Show your cockpit

[Jamie Wilson]

Well the whole plan is down the shitter now, Frex will not put out Vista drivers for months it turns out, and no immediate plans to provide 64-bit drivers even when they do.

So, I buy a high-end PC with 4GB of RAM (so I must run 64bit), and then when I want to spend the money to buy a high-end wheel with it, I have to downgrade!

Vista32 and Vista64 support should be ****ing automatic by now, surely! What if it was a new printer or a graphics card or something; Vista32 support is unconditional, with Vista64 not seen as the awkward bastard that 0.003% of people run.

Pissed off now. Been doing research all day, when I close my eyes I see steering wheels. I could've put my order in on monday, but now the whole cockpit plans are off for at least a couple of months, great.

Jamie smash!

[Simon Trendell]

Harsh luck Jamie, Vista64 should defiantly not be seen as a minority. The whole 64bit driver situation is very much MS' making, Vista should have been a pure 64bit OS, like OSX. Instead we've got OEM's putting out 32bit PC's, while the pretty much everyone I know who's built a PC recently has gone with 64bit.

And to make it worse, it seems that even the next Windows will have a 32bit version.
To date the biggest problem I've had with 64bit is finding a wireless card with 64bit support, I gave up eventually and just run a cable.

Also, You seem to turn right alot Atti :p

[Jamie Wilson]

The only device I don't have 64-bit drivers for is the USB functionality of the synth pictured above, and it's known to be coming soon - and in that case I can use 99.99% of it's functionality through other means. Everything else I have 100% rock solid drivers for.

It just doesn't make sense that a company would release a product with the support only for an OS heading into retirement which isn't even being sold on PCs any more (as of this or maybe next month, I believe)

I'll probably end up caving in and downgrading but I spent lots of money on this system only 3 months ago, and by putting XP32 on it I feel like I'm being punished for having a high-end system. I may as well have burnt the money.

That's really, really shat on my day.

[Attila Domján]

Jamie, go for ECCI. The non-force -feedback there is actually an advantage for it, and the guys suuporting ECCI sales and customer service is incredible helpful, answering all stupid questions day and night, and not just until you paid the bucks.

Last time i order a 20 USD part to modify the wheel force, the support level was the same when i originally ordered my set for 1600 USD.

[Jamie Wilson]

I admire ECCI as a company, I've heard only really great things about them, but my two absolute must-haves in a wheel are multiturn (which they do) and FFB (which they don't). Similarly in the pedal department, load-cell pressure sensitivity is a must, so I'll be going the CST route rather than the ECCI route there too.

Obviously when you're spending this sort of cash, you need to get something which is absolutely right for you, and in my case that means that FFB is an absolute must. I could be persuaded over a suede wheel but converting me to non-FFB is going to require an act of God :p

I'll be getting the Frex wheel even if I had to run it on an Atari ST, but it's just such a disappointment that I have run an old OS that doesn't fully support all of my hardware in order to do so.

[Attila Domján]

About the need of FFB i understand your point, however i do not agree with it, but we are different.

About the pedals load-cell pressure question i can not even understand your point, and of course i do not agree with it lol
in my eyes ECCI-s solution is ahead in feel and precision of any other wheels, but ye, a point which can be hardly decided i think.
at this level where these pedals are all of them is good i think, still i would never exchange mine to any other type

[Jamie Wilson]

I think we're trying to achieve slightly different goals Atti; you're definitely so tuned in to your setup that it's allowing you to fully exploit your talent to go very fast and be in the top handful of drivers, but I'm more inclined to take the purist route and go for all-out simulation accuracy, which for me means a loadcell brake and - bit controversial here - a force feedback wheel.

That's not to say that your setup is deliberately unrealistic, but just like I can't limit myself to 260 degrees of lock, I can't go for a travel-based braking system now that I've read so much about the advantages and accuracy of a loadcell system.

Ultimately it's whatever works best for you.

[Attila Domján]

Ofi coursei, when you plan to spend that much amount of money on something, you must choose which is feeling good for you. Feelings usually do not let down people.

