Arcmanov's rig evolves...

[MessiaaH]

Even though I have a gaming rig, it not usefriendly enough for htpc/gaming duties use. Currently I have a long ass HDMI cable run. So when I not home, wife hadda put on receiver, set TV monitor to be primary, then launch steam to play...... or if I have xbmc open on another monitor, she hadda drag it across to TV and all that jazz. So I hooked up an old laptop to TV to serve htpc duties. So put on receiver, and xbmc just there all d time.

So for me I want a dedicated box to do HTCP/Gaming duties, to make it user friendly when I ain't home.

Xbox would serve that purpose if 2 things are present.
1. XBMC App
2. Cheap couch coop games.

Right now neither there. It go serve the Netflix/hullu/amazon prime purpose. But apparent from that, PC oui.

And I planning to build an htcp in the 700$ price range to serve. Not as cheap as an Xbox, but not outrageous either.

[Arcmanov]

Well I got a desk...for the great price of free.99... 

[TriniXaeno]

how the hell did you get that??

[Arcmanov]

Boy...a friend of mine who runs a transport company overheard me saying I was 'looking for a desk' and mentioned that
he had a desk in his warehouse...shrink-wrapped, that a client of his wanted to literally dispose of because they bought new desks.

He offered to give it to me...yeah, jusso.  He even had his guys drop it home for me.

Sometimes, the stars just align in your favour, and I am eternally grateful, because he literally saved me hundreds (if not thousands)
of dollars.

[TriniXaeno]

wow! gg

santa claus comes in many disguises

[Arcmanov]

Upgrades to the HTPC.

GTX 760 in he waist...










Battlefield 3 and 4 ain't looking half bad on the Samsung at all. 






The HTPC has evolved into a full-fledged gaming rig...

Cooler Master Elite 130
Gigabyte H77N-WIFI
Intel Core i5-3470
2 x 4GB G.Skill RipJaws F3-10666CL9-4GBRL (DDR3-1333)
EVGA GeForce GTX 760 (ACX)
Cooler Master Seidon 120M
Thermaltake 600W PSU

PS4?Xbone cyar come rong dat. 



Also decided to upgrade my router one time.

Asus RT-N66U with the following antenna upgrades...

2 x Asus Omni WL-ANT-191
1 x Asus WL-ANT-157 Antenna



Signal all down Penal now. 

Of course I wasted no time upgrading Asus' already stellar firmware with the latest Tomato release,
which allows for even greater flexibility and more granular QoS control.  Also for superior bandwidth monitoring tools.


...and why leave out the main rig? 
Swapped out those 3 jet-engine Scythe fans for better performing, quieter Corsair SP120s



These fans boast better static pressure than the higher-rpm Scythe fans, and are able to maintain the same amount
of cooling performance at a lower maximum speed.  Easier on the ears too. 


The evolution continues.....

[RustyPlumber]

looking good arc!

Nice specs on the HTPC,similar to mine,which is almost done.Awaiting Fractal Design Node 605 Case.

[Arcmanov]

HTPC benchmarks...

3DMark11: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/7695757?



Fire Strike: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/1904244



Now you have an idea what this kind of config is capable of.
Granted...it's significantly more expensive than a PS4/Xbone, but you get all the added flexibility that a PC provides.

...and oh yeah...no 'upscaling' here.  1080p all day baby. 

[TriniXaeno]

pity we can't run 3dmark on an xbox or ps4 for an apples to apples comparison

What was the final price on this HTPC arc?

[Arcmanov]

Cooler Master Elite 130 - $190 50 US
Gigabyte H77N-WIFI - $110 US
Intel Core i5-3470 - $190 US
2 x 4GB G.Skill RipJaws F3-10666CL9-4GBRL (DDR3-1333) - $90 US
EVGA GeForce GTX 760 (ACX) - $250 US
Cooler Master Seidon 120M - $65 US
Hitachi TravelStar 500 GB - (bought locally) $65 US
Thermaltake 600W PSU - (bought locally) about 750 TT (approx 116 US)

That comes to about 1075 935 US without shipping/Customs fees, etc.  Those costs, plus the Windows 8.1 license, push the costs even further.

