F1 Sim Rig - Advice Please!
Discussion
thatsprettyshady said:
Chillblast do really good gaming PCs, this one will run everything you need and be relatively future proof:
https://www.chillblast.com/chillblast-first-office...
Latest Intel chip with latest CPU socket type, decent ram, Latest GFX card and a fast hard drive - it’s the one I’d go for at your budget.
I had a chillblast PC when I started my build last April and was very happy with the service and quality, the preloaded software was everything needed and no unnecessary bloat.
I was browsing between Overclockers, Chill and PCSpecialist (who I bought my last PC from) just to see what's available. I'm guessing that anything specced up to play MS Flightsim is going to be a pretty decent spec?https://www.chillblast.com/chillblast-first-office...
Latest Intel chip with latest CPU socket type, decent ram, Latest GFX card and a fast hard drive - it’s the one I’d go for at your budget.
I had a chillblast PC when I started my build last April and was very happy with the service and quality, the preloaded software was everything needed and no unnecessary bloat.
Am I being daft about the RAM though? a lot of the higher specced PC's only have 16gb which seems awfully low. Have things moved on so much that it's all that's needed?
RichTT said:
I was browsing between Overclockers, Chill and PCSpecialist (who I bought my last PC from) just to see what's available. I'm guessing that anything specced up to play MS Flightsim is going to be a pretty decent spec?
Am I being daft about the RAM though? a lot of the higher specced PC's only have 16gb which seems awfully low. Have things moved on so much that it's all that's needed?
It’s a great spec and good base for upgrading, loads of the parts are pretty good custom PC picks too like the Fractal case and Noctua fans. Yes 16gb is perfect and you really won’t need any more, for example I run iRacing with everything maxed (iRacing is a CPU killer, GPU not so much) and I think peak ram usage is 8gb. Am I being daft about the RAM though? a lot of the higher specced PC's only have 16gb which seems awfully low. Have things moved on so much that it's all that's needed?
thatsprettyshady said:
It’s a great spec and good base for upgrading, loads of the parts are pretty good custom PC picks too like the Fractal case and Noctua fans. Yes 16gb is perfect and you really won’t need any more, for example I run iRacing with everything maxed (iRacing is a CPU killer, GPU not so much) and I think peak ram usage is 8gb.
Cool, just means that I've not kept up with hardware at all! Funny thing was I bought my last pc in anticipation of Star Citizen back in 2014 and totally lost faith after all this time. Last time I loaded the launcher it didn't even run it well because of spec creep. What's folks thoughts on sound for your sim rigs? Is everyone using over ear headsets with mics or running speaker setups?
A quick update after a month of experimentation. I’ve upgraded my pedals to Fatatec Clubsport V3s after deciding my CSL Elites weren’t up to the job. The V3s have been a game changer and a worthy upgrade.
I customised my Trak Racer single monitor stand to have longer pieces of 8020 at the base of each leg in order to accommodate a Fanatec Shifter and button box.
Whilst I thought I’d be playing lots of F1 2020 - you quickly get sucked up into the world of mods on a PC.
I’m now playing Asseto Corsa with the Custom Shaders Patch, the Sol 2.0 weather mod, and a lot of early 90s F1 cars. The whole set up is total epic.
I’ve also discovered 70s, 80a and 90s Le Mans cars and 240mph down the Mulsanne straight at night fiddling around with the boost pressure in a 962 is quite the experience!
Highly recommended all.
I customised my Trak Racer single monitor stand to have longer pieces of 8020 at the base of each leg in order to accommodate a Fanatec Shifter and button box.
Whilst I thought I’d be playing lots of F1 2020 - you quickly get sucked up into the world of mods on a PC.
I’m now playing Asseto Corsa with the Custom Shaders Patch, the Sol 2.0 weather mod, and a lot of early 90s F1 cars. The whole set up is total epic.
I’ve also discovered 70s, 80a and 90s Le Mans cars and 240mph down the Mulsanne straight at night fiddling around with the boost pressure in a 962 is quite the experience!
Highly recommended all.
Looking good! Two suggestions:
I suggested VR before and had a quick look today - Oculus CV1 seem to be going for about £150 ebay. You could grab one of those to get the flavour and see if you like it. Then you can decide if you want to upgrade or chuck it back for sale if it doesn't agree?
American Truck Simulator is on sale on Steam this week. I find cruising through America in a big rig with hair metal cranked on the virtual radio to be some great escapism; most useful in the current times.
EDIT: and a third suggestion! PHer mark7389 runs a Project Cars 2 hot laps league which is a great way to drive a bunch of random tracks and cars that may not have interested you before. The cool part is the app that sends telemetry back so you can compare against the fast guys. It's not turned me into a fast guy, but it's made me faster than I was!
https://www.stoopidchallenges.com/
I suggested VR before and had a quick look today - Oculus CV1 seem to be going for about £150 ebay. You could grab one of those to get the flavour and see if you like it. Then you can decide if you want to upgrade or chuck it back for sale if it doesn't agree?
American Truck Simulator is on sale on Steam this week. I find cruising through America in a big rig with hair metal cranked on the virtual radio to be some great escapism; most useful in the current times.
EDIT: and a third suggestion! PHer mark7389 runs a Project Cars 2 hot laps league which is a great way to drive a bunch of random tracks and cars that may not have interested you before. The cool part is the app that sends telemetry back so you can compare against the fast guys. It's not turned me into a fast guy, but it's made me faster than I was!
https://www.stoopidchallenges.com/
Edited by seefarr on Friday 5th February 08:37
nickpan said:
A quick update after a month of experimentation. I’ve upgraded my pedals to Fatatec Clubsport V3s after deciding my CSL Elites weren’t up to the job. The V3s have been a game changer and a worthy upgrade.
I customised my Trak Racer single monitor stand to have longer pieces of 8020 at the base of each leg in order to accommodate a Fanatec Shifter and button box.
Whilst I thought I’d be playing lots of F1 2020 - you quickly get sucked up into the world of mods on a PC.
I’m now playing Asseto Corsa with the Custom Shaders Patch, the Sol 2.0 weather mod, and a lot of early 90s F1 cars. The whole set up is total epic.
I’ve also discovered 70s, 80a and 90s Le Mans cars and 240mph down the Mulsanne straight at night fiddling around with the boost pressure in a 962 is quite the experience!
Highly recommended all.
Looks great that does. Is the shifter on the right as per F1 cars of the period? Or are you not UK?I customised my Trak Racer single monitor stand to have longer pieces of 8020 at the base of each leg in order to accommodate a Fanatec Shifter and button box.
Whilst I thought I’d be playing lots of F1 2020 - you quickly get sucked up into the world of mods on a PC.
I’m now playing Asseto Corsa with the Custom Shaders Patch, the Sol 2.0 weather mod, and a lot of early 90s F1 cars. The whole set up is total epic.
I’ve also discovered 70s, 80a and 90s Le Mans cars and 240mph down the Mulsanne straight at night fiddling around with the boost pressure in a 962 is quite the experience!
Highly recommended all.
I have just bought (second hand) a Thrustmaster T300RS with a GT3 wheel and am waiting on some T3PA pedals and a Playseat Challenge, both of which are arriving tomorrow. Although much more modest than others on here I can’t wait.
I ideally need something that can be put away (hence the Challenge) but I do fear it could give me the taste for a better set up!
WhisperingWasp said:
Looks great that does. Is the shifter on the right as per F1 cars of the period? Or are you not UK?
I have just bought (second hand) a Thrustmaster T300RS with a GT3 wheel and am waiting on some T3PA pedals and a Playseat Challenge, both of which are arriving tomorrow. Although much more modest than others on here I can’t wait.
I ideally need something that can be put away (hence the Challenge) but I do fear it could give me the taste for a better set up!
I started with a Playseat Challenge / Thrustmaster setup. I think the Playseat challenge is one of the best value pieces of kit out there. Great seating position and very cleverly designed so that it can be folded away.I have just bought (second hand) a Thrustmaster T300RS with a GT3 wheel and am waiting on some T3PA pedals and a Playseat Challenge, both of which are arriving tomorrow. Although much more modest than others on here I can’t wait.
I ideally need something that can be put away (hence the Challenge) but I do fear it could give me the taste for a better set up!
Yes the shifter is on the right as the majority of F1 and Le Mans cars that I use are set up this way.
Last night - I installed an additional button box that mounts to the Fanatec wheel base which is very useful for tweaking the car on the fly.
durbster said:
WhisperingWasp said:
...I do fear it could give me the taste for a better set up!
Can confirm this does happen. I'm currently planning the reorganisation of my entire office just so I can fit another couple of monitors onto my rig
Here's my set up that I mentioned. Very modest but beats a controller! Missus enjoys it too!
