I'm seeking some advice on graphics cards for sim racing. I recently scored a brand new 7900 XT, which I bought for use with PSVR2 and an ultrawide 3440 x 1440 setup. However, I just won a Pimax Crystal Light on eBay, and I'm worried that my 7900 XT might not be powerful enough to handle its massive resolution. I'm also upgrading to a 7800 X3D, so I'm not too concerned about CPU limitations. Do I need a card with higher VRAM for this setup, or are there other factors to consider? I'm not looking to spend on high-end NVIDIA cards unless a 4070 Ti can outperform either the XT or XTX. Thanks for your help!
3 Answers
If your sim racing games don’t support upscaling, you're probably fine sticking with the 7900 XT instead of upgrading to the 9070 XT. The 7900 XT is still a great card with more VRAM, although it does use more power. The performance gap between the 7900 XT and the 9070 XT isn’t huge anyway, so you might not notice much of a difference.
When it comes to sim racing, refresh rate can be a huge factor. Having a consistent frame rate that hits over 180 FPS is key for a smooth experience. A lot of people don’t notice as much, but it seems to make a significant difference for driving. So prioritizing refresh rate along with frame rate is more crucial than just focusing on ultra-wide 4K, in my opinion.
That's a good point! I've seen that the Pimax can run at different refresh rates, down to about 72Hz, but I’m definitely aiming for around 80Hz.
The 9070 XT only has about a 12% FPS advantage over the 7900 XT, so if you're looking for a significant boost, you might need to jump up to something like a 4090, 5080, or even a 5090 for a real step up in performance.
Yeah, the 4090 is way beyond my budget. What do you think about a 3090? I’m trying not to spend a fortune!
Luckily, my preferred game does support upscaling! It's OG Assetto Corsa with mods, so that should help.