SPBHM wrote:

SSDs should work fine (with a performance hit, but still better than using a hard drive) in IDE mode!?

I'd use an hybrid SSHD with Windows XP any day before an SSD. XP does not support stuff like TRIM command so I'd feel better with flash memory that is not directly managed by the OS.

alexanrs wrote:

SPBHM wrote:

SSDs should work fine (with a performance hit, but still better than using a hard drive) in IDE mode!?

I'd use an hybrid SSHD with Windows XP any day before an SSD. XP does not support stuff like TRIM command so I'd feel better with flash memory that is not directly managed by the OS.

as far as I know lack of TRIM is no longer a big deal with current SSDs because their controllers are a lot better than they used to

If you download a SSD software from your SSD manufacturer (Samsung and Intel for sure) it can force TRIM commands on XP.

Might as well post an update on this exercise. I got the new gaming desk and pedals and everything migrated over to them, then got the existing desk and pedals setup with the new XP system and my old, backup controllers.

The XP system paused on NASCAR Racing 2003 Season. Every setting in the game is maxed and I've got 8x AA with 16x Anisotropic enabled in Nvidia's control panel. The worst frame rates I've seen so far are around mid 90's. I probably will need to replace a hall sensor on the pedals, the clutch is not working quite right. The steering wheel supports 900° rotation, but I've got it set for 540° for comfort. It works well in DOSBox with 360° rotation, but there's no centering spring force so its a bit awkward. I might stick with the old P3 system for DOS games.

The "modern" system, with the new desk and pedals. Primarily for iRacing and American Truck Simulator. The fourth monitor is for real-time scoring.

Hydraulic brake pedal is amazing. Downside is they require shoes for comfortable use.

Way cool! If you can post an in cockpit view on 3-monitor setup... Be fun to see how much side view you get and how mirrors work out.

Tincup, that is an amazing set up! I would spend so many hours playing games no one would ever see me. What does a system like that cost if you mind, and is it custom made other than the pedals and wheel@

Tommaso72

tincup wrote:

Way cool! If you can post an in cockpit view on 3-monitor setup... Be fun to see how much side view you get and how mirrors work out.

This is a little skewed since I can't get a full shot from in the seat. I also use the virtual mirror instead of the real mirrors because some cars have their real mirrors cut off on this FOV and I have very poor eyesight in my right eye. The back edges of the side monitors are 2, maybe 3, inches in front of my eyes.

Tommaso72 wrote:

Tincup, that is an amazing set up! I would spend so many hours playing games no one would ever see me. What does a system like that cost if you mind, and is it custom made other than the pedals and wheel@

Its my setup, not Tincups. 😀 There's about $7500 invested in this setup over four years. Except for the PC, everything is off-the-shelf product. Its cheaper than buying and running a real race car.

y2k se wrote:

This is a little skewed since I can't get a full shot from in the seat. I also use the virtual mirror instead of the real mirro […]
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tincup wrote:

Way cool! If you can post an in cockpit view on 3-monitor setup... Be fun to see how much side view you get and how mirrors work out.

This is a little skewed since I can't get a full shot from in the seat. I also use the virtual mirror instead of the real mirrors because some cars have their real mirrors cut off on this FOV and I have very poor eyesight in my right eye. The back edges of the side monitors are 2, maybe 3, inches in front of my eyes.

Thanks for posting the shot. Very interesting to see the amount of lateral vision. Looks like it's easy to keep track of cars to your immediate side which is great. Nice thing about racing sims as compared to flight sims is that all the action is either right in front of you or off to the left and right - so 3 monitors capture most of what you need to see. When they finally make bezel-less monitors...

Being able to see cars to the sides is helpful, but being able to see the apex as you approach is even better.

The distortion is significant when you move the outer screens inwards like that. I never noticed, but during he GTX 1080 event they showed this new feature that will correct this.

nvm

PhilsComputerLab wrote:

The distortion is significant when you move the outer screens inwards like that. I never noticed, but during he GTX 1080 event they showed this new feature that will correct this.

iRacing takes care of the perspective and bezel correction itself. It only looks off in my photo because I didn't take the picture at the right eye level. When seated in the rig, the side monitors line up correctly.

y2k se wrote:

Being able to see cars to the sides is helpful, but being able to see the apex as you approach is even better.

Yes I bet!

In GPL I use the "Glance" mod which helps quite a bit with the turn-in, but nothing beats actually moving your head and eyes into the corner. Haven't gotten used to TrackIR as it feels to constrained and artificial. But sensing exactly where cars moving in for the pass are it tricky on one screen unless using a special virtual mirror set up.

y2k se wrote:

PhilsComputerLab wrote:

The distortion is significant when you move the outer screens inwards like that. I never noticed, but during he GTX 1080 event they showed this new feature that will correct this.

iRacing takes care of the perspective and bezel correction itself. It only looks off in my photo because I didn't take the picture at the right eye level. When seated in the rig, the side monitors line up correctly.

I see, that's a very neat feature then 😀

makes me want to bring back my phenom ii x3 720 5870 setup. it should be way faster then when it was my win 7 rig.

PhilsComputerLab wrote:

I see, that's a very neat feature then 😀

There is an unfortunate frame rate hit using that option. I'll probably be upgrading my GTX 980 to the GTX 1080 once aftermarket cooling options are available, or maybe a GTX 1080 ti depending on rumours.

Modern racing sims are looking pretty insane today (Forza 6, Project CARS, and somewhat-less-pretty-but-better-physics Assetto Corsa). Good news is that I'm going to need to upgrade my workstation system, so I can enjoy these new titles as well. Well, at least that's how I plan to justify it. 😜

y2k se wrote:

There is an unfortunate frame rate hit using that option. I'll probably be upgrading my GTX 980 to the GTX 1080 once aftermarket cooling options are available, or maybe a GTX 1080 ti depending on rumours.

What do you think of a ~$525 980 Ti (Zotac reference ed, 1 month old)? I know I should wait for the 1080/1070 to come out, but I'm not sure the 980 Ti would be beaten just yet on Octane Render (v3 just came out, no bench results yet -- but historically the "big" G_100/110/200 version always wins over the next gen scaled down chip). If it were a gaming only machine I probably would go Radeon since good Freesync monitors are more affordable than their Gsync counterparts.

I don't have much of one since I haven't researched them much. It seems the general idea is the 1080 beats the 980 and 980ti by a decent margin. The only question I really ask myself is if I ought to hold out for some 1080ti thing. Part of the challenge for me is that iRacing is only now in a beta stage for a DX11 engine, so its hard to know if the 1080 will be enough for me. 5760x1080 @ 144Hz is a bunch of pixels and I might want to go to 27" monitors, so that would be 7680x1440 @144Hz.

greasemonkey90s wrote:

makes me want to bring back my phenom ii x3 720 5870 setup. it should be way faster then when it was my win 7 rig.

That is a nice rig you got or had there, I still remember my old Phenom 2 rig with two gtx 280 in sli.