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I would like to play this game - Grid 2 - but I've never gamed on my computer before. I'm hoping to get some advice/help in determining what I need - not computer hardware, I'm sure my system will be fine - (980X, GTX 770 4GB, 1920x1200 (x2), 32" TV 1920x1080 via HDMI) - I mean gaming hardware, like a steering wheel I guess...can't imagine a mouse is much good in a driving game. Will I need anything else?

I saw Grid 2 here - starts just before the 4:00 mark: http://tune.pk/video/3362587/evga-nvidia-geforce-gtx-770-superclocked-with-acx-cooler-graphics-card-review-w-nvc

not sure how he has a copy already as it looks to me like it's only for PREORDER on their website.

A few other random questions -

- Do I need to be online when I play this game? I want to install it on my workstation and that machine isn't connected to the web full-time.

- Amazon has an XBOX version and an "Online Game Code," which appears to be a download copy. Is that normal for games? They don't sell actual DVDs (or even CDs) anymore?

- Is this a good driving game in your opinion? It seems pretty cool to me but I have nothing to compare it to. Any opinions, suggestions are very welcome!

- I guess I would like to run the game on the 32" TV. Any problem running a game like this over HDMI?

- I'm curious how much advertising is in this game - or games in general? Are they always trying to get you to upgrade? Can you have a good time with just the basics?

Thanks for any thoughts, suggestions, advice. My gaming experience is limited to arcades - years ago you actually had to leave your house (true story) and make it to the beach where all the best arcades were (on the boardwalk) or the mall...then you had to get change and put in quarters to play the game. Defender, Asteroids...even silly-ass PacMan was fun with the right buzz on.

When I saw Grid 2 I couldn't believe how realistic it looks. Does it look that way to you too or is it just me, not having seen any modern games in action? Anyway I got that old familiar rush - gaming is a blast and I always liked driving games - motorcycles would be better but cars will do .

Thanks again you guys.

canoli wrote:

I would like to play this game - Grid 2 - but I've never gamed on my computer before. I'm hoping to get some advice/help in determining what I need - not computer hardware, I'm sure my system will be fine - (980X, GTX 770 4GB, 1920x1200 (x2), 32" TV 1920x1080 via HDMI) - I mean gaming hardware, like a steering wheel I guess...can't imagine a mouse is much good in a driving game. Will I need anything else?

Your system is fine. The ONLY thing you need input wise (minimum) is an analog controller. You can buy a Xbox 360 Controller for $40 or something and they're great. You could go all out with a steering wheel, but the controller would be fine.

canoli wrote:

I saw Grid 2 here - starts just before the 4:00 mark: http://tune.pk/video/3362587/evga-nvidia-geforce-gtx-770-superclocked-with-acx-cooler-graphics-card-review-w-nvc

not sure how he has a copy already as it looks to me like it's only for PREORDER on their website.

Grid 2 has been out for a year now. You might be thinking of Grid Autosport coming out later this month.

canoli wrote:

A few other random questions -

- Do I need to be online when I play this game? I want to install it on my workstation and that machine isn't connected to the web full-time.

Nope.

canoli wrote:

- Amazon has an XBOX version and an "Online Game Code," which appears to be a download copy. Is that normal for games? They don't sell actual DVDs (or even CDs) anymore?

Pretty much. All games are authenticated over the Internet now using services such as Steam, Origin and Uplay. Most games aren't even sold on DVD's anymore.

canoli wrote:

- Is this a good driving game in your opinion? It seems pretty cool to me but I have nothing to compare it to. Any opinions, suggestions are very welcome!

Yes. It's not 100% realistic, more of an arcade simulation, but very fun. I believe Gran Turismo is the baseline for "realistic" driving

canoli wrote:

- I guess I would like to run the game on the 32" TV. Any problem running a game like this over HDMI?

Nope. I game over my HDMI on my tv.

canoli wrote:

- I'm curious how much advertising is in this game - or games in general? Are they always trying to get you to upgrade? Can you have a good time with just the basics?

There's advertisements for car stuff like K&N filters and tires, but they don't look out of place. Personally, I think it leads to the atmosphere of driving on a real track. With Grid 2, they started releasing DLC where you could get more cars. You can still have a great time with the basics, but if you want to drive that Mercades-Benz SLK Black, you're gonna have to open your wallet.

canoli wrote:

Thanks for any thoughts, suggestions, advice. My gaming experience is limited to arcades - years ago you actually had to leave your house (true story) and make it to the beach where all the best arcades were (on the boardwalk) or the mall...then you had to get change and put in quarters to play the game. Defender, Asteroids...even silly-ass PacMan was fun with the right buzz on.

