Modular Simpit build

Hi!

I'm a long time fan of simulation games, and I've always wanted to built myself a dedicated simpit, but never had the space to do one before. However, now I'm the proud owner of my very own real estate, with no plans to relocate any time soon. With some unfinished basement footage this is a prime opportunity to build a dedicated gaming space.

This is going to be a long term project, which includes renovations, tooling up, computer hardware, software programming, and custom built electronics.

It's a modular project because it needs to accommodate my gaming PC, a virtual reality space, and sim setups for racing, space, and flight.

The flight sim is getting special attention, as I want an enclosed GA cockpit simulation with hardware controls. I'll mainly be using X-Plane, with networked PCs driving three 55" 4k displays (mostly at 1080p resolution). The main display will be fixed, and the side displays will swing back and forth, giving me 12 linear feet of display for regular gaming, or a 270~ish degree wraparound config for simulations.

The different sim types will each have a dedicated rolling table containing controls and specialized equipment. For example, the GA flight sim will have a Command PC for instrumentation and control, a yoke, throttles, pedals, and instrumentation. The gaming table will just have room for keyboard, mouse, headset, and beverage of choice.

Its a long term project. I haven't got my shop or electronics lab going yet, nor have I moved all the boxes out of the space to start renovations. But we all have to start somewhere! I do have a stack of PC hardware that I can start putting together and overclocking in my free time, with heavier renovations slated for weekends and holidays. I've got the first of the networked view pc's built on the bench now, testing out cooling, processor choice, and running benchmarks.

I've got a blog with a little more detail, but I'm still working out details like picture hosting.

Basic hardware so far:

Game PC - i7-6700k, GTX 980ti, 32gb

2xView PCs - i7-950 or Xeon X5650, GTX 1070, 24gb

Control PC - i5-3570k, 16gb

3 x 55" Haier 4k tv

CH Products Eclipse Yoke

2 x Saitek Throttle Quadrant

Saitek H52 Pro Hotas

Saitek Pro Flight Rudder Pedals

Logitech G27 force Feedback wheel

Your setup sounds awesome - I'll be following your progress.

I'm also working on a modular setup in my dedicated home theater room. The heart of the HT is an I5-4690K, GTX960 PC connected to a 7.1 audio receiver along with 2 12"subs. The screen is 120" driven by a 1080p Benq HT2050 projector. Great setup for movies.

I'm interested in a modular setup since I race, fight-sim, and also do some gaming on this setup. I've been sim-racing on this with a G27 wheel mounted on a rack and it's amazing. To race, I place the G27 two feet from the screen and my eyes are about 4 feet from the screen. This covers alot of my peripheral vision so it's very immersive. The projector is DLP so the screen door effect is almost un-noticeable. With a custom fov and camera position it feels like I'm in the car.

I've recently got back into FSX and using this setup is also very good. FPS is great - always 50 to 60 even around payware airports. My goal now is to create a control setup that sets up quickly and also lets me fly any aircraft. I'm leaning towards some kind of touch screen setup that will adapt to any aircraft. I'll likely drive the touchsceen with a separate PC to keep my FPS high. Not looking to enclose the setup so that it can transform from racing to flight sim to general gaming to home theater very quickly. The flight-sim setup also should be compact and easily movable. Virtual cockpit will be used for most flight instruments.

Have you tried out the multi-monitor setup on flight sim software yet? I'm curious about the FPS you will get with your setup. Sounds like you've got enough power for very smooth visuals even over multiple screens.

Looking forward to your progress on this project.

That does sound like a sweet HT setup! I've got something similar, sound wise, for my livingroom, but sadly only with a 50-inch LCD for now. I'm waiting for proper HDR 4k sets to come down a bit before I upgrade. The 55" sets I'm using for the simpit don't have the greatest colour, but ran a cool $400 CAD each!

I haven't tried surround flight-simming yet, beyond network testing some of my existing machines in different parts of the house right at the beginning.

I'm still in the process of building and overclocking the view machines. I have one set up with a Xeon x5650 at 3.7ghz with 6cores/12 threads, and the other is an i7-950 at 4.07ghz and 4c/8t. That's a 1ghz overclock over stock speeds for both chips. Not bad for 8 year old silicon.

I've run into a bit of an upset during benching, though. The Xeon, even with a 400mhz clock deficit, is murdering my i7! I've had the i7 up as high as 4.25ghz, and I'm still seeing up to 6fps higher in both X-plane 10 and 11. I'm not entirely sure what's happening yet, as I thought it was a done deal when I got better than 4ghz on the i7 overclock. Strangely, it doesn't seem to matter if I have hyperthreading on or off for the i7, even though the only theoretical advantage the Xeon has is more cores.

Here's the link to my testing spreadsheet, for the Google users among you

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IphblDqexxSTwu6R1lZpjxMyTkiEDfGKa2zKYrErRT4/edit?usp=sharing

The platforms aren't identical - one's an Asus p6t motherboard with 6x4gb dimms, the other is an Asus p6u58d-e with 3x8mb dimms - so I have some more testing to do.

I've got the i5-3570k build done. I may throw one of the GTX 1070's in there, just to see what happens with a newer processor at similar speeds. (The i7-950 and Xeon x3650 are both considered first generation core processors. The i5-3750k is a third generation, and the i7-6700k in my main gaming rig is a 6th generation)