[ExtremePocca]

Didn't know we had so many sim-racers on TeamBHP! My setup is quite lowly compared to your guys' but its good enough for me until I upgrade in the future.

I used up all of my budget on a laptop as I knew that sim-racing won't be the only thing i'll be doing on my computer. Initially I was torn between the ASUS TUFs and Lenovo LOQs and while I knew that these were entry level laptops that compromised on build, that was something I was willing to give up for pure performance. I got really lucky though and snagged an HP Omen 16 off of Amazon for 1.2L For context, laptops like this with these specs retail at around 1.6-1.8L

Loving the Omen so far, great build, gorgeous screen, and fantastic thermals.

For those looking for this deal, I believe it's still available on Amazon.

Specs-

Ryzen 7 6800H
16GB DDR5 4800MHZ
1TB NVME SSD
165hz 1440p display
RTX 3070Ti

Even though the graphics card is a generation old, it still packs the same performance as the current gen RTX 4070, albeit, it doesn't feature DLSS 3 Frame Generation. That's something that team red are working on addressing though. Other than that, this laptop is an absolute steal.

I don't use a cooling pad (budget dried up) but the temps are still pretty strong, as is common on all HP Omens. After 4 months, the factory thermal paste has gone bad and now the temperatures spike up to the very low 90s on the CPU and rarely 87*c on the GPU (Thermal Throttle Limit) I am working on fixing this with a repaste job (Cooler Master Cryofuze Violet).

As for the sims I play, I was really into AC (Assetto Corsa) when I got into the sim-racing space but after trying some other sims (more on them later), it started to feel like AC's car handling was not as sophisticated. It felt like the cars were stiff and bouncy in a manner ill-befitting of a race car. As for framerates. I consistently get around 150fps on an empty track using demanding post processing filters and mods. While sharing the track with AI or other players, this dips to a still very smooth 90FPS.

My new favourite sim nowadays is the one and only, BeamNG drive. It is absolutely ridiculous how incredible this game is in terms of the realism. From the confidence inspiring grip and poise of the hillclimb cars, to the boat-like suspensions and flexible chassis of the 70s American cars, BeamNG simulates it all. And, the icing on the cake is, BeamNG is a completely open sandbox. While the open-ended nature of BeamNG could potentially be a turn off, I find it quite enjoyable. As for framerates, BeamNG holds a rock solid 120FPS without any traffic on all maps, the framerate dips considerably however with traffic to a very playable 40FPS.

Now you might have been wondering, what wheel do I have? Well this is the funny part, I don't have a wheel! I have spent 3 years of sim racing perfecting how to drive with a mouse! It has become so natural to me that I know when the car is getting loose and I can save it without any feedback from an input device. It sounds quite unnatural at first but with time I have learnt how to drive competitively on a mouse.

This shows that not having the budget for a wheel is no excuse for not jumping into sim-racing. It's a wonderful hobby and it's taught me everything I know about cars till date.

[Avikbrio]

Here is my humble setup. Been running this since the last 1 year. Doubles up as work and a sim racing desk. Missing in the photo is an office chair with wheel stoppers. Currently on PS5 playing GT7 and ACC. I did test out iRacing a couple of times with my friend's laptop. The pedals have now been changed with Thrustmaster TLCM (Load Cell pedals). Planning on getting a 80/20 rig next and then building a PC by December.

Equipment:

1. Thrustmaster T300RS GT (with extra fan installed in the wheelbase for better cooling)
2. Thrustmaster Open Wheel Add-On
3. Thrustmaster TLCM Pedals (not in picture)
4. Xfeagle Tilt Adjustable Steering Racing Ergonomic Steel Wheel Floor Stand
5. PS5
6. Office Chair on Wheel Stoppers (not in picture)

[mjk24]

Originally Posted by Avikbrio

Currently on PS5 playing GT7

Hey cool setup man, what is your PSN?

[shipnil]

Hi seasoned Sim Racers,

I am a complete noob at this, seeking advice. My 8 year son is very interested in all car games. Currently he plays them on tablet. But if I have to get an entry level sim setup, what all things I'd need and what expense am I looking at. Should it be console + steering wheel/pedals or PC/laptop + steering wheel/pedals?

I'd prefer him to connect it to TV. Luckily I have top end Samsung TV that supports 4k, 120 hz video.

[7.83hz]

Originally Posted by shipnil

I am a complete noob at this, seeking advice. My 8 year son is very interested in all car games. Currently he plays them on tablet. But if I have to get an entry level sim setup, what all things I'd need and what expense am I looking at. Should it be console + steering wheel/pedals or PC/laptop + steering wheel/pedals?

PC's are always the way to go, infinite options in terms of kind/quality of games from old school rally style sims (very engaging) to modern day AAA titles.

If you need help with sourcing a sparingly used sim setup (under 50 hours of wheel time) to begin with - Thrustmaster T300 RS please reach out and I'll be happy to help you with more details.

[racing_panda]

Originally Posted by shipnil

Hi seasoned Sim Racers,

I am a complete noob at this, seeking advice. My 8 year son is very interested in all car games. Currently he plays them on tablet. But if I have to get an entry level sim setup, what all things I'd need and what expense am I looking at. Should it be console + steering wheel/pedals or PC/laptop + steering wheel/pedals?

