Component selection
Component selection
Today we’re offering 3 configurations, so here’s the biggest one, which costs an eye watering €30,000.00. Yes, it’s hard on the wallet for an individual. But for a driver, for example, it’s the equivalent of a weekend of GT3 testing. That’s 8 sets of tires… Not all our customers are drivers, but you’ll understand the profile of our buyers.
- Chassis: Cooler Master Dyn X
- Seat: Dyn X Racing Seat
- Steering wheel base: Simucube 2 Pro co branded Cooler Master
- Steering wheel: GSI FPE V2
- Pedal: Heusinkveld Ultimate
- Optional pedal: Simucube ActivePedal Ultimate
- Keyboard / Mouse: Rii Mini Keyboard X8
- Haptics / Cylinders: Sigma Integrale DK2 co branded Cooler Master
- Displays: 3x Cooler Master GM34-CWQ2
- Sound: Logitech Z906 5.1 Surround System
When it comes to certain components, the choice is easy. Some of the brands are leaders in technology and/or durability, such as Simucube and Heusinkveld. In a future article, we’ll come back to Simucube and how they’ve changed the world of simulation in recent years, with their consumer direct drive and now active pedals.
For the rest, there’s competition, for example in steering wheels. Cube Control would have been another good choice, easier to configure and a magsafe-type magnetic connector. For me, it’s what I’d choose for a sim center or event environment. But the GSI wheel is a cut above in terms of finish, assembly and overall quality. Customers also ask us to adapt the steering wheel or a replica of their car, as we did with Czinger.
Another important choice is the motion / haptics system. At this year’s ADAC SimRacing Expo there was a plethora of systems, at all price levels. So why did Cooler Master choose a little-known American brand? I think we’d need a whole article on the subject to explain all the qualities of Sigma Intégrale‘s DK actuators design, but to put it simply: ultra-fast, robust, over-built, no latency, and respecting the integrity of the game’s telemetry data. I should also mention that the team behind is made of awesome engineers that help go above and beyond for their clients. For me, this system is a cut above the rest, and I’m no longer the only one to think so. For the record, Sigma converts real cars into simulators for major brands, museums and others. We’ll come back to this in a separate test.
As far as screens are concerned, we’ve long had a fashion for triple-screen 16:9 format displays, but now it’s the turn of the 21:9 format, and Cooler Master has a 34″ 180Hz that’s perfect for the job. However, if even more immersion is required, we’d go for LG Ultragear 45″ and, if the customer has the space and the wallet, Samsung Odyssey ARK 55″… I’ll leave you to imagine the cost of this option.
As for sound, I chose Logitech’s 5.1 Z906. A model that has dominated this niche for far too long, if you ask me. When can we expect a Logitech update?
With all these peripherals, it’s easy to have USB interference problems. That’s why Sigma Intégrale, and now Simucube for their active pedals, use an RJ45 connection. We’ll come back to this point in a future article.
The GSI FPE V2 steering wheel is superb, but USB ports were never designed to deliver this much current. So you’ll have to use a powered hub.
Beyond the choice of components, as with a PC, we also have to think about cable management. Here, we try to arrange everything neatly and then use a cable protector to make it even sexier and easier to put on/remove if we need to intervene.
