Zwift Chat

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Norry1

Legendary Member
Location
Warwick
I read a book "Dog in a hat" and one of the first things a pro rider gets is a very in-depth physical to See what their body is capable of. If you're not genetically capable then all the training in the world will never get to the competitive level.

All jokes aside was it a good read? I’m between books at the mo.

Yes very.

Cheers @Randy I'd not heard of it. Just ordered the paperback version on Amazon for £2.83p !


I've read the book now and it is a good + easy read.

If anyone wants to read it let me know and I'll post it to you. Only request being that you then post it to anyone else who wants to read it :okay:
 

bridgy

Legendary Member
Location
Cheddar
I'm starting to consider recording my races to better understand what I did wrong - especially on sprints. Need to get a better laptop though - with nothing else running my Zwift is already at, maybe, 20FPS. God forbid there's a dirt section - then it literally becomes a slide show. I'm too cheap to get a new one though.

There's a really good Facebook group dedicated to PC info for zwift which tells you how to get a dedicated zwift PC which will run it at basically the best you can get for the minimum outlay (assuming you're using it just for zwift).

I recently picked up a used Dell PC with the required processor, ram, SSD etc for £39. I then got a recommended graphics card for £90, and it's basically done. Runs the game on the highest graphics setting (which zwift chooses for you automatically based on your computer) and at about 50fps. Now it's just the old flat screen TV I use that's the weak link really!

I had been using ATV which to be honest I found fine but obviously you can't screen record on that - the graphics are much better on the PC now (which is nice but not essential IMO). I have heard that you do get more accurate feedback from the game as to exactly where your avatar is on a decent PC which can help with things like positioning in TTTs etc. but I can't say I've particularly noticed yet.
 

Norry1

Legendary Member
Location
Warwick
There's a really good Facebook group dedicated to PC info for zwift which tells you how to get a dedicated zwift PC which will run it at basically the best you can get for the minimum outlay (assuming you're using it just for zwift).

I recently picked up a used Dell PC with the required processor, ram, SSD etc for £39. I then got a recommended graphics card for £90, and it's basically done. Runs the game on the highest graphics setting (which zwift chooses for you automatically based on your computer) and at about 50fps. Now it's just the old flat screen TV I use that's the weak link really!

I had been using ATV which to be honest I found fine but obviously you can't screen record on that - the graphics are much better on the PC now (which is nice but not essential IMO). I have heard that you do get more accurate feedback from the game as to exactly where your avatar is on a decent PC which can help with things like positioning in TTTs etc. but I can't say I've particularly noticed yet.

Do you have links to all that?

Facebook Group
2nd Hand PC
Graphics card

My PC is decent but doesn't run the best resolution and also frame rates aren't great. I don't want to splash out a ton of dosh for a new Gaming PC but a couple of hundred quid is a goer. Is it easy enough to install the graphics card etc?
 

Peter Salt

Bittersweet
Location
Yorkshire, UK
There's a really good Facebook group dedicated to PC info for zwift which tells you how to get a dedicated zwift PC which will run it at basically the best you can get for the minimum outlay (assuming you're using it just for zwift).

I recently picked up a used Dell PC with the required processor, ram, SSD etc for £39. I then got a recommended graphics card for £90, and it's basically done. Runs the game on the highest graphics setting (which zwift chooses for you automatically based on your computer) and at about 50fps. Now it's just the old flat screen TV I use that's the weak link really!

I had been using ATV which to be honest I found fine but obviously you can't screen record on that - the graphics are much better on the PC now (which is nice but not essential IMO). I have heard that you do get more accurate feedback from the game as to exactly where your avatar is on a decent PC which can help with things like positioning in TTTs etc. but I can't say I've particularly noticed yet.
That's all really good info, cheers. It would have to be a laptop in my case - not enough room for a PC tower. I was thinking about something used. And yeah, would use it literally just for indoor cycling.

Will wait and see if there are some post-Christmas deals.
 

bridgy

Legendary Member
Location
Cheddar
Do you have links to all that?

Facebook Group
2nd Hand PC
Graphics card

My PC is decent but doesn't run the best resolution and also frame rates aren't great. I don't want to splash out a ton of dosh for a new Gaming PC but a couple of hundred quid is a goer. Is it easy enough to install the graphics card etc?

This is the Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/zpcmr/?ref=share

To be honest, I'm pretty clueless myself but in the "files" section of that group is all the info you need.

The PC I found on ebay from a business seller. The key is finding one with the required minimum specs - or at least one where you can cheaply upgrade the specs. I was quite lucky with the one I got - it was mentioned on the Facebook group as one that you could just add a certain graphics card to and be good to go. You can also try looking on Facebook marketplace.

