Stormforce Gaming Buyer's Guide 2026

I’m a sim racer and amateur racer with a passion for Motorsport, good racecraft and the technical and setup aspect of sim racing.

Stormforce Gaming is a UK-based custom gaming PC builder, and they’ve carved out an interesting niche in sim racing. If you’re after a purpose-built PC for sim racing or VR flight simulation – and you don’t want to spec it yourself – they’re worth knowing about. They also stock sim racing peripherals from Fanatec, Moza, and Thrustmaster, plus they build custom turnkey sim rigs from the ground up. I’ve been digging into their range, their Trustpilot reviews, and what the YouTube community thinks of their builds.

Stormforce is part of VIP Group (the same parent company behind Zoostorm), and they’ve been building gaming PCs for over 20 years. That matters because it means proper warranty backing and a real support team – not just a bloke in a garage. Their gaming PCs range from around £2,500 to £5,500, and they offer everything from budget AMD builds to RTX 5090 flagships. For sim racers, the VR-optimised builds and their turnkey sim rig service are the standout offerings.

Loading products...

This guide covers Stormforce Gaming’s product range with a focus on what matters for sim racers: gaming PCs with the GPU power to run triple monitors or VR, their MSI monitor range, and the custom turnkey sim rig option. If you’re looking for the peripherals themselves, check our guides on direct drive wheelbases, sim racing pedals, and VR headsets.

Why Stormforce Gaming?

Stormforce Gaming is based in Warrington, UK, and every PC they sell is built in-house. They’re part of VIP Group, the same company behind Zoostorm, which has been in the PC business for decades. That corporate backing gives them something most boutique PC builders lack: genuine warranty infrastructure. You get a 3-year collect and return warranty, which is better than what most custom builders offer.

Their value proposition for sim racers is actually quite specific. They’re one of very few UK retailers where you can buy the PC and the sim racing peripherals from the same supplier. They stock Fanatec, Moza, Logitech, and Thrustmaster gear alongside their own-brand PCs. And if you really want the full package, they’ll build a complete turnkey sim racing rig – PC, peripherals, cockpit, everything – from around £10,000 upwards.

In 2023, they partnered with Apex Racing Team, which signalled their commitment to the sim racing space beyond just selling gaming PCs. It’s not just a sticker on the website either – they’ve built out dedicated VR simulation builds and started offering complete sim rig configurations.

Community Sentiment

Their Trustpilot rating sits at 4.5 out of 5 from over 2,300 reviews, with roughly 93% positive. That’s genuinely unusual for a PC builder – most sit around 3.5 to 4.0. The common praise revolves around clean cable management, competitive pricing, and responsive customer service. Jordan Ash on YouTube reviewed one of their Crystal PBM builds and noted that the build quality was “actually really clean” – and that it was cheaper than sourcing the parts and building it himself.

The common complaints are worth knowing about too. Delivery can take 10-14 working days for built-to-order configurations, which catches some people off guard. And they pre-install Norton, which is annoying but takes about two minutes to remove. A few reviews mention having to chase order status updates, though most say the actual support response is good once you get through.

If you’re after a pre-built sim racing PC and want UK-based support with a proper warranty, Stormforce makes a lot of sense. If you enjoy the build process yourself, or you need peripherals from a specialist sim racing retailer with deeper product knowledge, you might prefer buying the components separately.

Gaming PCs for Sim Racing

Sim racing is one of the most GPU-intensive gaming workloads you can throw at a PC. Triple 1440p monitors at high refresh rates, or a Pimax Crystal in VR – these push even high-end GPUs hard. What matters for sim racing specifically is a strong gaming CPU for the physics engine (the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is the current sweet spot thanks to its 3D V-Cache), a high-end GPU for rendering, and at least 32GB of RAM. Stormforce builds tick these boxes across their range.

Their PC range breaks down roughly into tiers by naming convention. The “Xtreme” builds sit at the top (£2,900-£5,500), followed by “Ultra” (£2,600-£4,800) and “Elite” (£3,200-£3,600). They offer both AMD and Intel platforms across all tiers, with AMD making up about half the range. Most desktop builds use full ATX cases, though the Y40 series offers a more compact form factor if space is tight.

Loading products...

For laptops, the ExoBook 16 range is worth a look if you need portability. Three models are available with RTX 5080 or RTX 5090 graphics, priced from £2,599 to £2,999. These aren’t going to match a desktop for sustained VR performance, but for triple monitor sim racing at 1080p or single-monitor 1440p, they’ll handle it.

Loading products...

Stormforce Gaming’s Flagship Builds

Cloud Xtreme AMD

The Cloud Xtreme AMD is Stormforce’s flagship desktop at £5,499.99. This is their no-compromise AMD build, and from what I can see in the spec sheet, it’s genuinely capable of driving the most demanding sim racing setups – triple 4K monitors, high refresh rate VR, whatever you throw at it. The RTX 5090 will handle anything current sim titles can demand.

At this price point you’re paying a premium over building it yourself, but you’re also getting the 3-year warranty, professional cable management, stress testing, and the peace of mind that someone else dealt with BIOS updates and driver compatibility. For some people, that trade-off makes complete sense.

