Games

I like the odd computer game and have for a few years played Gran Turismo on PS1,2,3 and Forza 2, 3, 4 on XBox 360 and Forza 5 on XBox One. Other games don’t get much of a look-in - sure, I’ve played Halo on the XBox 360 and various leaping-about style games with the kids and the Kinect.

So obviously driving games are what I care about most. And I’ve recently ordered my fifth steering wheel - indeed I’d held off buying the XBox One until I knew Fanatec were making an XBox One compatible wheel (I’m hopeless racing with a pad). So the frustrating wait for delivery … end August is the current estimate and I’m not going to hold my breath as they’re (in)famous for delays.

However, it should be well worth it if the last five years with the Porsche GT2 wheel and Clubsport pedals (older versions than the ones linked though) is anything to go by. Needless to say, the wheel will be for sale once the new one arrives

I’d started thinking it would just be Forza 5 (and 6 later this year) I’d be playing. But then I heard about Project Cars and pre-ordered it for the XBox One. Then I heard it wouldn’t do 1080p so reconsidered. Perhaps a PC would be a better option… especially as it would mean I can play immediately with a wheel (my current wheel supports PC as well as PS3 and XBox 360).

Building a new PC

I’ve built several PCs over the last couple of decades … it really is dead simple once you’ve done your research about which bits go together. Not so simple is deciding to go for it as they’re decidedly non-cheap. Especially when thinking about requirements for games. In the end I went for:

• an i7 5820 overkill for games perhaps but no sense going short and the obvious alternative was not much cheaper
• 16Gb RAM some say overkill, I say you can’t have too much memory
• Gigabyte UD4 gets mediocre reviews but I’ve had good experiences with Gigabyte mobo’s in the past
• Asus GTX970 video card - the most important component for a gaming PC and this is top notch (although not the fanciest available, it still manages >75fps at 1080p for Project Cars)
• Samsung 500Gb SSD - don’t need stacks of storage for games but you do want it fast
• Noctua NH-15 - fast CPUs need decent heatsinks and this is a monster
• Four Nanoxia 140mm fans - airflow is key but let’s keep it quiet
• I’m re-using an Enermax PSU I aready had
• Windows 7 - I wondered about Windows 8.1 but feel at home with 7 and it’ll be freely upgradable to 10 when it’s out (although only for one year which makes me curious as to what Microsoft’s pricing strategy will be…)

One of the key things for me is to keep noise to a bare minimum. There are loads of fans in this build, none of them smaller than 120mm and all of them very quiet. I haven’t yet built the case but I have put the PC itself together and, in this bare state, I can’t hear it. I imagine the case won’t make it louder…

The case

I want the PC to go in a very specific place - on the glass stand I use for my PS3 and XBox One (and centre speaker). That means there are rather rigid size requirements - indeed these are what defined the choice of mobo and heatsink. I originally tried to find components that would make a much slimmer PC (19cm tall) but in the end just didn’t give me the cooling confidence I want. So I swapped shelves on the stand so can now build a 26cm tall PC. I couldn’t find a case that would fit those dimensions without compromising on something else.

Which left me with building my own. I’ve butchered an old metal case but it looks like I’ll only end up re-using the motherboard tray. The rest of the case will be wood. I thought it would be an unusual choice but it seems plenty of people have built similar cases. However I will need to be careful as I’ve decided to use oak which off-gases acetic acid as it dries … and that’s not good for metal components. So I’m making sure to seal the inside faces of the case with polyurethane varnish - it’s waterproof so I hope it’ll ensure any gas has to go the other way, i.e. leave the wood via the outside of the case. The outside will be treated with a matt oil.

The build is underway, I’ve got the sides cut and ready to glue together; I was considering trying mitred joints for the first time but that wouldn’t give me the box height I need without more effort and, frankly, I can’t be arsed. Instead the front side will be slightly oversized so the end grain from the rest of the box won’t be visible (and the extra width should provide useful handles). I’m also using some hinges I’ve got around to create a lift-up lid I’ve cut the four fan holes and routed the edges - they look nicer and will perhaps smooth airflow and thus reduce noise. Maybe.

In use so far

The case-less PC has been pretty successful. Installing Windows was a PITA because I needed to butcher my office PC to borrow its optical drive, for some reason I couldn’t get my new PC to boot from a USB external optical drive I also have. However, that’s now in the past.

Having a PC in my lair (with the home cinema kit) is marvellous. Project Cars has seen the most action but I’ve also got Real Flight hooked up and when I find time I’ll be playing Elite Dangerous on it too Oh and I downloaded Assetto Corsa when Steam offered it with a decent discount the other night … initial feeling is that Project Cars is better but I’ve not played either a great deal.

What’s next?

Finish the case, obviously. Then, 2016 should see the first consumer version of Oculus Rift. And both PC driving games support it. As does Elite. A second graphics card may be required … but, boy, should it be worth it