My first race rig build, I have the disease :-)

DesKane

dksRacing Kaney
Hi All,

I have been doing a lot of research recently and loving it, and have had sleepless nights over it, getting more and more into iRacing and many other race sims out there, so I thought F**K IT I am gonna take the plunge get involved and invest in a bit of a race rig to give that more immersive experience, I have want and have read about. I AM VERY EXCITED.
I have 2 computers I have built over this last year, 1 more of a gaming build, a small form factor, based around a MiniITX Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe with i5-3570k, but I have also built a bit of a workstation Rig which I think is what I going to sit on this race rig build !! :) I would just like to see how well it powers the monitors and generally just copes with some of the more recent Race Sims out there at the moment. I think I am happy with my choice of hardware combinations, EVERYTHING is on order with some of the kit I already have and on its way, so as it comes I will share with you guys who are interested !?!? just to see how they play with my combination !!!
All in the name of science of course. :geek:

Please let me know what you think!? All feedback very welcome :)

So RIG Ideas and Computer Specs Plus Other Peripherals So Far:-

RACE RIG BUILD
Obutto Revolution Rig……….. NOW rseat RS1 ;-)
Triple Monitor Mount
Articulating Keyboard/Mouse Tray
Acrylic Tabletops

RACE RIG HARDWARE
FANATEC

ClubSport Wheel Base V2
ClubSport Pedals V2
ClubSport Shifter SQ V 1.5
ClubSport Steering Wheel BMW M3 GT2
Clubsport Steering Wheel Formula Carbon
CSR Elite Pedal Inverted

SIM RACING HARDWARE (SRH)
TACH STAND - Tachometer Max 11.000 rev range
GI-MAX - Digital gear shift indicator
SPI-D - Digital Speedometer

SIMXPERIENCE
x4 Buttkicker Mini LFE SE
SimVibe Software License (Sim Commander 3)

COMPUTER RIG
MOBO - ASUS ROG Rampage IV Extreme
CPU - Core i7-3930K
RAM - 24GB DOMINATOR Platinum Memory Kit 2133MHz
PSU - Corsair CMPSU-850AXUK Professional Series Gold 850W
GPU - x2 EVGA 3GB GTX780 Classified - (CURRENTLY)
new GPU - MSI GTX 980 GAMING Twin Frozr V 4GB (Maxwell)
MONITORS - x3 Acer Predator XB270HA 27" G-Sync 144Hz
SOUND CARD - Asus Xonar Essence STX PCI-E (for Corsair SP2500)
SPEAKERS - Corsair SP2500 Gaming Speakers Audio System 2.1
SOUND CARD - Asus Xonar DGX 5.1 PCI-E Sound (for x4 ButtKicker Mini LFE SE)
AMPLIFIER - Behringer EPQ304 300W 4 Channel (for x4 ButtKicker Mini LFE SE)

This could be fun !! :p
 
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In my opinion...

Swap the pedals for CSR Elites and the rim for the Porsche 918 or universal hub and $99 rim of your choice. The Elites are much more reliable and you still get the same load cell for braking. The BWM rim is very heavy, the heaviest of all the rims Fanatec offers, the Porsche 918 rim is much lighter and the universal hub with your choice of rim is even lighter which provides better FFB.

I found the Behringer EPQ304 to be rather weak for simvibe but if you insist on using it, my brother has one he'll sell you at a reduced price and its barely even used.

As for the video cards, you would be better off buying two GTX 970's instead of the 780's.
 
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In my opinion...

Swap the pedals for CSR Elites and the rim for the Porsche 918 or universal hub and $99 rim of your choice. The Elites are much more reliable and you still get the same load cell for braking. The BWM rim is very heavy, the heaviest of all the rims Fanatec offers, the Porsche 918 rim is much lighter and the universal hub with your choice of rim is even lighter which provides better FFB.

I found the Behringer EPQ304 to be rather weak for simvibe but if you insist on using it, my brother has one he'll sell you at a reduced price and its barely even used.

As for the video cards, you would be better off buying two GTX 970's instead of the 780's.


Hi Blkout,

Thank you for your feedback and completely hear you :thumbsup:, the amount of money I have spent so far I could have bought a few AccuForce Steering Wheel setups !!! :O_o: As I have read when the Fanatec gear is working it works well and when its not its FUBAR !! However I shall take my chances and go with it………… for now !.

