70 replies to this topic

[Tenmantaylor]

I just put a 1050Ti in a Dell T7400 and upgraded to a Samsung evo ssd with Windows 10 pro (free upgrade still available from 7). It was a sinch and it's like a new silent computer for less than 300 quid. Play GTAV and iracing on pretty much full settings at 1080p.

[messy]

PS4 edges it on the 'base' consoles, but it you've got the extra cash I think Xbox One X is better than the PS4 Pro. XB1X is a genuine step up from the base console whatever your setup while PS4 Pro only has more subtle improvements if you have a posh enough TV to take advantage of it. Personally I'd go for a standard PS4, but Forza/Forza Horizon are obviously XB exclusives....

[Melbourne Park]

PS4 edges it on the 'base' consoles, but it you've got the extra cash I think Xbox One X is better than the PS4 Pro. XB1X is a genuine step up from the base console whatever your setup while PS4 Pro only has more subtle improvements if you have a posh enough TV to take advantage of it. Personally I'd go for a standard PS4, but Forza/Forza Horizon are obviously XB exclusives....

Hmm ... maybe i will get the fanatec wheel - it seems their new GT Sport version will also be xbox compatable. Then i could try both. The wheel is the biggest decision for me I reckon reckon as it seems game machines are always worth something - they seem to sell used for not much less than their special retail prices.

I may only get the standard PS4 too because I’m going to use it on a 50” plasma tv that is 1080i - an old pioneer. I suspect my lcd 75” would be too slow. Evidently for hi res games OLED is best as there is no delay like a plasma, but unlike LCDs. While the Xbox could double as a 4k Bluray player, streaming is good enough for at us at the moment and a lot cheaper in Australia, where Our Blurays cost a lot. And I rarely watch a movie twice.

All the wheels also work on PCs too.

Edited by Melbourne Park, 20 April 2018 - 21:38.

[Melbourne Park]

PS4 edges it on the 'base' consoles, but it you've got the extra cash I think Xbox One X is better than the PS4 Pro. XB1X is a genuine step up from the base console whatever your setup while PS4 Pro only has more subtle improvements if you have a posh enough TV to take advantage of it. Personally I'd go for a standard PS4, but Forza/Forza Horizon are obviously XB exclusives....

 

I won't be getting an Xbox because the sim games on the Xbox will run on a PC. So its PC and PS4 for me. I won't get the PS4 pro either as at the moment I don't need the resolution. Although Pro prices recently dropped quite a lot in Australia. 

[MatsNorway]

I still have my PS2 compatible steering wheel that luckily works great for PC. And since i have a Steam library i will never lose great games again when i chance machine/hardware. I just whish they had Richard Burns rally on Steam.. Best rally game made to date.

 

fun fact: Death Rally is on steam now if you played that during the 90s

 

Consoles are great and some of my best gaming experiences have been on them. But with the modern machines you get controllers to work on many games and Steam even have filters for it so you can easily find them.

Games on Steam are also cheaper.

[Melbourne Park]

I just put a 1050Ti in a Dell T7400 and upgraded to a Samsung evo ssd with Windows 10 pro (free upgrade still available from 7). It was a sinch and it's like a new silent computer for less than 300 quid. Play GTAV and iracing on pretty much full settings at 1080p.

How did you do that?

[Tenmantaylor]

All plug and play parts, just pop the side off the tower and slot it in the mobo. There was a video on youtube of how to upgrade the ssd, I had to buy a controller card for it to plug into as the mobo didn't have the right port. If it fits in the slot it works! It's a lot simpler than fixing the gears on my bloody road bike that's for sure.

[Melbourne Park]

All plug and play parts, just pop the side off the tower and slot it in the mobo. There was a video on youtube of how to upgrade the ssd, I had to buy a controller card for it to plug into as the mobo didn't have the right port. If it fits in the slot it works! It's a lot simpler than fixing the gears on my bloody road bike that's for sure.

Nah, hah hah - I mean't the upgrade from 7 to WIN 10!!! 

Edited by Melbourne Park, 10 May 2018 - 09:48.

[Tenmantaylor]

Haha I was about to add that but didn't have the link!

 

https://www.microsof...U50931YYw)(dwp)

 

This one 

 

Windows is 10 is mostly awesome. Been really solid, fast and many improvements. Not missing anything about 7 (which I had very few complaints about either). Good to be on the latest to ensure security.

Edited by Tenmantaylor, 10 May 2018 - 10:36.

[Melbourne Park]

Haha I was about to add that but didn't have the link!

 

https://www.microsof...U50931YYw)(dwp)

 

This one 

 

Windows is 10 is mostly awesome. Been really solid, fast and many improvements. Not missing anything about 7 (which I had very few complaints about either). Good to be on the latest to ensure security.

 

Thanks. 

[Rinehart]

A PC set up sounds like far to much of a faff for me, for, I bet, not a lot of gain over my set up which is:

 

Playstation Pro connected to a LG 65' 4K TV, Bose surround, Omega seat and Thrustmaster wheel. (Only downside is that Mrs Rinehart insists the seat is kept in the barn when I'm not using it, so mostly I am playing GT Sport with the pad (floating wheel) option as shifting the heavy seat/wheel combo around is a pain in the ass). 

 

I actually had the chance to try a professional racing sim last year as part of a corporate experience and honestly, apart from the sense of occasion and the scale of the thing, I didn't think there was a great deal of difference at all. At the end of the day, even with the best sim set up available, it doesn't "feel" and the adrenaline doesn't "pump", like it does in a real car on a real track. So why bother reaching for the stars when you're only ever going to get as far as the moon, in terms of simulation, that's my thinking on this! 

 

From what I've seen, iRacing is basically an over-hyped very American version of GT Sport just for PC's. Their pitch is that "The fact of the matter is, if you’re serious about driving games, PC racing is simply the way to go. Better physics and dedicated racing platforms are expected from PC-based car racing games, giving users the most lifelike racing experience imaginable." I think that is utter sales BS. As said above, their is a ceiling to realism and the physics are subjective. Its well known that many professional racing drivers use the consoles. Simply buying a PC-sim set up doesn't automatically make you a better driver, which a lot of the sim-racers out there seem to think it does. Sorry, if that opinion puts a couple of noses out of joint! 

 

Anyway, I think the dynamics, simulation, realism and entertainment of both GT Sport and F1 2017 are excellent for my enjoyment so I couldn't care less if there is better out there, realistically, I've got more important things to be doing than spending hours gaming!!! I barely touch the car set up configurations on GT Sport and on F1, awesomely its possible to simply COPY them from other players, so I've found a guy's set up that works for me and off I go. I just don't have the time or the inclination to spend hours getting every setting right, including driving positions, feedback and car set up. Switch on and race is what I want.

 

PS4 with a decent screen and toys is my advise, anything else is just an idle pursuit of a mythical best experience. Take your car on a track day if you want realism! 

[messy]

Yeah I tried to go down the PC route a long time ago now and found everything such a faff for an end result that wasn't really any more satisfying than sticking a disc in a console. Especially now. Back in the days when I first started playing, the PC versions of racers (thinking stuff like TOCA and PlayStation F1 games vs the likes of Grand Prix 3) were MILES better, weren't they? But now the difference seems to be the scope for endless modding etc. I respect people who are really into stuff like iracing but it's not really for me when I can switch on a PS4 and do pretty much everything I want. Maybe I need to be educated. But I'm not big into computers.

[Klauzer]

PS4 edges it on the 'base' consoles, but it you've got the extra cash I think Xbox One X is better than the PS4 Pro. XB1X is a genuine step up from the base console whatever your setup while PS4 Pro only has more subtle improvements if you have a posh enough TV to take advantage of it. Personally I'd go for a standard PS4, but Forza/Forza Horizon are obviously XB exclusives....

 

If someone plays with a controller & doesn't use a wheel (which is perfectly valid for a video game like f1 for example, i.e. where a wheel doesn't come close to recreating a sim-like experience in any case & all that matters is the physics & the car's behavior), an Xbox One is probably a better choice. The controller has vibration function on the triggers (what they call impulse triggers) which makes a huge difference under braking in terms of handling & the feedback you get when driving (in Forza, the Codemaster's f1 games or Dirt Rally 2). It makes the experience tighter & far more precise. 

[Melbourne Park]

If someone plays with a controller & doesn't use a wheel (which is perfectly valid for a video game like f1 for example, i.e. where a wheel doesn't come close to recreating a sim-like experience in any case & all that matters is the physics & the car's behavior), an Xbox One is probably a better choice. The controller has vibration function on the triggers (what they call impulse triggers) which makes a huge difference under braking in terms of handling & the feedback you get when driving (in Forza, the Codemaster's f1 games or Dirt Rally 2). It makes the experience tighter & far more precise. 

 

My brakes malfunctioned and I haven't had them repaired yet plus I've been busy so haven't driven a Sim for maybe 4 months. But I have raced fast drivers on the PS4 who use hand controllers and in some conditions the hand controller has an advantage. ie at Brands Hatch in Porsche 356 lightweight which is a car that is tail happy, leading onto the main straight it pays to run up to the edge of the track, and hand controller drivers have a technique for keeping the car right on the edge of the track there that is not possible with a wheel. They sort of have many movements left and right that cannot be done with a wheel.  I think on fast open curves a wheel and brakes using good technique has an advantage over a hand controller in the PS4 environment. 

 

But I have read that on the Xbox that the hand controller has an advantage over a wheel. It all comes down to the programming I guess. 

 

I think the biggest advantage of the PS4 is the number of players though.

 

Its disadvantage is that the net or their servers cannot cope with long distances ie South America v Canadian players, or Australians v Japan if the server is spooling from Japan. Delays result in the game sometimes making mistakes ie for instance showing a driver that the car in front is half off the track. While in fact the driver in front is actually on the track. But your game thinks the driver in front has run half his vehicle wide. It ends up that the drivers closer to the server have a clear advantage in traffic, IMO. 

Edited by Melbourne Park, 07 November 2019 - 11:06.

[Klauzer]

My brakes malfunctioned and I haven't had them repaired yet plus I've been busy so haven't driven a Sim for maybe 4 months. But I have raced fast drivers on the PS4 who use hand controllers and in some conditions the hand controller has an advantage. ie at Brands Hatch in Porsche 356 lightweight which is a car that is tail happy, leading onto the main straight it pays to run up to the edge of the track, and hand controller drivers have a technique for keeping the car right on the edge of the track there that is not possible with a wheel. They sort of have many movements left and right that cannot be done with a wheel.  I think on fast open curves a wheel and brakes using good technique has an advantage over a hand controller in the PS4 environment. 

 

But I have read that on the Xbox that the hand controller has an advantage over a wheel. It all comes down to the programming I guess. . 

 

Yes, i.e. unless the game in question is designed as a sim first & foremost (Assetto Corsa etc.) it's going to be tailored for the mass market & most players (in fact the crushing majority on console) use a gamepad. So the game is designed for that from the beginning & then they add some force feedback wheel settings to satisfy wheel players. For example I prefer Project Cars 2 with a wheel whereas Codemaster's f1 games are better with a gamepad IMO. I've also (since my previous comment) plugged my ps4 back in & played some f1 2016 & 17 with the ps4 controller just to compare it with the Xbox & to my surprise it does have one advantage (despite the lack of trigger rumble), i.e. the triggers on ps4 seem to have extra depth & more range ergo it's actually easier to feather the throttle & braking. On the Xbox the triggers are extremely sensitive whereas on ps4, not so much. That's good for racing games so I'd have to say they're both pretty equal (trigger rumble on xbox, better triggers on ps4). 

 

One thing I do know: in Codemaster's f1 games the force feedback with a wheel is not fun, whereas playing with a controller is. That's just something players should keep an open mind about & not persist with a wheel for example just because they bought one. 

[Peter Perfect]

I've been thrashing my MacBook Pro playing iRacing while also trying a few sims out on my old PS3. I was thinking about upgrading to a dedicated PC but I honestly couldn't justify the expense for how much I race so went for a second hand PS4 Pro instead. Unfortunately....

 

...my old Logitech G25 wheel, while great for the PS3, is incompatible with the PS4.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions for an upgrade? The G29 looks pretty good but I wasn't sure if there were any other decent wheels in the same price bracket. 

[noikeee]

Some people recommend Thrustmaster wheels over the G29.

I'd also recommend waiting for Covid to be over, because sim gear is way too expensive in 2020... Now of course, when Covid is over, we'll want to get out of the house more and play sims less, so this is still an useless suggestion.

[messy]

If someone plays with a controller & doesn't use a wheel (which is perfectly valid for a video game like f1 for example, i.e. where a wheel doesn't come close to recreating a sim-like experience in any case & all that matters is the physics & the car's behavior), an Xbox One is probably a better choice. The controller has vibration function on the triggers (what they call impulse triggers) which makes a huge difference under braking in terms of handling & the feedback you get when driving (in Forza, the Codemaster's f1 games or Dirt Rally 2). It makes the experience tighter & far more precise.

yeah I far prefer the Xbox controller for racers. I don’t think I’ve bought a racing game for my PS4 for ages now, it makes a big difference.

Also, the PS4 triggers have a terrible habit of losing their pressure sensitivity so suddenly on say GT Sport you find yourself accelerating like you’re driving a Lada and not realising that it’s because the triggers have started to stop working properly. It’s happened to me on two controllers now and it took me ages to work out what the problem was first time.

[Hati]

Some people recommend Thrustmaster wheels over the G29.
 

But basic Thrustmaster pedals (two pedal version) are worse that those in Logitech, so more expensive three pedal set is recommended.

 

And if old wheel is satisfactory then a DriveHub should be enough.

https://shop.cronusm...m/drivehub.html

(I have no personal experience.)

[Hati]

Also, the PS4 triggers have a terrible habit of losing their pressure sensitivity so suddenly

I keep wondering why anyone uses triggers with PS since the right control method has been available since first Turismo, one stick controls speed and other direction.

[Peter Perfect]

Thanks for the advice. 

 

I saw the drive hub which looked pretty good but for the price of it I could upgrade to the G29, so I just decided to go for the upgrade.