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Wanted Gaming PC

cr5000462

cr5000462

Registered
Joined
Apr 25, 2020
Messages
598
Location
Wrexham
Alias
CR
Hi All,

I am looking for a decent spec gaming PC, (simply to install dolphin & Technoparot so I can play Mario Cart GP2 and DP DX)
My budget is around the £350-£400 mark - Please entertain me :thumbs:
 
Morning, I am just in the process of building a racing cab at the moment and have just bought an empty maximum tune 3 cabinet. I built a gaming PC last year but need to build another one for the cabinet. Based on what I bulit last year I think you could get something like an i5 8th Gen with a GTS1650 for that sort of money. I would be interested if you have considered force feedback and how you will drive the motor... if you have any advice please PM me. Thanks
 
Hi John,

Thanks for the computer recommendation, I will take a look at it.
I am not going down the cab route just yet, I fancy a racing "cockpit" type thing, running PC with Logitech G29 pedals, wheels, shifter.
5.1 Surround and the monitor is my wall-mounted TV.

I am going down the cockpit route so I can physically remove it for ease of use, with the added bonus that I can add a similar cockpit next to it for two-player racing, but as I live alone, don't want the space of a twin cab constantly taking up the room
 
TP doesn't require a vast amount of grunt as it's not (to my understanding) an emulator it's a wrapper (Dolphin is an emulator though so may require somewhat more power)
I've just finished a upright driver running pretty much everything I want to run and the PC element cost me £100 ish - i3 3.3Ghz , 4GB RAM, GTX 750ti.
I built the whole cab from scratch and based it loosely around a Sega Rally 2 upright.

The only games I've taken off due to performance issues are SFRush, RidgeRacer and Crusin' USA - not sure if that's MAME that's the issue or if the i3 doesn't have the legs for it but I'm not too bothered about those games anyhow.

But MK works fine in TP, as does Outrun2, all the M2 and M3 games
There is an English hack for MK for the text, but the speech is all Japanese.

All working with FFB via the plugin and a G27 wheel and pedals, I've got a proper Sega sequential shifter en-route from the states to finish it off.
 
That sounds great! would love to see some pictures, I am COMPLETELY new to this, learning as I go along, to be honest, not really sure where to start apart from gathering the gear, PC, Wheel etc etc

I can also no longer find the Mario Kart GP2 IOS, all the links have been removed - meh
 
Compared to a MAME joystick cab a driver is more complex no question.
I'd definitely go for a G27 or G29 as I know they'll work
Pedals are where you have the most fun as some games (MAME does for sure) need the pedals presented as combined (single Axis) and some others (TP does for sure) need them presented as separate axis.
The logitech profiler is your friend here as it can switch on the fly and another reason its a good bet.
Demul is the nastiest to get working cleanly as there is a FFB detection bug resulting in an error on launch which I've worked around with an AHK script - took some messing about but you can't have a driver without CrazyTaxi ;)

You also have to setup the inputs on a per game basis in MAME and TP (Demul, M2 and M3 are globally defined)
If you're just after a PC with a wheel it's not such a pain - but on a cab I wanted no visible errors, everything launching and exiting cleanly from the front-end and to be navigable with just the wheel/cab buttons which took some scripting to achieve.

I need to finish the shifter, sort out a screen bezel somehow and get some artwork sorted out, and then I'm done :)

20200803_112258.jpg
 
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I will be going for the "racing simulator cockpit" type set up, so its not hacking away at cabs etc.. lots of reading to do!
I do want a crazy taxi, but will buy a stand alone cab for that
 
Wondering, would I be able to use a Fanatec steering wheel/pedeal set up?
 
Just purchased this on Flebay, gives me a good start! Will be powder coating it black
I plan on panelling the back and sides, the PC can hide under the seat, will be installing 5.1 surrounds on it as well.
 

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I plan on taking it to my local fabricators, If I can get a second one made for a decent price, thats the hard "twin" set-up sorted!
might have to adjust to suit, an idea is to make the frame a little longer, and add rails to the seat so its adjustable
 
Could be interested in similar if your want to spread the cost (and its not too dear) had a mate looking at building one before but its on his to do list when hes not busy etc

Made one out of wood, left outside for a few months and then had to dump it (good seat and g27 setup as well)
 
sounds like a plan! hows your technical PC knowledge? because mine is diddly squit :rofl:
just for that frame alone, I paid £472 delivered.
 
