Building HTPC- Gaming PC!

[Santy]

Hey guys
I am building a PC meant for gaming also as a source for movies and music.
Have a look at the config:

MB Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H 32GB DDR3
CPU Intel Core i5-3470 3rd Gen
SMPS Corsair Gaming Series GS600 80 PLUS Certified
Case NZXT Gamma Mid Tower
GPU Gigabyte AMD HD 7850 OC 2GB GDDR5
DISP BENQ E2220 HD 21.5"
HDD WD Caviar Black 1 TB
SDD OCZ 60 GB AGILITY 3 SATA III
RAM Corsair Vengeance 4 GB x2
OPT Samsung DVD RW SH224
INP Microsoft Desktop 2000 wireless keyboard and mouse
NET TPlink N150 Wifi router

Except CPU and GPU all are bought already.
Quite excited about building this and also playing on 99" screen :yahoo:

Future plans are to buy a BD drive and stuff needed for 3D (may be the convertor for my PJ).
For music I will continue to use USB with my external DAC.

Do any of you think I should still keep the WDTV live player?
I also wish to know if the games like BF3, MP3 have 5.1 audio?

I think I will have lot of queries.
Hope to get some gyan from PC gaming and HTPC experts

 

[sam9s]

aaaa .GAMING PC, another fav. project for me .... ...... Since you already have bought except the CPU and GPU, I cant suggest with conviction, but still few things I would have suggested are......

1. Display ::: Instead of BENQ, I'd say DELL UltraSharp series ..... I have used BENQ, I have used Samsung and I am using DELL and DELL simple excels in everything (except money ...lol as DELL is most expensive), but since you already are spending quite a few bucks on your gaming PC, I would have presumed that you will have no hitch in getting a decent monitor as well.

2. Next was the keyboard, MS wireless keyboards are NOT good for gaming plain and simple ... I have ruined two wireless MS keyboards with FPS gaming. ....... for gaming keyboard ... nothing beats Razor Lycosa Gaming keyboard (backlit) OR if that goes a little bit too expensive, then the next best is .....(Which is what I have) ...
Logitech K800 - Backlit keyboard ... The best part with K800 is, it does not run on conventional batteries but has inbuilt rechargeable battries and you charge the keyboard via USB. . Another awsome feature is, finger detection sensor, the backlit does not stays on all the time, it only comes up when you have your fingers on the keys. saves battery.

For mouse I have Razor abyssus ultra high 3500dpi, 1ms 1000 hz response time makes fps games breezeeeee ...

3. Third and the last is Samsung DVD writes, again personal experience Samsung sucks when it somes to DVD drives .. I cannot even count how many samsung DVD drives I have just thrown .... yes gone to garbage. mostly coz of the tray issue ...... next crap was LG. I bought a Bluray/HD DVD combo LG drive and after a year I had a tray issue. Sony is no better as well, bough a sony for my brother and after a year, does not read few DVDs.
Finally came two right drives ASUS or LightON My bro is using LightOn and I am using ASUS SATA DVD drive and has been performing flawlessly for 4 years now. Go for ASUS

Keep you WDTV live, you would not want ro boot your HTPC for ALL videos, few small home videos or DVD rips one can enjoy with a media player as well. and Media player boots and starts much faster than an HTPC even with SSD .(Yes I have an SSD in my desktop as well)

Lastly almost all games are 5.1 now .. definitely BF3 is. Which game is MP3..????

Keep coming with your queries, I would love to participate ...

Regards
Sammy

 

[rud3dawg]

Hey guys
I am building a PC meant for gaming also as a source for movies and music.
Have a look at the config:

MB Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H 32GB DDR3
CPU Intel Core i5-3470 3rd Gen
SMPS Corsair Gaming Series GS600 80 PLUS Certified
Case NZXT Gamma Mid Tower
GPU Gigabyte AMD HD 7850 OC 2GB GDDR5
DISP BENQ E2220 HD 21.5"
HDD WD Caviar Black 1 TB
SDD OCZ 60 GB AGILITY 3 SATA III
RAM Corsair Vengeance 4 GB x2
OPT Samsung DVD RW SH224
INP Microsoft Desktop 2000 wireless keyboard and mouse
NET TPlink N150 Wifi router

Except CPU and GPU all are bought already.
Quite excited about building this and also playing on 99" screen :yahoo:

Future plans are to buy a BD drive and stuff needed for 3D (may be the convertor for my PJ).
For music I will continue to use USB with my external DAC.

