Tbirds sim rig journal

[Tbird232ci]

Hello out there.

I decided to start this thread to show my rig progress, and hold myself accountable. Taking pictures and sharing with people helps me want to do better work and keep things cleaner.

Like most people, I started with a G29 clamped to my desk. I have a 49" ultrawide at my desk and loved it. From there, I was hooked. A few months later, I cracked open the bank account and the rest is history.

The rig overview:

-6 Sigma Racing 6s-120 rig. I was one of the lucky few to get my rig in an acceptable time frame. I did have an issue where I didn't get my keyboard tray and mouse pad, but that was a UPS issue and not a 6Sigma issue. But, I won't be buying from them again.

-Simagic Alpha Mini and GTS wheel. Absolutely love this wheelbase. The wheel is great for the money, especially when I pre-ordered it for a discount.

-Samsung G9. I purchased a refurbished monitor and have had nothing but great luck with it.

-Ebay shifter. I pulled it apart and lined the inside of it with sound deadening to quiet it down. It was insanely loud.

-Simjack mini pedals. I absolutely love these things. They are a bargain. I am considering upgrading to the Pro models.

-Simjack hand brake. Another great price on a load cell hand brake.

-Racing Cockpits keyboard tray and mouse pad. The keyboard tray is great as it double pivots. I can pull the wheel off and have the keyboard directly in front of me.

The PC build is very budget oriented
-Asrock b550m board
-5600x CPU
-16gb ram
-Power Color 6750xt
-Sabrent Rocket 1tb NVME
-AIO cooler
-Gamemax Spark case

Other periphials
-Streamdeck
-Razer Blackshark pro headset
-Redragon K530 Pro keyboard
-Amazon wireless mouse
-Govee flood lights for bias lighting

Alright. That was a lot of words. Now, onto pictures...and more words.

The rig is in a spare bedroom. I put the feet onto carpet sliders so I am able to slide it into the middle of the room, and then slide it over when done.

Fairly standard affair for a sim rig, including the cable mess.

The handbrake is a hidden gem. It came with a very phallic, red sleeve on the handle. I replaced it with a rubber shovel handle sleeve from Amazon.

The SimJack pedals are great for the money. I was apprehensive about buying froooom Aliexpress, so I didn't spend the extra money on the Pro model. As much as I love these pedals, I wish I would have bought the Pro model. Also visible is the Sabrent powered USB hub, and the server rack I mounted to the bottom the PC shelf.

The PC shelf is a godsend when trying to build a compact rig. I wanted everything integrated so it could be moved around easily. It also allowed me to mount a small 2u server rack on the bottom. The top slot is a shelf that I used to tuck power bricks and excess cable on. The bottom slot is a power strip. When not in use, I shut the power off on the power strip.

This PC was a pain to build. The case is fairly small, so it was a nightmare to try to cable manage. Despite my best efforts, the PC runs a lot hotter than I'd like. My other PC is a very similar build, and the GPU/CPU temps are nearly 20 degrees lower. This case just doesn't have the air flow even though it was a lot of fan power.

If you guys stuck around this long, I definitely appreciate the time you took to read over my rambling. Hopefully this will be my last long post for a long time.

I have some parts waiting for next week for the install, so I should have some updates by then.

 

[Michael Krone]

Nice man. Hardcore rig on a budget. How simple are those pedals to setup? Ive been eyeing them for one of my kids..

Best part is the handbrake and shifter is on the right correct side...


Im just joking everyone!!!!

 

[Tbird232ci]

The pedals aren't bad to set up. I used DiView and followed a few tutorials to get an understanding. I'm a hardware type person, not a software person.

A lot of people are using FreeJoy because of the way iRacing and a few other games recognize the pedals.

Also, be sure to use the ground cable between the pedals and control box. It eliminates the EMI.

When I started to go around the internet looking for ideas for my rig, I would see the shifters and handbrake on the left side and it looked weird. I had to remind myself that the internet isn't just American.

