The Best Graphics Cards For Sim Racing: Buyer’s Guide 2025

Choosing the best graphics card for any form of gaming is an important decision when buying or building the best sim racing PC. This is still true when it comes to sim racing, and in some scenarios, choosing the right graphics card for sim racing is even more important than choosing the right graphics card for other types of games.

If you plan on running games like Assetto Corsa Competizione with triple-screen monitors, a top-of-the-line graphics card will be required. High-performing GPUs will also enable higher resolutions and ray tracing for more realistic on-track action.

In this buyer’s guide, I’ll show you my recommendations for the best graphics cards for sim racing in 2025.

TL;DR: Our recommendations for the best graphics cards for sim racing

Below is an overview of the best graphics cards (GPUs) for sim racing.

Below is a quick benchmark overview for each of the four graphics cards above, allowing for a quick comparison of each GPU’s performance and price. The performance comparison was completed using F1 24 with the graphics settings at maximum and ray tracing enabled on ultra.

What makes a good sim racing graphics card?

More factors go into a good graphics card for sim racing other than pure performance. Of course, performance is one of the most essential elements, as it will dictate how good your game can look. However, budget, technology and architecture are all considerations when choosing the right GPU for your sim racing needs.

Overall performance

The performance of any graphics card generally translates into two areas within a game: frame rate and graphics settings. Choosing a more powerful GPU will allow you to increase your graphics settings in games like Assetto Corsa Competizione, iRacing and the F1 series.

You will also find that the better your graphics card, the better FPS (frames per second) you can achieve, resulting in smoother gameplay. You can even turn your resolution up to produce a sharper picture. With split-second decisions often being the difference between losing a second of lap time, better FPS can be incredibly rewarding in sim racing.

Technology such as ray tracing and frame generation

Another consideration with the overall graphics performance available from your GPU is technology such as ray tracing and frame generation. Ray tracing is an advanced lighting and rendering process that allows for much more realistic reflections and shadows.

All current-generation sim racing games offer settings for ray tracing, and it can make a big difference in your gameplay. Enabling ray tracing in F1 24, for example, allows the bright lights at tracks such as Singapore and Las Vegas to be reflected realistically off the car’s surface, making the game look stunning.

Frame generation is another technology linked to your graphics card. The latest 40-series Nvidia cards allow you to enable DLSS, a computational process that generates new frames in between the regular frames being rendered. Enabling DLSS can boost your FPS and make your gameplay smoother.

The price

In the recent past, graphics cards and other chips were incredibly difficult to buy, and those that were available weren’t anywhere close to the recommended retail price set by the manufacturer. Thankfully, this time has passed, and GPUs have dropped in price significantly to around the MSRP and, in some cases, lower.

The prices of graphics cards are much better now than a couple of years ago. However, there is still a big premium on the most powerful GPUs. Choosing an RTX 4090 graphics card will cost you well in excess of £/$1500, while a less-performing 4070 costs under £/$600.

This is a huge price difference, and while there is a significant difference in outright performance, the added performance may not be worth the extra £/$1000 that a premium GPU brings.

Best GPUs for sim racing

Below, I will discuss our top picks for the best sim racing GPU in more detail. I’ll highlight the pros and cons for each graphics card and share why I’ve recommended each one.

Best overall sim racing GPU

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080: The best combination of performance value.

GPU Specs

GPU	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080
Shader Cores	9,728
Boost Clock	2,505 MHz
VRam	16 GB GDDR6X
Price	£1139 / $1200
Where to buy	Buy from Amazon

Why we recommend this GPU

While the RTX 4090 outperforms the 4080, as expected, the huge price jump to the 4090 can make it hard to pull the plug on. The 4080 steps in as an excellent GPU, only missing out on some extra frills that the 4090 offers, but with a price reduction of around £/$500.

This graphics card is still very expensive at over £/$1100, but the prices slowly creeping below four figures. Considering the possibility of buying the graphics card for under £/$999 makes it an even better pick.

With ray tracing enabled, you can comfortably run Assetto Corsa Competizione and the F1 games at 4k and still achieve over 60FPS in most situations. This makes the Nvidia RTX 4080 one of the best sim racing graphics cards for games like iRacing and ACC.

Best Nvidia GPU

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: The ultimate option in terms of maximum performance.

GPU Specs

GPU	Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090
Shader Cores	16,384
Boost Clock	2,520 MHz
VRam	24GB GDDR6X
Price	£1499 / $1600
Where to buy	Buy from Amazon

Why we recommend this GPU

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 is an absolute powerhouse of a graphics card. It tops all benchmark charts as the most powerful GPU that you can currently buy, and is the best option for any sim racer looking for maximum performance no matter the cost.

That cost is pretty high, with the 4090 still costing in excess of £/$1500 although this price is slowly reducing. When testing this GPU, it is clear just how well it performs in almost all scenarios. It allows any current generation racing game to be run at 4K with maximum graphics settings and you’ll be able to hit over 80FPS in F1 24 at 4K.

When comparing the difference between the RTX 4090 and 4080, there is an increase in performance of 35% between the two cards. That is pretty significant, as is the jump in performance of 45% compared to the most powerful AMD card. These numbers are incredible, and we’ve been blown away by the performance available when sim racing or playing other demanding games.

