Having seen Zwift in HD at yesterdays London bike show I now want to upgrade my setup from a Dell laptop. I don’t want to spend too much money but do want to get as high detail and FPS as I can get without going too high. Has anyone picked up a decent spec PC with suitable graphics card for a good price recently to at least get 1080p HD output? I am looking around at different options but would really appreciate any tips. I don’t want to spend anymore than £400 - £500 really.
It’s a small budget but my graphic card is about 3 years old now, I paid about $150 for it then and I get HD so I’d think any $100 ish (60-65 pound) graphic card in today’s world should do as an add-on to a basic PC set up.
I picked up an alienware x51 for $800 cdn a few months ago. It’s a gaming computer I only use for my cycling applications, it works fantastic when paired to my 40" tv!
Thanks for the advice guys, seems like I may need a new TV as well as an upgraded PC.
I’ve been using a dell laptop but like you I wanted the upgraded graphics … just ordered a 3xs nanu from scan.co.uk - with a 970 graphics card.
if you spec it carefully you can probably get this for around £600
will report back when it arrives
I would be really interested to hear how you get on, please do report back as that is fairly reasonable for the price.
I bit the bullet and ordered a Nanu Gamer too Simon!
mine is due to arrive this morning but I don’t think I’m going to get chance to ride until saturday morning. Looking forward to some high res graphics
Mine will likely not turn up till next week so still let me know how it goes. I still need to find a TV screen to do it justice tho!
My new gtx970 working well. Graphics look much better than the i7 laptop I was using.
Plugged into a 60inch TV @ 1080p.
I’m also using a set of Bluetooth headphones for the immersive experience, looking forward to having in ride chat added
60" TV? Nice! So you are pleased with the result from the new PC and it was worth the investment? My PC should turn up next week but I still need to get a new TV as I currently have an old TV in my turbo room.
the graphics are much improved - and it was a ball ache setting up the laptop on the tv just for zwift. Now the PC is permanently plumbed in to the av system - probably a bit noisy for a HTPC but as it’s in a small, neat case it doesn’t look like an eyesore.
is it worth the money ? well, impossible to say
Good to hear, I’m really looking forward to mine coming to see the result. I also have to lug a laptop round at the moment which is a pain so something permanent setup in the turbo room will be good. I’m keeping an eye on hotdealsuk for a good priced TV.
Simon my AXS Nanu arrived yesterday and after a very speedy Windows install to the SSD drive I loaded up Zwift and the graphics compared to my old dell laptop where amazingly detailed and smooth - although still only running at 1360 x 768 (same TV screen at its max res). Next steps for me are still investing in a new screen. Just need to decide if to get a 1080p or 4k screen. Thanks for your help.
I don’t believe the graphics warrant an expensive tv - even in ultra mode they can’t be described as photo-real.
My feeling is, for zwift, bigger is better. You really don’t need accurate colour balance or high contrast ratios etc.
FWIW I noticed in a newspaper ad that asda had a 50" 1080p tv for less than £300
Having looked at the config files it seems the Ultra profile is currently capped at 1080p anyway so it seems like you are correct. I will have a look around for a cheapish screen at that resolution. I don’t have 4k in the front room so putting it in my turbo room would have been a bit of a luxury!