Here's a picture of my cab, paid £190 for it, its a Namco Maximum Tune 3, Namco also did Mario Kart in a similar cab. Have just pretty much stripped it to its component parts, cleaned it, sticky-stuff removed, jet washed and put back together. Still needs some TLC. The wheels and pedals have pots on them which I assume I can read with an Untimarc A-PAC and calibrate. The shifter is switched which the will read. Only challenge is going to be the force feedback which may take me down the fanatec route.

wheel.jpg
 

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Looking good! I did look at one of these on eBay a few weeks ago for a Mario build, is this the one?

Do you not fancy playing around with some fiberglass and installing an aftermarket wheel/pedal/shifter set? can rebuild the dash to suit
 
Cheers! I will put my name down with him for anything mario related, or indeed an empty cab for a future project, can always sit in my lockup!
 
He has an empty mario kart cab... £1500, no boards its gutted and the wiring is all chewed up, going to pass on that one!
but he has another maximum tune, which hes sending me a photo of :thumbs:
 
John Taylor said:
Here's a picture of my cab, paid £190 for it, its a Namco Maximum Tune 3, Namco also did Mario Kart in a similar cab. Have just pretty much stripped it to its component parts, cleaned it, sticky-stuff removed, jet washed and put back together. Still needs some TLC. The wheels and pedals have pots on them which I assume I can read with an Untimarc A-PAC and calibrate. The shifter is switched which the will read. Only challenge is going to be the force feedback which may take me down the fanatec route.

View attachment 115517
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Running the original wheel and pedals will be harder than using a controller that is natively supported, not saying it can't be done, but its certainly going to be more complex to get FFB working.
I don't think you can do FFB with an APAC alone anyway, I think people were using the GlobalVR immersion board to get the Happ FFB working, but that was some years ago now, and wasn't a cheap option as I recall.

FFB aside I suspect it's do-able, but the combined/non-combined pedal axis are where you're likely going to have to get creative.
MAME, and I think SuperModel need the pedals reporting as a combined axis (Accel is + and Brake is - on the same axis), M2, Demul and TP need them to be presented as two separate axis (Accel +/- and Brake +/- on their own axis)
Getting this to work and switch between the modes was one of the fiddly bits of my build

The G27 is easy if just using it as stock - I hacked mine apart which you may or may not need to do extend the wheel shaft to get some clearance on the dash, and then removed the pedals from the housing and reverse mounted them on to two batons inside the cab screwed and glued to the body at ~45 degrees.
I also ditched the clutch and removed the paddle shifters
You might be able to leave the pedals alone if you're putting it in a sit down, and you could always Dremel out the dash to fit the wheel body

I'd go the PC wheel route to be honest, but will follow along with interest if you're going to try the originals .

FFB is best handled via https://github.com/Boomslangnz/FFBArcadePlugin/releases - dead easy to configure (assuming your wheel supports FFB in a native windowsey way)
 
Grabbed a nice deal on a Logitech G29 wheel, pedals and shifter - £140 :thumbs: :thumbs:

Just the PC to go now folks and im rocking and rollin' Any suggestions? Im really stuck, have NO idea what all the numbers and specs actually mean!
 
ChrisH said:
Running the original wheel and pedals will be harder than using a controller that is natively supported, not saying it can't be done, but its certainly going to be more complex to get FFB working.
I don't think you can do FFB with an APAC alone anyway, I think people were using the GlobalVR immersion board to get the Happ FFB working, but that was some years ago now, and wasn't a cheap option as I recall.

FFB aside I suspect it's do-able, but the combined/non-combined pedal axis are where you're likely going to have to get creative.
MAME, and I think SuperModel need the pedals reporting as a combined axis (Accel is + and Brake is - on the same axis), M2, Demul and TP need them to be presented as two separate axis (Accel +/- and Brake +/- on their own axis)
Getting this to work and switch between the modes was one of the fiddly bits of my build

The G27 is easy if just using it as stock - I hacked mine apart which you may or may not need to do extend the wheel shaft to get some clearance on the dash, and then removed the pedals from the housing and reverse mounted them on to two batons inside the cab screwed and glued to the body at ~45 degrees.
I also ditched the clutch and removed the paddle shifters
You might be able to leave the pedals alone if you're putting it in a sit down, and you could always Dremel out the dash to fit the wheel body

I'd go the PC wheel route to be honest, but will follow along with interest if you're going to try the originals .