Funny old journey to get here. Had PC2, AC and Dirt 2.0 for ages but never got into them as they weren't much fun with the controller.Then bought F1 2019 in the sale and really enjoyed it with the pad and got me back into driving games really. So looked at wheel/pedal & seat options and find myself here. However, now I've got a proper set up I'm actually really enjoying the other games now, especially AC and Dirt.
I've also downloaded GT Sport. Looks a very polished game but not sure it'll see a lot of play with the other options. Couple of questions about the game actually...
1) are there some proper rally stages in it?
2) do you tune and upgrade the cars like the older games (I can't see it)?
Funny old journey to get here. Had PC2, AC and Dirt 2.0 for ages but never got into them as they weren't much fun with the controller.Then bought F1 2019 in the sale and really enjoyed it with the pad and got me back into driving games really. So looked at wheel/pedal & seat options and find myself here. However, now I've got a proper set up I'm actually really enjoying the other games now, especially AC and Dirt.
I've also downloaded GT Sport. Looks a very polished game but not sure it'll see a lot of play with the other options. Couple of questions about the game actually...
1) are there some proper rally stages in it?
2) do you tune and upgrade the cars like the older games (I can't see it)?
Edited by WhisperingWasp on Sunday 21st February 23:15
durbster said:
Can confirm this does happen.
I'm currently planning the reorganisation of my entire office just so I can fit another couple of monitors onto my rig
Can also confirm - these things just tend to....evolve.I'm currently planning the reorganisation of my entire office just so I can fit another couple of monitors onto my rig
Moving from a console to PC was a big catalyst for me. Started with a playseat challenge in front of an old plasma TV with a T300 wheel and pedals.
Ended up with this
My cable management could use some work!
Good looking rigs guys!
I’m exploring the route of a motion platforms today. It would mean sacrificing my Playseat F1 and monitor stand for a new rig with actuators.
Having asked the FB sim racing group, best proposal so far has been the following which seems to be mid - market.
https://fasetech.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC_b-ZgFwGk
Motion platform systems range from £2,000 - £40,000 + depending on the quality of the components and how many degrees of freedom you want.
I’m exploring the route of a motion platforms today. It would mean sacrificing my Playseat F1 and monitor stand for a new rig with actuators.
Having asked the FB sim racing group, best proposal so far has been the following which seems to be mid - market.
https://fasetech.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC_b-ZgFwGk
Motion platform systems range from £2,000 - £40,000 + depending on the quality of the components and how many degrees of freedom you want.
nickpan said:
Good looking rigs guys!
I’m exploring the route of a motion platforms today. It would mean sacrificing my Playseat F1 and monitor stand for a new rig with actuators.
Having asked the FB sim racing group, best proposal so far has been the following which seems to be mid - market.
https://fasetech.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC_b-ZgFwGk
Motion platform systems range from £2,000 - £40,000 + depending on the quality of the components and how many degrees of freedom you want.
That does look like fun although, the VR headset cabling looks like a right faff.I’m exploring the route of a motion platforms today. It would mean sacrificing my Playseat F1 and monitor stand for a new rig with actuators.
Having asked the FB sim racing group, best proposal so far has been the following which seems to be mid - market.
https://fasetech.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC_b-ZgFwGk
Motion platform systems range from £2,000 - £40,000 + depending on the quality of the components and how many degrees of freedom you want.
I hope to add a motion platform to mine at some stage, but most likely something that'll just move the seat rather than the whole rig (they are circa £2k I think). I want something which is subtle but, effective and that I can integrate into my existing rig, rather than needing to replace it entirely.
Speckle said:
That does look like fun although, the VR headset cabling looks like a right faff.
I hope to add a motion platform to mine at some stage, but most likely something that'll just move the seat rather than the whole rig (they are circa £2k I think). I want something which is subtle but, effective and that I can integrate into my existing rig, rather than needing to replace it entirely.
Interesting. Have you got any links you can share of what you’re thinking of?I hope to add a motion platform to mine at some stage, but most likely something that'll just move the seat rather than the whole rig (they are circa £2k I think). I want something which is subtle but, effective and that I can integrate into my existing rig, rather than needing to replace it entirely.
nickpan said:
Interesting. Have you got any links you can share of what you’re thinking of?
https://nextlevelracing.com/products/next-level-ra...NLR V3 platform - been around the sim racing world for ages so, very well tried & tested.
If you want a properly in depth review, it has even been given the Sim Racing Garage treatment by Barry himself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL7r-MeWpFI&t=...
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