Fursphere Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 Well, I had a look at the system requirements for those games and it looks like I might be able to salvage my old PC to run those games. It's got a Core 2 duo 3.3GHz and 4GB of 800MHz DDR2 RAM. It needs a graphics card but that'll cost as much as a new PS3. Where can I get a PS3 for $150? (or less!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyperion Posted March 27, 2013 Author Share Posted March 27, 2013 Where can I get a PS3 for $150? (or less!) Well, the graphics cards I was looking at were about $250 and over. A second hand PS3 goes for about $200. Cards are thin on the ground on eBay at the moment. When I bought me GTX 460 late last year it cost me $85. Would another GTX 460 be enough or do you guys think something like a 480, 580 or 660 ti be needed? It needs to look at least as good as my PS3 graphics (depending on the game, of course). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fursphere Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 My GTX 460 can handle any racing game I throw at it. I've pretty much maxed out the settings on Dirt 3, Shift 2, and F1 2011 Per some of the the benchmarks I was reading, the GTX 460 is on par with the new GTX 650 ti that just came out. The 650 ti is in the $150 price range. I'm debating on picking one up for my driving cab next payday, since its only got a 8800 gt right now. http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyperion Posted March 29, 2013 Author Share Posted March 29, 2013 My GTX 460 can handle any racing game I throw at it. I've pretty much maxed out the settings on Dirt 3, Shift 2, and F1 2011Per some of the the benchmarks I was reading, the GTX 460 is on par with the new GTX 650 ti that just came out. The 650 ti is in the $150 price range. I'm debating on picking one up for my driving cab next payday, since its only got a 8800 gt right now. http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/ That website is great. I used it to choose my first GTX 460. I just place a bid on another 460 but they seem to be going for a lot more these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyperion Posted March 29, 2013 Author Share Posted March 29, 2013 PC has the best racing sims that'd be perfect for that setup, hooking it up to consoles is a waste. PS3 only really has Gran Turismo and for arcade fun, the Motorstorm series. Not much else. But for PC, you should check out the GTR series, Live for Speed, iRacing and rFactor. I still play GTR 2 from time to time, great sim. Hang on a second (I can't believe I didn't think of this before) will I need two PC's for a two player setup or can I run the games you mentioned with one PC set up for dual displays? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fursphere Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Two PCs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyperion Posted March 29, 2013 Author Share Posted March 29, 2013 Two PCs Well in that case it's two PS3's or just make it a single seater, and then a PS3 is arguably the better choice as well. Plug and play and by far the cheaper option. Maybe I'll look into a three display rig later down the track if I feel like an upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyperion Posted March 30, 2013 Author Share Posted March 30, 2013 I sit my rig bang in front of a 40" TV, with the pedals right under it. I'm 6'4", so I'm sitting probably 3 to 4 feet back. Works just lovely. Big enough to be immersive, but not too big you get lost in it. My advice would be to get the pedal and seating position right and then play it a bunch before seeing if you think you need a bigger TV.EDIT : I bought one of these http://www.gameracer.co.uk/detail.aspx?ID=3# I've put the pedal plate flat and centred it between the brake and accelerator, plus I've used the seat rail kit to raise things up to get my perfect position. I spent a butt load of time moving the wheel and pedal distances around to hit the sweet spot that allowed me to 'drive' for longer than 10 mins. Maybe when you're working on updating this try and build some easy adjustability in? It's just a couple of metal box sections and a bolt fitting. I just read your edit. I have been thinking about this very issue. I want to make sure I get it right the first time so I'm not left with something that looks cool but ultimately uncomfortable to use. Building in ample adjustability, like you say, could solve this dilemma for me. I'm trying to make it entirely out of MDF but adjustable sections are better made out of metal. Speaking of materials; I had first decided to make this build out plywood to help lighten it up but after visiting my local Bunnings I found that plywood was more than twice as expensive than MDF! I always considered it an inferior product but there you go. Also, by making it out of MDF I won't have to worry about filling in wood grain and knots. Here's a few batmobile doodles: Yes, that is a shark at the bottom there. My nephew saw me drawing and asked me to draw him a tiger shark. I don't know what they look like but he seemed satisfied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evil eye Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 Those doodles are awesome. Can't wait to see the final product! Shark looks cool too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyperion Posted March 31, 2013 Author Share Posted March 31, 2013 Thanks evil eye. I just bought a Saitek x52 pro flight stick so I guess that I'm going down the PC route. Had the great idea of making it double as a flight simulator as well as racing. Maybe even make it a triple screen deal. Just trying to decide on how much to spend on the graphics card. Maybe I'll get away with just a GTX 480. I hope my 3.3GHz Core 2 duo will still be okay because I don't have the budget to upgrade everything. EDIT: Screw it. A triple screen setup will cost about three times as much and probably not worth it. I think I'll need to spend about a $1000 on the PC and another $1000 on the screens. I think instead of three 32" screens I'll get one 46" screen and be done with it. I'll use my old PC with a GTX 460 or 480 graphics card. Coupled with my PS3 it should be a lot of fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyperion Posted April 1, 2013 Author Share Posted April 1, 2013 Just bought this 46" DLED from Dick Smith for $500. It's pretty standard but the bezel is thin enough and has a suitable brushed gun metal finish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gothicplsur Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 If You're Doing The 3 Monitor Surround Avenue I Suggest At Least A GTX 660ti... 400-500 Series GTX Won't Be Multi-Monitor Capable Unless You SLI The Cards... But A Single 660ti Or Higher Will Do The Trick And Better Performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyperion Posted April 1, 2013 Author Share Posted April 1, 2013 If You're Doing The 3 Monitor Surround Avenue I Suggest At Least A GTX 660ti... 400-500 Series GTX Won't Be Multi-Monitor Capable Unless You SLI The Cards... But A Single 660ti Or Higher Will Do The Trick And Better Performance. Yeah, I realised that after posting and decided that it was too much money. Just going to go with a GTX 460 and my old Core 2 Duo. If I were to go with a triple screen and a 660ti or greater would I also need to upgrade to an i5? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deadrawkstar Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 Yeah, I realised that after posting and decided that it was too much money. Just going to go with a GTX 460 and my old Core 2 Duo. If I were to go with a triple screen and a 660ti or greater would I also need to upgrade to an i5? In my opinion it would make the experience much better. If you would like to save a few bucks, AMD has their x3 proc for around 75$ U.S. which is pretty good for gaming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyperion Posted April 1, 2013 Author Share Posted April 1, 2013 In my opinion it would make the experience much better. If you would like to save a few bucks, AMD has their x3 proc for around 75$ U.S. which is pretty good for gaming. Yeah, it would be cool but would cost an extra $2000 at least. That's a lot of money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deadrawkstar Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 Yeah, it would be cool but would cost an extra $2000 at least. That's a lot of money. Yeah. The dual core is totally fine for the single screen setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gothicplsur Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 If You're Taking About Building A System You Can Build A Quad Core Machine With Enough Ram, Hard Drive Space And Like I Mentioned Earlier A GTX 660ti For Under $800.00 Even Less If You Do It Right, That's What's Running In My Cabinet As We Speak Minus The Video Card Because I Went With A 27 Inch Flat Faced CRT So I Needed The S-Video, Now On My Home PC Used For Gaming And Whatever Else, I Jus Built It For $1,400 And It's A Top Of The Line MSI 990FXA Motherboard, 8350 8-Core 4.0Mhz Proc., 32GB GSkill Ram, 2 TB Hard Drive And A GTX 680 4GB Video Card... Overkill For A Arcade Cabinet... Yes, Will It Play Anything On The Market I Throw At It... Yes, But Ya Know How Carnevil Is Kinda Glitchy While Playing... My PC Plays It As Smooth As Silk... So If Money Is A Factor Then I Say Go Quad Core, 8GB Of Ram 2 TB Hard Drive With A GTX 660ti And You'll Be More Than Satisfied. And Have Enough Money To Feed The Family This Next Month. =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyperion Posted April 1, 2013 Author Share Posted April 1, 2013 If You're Taking About Building A System You Can Build A Quad Core Machine With Enough Ram, Hard Drive Space And Like I Mentioned Earlier A GTX 660ti For Under $800.00 Even Less If You Do It Right, That's What's Running In My Cabinet As We Speak Minus The Video Card Because I Went With A 27 Inch Flat Faced CRT So I Needed The S-Video, Now On My Home PC Used For Gaming And Whatever Else, I Jus Built It For $1,400 And It's A Top Of The Line MSI 990FXA Motherboard, 8350 8-Core 4.0Mhz Proc., 32GB GSkill Ram, 2 TB Hard Drive And A GTX 680 4GB Video Card... Overkill For A Arcade Cabinet... Yes, Will It Play Anything On The Market I Throw At It... Yes, But Ya Know How Carnevil Is Kinda Glitchy While Playing... My PC Plays It As Smooth As Silk... So If Money Is A Factor Then I Say Go Quad Core, 8GB Of Ram 2 TB Hard Drive With A GTX 660ti And You'll Be More Than Satisfied. And Have Enough Money To Feed The Family This Next Month. =) Plus a $1000 for the two extra screens... What kind of quad core were you thinking of anyway? Intel or AMD? I just built an i5 4.2GHz machine for my cocktail cab minus the graphics card for ~$950. Add ~$350 for the graphics card and we've already blown more than $2000 in total. I just lost my eBay bid for a GTX 460 so I'm seriously thinking of just letting sleeping dogs lie and stick with just a PS3. I do want to play Diaspora: Shattered Armistice though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mameman Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 I'm in a similar boat at the moment, not sure if I am going to complete the build on my hyper sim or scratch build a F1 cockpit. 