What PC do You Need for Sim Racing?

Every software has system requirements. Sim racing is no different. We’ll take a look at what your PC needs to run the most popular titles.

Low End Sim Racing System Requirements

On the lowest end we have one of my favourite sims.

RaceRoom Racing Experience

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 / 8 / 10
Processor: Dual core at 2.4 GHz or AMD equivalent
Memory: 4 GB
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 or AMD equivalent
DirectX®: 9.0c
Hard Drive: 40 GB of free HD space
Sound: DirectX compatible
Other Requirements: Broadband Internet connection

That is the official requirements. However someone I know runs RaceRoom with a NVIDIA Geforce GT 210.

This means: You can run RaceRoom with basically any PC with dedicated GPU.

If you want to get a new PC just to run this low-end Sim, I recommend looking on the used PC market for anything with a dedicated GPU. Looking on an Austrian used-items online storefront, I found a suitable piece for 150€. Add a monitor (100€), peripherals (20€) and a low-end wheel (Thrustmaster T150, 170€) and you can start out with sim racing for less than 500€. That is even cheaper than racing at the 24 hours of Lemons!

Assetto Corsa

OS: Windows 7 Sp1 – 8 – 8.1 – 10
Processor: AMD Athlon X2 2.8 GHZ, Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHZ
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Graphics: DirectX 10.1 (e.g. AMD Radeon HD 6450, Nvidia GeForce GT 460)
DirectX: Version 11
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 15 GB available space
Sound Card: Integrated

Assetto Corsa has about the same required hardware as RaceRoom. So the same setup as listed above can run Assetto Corsa without graphical enhancement mods too.

rFactor 2

OS: Windows 7, 8, 8.1 or 10, with latest Service Packs
Processor: 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or 3.0 GHz AMD Athlon II x2
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: nVidia GTS 450 or AMD Radeon 5750
DirectX: Version 9.0c
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 30 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible

rFactor 2 can be a gorgeous game. But not on minimum system requirements! I personally suggest to rather go for rFactor 2 when having a better PC. But if that is not feasible for you, just know that you can run it with the same cheap setup as for RaceRoom.

High End Sim Racing System Requirements

Assetto Corsa Competizione

OS: Windows 10 x64 20H2 (October 2020 Update)
Processor: Intel Core i5-4460 or AMD FX-8120
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: GeForce GTX 750 4GB, Radeon RX 460 4GB
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 50 GB available space
Sound Card: Integrated

Automobilista 2 & Project Cars 2

These 2 titles have pretty much the same minimum requirements. That stems from both using the same game engine.

OS: Windows 10 (+ specific versions of 7)
Processor: 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5 3450 or AMD FX-8350
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: GTX680 or equivalent
DirectX: Version 11
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 50 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX compatible sound card

iRacing

OS: Windows 8.1 64-Bit, Windows 10 64-Bit
Processor: 4 core CPU or better – Some examples (but not limited to): AMD FX-6300, Intel Core i5-4430, Intel Core i5-2320, AMD Ryzen 3 1200
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: A gaming graphics card with at least 2GB of DEDICATED memory – Some examples (but not limited to): Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 @ 2 GB / GTX 1050 or ATI Radeon HD 7850 @ 2GB / AMD RX 550 or better
DirectX: Version 11
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 16 GB available space

If you want to build your own PC for this, check this handy guide from Intel. But following is my shopping list for running these 3 titles in a very respectable graphics setting.

Case: Sharkoon TG4 – 50€
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5800X – 300€
GPU: NVIDIA RTX 3060ti – 600€
MoBo: Gigabyte B550M – 90€
RAM: any 32GB, 3200MHz – 100€
PSU: Xilence 850W – 100€
SSD: Crucial BX500 2TB – 150€
CPU Cooler: Xilence M504D – 30€

This totals out at: 1420€ for the PC. But this is already a pretty futureproof PC, which will be able to run games and sims for many years to come.

Anyways, those are the minimum requirements for current sims. If we are missing any, let us know in the comments down below!