sim racing pc build up

[Mathew Suboski]

This is a shot in the dark but I will put it out there anyway. I have been racing on consoles for many years and I am ready to step up my game with a new pc built specifically for sim racing. I have read a few posts with suggestions for new gaming pcs but I am lost when it comes to the technical aspects of knowing what components which would be best for my particular build.
So I guess what I am after is a system that can run the highest settings for current sims with triple monitors. (27")
If anyone has suggestions they would be greatly appreciated as I am stuck in console land and dont know which way to go when it comes to building a computer.
So what are you guys running? Please list your systems.

 

[Rupe Wilson]

system specs mid range pc single screen setup..

450watt psu
gtx460 1 gig graphics card nvidea ( need updating but it does the job very well)
i5 2500k processor 3.3 GHz
12.0 gig memory
motherboard.. P8768-v Lx ddr3
Corsair Hydro Series H80 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler Liquid cooling system
big cheap pc Tower to house it all
120gig ssd drive (just runs the operating system and basics)
1000gig hard drive (runs all games)
500gig hard drive
win 7 x64 operating system
LG tv 37 inch
g25 wheel
g13 game pad
g15 keyboard
g35 headphones
g9 laser mouse
GT Omega race seat rig

Im looking to upgrade maybe to tripple screen 27' so ill be looking for 3 x 3D monitors
And a new bigger graphics card will be needed 3 gig of mem
With a bigger psu 850 watt (a little big, but)

hope this helps..

 

[Mathew Suboski]

Thank you for the reply, That looks like a great place to start. I will be starting a wishlist at new egg this afternoon! So if anyone has any advice please post up, and keep those system specs coming in.

 

[Mathew Suboski]

I made up a template to make listing your systems a little easier.

Case: xxx​

Motherboard: xxx​

Memory: xxx​

Graphics card: xxx​

Memory: xxx​

Power supply: xxx​

processor cooling: xxx​

Sound card(s): xxx​

Usb options: xxx​

Operating system: xxx​

monitor(s): xxx​

 

[Jim Cole]

Mathew, let's first start off with what your budget is as that will help those of us who have an idea what is required help you out.

I will say though that if you want to run the current and near future race sims with triple screens and full graphics you are looking at a system that utilizes at least 2 graphics cards.

Depending on your budget you might also want to consider a 120Gb SSD drive and a 1.5Tb secondary hard drive. Along with that I would suggest at least 8Gb of DDR3 ram @1600 minimum, preferably 2000 or higher depending on what the motherboard supports. Along with that you would require a Windows version that is 64bit instead of the normal 32bit as the latter only supports up to 4Gb of ram. If you plan on running older titles, I would suggest Windows 7 pro or Ultimate, otherwise you will do fine with Home Premium version.

Your motherboard should be designed to support at least 2 graphics cards as well as an extra slot for sound if you wish to get into audio or if you wish to use things like the buttkicker speakers for vibration effects.

As far as cases, there are quite a number out there ranging from cheap to very expensive. The more expensive ones tend to allow for better drive access as well as better air flow to keep things cool.

The PSU or power supply should be enough to handle everything you plan on throwing at it. I would suggest with 2 graphics cards that you get at least a 700Watt PSU to ensure that you don't starve some components of power when they need it most.

CPU cooling depends of if you plan on overclocking the system. As a new PC gamer, I would suggest you stay away from that until you learn enough about PC's to know what the risks are.

As for specifics, I can give you links to what I would recommend based on your budget, but I would need that before hand.

You can either follow up here on the forum, or if you prefer we can discuss your system via pm or email

 

[Mathew Suboski]

Thank you for the input. It is greatly appreciated. As far as my budget for the sysyem it will be around $1200.00 to $1500.00. I am planning on running transducers for my rig also.

 

[Jim Cole]

Will post what I come up with for you tomorrow.

 

[Jim Cole]

If you can't get to this link, pm me your email and I will email the link to the wishlist on newegg. https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=15667769

Alternately you could go to the public wishlists on newegg and search for "client system for eyefinity" and you should be able to find it.

The system I put together is without monitors and comes in just short of $1400 US. If you were talking about total $1500 or less including monitors then that is going to be really tough and still give you decent video in game.

EDIT: Just realized I didn't include a keyboard or mouse, DOH! hehe, they can be fairly inexpensive or very expensive depending on what you want. I also didn't include speaker system as that is going to have to be based on what you want to have. I normally suggest Logitech 5.1 speakers for general audio, but if you require higher fidelity, then I would suggest optical out from sound on computer to a decent audio system.

