Gaming pc for GCquad

[kits013]

I just got a quote from foresight about the GCquad. Everything else looks fine but their pc costs $2460

I was told that it's a premium gaming pc? Should I just buy a gaming pc on my own? For that price I may able to get an ailenwire pc

[rrobinson]

I just got a quote from foresight about the GCquad. Everything else looks fine but their pc costs $2460

I was told that it's a premium gaming pc? Should I just buy a gaming pc on my own? For that price I may able to get an ailenwire pc

I am running my GCQuad with FSX 3.0 on an old windows 7 PC with I5 CPU 16 GB Ram and an Nvidia 1050 ti that runs just fine. So yes unless you are running a 4K projector I would think you can find a good PC for half that price.

[kits013]

Thx so much Robinson. I just got one more question, do you think it's worth it for a 4K projector for fsx? Many people think the graphics ain't great anyways.

[rrobinson]

4K projectors aren't cheap! I would say that at 1920 x 1200 (my benq su922) it looks great and I can't imagine it looking much better since I can see rough edges already in the image that I doubt 4K would help with. The real case for 4K would be on a huge screen (10 x 16 maybe) where you also have folks sitting back around 20 feet from the screen. But for most single use sims I would say that 1920 HD is more than adequate.

[rrobinson]

On the 1060 3gb vs 6gb question I would say that since both are prob as fast or faster than my 1050 ti that yes either would work fine with Skytrak. There are a ton of other threads on this board that might be able to answer better though.

[col forbin]

robinson is absolutely right! You can get a really solid gaming computer for a little over a grand. You could go to several websites and build your own with a Geforce 1080 and it still wouldn't come close to that price of $2,460. It could still be half that price and be 4K ready.

[thomps33]

At the size of most people's screens and the close distance we stand in relation to the screen almost everybody would benefit from 4k for golf simulation. Don't get me wrong, 1080 or 1920x1200 still looks great, but you will notice a difference if you use 4k.

[rrobinson]

Great chart! Hmmm...yeah looks like maybe at 10 - 20 feet away it could be noticeable (according to this chart) for my screen (8 x 10). Looks like I have to go shopping for 4K projectors again now - thanks!

[sundy]

I just got my GCQuad last week. Love it! It is stunningly good quality and reliable (not one misread in a week). Still working out a kink where indoors it seems to read too much sidespin, but overall a quality product.

On the PC: I would strongly recommend getting or building your own. I assembled my own, going with highest end i7 and geforce 1080, for around $1500. Not for the faint of heart - instructions were a bit sketchy and adding wiring in fans and water-cooler for cpu took some doing. Don't need the highest specs though: FSX doesn't seem to use most of my pc's power, and my temps rarely get above 30 degrees C. You can easily buy a competent laptop or desktop for < $1500.

On the projector: while it is true that big screens benefit the most from 4K resolution, there are basically no short-throw 4K projectors under $4000 (I looked). That means, if you do get a 4K projector, it has to be 15-20 feet away from your large screen. When it's this far away, you A) need a big room, and B) get less light reaching the screen. So you have to buy a projector with higher lumens. Which in turn is more expensive. So it basically just comes down to a question of how much you want to spend, and where you can mount it.

I ended up going with a 1080P Benq 2150st (short throw), and it's been great. The trees and graphics on FSX are a bit blocky, but I don't think 4K would have helped that much as the graphics just seem to be kind of rudimentary in FSX 3.0.1. "The Golf Club" looks better, but of course it doesn't work with GCQuad. I mounted my Benq 11' from my 12x9' screen. It looks brilliant in low light, and good with my spot lights, but washes out a bit if I open the curtains during the day. The colors on this projector are surprisingly good. I watched the masters and some Sean Foley videos on it, and they really popped.

Similarly to the PC, I would not buy Foresight's swing camera. They charge $800 for a crappy 640x480 camera with no wide angle or zoom (so you only see part of your swing) and terrible low-light capability, so it is totally grainy, and only does 60 FPS. I'm going to return mine, and I'm looking at other options now (theoretically other USB3 cameras should work). AllSportSystems has a bunch of options that I'm looking at: http://www.allsportsystems.com/store...undles.htm.php.

Best of luck!

[rrobinson]

Congrats and welcome to the forum! I went through the same 4K search and ultimately convinced myself to wait a bit longer for more higher lumen and shorter throw options to come out before I buy one.