Do any of you think I should still keep the WDTV live player?
I also wish to know if the games like BF3, MP3 have 5.1 audio?

I think I will have lot of queries.
Hope to get some gyan from PC gaming and HTPC experts

Nice config :clapping: .. but I would like to make couple of suggestions.. since youd obviously be using Windows 7 or later.. I would recommend about 120 gigs SSD..since OS installation+App data comes to about 40+ gigs as the usage goes over 8-10 months.. And also .. if games Start/run faster when installed on SSD... Also can you increase the PSU wattage from 600 to say 650 or 700 . 80 gold means. 80% of 600 ie about 480 Watts.. An above avg gfx card like 7850 etc would take about 200 watts during gaming..and if you increase the storage or plan on going crossfire.. some power reserve always suggested & as the SMPS power dissipation degrades to a small extent after a year or so...


And Yes BF3 (Because I ve been hooked on to it since its Beta days..) and MW3 do have 5.1 audio. Hope this helps!!!

 

[spirovious]

WD live is handy & portable device.I will suggest to keep it.I have HTPC,still find BDp handy & using more than it.

 

[rud3dawg]

Oopsie.. Didnt realize.. since you ve already purchased most of these. its still fine.. but try and see if you can save space on your SSD for BF3 and you'll notice the difference in loading and stability and since you didnt buy GPU.. try going(If youd like to...) for a 7950 or 7970 if you can!! there is a noticeable difference when the resolution in increased or two monitors are used .. if you want best bang for buck.. Me recommends an Acer.. I have an Acer and a Dell (non ultrasharp ) Dell ultrasharp are frikkin expensive for their specs...Acer's got monitors with amazing refresh rate of 2 ms for regular price..

 

[Santy]

@ sammy
Thanks for jumping in so quickly.

1)
The BenQ I bought was a used one at a good price so I can't complain. I wish to use more of the projector for movies and games - so the monitor is just for browsing and music.

2)
I bought this MS wireless desktop long before, not planned for this PC. Yes its a crap for sure. Just to manage for a few days since I was tight on budget. Will surely consider your suggestions- they look expensive though.

3)
Yes I wanted to buy Asus only but the store did not have stock. I will return Samsung to them if thats so bad. Lets see.

4) WDTV
The main reason I bought SSD is to have a faster boot up so as to avoid using media player. WDTV is not as fast as you are really thinking, when you attach 3TB HDDs to it. But for now, I will keep it


5) MP3 is Max Payne 3. I am a huge fan of Payne. I used to play the classic version on my Pentium 3 like crazy.

Thanks for the suggestions. Hope you will be around

@ rud3dawg
Thanks bro. I was tight on budget. 128GB is almost double the cost. SSD was simply added for faster boot up (for movies/ music). For game startup, I think I can have some patience. Any idea how much space Win 8 takes ?

 

[Santy]

Also can you increase the PSU wattage from 600 to say 650 or 700 . 80 gold means. 80% of 600 ie about 480 Watts.. An above avg gfx card like 7850 etc would take about 200 watts during gaming..and if you increase the storage or plan on going crossfire.. some power reserve always suggested & as the SMPS power dissipation degrades to a small extent after a year or so...

I bought 600W coz 500W, which I believed was sufficient, was not in stock

600W is what is recommended for crossfire.
So I think I am pretty safe with 600W. Keep the budget in mind.. Not having very deep pockets. hyeah:

 

[Santy]

try going(If youd like to...) for a 7950 or 7970 if you can!! there is a noticeable difference when the resolution in increased or two monitors are used

Both 7950 and 7970 are way above 7850 in terms of cost and they would need i7 to do justice, I guess. I thought 7850 is a good trade off between cost and power hence I stuck to it. I want to be happy at 1200 resolution. What do you say.

