Build your Sim Racing rig with any of these great PCs
Source: Windows Central
Best PCs for Sim Racing Windows Central 2020
Sim racing is enjoying a surge in popularity in 2020, and while you do need to spend some money on equipment, it’s a fraction of the cost of what it costs to go real racing. And the crashes are easier to deal with. At the heart of your setup, all you need is a decent PC, and for that, it’s hard to look beyond the Alienware Aurora R9.
Best Overall: Alienware Aurora R9
Source: Dell
There are quite a few configuration options available for the Aurora R9, with a high-end model sporting up to dual NVIDIA RTX 2080 Super graphics cards (GPU), a 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K processor (CPU), 64GB of HyperX DDR4-2933MHz RAM, and a 2TB M.2 PCIe solid-state drive (SSD) coupled with a 2TB hard-disk drive (HDD). A Wi-Fi 6 adapter can be added for blazing wireless speeds, and you can even add water cooling with an 850W PSU.
The hardware is all contained in a sleek and compact case that’s available in two colors. It still has a PSU swing arm to allow easy access for upgrades and tinkering, and there’s a boatload of ports for easy connectivity. This is important mainly for sim racing when you’ve got multiple devices that all want a USB connection to your PC.
Pros:
- Many configurations available
- Tool-free upgrade
- Plenty of ports for sim racing hardware
- Programmable lighting
- Sturdy, unique chassis
Cons:
- Styling won’t be to every taste
- Tight space to work inside
Best Overall
Alienware Aurora R9
Style, power, and ports
A great looking easy to upgrade PC that has a ton of ports and plenty of headroom for any sim racing activity you can throw at it.
AMD Powered: HP OMEN 30L
Source: HP
HP has plenty of options, though, depending on what you’re looking to do, especially if you’re thinking of VR or triple monitors. Go up to an AMD Ryzen 9 with 12 cores, 32GB of RAM, and a 2080 Ti if you want the best.
Everything is contained in a sleek tower with a streamlined design and a brushed aluminum finish. You can also spec one up with Wi-Fi 6 for a little future-proofing, and as you need when sim racing, ports, ports, and more ports.
Pros
- Optional Wi-Fi 6
- Tons of hardware options
- Plenty of ports
- Excellent Ryzen CPUs
Cons
- Can get pricey towards the top end
- 8GB of RAM entry point not enough for iRacing
AMD Power
HP OMEN 30L
High-end performance without overspending
The redesigned HP OMEN 30L is a beautiful gaming PC packed with premium hardware perfect for any sim racer.
Best Laptop: ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14
Source: Daniel Rubino/Windows Central
Inside, you find AMD’s Ryzen 9 4900HS 8-core, 16-thread CPU paired with an NVIDIA RTX 2060 GPU, and up to 32GB of 3200MHz DDR4 RAM. The GPU is perfectly capable of running any modern sim racing title at high frame rates and in VR, and the CPU is pushing desktop levels of performance.
On the outside, you have not only an HDMI output to hook up your external display but four USB 3.2 ports, two of which are USB-C. OK, you may end up needing a couple of adapters depending on your hardware, but there’s enough here to attach a wheel and pedal set as well as an external shifter and still have a port spare.
Pros
- Powerful CPU
- Excellent GPU
- Plenty of ports
- Compact
Cons
- USB-C probably means adapters
Best Laptop
ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14
A Ryzen flagship
The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 manages to take advantage of the latest chips from AMD and NVIDIA in a way that makes it a powerful contender if you’re looking for a laptop to run your racing.
Great All-rounder: Dell XPS Tower 8930 Special Edition
Source: Windows Central
The entry model includes a 9th Gen Intel Core i5-9400 processor (CPU), 8GB of DDR4 RAM, and a 256GB solid-state drive (SSD) coupled with a 1TB hard-disk drive (HDD). For extra performance, an NVIDIA GTX 1650 dedicated graphics card (GPU) with 4GB of VRAM is on offer.
You can really beef up the hardware inside, though, and you can also opt for a 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K CPU, 64GB of DDR4 RAM, up to 4TB of storage, and a beefy NVIDIA RTX 2080 Super GPU with 8GB of VRAM if you so wish. This box looks like it belongs in an office, but it’s capable of scorching performance, and even if you get one of the lower-tier configurations, it’s a simple task to upgrade the internals down the road.
Pros:
- Plenty of spec options
- Good port selection
- Amazing performance potential
- Easy upgradeability
Cons:
- Entry model worth avoiding for sim racing
Great All-rounder
Dell XPS Tower 8930 Special Edition
Great for most people
With a wide variety of hardware options and easy upgrades, the XPS Tower 8930 Special Edition should be a good fit for any sim racer.
The finish line
Getting started in sim racing is pretty straight forward, and though you can’t engage without a decent PC and racing setup, it’s easy enough to get going. What you need a solid PC at the heart of your setup and the Alienware Aurora R9 is the perfect choice.
It doesn’t take up masses of space, it’s easily upgradeable if your budget doesn’t stretch to the higher-spec models right now, and it’s got plenty of ports to connect up all your assorted racing hardware. You really can’t go wrong.
Credits — The team that worked on this guide
Richard Devine is an Editor at Windows Central. A former Project Manager and long-term tech addict, he joined Mobile Nations in 2011 and has been found on Android Central and iMore as well as Windows Central. Currently, you’ll find him covering all manner of PC hardware and gaming, and you can follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
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