17 replies to this topic

[krom]

I've been following the whole 3D thing for a while and I wanted to jump in on a gaming PC for my son and an HTPC as well. There are a couple of pretty good articles out there right now at MaximumPC and ExtremeTech touching on these two scenarios:

http://www.maximumpc..._pc_living_room

and

http://www.extremete...d-buying-advice

also

http://www.extremete...rim-battlefield

Has anyone else traveled down this path? The video card Maximum PC chose for their HTPC gaming rig was an Nvidia GTX 560 Ti. Any thoughts on this card? At the ~$250 price mark that's about as much as I'd want to spend on a GPU and it seems Nvidia has the lead in 3D at this point so that leaves AMD out for this project. I'm looking to see if anyone else has tried this and their thoughts. Aside from 3D BluRay can you do 3D gaming on a 3D TV?

Thanks for any information you guys might have.

[no-control]

no such thing.....

Its a gaming PC in your living room. HTPC is a very different animal. Personally the GTX560Ti 440 core is a better deal. Not too sure about the 3D TV. Given nVidia uses their own glasses it may not be compatible with the TV. Then again the TV may not even out the 3D correctly from the card either.

While a fun project I wouldn't get your hopes up to much 3D gaming. From everything I've heard and seen, its underwhelming. Especially since gaming (for me anyway) usually isn't a quick 1 hour session. I KNOW I couldn't game in 3D for 4-6 hours like I do now.

[krom]

Well I guess you can use Nvidia's 3D Vision with a 3D TV with some extra software, 3DTV Play. It's about $40 bucks.

http://www.nvidia.co...y-overview.html

[no-control]

Like they couldn't include it with the glasses package? Nice job nickle and diming the consumer nVidia.

[krom]

Actually they do give this to you free if you get the glasses. It's $40 if you have an Nvidia card and want to use your 3D TV and it's glasses. At least that's how I'm reading it.

"Turn your 3DTV into the ultimate, high-definition, 3D entertainment experience

NVIDIA® 3DTV Play™ lets you connect your NVIDIA® GeForce® GPU-powered PC or notebook to an HDMI 1.4 3D TV for the ultimate, high-definition, big-screen 3D entertainment experience. Don’t just watch your 3D TV. Leverage the power of your NVIDIA GeForce-powered PC to create an immersive 3D gaming experience on your 3D TV.


3DTV Play will run on NVIDIA GeForce-based PCs running Microsoft Windows Vista or 7. Click here for a complete list of supported GPUs, 3D TVs, and other system requirements.

Already own a 3D Vision PC? Upgrade now to 3DTV Play

NVIDIA 3DTV Play software is available as a free upgrade for all 3D Vision PCs. Download the latest Release 260 GeForce Drivers for desktop GPUs and Release 260 Verde Notebooks drivers for notebook GPUs."

That's actually kind of cool. I think I'll give that a try. Get a GTX560Ti 448 core card like you suggested and put that in my HTPC and give it a whirl.

[ikon]

I agree, that's actually pretty decent of nVidia. I suspect the pressure from AMD has put nVidia into a mood to help their customers more than the would otherwise. Gotta love competition.

[SikSlayer]

Frankly, There's not much difference between an HTPC and a living room Gaming PC. All you need to have is a CPU and GPU combo powerful enough to handle the games you want to play.

My now aging for a gaming PC, but still excellent for an HTPC, is a Core 2 Duo E6850 3GHz, 4GB of RAM, and a GTX560 Ti, up from a 9800 GTX+. If it wasn't for my need to play games, I could have went with an $80 video card when I built the machine, and still be using that same card. There still isn't a single thing, HTPC wise, I'd have changed about it, other than the addition of a Ceton tuner.

The nVidia 3DTV Play software does indeed come with their glasses if you get those, but if you already have a 3DTV, you don't need them, all you need is their software. The glasses are for those with a 120hz PC monitor (3DTVs sadly don't accept any sort of 120hz input) who want to play games in 3D.

Edited by SikSlayer, 14 December 2011 - 05:19 PM.

[ikon]

Frankly, There's not much difference between an HTPC and a living room Gaming PC.

I would politely disagree. I would say that noise level is much more important, relative to power, in an HTPC than it is in a gaming PC. Also, video performance in a gaming PC needs to be much higher than is required for an HTPC. E.g. I would not use Intel embedded graphics for a gaming PC but it's working beautifully for my HTPC.