[Ben Tusting]

Looking to spend no more than £250 on steering wheel/pedals and seat. what's the best thing to go for.
Sorry about this post again but i can't decide what to get

[Attila Domján]

G25, and forget the seat for the time being then. From hungary i race from a normal office chair, just took out the wheels, and with a G25, and i can race with the same confidence level as from my VPP rack with the ECCI. Of course the immersion and the precision is not the same, and i am more stable in a long run from the professional set.

A decent pedal is the most imprtant part of any driving set, much more important then anything else, including the wheel, and for the amount of money you can spend on it the G25 is the only option in my view. Those pedals are making the G25 high above the other commercial wheels, not the wheel itself.

[Ben Tusting]

the problem is i dont have anywhere to put the wheel, I've got a racing seat on wheels but i would need something to put the steering wheel on. Thats why i was looking at a playseat. Have you got an ideas on what i could do if i brought the g25

[Attila Domján]

I am racing with the G25 from a normal PC office table.

[WeeDz]

never tought you were a smoker atti

and yes i think g25 is best for that amount of money, but if you are a bit handy you can buy a usb board were you can fit rotary encoders or pot meters on it (the way the position of the pedals are put in the pc ) and then you could build yourself some high performance pedals your self.
then its about the quality of the Pots you put in and good one are around 40 euro ( most expensive ones i think) then offcourse you have to build the rest......( told experiences from other builders is that it cost more then you think hehehe)

but its an option if you can get some parts cheap offcourse

im gonna build mine after the summer :drunk:

[Ben Tusting]

This is my room
Its not very big and i cant turn it into a total racing/sim room cause i also have an xbox 360

[Attila Domján]

hey, i accidentally run into this:
o b u t t o - cockpit details

Reasonable price of 259 USD for a complete cokpit frame with seat, perfect for G25, shipping can be an issue though... currently i would say optimal low price purchase for US people.

[Bob Anderson]

Originally Posted by Attila Domján

hey, i accidentally run into this:
o b u t t o - cockpit details

Reasonable price of 259 USD for a complete cokpit frame with seat, perfect for G25, shipping can be an issue though... currently i would say optimal low price purchase for US people.

I've been in contact with them for a while since I ordered one a few months ago, but it was sold out, and I have had to wait for one to be built (hopefully should arrive sometime this month). Atti is correct, shipping to non-US people is an issue, as the cockpit is very heavy and the box is large. I think to ship anywhere other than US would probably cost more than the price of the cockpit itself. I know that they are trying to find a European distributor, so perhaps soon this will not be a problem.

Bob

[Ben Tusting]

cheers for the link. looks good

[Jacek Kozlowski]

Jamie i hope You will make right decisions (for you of course) on choosing your high-end wheel and PC.Soon(in about 3months) i will have to decided wich way to go too.Just yesterday i upgraded my pc -9300 procesor,asus p5kc motherboard,4gigs ddr2-800,8800gts and vista64.what ive notice that FF(g25) have change a lot with vista64(502log. 64bit.drivers)-its weaker than it was with 32bit vista.next thing that i want to buy is high-end wheel with pedals set.I also thinking about FFwheel,waiting for new frex but as you said we dont know yet if there will be suport for vista64.I read about this JL-g25 but you would have to wait for it at least 6months.Still have some time to decide,but im confused with the choice,dont want to spend 1300euros on wheel that doesent work good (like some vpp wheels-lack of good drivers).Do You consider some other brands(wheel),if yes then what?
Jacek Kozlowski

[Attila Domján]

Well, there is also a BRD wheel is waiting for release for a long time now, not sure if it will ever come. Other then that i am not aware of any high-spec wheel... TSW is still there, but i am not sure if it is in the same League with the others.

[Ben Tusting]

Does anybody know a cheap website for playseats and frames

[Attila Domján]

I think they have the same price everywhere more or less.

[Peter Eriksson]

Ok, here comes mine, nothing to fancy, but check out the VGP trophy for 2nd place in the left corner, sadly enough my girlfriend hates it so its only there for the photo ;)

[Attila Domján]

Hates the trophy...? C mon, u must be kidding... lol

[Danny Engels]

I got my cockpit quite simple.

Have to use the PC for many several things, so it's better for me to use a normal desk instead of a racing rig. But so far i am satisfied with this: