Help me build a $6k set rig!

[2020 Supraman]

I'm brand new to SIM racing - I purchased a 2020 supra a few months back, and started researching driving schools, tracks, etc. and I came across SIM racing. Thanks to everyone on this forum and youtube channels for what I've learned thus far. $6k is what I've got to spend. I am going to list what I think is best for me right now (mid-range system from what I've gathered). Please give me feedback, what you would change if you had 6k to spend! I'm currently stuck in the middle east, and am planning for my return to the states!!

1. $1,770 PC: Alienware R9, i7 9700k 8 core, RTX 2080 Super, 16 GB Ram, 512GH SSD (This PC will only be for SIM racing)

2. $1,140 Triple Monitors: BenQ EX3203R 1800r curved monitors, 144 hz, 1440p, HDR, Freesync
$550.00 *UPDATED 6/12 - save $$ on monitors and start with VR. Occulus Rift S vs. HP Reverb G1 (Both are about ~$550 now as Rift S prices soaring and Reverb prices dropping with announcement of G2. I need to purchase by early July so my options are limited).

3. $200 Tiple Monitor Stand: Obutto R3V Tr
*UPDATED 5/21 - switch to Sim-Lab triple monitor stand based on rigidity (price included in sim-lab rig
*UPDATED 6/12 - no triples, will start with VR

4. $525 Cockpit: GT Omega TITAN (new) Cockpit. This includes RS6 seat and shifter mount
$1,760 *UPDATED 5/21 - switch to Sim-Lab P1X. Price includes: Chassis, triple monitor mount, pedal slider baseplate & seat slider, bucket seat bracket set & seat slider, CS shifter side mount - tilt, buttkicker mounting plate, cup holder, keyboard tray, mouse pad, estimated ~300 euros shipping
$1260 *UPDATED 6/12 - took out monitor mounts, keyboard tray, buttkicker mounts - will hold off buttkickers initially

5. $400 *Updated 5/21 - Corbaeu FX1 Seat

6. $850 Steering Wheel and Base: Fanatec ClubSport Wheel Base V2.5 and BMW GT Wheel
$1000-$1400 *UPDATED 6/12 switch to DD. Deciding between Accuforce ($1k) and VRS ($1k + rim)

7. $400 Pedals: Fanatec V3 with Brake Performance Kit
$775.00 *Updated 5/22 Heusinkveld (HE) Sprint Pedals + baseplate + shipping

8. $250 Shifter: Fanatec ClubSport Shifter *UPDATED 6/12 - switch to HE Sequential Shifter (same price)

9. $200 Accessory: ButtKicker Gamer 2 with tubular adapter mount
*UPDATED 6/12 - will hold off on Buttkicker initially


TOTAL: $5,335.
*Updated 5/21 TOTAL: $6,770
*Updated 5/22 TOTAL: $7,145
*Updated 6/12 TOTAL: $5,980 - $6,380

 

[sidepieceracing]

Best of luck getting that Sim Lab frame. You might need to double the spend on it to get one soon...

 

[idealtarget]

$6k are a lot of money for a rig without a dd wheel. I would go with Heusinkveld sprint pedals and simcube 2 sport. You can save money if you choose gt1-evo rig and a cheaper seat.

 

[2020 Supraman]

$6k are a lot of money for a rig without a dd wheel. I would go with Heusinkveld sprint pedals and simcube 2 sport. You can save money if you choose gt1-evo rig and a cheaper seat.

I will check out those items. Not sure difference between the sim-lab rigs, and if makes sense to save a couple hundred on a lower model.

It’s so hard to draw the line. Ie. If I’m going to get HE sprint pedals why not just get HE Ultimates!

 

[2020 Supraman]

*Update - some time spent this evening reviewing pedals.

$400 Pedals: Fanatec V3 with Brake Performance Kit
$775.00 *Updated 5/22 Heusinkveld (HE) Sprint Pedals + baseplate + shipping

Will spend some time exploring DD wheels. Simucube or Fanatec DD + wheel rim is a little over $2,000, which would be an additional $1,200. I may need to keep an eye on the marketplace for used items to get my bottom line closer to $6k if I go this route.

 

[sidepieceracing]

i was building my own list over the past 2-3 weeks... but the big issue is getting a rig that i want. sim lab might have availability in 2021 at this rate. im just shocked the market place for USA rigs is so blah / generic / over priced

 

[onehundredandfive]

$6k is a lot to spend if you are just starting out, what if you don't really like it long term? And going Trip Screens is a bit redundent these days, VR is much better and cheaper too.

Personally I went with a mix of used and new stuff:
used xeon workstation (£250)
new ebay 1070ti gpu (£220)
new Thrustmaster t300rs (£220)
used Corbeau Classic Car Bucket off ebay (£40)
GT Omega Apex wheel stand (£100)
Lenovo Headset which was tried once and not liked by the previous owner (£120)
I use an old 21" LCD TV and a lOGITECH k400+ I had for years.

I wanted a sequential shifter, so I got the same one as my e93 BMW automatic from ebay (£20) and bought a couple of micro switches and a USB controller board from Amazon and built a 'Ghetto Fabulous' shifter with a glue gun, absolutly perfect and better build quailty than any sim shifter you can buy.

All these bits are cheaper in the US, so you can get a great set up for less than $1,000, then upgrade parts as you see fit.

I want to upgrade my pedals at some point to the new T-LCM and a rear mount for my seat that is part of the Apex line (its loose on a old CD flight case which is fine as long as the back of the seat is against a wall).

You'll also want some gloves, I went with Specialized MTB full finger summer gloves with touch screen tips, so I can use my Logitech K400+ touch pad. They go through the washing machine well, are quiet cool during hard sessions because of the mesh backs.

 

[Fennario]

1. Sim-Lab orders open up again tomorrow morning (6/1). Based on prior order blocks they will sell out and shut things down just an hour or two after they go back on sale/start accepting new orders. I was able to order my P1-X on 4/15 and received it about a month later. No complaints other than the difficulty in acquiring and the seat/pedal sliders mentioned below.

2. Sim-Lab will not ship seats to the US. I went to Wine Country Racing and sat in a few to see what worked best for me/was the most comfortable. Ended up going with a Sparco Evo XL.

3. Was not able to get the Sim-Lab seat/pedal sliders to work properly so just bolted my pedals and seat to where they work best for me.

 

[oofie810]

1. Sim-Lab orders open up again tomorrow morning (6/1). Based on prior order blocks they will sell out and shut things down just an hour or two after they go back on sale/start accepting new orders. I was able to order my P1-X on 4/15 and received it about a month later. No complaints other than the difficulty in acquiring and the seat/pedal sliders mentioned below.

2. Sim-Lab will not ship seats to the US. I went to Wine Country Racing and sat in a few to see what worked best for me/was the most comfortable. Ended up going with a Sparco Evo XL.

3. Was not able to get the Sim-Lab seat/pedal sliders to work properly so just bolted my pedals and seat to where they work best for me.

Curious as to why you couldn't get the seat slider to work properly. I'm have a GT1 Evo and plan on ordering some parts from sim-lab tomorrow and might as well order the seat slider while I'm at it but your post got me curious.

 

[Fennario]

Curious as to why you couldn't get the seat slider to work properly. I'm have a GT1 Evo and plan on ordering some parts from sim-lab tomorrow and might as well order the seat slider while I'm at it but your post got me curious.

I probably could have made it work but I got angry/frustrated after futzing with it for a couple of hours. Issue is that the 3rd party model they sell (NRG) is pretty cheaply made - you need to bend the adjustment lever to the correct width so each end of the "U" mates with the male prongs on the rails. Unfortunately, the base of the Evo XL was too wide for the adjustment lever to be properly bent such that it could connect to the rails. In the end, convinced myself that it was better/sturdier connected directly to the rig vs. the slider and haven't worried about it since.

 

[Chrhun]

It seems the sliders always require a bit of bending to make the fit, in same cases more than "a bit".

