SIM PIT SPECIFICATIONS

I recently upgraded the computer in the SimPit (June 2008).
I left the specifications on the "old" PC below this table,
for those interested in knowing what a somewhat smaller PC can do as well.

EQUIPMENT	SPECIFICATIONS	LINKS  (places to buy)
COMPUTER:
Model	Dell XPS 630  (ATX motherboard)	dell.com
Power supply	750 W  Always check your available power supply in your computer,  before adding new cards etc.  Some graphics cards for example are very power hungry, and  may cause crashes if your PC's supply is insufficient.
Processor	Intel Core 2 Duo E8500,  3.13 GHz / 6MB Cache / 1333 FSB
Memory	4 GB dual DDR2 800MHz
Hard Drive	500 GB ATA 3Gb/s (7200rpm)  (can't imagine ever running out of room on this one)
Primary graphics card	512 MB nVidia Geforce 8800GT (2dvi)  (for 3 upper monitors)
Secondary graphics card	512 MB nVidia Geforce 8800GT (2dvi)  (for 2 lower monitors)
Optical Drive	16X Cd/DVD R/W  Really not important, all you ever have to do is install software,  and leave your FS-disk in it.
USB	2 front / 4 back   Remember to connect your main controls (mouse and keyboard)  directly to the PC here, not via a hub, or you'd loose them during  a power failure.
Sound Card	Integrated 7.1 Intel High Def. Audio  So far I've found no reason to spend money on a sound card,  this works just fine. You're not listening to music here, just the  rumble from the plane and radio conversation.  Everything comes through loud and clear.
Operating System	Windows XP Pro
Comments	This PC is for simulation only, it is NOT connected to the internet.  It has been stripped of all unnecessary software, running only  Windows and whatever programs needed for flight simulation.  I've had several Dell's over the years, for work and flight sim, as well  as train sim, and they have always worked well for me.  We still have FS2004 on it, but never use it. Since starting on FSX,  that is the only way to fly, the graphics are just stunning. On regular  settings we get good fps. Flying FSX is much more like real flying,  even in the way the plane handles.
MONITORS:
Left view monitor	19" Widescreen flatpanel, DELL 1908WFP digital (1440x900)	dell.com
Center view monitor	19" Widescreen flatpanel, DELL 1908WFP digital (1440x900)
Right view monitor	19" Widescreen flatpanel, DELL 1908WFP digital (1440x900)
	These 3 view-monitors are connected via Matrox TripleHead2Go  for a wide outside view - seen by the PC as one huge screen with a  total resolution of 3840 x 800 (3 x 1280x800).  This one is digital, but analog works just as well.
Instrument panel monitor	19" Widescreen flatpanel, DELL 1908WFP digital (1440x900)  These particular monitors from Dell are hight ajustable, which make  them easier to work with in the SimPit, when they're on the stand.  But as with most monitors, you can also take the stand off and use  a wall mount directly onto the simpit build.
PGS monitor	14" Widescreen flatpanel, Hyvision MV142 (1280x768)  This monitor is not available anymore. It is actually hard to find the  small monitors (15" or less) anymore, making it hard to squeeze  more monitors into a SimPit. But some people use smaller TVs,  which also works depending on your VGAcard output.	tigerdirect.com
Comments	I've had a couple of 17" monitors of the same type from Dell for a  few years now, and they have worked well, still do. These sim  monitors are all brand new, but they all work well and look great.  The lower monitors for panel/GPS could be other sizes, but unless  they are flat panel, you'd be hard pressed to make room for them.  The upper 3 monitors could be different sizes as well, but the  19" wide offer a great view at a reasonable prize. It's important  though, that these 3 monitors be identical.
