1st Build: ~$1000 budget, dedicated gaming PC, which parts?

[ParGames]

First time building a PC and I'm really excited to get started. This will be a dedicated computer to run golf simulator software and using a launch monitor to collect and transmit golf ball data. The specs to run two different software packages are below. I'd like to efficiently run either system. The "monitor" will be an HD projector onto a 10'x10' screen.

I'm ready to go with this build as soon as I'm set on parts. My budget would be in the $1000 range. I'd love to hear that I can do this for less than that but I also would be willing to spend a little more if it would result in a significantly better build. I'd rather do it the right way once than replace components later.

Software Package 1:
OS: 64 bit Windows 7, 8
Processor: Intel Core i5 4670 or AMD 8350 4.0 ghz or higher
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: Nvidia GTX 970 2GB
DirectX: Version 11
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Hard Drive: 200 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible
750W Power Supply

Software Package 2:
Operating System: Windows 7 (64 bit)
Resolution: Supports multiple resolutions up to 4K (3840 x 2160)
Memory: 4Gb RAM or greater, when operating with WIN7 64b
Processor: 2.0 GHZ Dual, Core, or i series processors or greater
Video Card: 2 GB RAM or greater with memory bandwidth > 75 GB/sec (Required: DirectX11 supported)
Display: Works with 4:3, 16:9 and 16:10 aspect ratios in High Definition

Here's some info on the launch monitor and the projector that I have, in case it is helpful.
Launch Monitor: Foresight Sports GC2 www.foresightsports.com/catalog/gc2-smart-camera-system
Projector: Optoma W305ST www.optomausa.com/projectordetails.aspx?...B=Business&PC=W305ST

I checked in with CyberPower on recommendations for a build and they came up with this:

Intel® Core™ i5-4690K 3.5 GHz 6MB Intel Smart Cache LGA1150
Asetek 550LC 120mm Liquid Cooling CPU Cooler
MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX w/ GIGABit LAN, 2 PCIe x16, 3 PCIe x1, 1x M.2, 6x SATA 6GB/s
8GB (4GBx2) DDR3/1600MHz Dual Channel Memory
EVGA Superclocked ACX 2.0 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB GDDR5 PCIe 3.0 x16 (Maxwell)
800 Watts - Standard 80 Plus Certified Power Supply - SLI/CrossFireX Ready
120GB Kingston SSD + 1TB SATA III Hard Drive Combo
24X Double Layer Dual Format DVD+-R/+-RW + CD-R/RW Drive
HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
Windows 8.1
Total: $1189

I've read some about CyberPower and I don't want to turn this into a thread about them. I'm really interested in doing the build but making sure I use the right components to make this all work. So here are the questions:

Will the parts list above work well given the software requirements?
Is there anywhere where money could be saved?
Is there anywhere that upgrading would be a significant benefit?
Any recommendations on a sturdy chassis since there would be a minor risk of a stray golf ball?

One last thing, my father-in-law and brother-in-law both do computer related work and I'm sure they'd be happy to help but I'd also really like to do this and impress the hell out of them.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Hello.

At a specification level, the Cyberpower parts will do what you want and a lot more besides.

Concerns:
The PSU is the foundation of your system. The one that they supply, is unlikely to be as good as you really need and certainly as I would want.
There are parts, like the liquid cooler, which are 'chrome', sound good, but are not especially efficient.
The system is nominally capable of CPU overclocking, and I doubt that you need that.

Here's a system that costs less and will work as well for what you say you need. It is compact and has WiFi/Bluetooth as well.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($178.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($329.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case ($39.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Micro Center)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($91.69 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1005.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-25 05:30 EDT-0400

I can explain my choices if you want to know.

 

[ParGames]

Hello.

At a specification level, the Cyberpower parts will do what you want and a lot more besides.

Concerns:
The PSU is the foundation of your system. The one that they supply, is unlikely to be as good as you really need and certainly as I would want.
There are parts, like the liquid cooler, which are 'chrome', sound good, but are not especially efficient.
The system is nominally capable of CPU overclocking, and I doubt that you need that.

Here's a system that costs less and will work as well for what you say you need. It is compact and has WiFi/Bluetooth as well.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($178.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($329.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case ($39.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Micro Center)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($91.69 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1005.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-25 05:30 EDT-0400

I can explain my choices if you want to know.

Thank you for the feedback and the alternatives. I do have some questions.

Realistically, what kind of resolution can I expect from this setup? The projector has a native resolution of WXGA 1280 x 800 and a max resolution of UXGA 1600 x 1200.

I see that the motherboard tops out at 16GM of RAM. Is there any utility in something that would allow me to expand RAM later?

I've been reading about overclocking and I agree that it might not be necessary. What benefit might I see if I did though? I know that some of these sims can get bogged down a little during play and I've seen them lag a little. It's not such a big deal because there are no snipers hanging around virtual golf courses but I would like everything to be as smooth as possible. If it's not worth it, it's not worth it and I'm perfectly happy not paying for something I don't need. Still, if I can get a good deal on the CPU would it make any difference?

