When it comes to building a sim rig, $5000 is a fantastic budget, and it should ensure you get an extremely high-performing sim racing setup.
However, there is a lot of choice within this price range. Your $5000 sim racing setup could utilise various high-end racing wheels, steering wheels and pedals. Some steering wheels such as the Fanatec BMW M4 GT3 can cost up to $1500 just for the steering wheel alone.
In this $5000 sim rig build guide, I’ll run through our recommendations for maximising the performance you can get from this healthy budget.
I’ll look at putting together an entire sim racing setup for under $5000, including a top-tier gaming monitor. This high-end sim racing setup will include everything you need to go sim racing.
The sim racing products that make up this rig build
For this $5000 sim racing setup, I’ve chosen a combination of extremely high-performance sim racing products and some mid to high-end products.
The reason I haven’t opted for extremely high-performance gear for every category is that $5000 quite simply isn’t enough to do this.
From the wheel base to the pedals and cockpit, you can easily spend over $1000 in each individual category. For the absolute best sim racing gear, we’ll quickly exceed our $5000 budget.
This combination of sim racing products allows us to really experience the very best force feedback from our wheel base. This combines excellent performance from all other parts of this sim rig build.
| Product | Price | Where To Buy |
|---|---|---|
| Asetek Invicta 27Nm Wheel base | $1549.99 | Buy here |
| Asetek Invicta Quick Release | $149 | Buy here |
| Cube Controls GT Sport Steering Wheel | $627 | Buy here |
| Asetek Forte Pedals | $549.99 | Buy here |
| Sim-Lab GT1 Pro Cockpit | $649 | Buy here |
| Sparco Sprint seat | $240 | Buy here |
| Samsung G9 Monitor | $1119.95 | Buy here |
| Sim-Lab Monitor Mount | $199 | Buy here |
| Total price | $5,083.93 |
Why choose this $5000 racing simulator build?
This sim racing build for a $5000 budget allows us to really handpick some of the very best sim racing products. If you don’t have a $5000 budget, or if you already own some sim racing gear, you can always pick and choose some products from this rig build.
I’d suggest checking out our $2000 sim racing setup or our $1000 sim racing setup to see how to buy a whole sim rig, wheel and pedal setup for a much lower price.
This $5000 sim racing build includes a gaming monitor and monitor mount, which together cost over $1300. Removing these elements will reduce the cost of this build to under $4000.
The main bulk of our budget will be spent on the wheel base, as this is one part of a sim racing setup where you’ll immediately feel the increased performance. And high powered direct drive racing wheels offer the highest level of performance for the best sim racing setup.
I’ve opted for the mighty 27Nm Asetek Invicta wheel base. This is one of the best direct drive wheel bases available, with very few direct competitors.
The benefit of this wheel base is that you have up to 27Nm of peak torque available at your disposal. But you can reduce it down to any level depending on the car you’re driving.
With lower-cost wheel bases, you may be locked into lower peak torque figures which can limit the maximum performance available.
The rest of this sim racing setup has been put together to support the extreme power of the Invicta wheel base. The cockpit is sturdy enough to handle the power, and the steering wheel and pedals can compete in terms of design, build quality and performance.
Overall, this is an extremely well-rounded sim racing setup that you won’t need to update for a very long time.
The Wheelbase
Asetek Invicta 27Nm direct drive wheel base
The Asetek Invicta direct drive wheel base is one of the very best around. It offers incredible performance at a great price point, which allows it to fit perfectly into our $5000 sim rig build.
Why choose the Asetek Invicta wheel base?
I chose the Asetek Invicta wheel base for a simple reason. It offers incredible force feedback performance at a great price point, unrivaled by other sim racing brands.
Asetek has pulled out all of the stops with this relatively new wheel base. The force feedback performance is incredibly smooth while hitting incredible levels of power.
I rarely run my the Invicta wheel base anywhere close to its peak torque. Instead, I opt for between 15-20Nm depending on the sim racing title. But even when you turn everything up to 11, the force feedback remains smooth and incredibly detailed.
Competitors and other options
As mentioned earlier, there is very little competition from other brands at this extreme end of high-performance wheel bases.
One of the most popular sim racing brands, Fanatec, peaks at 25Nm of torque with its DD2. Simucube really does compete with its Ultimate wheel base, which is capable of a whopping 32Nm of peak torque.
Why not a Simucube or Fanatec DD2 wheel base?
The reason I didn’t choose either the Fanatec DD2 or Simucube 2 Ultimate is different for both products. The Asetek Invicta, in my opinion, is a more well-rounded wheel base capable of better force feedback than the Fanatec DD2.
I didn’t choose the Simucube 2 Ultimate because of the price. The Ultimate costs an extra $1000 compared to the Asetek Invicta, which is over $2700.
While the Simucube 2 Ultimate offers the absolute best in terms of performance, the Invicate is really not too different. When you factor in the $1000 price difference, the Asetek Invicta’s wheel base is a no-brainer.
Asetek Invicta Compatibility
The main downside of the Asetek product range as a whole is its limited compatibility with consoles. The Asetek Invicta wheel base is only PC compatible. However, thanks to the Invicta quick release, it is widely compatible with a wide range of other sim racing brands.
The quick release
Asetek Invicta quick release
Talking of the quick release, Asetek revealed its own quick release to allow its wheel bases to be used with steering wheels from other brands. This addition to the Asetek lineup really expands the use of its wheel bases.
With only one steering wheel currently available, not everyone will want to use an Asetek. If you already have a collection of steering wheels from other brands, you may have previously ruled out an Asetek wheel base.
The quick release changes all of this, now allowing you to use any steering wheel with its wheel bases. You can now attach wheel rims from Cube Controls, Fanatec, Thrustmaster, GSI and more.
