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Hi all I'm building my new home, and am looking at connecting my pc in my study to my TV in my living room. I'm planning on doing this by using optical USB and HDMI and routing them through the ceiling and walls, so I can pc game. The optical HDMI will plug into the TV from the PC, and the optical USB cable will plug into a powered hub for controllers and my lapboard. Has anyone else had experience with a setup like this? And to be clear, I know that a Shield TV is an option, but I can't take advantage of gsync on my LG OLED using that method. Hence this plan USB https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=16377 HDMI https://www.avaustralia.com.au/ruipro-8k-60hz-48gbps-hdmi-fibre-optic-cable-1-50m/

I was wondering if there are any budget mouse/keyboard options suitable for couch gaming such as the Lapdog or Razer Turret (which Linus reviewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BXmFCVKaCE) for under £50 ($60). Later in the year I plan to build a Mini-ITX cube PC and it will be my first PC build so I want to plan ahead. Thank you for any replies in advance!

Buy game consoles on Amazon: http://geni.us/LhOt Apple made a game console, and holy crap, it's horrible. Let's try it out!

What's going on lads! Forgive the title of this topic, this will not really be a "living room" build exactly. What I'm looking for is a computer that could easily out perform any current generation of console. Since I'm moving to a new apartment, I'd like to get a second computer. And the reason why I would like to, is because I have a lot of kids in my family, nephews, nieces, cousins and so on, and they love to play computer games. And I'm aware that I could just get a "real" console for a few hundred dollars and be done with it, but I want the kids to have an enjoyable gaming experience. I was planning to get a computer that could be used as a more powerful console, a computer that will easily pull of 60 FPS at 1080p. This computer will mainly play eSport titles such as, Overwatch and League of Legends, but if it could take on triple A titles as well, that would be extremly nice. Since I've managed to save up quite abit for this build, I have around 1000-1200 USD to spend. I'm afraid that I cannot really go over budget. And yes I know that my budget may be overkill for a "more powerful console" but this is money that I've saved up specifically for this computer. I'm in no need of a monitor, keyboard or mouse. The only thing that is missing is the system itself. And NO I don't care if it is AMD or Intel, AMD or Nvidia. Best bang for the buck! Feel free to leave me, your suggestions!

Good day LTT! I am planning to upgrade my living room TV from the 32in 720p Dynex that my uncle gave me 6 years ago to something a bit more modern. After doing substantial research, here is what I've arrived at so far: Use cases: Netflix/Movie Machine (input: HDMI out from audio receiver), light console gaming from ps4 (mostly destiny), additional screen for couch gaming from my main PC (specs in profile) I obviously have no need of any "smart" features, and since I will be taking all the input from 1 HDMI cable, I don't need more inputs. Since my receiver will be handling sound, the speakers are of no consequence, and I won't need to wall mount it. Here are the features that WILL be important: -1080p (because my TV needs to get there at some point). Not going 4K just yet due to lack on content, and I'd rather go for a nicer gaming monitor first, since I do most of my gaming on PC. -40-50 inches. I believe that size will fit best in my living room. The couch is 10 ft away from the entertainment center. -60 hz refresh rate (the "real" refresh rate. I'm full aware that the 240 tru motion stuff is garbage balls). If I can get higher, sure, but again, I'm focusing on my desktop for better gaming experience; I just want at least basic standards on my TV. -Good contrast ratio. From what I've read, this would be one of the factors that best effects how the TV actually looks, but it's hard to find in the specs. -Budget: around $400 USD. Any tips from the community? Thank you in advance!

