• The list in brief
1. Best overall
2. Best style
3. Best compact
4. Best mid-range
5. Best budget
6. Best laptop
Realistic simulation racing games enjoy an enormous community on Windows PC, thanks to the additional layer of customization in-game and the increased flexibility for spending budgets. Not everyone has the knowledge or patience to build their own PC gaming rig from scratch, though, and a pre-built gaming PC can massively cut down the effort needed to enter the sim racing scene.
Skip the component shopping list, forget worrying about compatibility, and don't fret about risky installations. The best pre-built gaming PCs for sim racing can make your life a whole lot easier, and any one of the best pre-built gaming PCs should be capable enough to play your favorite sim racing games at varying levels of quality. I'm going go one step further than that list, though. Let's get specific with it.
Some of my favorite ready-made PC vendors like Lenovo, iBuyPower, and Dell will get you onto the virtual racetrack as fast as possible, so here are my top picks for the best PCs for sim racing, which you can pair with the best racing wheels and get racing with our guide on how to set racing wheels up on PC.
Zachary Boddy is a Staff Writer for Windows Central, and has provided years of expertise on all things Microsoft, with a special focus on Xbox, Minecraft, and the Forza series of racing games.
Recent updates
Update, July 18, 2024 — Updated with a new category for "Best compact PC" and new picks for "Best budget PC" and "Best laptop," as well as refreshed text, additional information, and links to our in-depth, expert product reviews.
The quick list
Lenovo's premium pre-built gaming desktop is powerful, stylish, easy to upgrade, and packs plenty of ports for all your sim racing accessories and peripherals. Even its lowest configuration is more than enough for any sim racing game, but you can upgrade those components to push every setting to 11.
The Dell XPS Desktop doesn't look like your average gaming PC, but it packs all of the power of one. It's compact, subtle, stylishly designed, and undeniably premium — but it also boasts some seriously impressive internals from Intel and NVIDIA. It's a great computer no matter what you're doing.
If you're short on space, the ASUS ROG G22CH is a seriously impressive, full-powered gaming PC but half the size. That compact stature makes it more difficult to upgrade, but its excellent performance and thermal management makes it perfect for sim racing right out of the box with no extra work.
Another offering from Lenovo, the Legion Tower 5i is a more affordable, simpler alternative to the Tower 7i that lets you play all the best PC sim racing games without breaking the bank. You still have a roomy chassis that's easily upgraded, with some very solid components from Intel and NVIDIA powering it.
Budget gaming PCs often heavily compromise to reach a lower price point, but the newer Lenovo LOQ line of pre-built PCs cuts corners in the right places to ensure you're still getting a reliable, performant gaming PC that can play all the sim racing games you want. Watch out for the limited ports, though.
This gorgeous, compact aluminum gaming machine from ASUS isn't just one of the best gaming laptops, it's one of the best laptops in general. Despite its small stature, this laptop offers excellent performance, a great selection of ports, and incredible speakers so you can hear every car with perfect clarity.
The best overall PC for sim racing
Lenovo is a surprisingly excellent source for fantastic, balanced gaming hardware, and the Lenovo Legion Tower 7i sits at the top of the company's pre-built desktop lineup. It's unapologetically large, but that sizeable chassis means plenty of room for the latest and greatest internals from Intel and NVIDIA, as well as plenty of fans and cooling solutions to keep things running smoothly. It also makes the PC extremely easy to access and upgrade, a boon for any PC gamer.
The eighth generation of the Legion Tower 7i was first available with Intel 13th Gen, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40-series GPUs, and plenty of the fastest RAM and SSD storage inside. Now, you can also equip this desktop with Intel 14th Gen CPUs. There's a respectable number of ports on the front and rear of the desktop, including lots of USB ports for all your accessories and peripherals. Performance is top-notch, and the Legion Tower 7i does an excellent job keeping itself cool for long, intense gaming sessions.
In my Lenovo Legion Tower 7i (Gen 8) review, I praised this pre-built gaming desktop for its design, performance, and features. Just make sure you raise the RAM speed in BIOS when you're setting up the computer, as it's lowered by default for some reason. Also, while there is plenty of RGB lighting to make your gaming PC stand out, the RGB lighting on the GPU isn't customizable through Lenovo's built-in Vantage software. Small complaints about an otherwise amazing computer.
Further separation between the Legion Tower 7i and the much more affordable Legion Tower 5i means pricing for this premium machine begins (without sales) at around $2,750.
Recommended configuration
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The best style PC for sim racing
The Dell XPS Desktop isn't like most other gaming PCs, because it's not actually designed to be a gaming PC. This is Dell's most premium pre-built desktop for enterprise environments, with a compact, high-quality chassis. However, you can configure it with some truly beastly components from Intel and NVIDIA, including up to a Core i9 and RTX 4090. It's just as powerful as some of the best gaming PCs, but takes up less space and is a whole lot more subtle.
Peak performance isn't quite at the very top and the fans can get loud, but the XPS Desktop is still a very strong performer that stays cool during long sessions. It has all the features and ports you need in a gaming PC, and there are practically endless configuration options to make sure you get exactly what you need. The XPS Desktop isn't as upgradeable as other pre-built PCs, though, thanks to the compact chassis and Dell's use of non-standard parts. You're also paying a premium for that stylish design.
