Building an F1 simulator rig

[audi321]

Hi all, I've posted another topic about ultrawide monitors, but I thought I'd try and gather some knowledge on the whole setup.

My son wants to build a racing chair rig, and specifically it's to play F1 as he's mad about it.

He currently has a PS5 and an old PS4 stuck in the cupboard. We also have a gaming PC but it's fairly low spec and the GPU is a 1660, and a few dell 24" monitors laying around not being used. We have no chair, wheel, pedals or game.

Questions:
1. Do I stick with PS4 or 5? I understand that these can only run one monitor, and aspect ratio is limited to 16:9, so won't run ultrawide, or multiple monitors?
2. If I went with the PC, will the GPU be good enough to handle 3 monitors, or should I go ultrawide and 32:9 or something? Again, will the GPU be good enough? I understand GPUs are ridiculously overpriced at the moment due to shortage of supply, so I didn't really want to upgrade if I don't need to.
3. Chair - does anyone have a recommendation? Seems to be a vast price range
4. Wheel and pedals. Again any recommendations?

I'd prefer to stick with the PS4 as it's not being used, and this is purely for F1 so don't really want to be moving it around, so the PS4 could just sit there under the chair.

Thanks for any advice, I'll post some pics when it's in progress.

[WonkeyDonkey]

It all depends on budget. You could get a chair and wheel for around £300 or you can spend thousands.

If you're just starting out then a playseat and a G29 wheel will be compatible with the PS4/5.

The G29 will also be compatible with your PC. I'd imagine your PC should be able to play the official F1 game and Assetto Corsa quite easily. Assetto Corsa is quite an old game now but the content available with it is superb.

[audi321]

Budget is probably around £1000. Depending on whether I can use the PS4.

But I really would like one of these ultrawide monitors, which I know will blow the budget lol.

This one catches my eye! https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/electriq-43-ips-do...

Edited by audi321 on Wednesday 14th April 12:36

[paulrockliffe]

Have you considered a VR Headset for the F1 instead? With your body being static in the car in real life it probably works better than for other games.

[audi321]

I did think about it but I’ve only used one once and thought it was headache material if used for anymore than 10 minutes.

Plus my son doesn’t want one I’ve tried in the past.

But thanks for the idea.

[The teacher]

audi321 said:

Budget is probably around £1000. Depending on whether I can use the PS4.

But I really would like one of these ultrawide monitors, which I know will blow the budget lol.

This one catches my eye! https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/electriq-43-ips-do...

Edited by audi321 on Wednesday 14th April 12:36

I recently bought the 35" version. Incredible value. I read some horror stories about that supplier so when the monitor arrived smashed, my heart sank. They were superb though with replacement sent out straight away.
I have an old RX480 graphics card and it runs GTA V at 40fps on high settings so I'm happy.

[Bullett]

Playseat or similar and a G29 or T300 with a big screen if you want to go PS4.

PC will probably run most things at 1080p ok on the same big screen and wheel set up.
VR is the way to go for PC sim racing. Way more immersive and real than triples.

[WonkeyDonkey]

The F1 games don't currently support VR anyway.

[Bullett]

Oh, I didn't realise that. I thought VR was pretty standard for racing games these days. It's a great use case.

[HRL]

Sadly at the moment your budget just about covers the graphics card if an upgrade is required.