Graphics Card

[Bentley]

I was going to get a GTX 970 4GB video card. Would I see much benefit from getting 2 of them and using them via SLI or is that unnecessary overkill?

[keither5150]

One GTX 970 should be more than enough unless you are planning to use a 4K projector. If you really want better performance and have $900 to spend on a graphics card. I would suggest the GTX 980Ti This card will perform as well as two 970's and only take up 1/2 the room in your case. Here is some light reading on video cards. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...view,3107.html. I am running. i7 2600k , GTX 680 4GB, 16 GB of high end ram, Samsung SSD. My machine is a couple of years old and runs TGC just fine at 1080p. Make sure you build your own or have it built for you. Never buy a gaming PC off the shelf. You end up getting 1333MHz ram instead of 2400MHz ram which is only a few bucks more. I might be new to the golf sim world but not new to gaming PC's. The GTX 970 is a good choice. I won't be building a new golf sim computer until I go 4 K.

[Bentley]

Thanks. I'm not planning on 4K. Do you have any favorite vendors online where I could select a system to be built at a reasonable cost?

[keither5150]

In Canada, I use Memoryexpress.com In the US maybe Newegg. I looked at your specs on another post. For the price difference you may as well go with 16GB of ram. Also gaming motherboards are more durable under high performance applications that regular MB's. Most people forget how important a good MB is. I would recommend Gigabyte for a MB. http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX52117. Gaming motherboards also seem to handle higher speed Ram. For Gigabyte boards look for UD in the model number. UD stands for Ultra durable. You don't need to spend more than $250 on a good mb. The $400 boards just have more X16 slots for 3way and 4 way vid cards. You should stay away from $100 value MB's.

[Bentley]

Thanks for the advice. I will not be building it myself, so I need a vendor that can ship me a complete PC built to my specs. I looked at maingear, Alienware, Falcon Northwest, but it seems they charge very premium prices.

[Dax]

I can second the use of memory express. They have built two computers for me and have been great to deal with. Their pricing is also very competitive.

[Bentley]

I can second the use of memory express. They have built two computers for me and have been great to deal with. Their pricing is also very competitive.

Unfortunatley, they do not ship outside of Canada. I am in the US.

[keither5150]

You may want to find a local computer guy and order all the parts from Newegg. Assembly will cost about $100 or so. Make sure you buy a big case with lots of fans.

[mthunt]

I have the card the OP lists. Works fine.

[Bentley]

I was able to customize this build online within my budget. Perhaps some of the computer experts here can tell me how I did and recommend any changes. I included the GTX 980 card because it was within my budget, but if it's not worth the upgrade cost from the 970, please let me know. Thanks.

[Richard_Askren]

iBuyPower is a good company to get gaming rigs from in the States at a good price. I've done some comparisons their price is usually only around $100-$200 more than if you purchased the components and built it yourself. They don't pre-install a lot of bloatware on your computer, either. I purchased the computers for my indoor golf center from them and haven't had any problems. The specs of the comp you have listed are more than enough to run TGC at maxed settings.

[keither5150]

That is an excellent build. The GTX 980 is about $200 more for about 15% more FPS. The GTX 980Ti is about $450 more than the GTX 970 for about a 25%-30% gain in FPS. The best value is the GTX 970 You can always add another GTX 970 after a year or so when they are less money. I just checked some benchmarks on 2 970's in sli. See here http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2...080p,3679.html The GTX 970 in sli shows a 40%-80% gain in fps compared to a single card. If I were you, I would buy the single 970 and turn all the settings up to the max. If you are not happy with it, add another 970. You may also want to change the PSU to about 1000-1200 watts just in case you go sli in the future. The higher wattage does not cost more to run, it's there if you need it. Please note that gain in FPS will vary game to game.

[Bentley]

Thanks. I appreciate the input.

[Bentley]

OK. I've got my computer ordered. 1 part down. Now I need the GC2.

[mthunt]

How is the condition? I wonder where they came from.