Again...quite a bit more expensive, but PC enthusiasts already knew that. 
However, it's more versatile, instantly upgradeable, just as portable, and several orders of magnitude more powerful than the consoles.

Lets not even talk about the plethora of different peripherals I can connect to it with nary a mod in sight.

I can also transfer my entire Steam/Origin library to this rig, and run every single game within them and not have to worry about
draconian DRM intentionally cockblocking my efforts at every turn.

What's not to like? 




Little mistake on the case price there.  Its been corrected.

[TriniXaeno]

Washtenaw Technical Middle College!

So we talking about US$1400 - 1500 after all and sundry charges???

That is a bit rich boy arc.

got damn

I want to try an HTPC for xboxone money....say $499 before shipping and duty.

But since Santa pass with the nexus already....that will be a 2014 project

[Arcmanov]

Mistake on the case price.  Fixed.


Should be more like 1100 US...but you get what you pay for (although you could buy both consoles for that).
I guess I should stop calling it a 'HTPC' now ent? 

You can build a HTPC for 499 US, but it'll be VERY basic.
The only 'gaming' that doing is Minesweeper. 

[TriniXaeno]

lol @ minesweeper

nah man, I am expecting a very capable box @ that $499.99

DOTA 2 and Trine 2 level performance

Good for those co-op steam games.

Will put together something in writing. Scavenging components from the trading grounds and spare parts from around the shop should help me hit that figure easy enough without too many compromises.

[Vengeance]

Will put together something in writing. Scavenging components from the trading grounds and spare parts from around the shop should help me hit that figure easy enough without too many compromises.

Well yeah if you buying some used parts to mix up, the overall cost will be way lower.

The htpc i recently built come up to $2575TT and is very capable of some good 1080p gaming. Mix of new and used parts of course

[TriniXaeno]

What were the specs and prices attained?

[RustyPlumber]

I think i can trump you guys on savings

Intel i5 3470 Ivy Bridge OEM $500 (brand new)
Gigabyte  GA-Z77X-UD3H $600 (bought used)
8 GB Samsung DDR3 Memory $280 (brand new)
500 GB Hitachi HDD $300 (brand new)
Imexx Aftermarket CPU Cooler $75 (brand new)
Thermaltake TR2 600W PSU $400 (brand new)

Only thing that's gonna buttrape me is my case.

[Spazosaurus]

This fixation with cases allyuh have. Just throw the damn parts in ah ole case and done. Or brand new super power case... 199$ TT.

Sent from my Xperia Z Ultra using Tapatalk 4

[Arcmanov]

Shut up, phone ho...

De same way you like phone...we like case.

[TriniXaeno]

$2155 Rusty and counting.

No GPU? or you planning on going with the integrated?

Also @Spaz, US$50 for a mini itx case isn't bad at all. Being small and light, the shipping isn't outlandish.

[Vengeance]

$2155 Rusty and counting.

No GPU? or you planning on going with the integrated?

Also @Spaz, US$50 for a mini itx case isn't bad at all. Being small and light, the shipping isn't outlandish.

The integrated hd gpu on those ivy bridge cpus pretty good for some gaming at 720p.

Anyhow mine goes like this:

AMD Phenom II x6 1045T 2.7ghz hex core cpu - $400 used
Asrock N68-VS3-FX micro atx board - $200 used
Stock AMD heatpiped HSF - $0 used (came with cpu)
2 x 4GB Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz DDR3 - $300 new
Hitachi 1TB 7200RPM sata2 hdd - $400 new
Samsung 22x DVDRW sata - $125 new
Generic-ish micro atx case with 500w psu - $200 new

$1625

Was getting an EVGA GTX 660 from a friend used for $700 but unfortunately with the 6 pin plug being on the long side of the card, the side panel for the case won't go on with it plugged in

Will run a GT 210 card with hdmi out till i find a suitable replacement.

Total with the card would've been $2325