 

[2020 Supraman]

$6k is a lot to spend if you are just starting out, what if you don't really like it long term? And going Trip Screens is a bit redundent these days, VR is much better and cheaper too.

Personally I went with a mix of used and new stuff:
used xeon workstation (£250)
new ebay 1070ti gpu (£220)
new Thrustmaster t300rs (£220)
used Corbeau Classic Car Bucket off ebay (£40)
GT Omega Apex wheel stand (£100)
Lenovo Headset which was tried once and not liked by the previous owner (£120)
I use an old 21" LCD TV and a lOGITECH k400+ I had for years.

I wanted a sequential shifter, so I got the same one as my e93 BMW automatic from ebay (£20) and bought a couple of micro switches and a USB controller board from Amazon and built a 'Ghetto Fabulous' shifter with a glue gun, absolutly perfect and better build quailty than any sim shifter you can buy.

All these bits are cheaper in the US, so you can get a great set up for less than $1,000, then upgrade parts as you see fit.

I want to upgrade my pedals at some point to the new T-LCM and a rear mount for my seat that is part of the Apex line (its loose on a old CD flight case which is fine as long as the back of the seat is against a wall).

You'll also want some gloves, I went with Specialized MTB full finger summer gloves with touch screen tips, so I can use my Logitech K400+ touch pad. They go through the washing machine well, are quiet cool during hard sessions because of the mesh backs.

Good points.. I have been scouring the classifieds for Logitech/Thrustmaster wheels/pedals since getting simlab rig this year may be challenging. Picking up a used PC makes me a bit nervous, but something I’ll look into

 

[2020 Supraman]

I probably could have made it work but I got angry/frustrated after futzing with it for a couple of hours. Issue is that the 3rd party model they sell (NRG) is pretty cheaply made - you need to bend the adjustment lever to the correct width so each end of the "U" mates with the male prongs on the rails. Unfortunately, the base of the Evo XL was too wide for the adjustment lever to be properly bent such that it could connect to the rails. In the end, convinced myself that it was better/sturdier connected directly to the rig vs. the slider and haven't worried about it since.

I get the seat being too wide... but what was the issue with the pedal slider? I did see Boosted Media video where Will had to drill an additional hole through the sliders to get it to line up with his aluminum profile. But I think he could have moved the profile a bit to get it lined up

 

[Fennario]

Decided it wasn't necessary and didn't want to deal with any more frustration at that point in time. That said, can see how installing the slider rails on the pedal plate would be much easier. Still have all the components and may put them on down the road.

One counterpoint, however, is that the rig is rock solid and has no flex with the seat brackets and pedal plate bolted directly to the rig. Was thinking that sliders have the potential to introduce some jiggle or other unwanted movement.

 

[onehundredandfive]

Good points.. I have been scouring the classifieds for Logitech/Thrustmaster wheels/pedals since getting simlab rig this year may be challenging. Picking up a used PC makes me a bit nervous, but something I’ll look into

I went for a new Thrustmaster t300, just because it is full of moving parts, so may have been abused or worn out.

I think wheel wise, you want a minimum of a T300, the logitech has great pedals, but the wheel is geared and not as good as the belt driven T300, and you are stuck with the wheel rim on the logitech base but can change the rim on the T300 if you want to later on. There is a box for about $100 you can get that allows you to mix and match wheels, pedals and other peripheries, but I don't know how good they are or how reliably they work.

Thrustmaster now make LoadCell pedals, so there are more upgrades for the T300 the more you get into it, Fanatec is better but the price is very high for the base and peripheries

A used PC with an SSD and a new big HDD (for storing games and Mods) is really not an issue. A used Pro workstation from a company like HP, Dell etc also has a Windows code built into it, so you can wipe the machine and reinstall it without having to buy a copy of Windows.

Xeon CPU's are about 5 years ahead of intel i7's, I got a E5 1650 v3 (six years old now) in a Dell T5810 PC, with the new GPU I bought it's great, but a RTX 2080 Ti would be better (avoid AMD GPU's, they just don't perform as well as Nvidia cards)

I play Assetto Corsa (with lots of Mods), Dirt 2 and Project Cars, all in VR, and because I went for a cheaper GPU, it struggles to go to the highest quailty graphic settings, the CPU isn't really the bottle neck in my set up.