On that note I will amend my itinerary as I have purchased a set of 'CSR Elite Pedal Inverted EU' so I will have the ClubSport V2 in GP style and if they should die, I will have the GT Style CSR Elites, exuberant I know but what the heck :) I was looking at these pedals initially, I really do like the look of them and the same tech is in there, the feel in GT style will be a good setup for me too.

For the Wheel again to be honest I wasn't sure what to go for, Reviews seemed to be good and a a good first choice for a wheel, and as I race mostly GT, but I know it will not be my one and only wheel, that is for sure. I was also thinking of for the times I do race open wheelers to go for the 'ClubSport Steering Wheel Formula Black' surely not much of a difference between that and the Carbon version, ANY THOUGHTS !?!? I have read that the smaller formula wheels give a faster smoother response when racing in the open wheelers !?!?

As for the 'Behringer EPQ304' Thanks for the offer of possibly purchasing one from your brother, but I now have this in my possesion, it wasn't too expensive, I went for this as the 4 channels IN and OUT seemed easy to setup the x4 Buttkickers on the rig. Again this can be uprated at a later date for a more stronger feedback, I did recently watch a youtube vid from BARNACULES regarding the Emotiva UPA-500 Amplifier for my Racing Simulator Buttkicker LFE Transducers. AT the At the time this was a little pricey with everything else but I know me being me will look at this in the future, once I have blown up my Behringer.;)

I am hoping that with the SIMVIBE software I can specifically modify effects so that they can be TURNED UP !! hopefully it give me some good feedback.

cheers:thumbsup:
 
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@DesKane

I have the universal hub and GT style rim, as well as the carbon formula rim. There's not really any different in the standard formula rim and the carbon version except for the thin sheet of carbon fiber which is cosmetic but it does look nice I'll admit...and some of the buttons are different colored. The formula rim is very small at 26cm if I recall and its very light which means you will get very quick response which is perfect for open wheelers. It takes some getting use to though after playing with a full size 32-33cm wheel.
 
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@DesKane

I have the universal hub and GT style rim, as well as the carbon formula rim. There's not really any different in the standard formula rim and the carbon version except for the thin sheet of carbon fiber which is cosmetic but it does look nice I'll admit...and some of the buttons are different colored. The formula rim is very small at 26cm if I recall and its very light which means you will get very quick response which is perfect for open wheelers. It takes some getting use to though after playing with a full size 32-33cm wheel.


Yeah Love the Style of that GT rim had a look earlier as it goes !!
So the CSR Elite inverted pedals are on there way, but what wheel !?!? I think it could be the Formula Carbon as it is very nice (you are right there), the Universal Hub will have to wait for a month or so, NOW I WILL BE BROKE !!:(
 
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Yeah Love the Style of that GT rim had a look earlier as it goes !!
So the CSR Elite inverted pedals are on there way, but what wheel !?!? I think it could be the Formula Carbon as it is very nice (you are right there), the Universal Hub will have to wait for a month or so, NOW I WILL BE BROKE !!:(

The new style Fanatec GT rim looks like a Momo Mod 30 which is an extremely popular rim but costs about $230 from many retailers however Fanatec sells the GT rim for $99.

In my opinion and some will disagree, the CSR Elites provide you with the most important function of the Clubsports which is the load cell brake. The only cool feature you give up with the Clubsports is the degressive clutch however the Clubsports seem to have a lot of problem with the Hall sensors used on the gas and clutch pedal as opposed to pots used on the CSR Elites and seem to lose calibration frequently or simply don't function properly. Lots of voodoo about adjusting and tightening the Hall sensors but the CSR Elites don't have that issue and they're easier to invert. The downside...for some people...with the CSR Elites is that they don't look as cool as the Clubsports and aren't made from all aluminum construction however that's not really a con for me since I care more about reliability. The Clubsports pedals are well liked by people that love to tinker and modify their equipment and if you're one of those people, the Clubsports might be for you.

The thing I like about the universal hub is that its 100% customizable, it comes with 4 button boxes and a funky switch and you can move them in any position. Its your choice if you want to use some of them or all of them, really whatever you want and you can attach just about any rim you want to the hub, either from Fanatec at $99 each or just about any real race car rim of your choice.
 
