What PC specs needed to play all emulated Arcade racers, and are Sims worth it?

[Rockstead]

 I’m trying to not go down the rabbit hole, so I’m hoping I could learn from others who have done this and avoid what’s causing me issues in regards to monitor choice and horsepower to be able to play newer Sim/Simcades, or maybe avoid it all together. The cost between a 1080p 60hz monitor and 4K 60hz is very close but 1080p is only available in 27” while 4K is in both.

I know nothing about Sim games, only about Arcade racers I grew up with like Daytona.

This is for a twin cabinet with Logitech G29 controls, and LCD monitors are a must as I have no monitors, I need to purchase everything for two cabinets, I don’t have a specific budget in mind, but I would like to be sensible but I don’t have to be cheap.

My cabinet only has a display width of 27”, maybe because it’s an initial D originally, I’ve heard of others fitting in a 32” LCD on Sega cabinets but there’s definitely not enough width for that.

What would you do?

1. Build to include Sim/Simcade games?

2. 27” LCD (24.x width) and keep original speakers, or 28” LCD (25.x width) and relocate speakers. Total width on cabinet available is 27” if speakers are relocated, but next jump in monitor size is 32” and it’s too wide to fit.

3. 27” 1080p 60hz, 27” 1440p 144hz, 27” 4K 60z, 28” 4K 60hz.

4. PC specs based on your recommendation, it would be nice to have some room to grow and to take advantage of HLSL.

Thanks

[fablog]

1. Build to include Sim/Simcade games?

Maybe focus on a simcade with possibilities to do some sim games and upgrade your computer later if you really want to play those games.

2. 27” LCD (24.x width) and keep original speakers, or 28” LCD (25.x width) and relocate speakers. Total width on cabinet available is 27” if speakers are relocated, but next jump in monitor size is 32” and it’s too wide to fit.

If your cab is like my Sega NASCAR cab you could put a curved 32". I use a Philips 322E1C (only 1080p but 4k model is available too). No pb with the speaker behind, you will hear them.

3. 27” 1080p 60hz, 27” 1440p 144hz, 27” 4K 60z, 28” 4K 60hz.

4. PC specs based on your recommendation, it would be nice to have some room to grow and to take advantage of HLSL.

I use a i5 third generation with a gtx 960 and it's perfect for all teknoparrot games in 1080p. You can find a used computer for 300$. You don't really need HLSL because most racing interesting games are in 3D.

What did you plan for the sound system? Teknoparrot is able to send sound to front and rear speakers.

Thanks

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[Rockstead]

1. Build to include Sim/Simcade games?

Maybe focus on a simcade with possibilities to do some sim games and upgrade your computer later if you really want to play those games.

2. 27” LCD (24.x width) and keep original speakers, or 28” LCD (25.x width) and relocate speakers. Total width on cabinet available is 27” if speakers are relocated, but next jump in monitor size is 32” and it’s too wide to fit.

If your cab is like my Sega NASCAR cab you could put a curved 32". I use a Philips 322E1C (only 1080p but 4k model is available too). No pb with the speaker behind, you will hear them.

3. 27” 1080p 60hz, 27” 1440p 144hz, 27” 4K 60z, 28” 4K 60hz.

4. PC specs based on your recommendation, it would be nice to have some room to grow and to take advantage of HLSL.

I use a i5 third generation with a gtx 960 and it's perfect for all teknoparrot games in 1080p. You can find a used computer for 300$. You don't really need HLSL because most racing interesting games are in 3D.

What did you plan for the sound system? Teknoparrot is able to send sound to front and rear speakers.

Thanks

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Hi Fablog,

The cabinet for Initial D must be different, there is only total space for 27” width, so I can’t fit a wider monitor than 28” monitor which is 25.x”

You don’t find it an issue to have a VA monitor? The colors don’t get washed out? Maybe they do for the people watching you?

In 28” monitors you only have a choice for 4K, but it’s affordable, I can get an ASUS 4K VA (VP28UQGR) for $295CAD, or an Acer 4K IPS (CB282K) for $350CAD. I figure it’s better to buy IPS so all viewing angles are good and the price difference is small.

If it’s not a problem, I can go with the 4K monitor but play games in a resolution of 1080p or lower and then go with the PC specs you mentioned, I think you have good advice to think about SIM games for later but still leaves me no choice but to buy a 28” 4K if I want a monitor that fits the best, I just need to make sure that lower resolution games still look okay on a 4K monitor or is it going to make it look bad?

I will also try to see if the stock speakers can be heard from behind the screen like you did, I thought it would not be good and I should move them, but it’s worth to try.

Im not sure I need additional speakers, I have two stock speakers in the screen area, and my seats have two speakers in the head rest, maybe a sub woofer under the seat would be nice to add, and maybe I need an amplifier, I’m not sure. what did you do for that or what do you recommend?

Do you have a list of all the emulated and PC games you can play on your build? And do any have performance issues with any of the different emulation with your specs?

