.

2. Someone else will have to help you here. Did it with Luker a while ago and I can't even remember what I had for breakfast this morning.

3. Only a few of the newer cars have individual ratios. It seems crude compared to GTR2 but that's how they were I suppose. At least all cars have some adjustment of final drive ratios, and we all have the same limitation. On the plus side, because the tires suck and the setups are limited big time it makes it more about the racer and not about the setup king.

[PMcD]

Thanks I'll try to connect next time the server is up. So after I do the Hamachi thing I just put the GTL CD in. boot the game up and do that part?

I booted up Hamachi and right away it showed a listing of guys who race in the game and GTL server 2. It was offline.

Pat.

[JGraves]

Is anybody interested in hacking around at Mosport in GTL / GTR2 tonight around 8pm? I'm thinking it may be a could chance for Pat to test his settings / connection as well as try GTR2. I'll host on the machine I'm playing on if the dedicated server isn't up.

Luker, can we use your teamspeak server tonight?

[PMcD]

I have a practice tonight at spa in Rfactor F3euro till about 830 or so. If there's a server up then I'll try to connect.

P.