I'm having a dilemma with a bunch of ideas for a build using parts lying around the house after upgrading my main rig. I've ran through 3 build scenarios, though my current X99 board had a 00 error and am not 100% sure whether the motherboard or CPU is fried. I'm basing this on assuming the board needs RMA'd and fixed. They are going for around $250 used on Ebay right now. However, selling these and buying some new core components seems like a good idea. The 2200G build I have is the most enticing financially, but I'm concerned it will be a giant bottleneck with a dedicated GPU pairing like a GTX 1070. I also understand that Computex 2019 is soon, and there could be some stellar new APU's and CPU's coming out for a great price, but I'm basing all this on what is available now. I'm curious to get feedback if any of these builds or paths make sense. I'm trying to do it on the cheap, but not corner myself with no upgrade path or bad bottlenecks. What I have to use 5820K 6-core CPU (assumed working) 32GB Ripjaws 4 G.Skill DDR4 2400 RAM Seasonic X-650W Gold PSU 250GB Intel 520 SSD What needs repaired ASUS X99 Pro 3.1 Motherboard (assume $130 RMA quote) :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: BUILD 1 What must be purchased Video Card ($220) - Nvidia EVGA 1660 XC Heatsink ($35) - Coolermaster Hyper 212 Black RGB Case ($60) - Phanteks P300 TOTAL ESTIMATE: $95 + $130 Mobo Repair + Video Card ($220) GRAND TOTAL Out of Pocket: $445 (before tax) ———————— ———————————————————————— BUILD 2 What I can sell (ebay pricing) 5820K ($150) Fixed Motherboard (-$130 + $250 sale) $120 profit —— Total Profit: $270 Must Purchase Processor ($99) - 2200G Motherboard ($105) - MSI B450 Gaming Plus Case ($60) - Phanteks P300 TOTAL ESTIMATE: $265 subtract $270 in sales GRAND TOTAL Out of Pocket: -$5 (omg I made money... maybe) ———————————————————————————————— BUILD 3 What I can sell (ebay pricing) 5820K ($150) Fixed Motherboard (-$130 + $250 ebay sale) $120 profit —— Total Profit: $270 Must Purchase Processor ($165) - Ryzen 2600 Video Card ($220) - Nvidia EVGA 1660 XC Motherboard ($105) - MSI B450 Gaming Plus Case ($60) - Phanteks P300 TOTAL ESTIMATE: $550 subtract $270 in sales GRAND TOTAL Out of Pocket: $280 (before tax) ———————————————————————————————— or buy dank ass new RTX GPU for my main rig? 2080 or 2080 Ti ($700-$1200) 2-3 year old GTX 1070 would go to all builds (concerned for the 2200G pairing though)