 

[Mathew Suboski]

That is awsome, Thank you so much! So as far as the budget goes it was just for the system. Mouse and keyboard are least of worries. I was also wanting to run simvibe with transducers so would this set up work for that configuration as well?

 

[Jim Cole]

The motherboard has an extra slot for an additional sound card that you will be able to use for simvibe, yes.

Here is a choice you could use, there are other choices, but for simvibe I feel comfortable with this choice.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102017&name=Sound-Cards

BTW, chose the wrong version of the motherboard on that wishlist, hehe, the correct one is in there now and is full atx not micro atx sorry about that, saved you $5

 

[Mathew Suboski]

I can't tell you how excited I am getting about getting my new system. It won't be long now and I will be doing some real sim racing. Thanks again Jim, I have been struggling on a set up for a couple of months now... This is going to be good!

 

[Jim Cole]

Make sure you post some pics when you are done with it

 

[Mathew Suboski]

So can you think of anything else I would need for build up. What is the best thermo compound to use? Will I need special cables or adapters that you might know about?

 

[Jim Cole]

For thermal compound I use Arctic Silver, good stuff and you only need a drop.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007
The link for the Arctic Silver is way more than you will ever need, but it is cheap enough that it won't kill you and you could possibly sell the rest or give it away. There may also be other listings with smaller amounts.


As for additional stuff, you will need 2 Active display port adapters to go along with the 1 DVI connection that is on the card. All monitors connect to the main card, the second is just using the GPU. With the cards I chose, there is only a single DVI connector and 2 mini display ports as well as an HDMI I believe.

I use this active display port adapter and it works fine.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815129012

Edit: Just double checked and I am correct, there is an HDMI port as well so you could use 1 HDMI cable if your monitors supported it.

 

[Mathew Suboski]

Is the reason for two graphics cards to get best possible resolution at the fastest speed for triple screen set up?

 

[Jim Cole]

The reason for 2 is that you are going to be using quite a large resolution on triple screens, and if you wish to be sure to be able to run full graphics, you are going to need both of them. On a single screen or with some graphics turned down just little, you could get away with a single card.

Your other option would have cost about $100 more to go with a very powerful single card, but I figured money might mean a bit to you so opted for 2. The nVidia GTX 680 4Gb graphics card would likely do it, but the cost vs performance doesn't cut it in my book.

As an example on price: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130799

 

[Mathew Suboski]

You sir are a gentleman, Thank you....Now I am in search of my monitors. My budget for those will be around $1000.00. I can only guess as to what might be the best set up. In your opinion what would be the most important things to look for when shopping for monitors? Will lcd or led make any noticeable differance?

So here is what I was thinking x3 : http://www.amazon.com/VS278Q-P-27-Inch-Screen-LED-Lit-Monitor/dp/tech-data/B009HNEBLK/ref=de_a_smtd

 

[Rupe Wilson]

Even i'm getting excited for you Mathew.. I bet you cant wait to fire it all up..

 

[Jim Cole]

Monitors I am a little less well versed on so I can only make suggestions as I may be off a little on them. First off there is the question of 3D. Do you wish to utilize this option? If so then we need to rethink the computer slightly hehe. nVidia is better at handling 3D than ATI at present.

As far as specs, you should be looking for something that is going to have a good fast response time, and the one you showed does have that. You also want something with exceptional black levels. With LED monitors you are able to get black levels into the 50,000+ range. I would also make sure that the monitors have a VESA mount capability so that they can be mounted to a frame with no issues.

Other than that, your guess is going to be as good as mine. I have liked many brands over the years, going as far back as the Sony Trinitron monitors when it was difficult to find anything larger than 15" without paying an arm and a leg. I have also liked Viewsonic and a couple of other brands. Right now, I like LG, Samsung and a couple of other brands, with LG being up on my list, but with my 22" there is an issue with white levels. I can't get pure white on my LG.

From doing a quick search on Newegg I came up with this, which I wouldn't hesitate to purchase, but there are likely better out there for similar pricing. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009376

 

[Mathew Suboski]

Ah yes 3D.. I am glad that you braught this up. I had not looked into this until you mentioned it. I found a couple of reviews and like what I am seeing. Have you ever had the chance to use 3D with triplescreens? I can only assume that 3D would out perform on all aspects of sim racing compared to 2D and are the frame rates the same for 3D and 2D?

Would this be something you would consider for your own set up? And what would your recomendation be for going the 3D route?