OTHER PC EQUIPMENT:
Keyboard	Deck backlit 82key  This keyboard is great. It saves a lot of space not having the  numeric keys (that you don't need). I love the backlit feature, it's  easy to see and find whatever key you might need during flight.  I chose it in red (that's the color you'd see in an airplane), but  they have other colors available. It's not cheap though.	deckkeyboards.com
Mouse	Dell optical	dell.com
Speakers	Maxell 2.1 w. subwoofer and remote control  It is not easy to find speakers that will render themselves to being  built in, and at the same time offer access to volume control, but  I was lucky to find these.  They aren't big, but they work great. You're not listening to music  here, just rumble from the plane and radio conversation.  Everything comes through loud and clear.	amazon.com
USB hubs (2)	D-Link® 7-Port Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Hub  Always use powered USB Hubs!	amazon.com
Power Supply / Battery	CyberPower 550VA  8-outlet (4 battery / 4 non)  I suppose you could make do without a battery backup.  But I wouldn't advice it. I keep only the PC and the center view  monitor on this backup, giving me plenty of time to save my  flight and make a proper shutdown if we have a power failure,  which in this area is pretty darn often.  At the very least you need a heavy duty surge protector.	amazon.com
External graphics card	Matrox T2G-D3D-IF Triplehead2Go Dual-Link Digital  This card extends your regular DVI or VGA output from your  primary graphics card to 3 monitors for a wide view.  This is awesome, easy to set up (and should you have a problem,  their support over the phone is free, friendly and excellent).    The max resolution you can get on a TH2G at the moment is  3840 x 800, which is less than the monitors' native res. But  it looks well enough, and hopefully there are upgrades on this  from Matrox in the future.    Check out this card at matrox.com	amazon.com
Headset and microphone	n/a  I am not using either at the moment. I like getting the sound through  the speakers, and the sim pit is in a remote area of the house where  it doesn't bother anybody. Later I plan to add Voice Buddy to the  system, and then I'll need a mike.
FLIGHT CONTROLS:
Yoke	CH Flight Sim Yoke USb  I chose this yoke because it was the only one available (at the time  at least) with a 8-way hat switch (needed for view changes).  It's been working great for a couple of years now.  We used a Saitek X45 Stick and Throttle before, but I find it a lot  easier to control the plane with a yoke, and a much more  comfortable setup.  It's also more realistic, at least for me (I fly the Cessna mostly).  I should say though, that since having the videview of 3 monitors,  I rarely if ever use the hat switch, so this may not be a consideration  should I ever need to get another Yoke.	Available in many places  Prices vary greatly, so shop around.
Rudder Pedals	Saitek Pro flight Rudder Pedals  A must obviously, you cannot fly without rudder pedals.  (well, I guess you can fly with "auto rudder", but that should  be a temperary situation.)  And these are really sturdy and nice. Been working great for a  couple of years now, and I love them.	amazon.com
Throttle	GoFlight Throttle Quadrant GF-TQ6 (4-engine)  The GoFlight modules are really awesome. As close as you can  get to the real thing, in a plug-and-play USB device.  They look cool and work well. They are not cheap though.  For this particular module you will need their "NOTVAM"  (Notice to Virtual Airmen) if you are installing for FS9, or you  will have all  manner of problems with your throttle. Get it here.  It is very easy  to follow instruction on how to install your throttle  correctly. Why this important information is not shipped with the  product is beyond me?  The software that you need is not shipped along either, but can be  downloaded from their website here. It is the same software for  all their modules, so you only need to install it once. It will  automatically detect other new GF-modules you might install.  I ran into some problems when installing for FSX, but they do  have excellent phone support, so I got that taken care of quickly.  See a nice review of the throttle here.	goflightinc.com                                        GFconfig (click for larger image)
Trim and Landing Gear	GoFlight Landing Gear and Trim module GF-LGT  Another great module from GoFlight, and this is a must have.  I used to have a heck of a time trimming my plane with either  the mouse or keyboard, but with this trim module, it's easy as pie.  Having the knob and lights for the landing gear is real cool.  It also has the flaps control, but with the flaps handle on the throttle  quadrant, we don't need it anymore. And this one installs effortlessly  without problems.	goflightinc.com
Autopilot	coming up......  A "GoFlight Advanced Autopilot module GF-MCP" is on the top  of my wish list for this sim pit. That will really add to the experience.
Coming up....	There are a number of other modules from Goflight on my wish list.  I've made room for 4 radio modules and 3 pushbutton or toggle  switch modules in the sim pit. That will enable us to operate the  radio, control engines and so on, without using the mouse on the  instrument panel.
