That TV is not going to work with Windows 8. I used something similar for the first week until my monitor arrived. The problem is that many of the OS specific screens in Win8 require a higher resolution. If the resolution is too low the programs will not even open.
If you can run at 1080i you can get things to work but it will look like shit.
Interesting. I've been outputting 1360x768 on it for years over HDMI.
BTW the PSU was 450W, and I'm getting estimates on some component calculators of a ~573W requirement, so I picked out a nice Corsair model at around 700W just to be safe.
Thanks guys. To be fair, I call it an HTPC because media is its primary function, but I use it for a lot of different things. Home file server, Steam box, and video editing (which is why I decided to go 16GB). My other PC is a shit laptop (will be upgrading to a Surface 4 I think when they announce Broadwell models.
I didn't realise it was your main PC, I assumed wrongly that it was an extra PC for media and party tasks.
In that case go with the 16gb RAM, I still think you can go with the cheapest with a lifetime warranty.
If you already have 2 SSDs could you not use a much larger WD Green or is the WD Black going to have programs or games installed on it as well?
Interesting. I've been outputting 1360x768 on it for years over HDMI.
BTW the PSU was 450W, and I'm getting estimates on some component calculators of a ~573W requirement, so I picked out a nice Corsair model at around 700W just to be safe.
Three is a minimum resolution of 1024 x 768 in Windows 8.1 however your graphics card drivers can be set up to downscale to your TV's resolution or your TV will automatically downscale 1080p to 720p.
Thanks guys. To be fair, I call it an HTPC because media is its primary function, but I use it for a lot of different things. Home file server, Steam box, and video editing (which is why I decided to go 16GB). My other PC is a shit laptop (will be upgrading to a Surface 4 I think when they announce Broadwell models.
I didn't realise it was your main PC, I assumed wrongly that it was an extra PC for media and party tasks.
In that case go with the 16gb RAM, I still think you can go with the cheapest with a lifetime warranty.
If you already have 2 SSDs could you not use a much larger WD Green or is the WD Black going to have programs or games installed on it as well?
Nah just file storage. And it's doubly-backed up as well, but at this point I don't mind paying a little premium for a bump in drive reliability.
I think I'm gonna bump the RAM down to a more typical speed. Also did some actual research into graphics cards now and feel pretty comfortable w/ the bang for your buck on the GTX 960. I have the room in budget to go 970 but don't think I'll need it. I'm not very picky with graphics, I just don't want framerates going to shit, so I don't mind running a game at less than extreme settings to do so. I think I'm all good to go here.
Nah just file storage. And it's doubly-backed up as well, but at this point I don't mind paying a little premium for a bump in drive reliability.
WD Greens are more reliable than WD Black and generate less heat and need less power. I'm pretty sure the only difference is that a WD Green spins at 5400 rpm vs the 7200 rpm of the WD Black.
However I use one of my old WD Black drives as a storage drive as well.
It's a good time to buy. Crazy fast CPUs are really cheap. RAM has been at a plateau for a long time. Video cards are ungodly powerful. SSDs are affordable.
It's a good time to buy. Crazy fast CPUs are really cheap. RAM has been at a plateau for a long time. Video cards are ungodly powerful. SSDs are affordable.
The only issue is that I already have all these things, my Intel 4770K is stupid powerful. There's nothing wrong with the computer I have, I just like building computers. I'm thinking about building a minecraft server, but even that is a weak justification as it probably won't use less power than running my regular PC all the time like I do now.
More or less what I have at the moment. Need to upgrade my GPU to the 970. All that RAM makes a difference, with Adobe and Autodesk wares running simultaneously.
It's a good time to buy. Crazy fast CPUs are really cheap. RAM has been at a plateau for a long time. Video cards are ungodly powerful. SSDs are affordable.
The only issue is that I already have all these things, my Intel 4770K is stupid powerful. There's nothing wrong with the computer I have, I just like building computers. I'm thinking about building a minecraft server, but even that is a weak justification as it probably won't use less power than running my regular PC all the time like I do now.
I ordered the new PC I was spec'ing out last week. Part of me was really unsure how old my HTPC actually was, so I did look it up. It is almost 6 years old to the date, running on an Athlon X2 4850e and 4GB of RAM. I am really impressed by the longevity of PCs these days. The only upgrade I ever did was from a Radeon 4650 to a 6450, which only cost $40.
It's a good time to buy. Crazy fast CPUs are really cheap. RAM has been at a plateau for a long time. Video cards are ungodly powerful. SSDs are affordable.
The only issue is that I already have all these things, my Intel 4770K is stupid powerful. There's nothing wrong with the computer I have, I just like building computers. I'm thinking about building a minecraft server, but even that is a weak justification as it probably won't use less power than running my regular PC all the time like I do now.
Spec me up one and I'll build it. ;-)
Guys, I like to physically put computers together. Picking parts isn't nearly as fun. :P
They offer some ok stuff if you're fine with them making some of the part decisions and can afford to spend a extra amount of money for the parts chosen and the cost for the build.
At PAX the guy I talked to literally couldn't answer any of my hardware questions but he sounded new.
I'm biased though because making machines is one of my hobbies.
Thanks to Steam Streaming you really don't need a powerful HTPC these days. Just let your real gaming PC do all the work.
And then I got a GameCube->USB adapter and Dolphin emulator needs a lot of horsepower. Maybe I can trick Steam into streaming it?
Flip it around. Powerful HTPC and junk laptop. That's how I'm rolling and it's working well.