When I saw Grid 2 I couldn't believe how realistic it looks. Does it look that way to you too or is it just me, not having seen any modern games in action? Anyway I got that old familiar rush - gaming is a blast and I always liked driving games - motorcycles would be better but cars will do .

Thanks again you guys.

Any time, that's what we're here for. And yes, it does look pretty real, especially when you crank up all the effects!

Sargent Duck wrote:

Your system is fine. The ONLY thing you need input wise (minimum) is an analog controller. You can buy a Xbox 360 Controller for $40 or something and they're great. You could go all out with a steering wheel, but the controller would be fine.

I second this, but I'd advise getting the wireless version. The only reason to get a steering wheel or a wheel/pedal setup is if you're going to play the more 'sim-like' racing games (or building an arcade cabinet). GRID2 is a fun, arcade-y street racing game, so a 360 controller is a perfect fit.

OK grid 2 has been out for almost a year. To answer your other Q about downloading games instead of getting the actual DVD is pretty much true. You can purchase most all games over the counter but with all the DRM stuff If you were to find a copy of Grid 2 even though it is made by codemasters I am pretty positive you would have to install STEAM. Steam is about the best of all the electronic online game distributors. If it is a Electronics arts Game then you HAVE to install Origin..EA's electronic online game distribution system and you have to make a account and password to play the game. Same goes for Steam that sells Grid 2 and TONS of other games. Just to let you know Grid 2 does have online play against other people but on the PC it is dwindling to nothing from the last thing I just read about it.

You do not even have to go to the store anymore "which I find very convenient" But like i said you can still find PC games in stores but any of the newer games worth playing have a electronic online game distributor connected to the game like say Steam or Origin so it will make you install the service so they can keep your game updated make sure it is not pirated and keep track of what you like and other stuff. Say you want to buy grid 2, You have to Install Steam, make a account and password and make sure you do not loose it whatever you do!!! Setup a location/ Drive where you want whatever games you buy to be installed and once you purchase one it will download and install it along with the latest version and keep it updated.

The 4GB EVGA GTX 770 card you bought is a fine card. EVGA makes the best Nvidia cards in my opinion, they have the pretty much the best Customer support along with the warranty. Also if within 90 days you want a better upgraded card you can trade your 770 in for pretty much top dollar and put it towards a 780 or 780TI up to the most expensive but not best performing triple slot $3000 Dual GPU TITAN Z. Or just get 2 GTX 78ti Classified cards for around 1500 and have more gaming power.
I have 2 EVGA GTX 770 4gb Classified cards with the bigger ACX cooler, It is almost 2 inches wider and they added another heatpipe but they use the same size fans as your card. They perform great.

Now I do not know how much you will be into racing But if you want to play Arcade type racing games there are a plethora of titles to choose from and many cheap steering wheels also.

But if you want to get into Simulation racing iRacing is about the best out there but it costs big bucks to play. You have to buy the cars the tracks and they keep track of your racing Licence stats like if your a clean driver or if you cause wrecks along with how well you do. But you can move up the Totem pole so to speak if you race clean do well your licence gets upgraded to the next level and so on till you get n the pro level which I imagine will take quite a while and money.....along with time! It is a simulation so it is like a real race with yellow flags and full length races like in real life once you get up there in the rankings. On top of all that you need a good steering wheel that will not be cheap. A good wheel, pedals and shifter will set you back a good $500 but you can start with logitecs G27 for around $250 to see if its your thing. I raced these types of racing sims and you need a good forced feedback wheel to get really good so you can feel what your car is doing when it comes to over-steer, under-steer, wheel hop curbs ETC.