3 screens are where I want to go also. Either need a big PC and run I racing, or one of the other true sims or go buy 2 more ps3's for 3 screens. Guess if you don't have the PC already or you want to play gt5 etc, then the ps3 is not so expensive of an option. Not sure if gt5 in 3d runs in 3d in 3 screen mode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyperion Posted April 1, 2013 Author Share Posted April 1, 2013 I'm in a similar boat at the moment, not sure if I am going to complete the build on my hyper sim or scratch build a F1 cockpit. 3 screens are where I want to go also. Either need a big PC and run I racing, or one of the other true sims or go buy 2 more ps3's for 3 screens. Guess if you don't have the PC already or you want to play gt5 etc, then the ps3 is not so expensive of an option. Not sure if gt5 in 3d runs in 3d in 3 screen mode. It's a tough one, isn't it? I think my purchase of a 46" TV has already decided it for me today. Another 2 46" TVs would be huge (but awesome). I've considered using 2 32" screens for the peripherals but am unsure on if I can calibrate it so they line up correctly with my centre 46" screen. I don't think it would be possible with 3 PS3's but maybe possible with eyefinity or surround. Couldn't I just zoom the images on the peripheral screens to compensate for the smaller image? I'd love to have three massive screens like that and turn the lights of and play a space sim/combat game. I can imagine really feeling the expanse of space. Or racing down the tar with the scenery whizzing by on either side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fursphere Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 I just bought a Saitek x52 pro flight stick so I guess that I'm going down the PC route. Had the great idea of making it double as a flight simulator as well as racing. I've been thinking of doing this to mine as well. Go go Mech sims! Maybe even make it a triple screen deal. Just trying to decide on how much to spend on the graphics card. Maybe I'll get away with just a GTX 480. I hope my 3.3GHz Core 2 duo will still be okay because I don't have the budget to upgrade everything. So... in my opinion the only way to do a triple screen setup is bezeless - which requires a three-projector setup (behind you) and a huge screen infront of you with today's technology. Your GTX 480 will play anything. Your Core2Duo is ageing a little... its what I was using with my GTX 460 - with the graphics all the way up I was getting a little "high speed" stuttering / lag. Just a tiny bit. So I swapped that out with my Core i5 system. muuuuuuuch better. I think instead of three 32" screens I'll get one 46" screen and be done with it. I'll use my old PC with a GTX 460 or 480 graphics card. Coupled with my PS3 it should be a lot of fun. I have a 32" screen in my cabinet, mounted to where the center of the screen is 32" away from my eye socket (approx). So if you go to a 46", you should probably plan to be at least ~46" back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyperion Posted April 1, 2013 Author Share Posted April 1, 2013 Thanks for the tip, Furball. I think I'll make the base of the cab and just start building from there, seeing how it all fits together as I go. There's only so much I can anticipate by drawing. It's good to have you blazing a path for people like me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fursphere Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 That's what I ended up doing. Made basic plans. Used cardboard mock ups to validate a few things, then just started cutting... Did you see the plans I made in google sketch up? At least that would give you a sense of how big these things will get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gothicplsur Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 An i5 Is Just Fine For Gaming, I've Always Been An AMD Guy, And Never Wanted To Go Intel Jus For The Price Of The Proc. Alone And AMD Always Kicked Intel In The Teeth As Far As Gaming Anyway, But Unless You're Serious Multiplayer Gaming Online, Intel Is Ok... As Far As A 3 Monitor Setup Bezel-less Is Much Better Search YouTube For 3 Monitor Setups And Look At The Way They Have It Setup With 3 Monitors Still With The Bezel HUGE Black Spaces In Between Ruins The Experience For Me At Least, And Shop Around For Monitors That Have Thin Bezels To Begin With Then De-Case Them As Far As A Projector Setup Hmm That Could Get Real Pricey If You Want To Do A "Surround" Setup In 1080 But Prolly Look Kool As Hell. But Remember A 400 Series Or 500 Series GTX Video Card Will Only Handle 3 Monitors If They Are In SLI (more than one card). My 2 Cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fursphere Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 An i5 Is Just Fine For Gaming, I've Always Been An AMD Guy, And Never Wanted To Go Intel Jus For The Price Of The Proc. Alone And AMD Always Kicked Intel In The Teeth As Far As Gaming Anyway, But Unless You're Serious Multiplayer Gaming Online, Intel Is Ok... This is FUD. Check the benchmarks and price points. You can find mostly equal CPUs from both sides at similar price points. http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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