If you check out some of the Utube sim racers, some have everything top of the line, PC, GPU etc, and they still struggle to get highest graphic settings in multi car races, so I think VR hits a limit and then just stays there. A minumin GPU is the 1070ti, but this is the area to spent as much as you can on, they hold there value well too, so if you do get bored, you will get most of your money back.

VR is the way to go, if you can find a Samsung Odessey Plus, I would snap it up. No need for external sensors, it has physical pupil distance adjustment, and has one of the highest resolutions on the market, for Sim Racing, this is more than enough but they seem to have stopped making them.

Good luck, hope you manage to save some money, get a great set up and enjoy the racing, I'm sure our paths will cross on the tracks racing online.

 

[TedBrosby-]

You're overpaying by like $750 for that P1-X. Why does it cost so much?
Check out demon-tweeks they ship to the US.
Also you don't have to buy Sim-Lab's specific cup holder and keyboard tray. 30 minutes of MayCAD and you can fabricate the parts for one yourself.
Buying a belt driven wheel because "$2000 was too much for DD plus steering wheel" while spending enough on your cockpit in accessories to buy a whole other aluminum cockpit is not a good way to spend your money IMO.
You can ADD accessories after the fact, but changing your belt driven wheel after is much harder to do. I hate using this phrase but, "buy once, cry once".

IMO:
Simucube 2 Pro $1450 SimCraft
Motamec D shaped wheel $60
3d printed button plate with shifters $150 on 3drap.it
Is that Alienware something you already have? Because the lowest price for it right now is $1900 from BestBuy and you shouldn't buy Alienware because they only have a 1 year warranty and are generally poorly built with inadequate cooling/PSU.
I would consider building something like https://pcpartpicker.com/list/XR8zrV for $1850.
HE Sprints when you can get them - $700
Unless you plan to drive H pattern cars, I would pass on Fanatec shifter since it's 7 years old, long in the tooth and way past the time of being a good purchase at $250.
Get HE Sequential shifter for $175
https://heusinkveld.com/products/sh...akes/sim-shifter-sequential-2/&v=24d22e03afb2
That puts you at around $4400, let's assume $4500 after shipping.
Now you have $1500 to spend on rig, but I wouldn't spend all $1500 on a P1-X with cup holders and rear view mirrors or whatever.
Just get the P1-X to start with, by itself, and hear me out...
Spend the rest on a VR headset.
You will thank yourself if your intention is to practice for driving a real car.

If you need more wiggle room, you can swap the Simucube 2 Pro for an Accuforce V2 complete. It's $1000 with a wheel and buttons/shifters included. The wheel is quite nice and the V2 is miles better than the CS 2.5.
You can also consider building a Ryzen desktop instead and using a 2070 Super instead of the 2080 Super. This would save you around $400-$500.

Spending $6k on a rig and buying CS2.5 is really sad. I say that as a CS 2.5 owner who spent around $1300 for my entire rig (pedals included).

 

[2020 Supraman]

You're overpaying by like $750 for that P1-X. Why does it cost so much?
Check out demon-tweeks they ship to the US.
Also you don't have to buy Sim-Lab's specific cup holder and keyboard tray. 30 minutes of MayCAD and you can fabricate the parts for one yourself.
Buying a belt driven wheel because "$2000 was too much for DD plus steering wheel" while spending enough on your cockpit in accessories to buy a whole other aluminum cockpit is not a good way to spend your money IMO.
You can ADD accessories after the fact, but changing your belt driven wheel after is much harder to do. I hate using this phrase but, "buy once, cry once".

