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Discussion in 'Technology' started by speedy_sam, Jan 8, 2015.

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  1. bobzdar

    bobzdar F1 Veteran

    Sep 22, 2008
    6,367
    Richmond
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    Pete
    I don't hear it,it gets drowned out by my cpu fan :). My plan is to upgrade the cpu this spring along with a quiet cooler, but I may buy the cooler first to knock the noise down and then reuse it when I upgrade.
     
  2. peterp

    peterp F1 Veteran

    Aug 31, 2002
    6,509
    NJ
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    Peter
    As long as I can't hear the graphics fan, I'm good :)

    Actually I don't mind if it isn't silent while racing because there is a ton of background noise in racing, I just need for it to be quiet when it's idle and we are watching a movie. We used to have a first generation (fat) PS3 and, when PS3's get old, the paste between the CPU and the heat sink dries up and the fan runs at maximum 24 hours a day. It was really loud at max fan speed and that noise drove me crazy, especially during quiet scenes of a movie. I was dancing on the ceiling when the PS3 finally broke. This is where my sensitivity to noise started. We replaced the fat PS3 with a second generation PS3 and it is super quiet.

    What is pretty amazing about the PS3 (and Xbox) is that, even though the technology is 10 years old, it still very easily processes amazing graphics while PC's seem to require the latest liquid-nitrogen-cooled supercomputers to handle heavy graphics.
     
  3. peterp

    peterp F1 Veteran

    Aug 31, 2002
    6,509
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    Peter
    The problem with off the shelf computers is that they are difficult to upgrade later. You might want to check out Micro Center, where they will guide you through picking out every component and they will build it for you for $130. It's pretty cool to pick out everything you want and the end result should be plug and play. I will let you know how mine turns out when I get it, but I know people who have been having computers built this way for years and they would never buy a prebuilt computer again, so I expect that mine will turn out well.
     
  4. bobzdar

    bobzdar F1 Veteran

    Sep 22, 2008
    6,367
    Richmond
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    Pete
    My pc is virtually silent when not playing games.

    Fwiw, I still have my Jan 2006 ps3. It still works fine and as long as I vacuum the dust out of it once a year or so stays pretty quiet. It does mostly blu-ray player duty these days, though.
     
  5. Bas

    Bas Four Time F1 World Champ

    Mar 24, 2008
    41,299
    ESP
    Full Name:
    Bas
    Best upgrade I did was go from stock fan to proper fan. Even with my fan on max you can barely hear it now and cools so much better. I've got a Cooler Master Hyper 212, they're like 35 bucks or something.

    GPU fans are somewhat more of an issue as they tend to be louder. My next build I'm going with liquid cooled GPU (and CPU). That said I've played with the software and they play at ~55% max now instead of 80, only a few C difference but much quieter.
     
  6. peterp

    peterp F1 Veteran

    Aug 31, 2002
    6,509
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    Peter
    OK, so the verdict is in. The new computer is probably about (... drum roll please ...) 8 (eight!) times faster than the i7 gaming laptop. On the laptop, the iRacing frame rate was about 30 fps with rear/side view mirrors on, but with most other graphics options turned off and with overall graphics quality set to a low level. On the new computer, with all graphics options on and graphics quality set to max, the frame rate is averaging about 160fps and is frequently over 200. Also, 7.1 sound, which stopped working after the auto-upgrade to Windows 10 on the laptop works fine on the new computer (also running Windows 10).

    I'll report back later what the frame rate is in online races. Before for online races, he had to shut off both rear and side view mirrors, along with most graphics options, so he couldn't see cars behind/around him (or hear them either because surround sound didn't work).

    The computer seems to be very quiet (not silent though) when iRacing is running. Oddly, I do hear fans spin up kind of randomly when using the computer outside of iRacing. The main cabinet upgraded fans have magnetic levitation bearings, but I suspect the other fans (CPU add-on and graphics) have standard bearings. Overall, it's pretty quiet, and I assume that if we set it to sleep when not using the computer that it will be silent during movies (my main concern).

    Microcenter was great. Great advice on specing the computer, after they built the computer and set up the OS and antivirus, it was completely turnkey out of the box when I brought it home. Another advantage of building a custom computer is that it doesn't have any vendor bloatware software installed, just Windows 10 and nothing else. Overall, I couldn't be happier with it.
     