Also to improve overall performance with that old but still nice 6 core 12 thread CPU if your running Windows 7 even windows 8 when you computer is on but idling doing nothing hit CTRL, ALT & DEL and bring up the task manager and in the performance tab near the bottom hit the Resource Manager. Once you get the Resource Manager up and running close the task manager maximize the Resource Monitor and hit the CPU tab. On the right side you will see all your CPU cores and how much they are being used. If you see ANY OF YOUR CORES PARKED you want to DISABLE CORE PARKING. It will raise you power usage only very slightly and does serve a purpose on a laptop when your trying to make a battery last as long as possible....but it has no place whatsoever on the desktop. Disabling core parking will benefit/more evenly distribute load across all your CPU cores on any desktop CPU or desktop replacement CPU even a laptop if it gets the job done faster. You can disable core parking with a program called Core Park that will allow you to reverse it or even keep parking enabled on a laptop when on BATTERY power and only disable parking when on AC power. Here is the link for the core park program download.
https://bitsum.com/about_cpu_core_parking.php
You can google to your hearts delight on disabling core parking. I had a friend with a AMD 1090t and a PNY 4gb GTX 770 and he had noticeable gains in overall performance since he did a B4 and After test with BF3 and gained 11% in the offline campaign and he seemed to think his system was more responsive. I noticed a change also but that was a couple years ago when I was having a stuttering problem with my 4.6ghz + OC'ed i7-2600k and my SLI GTX 560 TI cards. Disabling core parking fixed that stuttering right up but as for a frame rate increase I have to be honest I was playing online and there is no way to get a fixed comparison/baseline since every multiplayer game is different.

Hey! Thanks so much you guys - really great info. You're right it must be Autosport that I was referring to for Preorder. Either way they both look pretty cool to me. I don't understand the distinction between a sim game and a an arcade game - did I identify those correctly? Anyway - yeah I don't care about competing online or having the latest/greatest - at least right now I don't.

I would like to avoid installing Steam just because - as I said - the game will be installed on my workstation and I keep that thing pretty "clean" - nothing extraneous, only connect to the web once or twice a month.

btw I'm in the middle of EVGA's Step Up program right now - going for the 6GB 780 SC.

I doubt I'll ever get to the point where I'm willing to spend $250 (or $500!) on a wheel, gear shifter, etc. But I'll look into the controller you guys mentioned. Or if there are cheaper driving wheels out there I don't mind blowing another $50-75 maybe, on top of the $50 for the game, but that's probably my limit - $100-150 all in.

Thanks again for the help I do appreciate it!

[edit: re: core parking, I read up on it years ago and was persuaded to "leave well enough alone." I don't remember for sure why I decided that but I believe it was because all the folks who disabled core parking were gamers and all the benefits were for games - eliminating stutter I think? Anyway for 3D modeling, video editing, etc. I just as soon let Win7 manage the cores. But thanks for the suggestion - I'm sure I'll look into it again]

Just for the record, games like Grid, Dirt, Need for Speed are termed "Arcade Racers"

This means they're designed for a gamepad with analogue sticks and the car feel/handling is utterly unrealistic. Trying to play them with a wheel and pedals is an exercise in frustration. They're fun but think "Mario Kart" handling rather than an accurate racing experience. Grid2 in particular is a game where the single dominating gameplay element is POWERSLIDES at all costs. It's practically impossible not to powerslide in the game and they're all "canned" powerslides that don't need to (and cannot) be controlled with the throttle or adjustment to the opposite lock. This means that if you start to slide and you don't want to slide, the instinctive attempts to adjust by adding power and opposite lock are met with the game going, "OH, you entered the special-move combination for a Scandanavian-Flick" and start fishtailing wildly. Basically, if you can actually drive at all, an arcade racer is frustrating if you try to drive one like you would an actual car.

As others have mentioned already, there are plenty of racing sims that sound like what you are after and if you want something that's fun to play with a wheel and pedals you need to look away from "Arcade racers" which are most fun to play with a joypad on the sofa.

canoli wrote:

Hey! Thanks so much you guys - really great info. You're right it must be Autosport that I was referring to for Preorder. Either way they both look pretty cool to me. I don't understand the distinction between a sim game and a an arcade game - did I identify those correctly? Anyway - yeah I don't care about competing online or having the latest/greatest - at least right now I don't.

Don't know if you've gotten to play it yet, but I'm enjoying it so far, and it works great with my wireless 360 gamepad.

I've only got a i7-2600K @4GHz, 8GB DDR3, Radeon 7950 with 3GB, and I'm playing it off a 5600RPM HDD. My SSD and 7200RPM drive are a tad full at the moment. Everything runs silky smooth with everything cranked up to Ultra (and the HD texture DLC) at 1080p @60fps.

I think you're gonna like it. It's not 100% street racing. Looks like I saw some rally cars in the intro movie.

Ooooh! I think I saw a Formula One car during the "attract mode"!