I'd prefer him to connect it to TV. Luckily I have top end Samsung TV that supports 4k, 120 hz video.

Hi Shipnil, apologies for a very late response, hope it is still relevant. I recommend a PC, and getting the Moza R3 bundle. As 7.83Hz said, PCs provide the maximum compatibility in terms of games, but more importantly, PCs will allow you to perform the inevitable hardware (steering, base, pedals, bass shakers, shifters, etc.) upgrades incrementally. With consoles, you would be tied to making sure that the upgrade is compatible with your current wheelbase, because of the single cable restrictions, whereas with PC you can plug in as many accessories as your USB ports. For the same reason, consoles will restrict you to a single brand, which is never the most cost effective option in the long run.
I can say from experience that a gaming laptop with a RTX3060 (so a mobile chip, not the desktop version) is perfectly capable of a single HD monitor. Your 120Hz 4K display might necessitate a stronger PC.
As far as costs are concerned, the cheapest direct drive setup with non loadcell brakes (ie the R3 bundle) is about 50K. I recommend that you might as well get load cell pedals, the cheapest ones are about 30K. Unfortunately, the R3 bundle cannot be had without its own pedal set, so you cannot swap its pedals for the load cell pedals. Therefore, you have the following options
1. [recommended, for a cheap starter set, approx. 50K]R3 bundle: 3.9 Nm DD wheelbase + non loadcell brakes
2. R3 bundle + load cell pedals: 3.9 Nm DD wheelbase + pedal set with non loadcell brakes + pedal set with load cell brakes. This strands you with 2 pedal sets, can you perhaps try and sell the non load cell pedal set.
3. [recommended for a long term use case, approx. 1.15L] R9 + load cell pedals: the cheapest Moza DD wheelbase that is sold with load cell pedals.
4. R9 + sim-forge pedals: Moza SRP pedals do not have the best ergonomics, so can go for a slightly higher priced (more on this later) and much higher quality sim-forge set. Unfortunately, since this is not sold as a Moza bundle, the costs can be a lot higher, best to check with the seller.

I will not recommend going above 9Nm. I lot of people have a force feedback fetish, however, I have found that anything above 4Nm slows you down. Immersive, for sure, but also a useless impediment. Even truer if you are buying for an 8 year old. Better to spend the savings on bass shakers, shifters and the like.

[ecenandu]

Hi, I'm really interested in sim rigs too! Back in 2015, I bought a PS3 and Logitech wheels, but the experience was quite underwhelming. The brake and steering feedback felt too arcadish, so I passed my setup to my cousin after using it for a few months.

Fast forward to now, I've watched many videos on YouTube about sim rigs and seen how much they've improved. I've been following this thread for a while, and now I have the opportunity to set up a rig at home since I have a dedicated space for it.

Before diving in, I wanted to make sure I'd enjoy driving in a rig, given my previous experiences weren't great. I'm not talking about the one I had, but the ones at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi and a shopping mall in Bangalore, way back in the 2010s.

So, I booked an appointment with sim race Sweden in Uppsala, Sweden. I spent over two hours driving and discussing a rig that suits my budget. It didn't take long for me to fall in love with driving in a sim rig—just five laps, and I was hooked.

Maybe next year, I'll take the plunge and set up the rig, or maybe even earlier. I'll definitely update this thread with my progress!

[Rachit.K.Dogra]

My friend recently built a Rig for me.



The TV is LG C4 49inches. Ideally should have gone for 42 inches as this big a TV so close does hurt your eyes. But on the immersion side, it does give quite a good immersion in case of Cockpit view racing.

For the Rig, I already had the stand which we used and made supports and fixtures around it using Steel Square pipes.

This is him here giving it a Test Run!!

Rest of the equipment:
Thrustmaster TGT2 base
Ferrari 488GT3 Racing wheel
Thrustmaster TLCM Load Cell Pedals
Thrustmaster TSS shifter/handbrake

Now, if I could only buy some skill too.

But since I have a dedicated setup, putting in practice hours have become a bit easier.

CHEERS!!
Rachit.

[paras211]

I just got a r5 bundle wheel. , I want to buy a cpu to run assetto corsa evo and the likes. Please recommend a Pc for this use. I have zero know about computer specs. I use a 10 yr old i3 laptop for work. I want it to be capable to handle a Screen with 4k.

Thanks.

[xcentrk]

Originally Posted by paras211

I just got a r5 bundle wheel. , I want to buy a cpu to run assetto corsa evo and the likes. Please recommend a Pc for this use. I have zero know about computer specs. I use a 10 yr old i3 laptop for work. I want it to be capable to handle a Screen with 4k.

Thanks.

i5-11400, Any decent LGA1200 motherboard from MSI/ASUS/Gigabyte, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 1TB HDD, RTX 3060 Ti or RTX 3060 and any 650W bronze rating PSU from reputed brands(Antec, Corsair, Deepcool, MSI). This should do fine.

If 3060Ti is not available, 3060 itself will do just fine(Ti cards are hard to come by and pricier). Rest of the components you can choose by yourself.