  7. peterp

    peterp F1 Veteran

    Aug 31, 2002
    6,509
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    Update on custom MicroCenter computer performance. My son ran the 24 hours of Daytona yesterday. With all options maxed out and 57 cars on the track, the frame rate averaged around 150. Sometimes it would go down briefly (for less than a second) to 70fps and sometimes it was briefly well above 200, but the average was probably 150. We are very happy with this setup (it has remained fairly quiet also).

    I am going to be ordering a ClubSport Wheelbase and wheel next. He is currently running a G27 wheel with Clubsport V3 pedals. Is the V2 the latest version of ClubSport wheelbase? I thought I remember there being a V3 wheelbase option on Fanatec's website when I looked a few months ago, but I only see V2 listed now.
     
  8. bjwhite

    bjwhite F1 Rookie

    Mar 17, 2006
    4,673
    Seattle, WA
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    Brian White
    Yes, the v2 is the latest version of the ClubSport. I just sold my v1 a few days ago after getting a v2 a few months before that.

    There are v3 Club Sport pedals as you know. The wheel is still v2.
     
  9. peterp

    peterp F1 Veteran

    Aug 31, 2002
    6,509
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    Great. Thanks for the feedback. Do you notice a big difference between V1 and V2 wheelbase?

    I have the feeling that about 5 seconds after I click the "buy" button on the V2, they are going to announce a V3 version.
     
  10. bjwhite

    bjwhite F1 Rookie

    Mar 17, 2006
    4,673
    Seattle, WA
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    Brian White
    Yess!!! Lots of difference--mostly that the v2 is just so damn strong. Otherwise, they are similar. I have the BMW wheel, the F1 carbon wheel and a universal hub with two other wheels I haven't used yet.
     
  11. peterp

    peterp F1 Veteran

    Aug 31, 2002
    6,509
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    Thanks for the feedback. For wheels, it seems like the only Fanatec choice for non-F1 type wheel is the 918 or BMW (the others seem to be specific to Xbox). Haven't decided which. Or is it better to get the universal hub to have flexibility on wheels?

    For the V3 pedals, we found them pretty slippery, so we applied this thin rubber grip tape (normally intended for gun handles) and it helped a lot -> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FLQO5IU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s03?ie=UTF8&psc=1. The tape has only been on for a couple weeks, but it seems quite durable. The rubber sheet is smaller than you would expect, but it contains enough for the pedals and well worth it if you find the pedals slippery.

    For the shifter, I was planning to get the Thrustmaster TH8A (https://www.amazon.com/Thrustmaster-TH8A-Gearbox-Shifter-playstation-4/dp/B00MAXOTB6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443553515&sr=8-1&keywords=thrustmaster+shifter&tag=viglink22303-20&th=1) because of the slotted shifter (should need no explanation on this forum :)) and reviews of it are generally quite good, but from reading it sounds like the Fanatec shifter is much better in feel, so I will probably get that instead. The fanatec is also trivially easy to switch to sequential mode where the Thrustmaster requires changing shift plates. Not sure this matters though, because mostly would use shifter in full manual, or paddles, so I don't think sequential is important.

    Has anyone found any real benefit in getting the handbrake, or is that just a drifting thing?
     
  12. bjwhite

    bjwhite F1 Rookie

    Mar 17, 2006
    4,673
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    Brian White
    They have a classic wheel (wood rim type), Nascrap wheel, etc. Personally, thr BMW is awesome.....

    The universal hub allows you to use a real Momo/Sparco wheel of choice. if you don't like any of the wheels Fanatec offers this is the way to go.
     
  13. peterp

    peterp F1 Veteran

    Aug 31, 2002
    6,509
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    Thanks for the feedback. I ordered the BMW wheel. I spent some time looking at the 918 and BMW wheel reviews last night and learned the following (to be taken with a slight grain of salt since this only is from reading reviews -- I have not personally touched either wheel):

    On the plus side, the 918 wheel has a slightly higher quality feel to it. It is the same size (diameter) as the BMW wheel but is 30 percent lighter. The shift paddles also have a higher quality feel to them and are slightly more adjustable. The tachometer is larger and brighter and is built into the wheel, which makes it easier to see, though it moves with the wheel and some said they could feel the tach on the wheel, but it didn't bother them.