 

[Tbird232ci]

Today's progress was a little slower than I would have liked. I woke up with the best of intentions, but my motivation eventually gave up.

I've been having issues with temperatures. I have a second computer almost identically built, but in a mid tower case. It stays roughly 20c cooler than the computer on the rig. Today, I decided to fix that.

After a trip to Micro Center last week, I came home with a computer case and a new AIO CPU cooler. Then I took to Amazon and grabbed a vertical GPU bracket and a few fans.

I look like a Cooler Master shill.

The old Gamemax Spark on the left, and the new Monotech King 95 on the right. The case is great to build in.

Get RGB they said. It'll be fun they said.

Good enough. There's a panel that hides most of it, and then it's hidden by the back cover anyways.

I'm pretty happy with how this looks. I had my girlfriend cut some 3M Di-Nok carbon fiber vinyl to hide the labels on the backs of the fans and it added a nice touch.

Now tomorrows task:

With the old case in place, there was plenty of room. The new one is significantly larger in every dimension. The VESA mount that came with the rig has got to go. I also have to reposition the profile the mount is on as I had to get creative to get my old G29 to fit.

It'll be fun. It'll be fun. It'll be fun. If I keep saying it, I might believe it.

 

[Tbird232ci]

As any project goes, I ran into a ton of difficulties, and it took far longer than anticipated.

The PC ended up looking beautiful, but wouldn't actually boot. I ended up pulling it apart, reseated the RAM, and reseated the GPU riser and GPU. After that, it wouldn't power up at all. I pulled the GPU and riser out, reseated the power cables and put the GPU back in with no riser. I got output! I then put the riser back in and it worked as is should. I don't know what I did wrong, but it's working now.

From there, it was time to address the monitor mount. Yanking the G9 off solo was a little bit of a pain. It was bolted to the profile and cumbersome in a small room. Anyways:

The monitor off, and the Sim-Labs Vario Vesa mount. I think I got the last one in the country.

Also, you can see the profile that the mount is bolted to is sitting on top of he profile it's mounted to. I had to mount it that way when I had the G29. The monitor would crash into the wheel, and that was the only way to get it far enough away from the wheel.

Test fit of the monitor. The Vario mount is a great piece of

Test fitting the computer. You can see that it's barely on the shelf.

I decided to move that profile to the front of the pieces it mounts to, move the monitor closer to the wheel and get it a little lower. It took probably 2 hours to get it right. it was a struggle.

With doing all of that, and taking the shelf itself and sliding it forward a little, the PC now fits.

I ordered a piece of profile and some other stuff to extend the shelf a little bit. It'll buy me about 1..5" and allow me to tidy my server rack a little bit.

Now the monitor looks huge. I do sometimes graze my fingers on the monitor if my singers are on the shifter paddles.

Now, the main reason I did the computer rebuild was because of temps.

With the old case, I was seeing roughly 80C on the CPU and 86C on the GPU, with the hot spot being about 91c. I also had the fans on at 100% trying to combat the the temps. Now I'm seeing about 55C on the CPU and 66C on the GPU with 68C on the hot spot. the frame rates are more consistent as well.

Success!

 

[blekenbleu]

I pulled the GPU and riser out, reseated the power cables and put the GPU back in with no riser. I got output!

Contrary to 12VHPWR drama, ATX 24-pin connections have been more problematic for me.

 

[Tbird232ci]

Contrary to 12VHPWR drama, ATX 24-pin connections have been more problematic for me.

Fortunately (unfortunately?) I don't have a GPU powerful enough to worry about that GPU connector drama. It certainly is nice to not have to worry about that.

The latest update is small. I have received some supplies for the PC shelf but haven't had the energy to really mess with it. I started a new schedule at work and more laborious tasks just haven't appealed.

I've started working on doing pedal haptics. The shakers are some generic 55mm drivers I nabbed off of Amazon.

I originally found and downloaded some files for mounts to mount the drivers to Sim Jack Pro pedals. They looked close. After printing and trying, they weren't remotely close. I decided to design from scratch.

