Fanatec Announcements: CSW V2 Reviews Out

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I currently use fm 722. Should I upgrade for the official 737 or the beta 742 ?

My arms hurt :)

What a wheel !

I did not understand anything when I start to play FM4 but lap after lap, a big smile comes to my face. The way you feel the load on the tires is just incredible, it is like getting a new sense while driving. You can trust what your arms feel and focus on looking as far as possible in order to put your car exactly where you want.

Gt5 is also really something new with this wheel. It is more precise, smooth and tactile.

The only problem I had is that the wheel is not perfectly centered while in PC/PS3 mode (the 360 mode is ok)
 
K_Soze
I currently use fm 722. Should I upgrade for the official 737 or the beta 742 ?

My arms hurt :)

What a wheel !

I did not understand anything when I start to play FM4 but lap after lap, a big smile comes to my face. The way you feel the load on the tires is just incredible, it is like getting a new sense while driving. You can trust what your arms feel and focus on looking as far as possible in order to put your car exactly where you want.

Gt5 is also really something new with this wheel. It is more precise, smooth and tactile.

The only problem I had is that the wheel is not perfectly centered while in PC/PS3 mode (the 360 mode is ok)
Click to expand...

My advice would be not to upgrade to 742 beta as there are obviously some issues that need to be sorted out.
 
Mahnegold
That's why it's called beta...

I think some have installed this FW without reading Thomas' comment about it.
Click to expand...

You don't say. I'm fully aware it's a Beta release, however, Beta or not, if there is a good chance your fan is not going to work which could result in your wheel getting fried the only advice I can offer is to not install it. I installed it, full in the knowledge it was a Beta, immediately realised the fan was not running in Auto or Auto off mode so chose not to use the wheel in game for fear of frying it. What exactly is it that I didn't read in Thomas' comment?
 
K_Soze
I currently use fm 722. Should I upgrade for the official 737 or the beta 742 ?
Click to expand...

I asked the same question as part of the CSW community test I'm participating in (asking if I should update my Elite to 737.) Since this was info about the Elite firmware and not the CSW, I don't feel the embargo on the CSW test is an issue in this case so I'm glad to share.

I got this info back: The main difference in 737 is that it's spring effect (mainly used in Forza on Xbox, not used in most PC games) is much improved. It is weaker around center and gets progressively stronger as you turn the wheel and feels more natural. I would recommend you to upgrade to try it out.

I have not had a chance to update the Elite yet (too much time using the CSW!) But as always w/ firmware updates, follow the instructions carefully and it should be fine, but there are always unlikely risks associated with this kind of thing, so do pay close attention to those instructions (I wouldn't do it in a thunderstorm if you're prone to losing electricity, for example...)
 
The fan on my CSR Elite seems to be working fine. I have only tested the wheel with forza 4 and two rounds in GT academy

When the wheel is in idle mode you can hardly hear or feel the fan running. After a few laps, i noticed that the fan starts running faster. I would prefer it though like it was before 742 with the fan always on.

Overall it feels like an improvement over the previous 737 firmware.

I would still like to see a center spring option on the PC, this has been taking out since the 114 driver.

To bad it looks like this will be the driver for the CSW too. I was hoping more that the CSW driver would be more something like the Logitech drivers: A driver that has profiles and the ability to map keys to the buttons is realy a must for high end hardware like the CSW.
 
The fan is temperature controlled now, the menu option will most likely disappear in the final release of the firmware. So you will not get the option to set it on/off/auto.
 
LogiForce
The fan is temperature controlled now, the menu option will most likely disappear in the final release of the firmware. So you will not get the option to set it on/off/auto.
Click to expand...

Is this the case for 742 beta? If so why didn't Thomas make everyone aware of it in the release notes. A lot of people are confused by the lack of a fan, especially those of us who are used to running auto off.
 
PzR Slim
Is this the case for 742 beta? If so why didn't Thomas make everyone aware of it in the release notes. A lot of people are confused by the lack of a fan, especially those of us who are used to running auto off.
Click to expand...

Go ask Thomas as to why. It could have many reasons. If the fan is like how HoiHman described then the fan is temperature controlled for sure. However, depending on the wheel the ramp up time might have to be adjusted. So rpm increase at certain temperatures.
 
New beta driver for the PC available:


UPDATE 3
We now have driver 126 BETA available which will fix some issues in pCARS and perhaps other games. The damper calculation is imporved to avoid the notchy feeling.
If you have problems you can find the previeous fw versions here:
CSR E 715
CSR 706
PWGT2 681
PWGT3RSV2 681
PWTS 681
Click to expand...

People who doubt whether their fan is working or not on the CSR Elite:

Feel which your cheek on right side of the wheel base or just put your ear to the right side and you will hear the fan. At start the fan is running on very very low rpm, you will probably not even noticed it when you feel with your hands.:)
 
We are still investigating all reported issues but it seems that indeed the fans are working fine on the CSR E. It is just that they are hardly noticable if you drive with low ff or until the motors gets warms. But it was our intention to let the fans only make as much noise as needed.
 
Thanks for the new driver, was about to bug Sean about the damper issue. Saves me the trouble. ;)

Maybe you can remove the fan menu from the next FW release? I think this will stop people getting confused. Though maybe they do get scared with a temp controlled fan.
 
PzR Slim
There is allegedly an issue with wireless wheels in FM4 after the recent console (not game) update some people have received. Some people with both MS and Fanatec wireless wheels are reporting various problems such as lack of ffb, weak ffb, game only showing 270 when wheel is set to 900 degrees. This is happening with Fanatecs wheels that have and have not updated to the new firmware. Some of the issue being reported with the new firmware could be linked to that. Some are reporting that altering the wheel settings within FM4 have solved the issue.
Click to expand...