OTHER EQUIPMENT:
Pilot seat	Several years ago I saw for the first time a mention on the internet  about:  Intellivibe force-feedback seat  In plain english: a seat cushion, that vibrates according to the  movements of your airplane, thus giving you the sense of sitting in  a real moving plane. I knew I had to have one of those eventually,  and the time came when I started this project.  Read a review on this seat here.  Let me tell you: this is the coolest thing since sliced bread!  Here too you have to find and download the software from the  website yourself. I had a snafu with my internet in the middle of  installation, so that might have been part of it, but this thing is not the  easiest thing in the world to install (the software that is). The fact that  my sim PC isn't on the internet complicates matters further.  But wait, here comes the good news: The support you get here is  out of this world! There is a forum there, where you can get answers  to all sorts of question, but that's not all. Craig, the guy who invented  the blessed thing and sells it, will stand on his head to help you out.  He actually answers your emails (try that most other places) and then  calls you (on his dime) and spends hours on the phone with you to  help you get set up. And if you don't like it, you can return it at any  time and in any condition for a full refund. Actually, I think that's a  pretty easy guarantee for him to make. Once you have that seat in  your hot little hands, you're not gonna let it go again for anything!  Now, the seat itself. When you spend hours and hours flying, you  need something comfortable to sit on. You also need a seat that  enables you to work your rudders effortlessly, which means it has  to be bolted to the floor (or base in this case), but at the same time  it has to move back to get into it, or for people with longer legs.  Like many before me, I considered getting a car seat from a junk  yard, slides and all. But then there's the problem with using the ivibe  cushion, I didn't fancy ripping the motors out (like some do) and try  to incorporate them into the car seat. Also, you'd be hard pressed to  find a car seat with armrests, and I really wanted that too.  So, only solution really was to build a seat myself. It may seem like  a daunting task at first, but once you set your mind to it, it's not that  bad. For this I needed sliders, and found these:  Summit universal sliding seat brackets G1152  They are cheap, easy to build in, and they work like a charm.	ivibe.com                                     summitracing.com
Intercom	Radioshack 3-way wireless intercom  That's a real cool thing to have, saves you a lot of running back and  forth, and leaving your airplane in mid flight.  Radioshack's 3-way set is nice, works well, although we have a little  "ghost" problem with it: Everytime someone uses the intercom, the  "touch"lamps (you know, the lamps that you just touch to turn on) we  have in other rooms of the house turn on by themselves. That's really  weird, but not a major problem.	Radioshack
Telephone	Wall Phone with caller ID  That's a real cool thing to have, saves you a lot of running back and  forth, and leaving your airplane in mid flight.  Found this one in WalMart for $9.95, you can't beat that!
Cabin lights	With regular daytime-flying (in the sim that is), there's enough light  shining from the monitors to see your other controls in the cockpit,  even if the room is dark. But with night flights, it get's pretty dark in  there, just as it would in an airplane. You could of course turn on a  lamp or two, but that just doesn't "feel right". So to be able to see my  instruments at night, and achieve the reddish glow you'd find in a real  airplane, I just made some cabin lights. A few little boxes, positioned  to let light on the important instruments, with a little bit of orange  plastic from a hobby store glued in the opening and a regular  "nite lite" inside, and voila: you have instrument lighting with the right  ambience. Those "nite lites" come with a 7Watt bulb, which is just  perfect for this purpose.  (Note: to make these nite-lites always work, you just have to put  a little electric tape over the light sensor on them.)    I do have a couple of regular little lamps, in case I need a little more  light to read maps etc. They are little "Accent spot lights" from  Lowe's and use only 10Watt bulbs, which is plenty.
SOFTWARE:
Flight Simulator	We are using Microsoft Flight Simulator 9 (2004), as well as FSX.  But this kind of sim pit would work just as well for other sims.  (when installing FSX, do not forget to install SP1 & 2 as well).
Matrox Software	CD comes with the hardware.
GoFlight Software	Downloaded from their website, needed for the modules.