    On the negatives for the 918, the wheel is covered with leather where the BMW is covered with alcantara. The leather might be a positive for some, but for gloveless racing, the alcantara seems like it will be much better. Also, according to the reviews, the buttons are closer together on the BMW wheel and easier to reach. The reviewer already thought the BMW buttons were a bit difficult to reach, but the 918 buttons are even farther away. While the 918 tach is easier to see than the BMW, the digital display is much smaller on the 918 wheel and many commented that the combination the display being white and very small made it difficult to read. The BMW display is red and much larger so it is a lot easier to read. A couple people also complained that the 918 thumb area is too small and they found it uncomfortable to drive after a while, though that just may be an issue unique to them.

    Based on the above, the BMW seemed like a better fit for our needs. Some reviewers preferred the BMW wheel over the 918 even though they admired the build quality of the 918. The 918 wheel costs $150 more than the BMW, which wouldn't have been an impediment if it seemed like a better match, but the BMW seemed better for our needs and it happened to cost a lot less.

    I also ordered the CS shifter and the "brake performance kit" for the V3 pedals (these are new poly springs that are supposed to improve brake feel a lot). They also have a "damper kit" that attaches to the brake pedal, but it seems to be sparsely used and it seems redundant to the brake performance kit, which reports suggest is more effective than the damper.
     
  14. peterp

    peterp F1 Veteran

    Aug 31, 2002
    6,509
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    Fanatec equipment order is here. Everything looks good, but I made a mistake in not ordering the table clamp with the shifter. I originally added it to the cart, but then later removed it because I didn't really want a clamp-on bracket since I'm mounting it permanently it on a frame. It turns out that the shifter does not come with any bracket at all, so the only way to mount it if you buy the shifter alone is from the bottom, which is way too high and far forward. I can lower the shifter mount on the frame, but I can't move it back. The table bracket allows you to mount it from any side of the shifter. I wish they were more clear about the lack of any type of bracket at all on the shifter, but otherwise everything looks great.
     
  15. IamRobG

    IamRobG F1 Rookie

    Jun 18, 2007
    4,092
    NY
    Mine is mounted to my MS4R seat, which was built exclusively for the G27, with zip ties, old TV wall mounts, and some screws i found that fit. The pedals i had to drill 6 different holes to get them to fit. The Fanatec wheel is supported with cardboard underneath to get the height correct and 2 screws i also found that fit. It went from a nice perfect piece to something i had to jerry rig to work. and its comfortable ;)
     
  16. peterp

    peterp F1 Veteran

    Aug 31, 2002
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    I was super lucky in that regard. I also bought my rig for a G27, but they also had pre-drilled it for Fanatec so the pedals and wheel bolted right on. The shifter box is pretty large and heavy, so I don't want to try to rig something. Fanatec's table mount will be here tomorrow. I'm sure as soon as I see it I will know how I could have easily built my own, but I'm getting a bit lazy for this kind of stuff in my maturity.
     
  17. peterp

    peterp F1 Veteran

    Aug 31, 2002
    6,509
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    My son installed the "brake performance kit" (https://www.fanatec.com/us-en/pedals-accessories/clubsport-pedals-v3-brake-performance-kit-usa.html) this weekend. For those with Fanatec V3 pedals, I would say that this is a "must have" upgrade. When we first got the V3 pedals, they had better feel than the G27 pedals they replaced, but they were still a brake that was more controlled by "pedal distance" than "pedal force". The "brake performance kit" converts it into the brakes being controlled much more by force and it is a huge improvement in brake control. I don't know why the V3 pedals don't come this way from the factory, but the performance kit fixes those issues. They come with 3 different sets of firmness and he chose medium. It's kind of a pain to install (it took him about an hour), but it was well worth the time an money.
     
  18. speedy_sam

    speedy_sam F1 Veteran

    Jul 13, 2004
    5,559
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    Sameer
    It is useless for tarmac racing on iRacing or similar games. It is perhaps useful for rallying games and the new dirt model coming up on iRacing - there is supposed to be a Rally car modeled as well for it.
     
  19. peterp

    peterp F1 Veteran

    Aug 31, 2002
    6,509
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    Received the bracket and now we have the Fanatec SQ 1.5 shifter (https://www.fanatec.com/us-en/shifters/clubsport-shifter-sq-us.html) installed. It is amazing. In fact the whole setup is now amazing. I rarely drive the simulator, mostly because I just don't have time but also because I was terrible at it -- it never felt like driving a car to me. In the rare times I did use it in the past, I did enjoy manually shifting the G27 but I couldn't really drive at speed with any consistent control and there wasn't a lap that went by without missing a shift or two or three because of the imprecise shifting on the G27.

