Gaming rig & htpc, good idea?

One thing I have thought about when using a HTPC as a gamer would be to first use a insulated case. My Antec case has insulated sides and top. The P183 also does. No clear sides. Then conceal the case behind something in something, fake bookcase, furniture and only use 120 mm fans. Then you could run the dedicated graphics and I bet it would be silent. And no the GT430 would not be enough. The 7870 would do nicely or 7770, 550, 560

(2012-04-11 22:25)Andro Wrote:  Upon some looking at the wow forums they seem to be recommending more powerful gpus.. something like the Radeon 6870 or GeForce 560... and CPU: i5-2300...

My question now, will this be super loud? Obviously this will be way more than enough power under the hood for xbmc.

Would the integrated gpu in the I5-2300 be enough to run xbmc alone? Thinking I could start there and add 560 later. 1080p full rips. Just throwing some ideas out there...

Another question... considering this will only be connected to a lcd tv, what limitations will that put on me for graphics? I'm aware computer monitors have better pixel density, I don't want to build a machine with more gpu power than my display can take advantage of.

Basically if you're hooking it to a LCD tv, you should shoot for a graphics card that can run things well at 1920x1080, since most consumer level tvs you're going to buy aren't going to display anything above that. You'll probably actually save yourself some money that way, since you don't need to worry about getting a bangin' new card that's going to run something at 25,000x15,920, since your monitor's not going to display it anyway.

As for your previous question, the i5-2300 should run xbmc like a champ.

(2012-04-16 22:49)Ryoga79 Wrote:  Basically if you're hooking it to a LCD tv, you should shoot for a graphics card that can run things well at 1920x1080, since most consumer level tvs you're going to buy aren't going to display anything above that. You'll probably actually save yourself some money that way, since you don't need to worry about getting a bangin' new card that's going to run something at 25,000x15,920, since your monitor's not going to display it anyway.

As for your previous question, the i5-2300 should run xbmc like a champ.

Great, thanks for the input! Any suggestions on a gpu?

I'm strongly considering starting with a i5 and XBMCbunto then adding gpu and windows later this summer to start some gaming and emulators.

I am looking at the 560Ti, one of the better value Nvidia GPU though the ATI graphics card are supposed to be even better value for money however I am looking at 3D gaming and the Nvidia Software is supposed to be better for that purpose.

Also Nvidia seems to work better on Linux then ATI does

(2012-04-14 06:27)Andro Wrote:  

(2012-04-11 22:25)Andro Wrote:  Upon some looking at the wow forums they seem to be recommending more powerful gpus.. something like the Radeon 6870 or GeForce 560... and CPU: i5-2300...

My question now, will this be super loud? Obviously this will be way more than enough power under the hood for xbmc.

Would the integrated gpu in the I5-2300 be enough to run xbmc alone? Thinking I could start there and add 560 later. 1080p full rips. Just throwing some ideas out there...

Yes ..easily

(2012-04-11 22:25)Andro Wrote:  Obviously this will be way more than enough power under the hood for xbmc.

It's not just enough for XBMC, it'll playback 1080P, bitstreaming and some lighter games too.....

(2012-04-17 16:20)bluray Wrote:  

(2012-04-11 22:25)Andro Wrote:  Obviously this will be way more than enough power under the hood for xbmc.

It's not just enough for XBMC, it'll playback 1080P, bitstreaming and some lighter games too.....

Now if it would only make me breakfast in the morning....