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New HTPC Build

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  • Some people just put up an artificial wall up in their mind that "technology is hard, I can't do it" despite how simple it might be, they won't even try. I remember being like that as a little kid, making my dad install my games or fix something for me. Then one day I wanted to play a game when he wasn't around, and tried myself and realized you basically just click next a bunch of times. I was tired of waiting for him to install a cd burner in my computer, and soon realized it just takes 2 screws and 2 cables. Its not that they don't have the capacity to learn, they just refuse to.
  • Yeah so I think Scott just needs an SSD and that's it. I'm not sure what your FPS is dropping to when you play games so I can't comment on whether you need the graphics card.

    However if you wanted to just get an overhaul, you could get an m.2 ssd, with your current magnetic hard drives and get the cheapest low profile graphics card with a new motherboard and new i3 CPU. I think my HTCP was in 2012 or 2013 and it runs most all the games fine for a 1080p display. However if there is something that is graphically intensive and starts slowing down, I just stream it through Steam but those types of games I usually play on my regular PC anyway.
    Thinking about it, party games or coop games are the main ones I play on the big screen.
  • I don't think that old motherboard has a place to connect an m.2 SSD.

    I do Steam-stream most things, even with real-time games. But not with an online real-time game like Rocket League.
  • I didn't think m.2 ssds were really consumer-viable yet.
  • Ikatono said:

    I didn't think m.2 ssds were really consumer-viable yet.

    If you get a newish motherboard they are.

    But most people have no reason to upgrade their motherboard any time soon. USB3.1 whatever thunderbolt whatever isn't really mainstream yet.

  • I meant motherboard, hard drive prices, and the fact that a lot of m.2 drives are (I think) not actually any faster than SATA. It's possible but not really a great idea yet.
  • edited October 2015
    Ikatono said:

    I meant motherboard, hard drive prices, and the fact that a lot of m.2 drives are (I think) not actually any faster than SATA. It's possible but not really a great idea yet.

    You're correct, to my knowledge, no m.2 drive or ssd is capable or fully saturating sata3 as of right now and their performance is identical. However, m.2 drives are capable of using pci, so their theorhetical throughput at the lowest tier of pci is 10Gb/s. As of right now though, there is no bandwidth benefit and ssds are cheaper as of right now.
    That being said, you do save a lot of space with m.2 if that is a concern, as it will effectively be flush with your motherboard or graphics card, so there is no need for a drive mounting bay.
    Post edited by Alaric728 on
  • Alaric728 said:

    Ikatono said:

    I meant motherboard, hard drive prices, and the fact that a lot of m.2 drives are (I think) not actually any faster than SATA. It's possible but not really a great idea yet.

    You're correct, to my knowledge, no m.2 drive or ssd is capable or fully saturating sata3 as of right now and their performance is identical. However, m.2 drives are capable of using pci, so their theorhetical throughput at the lowest tier of pci is 10Gb/s. As of right now though, there is no bandwidth benefit and ssds are cheaper as of right now.
    That being said, you do save a lot of space with m.2 if that is a concern, as it will effectively be flush with your motherboard or graphics card, so there is no need for a drive mounting bay.
    The m.2 space savings doesn't help if you have a GPU. If you're making an HTPC that has no intention of being used for games, and you are using the HDMI output built into the motherboard, then m.2 will allow you to make a ridiculously small computer.
  • Ikatono said:

    I meant motherboard, hard drive prices, and the fact that a lot of m.2 drives are (I think) not actually any faster than SATA. It's possible but not really a great idea yet.

    What?

    Maximum throughput of SATA is 550MB/s.
    All the tests I've done on my SATA cap it out at this speed. It is saturating the port.

    The Samsung 950 series is 4 to 5 times faster than the 850 pro (one of the fastest if not the fastest SSD for SATA drive) is 4 - 5 times slower than the 950 pro which is the M.2 version of the drive coming out this month. However the 950 pro requires your BIOS to support bootable NVME drives which new motherboards support.
  • edited October 2015
    I'm gonna put this in here because I can't figure out a place to put it and the conversation is somewhat relevant to what we were saying before.

    Apple's tvOS tries to manage itself.

