[QUESTION] We're looking to make a gaming rig/HTPC...
.....what would you recommend as far as specs? We have about 700 games (we are digital hoarders).
Right now, we have a game system (X180 -- half what it should have been), but we want a central location. We have the USB adapter to hook a controller from our game system to our computer, so all we need is just the system.
I found a great GPU on big sale ($220USD for 1333 Gigaflops/ 6GB RAM), so we need the rest of the DIY kit. I've been in virtual systems admin for years now, so I've been out of the hardware realm.
Ideas?
Oh, and hello from /t/chiefs!
8 years ago by joker
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Hey there! I've got a few questions that will help me . . . help you!
1. How much money are you wanting to spend? 2. How are you and others going to interface your media? (PC connected directly to the TV? Using devices like tablets, Chromecast, etc?) 3. What quality movies are you wanting to play? 720P? 1080P? 4K? 4. Interested in a Blu-Ray drive?
It will be a computer hooked directly to the TV. Will most likely use it as a gateway to all media across the house, as well as the gaming rig.
I currently use XBMC (Can't remember the new name for that project) and TV-Addons.
We will have a wireless keyboard/mouse-esque thing (already have) for browsing files, using Netflix/Amazon Prime/etc, and XBOX-360 controllers for gaming. I already have a TV Tuner card and a paid copy of Windows Media Center for Windows 8.1 (I will de-register my pro copy on my current paltry system and reclaim it on my new system). I'm not going the Win10 route, because I'm sorry, but Media center is the best app I've ever used for TV watching on the computer. M$ did something right for a change.
I'll be going i7 with 16 GB RAM. Our price range is around $1500.00, but we want to DIY.
Gotcha. That's a pretty big budget so you have tons of flexibility. An i7, 16GB RAM, maybe NVIDIA 980, should play anything you throw at it! Just keep Kodi/XBMC as your frontend, download a custom skin so you can create shortcuts to Steam and WMC. Steam's Big Picture mode and a X360 controller works SO well. Love streaming my games from my gaming desktop to my HTPC.
As for specific hardware recommendations, I can't give exact models but I can recommend brands all day long. Let us know if you have any other questions.
Let's steal an idea from that other site, and ELI5 (but I guess ELI55). I've been out of the hardware loop.
I guess the big question: what case/mobo/SSDs/RAM/Power supply/etc is good nowadays. I used to buy Asus, but they went to crap as of the last desktop I bought of theirs.
I'll give you my take of a few of those items that I personally owned:
Mobo: I went with a MSI Gaming 3 motherboard for the Z97 chipset, plenty of SATA ports and memory speeds. It's been crazy solid and fast on boot up.
SSD: I've owned 2 Crucial SSDs (budget models) and they've done great for both my laptop and gaming rig. I've also bought a Samsung 850 Pro for my wife's laptop and it's just as fast. Samsung is probably the biggest name that I've seen for SSDs. Go for the 850 Pro!
RAM: I bought semi-budget on this one since I don't OC my RAM. Currently I own a pair of 4GB sticks from GSkill and they do the job quite wonderfully.
PSU: Once you figure out your wattage, go with a solid brand like Corsair, XFX, Silverstone. And ALWAYS go modular. I didn't have a choice when putting my current rig together but I'm definitely buying a modular PSU a little later this year.
Case: Are you going for a HTPC case or just a standard desktop case? I currently have a SilverStone HTPC case and it has served me quite well. The only issue I have is that once you throw in a few hard drives, things get a little too crammed for my taste. This is always personal preference though.