A HTPC to beat a console at it's own game.

briany

After so long of trying to second screen my main computer to my telly, maybe it's time to just bite the bullet and put in a dedicated HTPC for it, since I'm obviously in the minority of wanting my machines to be essentially two (although I think they're more than powerful enough. My main machine would now be even more underutilised. But that's a gripe for another day.)

Also, since it's just so much fun to spec,

Zotac A75 WiFi

Silverstone Sugo ITX case

Be Quiet SFX PSU (400W)

AMD 5800K CPU

Can be had for around 300 euros. Depending on the retailer.

Other parts I have spare that I could throw in (assuming compatibility)

AMD 6870
G. Skill Ripjaws 1333 8GB (1 stick)
Samsung SSD (250 GB) (space no big concern, as I have a large NAS)
Windows 8
Gamepads

Purpose would be media, media, media, and gaming. 10 foot interface all the way. Thoughts? Cheaper alternatives?

Lu Tze

briany wrote: »

After so long of trying to second screen my main computer to my telly, maybe it's time to just bite the bullet and put in a dedicated HTPC for it, since I'm obviously in the minority of wanting my machines to be essentially two (although I think they're more than powerful enough. My main machine would now be even more underutilised. But that's a gripe for another day.)

Also, since it's just so much fun to spec,

Zotac A75 WiFi

Silverstone Sugo ITX case

Be Quiet SFX PSU (400W)

AMD 5800K CPU

Can be had for around 300 euros. Depending on the retailer.

Other parts I have spare that I could throw in (assuming compatibility)

AMD 6870
G. Skill Ripjaws 1333 8GB (1 stick)
Samsung SSD (250 GB) (space no big concern, as I have a large NAS)
Windows 8
Gamepads

Purpose would be media, media, media, and gaming. 10 foot interface all the way. Thoughts? Cheaper alternatives?

Whats your main desktop specs? Any aesthetic requirements if its sitting in the living room? If you you have ethernet connectivity all round Steam in home streaming is available now in beta and works pretty well, meaning you would not need as powerful a set up for gaming, might even get away with an intel NUC if size s a limitation (though would have to check how the intel graphics handles the stream).

Just throwing out some ideas. If you already have the Hd6870, i wouldnt go with the AMD APU regardless, better going with an intel dual core. The only benefit the amd has is it has decent integrated graphics, but you wont need that with the dedicated card.

briany

Lu Tze wrote: »

Whats your main desktop specs? Any aesthetic requirements if its sitting in the living room? If you you have ethernet connectivity all round Steam in home streaming is available now in beta and works pretty well, meaning you would not need as powerful a set up for gaming, might even get away with an intel NUC if size s a limitation (though would have to check how the intel graphics handles the stream).

Just throwing out some ideas. If you already have the Hd6870, i wouldnt go with the AMD APU regardless, better going with an intel dual core. The only benefit the amd has is it has decent integrated graphics, but you wont need that with the dedicated card.

Main system specs : 2500K, r9 280x, 8GB RAM 1333, 2 SSDs, storage HDD, Asrock Ex3 Gen3, 750w PSU.

No great aesthetical needs, other than it being relatively small and compact and not too noisy.

I've thought about in home streaming, but what I've read is that it's performance can be sketchy with software outside of the steam ecosystem. I don't know how well it might run the host of emulators I'd want to run, or XBMC. Lag would be a bit of a concern in certain instances as well. It could work, but I'm also looking to build something that would have a very slick interface as well. Something that would be as easy to use as the XBox One or as close to it, something that could be used by the uninitiated even, something operated from the couch, but offering the customizability that you'd get with a PC under the hood. Maybe Steam has that, I don't know, I'll have to tinker with that possibility as well.

Actually an Intel solution may work better even. It would be a bit cheaper anyway as there seems to be a greater number of decent less costly boards for the platform. The reasons for looking at AMD are 1) Well, I've never had an AMD chip before, 2) I've heard their APUs ain't bad and I might some contingency if I ran into problems putting the 6870 in there.

Monotype

The APU is a good idea if you're after a compact system and want a bit of casual gaming. However, bear in mind that consoles are fairly well optimised, so if you want to actually beat them in games, you'll need a dedicated graphics card.

I'm using an APU for a HTPC myself. I have it booting from a small SSD with XBMC automatically launching and it works very well. I picked a low end one as that'll run everything in the line of video. A higher end APU will provide gaming capabilities, but really at 720p for the most part unless demands are low.

vibe666

Didn't know about the steam streaming thing, but have an i3 NUC already connected to the TV and just building a monster gaming rig so will give it a shot to see how well it works.

Wondering if a gaming pad would be the way forward or a wireless keyboard & mouse?

Edit: sorry for thread stealing!

briany

Monotype wrote: »

The APU is a good idea if you're after a compact system and want a bit of casual gaming. However, bear in mind that consoles are fairly well optimised, so if you want to actually beat them in games, you'll need a dedicated graphics card.

I'm using an APU for a HTPC myself. I have it booting from a small SSD with XBMC automatically launching and it works very well. I picked a low end one as that'll run everything in the line of video. A higher end APU will provide gaming capabilities, but really at 720p for the most part unless demands are low.

It's not in games, exactly, that I'd be trying to beat the XBone, although it would be nice to have something roughly on par in terms of processing grunt. It's more the idea of having a unified entertainment box, but one that I could control. Also, one that would have a very simple frontend so that most anyone could use it, but a backend I could tinker with.

vibe666 wrote: »

Didn't know about the steam streaming thing, but have an i3 NUC already connected to the TV and just building a monster gaming rig so will give it a shot to see how well it works.

Wondering if a gaming pad would be the way forward or a wireless keyboard & mouse?

Edit: sorry for thread stealing!

I'm sure people do game from the couch with a wireless keyboard and mouse although I can't picture it being very comfortable or offer the same level of control. I've always seen that as an interface that's made for sitting at the desktop, because, well, it is. Gaming pad for gaming on a TV, I say.

Steam streaming is supposed to work best if you have your devices all with wired connections. It'll still work via Wi-Fi too but it can introduce lag issues in this case.

Steviemoyne

vibe666 wrote: »

Didn't know about the steam streaming thing, but have an i3 NUC already connected to the TV and just building a monster gaming rig so will give it a shot to see how well it works.

Wondering if a gaming pad would be the way forward or a wireless keyboard & mouse?

Edit: sorry for thread stealing!

Personally I'd say both. I find there are some games that the level of comfort of just leaning back and using a controller works (such as The Witcher 2), and there are other games that just work better with a controller (Dark Souls being such an example).

And then there are games that suit keyboard and mouse (battlefield as an example).

So I'd say grab a keyboard+mouse and a controller.