FFB is best handled via https://github.com/Boomslangnz/FFBArcadePlugin/releases - dead easy to configure (assuming your wheel supports FFB in a native windowsey way)
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Thanks Chris, really appreciate the advice..... Looks like the PC wheel is the way to go. Already have a G29 set... may take that apart to see if I can get the clearance, looks like it may be OK with the paddle shifters off. Cheers
 
What games are you wanting to run?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DELL-302...692846?hash=item5239a8f6ee:g:UEgAAOSwIOJfIqq0

Would do MK on TP as pretty much what mine is running, but with a better CPU.
I did it all on the very cheap - £15 motherboard, £10CPU, £50 Videocard, £30 240GB SSD, and a new decent branded PSU which was £60ish and screwed it all directly into the plywood - no chassis required!

You probably won't need as much power as you think if you're just interested in TP, but if you're wanting to go down the sim-racing modern PC games route its a different requirement and then you will be needing a significantly more powerful video card.
 
cr5000462 said:
Grabbed a nice deal on a Logitech G29 wheel, pedals and shifter - £140 :thumbs: :thumbs:

Just the PC to go now folks and im rocking and rollin' Any suggestions? Im really stuck, have NO idea what all the numbers and specs actually mean!
Click to expand...

I have not done much emulation of Racing cabs so cannot advise on what will run OK, looking at Chris's post an i3 should do the trick. I have used this company before for MAME PC's, probably more expensive than eBay but you know what you are getting, they also can upgrade to SSD for you. 20% off at the moment. https://www.stonerefurb.co.uk/desktops

Thanks
 
John Taylor said:
Thanks Chris, really appreciate the advice..... Looks like the PC wheel is the way to go. Already have a G29 set... may take that apart to see if I can get the clearance, looks like it may be OK with the paddle shifters off. Cheers
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No worries - feel free to get in touch with any questions - I'll do my best.

You can have my AHK scripts for making demul behave itself with FFB wheels attached too if you like.
 
It will mainly be for Mario Kart DX on tecnoparrot and Mario Kart GP2 on Dolphin (IF I can find the ISO).. not sure if tecnoparrot has all the version of mario kart available?

I would like to be able to, if possible, play outrun and outrun 2 on it aswell.

if its a case of "spend an extra £150 or so and youll be able to run the modern PC racing games without an issues" I would adjust my budget to suit, but it has to be a full stand alone PC


Also, Side question, does anyone know if Mario kart DX on tecno, or GP2 on dolphin are multiplayer enabled?
 
Outrun is MAME
Outrun2 is TP
MK DX is TP

I've never used Dolphin - but looking at the wiki people are playing MK on it with 970m which is a GTX970 mobile.
So I'd say look for a
i5 4590, 8GB RAM, a GTX 970 or above, and an SSD and you'll be OK.
If you want to get a little more modern stick a GTX1070 in it.

Dolphin is my unknown, looks like it needs more grunt, so if you didn't want that you could get away with a GTX750Ti and probably a i3 running around 3.3Ghz
 
Thank you, I am browsing the used market and spotted the following at different price points - but its facebook and everyone loves a haggle on there! :
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2534413120183325/

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2727295864167526/

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1663371647146231

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/281322193139329/

OR this one ? https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/616407109011432/ but upgrade to a RTX2060 - seem to be about £200 on ebay

Should I be a little wary about buying a Used PC? not to the exact it might blow up.. but personal details etc etc on there, some whizzkidd might of installed something that can pinch all my details


Oh, also would be a bonus, but not yet essential, if it was capable of running VR
 
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1 + 3 have AMD Graphics cards, nothing wrong with that generally, but stick with NVidia for TP
The other two are OK spec wise for what you want, although a bit on the high-side price wise for me although I've never bought a PC as a whole unit used or otherwise (well apart from 100s of Dell workstations to deploy at work and they aren't gaming oriented units)

On the bay - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ultra-Fa...524&brand=Dell&_trksid=p2334524.c100667.m2042
with the right boxes selected comes in at £480. (i5, 8GB, SSD, GTX1660)
No idea what the seller is like though.

You could certainly do it cheaper if you source used parts and build the machine yourself though, I reckon you could do it on £250-300, but if you're not up for building then you'll pay a higher price to have it done for you

Modern games in VR is a very different ask than decade old games with a wrapper, for that you'd need to be looking at something with a GTX2070 and those cards are £400 on their own, doubt you'll get much VR done under £800.

I'd nuke any used PC that I bought and do a fresh Windows install.
 
I would be happy to build it myself.. KNOWING how to build it myself is a completely different story! :rofl:
VR far from essential, I suppose I can just upgrade the machine in the future if my needs change
 
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