EDIT: If you can mount something 15 feet from your screen it looks like the benq 922 would be 5 times brighter. I've been happy with it so far although it does generate a good amount of heat at 5000 lumens!

http://www.projectorcentral.com/BenQ-SU922-projection-calculator-pro.htm

EDIT: Careful with cameras for FSX. It is very picky when it comes to models/drivers. I tried GigE and Basler Ace options and could not get them to be recognized or go faster than the lowest frame rate (4 FPS) before finally finding one that worked: https://www.theimagingsource.com/pro...lor/dfk23u618/

[p3eps]

Similarly to the PC, I would not buy Foresight's swing camera. They charge $800 for a crappy 640x480 camera with no wide angle or zoom (so you only see part of your swing) and terrible low-light capability, so it is totally grainy, and only does 60 FPS. I'm going to return mine, and I'm looking at other options now (theoretically other USB3 cameras should work). AllSportSystems has a bunch of options that I'm looking at: http://www.allsportsystems.com/store...undles.htm.php.

If you're looking for a swing camera, read this: http://golfsimulatorforum.com/forum/...-for-fsx/page3

That 100fps camera cost me under £40, and works flawlessly. The resolution is only 640 x 480, however it looks good enough for me to be able to check the vital points in my swing.

[RCorsa]

I also just added high speed USB 3.0 cameras for my quad set up and I've found it to be almost more helpful than the quad but the combo is so enlightening that my form is really transforming.

I went all out out and bought high end point grey USB cameras with a 1 inch Sony sensor which does around 200fps in Hd. Of course you need a matching HD 1inch sensor lens so I'm in over $4k for the cameras alone. The software I'm using swing catalyst which doesn't integrate into the quad yet so I'm likely going to but another Alienware desktop to run the camera and one for the quad and projector.

Golf sure is expensive but it is worth It. Lol

[rrobinson]

Did the Point Grey USB Camera work with FSX? 200 FPS in HD must be a nice picture!

[sundy]

Rrobinson: thanks for the recommendation of a swing camera. The one you linked to (model 23U618) is the exact same one that Foresight sent me as their "swing camera", although it didn't have a big lens like that: it's just a small fixed lens. Is the lens you got zoomable / wide angle?

RCorsa: I agree that front and back cameras, used regularly along with good data and some instruction, can really change your game. It really helped me to relate what I was doing to how it felt - for example, when I saw myself on the cameras, I was swinging way too far on my backswing, my right knee straightened out, and I my downswing came outside to in, even though if felt like I was doing everything right. The face-to-path and club head data also really helped me get the right in-to-out swing with slightly closed face, and showed me that I was hitting too low and towards the hosel on my driver. I also found that the "trackman university" videos were really helpful in translating all that data and figuring out what numbers to try for.

BTW RCorsa, have you had any issues with the GCQ/FSX showing more left hook on drives than in real life? When I put 300 or more left spin on a drive, GCQ/FSX seems to be adding 300-500 more left spin, resulting in crazy hooks, often with 1000+ side spin. I tested it against a $60k AboutGolf system, and was consistently seeing GCQ reporting 300-500 more left spin than AG.

[rrobinson]

Good to know I (finally) found one that worked with FSX and it was one they sell all along - figures!

I got this zoom and it works pretty well (good in low light):

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/414195-REG/Tamron_12VM412ASIR_12VM412ASIR_1_2_4_12_F_1_2.html

EDIT: I may try this non-zoom lens as well since it may be even better in low light (because its a fixed lens) and 4mm is a good distance for me (about 10 feet away)

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/414240-REG/Tamron_13FM04IR_13FM04IR_1_3_4mm_F_1_2.html

[rrobinson]

sundy, Not sure if you sent your FSX camera (DFK23U618) back yet but I forgot to mention that you can actually get 120 FPS with that camera if you make sure that the refresh rate of your projector (and monitor if you are duplicating displays) is set to 120Hz. I spent 2 weeks dealing with this issue with mine and finally figured it out. They use DirectShow for their camera integration which limits the speed to the refresh rate of the projector/monitor. You are probably at 1920 x 1080 with your projector but at only 60hz. I checked and that benq 2150ST can do max 1280 x 800 at 120hz (same as my benq su922). So, go into Windows 10 display settings / Advanced / Monitor properties and make sure both are set to 120Hz. Then try the camera. It should then be pushing 120 FPS. You probably still need a new lens if its not looking good in low light. The zoom I bought (above) and I hope the fixed lens coming this week both should work better than what you have (btw, are there any markings on your lens? curious to know what it is). The other thing to keep in mind is that there are likely very few camera choices that work with FSX (believe me I tried several) since they are using the DirectShow API which is kinda dated and not all cameras support it and/or still don't work with FSX (i.e. Basler Ace, DFK23G618 (GigE), PS3 Eye) - I tried them all with no luck.. I'm pretty happy with my setup (with the better lens of course) and will probably get a second DFK23U618 for DTL view as well.

[sundy]

rrobinson - You're right, I am using my monitor/projector at 60hz, so I'll try 120hz, thanks (traveling at the moment). The app that came with the camera (ICcapture) seems to get 120fps if I plug it into the USB3 port on my computer, but FSX will only show video if I plug it into my USB2 port. When plugged into USB3, FSX just shows a black window where the video normally displays. Perhaps DirectShow is the issue.