The RTX 4090 is the perfect card if you are looking to run triple screen monitors at anything past 1440p at high settings. The 4080 can support triple screens, but you’ll have to sacrifice some outright performance.

Best AMD GPU

AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX: AMDs best graphics card to date combines power and value.

GPU Specs

GPU	AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
Shader Cores	6144
Boost Clock	2500 MHz
VRam	24GB GDDR6
Price	£899 / $1000
Where to buy	Buy from Amazon

Why we recommend this GPU

The RX 7900 XTX is the best AMD graphics card you can currently buy and it is a powerhouse when it comes to sim racing. The performance available from the 7900 XTX is less than the leading Nvidia cards, however, the lower price tag really helps us recommend this GPU.

While the price at under £/$1000 is great for a flagship GPU, you can often find an RX 7900 XTX for around £/$100-200 less than this which sweetens the deal even further. The downside of any AMD graphics card currently is the reduction in ray tracing quality and performance compared to Nvidia cards.

The 7900 XTX does go a long way to bridge this ray tracing performance gap though, and it is the best ray tracing that we’ve seen from an AMD GPU to date.

Best Budget GPU

AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT: The best budget graphics card for sim racing.

GPU Specs

GPU	AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT
Shader Cores	3840
Boost Clock	2430 MHz
VRam	16GB GDDR6
Price	£430 / $500
Where to buy	Buy from Amazon

Why we recommend this GPU

Buying a high performing 7000-series AMD card for less than £/$500 is incredible value. The 7800 XT is the perfect card for those looking at building a sim racing PC on a tighter budget. The performance available is still incredibly high, with ultra settings easily achievable at 1080p and 1440p with above 60FPS.

The 7800 XT does struggle when pushed to 4K and some settings will need to be reduced to achieve steady racing. To go along with this, ray tracing performance really is lacking once you move away from the top-tier AMD cards such as the 7900 XTX.

What graphics card do you need for triple screen sim racing?

Triple screen sim racing may improve immersion by wrapping three monitors around your sim racing cockpit, however, it is much more taxing on your GPU. Running a single 4K monitor in games like Assetto Corsa Competizione at ultra settings can allow you to achieve well over 100FPS comfortably.

However, adding two additional screens means your GPU needs to power three individual displays. This takes a toll on your graphics card and will limit your performance, either by making you lower your graphics settings or be limited to lower frame rates.

To comfortably use triple screen monitors in games such as Assetto Corsa Competizione and Le Mans Ultimate, you will require a powerful GPU. I would recommend at least a Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 or AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX for triple screen gaming.

What GPU do you need to run iRacing?

iRacing is a unique sim racing title due to its rather dated game engine. iRacing was released well over a decade ago in 2008, and the graphics in iRacing do reflect this. There is currently no ray tracing in iRacing, and most decent graphics cards can comfortably run iRacing at maximum settings.

Before opting for my RTX 4080 GPU, I ran an RTX 3070 Mobile in my gaming laptop, and when unlocking the FPS in iRacing, I could comfortably achieve 150FPS + at 1440p.

When you start setting up iRacing with triple screen monitors, that is when GPU performance is more of an issue. Choosing three 1440p or 4K monitors will really require a mid to high RTX 40 series GPU to run comfortably.

What GPU do you need to run Assetto Corsa Competizione?

Assetto Corsa Competizione is a much more visually demanding sim racing game compared to iRacing. This means your GPU will need more performance headroom to be able to run ACC comfortably. Running iRacing at 4K results on my RTX 4080 results in over 250FPS, while doing the same in ACC lowers my maximum FPS by around 50%.

Unlike iRacing, ACC utilises ray tracing and a much more advanced game engine which leads to the game looking a lot more realistic.

To run Assetto Corsa Competizione at ultra graphics settings with ray tracing enabled at 1080p or 1440p would ideally require an RTX 4070, RTX 3080 or AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT. If you plan on running ACC at maximum settings at 4K or on triple screen monitors, you should be looking to use a Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 or AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX.

How we tested these GPUs to find the best card for sim racing

We have the unusual scenario in our studio of having two gaming PCs configured as we have two sim racing rigs permently set up. One of these gaming PCs is a pre-built Lenovo Legion Tower 7i. The other is a custom built CyberPower PC. Having the two PCs available allows us to test different PC components at different times including graphics cards.

By swapping out the graphics cards mentioned in this guide, we can relatively quickly benchmark the performance within a variety of sim racing titles. For this buyer’s guide, we tested each GPU in Assetto Corsa Competizione, F1 24, iRacing and Automobilista 2.

Each of these games has very different performance requirements with ACC and F1 allowing for realistic ray tracing, while iRacing is much more of a test of FPS performance.

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Article written by Rich

Founder of SimRacingSetups.com

Rich is the founder, F1 car setup creator and content writer for SimRacingSetups. With over a decade of experience as a graphic designer, marketing director, competitive sim racer and avid motorsport fan, Rich founded SimRacingSetup.com to share his passion and knowledge of sim racing and Formula 1 with other sim racers. Regularly writes for sim racing website SimRaceReviews.com

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