So, maybe I should have started this log earlier since it's pretty much in progress but it's not one of those builds that's going to be finished within a week. There's a lot of stuff going into it, side projects related to this build that will take several weeks if not months to finish … Anyway, let's get to the introduction. Introduction If was thinking about upgrading my desktop system for quite a while (4790k mITX build with a mere 8GB of DDR3 memory and a 1060 6GB in a Phanteks Enthoo Evolv mITX case). At first I had the NZXT H400 in mind because I like the cable and reservoir mounting shroud and thought it might be great to replace that thing with a custom one that could be fully illuminated. The issue was though that I was pretty sure I'd go with a Ryzen build because of the way better price point and I really wanted more 8 cares because of the fact that I often use one to two VMs in parallel. The issue with the H400 is: it's µATX and there's barely any good µATX AM4 board out there. The H200 was too small for my taste to look good (the GPU would partly cover that vertical shroud which would kind of destroy the whole look). Then came black friday (weirdly that's a thing for a few years in Europe/Germany now) and I got a good deal on a Phanteks Enthoo Evolv Shift X - lovely looking case I must say but an absolute pain to work in. More on it later on. In early December I finally made the purchase of the base system, I salvaged my trusty Corsair SF600 PSU and assembled everything with the GTX 1060 and shortly after christmas I got a good deal on a Zotac 1080Ti Mini fully aware that there wasn't an EK full cover for it, that Zotac doesn't sell the water block they made for it seperately but it is visually the best fit - anything longer would reach too far into the bottom/radiator compartment and look bad. To the specsheet now. Specsheet CPU: AMD Ryzen 2700 Mainboard: Asus ROG Strix B450-I Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR4-3200 2x16GB GPU: Zotac GTX 1080Ti Mini Storage: ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 512GB NVMe, 2x 500GB SATA SSD PSU: Corsair SF600 80-Plus Gold Case: Phanteks Enthoo Evolv Shift X Cooler: EKWB Supremacy Evo Nickel+Acetal Radiator: Hardware Labs Black Ice Nemesis GTX 280, 2x Noctua NF-A14 Industrial PWM Pump: EKWB EK-XRES 100 SPC-60 MX PWM Fans: 2x BeQuiet! Silent Wings 3 PWM 140mm The Visual Idea I'm a big fan of mid century design and architecture: clear lines, strong materials. After a long night on youtube I stumbled upon Primochill's Vue and fell in love with the effect that reminded me strongly of marble - well, love's a strong word, it was probably just a big crush and we quickly realized we were just at different points in life and it wasn't meant to be. I got Vue sort of out of my mind (my system sometimes runs for days straight, especially when there's a raytracing job to be finished, so it's just not suitable) but the marble/stone idea stuck. The front cover could be modded with Hydrographics or Vinyl, the fluid should be white or a brighter grey, cables ranging from sandy-beige over grey to anthracite. When Vue was still an option I actually thought of those RGB hardline fittings by Thermaltake or Raijintek - horribly expensive, kind of flimsy cables and a terrible job to hide them. Now that Vue is off the table I probably stick to Phanteks Halos fan covers or just two strips (I have two magnetic strips mounted right now for testing purposes, not entirely sure about it). Source: Wikipedia, Barcelona Pavilion Source: Wikipedia, Braun SK 4 Inital Testing First assembly (with stock cooler) was semi quickly done (that case is really tricky to build in, not to mention to route cables within, you will need custom cables in order for it to look good and the back panel not bulging), everything fired up, temps were horrible. I quickly realized how tricky this case was due to a fundamental lack of ventilation. Having the case horizontally didn't help either. While gaming I had to remove the top glass panel in order for it not to overheat. At the beginning of January I received a package from a friend of mine with a set of soft tubing fittings from EK he had lying around as spares so I was good to go to fix the initial temp issues. This loop wouldn't stay this way and definitely not with soft tubing so I wasn't really keen on buying a whole set of fittings just to throw them into a corner after like 2 months. This turned out to be a little bit of an issue because at some point I realized I was missing at least 2 90° rotary fittings for the loop to work in any way. A quick run on a Saturday evening saved the weekend and I reached Caseking's Outlet here in Berlin 45min before closing time - I should have bought 2 more of those rotaries though as it turned out. I just wanted to get the whole system to finally be done so I opted for the most ugly way of routing those soft tubes (you will see later on when I've added pictures). Assessment At least the CPU was now fine though temps were still a bit disappointing, heat would build up in the case which leads to toasty temps for the GPU and rising water temperature as well. I quickly realized that the front- and back panel were way too restrictive. A quick test without the front panel resulted in a drop of 10°K on the CPU, a 4°K drop in water temperature, about 15°K lower system temps and GPU temps to drop by about 15°K as well. That's just insane and it just can't stay like that. So front and back panels won't just be modded with Hydrographics but will be cut open as well. This was actually the reason for ditching the vinyl wrapping route since the Hydrographics method can wrap around some corners (or at least nicer than vinyl). I'm thinking of a speaker like grill design like Braun's famous SK4/SK5 or the additional speaker L1. The back will receive cutouts as well so the PSU can get more air and I can add an 120mm exhaust fan between the back panel and the inner skeleton where the 2.5" drive mounting plate is or was. Removing that plate reveals quite a big opening that's perfectly suited to get some nice airflow over the VRMs. The only condition is that the fan needs to be slimmer than 20mm. I'm not fully sure which exact stone desgn I'll be using but I have narrowed it down to 3: CS46, CS37-2 or CS66. I have a tendency towards CS46, CS66 is a strong second place that would also fit nicely with the vanilla-sand sleeves. As mentioned earlier: if there's one case out there that really needs custom cables (or at least extensions) then it's the Shift X. The layout is kind of weird, there're barely any ways to hide cablesand regular extensions will cause issues with the panel on the back due to the size of the Molex ATX housings and plugs. If those cables aren't a good fit in length you will run into space issues to tuck the excess into. There's a big package on the way from MDPC-X so custom sleeving is very high on my list. Due to the weird pin out of the SF series some cable twists are necessary and I just wante to avoid that. I'm making a set of extensions that stays with the case and a set of "shorties" that adapts those extensions to the psu. It's going to be quite a lot of work but there are so many fans in that case and CableMod adds quite some fees and shipping costs that doing it myself seems like a very viable option. It is a bit shocing though to how much this on its own is adding up to. Let's just say the mainboard was cheaper. Sleeve colours are: MDPC-X Vanilla-Sands MDPC-X Platinum Grey MDPC-X Titanium Grey By the way, the mainboard. This board is kind of a bummer. I mean, it looks nice, has a great set of features and quite some beefy VRMs, the BIOS is nicely made - BUT the new firmware version lead to crashes that rendered the power button useless (sic!) so I had to unplug the system and then there's this very annoying "feature" of fans (and pump) going crazy at random. The CPU sits at very relaxed 30°C and suddenly the cpu fans just jump to full speed and won't slow down unless I reboot the system. Or they would just switch off which is especially worrying in case of the pump. After deleting Asus' AI Suite I fortunately haven't experienced any sudden pump stops but the fans going crazy is still an issue. Asus' RGB control software AURA is also anything but stellar, in fact it's pretty annyoing because it randomly crashes when I have Corsair iCue running. Which I have to run in order to control my mouse. Cool. Both Asus and Corsair published their SDK - many months ago. I have no idea why none of them managed to support the other. Luckily Asus, Corsair and basically most other manufacturers use WS2812b LEDs that are easy to control with either a Raspberry Pi or an Arduino. Which leads to the next sub-project: a custom fan/pump/drgb controller that can run on its own, has the option to read system information (mainly temperatures), can take mainboard PWM information as an input as well as mainboard (D)RGB information and that can be controlled, supervised and programmed with a custom app running on Win, Linux and macOS (so it's going to be an Electron app). I made some tests and the Raspberry Pi Zero can natively run in USB Slave mode so it's a nice and easy fit (for those interested: see here). There'll be a custom shield on top of it with a microcontroller that controls the fans. Since I'm in this with a friend of mine who's absolutely annoyed by the controllers around we're in this together. If we come to the conclusion, that our solution is good enough to be release we'll probably put it out there as Open Source. Might take a while. But back to the cooling: that case is just not made for high end gpus being air cooled, especially not when the case is oriented horizontally. So there is a dire need for a water block. I found a full cover on Alibaba made by Barrows that apparently doesn't suck. The iss ue is that it still costs ~130$. Add shipping, VAT and probably customs fees and that block would probably cost me over 200€. I don't want an acrylic top because of potential micro fractures over time and the overall look so I was kind of screwed. I thought about contacting Zotac and asking very nicely if there was potentially some stock of spare parts in case some of the Arctic Storm version of the 1080Ti Mini but ultimately I'll just make my own block. The inner layout will mostly be copied off common block designs though I won't add the ports for the fitting block straight at the metal base block but on top of the acetal top cover. Two seals will be implemented for added security. Sounds pretty stupid/crazy but basically, material costs will be ~100-140€ for potentially 2 blocks, add another 50€ for tools and (ignoring time) I can end up with a custom water block to my liking. I really don't care if the block might perform 5°K worse. This sub-project might take the longest time since most maker spaces aren't too happy about people routing copper blocks on ther CNC machines - it's a tricky material and 0.5mm routes are very delicate to do. So unlike the Aluminium covers the waterblock needs me to work together with a friend of mine who has access to an industrial level machine shop. Once the block is done and leak tested, I'll switch out the soft tubing and go for hard tubing. Not enough to do? You know, when you're already going over the top with your build and the DIY parts then