Chrispy_ wrote:

Just for the record, games like Grid, Dirt, Need for Speed are termed "Arcade Racers"

This means they're designed for a gamepad with analogue sticks and the car feel/handling is utterly unrealistic. Trying to play them with a wheel and pedals is an exercise in frustration. They're fun but think "Mario Kart" handling rather than an accurate racing experience. Grid2 in particular is a game where the single dominating gameplay element is POWERSLIDES at all costs. It's practically impossible not to powerslide in the game and they're all "canned" powerslides that don't need to (and cannot) be controlled with the throttle or adjustment to the opposite lock. This means that if you start to slide and you don't want to slide, the instinctive attempts to adjust by adding power and opposite lock are met with the game going, "OH, you entered the special-move combination for a Scandanavian-Flick" and start fishtailing wildly. Basically, if you can actually drive at all, an arcade racer is frustrating if you try to drive one like you would an actual car.

As others have mentioned already, there are plenty of racing sims that sound like what you are after and if you want something that's fun to play with a wheel and pedals you need to look away from "Arcade racers" which are most fun to play with a joypad on the sofa.

i would also like to confirm this as i just bought grid autosport and was deeply deeply disappointed as some of the reviews/descriptions and people i have spoke to mentioned its has got rid of the arcade feel and has improved physics
it was just horrible (for me - some might like it)

for a more "sim like" game play the race (race07 etc) series of games or iracing are much better
i was playing a game called Auto Club Revolution recently which while isnt exactly a "sim" it was more "simcade" and is free to play and is a much more enjoyable experience than a pure arcade racer like GRID

Chrispy_ wrote:

This means that if you start to slide and you don't want to slide, the instinctive attempts to adjust by adding power and opposite lock are met with the game going, "OH, you entered the special-move combination for a Scandanavian-Flick" and start fishtailing wildly. Basically, if you can actually drive at all, an arcade racer is frustrating if you try to drive one like you would an actual car.

As others have mentioned already, there are plenty of racing sims that sound like what you are after and if you want something that's fun to play with a wheel and pedals you need to look away from "Arcade racers" which are most fun to play with a joypad on the sofa.

this is the exact problem i had with autosport - everything you expect to happen just doesnt, it doesnt react like a car should in pretty much every situation

in the end some people like arcade racers and others hate them and others dont care and it all depends on what type of person you are

I know GRID (1) had plenty of difficulty settings affecting how arcadey it was, never picked up another GRID game.

My Xbox 360 wireless receiver for Windows bombed just now and I had to go back to wired. Took it a while, but...just pointing out it could happen.

Yeah, Grid1 was okay. It was about the right balance of "arcade" in that you could still control the car well enough with a gamepad or keyboard, but at least the cars handled like... - well, cars.

Grid 2 is firmly in the realm of "handles like Mario Kart" which is fun and all but they're utterly mis-selling it as realistic handling in any way whatsoever.

canoli wrote:

I would like to avoid installing Steam just because -

Impossible. Every game out there for around the past 5 years now requires an online authentication source.

If it's a Blizzard game, battle.NET
If it's an EA game, Origins
If it's an Ubisoft game, Uplay
If it's anyting else, Steam.

If you don't install these, you don't play. Simple as that. That being said, Steam is by far the best one.

Sargent Duck wrote:

canoli wrote:

I would like to avoid installing Steam just because -

Impossible. Every game out there for around the past 5 years now requires an online authentication source.

If it's a Blizzard game, battle.NET
If it's an EA game, Origins
If it's an Ubisoft game, Uplay
If it's anyting else, Steam.

If you don't install these, you don't play. Simple as that. That being said, Steam is by far the best one.

Really? I guess it must be a pretty lame authentication system judging by the number of torrent sites for games. I don't know the details but I assume with so many they must be circumventing it somehow. But whatever, I have no intention of stealing the game.

So are you telling me if I buy a legit copy and install it, every time I want to play I need to be connected to the web? Or did you mean it's a one-time thing, like registering?

Thanks!

canoli wrote:

I would like to play this game - Grid 2 - but I've never gamed on my computer before.

Why do you have such a fast GPU if not for games? If you're doing pro work I'd expect you'd have a Quadro.

Agree that iRacing is possibly the most accurate pure sim, particularly with respect to their laser-scanned track models. OTOH, the multi-level sales approach and never-ending fees are a legitimate turn off for many.