I have come to realize that I will never have a career in 3D design. I'm a hardware guy, not a software guy. I can fix, build and modify things. I'm also pretty proficient with electronics. Software and creativity...I'm a caveman.

The one mounted on the driver is the final design. I'm currently working on getting the print settings correct and I'll have more updates shortly.

 

[stigs2cousin]

Contrary to popular believe there was a life befor 3d printing.
Hell, some people even modify their simrig without owning a 3d printer

BTT:
I mounted the BST-2 on my brake pedal with angle aluminum and a home made back plate. I´m "mechanically gifted" so a little sawing and drilling was way easier for me than learning how to CAD.

 

[Tbird232ci]

Contrary to popular believe there was a life befor 3d printing.
Hell, some people even modify their simrig without owning a 3d printer

BTT:
I mounted the BST-2 on my brake pedal with angle aluminum and a home made back plate. I´m "mechanically gifted" so a little sawing and drilling was way easier for me than learning how to CAD.

Wait? 3D printing hasn't been around forever?!

There were people using longer screws and mounting the transducers right to the pedal, but I wanted something more clean and ascetically pleasing. I have two printers, so I might as well use them for more than novelty toys.

Speaking of which:

I'm pretty sure I have the design where I want it. I could make it a little shorter, but I'd rather test it and see if it fails. I also decided to use a 20mm long M5 nut to fill the cavity in the center. While it is printed at 100% infill, I like t he idea of the long nut adding some strength.

The other update is that I made the extension to my PC shelf. I'm glad to have that little extra space for the giant PC. As an additional benefit, I was able to mount the server rack directly to the profile rather than have it mounted to some flat stock and then to the side pieces of profile.

I did take some time to do actual racing as well. AMS2 with it's time and weather functions is an absolute blast. Today was the first time I raced in the rain, and in the dark. It was an experience. I was fighting for my life in last place!

 

[Ruttman98]

Please post the pedal tactile units assembled--looks like a great solution.

 

[stigs2cousin]

Wait? 3D printing hasn't been around forever?!

I may have outed myself as an "old fart"

I did take some time to do actual racing as well. AMS2 with it's time and weather functions is an absolute blast. Today was the first time I raced in the rain, and in the dark. It was an experience. I was fighting for my life in last place!

Nah, actually using the equipment is completely overvalued, we´re in it for the tinkering .

If you are also on AC (Classic, the real one) maybe I´ll see you in one of our Racing Club events. We´re a diverse and friendly bunch way different from public lobbies

 

[Tbird232ci]

Please post the pedal tactile units assembled--looks like a great solution.

I would have posted a picture sooner. I had been waiting on Amazon to deliver some hardware. My area had a few inches of snow for the first time in a few years and everything was delayed.

Unfortunately, I did some damage to one of the nuts while installing it and pretty much destroyed one of the mounts. I just started a fresh print to make more so I can mount one to the throttle pedal as well.

I may have outed myself as an "old fart"

Nah, actually using the equipment is completely overvalued, we´re in it for the tinkering .

If you are also on AC (Classic, the real one) maybe I´ll see you in one of our Racing Club events. We´re a diverse and friendly bunch way different from public lobbies

I'm definitely not young myself. Maybe not worthy of being called an old fart yet, but I'm getting to the point where I make noises sitting down and getting up.

Once I figure out how to do online with AC, and get my some time to consistently play, I'll certainly send you a PM about doing some racing. I have very little confidence right in my abilities right now.

So now I have to make the decision of what I'm going to use to power these transducers. I also have plans to do a pair of Dayton BST-1 shakers, one on the bottom of the seat and one on the pedal tray. I like the Startech sound card Mr. Latte posted about, so I will likely use one of those and a pair of TPA3116 amplifiers.

 

[Ruttman98]

Thank you for posting the photo. Definitely snowy in the Midwest.

 

[stigs2cousin]

I'm definitely not young myself. Maybe not worthy of being called an old fart yet, but I'm getting to the point where I make noises sitting down and getting up.

