Calling all computers experts!

[wigalo]

I have received my modified cx5. 4 cams and optical ball trigger. I have all of the hardware installed in my sim room and all of the software installed on my HTPC.

2.5 GHz Intel i3 Processor
2 TB Hard Drive
4 GB DDR3 1333 SD RAM
Blu-Ray Drive*
Mini ITX Motherboard 3D ready
HDMI, DVI, VGA video
Digital, Optical and analog audio
USB 3.0 x2
USB 2.0 x4
eSATA
Gigabit LAN
SATAIII and SATAII connections

My problem...each camera needs to be on it's own USB bus. When I opened the cover, I only have 1 more PCI slot left.

Question: if I added a Pci riser and stacked my USB cards, would they end up being on the same bus by virtue of being on the same pci slot? Or will each card create it's own separate bus?

Another thing... I downloaded USBview. It indicates that I have 3 separate buses currently, but each time I have the cameras connected, they crash the system. So that tells me they are actually on the same bus, yes?

Finally, has anyone had trouble with the cameras working with usb3? They never show connected when attached to the usb3 ports.

[ZMax]

You should have bought a tower with an ATX motherboard that included extra pci and pci express slots. Do you have any pci express slots(very short slots)?

The riser might work since you would have separate USB controllers.

What kind of video card and power supply do you have? 600w was not enough to power a GTX460 plus 3 cameras. I had to upgrade to 800w.

[syhlif32]

Some of my equipment will not work with the USB3 ports ether.
Have you looked on the mother board if there are unused usb header pins?
Maybe try a usb port expander in the USB3 and see if a camera plugged into the port expander will then be activated?
If that is the case you only need one usb controller more.
Might work the trick with the pci riser but be aware that most dual riser cards only work with selected chip sets!

Are you sure you can run the software with a integrated graphic card?

[wigalo]

Dang. I was hoping that I could get away with using my htpc for double duty. My current power supply is 600watts and my video card is a nvidia gt440.

By the time I upgrade maybe it's worth just buying another dedicated sim computer.

[ZMax]

That won't cut it. The GT440 is a dog. Very low end.

Build a new machine.

[wigalo]

Yeah, I kind of came to that conclusion. Thanks forth confirm. Sucks that I'm this close to playin my sim...should have done my homework on the computer. Just assumed that the htpc would have the juice.

[Onepocket]

The system you list above should be fine, you are not trying to play Crysis or anything. The GT440 is a lower end card, so upgrading it would be better, but it should still handle the golf sim courses just fine. You need a higher end card to handle high frame rates at high resolutions, which the sim should not require.

Is it blue screening or simply crashing? If it is blue screening then it is probably a USB issue. Otherwise I think it would be the power supply as ZMax mentions above. Plugging the USB cameras in will draw a lot of power, and I would guess a 600 watt power supply is maxed already, based on what you list above. You could test it by unplugging the blu-ray drive and then trying the cameras. If it works at that point then you know it is the power supply.

[wigalo]

It's blue screening. I'll try your suggestions and hopefully save a little.

[ZMax]

The GT440 really needs to go. Red Chain courses can be very detailed depending on the course, graphic settings, and resolution used. You don't want to see any stuttering while the ball is in flight or landing.

If you have a high quality impact screen and want to run GSA at 1080 with maximum detail, you'll want at least a GTX460.

[wigalo]

So this whole time I've been researching gaming pc's and If i can build something myself and save some $$. Not sure how CyberPC does it, but it's tough to beat them even when building it myself. So this is what I ordered.

Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 Mid-Tower Gaming Case w/ Adjustable HDD Cage (Black Color) [-16]
Laser Engraving: None
Laser Engraving Message:
Freebies: None
Internal USB Extension Module: None
Neon Light Upgrade: None
Extra Case Fan Upgrade: Default case fans
Noise Reduction Technology: None
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-3820 Quad-Core 3.60 GHz 10MB Intel Smart Cache LGA2011 (All Venom OC Certified)
Freebies: FREE! Mass Effect 3 Game
Performance Tuning Protection Plan by Intel: None
Venom Boost Fast And Efficient Factory Overclocking: No Overclocking
Cooling Fan: Asetek 510LC Liquid Cooling System 120MM Radiator & Fan (Enhanced Cooling Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA) (Single Standard 120MM Fan)
Coolant for Cyberpower Xtreme Hydro Water Cooling Kits: Standard Coolant
Motherboard: (SLI/CrossFireX) Asus P9X79 Intel X79 Chipset Quad Channel DDR3 ATX w/ UEFI BIOS, 7.1 HD Audio, Intel GbLAN, USB3.0, SATA-III RAID, 3 Gen3 PCIe X16, 2 PCIe X1 & 1 PCI
Memory: 16GB (4GBx4) DDR3/1600MHz Quad Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 1GB 16X PCIe Video Card [+86] (EVGA Superclocked [+10])
Freebies: None
Video Card 2: None
Video Card 3: None
Power Supply Upgrade: 1,000 Watts - Raidmax RX-1000AE 80 Plus Gold Power Supply [+71]
Hard Drive: 2TB (2TBx1) SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 64MB Cache 7200RPM HDD [+59] (Single Drive)
Data Hard Drive: None
Hard Drive Cooling Fan: None
External Hard Drive (USB3.0/2.0/eSATA): None
USB Flash Drive: None
Optical Drive: LG UH12LS28K 12X Blu-Ray Player & DVDRW Combo Drive [+41] (BLACK COLOR)
Optical Drive 2: None
Sound: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO

My Golf Room is ready to go (except for carpet). I Set up lights and each camera (one at a time) with my current HTPC. I'm sure I'll have to dial them in when my Gaming PC arrives, but I should be playing within the next couple of weeks.