you really don't want to settle with something that's bothering you for years. Why on bloody earth is there no mechanical 60-68% bluetooth keyboard with ISO-Layout and RGB or at least white (!) backlight, ideally with interchangable switches. Yes, I thought about the Corsair K63 wireless, I even thought about modding one by desoldering the blue leds and adding white ones. But you know what? Call me crazy, I'm giving the DIY approach a go. Not sure if BLE or classic Bluetooth, one of each modules is on its way, base will be an Atmega32U4 so it's QMK compatible. The Atmega32U4 should be just enough to feature both USB and Bluetooth along with a 15x5 keyboard matrix and one DRGB port - like just enough. We'll see how this project will develops, I'm trying to be reasonable and giving this project a very low priority. Front and Back Panel Mod Update February 9th, 2019: Finally took the time to measure the front panel, remodel it and place the venting holes. I went for a pattern similar to those on the sides and aligned according to those (or top and bottom metal panels if you have your case upright). The panel is pretty thick (3mm) so I'm not entirely sure if a lasercutter is actually working, Aluminium is quite a b***h to lasercutters. I need to find a good shop with a powerful laser or I'm forced to use a CNC machine - which is a bit more complicated since you need to have your panel fixed well to the groundplate and that panel is bend and has cutouts. I've made two version and am not entirely sure with which one to go. Version A comes with the vent cutouts only while version B connects the cutouts with a ridge (see picture 2 of version B). Leaning towards version B right now as it looks a bit … I don't know, lacking the right word in all languages I know to describe it. I attached the DWG files in case anyone might want to use that design. There's also a cutout pattern over there at reddit/r/Phanteks with a more contemporary pattern. TheBarcelona-Frontpanel_vA.dwg TheBarcelona-Frontpanel_vB.dwg Version A: Version B: Custom Cable Sleeving Update February 9th, 2019: Package from MDPC-X just arrived after about 3 days. Very quick handling I must say. So this is 40m of AWG17 and 20m of AWG23, 20m of each Vanilla-Sands and Titanium-Grey sleeving, 30m of Platinum-Grey, 250 female crimp terminals and 150 male ones, not to mention all the connectors, cable combs and cable clips. Won't be able to get to work on it til mid next week or maybe even next weekend though. BFC (Big F-ing Controler) *more info to follow* GPU Block *more info to follow* Wireless Keyboard a.k.a. "Project Unicorn" Update February 9th, 2019: I've decided on a layout for the keyboard, the dimensions and key layout is done. Since I'm looking for the weird unicorn amongst the mechanical keyboards I went for a mix of ANSI and ISO. The colors are more or less just a placeholder until I manage to finde a manufacturer that offers the right key caps in Europe - which seems to be harder than I thought. Thanks to the Keyboard-Layout-Editor you'll end up with a dataset that's easily converted into a matching faceplate with the Plate & Case Builder by swillkb. Frontplate will be made from 1.5mm aluminium on a lasercutter. I've managed to find some nice online services in Germany that really come cheaper as I've expected: 2 faceplates for ~70€ incl. VAT and shipping, done in 2 weeks. The rest of the case will be made from black acetal, those blocks aren't that expensive and can easily be routed on basically any CNC machine your local maker space can come up with. Two blocks of 340mmx155mm cost ~50€. Switches are already on their way. I opted for Kailh Box switches for less key wobble and a greater choice of variability. The main switches are Kailh Box Royal tactile switches (3.6mm travel, 40g Actuation, 70g Bottom Out), Kailh Box Jade clicky switches for Esc, Space, Backspace and Return (3.6mm travel, 50g Actuation, 60g Bottom Out), Kailh Box Pale Blue clicky switches for all the other modifiers and function keys (3.6mm travel, 60g Actuation, 80g Bottom Out) and Kailh Box Black linear switches for the arrow keys (3.6mm travel, 60g Actuation, 70g Bottom Out). All keys will be hot swappable plate mounted so there won't be any issues with changing switches in the future. The PCB for the switch matrix and the controller board will be seperated due to space constraints and it will be easier to just reuse the faceplate and matrix PCB for any other keyboard, connection will be made via a ribbon cable. Most DIY keyboards come with a matrix of 5x15, 6x15, 5x16 or similar by just using the physical keyboard columns and rows. In my case the Atmega32u4 doesn't offer enough I/O pins for USB, Bluetooth, DRGB and 21 (16x5) matrix pins. I've connected two rows and am now on a 8x10 (ish) matrix though I'm wasting another pin here because I tried to avoid mixing columns. I might just go for 8x9 and have the least amount of pins used. I'm currently working on the schematics and the board design. I'm adding WS2812b SMD DRGB leds to every switch, so the whole thing will be DRGB. I just have to see how much power that's going to drain. Unicorn-Faceplate.dxf Photos The System in Feb 2019 pre mods. Yes, the cable routing is ugly, that's why I made a big oder at MDPC-X, custom cables with better routing comes. And yes, that soft tubing is terrible, see above, will be changed for proper hardline within the next 1 or 2 months and I wanted to get the system up and running, it was Saturday night and I lacked a few fittings. This will be fixed soon. So, if you're interested in this over the top collection of ideas, projects and mods, stay tuned, this journey will take a while.

