Sim Racing configuration – 21st Century Mid Life Crisis?
innovation has provided us so lots of ways to spend our spare time these days as well as now the Automated house has a space devoted to one of them.
It’s been well over a decade considering that I developed a PC however two new driving sims are making a bit of a stir at the moment as well as it’s time to develop a new gaming rig.
I’ve been a ‘sim racer’ of sorts considering that I started playing the Geoff Crammond traditional ‘Grand Prix 2’ in 1996 (coincidentally the exact same year that Automated house introduced on the web). In those days we would go to each others homes as well as link two 486’s with a serial cord as well as play a full length Grand Prix. #OldSchool.
Flash ahead nearly 20 years as well as with the assist of a buddy that I’ve understand considering that those GP2 days I got a spec together for a maker that would do these new titles justice [thanks Darren].
The Gaming PC
The system is based around the 4.0GHz quad core Intel i7-4790K processor. In reality few games will see any type of difference between an i7 as well as an i5 currently, potentially saving you around £75. however ‘Project Cars’ already listing an i7 in their suggested spec, so ideally those additional threads will provide us a bit longer before we requirement to upgrade this maker in the future.
The chosen Gigabyte motherboard supports SLI so a 2nd video card can be added as well as linked for a future upgrade too. All the set was bought from Amazon as well as the develop was completed in an evening.
RELATED: Our Oculus Rift VR Sim Racing Review
Check out the parts listing below, which came out at around £900 (excluding the OS – Windows 8.1 Pro) managing to get in well under the £1K budget plan set for the build.
Intel Core i7 i7-4790K CPU (Quad Core 4GHz, Socket H3 LGA-1150)
Cooler Master Hyper TX3 Evo Tower cooler for CPU
Gigabyte Z97X-SLI Intel LGA1150 Z97 ATX Motherboard
HyperX FURY series 8GB (2x 4GB) DDR3 1866MHz
Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5-Inch fundamental SATA SSD
MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB twin Frozr V video Card
Corsair 200R Windowed Compact ATX Case
Corsair CX 600M Modular 80 plus ATX PSU
I’m likewise re-purposing an old 2TB SATA drive for automated regular Acronis backups of the SSD as well as I gotten this Logitech K400 wireless keyboard as well as trackpad which is extremely practical while sitting in the racing seat.
The rest of the Hardware
The basis of my setup is a ‘Visionracer VR3’ in the picture at the top of this post. This is the chassis as well as seat which includes the mounting points for all the controls.
My reliable Logitech G27 force comments Wheel, Pedal as well as Shifter have served me well for many years now, making the step from PS3 tasks to the new gaming rig. While I hanker after the new generation of servo motor wheels, my budget plan is exhausted for now.
You can get started with a stand like the one on the right for around £100 – inspect out the fantastic Sim Racing Reddit and their hardware getting guide for a lot more info.
For noise I’m utilizing some old kit rescued from the loft. Some floor standing speakers from the 90’s (Bose 401’s) as well as an old Pioneer AV Amp of similar vintage. This configuration is loud as well as bassy as well as adds to the experience (if not my connection with the rest of the family). I’d like to add a buttkicker or similar transducer to the seat or chassis in the future too.
The Sims
‘Assetto Corsa’ is a great game as well as ‘Project Cars’ was lastly released a couple of months back as well as it’s the one that I play a lot of by far. It suffered some delays during its long development, however kid oh kid was it worth the wait. These two games alone are incredible.
Online play brings a whole new difficulty to the sim. genuine drivers, no a lot more AI. Drifting the bit Caterham around Oulton Park, chasing down your mate is exceptionally entertaining as well as satisfying when you get it right..
I’ve likewise subscribed to iRacing which is regarded as one of the most severe sims out there. While the iRacing vehicles may seem sluggish at the start, as well as the tracks less visually stimulating, the physics engine is top notch as well as the racing leagues are second to none.
The realism with these new generation of sim racers is amazing. The incredibly precise data obtained by Laser scanning can supply online tracks that are almost centimetre perfect. Coupled with advanced physics designs for suspension as well as tyres, the vehicles truly can manage like you’d expect. The video above compares a genuine life Ariel Atom round the full brands Hatch GP circuit, side-by-side with the job vehicles online version. quite impressive.
The very first night I sat down to inspect out exactly how the system was running for half an hour. When I next looked at the clock 4 as well as a half hours had inexplicably passed by as well as I was buzzing.
The Immersion Factor
Playinga racing sim with a hand held controller is a horrible experience that you must prevent in any way costs. when you sit in a proper seat as well as feel a steering wheel in your hands as well as a set of pedals at your feet whatever unexpectedly becomes natural. You’re no longer playing a game, you’re just driving.
Setting up the rig properly will enhance the ‘immersion’ as well as getting the field of vision right is important. This FOV Calculator will provide you the settings you requirement to input into your sim with only two measurements (diagonal screen size as well as distance from it to your eyes). a lot of sims enable you to turn off the computer produced arms as well as steering wheel as you want to see your own there instead.
You’ll notice in that video above there’s a dash board between the wheel as well as screens as well as that’s one more aspect that adds to the realism too. There are lots of choices offered to add these second screen companions to your sim configuration (here are some for job vehicles for example) as well as some are as simple as running an app on your smartphone or tablet as well as discovering a appropriate mount. I run mine on an old iPad tiny as well as a £12 install off eBay.
The Immersion aspect 2.0
I had made a decision to go for a triple screen configuration similar to the one in the video above. nevertheless after I tried the Samsung VR online truth goggles just recently I absolutely believe this is the future of sim racing. as well as I’m not alone, here’s a fantastic thread of pictures from a sim racer that’s converted his rig (another Visionracer) to a VR configuration after having had a top notch triple screen configuration in the past.
In addition to the Samsung system HTC has revealed the Vive, a online truth headset established in partnership with Valve, however it’s the Oculus Rift that I’m waiting for. Check out the video below for some idea of what it’s like (especially around the 2:15 mark where you can see the head tracking as the motorist moves better to the instruments as well as looks around the car).
While I wait on the release of the Oculus Rift CV1 (due 2016) I’ve gotten a inexpensive refurbished 40″ 1080p LED TV to utilize in the meantime. This works well for now, although the single screen indicates the strange bump as you cannot see vehicles either side of you in a race.
Sky’s The Limit
My configuration is quite tame, there’s a whole mad world of sim racing out there as well as the sky’s the limit. just look at a few of the full movement rigs available as well as marvel at the prices.
Of program it would be fantastic to be racing the genuine thing however who can pay for that in the days where even a competitive amateurs’ mark II Escort rally vehicle can expense £100K. On the other hand I can see exactly how this might get you hooked as well as transferred to at least doing a lot more track days, if not building or getting a Caterham or something.
With this configuration though you can be drifting a Subaru around a Welsh forest one minute, then taking an E30 M3 around the Nordschleife the next.
It is really interesting as well as entertaining as well as the Oculus Rift is going to take it to an even higher level.
So is this a online mid-life dilemma or just one more huge kids toy? who cares, I’m off for one more blast round Bathurst in my Radical!
Available from Amazon
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next level Racing GT Lite foldable Simulator Racing Cockpit (NLR-S021 ) PC
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assettocorsa.net : projectcarsgame.com : iracing.com : thesimpit.com
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Last update on 2021-10-04 / affiliate links / pictures from Amazon product marketing API