The Steering Wheel
Cube Controls GT Sport Steering Wheel
Thanks to the quick release, we can combine any steering wheel with the Asetek Invicta wheel base, which can really help us find the best steering wheel pairing.
I have opted for the Cube Controls GT Sport Steering Wheel. This is a very versatile steering wheel that can be used for a wide range of racing disciplines.
The Cube Controls GT Sport steering wheel features a range of different inputs which you can assign in any sim racing title. There is a selection of push buttons along with 2 front encoders, 2 thumb encoders and magnetic shifters.
The outer rim of the steering wheel is finished in soft suede, and the hand grips are moulded for a comfortable grip. The wheel also comes in two forms: wired or wireless, and both are compatible with the Asetek quick release.
Overall, this steering wheel feels extremely premium and is fantastic to sim race with. It’s a perfect partner for the Asetek Invicta wheel base.
If you do race formula-style sim racing title more, Cube Controls also sell a formula-style wheel, the F-core for around $100 less than this GT Sport wheel. This is a great alternative if you’d rather have a formula wheel.
The Pedals
Asetek Forte pedals
In addition to the Asetek Invicta wheel base, I have included a set of Asetek Forte pedals into this $5000 sim racing setup. This is a 2-pedal set that is built to an extremely high quality. There is an additional clutch available to buy separately, but I haven’t priced that into this sim rig build.
View the Asetek La Prima clutch pedal upgrade here.
I chose the Asetek Forte pedals over the Heusinkveld Sprint pedals because of their price. Both pedals perform incredibly well, but the Forte pedals were a bit cheaper.
The Forte pedals are Asetek’s mid-range pedal offering, with the budget not quite stretching to the Invicta pedals. However, the Forte pedals are incredible. They offer a 2-stage load cell activation utilising a 180kg load cell.
This 2-stage activation replicates how a real brake pedal reacts with the pistons moving the brake pads and then the pressure of the pads on the discs.
The Cockpit
Sim-Lab GT1 Pro Cockpit
In our $2000 sim racing setup, I recommended the Sim-Lab GT1 Evo, a great sim rig. Recently, however, Sim-Lab has updated the GT1 and released the GT1 Pro.
This evolution provides a refreshed design of this aluminium profile sim rig and extra reinforcement to make it even more rigid. This is quite possibly one of the best choices for the best racing simulator setup.
The GT1 Pro costs a bit more than the older GT1 Evo, but the updated design justifies the price difference. The new design removes corner brackets which not only makes the installation and set-up a little easier, it also strengthens the overall design.
Both the wheel deck and pedal plate have also been redesigned. The wheel plate now mounts directly to the upright pieces of aluminium profile which further increases rigidity. Both mounting plates feature a wide range of pre-drilled holes, making mounting sim racing gear incredibly easy.
The Seat
Sparco Sprint seat
I previously recommended the Sparco Sprint seat in our $2000 sim rig build. And I’m recommending it again in this $5000 build due to its great build quality and low price tag.
It is an all-in-one bucket seat that can be mounted to most sim rigs, including the Sim-Lab GT1 Pro. It’s even FIA-approved meaning you can bolt it into your race car as well!
While comfy across long race sessions, this seat is a little narrow, so some may not feel as comfy. It is worth noting that right away.
But other than this the seat features nice padding and a great wrap-around design. This seat is suitable for various sim rigs and different setups and works brilliantly in our $5000 sim setup build.
The Monitor
Samsung Odyssey G9 Gaming Monitor
A budget of $5000 is really good, so I with this sim racing setup I really wanted to incorporate a gaming monitor. That truly makes this build complete by providing everything that you need to go sim racing other than a PC or console.
There is a huge debate over whether to use single-screen monitors or a triple-screen setup. However, I’m firmly in the single-screen monitor camp. While triple-screen monitors provide maximum immersion, too many negatives are involved.
For a triple-screen setup, you need extra mounting capabilities and extra space available, and then you need to buy a bezel-free kit to remove the annoying bezels between monitors.
With a single-screen monitor, you mount it using a much smaller and more compact monitor mount, and away you go. No bezels, fewer cables, and it is generally easier on your GPU as well.
Much like the wheel base, I have chosen one of the best gaming monitors, the Samsung Odyssey G9. This monitor is almost perfect. It has a 1440p QLED display, 240Hz refresh rate and is Nvidia G-Sync and AMD Freesync compatible.
Mounted to the Sim-Lab monitor mount which is connected to the GT1 Pro sim rig, this monitor looks incredibly sleek and impressive.
How well does this $5000 sim racing setup perform?
This sim racing setup is an absolute monster. Combining a 27Nm direct drive Asetek wheel base and any Cube Controls wheel feels incredible.
The premium steering wheel dances in your hands due to the incredible detail offered by the wheel base. And if you fancy testing your limits, you have the headroom to crank up the wheel base to 27Nm of peak torque.
The Sim-Lab sim rig more than keeps up with its improved rigidity over the older GT1 Evo. The Pro cockpit has almost zero flex, even when turning up the Invicta wheel base.
You can use the Sim-Lab monitor mount to position the G9 monitor hanging right over the Asetek wheel base for maximum immersion. This puts you closer to the monitor and closer to the action.
The Forte pedals can be interchanged with a set of Heusinkveld Sprint pedals, although at a slight price increase. The Sprints and the Forte pedals are incredible and offer a platform to improve your braking performance and consistency over time.
Sitting in your office, studio or gaming room, this $5000 sim racing setup looks incredible. And for this price range, including a monitor, I don’t think you could beat this for the best racing simulator setup.
Best Sim Racing Setup Under $5000
Article written by Felix König