I use a Chromebook most days, and remote into the HTPC do to things like small Photoshop jobs and other window-specific stuff. For video editing, I pull up a tray table and chair (a small rolling chair I have close by for Rock Band drums works very well) and work directly on the HTPC. I also have an old junk Windows laptop for Arduino stuff.
I am going to be tempted to ditch the Chromebook for a Surface Pro 4 when those get announced.
Even with a tray table, I just can't imagine that configuration being comfortable while playing a game that is primarily mouse-based like an FPS, RTS, etc. The 1080p of a TV screen is also a big limitation for some genres like 4X games.
But then again, you could put that laptop on a desk with a mouse and play away.
What it really comes down to is that we are getting closer to the singularity. Each person can get away with having just one powerful computer and just networking to it with appropriate interfaces. Eventually when the Internet is faster we can all keep our horsepower in the cloud together and GitS will happen.
Yeah the "one powerful computer" point is already here it seems, unless you consider our phones as a second fairly powerful computing machine. Which computer is your powerhouse is solely up to the individual and how it works best for them.
Part of my concern is that I have a nice office that happens to be the only room in the house that shares a wall with my daughter's bedroom. If I'm in there late at night, sometimes loud clicking and typing can wake her up, so I don't want to put a desktop in there. I go with the laptop so I can bring it out to the dining room table if I need to. And yeah, I don't play much FPS/RTS/4X at the moment, partially due to the limitations of my setup (and my current HTPC doesn't even really handle FPS well). With the new machine, I do plan on streaming those sorts of games to my laptop, rather than using the tray table and TV.
Lucky I went with a 980 and know that Gigabyte turn out trash video cards from my last purchase with them. With the 900 series I would stick with MSI and Asus.
I'm surprised at how MSI has gotten it's hardware act together. I previously regarded put them in the same boat as Asrock for the longest time and now they are churning out very competitive, high quality components.
I decided I should get one new, full-price game to mess around with on my new PC. I chose Elite: Dangerous.
Fun fact: a $200 flight stick and throttle has all the markings of a purchase people will regret when they get bored with it. Easily found a Saitek X52 on eBay for just under $100, and can easily sell it for that same amount when I eventually get bored with it as well. But I'll play TIE Fighter with it first, of course.
If you had to choose between a gaming laptop with a solid state drive and external storage, and a similar laptop all the same specs except it had a huge internal hard disk with an external scratch disk, which would you choose?
Comments
If you can run at 1080i you can get things to work but it will look like shit.
1024x768 is minimum resolution.
BTW the PSU was 450W, and I'm getting estimates on some component calculators of a ~573W requirement, so I picked out a nice Corsair model at around 700W just to be safe.
In that case go with the 16gb RAM, I still think you can go with the cheapest with a lifetime warranty.
If you already have 2 SSDs could you not use a much larger WD Green or is the WD Black going to have programs or games installed on it as well?
I think I'm gonna bump the RAM down to a more typical speed. Also did some actual research into graphics cards now and feel pretty comfortable w/ the bang for your buck on the GTX 960. I have the room in budget to go 970 but don't think I'll need it. I'm not very picky with graphics, I just don't want framerates going to shit, so I don't mind running a game at less than extreme settings to do so. I think I'm all good to go here.
I'm pretty sure the only difference is that a WD Green spins at 5400 rpm vs the 7200 rpm of the WD Black.
However I use one of my old WD Black drives as a storage drive as well.
CPU
RAM x2
GPU
More or less what I have at the moment. Need to upgrade my GPU to the 970. All that RAM makes a difference, with Adobe and Autodesk wares running simultaneously.
And then I got a GameCube->USB adapter and Dolphin emulator needs a lot of horsepower. Maybe I can trick Steam into streaming it?
At PAX the guy I talked to literally couldn't answer any of my hardware questions but he sounded new.
I'm biased though because making machines is one of my hobbies.
I use a Chromebook most days, and remote into the HTPC do to things like small Photoshop jobs and other window-specific stuff. For video editing, I pull up a tray table and chair (a small rolling chair I have close by for Rock Band drums works very well) and work directly on the HTPC. I also have an old junk Windows laptop for Arduino stuff.
I am going to be tempted to ditch the Chromebook for a Surface Pro 4 when those get announced.
But then again, you could put that laptop on a desk with a mouse and play away.
What it really comes down to is that we are getting closer to the singularity. Each person can get away with having just one powerful computer and just networking to it with appropriate interfaces. Eventually when the Internet is faster we can all keep our horsepower in the cloud together and GitS will happen.
Part of my concern is that I have a nice office that happens to be the only room in the house that shares a wall with my daughter's bedroom. If I'm in there late at night, sometimes loud clicking and typing can wake her up, so I don't want to put a desktop in there. I go with the laptop so I can bring it out to the dining room table if I need to. And yeah, I don't play much FPS/RTS/4X at the moment, partially due to the limitations of my setup (and my current HTPC doesn't even really handle FPS well). With the new machine, I do plan on streaming those sorts of games to my laptop, rather than using the tray table and TV.
I'm surprised at how MSI has gotten it's hardware act together. I previously regarded put them in the same boat as Asrock for the longest time and now they are churning out very competitive, high quality components.
Fun fact: a $200 flight stick and throttle has all the markings of a purchase people will regret when they get bored with it. Easily found a Saitek X52 on eBay for just under $100, and can easily sell it for that same amount when I eventually get bored with it as well. But I'll play TIE Fighter with it first, of course.