IMO:
Simucube 2 Pro $1450 SimCraft
Motamec D shaped wheel $60
3d printed button plate with shifters $150 on 3drap.it
Is that Alienware something you already have? Because the lowest price for it right now is $1900 from BestBuy and you shouldn't buy Alienware because they only have a 1 year warranty and are generally poorly built with inadequate cooling/PSU.
I would consider building something like https://pcpartpicker.com/list/XR8zrV for $1850.
HE Sprints when you can get them - $700
Unless you plan to drive H pattern cars, I would pass on Fanatec shifter since it's 7 years old, long in the tooth and way past the time of being a good purchase at $250.
Get HE Sequential shifter for $175
https://heusinkveld.com/products/shifters-handbrakes/sim-shifter-sequential-2/?q=/products/shifters-handbrakes/sim-shifter-sequential-2/&v=24d22e03afb2
That puts you at around $4400, let's assume $4500 after shipping.
Now you have $1500 to spend on rig, but I wouldn't spend all $1500 on a P1-X with cup holders and rear view mirrors or whatever.
Just get the P1-X to start with, by itself, and hear me out...
Spend the rest on a VR headset.
You will thank yourself if your intention is to practice for driving a real car.

If you need more wiggle room, you can swap the Simucube 2 Pro for an Accuforce V2 complete. It's $1000 with a wheel and buttons/shifters included. The wheel is quite nice and the V2 is miles better than the CS 2.5.
You can also consider building a Ryzen desktop instead and using a 2070 Super instead of the 2080 Super. This would save you around $400-$500.

Spending $6k on a rig and buying CS2.5 is really sad. I say that as a CS 2.5 owner who spent around $1300 for my entire rig (pedals included).

Great post, thank you!

Wheel - I have been meaning to update this with a DD drive wheel based on yours and other forum member posts. Thinking accuforce vs. VRS.

Cockpit - I like Demon-tweeks website a lot more than Sim-labs. The reason why it is so expensive is due to shipping. I emailed Demon-tweeks to get an estimate from them. Cup holder is $12 and mouse pad is $20 so not worried about those, but keyboard tray is $70, so I can probably find a better option for that. I am going to hold off on Buttkickers and consider that later after I'm racing for a bit.

Computer - Other's have recommended PC picker, and I may go that route. Thanks for putting together that list. I chose Alienware because it is one of the top picks on all the "best gaming PC" list. I'm certainly not opposed to other options, but I'm also NOT tech savvy and don't enjoy tinkering with PCs. I want them to just work

Shifter - I am planning to drive H pattern cars, but I have thought about starting out with a sequential shifter first. I looked at the Ailogs sequential - how does this HE compare to it? I put the HE in my cart and went through check out, it would be $250 with shipping. This may be a good option for me b/c I am putting together a mini travelling Rig right now b/c I'm working internationally through 2021 w/ lots of travel... would love to have pieces that can pop over on to a home rig

VR / Monitors - You must be reading my mind because I think I am going to start with VR, again, b/c of the travelling Rig I'm putting together. Perhaps I'll be content with it and not go for triples. I think I'll plan that way for now in hopes that it works out. I don't really get motion/sea sickness so hoping it will be the same with VR.

 

[2020 Supraman]

Original post updated - see this for details.

$1770 Alienware PC
$550 VR headset, Rift S vs. Reverb G1 (limited options - need to buy in next month)
$1260 Sim-lab P1x cockpit (now w/ fewer accessories)
$400 Corbaeu Fx1 seat
$1000-$1400 DD wheel (deciding between Accuforce and VRS)
$775 HE Pedals
$250 HE sequential shifter

Total $5980-$6380

 

[CRMS]

I've just put together a rig in UK for a bit over £6k.
Fanatec Podium DD1, V2 wheel, APM, V3 pedals plus a P1 wheel.
ButtKicker Gamer2 with Creative Play 3.
AMD Ryzen 7 3800, Asus STRIX X570-I MB, 32Gb, 1Tb SSD, Nvidia 2080Ti. Looked at self build but cheaper from a specialist company - they must get decent volume discounts. Eg the case was £80 cheaper than self sourcing.
Cambridge Soundworks DTT2200 5.1 sound - actually left over from 1990 when I had F1 99!!
Samsung C49RG90 monitor. www.displaysolutions.samsung.com/monitor/detail/1421/C49RG90
UK rig - Slick Steel Cobra F1c. Really heavy duty - 70kg - and huge amount of work and adjustable everywhere. Stainless Steel 304, normal powder coatings not available during CV19 lockdown, and included monitor stand, seat and seat/pedal sliders. www.slicksteel.co.uk/cobra.html

 

[TedBrosby-]

Original post updated - see this for details.

