gaming htpcs

I have done this. And again it does not do ether one well but I will try to explain the issues

You could have your gaming PC in your bedroom connected to your 24" monitor via DVI. Then your 40" in your living room via HDMI. So cords are going to both. You could run them clone or expanded desktop. You could game on ether and run XBMC on ether. The problems start with the sound. It would be in your room so in your living room your sound would suck. You could run the sound to your 40" but every time you switch primary monitors you have to switch your speakers from on board sound to HDMI also. It a pain. It like reconfiguring your hardware overtime you want to watch TV in your bedroom

If you use a remote that is IR its line of site only so unless your PC is in view of both spots it wont work. RF Remotes are better but not around corners. A good RF keyboard will work if its not too far but you will lose an occasional keystroke. Very frustrating.

Another issue is power consumption. A strong gaming PC uses alot of power. To run BF3 at 50 fps you need at least a 6950/ 7870 / 570 and they suck the juice. On a good HTPC you can leave it on for pennies a day. It doesnt take much power to run 1080p. About 1/10 of running a good game

Yes a good graphics card like the 7870 would power both monitor with ease. You could even watch a movie on one and someone could be surfing the web on the other as long as the person watching the movie doesn't push any controls it works

In conclusion, two system makes more sense. You could game on the one and store all your media on it also. Then a very small system on the other for watching movies, netflicks, Hulu so on

Yeah I am not a fan of dual-monitoring a HTPC. Just the focus issues alone will drive you nuts.

But I am a fan of putting a HTPC out of site. Get a USB IR receiver and some USB extensions.

(2012-06-12 16:51)Jetster Wrote:  I have done this. And again it does not do ether one well but I will try to explain the issues

You could have your gaming PC in your bedroom connected to your 24" monitor via DVI. Then your 40" in your living room via HDMI. So cords are going to both. You could run them clone or expanded desktop. You could game on ether and run XBMC on ether. The problems start with the sound. It would be in your room so in your living room your sound would suck. You could run the sound to your 40" but every time you switch primary monitors you have to switch your speakers from on board sound to HDMI also. It a pain. It like reconfiguring your hardware overtime you want to watch TV in your bedroom

If you use a remote that is IR its line of site only so unless your PC is in view of both spots it wont work. RF Remotes are better but not around corners. A good RF keyboard will work if its not too far but you will lose an occasional keystroke. Very frustrating.

Another issue is power consumption. A strong gaming PC uses alot of power. To run BF3 at 50 fps you need at least a 6950/ 7870 / 570 and they suck the juice. On a good HTPC you can leave it on for pennies a day. It doesnt take much power to run 1080p. About 1/10 of running a good game

Yes a good graphics card like the 7870 would power both monitor with ease. You could even watch a movie on one and someone could be surfing the web on the other as long as the person watching the movie doesn't push any controls it works

In conclusion, two system makes more sense. You could game on the one and store all your media on it also. Then a very small system on the other for watching movies, netflicks, Hulu so on

For applications where you can specify the audio output device and display (like XBMC) it works great, no need switching around.