Platform: AMD Ryzen (latest generation)
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090
Price: £5,499.99
Availability: In Stock
Warranty: 3-year collect and return

VR Flight Sim AMD X PBM

This is the one that caught my attention for sim racers. The VR Flight Sim range is purpose-built for VR simulation workloads, and whilst it’s branded as “Flight Sim”, the spec is equally suited to VR sim racing. Three models are available from £4,499 to £5,399, all on AMD platforms with high-end GPUs.

The “PBM” suffix means it’s a built-to-order configuration, so expect the 10-14 working day build time. But the advantage is that these are specifically optimised for sustained VR performance rather than just raw gaming benchmarks. If you’re running a Pimax Crystal or similar high-resolution VR headset in iRacing or Assetto Corsa Competizione, this is the shortcut to a properly configured system.

Platform: AMD Ryzen (latest generation)
Purpose: VR simulation workloads (flight sim and sim racing)
Price range: £4,499 – £5,399
Availability: Built To Order (10-14 working days)
Models: 3 configurations at different price points

ExoBook 16 RTX 5090 Gaming Laptop

The ExoBook 16 is Stormforce’s gaming laptop range, and the RTX 5090 variant at £2,999 is the headline model. Look, I’ll be honest – laptops are always a compromise for sim racing. The thermal constraints mean you won’t sustain the same performance as a desktop with the same GPU on paper. But if you need portability, or you’re running a sim rig setup that moves between locations, having an RTX 5090 in a laptop form factor is about as good as it gets right now.

The RTX 5080 version at £2,599 is probably the smarter buy for most sim racers. The performance gap between the 5080 and 5090 in a laptop chassis is smaller than the desktop equivalents because of thermal throttling, and you save £400.

Screen: 16-inch display
GPU: RTX 5090 (£2,999) or RTX 5080 (£2,599)
Availability: In Stock
Use case: Portable sim racing, events, multi-location setups
Warranty: 3-year collect and return

The VR-Ready Builds

VR sim racing is where Stormforce’s range gets genuinely interesting. Most PC builders sell “VR-ready” machines, but Stormforce actually has a dedicated VR Flight Sim product line. These three builds are spec’d for the sustained high-framerate rendering that VR simulation demands – not just hitting a minimum spec, but actually delivering smooth performance at high supersampling levels.

If you’re running something like a Pimax Crystal at full resolution in iRacing, you need serious GPU headroom. The VR Flight Sim builds are configured with that in mind. They start at £4,499 and go up to £5,399, all on AMD platforms.

Loading products...

Monitors for Sim Racing

Stormforce carries a range of MSI monitors, and a few of them are genuinely well-suited to sim racing. The MSI MAG 321UP is a 32-inch 4K QD-OLED at 165Hz, which at £948 is about as good as it gets for a single-monitor sim racing setup. QD-OLED technology gives you the contrast and response times that sim racing benefits from – dark cockpit interiors look right, and there’s virtually zero motion blur.

For triple monitor setups, the smaller 27-inch models in the £300-£500 range make more sense. Three 32-inch panels is possible but requires serious desk or rig space. The MSI MAG 274URDFW at £448 is a solid option for triples if you want 4K resolution per panel, though you’ll need a top-tier GPU to push that many pixels in sim titles.

Loading products...

The Turnkey Sim Rig Option

This is where Stormforce differentiates itself from every other PC builder. They offer complete turnkey sim racing rigs starting from around £10,000. That’s PC, wheelbase, pedals, cockpit, monitors or VR headset – everything configured and ready to go. One supplier, one warranty point, one delivery.

I think this makes sense for a very specific buyer. If you’re a business setting up a sim racing experience, or someone who doesn’t want to research and source five different components from five different retailers, the turnkey approach removes the complexity entirely. The pricing is obviously higher than sourcing everything individually, but you’re paying for the convenience and the single-point accountability.

The sim racing peripherals they stock – Fanatec, Moza, Logitech, Thrustmaster – aren’t currently in our product database for Stormforce specifically, but they are available through their website. If you’re going the turnkey route, it’s worth discussing your requirements with their sales team directly. They also partnered with Apex Racing Team, so they have genuine sim racing expertise behind the configurations.

Compare by Budget

Here’s how the Stormforce range breaks down by what you’re actually spending. At the entry level, around £2,500-£3,000, you’re getting builds that will comfortably run most sim racing titles at high settings on a single 1440p monitor or entry-level VR. These use GPUs like the RTX 4070 Ti or RX 7900 XT, and they’re genuinely good value for the build quality you get. This is where nearly half their range sits, and it’s probably the sweet spot for most sim racers.

The mid-range, £3,000-£4,500, gets you into triple monitor territory with high refresh rates, or comfortable VR performance in demanding titles. The Titan and Midnight Elite/Pro builds live here. If you’re running triples at 1440p 144Hz, this is where you need to be looking.

Above £4,500, you’re in flagship territory. The VR Flight Sim builds and the Cloud Xtreme AMD sit here, and these are for people running triple 4K panels, high-resolution VR headsets like the Pimax Crystal, or who simply want maximum headroom for future titles. It’s a lot of money, but if you’re already spending £3,000+ on a Simucube wheelbase and Heusinkveld pedals, skimping on the PC defeats the purpose.

Loading products...

They offer free delivery options, and the 3-year collect and return warranty applies across the range. Built-to-order configurations take 10-14 working days, but in-stock models ship faster. Worth checking their website for current availability – the popular configs tend to sell through to built-to-order status fairly quickly.