Bad Dad! (HTPC or XBone or PS4)

[8enjicraf2]

Hey guys,

My dad is planning on getting a console for playing games and watching films in the living room, however I want him to get a HTPC instead running steam OS or linux, he thinks that PC's are too expensive and he can't stand the noise (past expirence from when I broke my fan controller)

I would like a HTPC that stays quiet, is same price/cheaper than console, just parts (I'll build it), nice looking case and can play games also.

if you guys could give me suggestions that would be great,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Many Thanks 8enjicraf2. 

 

[Jade]

What kind of games?

[ZetZet]

Steam OS is nowhere near ready to compete with xbone or ps4. So just get a console. Ps4 because uncharted 4 looks amazing.

 

OR you can get windows. But then it will be twice as expensive atleast.

 

I know just shoot me, but yeah steam OS is still just linux.

[SuperPug]

Yeah in this case it probably makes sense to get a console... depending on how tech savy your dad is a console is the best solution.

[othertomperson]

Do you already have a gaming PC? Because if you do XBMCbuntu and in-home streaming make the most sense, powered by a reasonably cheap APU.

 

If it's going to be running the games itself though I wouldn't go lower than £500. I wouldn't buy a PS4 either because it's awful, but so is anything at its price.

[ZetZet]

I wouldn't build a PC that's less than a PS4 though. I'd probably go as low as about £500

It would be possible to go lower, but then you would still need windows (get real linux ppl), xbox controller, a wireless keyboard and mouse. Where console has all those things included.

[Deletive]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($90.98 @ Newegg) 

Motherboard: ASRock FM2A78M-ITX+ Mini ITX FM2+ Motherboard  ($87.98 @ Newegg) 

Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($54.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($44.49 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card  ($164.99 @ Newegg) 

Case: Cooler Master HAF Stacker 915F Mini ITX Tower Case  ($29.99 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($24.99 @ Newegg) 

Other: Xbox one controller  ($60.00)

Total: $545.41

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-08 15:15 EST-0500

if you care about size.

 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($90.98 @ Newegg) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A58M-HD2 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($46.48 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($54.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($44.49 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280 3GB WINDFORCE Video Card  ($164.99 @ Newegg) 

Case: Rosewill FBM-02 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($24.99 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($24.99 @ Newegg) 

Other: Xbox one controller  ($60.00)

Total: $498.91

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-08 15:16 EST-0500

if you don't care about size

Both include an xbox one controller to use with the PC. If that doesn't interest you, -60$ to the price.

[8enjicraf2]

What kind of games?

minecraft, sims 4, dirt, gmod...

not very demanding

[8enjicraf2]

thanks deletive

http://linustechtips.com/main/user/38275-deletive/

[othertomperson]

It would be possible to go lower, but then you would still need windows (get real linux ppl), xbox controller, a wireless keyboard and mouse. Where console has all those things included.

 

At UK pricing you can match the price with Windows, so you can go a bit lower without. I wouldn't go lower than an R7 260X paired with a G3258, though, so maybe that's the difference. Some people would. Windows would be good if you want to use this as a blu ray player, which I would if I were building a HTPC, but again a lot of people just use Netflix or whatever so wouldn't care about that. If they were streaming from elsewhere and didn't have to run the game on the HTPC itself there's no real reason to bother including Windows.

 

The main advantage of using XBMCbuntu if possible would be that the interface is designed to work with a living room style remote control, rather than necessarily requiring a mouse and keyboard.

[ZetZet]

This is what I would do it is more expensive than consoles, but you would save on games on the way and it is more powerful.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($111.98 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: ASRock H81M-HDS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($49.99 @ Micro Center) 

Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($54.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Seagate  1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive  ($73.99 @ Newegg) 

Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card  ($169.99 @ Newegg) 

Case: Rosewill Line-M MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($39.84 @ Amazon) 

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($24.99 @ Newegg) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($89.98 @ OutletPC) 

Other: xbone controller or smth ($60.00)

Total: $665.75

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-08 15:22 EST-0500

[MLG Doge]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xG733C

[Stagea]

 

Hey guys,

My dad is planning on getting a console for playing games and watching films in the living room, however I want him to get a HTPC instead running steam OS or linux, he thinks that PC's are too expensive and he can't stand the noise (past expirence from when I broke my fan controller)

I would like a HTPC that stays quiet, is same price/cheaper than console, just parts (I'll build it), nice looking case and can play games also.

if you guys could give me suggestions that would be great,

 

   Many Thanks 8enjicraf2. 

 

 

If your dad plays games, Xbox One may be simpler for him to operate (online play is well established as well). Though not as flexible as a PC, it does play more formats than the PS4 and can work as a media center.

 

A gaming-capable HTPC is nice, but will likely cost more (especially since most PC games are designed to operate under Windows). Looking for nice components and a decent psu/case will elevate the cost a bit more still. PCs that cost the same as consoles generally don't perform as well (not because of hardware shortcomings but because of software optimization).

[8enjicraf2]

wow, people on this site are so nice

[genkifd]

most people who play games on their tv generally do not want to deal with driver issues of the PC. just want to play them game not worry about getting the optimal performance for 1 game then another setting for the next.

[Fgtfv567]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($64.29 @ Amazon) 

Motherboard: ASRock H81M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($64.98 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($84.97 @ Directron) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($52.49 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: XFX Radeon R7 260X 2GB Double Dissipation Video Card  ($124.99 @ Newegg) 

Case: Cooler Master Elite 110 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 

Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ Newegg) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($89.98 @ OutletPC) 

Total: $556.68

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-12 00:27 EST-0500

 

it's 550-ish bucks but you can save 100 by not buying Windows and using Linux instead. I recommend installing XBMC along with a 360 controller (assuming you got one). If you really need to save money find cheaper ram, cause vengeance is a little expensive, go for like a 1 stick of 8 or 4 gigs. It should be very small and offer about the same amount of performance as the PS4 and Xbox one with the R7 260X. It may be a little loud with the stock fan so if you have ANY extra cash perhaps pick up a H55 or some other kind of cooler

Edit: if 500 dollars is your budget and you're not using windows, then I would highly recommend upgrading the GPU to something like a 760 ITX just make sure it'll fit in the elite 110 since it's so small

[RogueCow]

Start by watching the video linus made specifically for this purpose; building a comparable pc to beat the next gen consoles for the same price.

But guessing your dad isn't very tech friendly, you are probably best dealing with the simplicity of an xbone or ps4 (no driver issues, weird updates, etc...)

Just my $0.02