Why high framerates transform racing games

You hear plenty about resolution in the world of gaming, usually the difference between 1080p and 4K. When it comes to racing games, though, there's a far more important metric: framerate. Framerate is exactly what it says on the tin, the rate at which your gaming machine can draw each new frame of the action. The higher framerate it can muster, the smoother the game appears.

Why is that so important in racing games in particular? Consider it this way: if you're driving a Formula One car in F1 2020 at 200 miles per hour, you're travelling at 90 metres every single second. Playing at high framerates, you're getting the maximum information about the car's exact position on track delivered to you per second and with no perceptible delay, augmenting your sim racing skills and allowing you to react instantly during dicey on-track battles.

If your gaming machine is stuck operating at a bog standard 30 frames per second, though, by the time the next frame reaches your eyes and you respond to it you'll have already travelled a further three metres. Potentially directly towards a tyre barrier and an embarrassing DNF result.

Aarava is one of the most popular F1-focused content creators in the world of gaming YouTube. His signature career mode videos span hundreds of episodes, so he's acutely aware of the importance of buttery smooth visuals in a racing game and exactly the sort of demand that puts on your gaming machine:

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While the 'next gen' consoles are targeting 120 frames per second, with a compatible monitor high end PCs are already capable of delivering a staggering 240 frames per second. A pleasing byproduct of those sorts of framerates is that the controls are instantly, noticeably more responsive. It'll feel like you're steering the car at the speed of thought.

To maintain these sorts of stratospheric framerates, not to mention improved load times and streaming, you need plenty of computing muscle. That means one of the latest 10th generation Intel processors, which feature Intel Turbo Boost to scale performance to your needs, slotted into an esports-grade motherboard like GIGABYTE's new Aorus Z490. This video by tech creator Geekawhat demonstrates exactly how many frames you can squeeze out of a high end gaming PC built with these very components:

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Clearly, this sort of performance will benefit you in other genres of game too, particularly if you're aiming to operate at the highest level in competitive esports. BennyCentral is a content creator but he's also a former Call of Duty esports pro, so he understands perfectly the relationship between raw PC power and competitive advantage in online games:

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If all this is inspiring you to shop in your own creaking, beige spreadsheet maker for something a little more potent, then keep an eye out for hidden codes in each of the three videos in this article. Enter those codes in the GIGABYTE A-Z490 Virtual Gaming Tour Giveaway page for a shot at winning a free Talon PC featuring both the Aorus Z490 motherboard and a blisteringly quick 10th Gen Intel Processor.

Alternatively if you can't even wait that long to have 240 frames per second fired at your eyeballs and want to spec out your own world-conquering racing rig, then head over to Overclockers UK and snag a configurable OCUK Talon Gaming PC powered by GIGABYTE, as featured in these very videos. We can't guarantee you won't slam into that tyre wall, but at least you won't be able to blame your PC...