    EDIT: Also I find it somewhat hilarious that like half the comments are about the article being "too long".
    Post edited by MATATAT on
  • So my HTPC still works great, but it's having trouble with some Steam games that I want to play on it using a controller. It's six years old. The video card is a Radeon 5570. Even 2D games are giving it trouble. Steam Streaming also gives it trouble. The frame rate is too low. I could just upgrade the GPU but the case requires a low profile video card. There are low profile cards available, but they are trash. GeForce 730. Seriously.

    At PAX I saw many PCs that would easily fit in the six inches of space under my TV. They all had the video card mounted sideways. GeForce 1080s no less! I'll probably just get a 1070 or 1060 for my HTPC, but still.

    So I go to look at the Origin Chronos and and Falcon Tiki These will definitely get the job done. The problem is they are charging an arm and a leg. I know I can build them for cheaper. But I can't for the life of me find a case on Newegg where the video card is mounted sideways. Is there really no way to build such a PC myself?
  • That's why I went with Alienware. Still expensive? Sure. But much cheaper than Falcon. Strangely they seemed to have stopped producing the X51 I have (and have seen many a pax demo running on). They have some redesigned version bu the design is awful compared to the one I have.
  • MATATAT said:

    That's why I went with Alienware. Still expensive? Sure. But much cheaper than Falcon. Strangely they seemed to have stopped producing the X51 I have (and have seen many a pax demo running on). They have some redesigned version bu the design is awful compared to the one I have.

    Oh, but the Alienware X51 is even smaller and might just do it. Sure, only a 960, but that is probably enough power for HTPC purposes. We'll see.
  • I just went with a regular upright case next to the other TV stuff. Cheaper and easier, but doesn't look as slick.
  • Just get a slightly bigger box.

  • It has to be less than 6 inches tall.
  • Zbox is still an option.

  • edited September 2016
    The EN-980 cuts it close at 5" tall. The depth and width don't matter, as long as it's less than 6". However, for the price of the EN-980 I can configure a much more powerful PC from Origin that is 4" instead of 5".
    Post edited by Apreche on
  • Apreche said:

    It has to be less than 6 inches tall.

    http://www.corsair.com/en-gb/bulldog-high-performance-pc-kit-na

    405mm x 448mm x 145mm

    15.95" x 17.64" x 5.71"
  • 5.71" is cutting it much too close. The space in my furniture is exactly 6". You need some room in there for air to escape the furniture.
  • http://store.steampowered.com/app/353380/ if you just need a steam box this is all you need :-p
  • Cremlian said:

    http://store.steampowered.com/app/353380/ if you just need a steam box this is all you need :-p

    I don't just need a Steam Box. I need a real computer that does everything.
  • Use that patreon money for some bigger furniture
  • Found a case. The Factal Design Node 202

    Any reason why this build won't work or can be better?

    https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=37946828
  • Wow. All those same exact parts are available on Amazon instead of Newegg. The price is already $3 lower, but since I have Prime/Amazon credit card it's even cheaper. Might not Newegg.
  • How exactly does this turning the video card 90 degrees thing work?
  • How exactly does this turning the video card 90 degrees thing work?

    It's just a riser board. PCI express male on one end goes into the motherboard, and there is PCI express female on the other end for the video card to go into. You can see it in the video on the case's info page. Ribbon cables are also available. Benchmarks indicate that the extra distance has no performance impact. Electrons travel fast enough that a few inches mean basically nothing.

    Here's a guy on YouTube showing how to build with the case.

  • If I get a new HTPC, does someone want my old one? It's perfect for just watching videos and playing any game that doesn't requires much GPU. It can even play Rocket League at quite low settings.
  • My htpc is a PoS laptop that super lags playing rocket league. I've been needing to replace it for ages, if you're giving one away, I'm in line.
  • edited September 2016
    Apreche said:

    If I get a new HTPC, does someone want my old one? It's perfect for just watching videos and playing any game that doesn't requires much GPU. It can even play Rocket League at quite low settings.

    I may be able to take it off your hands. I have a very specific use I can do with that.

    Also Scott you may want to look into this.

    http://www.corsair.com/en-us/landing/lapdog
    Post edited by Coldguy on
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