I recently play on a uhd monitor. Attached is my old gaming-rig.
i5 3570k, 8gb of ram, Samsung 840 SSD and a couple of years ago I upgraded to a gtx 1050ti.
Using zwiftanalyzer after my own experience I have an average of 25-30fps and sometimes it drops below 15.
I would want to invest in a new GPU when to prices come down to normal and looking at a rtx3050 this will boost my FPS but I don’t know how to figure out if my CPU is going to hold back the power of that GPU.
The PSU is capable of delivering the required power (8pin) I only use this pc for zwifting so hope to prevent that I have to upgrade motherboard/RAM/CPU as well. Anyone ideas?
zwift is more cpu intensive then gpu intensive so you are looking for a cpu with a high single core speed, with the cpu being 10 years old you might find you are limited to what cpus you can put in the existing motherboard
Completely depends on where those lows are and what your settings are. You should be on the 1440p resolution setting with a 1050 Ti, and the game bogs down massively when there’s dense foliage and/or lost of dust. However if those lows are when there’s a lot of other riders around (busy spots, riding with a Pace Partner, in a group event etc), then an RTX 3090 wouldn’t help because the game is CPU bound in those circumstances. If that’s the case, you should be looking to 12th gen. The i3-12100F is fantastic at Zwift for the money, and is able to hold 60fps in almost all circumstances, notwithstanding Makuri Islands.
Is there a chart I can refer to to see how close to incompatible / obsolete my computer is for Zwift?
I use a laptop i3 7th gen with integrated Intel 620 graphics.
I assume I’m getting down fairly close to the bottom and I’m sure I’m not able to appreciate many of the graphic improvements.
You’re on the lowest tier of detail (Basic) and probably getting 20-30fps on average at 1080p. That’s about the same as an Apple TV 4K, and once the changes to iGPU support mentioned in the sticky thread are implemented, will be roughly the worst Zwift can be.
It’ll be several years before it’s incompatible though, at least.
Unfortunately it will come down to a new pc than… Busy places are the most difficult for my current system. Looking forward to the updated version of your article about getting best specs:) the trick is to get a cpu with high single core speed isn’t it? And combined with a decent GPU like rtx3050?
i3-12100F is where it’s at. It’s amazingly good for the money, specifically in Zwift. So much so that there’s no really point buying anything in between it and what you have now. An RTX 3050 is okay, but they’re expensive at present considering they’re not actually much better than a 1660 Super. At around RRP they’re a decent deal, just have to find one though.
I think we are not going to see any optimisation for Zwift coming soon.
I’m very lucky my old Mac also has a high clock speed (but not quite as much turbo boost) so for the most part it runs Zwift fine, although Makuri is a bit slower (but still okay). Not bad for a machine that was only originally acquired for parts.
Problem with this is you are stuck to find compatible GPUs that are very expensive and also workarounds to get newer Mac OS versions running (fortunately easier with 12.2).
Little wonder some people just get the Apple TV box.
It works well for many but is one of Zwift’s great myths, in that it’s actually terrible value for money considering the graphics performance you get from it. As mentioned above it’s essentially the same in Zwift as the iGPU on a nine year old Intel desktop CPU. Used PCs with those inside are readily available for about a third of the price of an Apple TV, with none of the input/connection limitations and an upgrade path (proper graphics with a dedicated GPU). But people just don’t want to know. Whatever.
No, I would say many people don’t want to know. I was briefly one of those trying to help people who hadn’t yet committed to any hardware to get a gaming PC. The committed ATV brigade hate hearing it. To them it’s utopia. I decided I didn’t actually care about anybody but myself enough to debate it so dropped out of the debate (until now anyway I guess…).
of course but people these days just want to be able to click 1 button and have everything working for them
have decided it put a new rig together purely for zwift as i had a 1050ti laying around doing nothing as the tablet screen is too small and the laptop was getting stuttery when crowded
There is definitely a ‘simplicity’ to using ATV for Zwift, but (for me) I also take into account the other things I can do with ATV. Some of these might be available with a PC, I suppose, but not all (though maybe I’m wrong on this, also). Here is how I used my ATV:
Zwift
FulGaz
RGT
Peacock
AirPlay (so that I can watch races on GCN+ while Zwifting on the iPad)
Amazon Prime Movies
can see both sides to this as I used to just use a tablet, no need to set things up, plug in cables etc turn it on start zwift and away you go
I think alot of the issue comes down to space and peoples individual setups on where they Zwift, I know that when I build the machine I will need somewhere to store the unit/monitor as not all us are lucky enough to have places where the bike can stay attached to the trainer and computers where they are, so all in all its going to improve my user experience with zwift but getting setup is going to be a ballache and take a few minutes longer than just getting the tablet out
@Rich
From what I can tell, you and I are in almost the exact same position. I’m also completely platform agnostic. Tablet for 2+ years => Apple TV to experiment with larger screen => now curious about the optimal experience on a dedicated PC.
My big problem is a phenomenal capacity for getting bogged down in detail and taking up huge swathes of my time making everything work p-e-r-f-e-c-t-l-y, often in place of just riding. The limitations of ATV work in my favour there, as there is almost nothing to customize once it’s set up.
Again, I really have no argument with anyone on the subject. We’re all wired differently. One day I’ll put together a PC and see for myself if the much better graphics transform my perceived experience in Zwift.