$1770 Alienware PC
$550 VR headset, Rift S vs. Reverb G1 (limited options - need to buy in next month)
$1260 Sim-lab P1x cockpit (now w/ fewer accessories)
$400 Corbaeu Fx1 seat
$1000-$1400 DD wheel (deciding between Accuforce and VRS)
$775 HE Pedals
$250 HE sequential shifter

Total $5980-$6380

Even if you decide not to buy it, I would reserve the VRS now if you're considering it. Their pre-orders are being filled first come first serve and if you decide one month from now that you want one, the list might be really long (8 weeks +).

Accuforce advantages: Since it's your first DD wheel you might not notice that it's older technology vs VRS/Simucube. Plus it has Cloud tuning which probably helps since you will be moving it around and will want to change settings whenever you change locations.

For PC, I would consider going with a more high-mid grade AMD GPU for now and waiting for Nvidia 30 series to release. The coolers have already leaked and Nvidia has admit that it was a leak meaning they will probably be here before summer is over. The 2000 series RTX cards are very poor value wise (5700XT is punching distance from a 2080 even though it's about $150 cheaper). You can also get this from BestBuy: 3700X > 9700K especially if you're racing online (more threads), 5700XT on latest drivers is quite stable and powerful (can play VR 80 fps on high settings) and it'll be ready for you to upgrade to an RTX 3000 series card when they release. And the price difference vs the Alienware, you'll be able to afford it.

I don't know anything about Reverb G1, but again if you want a Rift S, order soon because those things are flying off the shelves due to the pandemic. I'm glad I bought mine back in November because it sells locally in Japan for almost 60% higher price than MSRP.

P1-X: That sounds like a good idea. Still not sure why it's $1300 shipped to US, that seems pricey but I have no idea what the standard price is in the US. But P1-X is one of those "buy once use for life" type of rigs so in the grand scheme of things, maybe not so expensive.

 

[2020 Supraman]

Even if you decide not to buy it, I would reserve the VRS now if you're considering it. Their pre-orders are being filled first come first serve and if you decide one month from now that you want one, the list might be really long (8 weeks +).

Accuforce advantages: Since it's your first DD wheel you might not notice that it's older technology vs VRS/Simucube. Plus it has Cloud tuning which probably helps since you will be moving it around and will want to change settings whenever you change locations.

For PC, I would consider going with a more high-mid grade AMD GPU for now and waiting for Nvidia 30 series to release. The coolers have already leaked and Nvidia has admit that it was a leak meaning they will probably be here before summer is over. The 2000 series RTX cards are very poor value wise (5700XT is punching distance from a 2080 even though it's about $150 cheaper). You can also get this from BestBuy: 3700X > 9700K especially if you're racing online (more threads), 5700XT on latest drivers is quite stable and powerful (can play VR 80 fps on high settings) and it'll be ready for you to upgrade to an RTX 3000 series card when they release. And the price difference vs the Alienware, you'll be able to afford it.

I don't know anything about Reverb G1, but again if you want a Rift S, order soon because those things are flying off the shelves due to the pandemic. I'm glad I bought mine back in November because it sells locally in Japan for almost 60% higher price than MSRP.

P1-X: That sounds like a good idea. Still not sure why it's $1300 shipped to US, that seems pricey but I have no idea what the standard price is in the US. But P1-X is one of those "buy once use for life" type of rigs so in the grand scheme of things, maybe not so expensive.

The monitor stand is $300, and that also adds to the shipping cost.

Unfortunately, you can't order or even pre-order a Rift-S. Only option is to buy off ebay/amazon for $550-600 which doesn't excite me.

I don't know anything about AMD, but will check it out. The 30 series looks very promising for GPU

Accuforce is also a local company to me in Ohio, which would be nice if I ever had an issue down the road. Definitely considering it.