The gaming industry has grown considerably in recent decades, particularly with the advent of home consoles. The success of the PS3 and Xbox 360 is simply enormous, and the PC segment is no exception.

Today, Sony and Microsoft consoles may be powerful, but they can’t compete with a good PC configuration, nor will they be able to. This makes gamers happy, of course, but also virtual pilots.

Sim-racing peripheral manufacturers favor the PC platform, and have done so more or less since the beginning of the industry. Of course, we have console market leaders, but in most cases, support is limited, whether by peripheral manufacturers who can’t integrate all their tools (product management software), or by certain titles that aren’t available on consoles.

As a result, most racers naturally turn to PCs, whether with an existing setup or by building their own. Speaking of which, this article will help you choose a good gaming PC for sim-racing. I’ve divided the article into 4 parts, starting with the choice of display.

Choisir son écran pour faire du sim-racing

Choosing your screen for sim-racing

Choosing a screen for sim-racing, or gaming in general, is very important for the simple reason that it’s the panel that will set the direction for the rest of the PC’s components.

There are 4 main points to consider when choosing a gaming screen: panel technology (VA, LCD, OLED, MiniLED), resolution (1080p, 1440p, 2160p), refresh rate in Hz and response time in MS. You also have the screen type such as wide-angle, curved, etc., but this is more a matter of personal preference for your setup. As far as I’m concerned, I’d rather have a single screen on my rig, whether it’s a 32″ flat or 48″ curved, than three screens with their edges banging into your field of vision.

Depending on your choice of screen, you’ll take a specific path through the PC’s components. For this article, we’ll be dealing with 3 resolutions with an FPS (frames per second) between 80 and 140, and above all stable as FPS.

Sim-racing in 1080p

Let’s start with today’s standard resolution: Full HD, or 1080p. To reach this milestone, you’ll need a CPU platform that’s not necessarily recent, but a GPU that’s no less than 10 years old.

Depending on your budget, you have two choices: the DDR5 platform and DDR4. This is a technology and a RAM standard, and you’ll need a specific CPU and motherboard for each platform. You won’t be able to mix them, and DDR4 will eventually be replaced by DDR5. Obviously, the latter technology is more expensive, but it’s more powerful, while being future-proof. This remains a point to be considered by your bank account.

Back to the PC. So, if you opt for a DDR4 platform, I’d advise you to go for a configuration with an AMD Ryzen 5 5600 with 6 cores and 12 threads, which is quite simply perfect for gaming in 1080p and 1440p. For the motherboard, opt for one with a B550 chipset, so that you can use all the CPU’s features. Otherwise, a B450 will do the trick, with a Bios update. By the way, take a motherboard from a well-known brand with a good I/O (Input/Output) so you don’t run out of USB sockets, etc.

For RAM, 16 GB in 3000 MHz Dual Channel (2 sticks) is the minimum. For brands, you have Crucial, Corsair, ADADA, XPG, G-Skill, which are world-renowned and above all reliable. You also have to choose the power supply unit, or PSU, which must be sufficient to accommodate the system’s maximum power consumption. Choose a PSU with Gold certification and a continuous current of 100 to 150 Watts greater than the PC’s maximum power consumption, as well as a good brand (Corsair, EVGA, Cooler Master, SeaSonic, NZXT, etc.). You also have the case, and this choice is made according to your visual preferences, while having a good level of airflow.

Let’s talk a little about storage and cooling. For the first point, you’ll need at least 1 TB in NVMe PCI-e 3.0 or 4.0. If you take up more space, this will be beneficial, as games take up a lot of space these days. As for cooling, the Ryzen 5 5600 comes with a fairly standard cooling fan, which does the trick, as the CPU doesn’t heat up much. However, I suggest you have at least 3 fans on the case (2 in and 1 out).

Let’s move on to the GPU. For 1080p at fairly high FPS, I’d go for an AMD RX 6600 XT or an Nvidia RTX 3060, both in 8 GB VRAM versions, if you’re on a budget. Otherwise, you have more or less the same GPUs, but in the latest generation, namely the RX 7600 XT and RTX 4060.

Sim-racing in 1440p

1440p resolution is better known as 2K. To sim-racing on this resolution, the PC won’t change that much compared to Full HD. This means we’ll have the same CPU, the Ryzen 5 5600, the same motherboard, the same storage, the same RAM. Preferably, upgrade to 32GB RAM if you can afford it, otherwise it’s 2-3 years away. And if you have even more budget, go straight to the latest platform, i.e. DDR5 and a Ryzen 5 7600, and the motherboard that goes with it, of course.

Let’s turn to the GPU. To sim-rac in 1440p with a good FPS rate (over 100) and maximum detail, you’ll need a powerful graphics card. At AMD, you have the RX 6700 XT and the 6800 XT, which are Last Gen but high-performance. In Current Gen, the RX 7700 XT will do just fine. At Nvidia, you have the RTX 3070 and 3080, which are more expensive than AMD’s in Last Gen, and the 4070 (TI, Super) in Current Gen. Whatever GPU generation you choose, Nvidia is more expensive than AMD.

Sim-racing in 2160p

Let’s finish with 4K, or the resolution that will bring your PC to its knees. Here, the system will change radically. We’re still staying with AMD for CPUs, as they offer the best performance/price ratio, but we’re switching to Ryzen 7. So, DDR4 is the 5800 or 5800X3D, and 7800 or 7800X3D in DDR5. These CPUs offer 8 cores and 16 threads, a boost frequency of up to 5 GHz and monster power. Quite simply, they’re the best CPUs for PC gaming.

For RAM, at least 32 GB, and 64 GB for future peace of mind. The motherboard, well of course, one that goes hand in hand with the CPU and RAM. Storage doesn’t change all that much: 1 TB in NVMe, but PCI-e 4.0 at least this time. Of course, 3.0 will do, but there will be an imbalance in the PC’s overall performance.

This time around, cooling is going to have to be tough. Count on a two-tower ventirad with 120 mm fans to keep this monster’s cores cool. Otherwise, for the High End, you have the Noctua NH-D15 ventirad or an AIO watercooling in 240/280 mm. And the PSU must be at least 800 W in Gold or Platinum.

Let’s move on to the GPUs. For 4K, you have the AMD RX 6900, 7800 XT and 7900 XTX. At Nvidia, it’s the RTX 3080 TI, 3090, 4080 Super and 4090. Don’t look elsewhere, because these GPUs are the only ones capable of handling 4K with a good level of FPS in sim-racing.

Bonus: Ryzen CPU alternatives

If the AMD brand doesn’t appeal to you that much, you’ve got Intel processors. Instead of a Ryzen 5 5600, you have the i5 11400 or 12400. The Ryzen 5 7600 is rivaled by the i5 13400 or 14400. For the Ryzen 7, you have the i7 11700 or 12700. The special feature of Intel CPUs is that they are DDR4 and DDR5 compatible, but you need the right motherboard. Last but not least: avoid ^13th and ^14th generation i7 CPUs, as they have a major security problem.