Hi, I've being working on trying to get my two display to work together more efficiently. My displays are in to different rooms. I use my monitor for work and competitive gaming at higher refresh rate and the other is a TV in my living room which I use for watching movies and occasional gaming with mates, family etc. So far I've been putting my games into windowed border less mode so I can switch them between each display using the windows 10 hotkey. I'm just wanting to get some answers or advice to make the best possible experience between using both displays. Such as, Software, settings and if it has a impact on performance in games. Cheers.

We have an somewhat old Samsung LS22PTN (at least that's the model number that the TV Showed in the menu). But it's a 23" None-smart TV we need to replace. TV aren't something I have shopped for before so my family wants a TV under $400, it has to have HDMI in, TV over the air antenna, RCA in, and 8th inch audio output and 1080p display. I'd like to get a brand by LG or Samsung as I know they make some REALLY good displays and connectivity. But I don't know how many TVs come with over the AIr receivers anymore. The HDMI in is for our theater PC, and the 8th audio out allowed us to use a Bluetooth speaker that had an 8th inch input on it and the RCA is for an old DVD and VCR players. Please link me or suggest to me some TVs on Amazon I can start shopping for! Thanks in advance!

Currently $1780, would love to hear comments on below, anyone own/review? https://www.amazon.com/65INCH-3840X2160-300NIT-DVI-D-DISPLAY/dp/B076M24GJP/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1525447504&sr=8-4&keywords=65+inch+monitor I been interested in 65inch Monitors that are 4k 60hz. I would love to replace with the new Nvidia monitor; however, maybe I don't need to wait for something that won't be in my price range for a few years. I can't find much about the commercial versions, but they seem good enough for my needs. I don't see any reviews of these types of monitors, but I do see these types of monitors popping up at mcdonalds, gyms, chick filet, and other locations. It would be interesting to see some more reviews of these types of monitors, so anyone that has one or can find a review, please share. Main reason, I use monitors throughout my house, and the turn on lag for all my TV's is a killer. My new Vizio M series can take more than a minute sometimes trying to figure itself out. Also, it would be nice to have only the keyboard to use for my wife and guests. Multiple inputs and devices is just too much, and becomes complicated. Most visitors get easily confused (even savy tech users that change my settings...), and I am eliminating all TV's/consols/dvds/blu ray/so forth. Turning into a computer only home. Lastly, I want a durable monitor that won't burn in like supposedly the OLED monitors. Thank you! Don

NVIDIA made our mouths water when they unveiled the 4k 120Hz BFGD at CES... But we want 120Hz on a TV NOW! Can we get it? Buy a VIZIO P65-E1: On Amazon: http://geni.us/1qEQ5cb On Newegg: http://geni.us/Q8yNABP

Seeing how couch gaming is becoming more common place now a days. I was wondering how everyone sets themselves up for couch gaming. For the longest time I used a Logitech MK710 with the KB on my lap and the Mouse on the arm rest. It wasn't the ideal solution, but it worked. Can't do this anymore seeing how I replaced everything with wired KB/M my desktop is now on the complete other side of the room, so hard wiring is a pain. How do you guys have yourselves set up for couch gaming?

I'm looking to get a new tv, for the living room. > 50" £1000 - £2000, closer to £1000 the better. It will mainly be used for watching football and movies, so wide viewing angles and good colour is important. Not too worried about the built in speakers, since we have a sound system already. Any help appreciated, figured I'd ask people who'd know more about the subject than myself rather than get preached to by a sales man. If I'm being unrealistic feel free to let me know, as I'm sure you will. Thanks all.