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Great Feedback Blkout, I am damn sure that UNIVERSAL HUB will be with me very soon ;)

I wish that the 'ClubSport Steering Wheel Porsche 918 RSR' was built on this as I would maybe get that in a heartbeat, I am feeling right now spoilt for choice, 1 GT wheel in the bag, the next will be an open wheel bad boy. Cover those bases and then UNIVERSAL HUB HERE WE COME :)

I definitely look forward to trying the CSR Elite inverted pedals !
 
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I wish that 918 RSR wasn't $399. I'd be very tempted to pick one up at $299, and at $249 I wouldn't even have to think about it, but $399 is a lot when I already have two nice rims. The next rim I buy I'm hopeful is going to be the Xbox One compatible rim whenever they release it.
 
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Yeah I hear yah !! I nearly VERY NEARLY went for that 918 chatting with you earlier !?!?! BUT alas went for the range of GT and open wheeler… I am good for now we shall see, next pay day ;-)

Half the gear doesn't turn up till MARCH !?:mad:
 
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That setup sounds awful! I'll do you a favor and take it off your hands, for free ofc, just pm me and you'll get my shipping address....
/Envious sarcasm

I love my BMW rim with the v2, but I'd love to test it against the universal hub with the GT rim cos I really like the look of that! The Porsche rim looks sick but is way too expensive imo.
 
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That setup sounds awful! I'll do you a favor and take it off your hands, for free ofc, just pm me and you'll get my shipping address....
/Envious sarcasm

I love my BMW rim with the v2, but I'd love to test it against the universal hub with the GT rim cos I really like the look of that! The Porsche rim looks sick but is way too expensive imo.


hah PM on the way !!:p Yeah happy with choices so far, always interested what other people are doing, seen so many amazing setups, very clever stuff !! :thumbsup:, I know I am very very lucky
Kjell I will be torn when comes to buying another wheel as I do love the look of the Porsche 918 and i was SOOOO close to getting this the other day but opted to go with the Formula Carbon instead.
So when the times comes will it be Porsche 918 or the Universal HUB. I do think the Porsche rim is a real luxury but a single one off wheel of beauty !!!!! I get that the HUB will give you much more of a practical return ! :confused:

In the meantime SOME KIT HAS JUST ARRIVED THIS MORNING !!:)
I will share some pics !
 

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I think getting a GT and a formula rim makes more sense than just getting the Porsche rim, I wouldn't have it the other way around at least. Using the right type of rim for the type of car you're driving just adds that extra bit of immersion, I swap between the GT and formula rim if I swap from say a Z4 GT3 to a MP4-12C GT3 and I'm very happy I got both.
 
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Only thing I suggest is the same as post 2. Pick up 2x 970s instead of 780 because with 3 G-SYNC monitors that only have displayport you won't be able to connect them all up or use gsync on all of them. Make sure they are a model with 3 DP ports too. I have a single 780 and I know to go triple screen I would need to upgrade it for that reason.

Everything else looks awesome. Let me know how 27" triple is as I plan on that later in the year or next.
 
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Well Holy **** Mike first BOLLOCK DROPPED !! :rolleyes:
You are absolutely right, I can't use these god damn Monitors with my 2 GTX780s !!!:laugh:

Had a bit of a shift around this afternoon and got 2 monitors out on the desk, got 1 setup 19020x1080 144hz Gsync maxed out on Ultra testing Project Cars and it ran beautifully !! SMOOOOOOTH !

Tested just for my own humour the 2nd monitor in the DPort on the 2nd Card and NO you need that x3 Dport Card…… christ more expense ;)

x2 EVGA Classified GTX 780s up for sale !!
 
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I have two GTX 980's running 3 Asus 24" @ 144. Not sure I really needed the second card, which I just installed though. It's not that much different than the single 980. My guest rig is running two GTX 780's with 3 ViewSonics @ 60 Hz and it looks just as good as the higher Hz setup.
 
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I have two GTX 980's running 3 Asus 24" @ 144. Not sure I really needed the second card, which I just installed though. It's not that much different than the single 980. My guest rig is running two GTX 780's with 3 ViewSonics @ 60 Hz and it looks just as good as the higher Hz setup.
I'm not sure what you expected from using a second card but I would say 40% faster on average than a single card is certainly quite a bit more performance.
 
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