There is a very misused term in video games, that of simulation. Many people mistakenly believe that the software itself defines it. The reality is that if this were the case, there would be no complex flight or driving simulators based on the use of complex configurations of input and output devices. Setting up a racing simulator is not for everyone, it takes space and significant capital if you want to have one and for many a simple setup will suffice.
Fortunately, in the world of PC hardware, there is a common standard, which is none other than the existing choice. However, in this tutorial, we are not going to describe which are the best components, but what you need to consider in order to be able to enjoy your speed games in a way you have never seen them before.
How to create a racing simulator for PC?
We have decided to take into account a series of elements that are crucial for the experience in a good racing simulator and that make a difference compared to the usual use of this kind of games on a computer compared to when we plays it with a traditional joystick. We can say that having a PC as a racing simulator where the operation of a car is emulated to the maximum transforms the experience completely.
Of course, no matter how good you were with the control button, you’ll have to relearn how to play to be able to break the records, however, as time passes and you get used to it, you’ll realize that experience is totally different and is a level above. So if you are a fan of the engine and want to build a RIG of this type and you don’t know what you need to consider, then we recommend that you continue reading.
What is the ideal steering wheel?
Right off the bat, we have to make it clear that we leave the steering wheel up to you, because you know better than anyone what type of steering wheel to choose. Of course, from experience we recommend that you first of all not choose steering wheel plus pedal kits where some are dependent on others, i.e. you cannot replace the steering wheels or the pedals with others. Then discard the plastic pedals without resistance mechanisms and make sure that the steering wheel rotation degrees are wide in both directions.
As for the Force Feedback motor, while it is true that there are professional options with powerful motors like those from Fanatec, these have a power that is not suitable for novice users. If you’re building your own gaming setup, the Thrustmaster or Logitech options are much better for a novice user with a much lower budget.
The choice of the cockpit and its elements
There is a very common mistake when it comes to wanting to enjoy speed games with a steering wheel and pedals and we believe that we will only have to place them in a certain position on our desk. The reality is that it won’t take long to realize how uncomfortable it is after a short time. Not least because of the distance between the pedals and our feet, as well as the position of our long-term back.
So the first thing we have to take into account is our comfort, it doesn’t matter if we have the best steering wheel on the market and a PC capable of moving everything, because without a good chair everything can easily go to fry the asparagus. Of course, depending on the budget we have, we can choose one type of chair or another. And fortunately, there are a plethora of gaming chairs designed for the needs of a speed simulation RIG, from the simplest systems to complex ones with motors worth thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars.
The best solution? A simple racing cockpit like the one that accompanies the image in this section is the best option you can choose. Not only does it have all the necessary elements to mount the monitors, the steering wheel and the pedals, but its elements are arranged for the greatest comfort of our legs and our back. Of course, make sure that the elements are not fixed and that you can adjust the distance of the steering wheel from you, as well as the tilt and height. And don’t forget to choose one with good materials, since it must not only last, but also support the weight of the screen or screens that we are going to place on it. As well as our weight.
Which screen is the best for our simulator?
We want to have the largest field of vision when driving like when driving a real car, unfortunately a single screen does not allow us to do this and therefore a PC based racing simulator will opt for more than one screen at a time . same time or a large ultra wide screen and by that we mean one with a 32:9 aspect ratio. Reality? You’ll find that price-wise it’ll be better to put two monitors with a 16:9 aspect ratio rather than a 32:9 one, so pick the option that best suits your pocket.
Of course, if you opt for two 16:9 screens to be put side by side, then we advise you to opt for a frameless screen, since the objective is to put them correlative to each other to creating the feel of a very large monitor. If you ask us about a specific monitor model that for us is the most suitable or close to what we want to achieve, then our answer would be a monitor with a 32:9 aspect ratio, Full HD resolution x 2 (3840 x 1080 pixels) and a refresh rate of more than 120 Hz or more.
Going for a high refresh rate screen brings us to another issue which is resolution. While being able to connect multiple 4K monitors at high refresh rates is ideal, this is currently extremely expensive in terms of the hardware needed to push said resolutions to those speeds in a sustained fashion.
What is the ideal PC for a racing simulator?
Alright we have the chair, the monitor and the steering wheel but we need a PC that can easily run the games and for that we are going to need a powerful setup to move our driving simulator with the maximum possible speed. However, since some popular games have very low specs, it is often thought that relatively modest settings are enough to get the most out of these games in a PC racing simulator.
What we’re going to need is a setup that allows us to get high frame rates with the processor and graphics card. In the case of the first, it is preferable that it is as powerful as possible in our budget, since each frame starts in the CPU and you have to cut the milliseconds from the start. We therefore do not recommend anything below an i7 if we are talking about Intel or a Ryzen 7 in the case of AMD.
As for the GPU, we may mistakenly believe that playing games in Full HD does not require power, but we are not talking about 1080p at 60 frames per second, but at least two screens and speeds above 120 Hz It is a density of information. four times larger per second and therefore we have to use a graphics card designed to play 4K games on PC and go for the high end.
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