View our recommendations for the best PC for sim racing. Our 2024 buyer's guide includes the recommended gaming PC specs and our favourite pre-built sim racing PCs.
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There are many fantastic gaming PCs that are perfect for sim racing. Sim racing games such as the F1 series and Assetto Corsa Competizione use ray tracing to provide incredibly realistic graphics. These titles, therefore, require very powerful GPUs and a high-performance PC build to maximise all settings while maintaining high frame rates. In this buyer’s guide, I’ll recommend my favourite gaming PC for sim racing across a range of categories.
At the heart of any sim racing setup is the PC or console. If you are using a PC, there are a whole host of different elements to consider. Should you buy a pre-built gaming PC for sim racing, or are going to build your own PC?
Whichever route you choose, ensuring that your PC is high-powered enough to run sims such as Assetto Corsa Competizione, iRacing, Le Mans Ultimate and other racing games is important. You’ll want to ensure you have enough power to run any of these sims at relatively high graphics settings while aiming for frame rates above 60FPS.
In this buyer’s guide, I’ll show you my recommendation for the best PC for sim racing based on my experience with multiple PCs.
Here are my recommendations on the best gaming PC for sim racing.
| PC | Category | |
|---|---|---|
 | CyberPowerPC Infinity X149 | Best overall sim racing PC |
 | Lenovo Legion Tower 7i | Best budget gaming PC |
 | Corsair Vengeance i7500 | Best premium gaming PC |
 | Asus ROG G22CH | Best compact sim racing PC |
 | Alienware Aurora R16 | High performance PC |
 | Acer Predator Orion 7000 | Highly upgradable |
 | Corsair One i500 | Unique and refreshing design |
Now that we are past the infamous GPU shortage, which was a big issue for sim racers, gamers, and other industries, we can build our perfect sim racing PC without part restrictions.
Recommended PC specs change each year, with new CPUs and GPUs released yearly. We’re currently on the 14th generation of Intel CPUs and have the 40 series GPUs readily available. When building a future-proof gaming PC, it can be a good idea to over-spec your current build to ensure you won’t need to upgrade or replace parts too regularly.
Like many modern games, sim racing titles such as Assetto Corsa Competizione, the F1 series, Forza Motorsport, and others can be hard on your PC. Setting the graphics settings to ultra or max in any of these racing games will require a very good CPU and GPU.
Games like Forza and Assetto Corsa Competizione can use ray tracing and the latest GPU technology, such as DLSS frame generation. To fully utilize these graphics settings, you will require a powerful graphics card, such as an RTX 40 series card.
Below is an overview of the best PC specs for sim racing to aim for.
| Component | Spec | Description |
|---|---|---|
| CPU (Processor) | Intel Core i7-14700K or AMD Ryzen 9 7900X | The CPU is important to process your game. You should have a modern CPU to avoid bottlenecks. |
| GPU (Graphics Card) | RTX 4070 or RX 7900 | The graphics card responsible for your overall graphics settings. An RTX card allows for ray tracing. |
| RAM (Memory) | 32GB Minimum | The memory used to store and process temporary game data, more memory can increase your frame rate. |
| Storage (SSD) | At least 1TB (Ideally more) | Storage to install your games onto. iRacing can take up a lot of space, meaning 2TB is ideal. |
| Operating System | Windows 10 64-Bit | Your operating system. You will need a Windows-based PC. |
For a well-rounded gaming PC for sim racing, you should ensure that your CPU and GPU are both modern and relatively high-powered. These are the two most important parts to consider. However, the amount of memory (RAM) you have installed and the speed of your storage are also vital to ensure your gaming PC is capable of the highest graphics settings and high FPS.
It’s worth remembering that more modern and powerful components will require a better motherboard, and higher-powered parts will also draw more power, requiring a larger PSU.
Your CPU is the PC part that is responsible for a lot of the computational parts of any racing game. These include elements such as AI behaviour and real-time processes. While your CPU isn’t quite as important as your GPU for frame rate and making sure your car looks stunning on track, it is still important to avoid any bottlenecks.
A modern CPU with more than 8 cores will be powerful enough to run most sim racing games, although opting for an even more powerful CPU can enhance your overall performance.
