Hi tommyjen,
I will help to answer and If I'm wrong in some cases I wouldn't be to far out plus I'm sure someone will put me right.
1) Not an expert of the Technical side of the sim but a happy owner/operator of a stage IV. No Major config's required with your PC, just suitable to take the loads of the games you play. However, you pc as I understand it if it struggles keeping a solid fps it also struggles feeding constant and strong data flow to the sim software...the sim only requires a usb from your pc and a power outlet. The sim commander software has no problem with win7 64bit.
As I have seen, all the games you mentioned above will operate with the a stage IV simulator.
2) Setting up the rig..as in building it, I found it as easy as putting a piece of Ikea furniture together and found it quite rewarding and totally amazed with the quality. The sheer brilliance and depth of it looks quite complex to others but in reality the simple procedure in building it even yourself will look back in awe saying..I put that together. This unit looks that impresive it's returning me many hours of hiccup free use not to mention a conversational piece when friends come over.
My unit has 3 x 46" tv's, allowing this, (similar to Berney's ) with adequate room to move around I have allowed 5.5 sq meters. The stage IV unit itself is close to 2300cm length x 1400 cm width 3.7 sq meters. Can't do much about the length, but with smaller monitors you can keep in range of that 1400cm width.
3) Maintenance...well none yet from me, other than every so often just a general check in case anything may have come loose. then again you'll see as you build it and how well those bolts go together, like me you'll get a feel that very little maintenace is required...oh but of course...if you want it to look as shiny as it arrived then dusting and polishing is required.
4) Cost's, well only you can convince you. I've got 2 other hobbys and they cost more than my sim. Some hobbys have ongoing costs forever and a day. Also I can only speak on ownership of a Stage IV not a DIY, I saw it as a once only purchase and by the time I need an upgrade it would average out as a very cheap hobby...around 10-15 bucks a week.
Having said that don't discount the fact that simexperience has many options so that you can build on..you can start basic and move up...simple and cost effective.
Also, Whats the Singapore dollar v American at the moment. Now is a good time if an Australian wants to own one.
Cheers
Vito
http://www.youtube.com/user/saisa58?feature=mhum