Graphics Cards for Golf Simulators

A graphics card is the part that draws the picture. In a golf simulator it paints the course, the ball and its flight, then hands the result to the projector.

Terms first

The graphics processing unit, or GPU, is the chip built to speed up image work and computer graphics.¹ The graphics card is the board that carries a GPU.

A card has its own memory, its own cooling and its own power regulators.² Integrated graphics sit on the motherboard or inside the processor instead. Their advantages are low cost, compactness, simplicity and low energy use.²

Graphics cards are often preferred over integrated graphics for increased performance.² The cost is paid in space, heat and money.

What sets a card's ability

Several things affect how well a card draws moving pictures in real time. One source names the size of the connector pathways inside the chip, the clock speed, and the number and size of the on-chip memory caches.¹

You don't need to weigh those yourself. Software makers translate them into a named card on the requirements list. The page on using a requirements list explains that line.

How much is enough

Start from the software's own list. The minimum card is the floor. The recommended card is the maker's pick for a better experience.

Meeting the recommended card is a sensible target. Going far past it buys little unless the rest of the chain can use it.

When a bigger card is wasted

The display sets a ceiling. The refresh rate of a screen or projector still determines the highest frame rate that can be displayed.³ If the projector refreshes the picture at a fixed rate, extra frames beyond that rate never reach your eyes.

Windows often starts with a conservative default of about 60 Hz.³ Many home projectors work at that rate. Check your projector's manual for the rates it accepts.

Other limits sit outside the card:

• A weak processor. If the CPU can't feed the card, the card waits. Look at the page on the other parts.
• A low projector resolution. A card can't add detail the projector can't show.
• The software itself. Some programs don't use every feature a new card offers. The maker's list is the best guide.
• A long or low-grade cable. The picture may drop out before the card runs short. Cable choice is covered under joining PC and projector.

Integrated graphics

Integrated graphics often have less performance than a card, because the graphics unit shares system resources with the CPU.² Some software lists accept integrated graphics, and many name a separate card. Read your list before you assume.

A laptop with integrated graphics can't be given a card later in the usual way. If the software needs one, that decides the machine. The notes on desktop versus laptop cover that choice.

Before you buy a card

• Check the case has room for it, and that the power supply can run it. The card's maker lists the power it needs.
• Match the card's video ports to your projector's inputs.
• Fit the card following its maker's instructions. Switch the computer off and unplug it first.
• Keep the driver current, using the card maker's own download page.

Don't open the inside of a power supply or any mains wiring. If a new socket or circuit is needed for the equipment, that's licensed electrical work.

To get the most from whatever card you have, try the page on tuning frame rate.