Ivibe Software	Downloaded from the website, needed for the seat.
Ultimate Defrag	A great tool to keep your PC defragged, uncluttered and up to  speed. Easy to use as well. A must have.	disktrix.com
MISCELLANEOUS:
Checklist, pitot tube cover etc.	I wanted a real life checklist for the Cessna 172 Skyhawk, and  found a nice one at AvShop. They also have an abundance of  other cool stuff for the sim pit, like the pitot tube cover I used for  decor.	avshop.com
More Checklists	Checklists for all the other airplanes were not in the same format,  plus that's a lot of checklists to buy, but I found this site -->  where you can download (free) checklists for any and all aircrafts  that you may find in the simulator.	freechecklists.net
Approach Plates (for USA)	A great place to get (free) approach plates -->	EchoPlate
Tailnumber	I had my tailnumber made via the internet -->  It only took a few minutes to make online, and I received it in the  mail in a few days. Cheaper than buying stencils.	custom-vinyl-lettering.net
Wire loom	I needed a lot of split loom tubing to organize all that wiring , and  found a nice 1" loom by American Terminal. When you buy 100' of  it, it's a real good deal.  And by the way, if you get more than you can use in the SimPit, it  works just as well in other areas of the house. Really a nice way to  "declutter" your office etc. Depending on where you buy, it also  comes in many other colors (and diameters).	amazon.com
A word on power consumption:	In my little cockpit-room there are 2 electrical outlets, running on a 20 amp circuit breaker (which also supplies 2 other  rooms with only a few lamps).  With the 20 Amp circuit breaker, I have available in that area approximately 1900 watts.  I checked on the power consumption of each individual piece of electrical equipment in my sim, as well as any other  lamps etc. in the area, and I'm using no more than 1400 Watts total.  This issue is important to keep an eye on when setting up a sim pit, some equipment is more power-hungry than other,  and it does you no good to have a fancy setup, if it flips the breakers everytime you turn it on.  NOTE: these numbers may vary depending on the country you live in, so do your homework before installing electrical  equipment.  More on this subject on the "Plans" page.

THE ORIGINAL PC:

COMPUTER:	(Power consumption total for the simpit with this PC   was 1000 Watts)
Model	Dell E520  (Oct. 2006)	dell.com
Power supply	305 W  (probably a minimum, but it works)  Always check your available power supply in your computer,  before adding new cards etc.  Some graphics cards for example are very power hungry, and  may cause crashes if your PC's supply is insufficient.
Processor	Intel Core 2 Duo E6400,  2.13 GHz / 2MB Cache / 1066 FSB
Memory	2 GB dual DDR2 533MHz
Hard Drive	160 GB ATA 3Gb/s (7200rpm)  (80 GB would've been plenty)
Primary graphics card	256 MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE  (for 3 upper monitors)
Secondary graphics card	BFG Geforce 6200OC 256MB Dvi S-video (PCI)  (for 2 lower monitors)
Optical Drive	16X Cd/DVD R/W  Really not important, all you ever have to do is install software,  and leave your FS-disk in it.
USB	2 front / 6 back  (using only the 6 in the back)  Remember to connect your main controls (mouse and keyboard)  directly to the PC here, not via a hub, or you'd loose them during  a power failure.
Sound Card	Integrated sound blaster Audigy  So far I've found no reason to spend money on a sound card,  this works just fine. You're not listening to music here, just the  rumble from the plane and radio conversation.  Everything comes through loud and clear.
Operating System	Windows XP Media Center
Comments	This PC is for simulation only, it is NOT connected to the internet.  It has been stripped of all unnecessary software, running only  Windows and whatever programs needed for flight simulation.  I've had several Dell's over the years, for work and flight sim as well  as train sim, and they have always worked well for me, price  considered. (And that's a good thing, cause when you buy a Dell,  you're basically on your own, dude.)  This particular PC has been running MSFS 2004 since October  of 2006, in a steadily growing setup, with no complaints.  My frame rate in FS2004 is now down to an average of 20-25  (not all settings are maxed), which is fine for the present, it runs  smoothly enough, but with no power left over for add-ons.