Did you do the same like me and replaced Sega steering wheel/Shifter/pedals with Logitech controls?

[Howard_Casto]

4k is only applicable if you have a large display.  At 28 inches I doubt you are going to see much difference in 4k vs standard hd resolution.  You do know about the trick where people mount a monitor vertically right?  It might not be  possible with the dash but I would look into it. 

[Rockstead]

4k is only applicable if you have a large display.  At 28 inches I doubt you are going to see much difference in 4k vs standard hd resolution.  You do know about the trick where people mount a monitor vertically right?  It might not be  possible with the dash but I would look into it.

From what I was reading, the way your content will look depends on a lot on the scaler the display uses, it’s not clear to me on how all these different emulators handle resolution.

From a cost standpoint, going 28” 4K 60hz is not much different than 1080p 27”, I’m guessing I won’t even run anything at 4K so that I don’t have to buy the cpu/gpu to drive it.

I’m not sure on the trick you are referring to, I’d love to maximize the use of available space but mounting vertically, I would need a 55” which would take the 27” width I have available, but the height would be too tall at 47.9”, but maybe I’m misunderstanding, you mean hiding part of the screen behind the dash which isn’t possible.

[Laythe]

I've got a mix of arcade racers and sims on my sit-down cabinet, and I find that for me, the sims get more use.

Your mileage (perhaps somewhat literally) may vary.   

[fablog]

My monitor is good and it's an oled tv owner who say that. Not all models are made equal so check the review before buying.

I don't think you have to be preoccupied about the  viewing angle because you will be always  in front of your monitor.

I don't have a real opinion about 4k vs 1080p for a racecab.

I bought a used creative labs 7.1 sound system (Inspire P7800) and connected the stock speakers to it. The sub is inside the metal box, right under the seat. My mother board is only stereo so I bought a used Sound Blaster USB X-finity pro. Everything works like a charm.

Every games working with mame, Supermodel, model2  and Teknoparrot are working perfectly.

I replaced the steering wheel with a g27 but keeped the stock shifter and pedals. I don't have time to invest in racers so I focus more in arcade games. I have a thread for my conversion here but I have to find the time to update it. My race cab is done at 80% and working very well.



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[Boomslang]

I would not go 4k since no new arcade games do 4k

The latest sorta games like SWDC run fine on my pc but will struggle for alot of people out there as it needs a decent GPU. Game isnt public yet however

Most tp games still run at 1360x768 natively but there is a bunch of resolution "fixes" to get 1080p

[fablog]

Rockstead, if you want some ideas, check my thread. I just updated it.

[Rockstead]

I would not go 4k since no new arcade games do 4k

The latest sorta games like SWDC run fine on my pc but will struggle for alot of people out there as it needs a decent GPU. Game isnt public yet however

Most tp games still run at 1360x768 natively but there is a bunch of resolution "fixes" to get 1080p

What specs does SWDC, I’m trying to base my PC requirements on the most demanding Arcade racer currently available.

The problem with the monitor is that the widest I can go is a 28” monitor (25.x wide) and there is no 1080p 28” monitor available, only 4K and they are affordable, I would have to step down to a 27” and again pricing is so comparable.

I figured I could just get the 4K monitor and play 1080p games on that, assuming it will still look good. I’m not sure how that all works.

[fablog]

I think that all depend of the internal processors of every monitor. The monitor have to upscale 1080p to 4k. So you won't get a definitive answer, check the monitor reviews mentioning this point.

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[Rockstead]

I think that all depend of the internal processors of every monitor. The monitor have to upscale 1080p to 4k. So you won't get a definitive answer, check the monitor reviews mentioning this point.

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It’s difficult to find this info, it’s not in any of the reviews I looked at.

Do the emulators or front ends, or any other software not offer upscaling? Like shouldn’t the video card have the ability to do that?

[CboneCapone]

FWIW, my latest racing cab is using a refurb i7 16 GB Ram, 256 SSD, 2 TB Black WD, 1650 GTX for graphics.  The TV is a 4k 43 TCL, most everything is in 1080 though - and I'm ok with that.  It seems to play just about anything I can throw at it, although it did struggle with Forza 7 a bit.

To give you an idea of what games I'm using this for - I don't have a complete list, but offhand, here is what I play on a fairly regular basis:

Teknoparrot - SR3, Grid, Dirty Drivin, Sonic Racing, Daytona 3, Batman, GTI Mini

Sim
Project Cars 2, Assetta Corsa

Challenging arcade but not sim level
Grid (2008ish?), Grid (2019?), Grid 2, Grid Autosport, NFS Shift, Shift Unleashed

Arcade
Blur, Split Second, a bunch of NFS

The intro to this forum mentions how racing cabs aren't as easy to setup - I personally wouldn't spend $2k on a super awesome computer only to find out that you don't even need an i5 for your target games, but that's me.  A friend of mine gave me a xeon desktop from 10 years ago, and with a 1030 GT it's actually cranking out just about everything - jitters only occasionally.