I would recommend choosing either an Intel Core i7-14700K or AMD Ryzen 9 7900X as a minimum. Both of these CPUs have over 12 cores with the i7-14700K having 20.
I am currently using an i9-13900KF CPU in my main sim racing PC, which has 24 cores and a max clock speed of up to 5.8GHz. This allows me to run all sim racing titles at ultra or maximum settings with ray tracing enabled and still achieve over 100FPS in all titles.
Two of the most important parts of your sim racing PC are the processor (CPU) and your graphics card (GPU). These will also be two of the most expensive parts in your PC so its important to buy the right ones, but which is more important for gaming?
Both the CPU and GPU significantly contribute to your overall gaming experience. To achieve the highest graphics settings and utilise ray tracing in games like Assetto Corsa Competizione, your GPU is more important.
As mentioned above, the GPU is the most critical part of any sim racing PC build. That is why it is often the most expensive part to purchase. Your GPU is directly responsible for all of your racing game’s graphics and visual output. It will directly affect the FPS you can achieve, along with the graphics settings you can enable in-game. Choosing the best graphics card you can afford is often the best option when building the ultimate gaming PC.
The current generation of Nvidia RTX graphics cards are all incredibly powerful, with the range-topping RTX 4090 being over 90% faster than the older RTX 3090. All of Nvidia’s RTX cards are capable of ray tracing in racing games, which is the technology responsible for producing realistic reflections and shadows.
I recommend choosing the latest 40 series of Nvidia’s graphics cards or an equivalent AMD Radeon RX 7000 series. A middle-of-the-range or higher graphics card from either of these series will be good enough to set most racing games to maximum graphics settings. I’d opt for at least an RTX 4070 or RX 7900 if your budget allows.
I am currently using an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 GPU which lets me set my graphics settings to maximum in all racing games while using ray tracing for both reflections and shadows.
If you are looking at running a triple screen setup, your graphics card will be responsible for three times the visual output. Ensure your GPU can output on three screens at once at your desired resolution before looking at triple screen monitors.
Your RAM (Random-access memory) is important for multitasking and ensuring your gaming PC remains speedy when asked to do multiple things. Your RAM will essentially cache certain aspects of your game, allowing them to be used again quickly in the future.
It would be best if you aimed for a minimum of 32GB for a gaming PC build. 32GB of RAM will allow you to race any game quite comfortably without hiccups. If you’re looking at streaming and video editing on your sim racing gaming PC, you should look to increase your maximum RAM to 64GB or higher, which is exactly the amount of RAM I have installed in my gaming PC currently.
The physical memory that I chose is Corsair Vengeance DDR5, and I’m using two 32GB sticks. This is perfect for my PC, allowing me to capture my on-track gameplay while playing.
Storage is important within any PC build, but more so with a gaming PC. Your storage is where you will be installing your games and running them. Ensure you have enough storage space to store games, and also manage other daily PC tasks with some free space in reserve.
Your PC will often cache files to your hard drive or SSD which can take up storage space. So keeping some free space is vital to ensuring your PC doesn’t grind to a halt.
To enable the fastest game loads, and quick transitions through games, you should look for a fast SSD as your main storage. Many gamers will also have a backup HDD for storing game captures and other files.
I would recommend using an M.2 SSD if possible. These SSDs can transfer data with speeds up to 4000MB/s which is much faster than a SATA SDD that is limited to 600MB/s.
Important note: If you are playing iRacing or planning on doing so, it is important to be aware of how much disk space installing all iRacing content can take. Installing everything can result in over 100GBs of data just for the content, with some tracks such as Le Mans taking up 900MB alone.
An often overlooked part of any PC is cooling, but it is actually incredibly important to have enough cooling to stop your gaming PC from running too hot.
As you ask for more performance from your CPU, GPU and other components, everything will start to run hotter. When racing for long sessions, your PC can generate quite a lot of heat, and if this isn’t kept below a maximum range, your PC will shut off to avoid damaging components.
A good cooling system such as a liquid cooler can maintain lower temperatures throughout your gaming PC case. And some look really cool as well, adding RGB lighting and a bit of interest to your build.
You do not need to have a crazy RGB-lit water cooling solution for your gaming PC, and many high-end gaming PCs rely solely on air cooling. If you do plan to overclock your CPU or GPU, it may be wise to think about investing in water cooling, as this will keep your PC much cooler as a whole compared to air cooling with fans.
Your budget is crucially important when it comes to configuring your sim racing PC. You don’t want to spend all of your budget on a certain part, to then be left short when buying other components. It is often good to use online configuration tools such as PC part picker to help you budget your PC build. Failing that, pre-built PCs are an easy way at keeping under your budget without any nasty surprises.
Gaming PC builds can get very expensive, but as a recommendation follow these price points when choosing the style of PC to build or buy;
Below are three gaming PC builds that can achieve varying results when sim racing. Each of these has been configured for a different budget level.
Budget PC Run most racing sims at low-medium graphics settings | Mid-Level PC Achieve consistant 60FPS at high graphics settings | Ultimate Racing PC Achieve high FPS at max graphics settings |
CPU | CPU | CPU |
GPU | GPU | GPU |
MEMORY | MEMORY | MEMORY |
STORAGE | STORAGE | STORAGE |
TRIPLE SCREEN COMPATIBLE No | TRIPLE SCREEN COMPATIBLE Yes - 1080p | TRIPLE SCREEN COMPATIBLE Yes - 1440p |
GUIDE PRICE £/$1000 | GUIDE PRICE £/$1800 | GUIDE PRICE £/$3200 |
The budget PC will allow you to run most sim racing games at medium or low settings. You should be able to easily hit 30FPS consistently at 1080p with this gaming PC build. If you fine-tune your in-game settings well you will be able to improve your FPS to 60 and higher.
This build consists of an i5 processer with just 4 cores. Ideally, 6 cores or more are recommended for a decent gaming PC build. However, the 4 cores found in this i5 are significant enough to allow you to run all sim racing games. Combined with a GTX 1660 and 16GB of RAM should net you a solid gaming PC.
Our suggested configuration for a mid-level sim racing PC build contains some pretty good hardware. Both the i7-8700K and RTX 3070Ti are very capable and combine to allow you to run your sim racing games at a high FPS at high to ultra graphics settings.
You will be able to game at 1440p with no problem with this build, and run a triple screen setup, most likely at 1080p.
The high-end gaming PC build above leaves no performance gaps anywhere. The mighty i9-10980XE has a total of 18 cores and 36 threads meaning you will be able to multi-task to your heart’s content. This is ideal for streamers or video editors who often run multiple programs at once.
The RTX 3080Ti is an absolute gaming monster. It will run pretty much all sim racing games at maximum settings, even at higher resolutions such as 1440p. Triple screen sim racing is not a problem with this GPU.
Pre-built gaming PCs are a fantastic option for gamers and sim racers who don’t have time to spec, and compatibility check an entire PC build.
Below are our recommendations for the very best gaming PC for sim racing across a range of different categories. I have chosen my recommended budget PRC, premium PC, as well as a few other categories including the most compact gaming PC and the most upgradable.
CyberPowerPC Infinity X149: One of the most powerful gaming PCs you can currently buy.
| CPU | Intel Core i9-14900KF |
| GPU | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 |
| RAM | 32GB of DDR5 RAM |
| Storage | 2TB M.2 NVMe SSD |
| Price | From £3400/$3500 |
| Where to buy | Buy from Amazon |
This CyberPowerPC offers buckets of performance. It houses one of the best 14th-gen Intel Core i9 processors, the 24-core i9-14900KF. Joining the powerhouse CPU is the class-leading Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 GPU. This GPU will be able to run all sim racing games at their maximum graphics settings for years to come, and probably won’t become dated or need replacing for 5-10 years.
This gaming PC has 32GB of DDR5 RAM, which can be upgraded to 64 GB. It also has a 2TB M.2 NVMe SSD, which allows for 5150MB/s read and just under 5GB/s write speed.
As a whole, this CyberPowerPC is one of the highest-spec gaming PCs you can currently buy. It is expensive, around £3500, putting it at the premium end of the scale. However, it can deliver flawless performance in games such as Assetto Corsa Competizione and frame rates in the hundreds in games such as iRacing.
Lenovo Legion Tower 7i: A fantastic pre-built affordable sim racing PC.
| CPU | Intel Core i9-13900KF |
| GPU | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 |
| RAM | 32GB of DDR5 RAM |
| Storage | 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD |
| Price | From £1800/$1900 |
| Where to buy | Buy from Amazon |
Lenovo may not be the first name you think of when it comes to gaming PCs, however their Legion range of PCs and laptops are among the best gaming PCs when looking for an off-the-shelf PC for sim racing.
The Legion Tower 7i comes in a few varients, allowing you to despec or upgrade your model in line with your budget. This is the gaming PC that I’m currently using as my sim racing PC and my workstation, and the spec that I have includes an i9 13900K and a Nvidia RTX 4080 GPU.
When playing games including Assetto Corsa Competizione, Forza, the F1 games and iRacing, I can set the graphics to maximum with ray tracing enabled and still hit over 100FPS in every scenario.
This is an excellent option for someone with one eye on budget, and doesn’t want to spend in excess of multiple thousands.
Corsair Vengeance i7500: One of the very best gaming PCs for sim racing that money can buy.
| CPU | Intel Core i9-14900K |
| GPU | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 |
| RAM | 64GB of DDR5 RAM |
| Storage | 2TB M.2 NVMe SSD |
| Price | From £3999/$3999 |
| Where to buy | Buy from Amazon |
The combination of the Intel Core i9-14900K and Nvidia RTX 4090 in the Corsair Vengeance i7500 makes for the most potent gaming PC you can currently buy. This is the same spec found in the CyberPowerPC Infinity X149 which won our recommendation for best in class.
The performance here matches the CyberPower, however, the price of the PC we tested is around £/$500 more expensive, making this Corsair a more premium PC. For that price the standard warranty is better with a 2 year warranty included with this gaming PC.
The appearance doesn’t shout gaming PC, making this an excellent option to double up as a workstation, although this isn’t ideal if you like your gaming PCs to be filled with RGB lighting. Overall, this is one of the very best sim racing PCs due to its incredible spec list, and I’d highly recommend it if you have the money available.
Asus ROG G22CH: Incredibly small design with a lot of performance.
| CPU | Intel Core i7-13700KF |
| GPU | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 |
| RAM | Upto 32GB of DDR5 RAM |
| Storage | 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD |
| Price | From £1999/$1999 |
| Where to buy | Buy from Amazon |
The first thing we noticed about this Asus ROG gaming PC is its size, or lack of it. This is an incredibly small PC with dimensions of 11.50 x 32.30 x 28.69 cm, similar to the PS5 when standing vertically. The beauty of this size is that this PC could sit alongside a console or on proud display in a lounge without it looking out of place.
For those who like to tinker with a PC, opening this PC up reveals the incredibly well-packed internals, with the CPU right in the middle and the GPU positioned on its side behind the motherboard. It’s a unique configuration, but one that looks tidy and works to keep the zie down.
Cooling was my first concern, but the GPU’s position pulls cool air through the rear of the case, with fans on the top helping. Depending on the spec, you can choose between liquid-cooling and air cooling, but on the air-cooled model we tested, the fans can get quite loud.
Alienware Aurora R16: Alienware’s flagship model seems to have matured.
| CPU | Intel Core i9-13900F |
| GPU | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 |
| RAM | 32GB of DDR5 RAM |
| Storage | 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD |
| Price | From £1029/$1099 |
| Where to buy | Buy from Amazon |
It is strange to see the flagship Alienware gaming PC and not be taken back by it. Older models, from the R12 through to the R15, all boasted a crazy-angled design that looked like something out of the future. This R16 has seemingly matured, with its design being much more sensible, although some may call it boring.
Whether you like the new styling or not, the performance is much less subjective. You can spec the Aurora R16 in relatively low-cost variants using i7 processors and older 30-series RTX graphics cards. These come in relatively cheaply, with discounts often available from resellers.
When you do start to increase the specification, you can stretch up to an Intel Core i9 with a top of the range RTX 4090 GPU. This combination offers outstanding performance, tackling all sim racing titles in its sleep without breaking a sweat. The downside is there is a huge jump in price as you get to the top-of-the-line specification, and the value may not quite be as good as other high-performing PCs.