    With the Fanatec v3 (with the brake performance kit installed) making it work like a real brake, and the shifter feeling like a real stickshift, and the feedback of the V2 wheelbase -- everything feels real to me. I still won't have time to use it much (my son is the racer), but for the first time in the many years he has been racing, I really enjoyed driving, I actually felt competent, and I never missed a shift in the 20 or so minutes I test drove it. The Fanatec stuff isn't cheap, but it is worth every penny.
     
  20. IamRobG

    IamRobG F1 Rookie

    Jun 18, 2007
    4,092
    NY
    I like my fanatec stuff, but when i actually spent the money on a real set of pedals, the difference was ridiculous. If you ever get a chance to test some of it, you'll see the difference.
     
  21. peterp

    peterp F1 Veteran

    Aug 31, 2002
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    #271 peterp, Feb 15, 2017
    Last edited: Feb 15, 2017
    I remember your pedals Rob -- IIRC they cost more than the whole Fanatec setup. I was not impressed with the stock V3's, but after installing the brake performance kit, they feel much, much, much better. I'm sure there is still a world of difference between the modded V3's and yours, but I'm really happy with the modded Fanatecs.

    My son takes racing very seriously, but he had plateaued and I felt he was at a significant deficit with the G27 and a severely lagging computer, so I fixed those issues. If he wants better equipment, he's going to have to earn it, but I didn't want him to be handicapped and wasting time on equipment that was limiting. As a high schooler, he volunteers his time teaching guitar at a mission for disadvantaged children and at a music school for kids, so he did indirectly earn the Fanatec equipment even if he didn't directly earn it dollar-wise. Any upgrades from here, though, he will need to earn dollar-wise.

    .
     
  22. IamRobG

    IamRobG F1 Rookie

    Jun 18, 2007
    4,092
    NY
    The fanatec is WORLDS above the G27. You'll be just fine with those unless he gets really serious. Then you can end up spending almost 5 grand just on pedals and a wheel base at which point you'll be better off getting a beat up civic or miata and gutting it and putting tires for some real world experience.
     
  23. peterp

    peterp F1 Veteran

    Aug 31, 2002
    6,509
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    The problem with the stock V3, and the reason I didn't think they were that much better than the G27 initially, is that the braking force registered in iRacing with the stock V3's was still based primarily on "pedal distance" rather than "pedal pressure". It was better than the G27, and build quality is much better, but it still really didn't work like a real braking system. With Fanatec's brake performance kit installed, the brake registered in iRacing is now based upon "pedal pressure", so that it acts like a real brake where increasing pressure dictates what is registered even though there is very little additional movement of the pedal.
     
  24. peterp

    peterp F1 Veteran

    Aug 31, 2002
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    Now that he's had some seat time with the modded brakes, I can report time improvements. When he moved from the G27 pedals to V3 Fanatecs, he shaved off about a 1/2 second. With the brake performance kit mod, and the V2 wheel, he has shaved off another full second and feels like he will gain more. Beyond times, he has a lot more control. He has always been consistent, but he was off the pace of the leaders no matter how much he worked at it, so it looks like these upgrades will fix the issue where he had plateaued.
     
  25. peterp

    peterp F1 Veteran

    Aug 31, 2002
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    Does anybody have any advice to improve peripheral vision in iRacing when using 1 monitor? Our setup has a 106" projection screen and there is really no way to add more monitors. If I move to a 3 monitor setup, then the room is kind of ruined because we also use that room for movies and music and it will just block everything.

    The peripheral vision issues aren't too bad in single class races, but it is pretty difficult in multi-class where it's necessary to work your way through classes of cars that are much slower and/or faster.

    We have tried increasing the field of view in iRacing, but it creates really weird distortion (almost like backing up the seat a lot) when it is increased. I also thought about hanging little 8" monitors on each side of the wheel as a supplement to see what is happening on the sides (even though it wouldn't be realistic), but that wouldn't work either given the way iRacing splits up 3 windows evenly (so the projection screen view would be a lot narrower than it is now in that setup).

    For now, we would rather not do VR (although I know that would solve everything).
     

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