[SikSlayer]

I would politely disagree. I would say that noise level is much more important, relative to power, in an HTPC than it is in a gaming PC. Also, video performance in a gaming PC needs to be much higher than is required for an HTPC. E.g. I would not use Intel embedded graphics for a gaming PC but it's working beautifully for my HTPC.

Not to argue semantics, but that's exactly what I said. "a living room Gaming PC". I think it goes without saying for ANY machine that's going to be used in the living room, noise level is important. It's a default concern. Very important indeed.

That's also why I said I would have otherwise went with a (then) $80 video card when I built my HTPC. It wasn't just any video card, it had a fanless cooler, while having all the required video decode functions, and HDMI. Such cards are at most $50 nowadays. Heck, you've gotten away with Intel embedded graphics. Man, people have so many choices nowadays when it comes to hardware for an HTPC. A Core i3 or similar AMD is all you need to cover both CPU and GPU.

[no-control]

Frankly, There's not much difference between an HTPC and a living room Gaming PC. All you need to have is a CPU and GPU combo powerful enough to handle the games you want to play.

Not sure what you mean by a living room Gaming PC, but a gaming PC and an HTPC are 2 very different animals. Even a "quiet gaming PC" isn't going to cut it. HTPC's usually have a lot of storage and no discreet GPUs, They are also purpose built to run cool, quiet and sip power. Gaming PCs are hot and all about graphical horsepower.

An HTPC that can handle casual gaming would be more HTPC with a GPU than a gaming machine. Semantics? Yes. But the devil is in the details which is what BYOB is all about. Building boxes for specific purposes and getting the details just right.

enjoy the show

[krom]

@no-control But that's the point....if my purpose is to have a gaming capable HTPC then it's going to be purpose built for that. Strong GPU and and as quiet as possible. Compromises will have to be made but such is life if you want PC gaming and WMC in one box. I think the right BYOB touch is to come up with the right components to make that as little of a compromise on both ends as possible.

[no-control]

Then tell us where you want to compromise. It's a subjective and personal choice. What I feel is adequately powered and acceptable for both noise and power use. May be too loud and hot for you.

[ikon]

Perhaps, instead of living room gaming PC, it would have been better to say lite gaming PC. I say that because I just don't believe it's possible to build a full-blown gaming PC and have it quiet as well. Even a water -ccoled unit will be too noisy for my living room.

[SikSlayer]

Perhaps, instead of living room gaming PC, it would have been better to say lite gaming PC. I say that because I just don't believe it's possible to build a full-blown gaming PC and have it quiet as well. Even a water -ccoled unit will be too noisy for my living room.

I fully disagree. Because that's exactly what I have. And was my intention from day one. Otherwise, it would have had both a slower CPU and GPU.

[ikon]

I fully disagree. Because that's exactly what I have. And was my intention from day one. Otherwise, it would have had both a slower CPU and GPU.

If you've managed to build a unit that is powerful enough to play the games you want, and is acceptably quiet to you, then congrats.

It could simply be that we have different levels of acceptable noise level. For me, if I can hear any noise at all from 3 feet away, it's simply too noisy. I have never heard a full blown gaming rig that can meet that criteria, even a water-cooled one. But then, I haven't heard yours either.

[SikSlayer]

It could simply be that we have different levels of acceptable noise level.

Oh, most definitely. I know I'm not as sensitive as many are. See, my HTPC is normally very quiet unless I'm playing a game, at which point the GPU fan spins up, and its loud enough to notice. But that's quickly drowned out by the sounds of the game. I'd have to be listening for it to even notice the sound of the video card fan at that point.

I must say though, its not even half as loud as my Xbox 360. I have the original 20GB model, on the 4th RROD replacement. The RROD replacement prior (#3) had a really loud DVD drive.

[ikon]

Oh, most definitely. I know I'm not as sensitive as many are. See, my HTPC is normally very quiet unless I'm playing a game, at which point the GPU fan spins up, and its loud enough to notice. But that's quickly drowned out by the sounds of the game. I'd have to be listening for it to even notice the sound of the video card fan at that point.

I must say though, its not even half as loud as my Xbox 360. I have the original 20GB model, on the 4th RROD replacement. The RROD replacement prior (#3) had a really loud DVD drive.

I've never personally heard the original xbox 360, but I have heard others complain about it. Its noise is one reason I don't have one

[no-control]

The old ones are atrocious. The new 360's are pretty quiet especially if you load the game to the HDD.