I think my PC is the main problem, but anyway I'll explain.

If I try hotlapping offline, and I leave the car standing still, I get 60 + fps. The moment I turn my wheel / use the pedals, the fps drops to anything between 20 - 40 fps, and this only happens when operating the controller. With a mouse for steering this doesn't happen. So on the straights I'm getting 60 + fps, and in the corners (when I'm steering) I'm getting as low as 20 fps (especially if I rapidly steer - countersteering). Bizarre.

To make things worse, online I get huge fps drops with a few cars near me. So basically with 10 cars around me, during a corner, when I'm sliding and catching a slide, I'm getting about 5 fps.

I think my PC is the problem, the motherboard and ram are from the dark ages.

- Fresh XP install
- Intel P4 2.0 Ghz
- TriGem Dublin Motherboard !!!
- 512 MB PC133 SDRAM !!!
- 40GB Maxtor 4W040H2
- ATI Radeon 9600 XT 256 mb

So, do I need a new motherboard and RAM?

P.S. Its so old it still uses 1.0 usb, and 4 x AGP max.

Edit: OS

Os?

What's your previous wheel?
Maybe try that again to find if the problem is G25 related.

And some wild guesses

1. From LFS options>View set Driver OFF Wheel OFF to see if it makes any diference.

2. Disable (exit) the Logitech profiler and then start LFS just in case the profiler causes the problem.

3. Try other games with keyboard or mouse and see if the problem is only LFS specific.

4. Reinstall usb/motherboard drivers or check for for some newer ones.

Your PC is not on the edge, but it's quite good for LFS standards. Better do not upgrade anything to it except perhaps from an extra 512 memory dimm. If you don't have a 2nd PC or a HTPC your's is just for this job.

So imho except perhaps from the memory do not upgrade anything to it, save up and buy a new one in the future at the 800 euros tag. It will be about 4-5 times faster than your current PC.