Suggest you download the try-before-you-buy version of rFactor.
http://rfactor.net/web/rf2/rfactor2-purchase/

The older RF1 has somewhat reduced hardware requirements and is a bit cheaper to buy. Configuring the game is a minor PITA, occasionally requiring editing of text configuration files.
http://rfactor.net/web/rf1/

For either, you'll want a decent analog wheel, with dual-axis pedals (one separate channel for each pedal.) Force feedback is nice, not really necessary. Most mid-range wheels come with it, so you may as well... http://www.isrtv.com/forums/forum/94-wh ... iscussion/

Both versions of RF lack the near-realistic graphics found on Grid, but once you immerse yourself in the actual driving experience, you'll never notice. Both RF allow off-line practice and races against the respectably intelligent AI, or large scale on-line racing, which is an absolute blast. Find a car class you like (there are HUNDREDS of add on tracks and cars, most free) and join a league. Kiss your social life goodbye! Check out http://www.rfactorcentral.com/ for an idea of what's out there.

can't read through all this stuff but buy a wheel. I run a thrustmaster f430. never liked the hollow feel of the logitech's........... mmo's used to be nice.

keyboards and controllers suck for racing games.

homerdog wrote:

Why do you have such a fast GPU if not for games? If you're doing pro work I'd expect you'd have a Quadro.

Quadro is oversold and overpriced.
Most of the CAD software, modelling software, rendering software these days is optimised to run on base OpenGL or DirectX, because 8/10 people are using IGPs in their laptops.
Some companies (McNeel, Chaos Group - just two that spring to mind) actively discourage Quadros because they take longer to get driver updates for new features.

Maya is one popular program that does benefit from Quadros, but my company works with hundreds of engineering firms and construction contractors and none of them use Quadro-benefitting software in their primary function. By far the most common tools are AutoCAD and Revit, neither of which see significant gains. A Quadro K6000 (pro-version of the 780Ti) is about 20% faster than a $99 Geforce for typical CAD benchmarks. The old "Quadro-only" gimmicks like hardware antialiased wireframe lines are irrelevant since most software uses transparent solids these days. FWIW we've been using 6GB and 8GB variants of Tahiti and Hawaii cards for a couple of years now, and they've been pretty much flawless with a huge range of industry standard CAD/CAM products from AutoDesk, McNeel, Catia, Solidworks, etc. They've actually had fewer graphics bugs than some of the older Quadros.

homerdog wrote:

canoli wrote:

I would like to play this game - Grid 2 - but I've never gamed on my computer before.

Why do you have such a fast GPU if not for games? If you're doing pro work I'd expect you'd have a Quadro.

well I don't run a >10-bit color pipeline, I don't work in Autocad and I don't have 4 grand to spend on an graphics card. I do own Cinema 4d and some say Quadros kick butt in C4D.

The powerful GPU is because my fav C4D plugin gobbles up the frame buffer quickly - hence the 6GB (they recommend a >4G card and the 770 was fine, I prob should've just held onto that) - so to get >4G from NVIDIA it's the GK110 chip. I "sacrificed" and only spent to get the redheaded stepchild version, the hobbled 780. But 600 was my limit.

canoli wrote:

Sargent Duck wrote:

canoli wrote:

I would like to avoid installing Steam just because -

Impossible. Every game out there for around the past 5 years now requires an online authentication source.

If it's a Blizzard game, battle.NET
If it's an EA game, Origins
If it's an Ubisoft game, Uplay
If it's anyting else, Steam.

If you don't install these, you don't play. Simple as that. That being said, Steam is by far the best one.

Really? I guess it must be a pretty lame authentication system judging by the number of torrent sites for games. I don't know the details but I assume with so many they must be circumventing it somehow. But whatever, I have no intention of stealing the game.

So are you telling me if I buy a legit copy and install it, every time I want to play I need to be connected to the web? Or did you mean it's a one-time thing, like registering?

Thanks!

Depends.

If it's battle.net (Blizzard), then yes. You have to be connected to the Net to login.
If it's Steam, you don't need to be connected to the net, you can play in off-line mode (but as far as I know, you need to register your game when you install. Not sure though, I've never done it before)

Welcome to the age of DRM. But then again, that's the least of your concerns when you have the NSA looking over your shoulder.

Not all the games sold on Steam have DRM. You will need to check a third-party list. There's also GOG if DRM really concerns you. Of course, I think the most recent thing they have is GRID. I'm not sure, but I guess there is a good chance that Next Car Game when it's finished might not contain DRM and might even be released in places that don't have it. Otherwise, it'll likely just use CEG and probably Steamworks.