It was recommended to me that I don't go any lower than 750W on the power supply. I'm sure your recommendation is based on a calculation of the expected power draw from the components. Do you think there's value in upgrading to at least 750W?

Thank you

 

[DonkeyOatie]

The GPU will drive 1080p (1920 x 1080) very fluently. 100 + FPS with appropriate software.

That board has a 16Gb RAM limit with only two slots. You have given me no reason to think you need more than 16Gb. It's easy enough to get a board that will give you that (32Gb maximum) and the extra cost will be less than $20 on the system, although I'd need to use a different case too.

Overclocking is not what it once was and gives only a few FPS more, which is often in the 5 to 10% range. I'f you have seen them lag, I would want to know on what hardware and why. This system will play top line games very fluently with no lag (except where the problem is in the game software) I would but an overclockable CPU for about the same price as a locked one, given the chance. Overclocking costs more than just the CPU, more PSU, more heat, and better cooling.

I would run the system I suggested on that PSU (520). The EVGA 110-B2-0750 can be bought on a good rebate at the moment. It is a great PSU. The value of 750w is to be able to add a second GPU later (if you have the motherboard for it). Your system will not exceed 100W of power under full use, and your GPU, 150W, with occasional spikes to 300W. All of this is comfortably handled by that PSU because it is very good, made by one of the best manufacturers. The original system, with the overclockable CPU and unnecessary liquid cooling, needs a slightly larger PSU, but 650W would be plenty.

If your PSU was a no-name mode, THEN 75oW would be justifiable, but why buy a junk PSU in the first place. I assume that you give similar advice to golf club purchasers.

Your software does not seem to be more complex than a good flight simulator or FPS game. (Unless you know better). This system will crush that.

 

[ParGames]

The GPU will drive 1080p (1920 x 1080) very fluently. 100 + FPS with appropriate software.

That board has a 16Gb RAM limit with only two slots. You have given me no reason to think you need more than 16Gb. It's easy enough to get a board that will give you that (32Gb maximum) and the extra cost will be less than $20 on the system, although I'd need to use a different case too.

Overclocking is not what it once was and gives only a few FPS more, which is often in the 5 to 10% range. I'f you have seen them lag, I would want to know on what hardware and why. This system will play top line games very fluently with no lag (except where the problem is in the game software) I would but an overclockable CPU for about the same price as a locked one, given the chance. Overclocking costs more than just the CPU, more PSU, more heat, and better cooling.

I would run the system I suggested on that PSU (520). The EVGA 110-B2-0750 can be bought on a good rebate at the moment. It is a great PSU. The value of 750w is to be able to add a second GPU later (if you have the motherboard for it). Your system will not exceed 100W of power under full use, and your GPU, 150W, with occasional spikes to 300W. All of this is comfortably handled by that PSU because it is very good, made by one of the best manufacturers. The original system, with the overclockable CPU and unnecessary liquid cooling, needs a slightly larger PSU, but 650W would be plenty.

If your PSU was a no-name mode, THEN 75oW would be justifiable, but why buy a junk PSU in the first place. I assume that you give similar advice to golf club purchasers.

Your software does not seem to be more complex than a good flight simulator or FPS game. (Unless you know better). This system will crush that.

I don't think I'd need 32 GB of RAM. I guess I'm used to some out of the box underpowered computers and didn't want to leave myself without room to boost the speed up later if it seemed slow. I think 8GB with an SSD is probably very strong for what I'm doing. If you're recommending 8GB and I'd have the ability to go to 16 later, if necessary, that should be good enough. It was more a question of stretching the lifetime out of the whole thing and giving room to grow. Sounds like 16GB is plenty.

I completely agree with buying higher quality parts the first time around. I believe in that for just about everything I buy. Of all the parts of the system, it sounds like PSU is the most likely component to get re-used in the future in a separate build.

The only other question was about the CPU. The software package 1 has a recommendation of an i5 4670 or higher and you recommended an i5 4660. Is this nominally the same and insignificant?

Thanks again

 

[DonkeyOatie]

As far as the CPU is concerned, I did not take the manufacturers recommendation very seriously. They gave a choice of a 4670 and a 8350 of at least 4Ghz. In most cases, a 4460 is superior to a 8350, and in the cases where it is not, a 4670 isn't better either.

The 4460 is the current generation chip and runs at 3.2Ghz; the 4670 is the current generation chip and runs at 3.4 Ghz. (Intel Ghz cannot be compared directly with AMD Ghz in the same way that long club loft is not comparable with short club loft in its effect.) The 6% performance increase comes at a 16% cost; the 4460 costs $30 less than the 4670. Small performance difference should not be the difference between good and bad in real world applications. The top of the line 4690 is only 3.5Ghz.

You could check that to see that it is correct. I am very skeptical. The 4460 gas enough CPU power to drove two GPUs like the ones specified, so the speed can only be needed for computation purposes. If a 4670 is good and a 4460 is bad, then they are using the wrong processor in the first place, and should have specified a Xeon 1231 or an i7, or required any processor that can handle 8 or more threads, or whatever they really mean.