Acer Predator Orion 7000: An open architecture that is easy to maintain and upgrade.
| CPU | Intel Core i9-13900F |
| GPU | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 |
| RAM | 32GB of DDR5 RAM |
| Storage | 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD |
| Price | From £2499/$1999 |
| Where to buy | Buy from Amazon |
The Acer Predator Orion 7000 is a gaming PC that screams aggression. It has an incredibly well-designed case with large vent-like cooling fans on the front that look ready to suck anything in that gets in the way. This is an example of a gaming PC done right with a plethora of RGB lighting throughout.
The downside of those large front-mounted fans is that they can be very loud when you are playing an intensive game like Forza Motorsport or Assetto Corsa Competizione when it’s raining. Despite the noisy fans, the gaming performance from this Acer PC is incredible and is more than capable of sim racing in 4K.
One of my favourite aspects of the Orion 7000 is how easily the internals can be accessed and upgraded. When you remove the side panel, the motherboard and all its elements are easy to remove and change, and all cables are well positioned out of the way.
Corsair One i500: Brave design with performance that matches.
| CPU | Intel Core i9-14900K |
| GPU | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 |
| RAM | Upto 64GB of DDR5 RAM |
| Storage | 2TB M.2 NVMe SSD |
| Price | From £2799/$2599 |
| Where to buy | Buy from Amazon |
The Corsair i500 is one of the stand-out PCs out of all the options we’ve recommended. They have fully embraced the trend of adding wood to their case with the i500. This brings both style and performance together.
Like many gaming PCs on this list, you can spec this Corsair i500 with the highest-performing components, including 14th-generation Intel Core i9 CPUs and an RTX 4090. In this spec, the price can skyrocket, putting up there alongside the most premium gaming PCs, however the performance backs up this high price.
Despite the unique case, this PC remains very upgradeable with access available from the side and interchangeable components. For those that like their PC to stand out, this classy wooden design really ticks the right box.
Both Assetto Corsa Competizione and iRacing are two of the most popular sim racing titles. ACC is more taxing on your PC’s performance, while iRacing isn’t overly demanding graphically. Below are the recommended PC specs for both of these games.
As long as you have a decent CPU with at least 6 cores, and a mid to high spec graphics card such as an RTX 2070, you’ll be OK running iRacing.
Officially, Kunos only recommend 6GB of RAM for their recommended PC requirements. However, I’d highly suggest having at least 16GB of RAM for good performance.
Hopefully, the above sim racing PC guide has helped direct you towards some of the better options for a sim racing PC. Ultimately, you will have to juggle your requirements such as desired performance and budget to find the gaming PC that is right for you.
Always consider how you intend to be using your gaming PC. Are you looking to create a triple-screen configuration? Do you have a particular goal in terms of graphics quality or FPS?
There are endless options when it comes to a gaming PC. Our suggested builds and pre-built PCs above are some of the best options you can find. Whichever route you take, try to future proof your build, as upgrading every year can become expensive!
Testing any sim racing hardware requires a fair time commitment, and the same applies to gaming PCs. Each of our recommendations above has been tested either directly in our studio or through hands-on experience.
I use a variety of sim racing games to benchmark each of the gaming PCs in this buyer’s guide. Testing their ability to perform well in visually demanding games such as Assetto Corsa Competizione, Forza Motorsport and Horizon, and Automobilista 2 is our key metric.
We ran each of the games above at their maximum graphics settings while testing to see how the PC behaves in terms of fan speed, noise, heat and to see what FPS can be achieved. When picking our final recommendations for the best gaming PCs for sim racing, budget and design is also a big consideration.
The great news for budding sim racers is that not all sim racing games require an incredibly high-performing gaming PC to race. While you will need a good PC to achieve the highest FPS and maximum graphics settings including ray tracing, many games such as iRacing aren’t graphically demanding and can be played on a mid-range gaming PC.
With a gaming laptop, you are paying for the screen technology and a premium due to it being portable, and both of these add to the overall cost. In terms of performance, laptops normally use mobile or laptop spec parts which are typically smaller and less powerful versions of the desktop component. This will make laptops slightly less performance-orientated than a desktop PC, however, with some laptops, you can easily play games such as Assetto Corsa Competizione or iRaicng at maximum settings.
You can use the links below to shop for your favourite sim racing products, or for any products that we may have recommended. These links are affiliate links, and will earn us a small commission, with no additional cost for you.
Rich is the co-founder, and one of the main F1 setup creators and content writers 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
View all articles written by Rich
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