I hear you

Once I figure out how to do online with AC, and get my some time to consistently play, I'll certainly send you a PM about doing some racing. I have very little confidence right in my abilities right now.

It´s not that difficult, just go to the online page in CM and choose a server.
If you click "DRIVE" it sets CM to the servers conditions without you being online so you can practice on your own.

Just come over to the Racing Club thread and introduce yourself, most of the guys don´t bite

So now I have to make the decision of what I'm going to use to power these transducers. I also have plans to do a pair of Dayton BST-1 shakers, one on the bottom of the seat and one on the pedal tray. I like the Startech sound card Mr. Latte posted about, so I will likely use one of those and a pair of TPA3116 amplifiers.

 

[Tbird232ci]

Well, it's been quite a while. I'm quite ADHD and my interests shift every few months and I end up fixating on other hobbies. I spent a few months on modifying gaming consoles and grabbing stuff off of Buyee and the like.

Anyways, onto the updates!

Yeah...there aren't really any.

I did happen to jump in on the Simagic GT Neo preorder when it opened.

The wheel is surprisingly nice. It's a carbon reinforced plastic of sorts, and is very light and rigid. The buttons, knobs and shifters feel very premium. For the price of 289USD, it feels like a bargain. I downloaded files to build a Ferrari 488GTE wheel, and having carbon cut would have cost more than buying this wheel.

The other purchase I've made is a new headset. Razer was liquidating their Blackshark Pro V1 headsets for a very nice price. My SteelSeries Arctis 1 headset wasn't bad but wasn't very comfortable. Maybe my head is too big?

But now, for the over-arching reason for making this update.

For the past few years, the rig has been in a small bedroom. I have a two car garage, but it has been occupied with two project cars. One of the cars needs more work than I really want to get into at this point. It served me well for quite a few years, but it's time to let it go. This means I will be disassembling the rig and it will be going into the garage. The garage will be less cozy for a while, but it will give me a little more space and freedom.

 

[Tbird232ci]

Finally, an update.

I've lived in my house for about 7 years I think. Since then, I have had my Trans Am in the garage. It needed a clutch, new headers, and a slew of parts I had waiting to go on. About 6 years ago, I started to tear it apart to find that about a third of the floor rusted away, along with a portion of the front shock tower, and most of the lower radiator support. I found more rust in the rear quarters, Everything on the car needed to be gone through. I was dejected. I did try to sell it only to get ghosted by multiple buyers. So, I put the car halfway back together and shoved it out of the garage. That was an adventure in itself as I did it solo.

It did hurt my heart to see it out there, but it had to go. Junkyard came within a few hours and grabbed it. They were pretty displeased that it didn't have catalytic converters on it

I spent a day or two throwing junk away, and doing some general tidying. I then tore the rig down to the main structures. The bottom frame, the uprights with monitor mount, the seat and then the shifter arm. My girlfriend was not very happy helping me carry the main chunks from an upstairs bedroom, down the hall, down the split foyer stair case and into the garage.

But anyways, enough rambling.

There it is, in its new home.

I had a furniture cover laying around from when we purchased new patio furniture. We were glad to see the stuff came with a cover, but the cover was completely useless.

I have some old furniture blankets, so I experimented with putting one on the wall for some sound deadening. My father gave me those flags for the first Christmas I was in my house, and the lighted sign 2 years ago for Christmas, so I put them up to hide the ugly blanket. The blanket didn't do much for acoustics.

There is still a lot of organizing and cleaning that needs to be done.

I'm hoping to have an electrician buddy come over and run a string of receptacles on their own breaker around the entirety of the garage. There are only 3 outlets in the garage, and two are behind the flags. Once the other project car is mobile again, I will be looking at putting the car in the side where the rig is, and going a home gym and having the rid on the other side. The other side has windows which will be more pleasant for gym work.

I did receive some boxes from GTomega, so I should have some updates in the next few days.