 

[baijuxavior]

Congratulations Santy. Waiting for images.

 

[sam9s]

Both 7950 and 7970 are way above 7850 in terms of cost and they would need i7 to do justice, I guess. I thought 7850 is a good trade off between cost and power hence I stuck to it. I want to be happy at 1200 resolution. What do you say.

7850 would be sufficient, dont worry, unless you want to game at insane resolutions, with every raz-m-tazz setting set to max on multiple monitors ... (though I wish I can achieve that some day ... ) Also processor has very less to do with GPU and gaming , unless you are playing with simulators ... so i5 would be enough for 7970, incase in future you do decide to upgrade .....

I still am using HD5850x2 crossfire with my Dell 24" Ultrasharp and every single game up to and untill the latest COD BO II and BF3 played flawlessly on high setting on 1080p. And yes even MP3 .....

 

[Santy]

Anyone having experience in playing games on projector?
Does it strain the eyes or give headache even at ideal distance?

 

[gcpraveen]

I use ps3 + acer h5360, I get water from eyes if it is more than 4 or 5 hrs :-(

Thanks,
Praveen.
sent from SGS2 skyrocket.

 

[Santy]

I use ps3 + acer h5360, I get water from eyes if it is more than 4 or 5 hrs :-(

Thanks,
Praveen.
sent from SGS2 skyrocket.

Thanks for replying. Well I don't think I can ever extract that much time for this entertainment. 6-8 hours a week is something reasonable I can look forward to.

 

[rud3dawg]

7850 would be sufficient, dont worry, unless you want to game at insane resolutions, with every raz-m-tazz setting set to max on multiple monitors ... (though I wish I can achieve that some day ... ) Also processor has very less to do with GPU and gaming , unless you are playing with simulators ... so i5 would be enough for 7970, incase in future you do decide to upgrade .....

I still am using HD5850x2 crossfire with my Dell 24" Ultrasharp and every single game up to and untill the latest COD BO II and BF3 played flawlessly on high setting on 1080p. And yes even MP3 .....

Both 7950 and 7970 are way above 7850 in terms of cost and they would need i7 to do justice, I guess. I thought 7850 is a good trade off between cost and power hence I stuck to it. I want to be happy at 1200 resolution. What do you say.

I agree 7850 is just good for the 1200x Specs. Let me share my point of view for a full featured satisfactory gaming time..... if you are planning to play on Huge a&& display or a Projected screen, the more pixels the better & refined the image quality would be, and to do that the card should have a lot more juice heck I am using a GTX 590 and still not satisfied when I use dual monitors (only 1 for gaming other for browsing/skype/status and other updates ) for BF3 .. if the screen size increases over 24 " a 1920x1080 would be fitting one and when in that kind of resolutions whats the use of playing with a medium settings with no HBAO and AA @ 4x AF @16x and Ambient Occlusion is a blessing for me... (I know I sound like a BF3 fanboi.. may be I am.. ) Call me greedy but everything here begs for the next supporting feature to tag along .. and I simply cannot disagree there... .. I know that you did say about the crunch time.. but wait and buy better is my motto..hyeah: Please please if you r gonna be a gung-ho BF3 multiplayer please buya good graphic card and get ready with a good gaming mouse.. I would insist on a mouse pad more than the mouse itself.. off the topic a bit but if you ask any gamer they would agree that they can play with a normal decent dpi optical mouse and a proper mouse pad but will feel very inconvenient without a proper mousepad.. *Bless steel series and others tooo *.. Lastly.. Game on!!! Bruh!!!

 

[rud3dawg]

Oo oo.. I am gona build one too. a normal HTPC.. might not be for gaming.. just for movies and music.!!! may be any of you can chip in with discounts and offers available . Please do PM me or post here.. which ever is OK with you

Thanks in advance..!! and sorry for stealing your thread Santy *Peace* :beer:

PS: Santy I have an i7 860(Gen 1) and a GTX590 and I dont find my proc to be a bottleneck area in spite of the fact that there is no 6GBPs Sata on my board...