More on this here
http://forums.forzamotorsport.net/forums/1/5494946/ShowThread.aspx
 
Fanatec...
We are still investigating all reported issues but it seems that indeed the fans are working fine on the CSR E. It is just that they are hardly noticable if you drive with low ff or until the motors gets warms. But it was our intention to let the fans only make as much noise as needed.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that Thomas. What a relief I haven't dared to use the wheel since I updated the firmware as I'm used to having the fan always on so to not hear it was a bit of a worry :)

Will put it through it's paces tonight on PC, Xbox and PS3 and report back.
 
I updated from 737 to 742B on my CSR-E.

I had no issues updating. I left all the controls on the CSR-E at default except the sensitivity which I set to "off" manually, the fan which I set to "off" and ACL to "on". These are my normal setting. I did note that the sensitivity was not at a default of "off" as described in the notes.

I have driven the wheel extensively and had no fan or heating issues. The fan came on after heavy use but the wheel or discharge air was never hot. No fan issues for me.

I have only used in on GT5 and GTA. I have have the FFB set on 7 in GT5 and GTA and didn't change them. The wheel performed fine and I didn't notice big differences. I wasn't able to improve my time in the GTA 8-5 challenge but have been very close. I just need a well strung together lap to better my time.

The change I did notice was on the newest time trial with 700pp cars on Sarthe. The biggest issue I have seen with the wheel has been handling at high speed in a straight line. The original firmware was borderline unstable. Later versions were stable but maybe a little dead feeling.

I really liked the way 742B handled on the straights on Sarthe. At 700pp the cars are very fast traveling 225 to 230 mph and the road is known to be uneven. I could feel the uneven road surface as the car moved side to side but there was no instability in the steering leading to oscillations or loss of control. It seems to me that 742B has solved the problem of high speed straight driving combining stability with feeling.
 
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Fanatec should just leave the fans on all the time. Honestly when you compare the noise of the fans on high to the noise of the wheel motors vibrating and turning, plus the clicking of the paddles, its not even bothersome. just code them to run on full-all the time. then you'd never have to worry about temperature related issues. Not that I have ever heard anyone complain, but complaints about the fan noise would be silly IMO. -Plus, I kinda like to hear the wheel power on! :)
 
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lemansfanatic
Fanatec should just leave the fans on all the time. Honestly when you compare the noise of the fans on high to the noise of the wheel motors vibrating and turning, plus the clicking of the paddles, its not even bothersome. just code them to run on full-all the time. then you'd never have to worry about temperature related issues. Peoples complaints about the fan noise is silly IMO.
Click to expand...

Here is another reason next to the noise, life span of the fan. This will be dramatically reduced if it runs at full speed all the time.
Besides, fan noise is just annoying, hence I always build my PC's with the best fans possible when it comes to noise reduction. I rather hear the motors doing their work.

Edit: you always hear the wheel power on. It lets you hear via calibration. ;)
 
If the fan is temperature controlled at the maximum temperature set properly then there is no issue with the lifespan reduction of electronics. It is a win-win in my opinion. Same lifespan of the electronics for less overall noise.
 
Agreed, as long as Fanatec can get it to work properly in house first, this needs more testing before it becomes a release firmware- even for a beta firmware.
 
lemansfanatic
Agreed, as long as Fanatec can get it to work properly in house first, this needs more testing before it becomes a release firmware- even for a beta firmware.
Click to expand...

Well, normal people start complaining when they use beta stuff, not knowing it is a beta apparently. A beta is a version that needs lots of testing still and many tweaks and bug fixes before going live. When trying a beta piece of software from any hardware manufacturer it is always at your own risk. Like trying a beta BIOS for my motherboard could fry some components, hence a manufacturer always mentions this at the download page.
On another note, I can easily play at max power here without any overheating issues. So I am sure nothing is wrong with the code for the temperature controlled fans if it is the same for all wheels. The fan gets noticeably louder when I do this as well.
 
I don't see the big deal about fan noise. I mean, do people race with no sound or on mute. I never hear the fan while racing only feel the air from the side by the dsd shifter when i shift.
 
Has anyone here played the XBLA Daytona port with a wheel? The steering grinds for some reason, I've asked elsewhere but had no replies.

Are there any settings that could smooth it out?

edit: Reflashed back to 737b. 742b has some nice improvements but I can't dial the wheel in to feel anything like it did before in Forza.
 
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capchaos
I don't see the big deal about fan noise. I mean, do people race with no sound or on mute. I never hear the fan while racing only feel the air from the side by the dsd shifter when i shift.
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If there are also people who complain about the noise of a clicking shifter, yes!
 
I liked the fan profile on the first revision of the csr-e. A low hum that is constant and near inaudible. I haven't tried the latest firmware yet so I can't compare.
 
ibuycheap
I liked the fan profile on the first revision of the csr-e. A low hum that is constant and near inaudible. I haven't tried the latest firmware yet so I can't compare.
Click to expand...

The latest is temperature controlled, so the same as then with the difference that it speeds up when things get warmer. ;)
 
LogiForce
Well, normal people start complaining when they use beta stuff, not knowing it is a beta apparently.
Click to expand...

Well to me this time it seems like alpha :) It does not even go to PS3 mode :D
But you can always go back to older firmware so there is no harm done.
 
Raitziger
Well to me this time it seems like alpha :) It does not even go to PS3 mode :D
But you can always go back to older firmware so there is no harm done.
Click to expand...

I agree on your end that it does seem like alpha. ;)
Some glitch must have creeped in with all the changes.
 
Raitziger
Well to me this time it seems like alpha :) It does not even go to PS3 mode :D
But you can always go back to older firmware so there is no harm done.
Click to expand...

For real. Beta suggests that the device is actually functional. I mean, did they do any testing themselves? At all?
 

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