Cheapest Sim Racing Setup

[PowerPCFan]

What is the cheapest sim racing setup that still has a decent PC, isn't garbage, and all the necessary parts? I might build a cheap sim racing setup but I haven't decided yet. I'm trying to plan one out just in case I decide to build one. 

 

Requirements:

- All parts from Amazon, Newegg, Best Buy, and Micro Center - no AliExpress, eBay, Facebook (if I could build just the PC only using parts from the Cambridge Micro Center that would be good)

- Cockpit and racing chair

- 2 ultrawide monitors or 4 regular monitors, set up with Nvidia Surround or AMD Eyefinity, preferably 1440p 100hz or better

- Wheel

- Pedals

- Shifter

- Handbrake

- Keyboard/Mouse (even a $10 wired combo from Amazon works)

- A PC that can run Forza, BeamNG.drive, Asseto Corza, Gran Turismo, etc, at least 75 fps minimum

 

If I built a cheap PC with a 6600 XT and R5 5600, would that be good enough to run the most popular racing games? (I don't care about PC aesthetics at all for this PC)

[Hinjima]

17 minutes ago, PowerPCFan said:

What is the cheapest sim racing setup that still has a decent PC, isn't garbage, and all the necessary parts? I might build a cheap sim racing setup but I haven't decided yet. I'm trying to plan one out just in case I decide to build one. 

 

Requirements:

- All parts from Amazon, Newegg, Best Buy, and Micro Center - no AliExpress, eBay, Facebook (if I could build just the PC only using parts from the Cambridge Micro Center that would be good)

- Cockpit and racing chair

- 2 ultrawide monitors or 4 regular monitors, set up with Nvidia Surround or AMD Eyefinity, preferably 1440p 100hz or better

- Wheel

- Pedals

- Shifter

- Handbrake

- Keyboard/Mouse (even a $10 wired combo from Amazon works)

- A PC that can run Forza, BeamNG.drive, Asseto Corza, Gran Turismo, etc, at least 75 fps minimum

 

If I built a cheap PC with a 6600 XT and R5 5600, would that be good enough to run the most popular racing games? (I don't care about PC aesthetics at all for this PC)

Do you have a max budget that we can work around? Having something to work with is a lot easier.

I do A LOT of simracing so I know quite a bit about components needed and what is good bang for buck.

What do you think is a realistic price for a cheap setup that would still give a good simracing experience?

Do you want a cheap logitech wheel or do you want a much better yet cheap DirectDrive wheel like the Moza R5?

[PowerPCFan]

2 minutes ago, Hinjima said:

Do you have a max budget that we can work around? Having something to work with is a lot easier.

I do A LOT of simracing so I know quite a bit about components needed and what is good bang for buck.

What do you think is a realistic price for a cheap setup that would still give a good simracing experience?

Do you want a cheap logitech wheel or do you want a much better yet cheap DirectDrive wheel like the Moza R5?

I don't know anything about sim racing part prices, but around $2500? Not sure if that's plenty of $$$ or way too low of a budget

 

 

2 minutes ago, Hinjima said:

Do you want a cheap logitech wheel or do you want a much better yet cheap DirectDrive wheel like the Moza R5?

A cheap Logitech wheel is good, unless the better wheels are only $20 more or something

[thevictor390]

I ended up with this cockpit as the cheapest thing I could get that fit my idea of what a "cockpit" is https://nextlevelracing.com/products/next-level-racing-f1gt-formula-1-and-gt-simulator-cockpit/

The thing is if you stretch the definition you also get stuff like this https://nextlevelracing.com/products/gtlite-playstation-edition/

 

I will also say, and this might be controversial, VR headset is so much more immersive and cheaper than screens. I got an Oculus Rift S used for $80. It's kind of a dead platform, but the Meta app still works with it which means you can use SteamVR and it's not really dead. The downsides are that it is very fiddly, picture quality is just not as good as a high res monitor, and limited game compatibility, upside of course is full 360 degree 3D view of your car.

 

The Logitech $200-300 wheels are just fine to start out. Or used for even cheaper. I have a G25 and a G920 and the actual wheel mechanism has hardly changed for 20 years.

 

No PC can run Gran Turismo, that is PS5 only and I am very sad about it.

[Hinjima]

1 hour ago, PowerPCFan said:

I don't know anything about sim racing part prices, but around $2500? Not sure if that's plenty of $$$ or way too low of a budget

 

 

A cheap Logitech wheel is good, unless the better wheels are only $20 more or something

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/M9fmpB

This is what I would do for a system. The 7700 is a very nice 8 core CPU and it comes with an adequate stock cooler.

I use the 7700x myself ( 2-4% faster only ) and its been great in all the sim titles I play.

This should leave quite a bit of money left for the rest of the simracing setup.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qhRF9c

This is an even cheaper setup and should do quite well but it will struggle running two ultrawides at a decent framerate in the most demanding racing sim titles.

[PowerPCFan]

21 minutes ago, Hinjima said:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/M9fmpB

This is what I would do for a system. The 7700 is a very nice 8 core CPU and it comes with an adequate stock cooler.

I use the 7700x myself ( 2-4% faster only ) and its been great in all the sim titles I play.

This should leave quite a bit of money left for the rest of the simracing setup.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qhRF9c

This is an even cheaper setup and should do quite well but it will struggle running two ultrawides at a decent framerate in the most demanding racing sim titles.

Would a cheaper PC with a 5600 and 6600 XT or similar parts run 1 1440p ultrawide at 60 FPS in Beamng, Forza, and Assetto Corza?? $2500 is my max budget

 

It looks like it could run FH5 at 1440p ultra and get 70 fps or so, but I doubt that's ultrawide: 

 

Should I use 3 24" 1080p 120hz monitors? I feel like that would be pretty immersive and cool-looking

[Hinjima]

23 minutes ago, PowerPCFan said:

Would a cheaper PC with a 5600 and 6600 XT or similar parts run 1 1440p ultrawide at 60 FPS in Beamng, Forza, and Assetto Corza?? $2500 is my max budget

 

It looks like it could run FH5 at 1440p ultra and get 70 fps or so, but I doubt that's ultrawide: 

 

Should I use 3 24" 1080p 120hz monitors? I feel like that would be pretty immersive and cool-looking

Yeah it should do alright   I would spend the extra 20 dollars and up the CPU to a 5700x as its currently on sale if you plan on buying soon.

It gives you 2 extra cores and 4 extra threads and racing sim titles like more cores as some titles have over 30 cars on the track at once.

The video you linked is only normal 1440p and an ultrawide would be around 34% more pixels so it would be harder to run.

 

I personally only use a single 1440p 27'' monitor for my setup and I feel its more than enough for now even though I race a lot.

I might upgrade to a curved ultrawide later.

[PowerPCFan]

9 minutes ago, Hinjima said:

Yeah it should do alright   I would spend the extra 20 dollars and up the CPU to a 5700x as its currently on sale if you plan on buying soon.

It gives you 2 extra cores and 4 extra threads and racing sim titles like more cores as some titles have over 30 cars on the track at once.

The video you linked is only normal 1440p and an ultrawide would be around 34% more pixels so it would be harder to run.

 

I personally only use a single 1440p 27'' monitor for my setup and I feel its more than enough for now even though I race a lot.

I might upgrade to a curved ultrawide later.

I had this list planned but 3 things: 

1 - I'll probably change it from 3 super cheap 1080p monitors to 1 really good 1440p monitor

2 - Are sim racing games CPU or GPU heavy? 

2 - what's a good cockpit, chair, monitor stand? 

[PowerPCFan]

Is this list a little better with the one 1440p monitor? 

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/gQDJDZ 

[Hinjima]

17 minutes ago, PowerPCFan said:

I had this list planned but 3 things: 

1 - I'll probably change it from 3 super cheap 1080p monitors to 1 really good 1440p monitor

2 - Are sim racing games CPU or GPU heavy? 

2 - what's a good cockpit, chair, monitor stand? 

One proper monitor is what I would go with. The thing with simracing and simrigs is that you can always expand later whenever you have the money or want to upgrade something. You don't need everything at once   This is very common in the simracing world and it can take years to fully get what you really want. Money don't grow on trees!

Simracing titles are both CPU and GPU, especially Assetto corsa competizione at night / rain and with Assetto Corsa 2 coming this year it should look very good.

Sim Racing Games can have many cars at once and the CPU have to calculate each cars fuel, tire wear, body damage, brake temperature etc etc.. The list goes on.

I would look into options from NextLevelRacing. Here is a link to cockpits and stands. They got some very nice budget options!. I use the NLR GTTrack myself and I love it ( not a budget cockpit )
https://nextlevelracing.com/racing-cockpits/

https://nextlevelracing.com/racing-stands/

12 minutes ago, PowerPCFan said:

Is this list a little better with the one 1440p monitor? 

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/gQDJDZ 

This is what I would go with. Very similar but the 5700x just owns the 5600g in terms of sim racing performance.

I also went with 32GB of RAM as 16GB is also a little low for modern titles.

I also changed the PSU as Apevia PSU's belong in the trash.  The Apevia PSU has a 1 year warranty while the MSI PSU has a 5 year warranty.

Yes its a little bit more expensive but its definitely worth the tiny bump in price in terms of performance and reliability.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/rHWfcH

 

If its still too expensive I would just change the Apevia PSU to the MSI PSU in your previous PcPartPicker list.

[Why_Me]

https://www.techpowerup.com/320715/amd-24-3-1-drivers-unlock-rx-7900-gre-memory-oc-limits-additional-performance-boost-tested

 

The 120mm fan goes inside the back of this case for an exhaust fan.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *Intel Core i5-12600KF 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor  ($149.99 @ Newegg) 
CPU Cooler: *Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  ($35.90 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: *ASRock Z690 Pro RS ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($119.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: *TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  ($55.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: *Acer Predator GM7000 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($129.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: *Gigabyte GAMING OC Radeon RX 7900 GRE 16 GB Video Card  ($549.99 @ B&H) 
Case: *Fractal Design Focus 2 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($69.98 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: *MSI MAG A850GL PCIE5 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($89.00 @ MSI) 
Case Fan: *ARCTIC P12 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fan  ($9.99 @ Amazon) 
Monitor: *Gigabyte GS27Q 27.0" 2560 x 1440 170 Hz Monitor  ($179.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1390.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-03-29 17:31 EDT-0400

 

A better look at those components.

 

https://www.gigabyte.com/Monitor/GS27Q#kf

https://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z690 Pro RS/index.asp

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...600kf-processor-20m-cache-up-to-4-90-ghz.html

https://www.thermalright.com/product/phantom-spirit-120-se/

https://www.predatorstorage.com/products/predator-gm7000-pcie-4-ssd.html

https://www.gigabyte.com/Graphics-Card/GV-R79GREGAMING-OC-16GD#kf

https://www.msi.com/Power-Supply/MAG-A850GL-PCIE5

https://www.arctic.de/en/P12-PWM-PST/ACFAN00120A

https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/focus/focus-2/black-tg-clear-tint/

 

 

[PowerPCFan]

3 hours ago, Why_Me said:

https://www.techpowerup.com/320715/amd-24-3-1-drivers-unlock-rx-7900-gre-memory-oc-limits-additional-performance-boost-tested

 

The 120mm fan goes inside the back of this case for an exhaust fan.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *Intel Core i5-12600KF 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor  ($149.99 @ Newegg) 
CPU Cooler: *Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  ($35.90 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: *ASRock Z690 Pro RS ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($119.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: *TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  ($55.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: *Acer Predator GM7000 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($129.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: *Gigabyte GAMING OC Radeon RX 7900 GRE 16 GB Video Card  ($549.99 @ B&H) 
Case: *Fractal Design Focus 2 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($69.98 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: *MSI MAG A850GL PCIE5 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($89.00 @ MSI) 
Case Fan: *ARCTIC P12 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fan  ($9.99 @ Amazon) 
Monitor: *Gigabyte GS27Q 27.0" 2560 x 1440 170 Hz Monitor  ($179.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1390.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-03-29 17:31 EDT-0400

 

A better look at those components.

 

https://www.gigabyte.com/Monitor/GS27Q#kf

https://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z690 Pro RS/index.asp

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...600kf-processor-20m-cache-up-to-4-90-ghz.html

https://www.thermalright.com/product/phantom-spirit-120-se/

https://www.predatorstorage.com/products/predator-gm7000-pcie-4-ssd.html

https://www.gigabyte.com/Graphics-Card/GV-R79GREGAMING-OC-16GD#kf

https://www.msi.com/Power-Supply/MAG-A850GL-PCIE5

https://www.arctic.de/en/P12-PWM-PST/ACFAN00120A

https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/focus/focus-2/black-tg-clear-tint/

 

 

The Focus 2 is a great case!

I've noticed that you put it in every single one of your build lists.

I love it, but have you ever considered switching it up?  

Anyways, what i was wondering is are there any features that stand out to you and make it better than other cases? 

 

Also I decided that I'd like to keep the whole build under $1600 with the sim racing parts, which isn't possible with a high end PC like that. 

 

I appreciate the list though, thanks!