The graphics card was dead easy to fit- just open the side up, slot it in to the only place it would go and job done! It's Windows 10 so drivers etc automatically updated.

I got an Nvidia Geforce GTX 1050 Ti graphics card 2nd hand for £90 as this was what was recommended for the PC. You can pick up used ones on ebay Facebook marketplace or resellers like Cex.

The only other thing I had to do was download some drivers for the Ant+ USB dongle because it didn't work straight away- I found this on the zwift forum posted by the guy who runs the Facebook PC group and it worked a treat
 

Brusgaard

Über Guru
Location
Skive, Denmark
The key issues when buying a used PC:

If possible stay clear of brand name PCs (Dell, HP, Lenovo), as these often use proprietary parts (meaning upgrading necessary parts wil be difficult/impossible). Try to avoid small form factor PCs, if you are not certain what you want to put in them. Most used Office PCs, don’t have room for a graphics card, or dont’t have the required wattage PSU for a decent one.
Buy a small tower model, and you can replace basically anything if needed.
Go for 4 Core CPU minimum, and 16 GB RAM for a bit of future proofing. Always choose higher CPU clocks rather than more cores. ZPCMR is only about building a Zwift-PC, which is a bit foolish IMHO.
 

bobinski

Legendary Member
Location
Tulse Hill
The key issues when buying a used PC:

If possible stay clear of brand name PCs (Dell, HP, Lenovo), as these often use proprietary parts (meaning upgrading necessary parts wil be difficult/impossible). Try to avoid small form factor PCs, if you are not certain what you want to put in them. Most used Office PCs, don’t have room for a graphics card, or dont’t have the required wattage PSU for a decent one.
Buy a small tower model, and you can replace basically anything if needed.
Go for 4 Core CPU minimum, and 16 GB RAM for a bit of future proofing. Always choose higher CPU clocks rather than more cores. ZPCMR is only about building a Zwift-PC, which is a bit foolish IMHO.

Foolish? It’s a use case scenario isn’t it? If you have no need to use it for anything else then the guide is great.

I do have a much better SFF gaming pc I built up for , err, work 😁 but that cost a lot more and is often borrowed by one of my sons.

Fwiw it runs Zwift only a little better than the 1050ti Zwift base unit with a an 7y old cpu. Sise of the Zwift unit.
 

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alex_cycles

Veteran
Location
Oxfordshire
Foolish? It’s a use case scenario isn’t it? If you have no need to use it for anything else then the guide is great.

Yep. Everyone's situation is different. Peter hasn't got space for a full PC.
Some people might want the cheapest option available. Paul's setup sounds amazingly cheap.

I'm using an iPad Air with an HDMI dongle with an old TV.
Not the cheapest option, but takes up minimal space, is fast enough and can do screen recording. Probably not as High-res as a PC but it does 1080 video, which is good enough. I bet it uses a lot less power. :biggrin:
 

<Tommy>

Illegitimi non carborundum
Location
Camden, London
Yep. Everyone's situation is different. Peter hasn't got space for a full PC.
Some people might want the cheapest option available. Paul's setup sounds amazingly cheap.

I'm using an iPad Air with an HDMI dongle with an old TV.
Not the cheapest option, but takes up minimal space, is fast enough and can do screen recording. Probably not as High-res as a PC but it does 1080 video, which is good enough. I bet it uses a lot less power. :biggrin:

Definitely sounds like the least faff option so far!
 

bobinski

Legendary Member
Location
Tulse Hill
Yep. Everyone's situation is different. Peter hasn't got space for a full PC.
Some people might want the cheapest option available. Paul's setup sounds amazingly cheap.

I'm using an iPad Air with an HDMI dongle with an old TV.
Not the cheapest option, but takes up minimal space, is fast enough and can do screen recording. Probably not as High-res as a PC but it does 1080 video, which is good enough. I bet it uses a lot less power. :biggrin:

My set up built by Higgins who moderates that group is much same as Paul’s and was £200. Not that upgradable mind but I knew that.
 

Peter Salt

Bittersweet
Location
Yorkshire, UK
Oh yeah, I have other PCs as well - including a gaming rig (enjoying the remastered Witcher 3 as we speak).

The laptop I'm running Zwift on was bought for less than £100 so my son could do school during lockdown. For what it cost it's soldiering on.

Technically speaking, if I get a better one, then that will make it redundant - unless I use it to fire up another account and fan-view myself with another camera angle :laugh:
 
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