 

[Santy]

rud3
I think I started this thread a bit early (before buying the GPU hyeah
This forum has caused quite some damage to me in stereo and HT.
Now this is one more wallet draining World I got myself into. hyeah:

I have a few queries
Are there monitors with resolution higher than 1200 px?
With my projector at measly 720p is there a point of setting up the game resolution to more than that?

If I slightly increase my budget, would 7870 makes better sense (/value). It is close to 7950 which is 5k more expensive.

 

[tush9876]

I really feel you should get a bigger PSU, 600 watts would trouble you in the long run. I used a 600 watt PSU in my gaming unit with a measly ATI radeon 6850 and i7 3770 but burnt my PSU in 6 months, as the GPU sucks Double the wattage it uses in normal running, Though my PSU burning accident could hv been due to my overclocking fetish too hyeah: hyeah:
You can check your PC load as per your current configuration on one of those PSU load calculators found on many computer hardware websites, that myt give you a idea of how much u'd be using of your PSU.

Also if ure going to use it as a HTPC then its worth buying a remote for your pc aswell. I bought a cheap 500 bucks remote and sensor from ebay.in and its pretty convinient when watchin movies.

 

[rud3dawg]

rud3
I think I started this thread a bit early (before buying the GPU hyeah
This forum has caused quite some damage to me in stereo and HT.
Now this is one more wallet draining World I got myself into. hyeah:

I have a few queries
Are there monitors with resolution higher than 1200 px?
With my projector at measly 720p is there a point of setting up the game resolution to more than that?

If I slightly increase my budget, would 7870 makes better sense (/value). It is close to 7950 which is 5k more expensive.

Ahh since you put it that way... it should be fine.. with the projector.and this 1200 px you taking about total px or just the height or lenght?? Am a little confused..

eg:

720p - 1,280720 921,600 Px
1080i 1,9201,080 2,073,600 Px
1080p 1,9201,080 2,073,600 Px

 

[Santy]

I really feel you should get a bigger PSU, 600 watts would trouble you in the long run. I used a 600 watt PSU in my gaming unit with a measly ATI radeon 6850 and i7 3770 but burnt my PSU in 6 months, as the GPU sucks Double the wattage it uses in normal running, Though my PSU burning accident could hv been due to my overclocking fetish too hyeah: hyeah:
You can check your PC load as per your current configuration on one of those PSU load calculators found on many computer hardware websites, that myt give you a idea of how much u'd be using of your PSU.

Also if ure going to use it as a HTPC then its worth buying a remote for your pc aswell. I bought a cheap 500 bucks remote and sensor from ebay.in and its pretty convinient when watchin movies.

Thanks for the remote tip. Yes it is must.
Regarding PSU, the GPU you are having is of 40nm technology. 78xx is made with 28nm technology which runs lot cooler and also consumes less power. Correct me if I am wrong

Ahh since you put it that way... it should be fine.. with the projector.and this 1200 px you taking about total px or just the height or lenght?? Am a little confused..

eg:

720p - 1,280720 921,600 Px
1080i 1,9201,080 2,073,600 Px
1080p 1,9201,080 2,073,600 Px

I was referring to the height 1200
So what's the final take. 7870 (cheaper by 5k) is better choice than 7950 for someone who is constrained by budget?

 

[rud3dawg]

Thanks for the remote tip. Yes it is must.
Regarding PSU, the GPU you are having is of 40nm technology. 78xx is made with 28nm technology which runs lot cooler and also consumes less power. Correct me if I am wrong



I was referring to the height 1200
So what's the final take. 7870 (cheaper by 5k) is better choice than 7950 for someone who is constrained by budget?

If its more than 1080p and you want to play with some features set to max .. then its A ok!!! :thumbsup: as far as I ve seen. Future proofing by atleast 1 yr .