Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

I would definetly recommend a tower as a laptop cooling properties will become an issue and it will all be downhill from there.  A decent tower is the way to go and a heck of a lot cheaper than a laptop.  To run 3 monitors, you are now talking an upgraded video card and some decent ram.  To get start, find a desktop that can be upgraded and a nice monitor and a nice steering wheel set and you should be pretty happy.  Internet connection has to be high speed, do not play on wireless as lag will become an issue.  Hardwire internet and no satellite internet.

All the money u boyz playin this game might as well but a ride.

Pretty tough find a ride for a grand haha

The 1500 it takes to have a top of the line gaming set up wont get you anywhere even close to a ride I would strap myself into.

Can anyone send me a few links with desktop towers that would be capable, I'm not that great at making sure it has all the requirements! Thanks in advance

Agree, if someone can post some links it would be great. Preferably from Bestbuy.com. I'm a novice at the gaming business also.

I dont know much about computers either, but the guy that built mine said to get one with an I5 or better processor and a 1050ti or better graphics card. Im at work so I dont have time to look some up on Best Buy, but look for ones with those 2 things. 

From iRacing's website:

PC Computers:

• Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1, Windows 10
• 64-bit Windows
• Intel Core i3, i5, i7 or better or AMD Bulldozer or better
• 8 GB of RAM
• NVidia GeForce 2xx series or better, 1GB+ dedicated video memory, AMD 5xxx series or better, 1GB+ dedicated video memory or better
• Integrated Intel HD Graphics 4200+ or better, with 8GB of system RAM
• 10 GB of free disk space
• Microphone optional, required for voice chat

http://m.gamestop.com/product/accessories/thrustmaster-tmx-pro-limited-edition-wheel-only-at-gamestop/131352

Im sure my link probably won't work but this wheel and pedal combo works perfectly and it's only $250. I am using a laptop I bought 3 years ago at Best Buy for about $350 and I run an hdmi cable to my big Tv and it works great. My advice would be try the computer you already have before you go out and spend any money, It only costs like 8 bucks to sign up for a month of iracing and one dirt track and a pro stock dirt car are included which is enough to see if your computer will work. This is the greatest thing to happen to dirt track fans in a long time. My only warning is if you try it you will love it, and 250 will seem like a bargain for the amount of fun you will have, but your wife or girlfriend may end up leaving you because every waking free moment you have will be spent trying to improve your lap times and tweaking your setup to get another tenth faster LOL 

2nd what DON'T KNOW said.  The game is great.  Try running it on some equipment you currently own, get the feel for it and you will be looking for better equipment.  When you do start shopping start looking for these....

Processor: i5 or an i7  Kind of a catch with these is make sure the CPU @ 2.80GHz or better.  They will try and sell you an i7 with a low CPU, so look for that. Since this game doesnt require more "threads" than what an i5 provides an i5 with a higher cpu will actually work better than an i7 with a low cpu. That can be found by going to the Control Panel, System and Security, System and you will see exactly what CPU you are running.  Any CPU above a 3 is pretty good. 

Ram or Memory: 8gb of Ram or more.

Hard Drive: Since the program doesnt neccessarily run off your hard drive, a standard HDD drive will be fine.  A Solid State Hard Drive is really nice though and require much less "work" from the computer to run.  So an SSD you would need less Ram and CPU to run.  Which would not overload your computer and help with gaming performance in a way.  SSDs come in hard drive space of 60 gb, 128 gb, 240gb and more.  If you are going with an SSD make sure its a 128 or more.

Graphics Card: Any GTX 1050 or better.  This will run you around $110 or more on Amazon.  The more expensive ones have more Ram on the Graphics card.

Monitors: If you are going to spend the money and get good equipment to provide great graphics, you will need a good monitor to handle all the graphics.  Monitors can be differentiated by their Response Time. This is how fast the frames reload so the lower MS will give you more of a Refresh Rate.  1ms is the best. 

If you are nervous of taking the plunge, there are refurbishing companies out there that are always selling gaming computers because some gaming systems can be really expensive, so some of these companies make a killing selling computers from overload stock parts from overseas. Every TV and computer that I have in my house is refurbished and works just as well, if not better than the new computers that I work on every day.  The majority of Refurbished computers are all brand new other than the shell of the machine, they just just cant sell you a company warranty with it so they have to be sold as refurbished.  But there are also those instances where you can you can get stuck with a bad unit.  Kind of a risky deal, but if you spend half as much as a new system and it last you half the life of a new one, well its not a terrible deal.

https://www.newegg.com/ as well as http://www.microcenter.com/

I took the plunge last night and signed up for 3 months and bought the sprint cars + all three tracks. I also ordered a G29 wheel (love it or hate it) today and should show up Friday.

If you're thinking about it... STOP! coolest sprint car game ever released.

Only 3 tracks?  I'd be bored with it in a month.  I was interested until reading that.  I'd consider it if they expand the track listing a whole bunch

do it in the dirt

For you techie guys, how do these specs look like for a system?  It's a good deal on a refurbished

The initial release is only 3 tracks but they will be adding tracks. They had one of the developers on Open Red podcast this week and he indicated they will be releasing non winged sprints in a few weeks.

Actually it's 4 tracks, not a big difference but Williams grove to Volusia to Eldora to the dirt covered 3/4 mile USA speedway gives you a huge variation in tracks, perhaps you have driven a real sprinter plans would get bored, all I can tell you is I'm a complete rookie to driving race cars and I have logged thousands of laps already and the honey moon faze is strong as ever, not sure I can ever get bored with this.

Whats really cool also is how they make the track progress as the race goes on. The lines get used up, cushion gets moved up the track, and tires go away. Its pretty amazing. If you think to have it figured out, go do eldora on 100% track usage in the 410 or super late model. Thatll make a man out of ya real quick lol.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ibuypower-desktop-amd-fx-series-16gb-memory-2tb-hard-drive-black-red/4575215.p?skuId=4575215

best buy has about 7-8 variations of this tower with different internal parts at different prices, relatively affordable tower I've had one for a month and couldn't be happier

Just a general question about iracing. I was on last night and clicked on the little "on air" button. It was a live indy car race with announcers and everything. I didnt realize it was that involved. Call me lame but it was actually very entertaining lol Question is, the guys that are in the top level leagues, do they put money on the races/championship? How much are we talking? Just curious if anyone knows or has joined a payout league?

I believe the top nascar series that they broadcast (the peak antifreeze series) champion in points at the end of the year is $20,000

Thats pretty wild.