NVIDIA’s GeForce Garage division has spent $20,000 building what appears to be the definitive way to enjoy the world’s most popular flight sim game, Microsoft Flight Simulator. As green team detailed in a new article shared on the GeForce blog today, the appropriately named “Ultimate Flight Sim Rig” comprises not only a complete range of instrument panels and active seating but three LG CX 65-inch OLED TVs to immerse the player in 5760×1080 surround. At the heart of the system is an all-EK water cooled PC with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card.
“As if they were in a real plane, the player has a full cockpit, with Logitech’s complete range of instrument panels, switch panels and displays, all housed in a Volair Sim Avionics Panel,” NVIDIA explained. “As needed, the player will flick the switches to get their plane airborne, and navigate runways and the skies using the panels, displays and readouts, heightening immersion and presence in the game.”
“But under the player is where the magic happens: Next Level Racing ‘motion platforms’ tilt the chair in all directions in sync with the gameplay, controlled via Logitech’s throttle, yoke and rudder pedals. And for force feedback, there’s a ButtKicker, sending vibrations through the chair in sync with runway movement, air resistance, and unscheduled nosedives.”
According to new benchmarks shared by NVIDIA and Digital Foundry, the flagship GeForce RTX 3080 GPU is capable of hitting an average of 64.3 FPS in 4K resolution. Aviation fans who don’t own a GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card or copy of the Premium Deluxe Edition of Microsoft Flight Simulator can try their luck at winning one in a new contest, which involves submitting a nice screenshot using the game’s built-in photo mode.