Fortunately, there are lots of different configurations. The Dell XPS Desktop technically starts at around $800, but that's without a discrete GPU, so I don't recommend opting for that. Expect to add hundreds more just to get a discrete GPU, let alone upgrading other components. If you want a PC that can handle work and play without standing out, the Dell XPS Desktop is an excellent desktop that's sure to stand the test of time (and help you dominate in your races). You can read my Dell XPS Desktop (8960) review for more information.
Recommended configuration
The best compact PC for sim racing
If you're looking for something unique, a little niche, a little different, ASUS is often a good company to turn to. That's true with gaming PCs, too, as ASUS is one of the only major brands investing in making truly powerful, compact gaming PCs. The ASUS ROG G22CH isn't quite a mini-PC, but it's much smaller than basically any other gaming desktop you might consider, coming with just 10L of internal volume.
You don't have to be concerned about power, though. The ASUS ROG G22CH comes equipped with the latest Intel and NVIDIA hardware, and can go toe-to-toe with some of the most powerful computers out there. This is a fast machine, and its thermal management is impressive enough that the G22CH can keep up with you no matter your task. Size constraints means you are limited to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, but that's more than powerful enough for all the best sim racing games.
Of course, that size does come with some downsides. For one, there are limited configuration options out there. The G22CH is surprisingly well priced to start with, but you might have to search a little to find the exact sub-model that boasts the hardware you need. It's also more important to get the exact desktop you want first, as the G22CH is rather difficult to upgrade. You can read our ASUS ROG G22CH review for more information.
Recommended configuration
The best mid-range PC for sim racing
Lenovo makes another appearance on this list with its Legion Tower 5i. It looks very similar to the more expensive Legion Tower 7i above, but trades some features and a fair bit of power to save you as much money as possible. This desktop caps out where the Legion Tower 7i begins, but that doesn't mean it's a slouch. Modern Intel and NVIDIA hardware means you're getting a very capable PC that can scale with your needs.
You're still getting a premium, well-designed chassis with attractive RGB lighting and easy, toolless access. That means it's easy to upgrade the Legion Tower 5i after you buy it, although you'll be a little more limited out-of-the-box than the Legion Tower 7i. Thermal management is also great, ensuring that even hours-long gaming sessions go off without a hitch. This desktop ranges from around $1,000 to $2,000, with plenty of options to get the perfect desktop for you.
One of its only real cons is the relatively limited ports selection, so you'll want to consider if you'll have enough USB ports for all your accessories and peripherals. Other than that, the Legion Tower 5i ticks every box without breaking the bank. It's solidly a 1080-1440p gaming machine, perfect for the best sim racing games you can play. It also helps that you're saving a lot of cash over the more expensive desktops on this list.
The best budget PC for sim racing
When it comes to gaming desktops, it's often worth spending more at first to have more space to grow in the future. If you really need a great all-around pre-built PC for under $1,000, though, you still have some reliable options. The best right now is the Lenovo LOQ Tower, which starts at $900 with modern Intel and NVIDIA hardware, an attractive design, and actually some limited room to grow (within the capabilities of the motherboard, that is).
The LOQ Tower isn't going to blow anyone away with its performance, but it's a reliable 1080p gaming machine still capable of playing the best PC racing games without much issue. It's a fantastic option for when you're on a budget, with Lenovo not obviously cutting any corner too aggressively. It's well-built, it stays cool, it boasts fast RAM and storage, and the Intel CPU punches above its weight.
You can read my Lenovo LOQ Tower review for more information. I technically reviewed Gen 8, but not much has changed with Gen 9 except a sleeker chassis design and Intel 14th Gen. You'd be absolutely fine going with either, especially if you can find Gen 8 significantly discounted. Just be aware of the limited ports available on the LOQ Tower, which is likely its biggest weakness.
Recommended configuration
The best laptop for sim racing
No, this is not a desktop PC, but sometimes the best gaming PC for you needs to be portable. If that's what you need, the best gaming laptop right now is hands-down the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14. You'd be forgiven for not recognizing it as a gaming laptop at first, because this device has an incredibly premium, slim, and high-quality design that puts it alongside the most expensive Windows laptops.
Open the lid, and you'll be greeted by the gorgeous 120Hz OLED display, the fantastic RGB-lit keyboard and glass touchpad, and some of the best speakers I've ever heard in a laptop. Under the hood, you get the powerful AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS and up to an NVIDIA RTX 4070, a potent combination that means you can play all the latest and greatest PC games you want.
The ROG Zephyrus G14 can run a little hot because of all the power squeezed into its slim chassis, but it's never enough to get in your way. Honestly, this gaming laptop excels in practically every category. You can read my ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024) review for more information, but just know that for $1,600 you're getting one incredible laptop with this one.
Recommended configuration
How we test PCs and laptops for sim racing
Getting started in sim racing is pretty straightforward, and though you can't engage without a decent PC and racing setup, it's easy enough to get going. You need a solid PC at the heart of your setup, and all of the PCs here can handle all the virtual racing you can throw at them with multiple monitors or even VR for high-spec models.
As a sim racing enthusiast, I can attest that the demands of each title can vary wildly depending on your tastes. For enthusiasts, more focus will be on accurate simulation, which generally requires a stronger CPU, as in the best overall and enthusiast picks. Anyone craving realistic visuals will want a more powerful graphics card, like in the enthusiast Lenovo Legion Tower 7i.
Windows Central has extensive experience with building custom PCs and testing pre-built desktops or gaming laptops, and we often use titles like Forza Horizon 5 and iRacing to test these machines. Given that, this is our list of the very best options we've tested so far. As with all PC gaming, you should check the required specifications for your favorite game and compare it against a choice in this that fits your budget.
