iRacing rig?

Most affordable rig that will run three monitors at max resolution with near max settings.

I don't mind building it, but not sure on the video card. Also what are the good brands of Motherboard to stick with? And is there a preference for Intel or AMD for the CPU?

Intel gives you more bang for the buck CPU-wise at the moment, so I'd stick with that.

You'll probably have to go pretty big on the graphics card to drive three monitors with the 3D power you need, other double up.

Any suggestions on minimum clock speed I should shoot for on the CPU? Suggestions on motherboards?

I figured it would take a pricey video card or two, but do you have any suggestions?

I tend to stick mainly with ASUS motherboards, but usually ASUS, Gigabyte etc are OK.

I'd go for a medium-speed Haswell CPU as I don't think iRacing is that CPU intensive (I manage to run it OK on a 5-6 year old quad core Dell, but I need a better card).

No recommendations for cards off the top of my head, unfortunately.

I just priced out a few builds.

AMD actually gives a lot more bang-for-the-buck on the CPU, if you are using multi-threaded software. Intel was superior in single-threaded. AMD are unlocked, so you can really blow an Intel processor out of the water in raw performance for a lot less money. Whether or not that translates to better gameplay isn't as clear. Intel definitely wins the battle for thermal efficiency though.

Motherboards are perosonal preference. I've had great luck with Gigabyte.

Here's the stuff I priced out recently, assuming the board doesn't wreck the formatting:

Low-end budget build:
Pentium G3420 $87
Geforce 650ti $125
Mobo $57
8GB DDR3 $75

CPU Score: 3386
Single thread score: 1836
GPU score: 2701

Total $344
CPU+GPU/$ = 17.65

Low-Mid-range budget build:
AMD FX-6300 $120
Radeon 7850 $140
Mobo $85
8GB DDR3 1866 $85

CPU Score: 6385
Single thread score: 1415
GPU score: 3708

Total $430
CPU+GPU/$ = 23.5

Low-Mid-range budget build:
AMD FX-8320 $160
Radeon R9 270 $180
Mobo $135
8GB DDR3 1866 $85

CPU Score: 8117
Single thread score: 1403
GPU score: 4227

Total $560
CPU+GPU/$ = 22.04

FWIW, the i5 priced the same as the AMX FX6300 (4330)scored 5159/2038 multi/single. So thats 19% worse multi threaded, 44% better single threaded. 41W less TDP also.

Let's say I gave you an $800-900 budget, what would you build?

Assuming that doesn't include 3 monitors... Probably start with the Tier 2 here: http://www.hardware-revolution.com/budget-gaming-pc-computer-november-2013/

Swap out the mobo for an intel equivalent and squeeze in the i5 4670K under budget. Make sure to get a Hyper212 Evo or equivalent cooler so you can overclock the E36 M3 out of it.

I'm curious to see input from someone else on what budget video card options there are for a 3-monitor setup. In that budget you could certainly squeeze 2 $130 cards or so, but I have no idea what the best option is.

I'm interested too. But the video card is the one place I'm willing to pony up. I'd prefer to run one really strong card vs two weaker cards.

I may also start with one large monitor/TV. We were already planning on putting a TV in the spare bedroom, so I could add a bit to the budget for it and just use a 42" or something for now, which would also save money on a video card.

Basically buy really nice stuff for everything else, then when the time comes, update the video card and go with 3 monitors.

Choices!

Why not go 64bit os and run more ram?

DaveEstey wrote: Why not go 64bit os and run more ram?

I do run 64bit Win7, but extra RAM doesn't have any effect on the GPU as far as I'm aware? Am I wrong?

I already planned on running a minimum of 8gb of RAM and probably 16gb, since I'll eventually be doing GoPro video and data overlays from track work.

The extra RAM can help the GPU if it has to move textures to main memory because its internal memory is full. That's really, really slow compared to GPU RAM so you're better off springing for a little more GPU RAM.

8gb is enough, 16gb is more than enough. My gaming PC only has 8 right now, no swap, RAM has never been close to full.

I was really hoping for a specific video card suggestion.

From what I understand about iRacing, it only uses 2 cores, so an Intel would be faster on average with the higher IPC scores. The unlocked i5 2500k/3570k/4670k are probably the best bang for the buck.

As for the video card, i understand that iRacing likes AMD cards better. The R9 280X for $350sih would be about the minimum i'd want for 3 monitors.

Motherboards? Most of the Z77/Z87 motherboards are really good, so you can pick on price, color, etc. and do just fine. I've been really happy with the Biostar boards that I've had over the years.

If you want to save $100, a used i5-2500K like mine for $100 or so is just as fast as the new stuff, just a little less energy efficient.

So I decided to upgrade the current HTPC and take it out of the living room, which makes the wife happy.

It has a 3.2ghz Quad-Core AMD, I'm adding some RAM to push it up to 8gb, a 750W power supply, and a Sapphire R9 290. 3 27" monitors and this from Fanatec.

http://us.fanatec.com/index.php?route=module/configurator&bundle_id=12