Hey guys, I'm here to spread to you the results of my comparison between a bad hardware and a good one.
For this test, I used my 2 computers, the old one is a 5-6 years old mid-low range laptop, the new one is a personal assembled PC with gaming parts. The test has been done mainly on Simraceway with graphic, frame rate and laptime comparisons, but I will do a little sub-section of 2 other games on the bottom of the thread.
First of all, let's start with main specs:
Bad hardware: (laptop) intel T4200 (2.0GHz dual core); 4GB RAM DDR2; nVidia G103M 512MB.
Good hardware: (PC) intel i5 (3.1GHz quad core); (2x4)GB RAM DDR3; nVidia GTX 660 2GB.
Now, I'm gonna do a premise: With the introduction of day/night cycle in the month of March, SRW team already did a graphic optimization, by increasing the performance without cutting off the visual. This lead those who had a bad hardware like me, to have a better frame rate, which mean a bit better and smoother game experience. This premise because I have o say that with that optimization I already improved myself by 0.5s to 1.5s (depending on track-car combo).
Lap & framerate comparison:
For the laptime comparisons I obviously used the same car and track setup. For the track setup, daytime it's the default one meanwhile I turned off damage and fuel consumption to drive always with only 1 liter for also getting out the fuel variable. Test on the new hardware has been done 4 days later than done on old one.
Combo 1: IndyCar DW12 @ Sonoma Indy 2012:
Time: old 1:14.4 (15 laps), new 1:13.9 (8 laps).
Assists: no; Adjustment: wheel lock 20°, brake power 100%, brake bias 50-50.
Frame rate: old 31-45, new 178-306.
Combo 2: Audi R18 TDI @ Area 51:
Time: old 2:00.8 (13 laps), new 2:00.0 (5 laps).
Assists: ABS (low); Adjustment: no.
Frame rate: old 36-42; new 303-416.
Combo 3: BMW Z4 GT3 @ Silverstone GP:
Time: old 2:01.0 (8 laps), new: 2:00.3 (4 laps).
Assists: ABS (low); Adjustment: brake power 100%.
Frame rate: old 22-35; new 170-293.
Combo 4: Mitsubishi Evo X @ Pudsey:
Time: old 1:57.2 (8 laps), new: 1:52.1 (4 laps).
Assists: ABS (high); Adjustment: no.
Frame rate: old 13-26: new 72-240.
Graphic comparison:
Combo 1
- old 1: http://s25.postimg.o...SRW_prima_1.jpg
- old 2: http://s25.postimg.o...SRW_prima_2.jpg
- new 1: http://s25.postimg.o.../SRW_dopo_1.jpg
- new 2: http://s25.postimg.o.../SRW_dopo_2.jpg
Combo 2
- old 1: http://s25.postimg.o...SRW_prima_3.jpg
- old 2: http://s25.postimg.o...SRW_prima_4.jpg
- new 1: http://s25.postimg.o.../SRW_dopo_3.jpg
- new 2: http://s25.postimg.o.../SRW_dopo_4.jpg
Combo 3
- old 1: http://s25.postimg.o...SRW_prima_5.jpg
- old 2: http://s25.postimg.o...SRW_prima_6.jpg
- new 1: http://s25.postimg.o.../SRW_dopo_5.jpg
- new 2: http://s25.postimg.o.../SRW_dopo_6.jpg
Combo 4
- old 1: http://s25.postimg.o...SRW_prima_7.jpg
- old 2: http://s25.postimg.o...SRW_prima_8.jpg
- new 1: http://s25.postimg.o.../SRW_dopo_7.jpg
- new 2: http://s25.postimg.o.../SRW_dopo_8.jpg
Impressions:
Let's now talk about my personal experience.
Just like I noticed on the DW12 Hotlap 1 event, I feel like with this new hardware, I can reach the limit of the car must faster than before. But, maybe because I didn't like the combo, Didn't see much difference between the old possible best lap versus the new possible one. This can explain why in half of the laps, for the first 3 combos I did from 0.5 to 0.8 seconds better with the new hardware. Maybe (and I say MAYBE), if I did a full 100 lap training with both, the difference could be only around 0.2-0.3.
But this thing above, can be explained by my premise: "March graphic optimization". Yes, because as I said there, I feel like I already improved a bit from that time because of a better input for better frame rate. This is confirmed on the fourth and last combo: Evo X @ Pudsey.
Usually, the more powerfull is the car, the more you should improve by getting better hardware and viceversa. Then why a "slow" road car have a 5 seconds improvement between the 2 hardwares? Because at Pudsey I still had huge screen freeze problem and excluding the first and last corner, my average fps with the laptop was 15-16. This combo resembles better the average situation I had before the graphic optimization, a situation that now can be recreated with a bit worst hardware than my old laptop.
The overall better and smoother sensation on the wheel can be related both better frame rate and a bit different setup on the FFB.
Conclusion:
As conclusion I can say: Try to get at least a minimum of 30fps for the track you are driving on, adjusting the graphic every time if you have to do some compromises. With lesser frame rate, you can have input delays that ruin your laptime and training curve, but obviously, better graphic let you have a better visual of the track. From 30 to 60 fps you still get better sensations, but they are close to uselessness, over 60 fps it's just a preference if the hardware can get over it.
Remember also that a laptop, with its low energy consumption and its higher ms (delay) monitor than PC ones, amplifies this situation.
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Other games:
Here a little graphic comparison between the 2 hardware in World of Warcraft (fps in the images on the bottom) and DotA 2 (overall better frame rate), just to notice.
WoW old 1: http://s25.postimg.o...o_W_prima_1.jpg
WoW old 2: http://s25.postimg.o...o_W_prima_2.jpg
WoW old 3: http://s25.postimg.o...o_W_prima_3.jpg
WoW old 4: http://s25.postimg.o...o_W_prima_4.jpg
WoW new 1: http://s25.postimg.o...Wo_W_dopo_1.jpg
WoW new 2: http://s25.postimg.o...Wo_W_dopo_2.jpg
WoW new 3: http://s25.postimg.o...Wo_W_dopo_3.jpg
WoW new 4: http://s25.postimg.o...Wo_W_dopo_4.jpg
DotA 2 old 1: http://s25.postimg.o...A_2_prima_1.jpg
DotA 2 old 2: http://s25.postimg.o...A_2_prima_2.jpg
DotA 2 old 3: http://s25.postimg.o...A_2_prima_3.jpg
DotA 2 new 1: http://s25.postimg.o..._A_2_dopo_1.jpg
DotA 2 new 2: http://s25.postimg.o..._A_2_dopo_2.jpg
DotA 2 new 3: http://s25.postimg.o..._A_2_dopo_3.jpg