First of all, hello! This is my first time posting here, I've basically spent the last 4 or 5 months binging on previous LMG content, and have finally made the jump to the forum. I'm also not entirely sure where to post this, because there's an awful lot of crossover, so sorry if this isn't in the right place. I'm planning on my move out of my parents, and as such I'm interested in a HTPC for the main TV, but I'm not sure how to go about what I'm thinking of doing on the gaming side of things. So here's what I had in mind: -Put my current rig into a Node 605 and install Kodibuntu + Steam + Retroarch (rig is AMD A8-6500, 16GB RAM, GTX 970). -Hook said rig up to living room TV (4K) -Build my new rig (6700K, 16GB RAM, GTX 980 Ti) and set up my battlestation in my living room (used for gaming, music production and DJ live streaming) -Connect new rig to 1080p 34" ultrawide + 2 1080p 27" monitors. When gaming I'll be running in borderless fullscreen windowed mode on the UW, because I hate bezels. I'm hoping to have everything connected via ethernet, plus there will be a home server too (with a quadtuner) for all of my media content, as well as an installation of Plex and Media Portal for sharing and Freesat. Now my issue is that I know the HTPC rig isn't going to be much good for newer titles at 4K, but I'm kind of stuck on where to go from here. I really don't know how much gaming I'd do from the sofa compared to at my desk. I only really play FPS' with a keyboard and mouse, most of my other games are played with a controller, so that's not much of a factor. I was wondering about In-Home Streaming but am I right in saying you can't go above your monitors resolution? The TV, the new rig, the ultrawide, one of the 1080p monitors and the server haven't been bought yet, they're just in my planning spreadsheet. Luckily enough I've got a bit of time to save up and plan for all of this stuff. This stuff amounts to £2,870, although there can be some wiggle room here. So is there any better way to go about this? Or am I trying to get too much for my money? Thanks in advance!

Hi, I've currently being playing around with my computer's display with duplicating the display from my monitor in my study to my TV in the living room. Unfortunately its a TCL (Cheap Brand) that only supports 1080i and doesn't scale well with my monitors display which is 1080p. So I've come to the conclusion that I need a upgrade but I need to be sure that the HD TV is a full 1080p. My current thoughts are looking into the Samsung range to hopefully get the best display. Any suggestions or tips on what is a good HD TV for displaying a PC's screen. Cheers.

So I'm willing to transform my current ATX PC (https://pcpartpicker.com/b/m2Cypg) into a small living room console. My pick for the case was the Fractal Design Node 202 /w Integra FSX 450W PSU. It's the most satisfying for the eyes, yet it's small, everything fits greatly inside and it looks the closest to a console. I have my Intel Core i5-4690K, my MSI GTX 960 4G and 8GB of Corsair Vengeance LP from my previous build. What I have to buy is a new 2,5" hard drive, two 120mm fans for extra airflow and a new motherboard. I'm having a bit of a problem with these parts. Could you recommend me some black, quiet budget fans? I'm also lost with the motherboard. It must be mini-ITX (obviously), it should have SATA 3, PCI-E 3.0, USB 3.0, LGA-1150. Even though I have an unlocked processor, I'm not looking forward to overclock. (I just got it because there was a great deal going on, and it was cheaper than the locked one ) It must also have 2 USB headers, because I like to keep everything clean, so I would like to hide the Wi-Fi dongle and the XBOX 360 controller receiver inside the case. (Also do you have any recommendations on how should I use to do this?) I was thinking about an Asrock H81M-ITX, but it lacks the double USB headers I was talking about. Thanks for the help!

Amazon: http://geni.us/2wsP NCIX: http://bit.ly/1NaLm4g Steam Machines are finally here, and we're ready for dat sweet Steam experience in the living room. But is it everything we had hoped for?...

Hi guys, I am would like to update my living room, and I want to put in a lot of new cool stuff into it. I will have a TV a media PC and a 5.1/7.1 speaker set (not decided yet) and a radio probably. However I would like the speakers to be able to play sound from the: TV, a radio, throught Bluetooth and the media PC is going to be connected via HDMI so the sound of that is going to come throught the TV. However I don't know how to make this possible, I taught about Sonos but that is way too expensive and I don't have any idea now. So what equipment do I need to make this setup?

Since almost everyone did one and i was bored, i came up with my own console killer. Da Rules: 1. It should cost at a max as much as the PS4 at amzon.de (400€ at the point of creating this build) 2. If it costs less than the XBox one at amzon.de (350€ at the point of creating this build) it is concidered to be called the ultimate console killer 3. It has to play the latest games at mid settings at 1080p at a min fps of 30 4. Parts can't be bought used to get a cheaper deal, but not all the parts must be bought in the same shop As an OS i chose SteamOS since it's build for living room gaming and it doesn't cost a cent. AMD A10 7870K 136,69€ ASRock FM2A78M-ITX+ 80,73€ Crucial Ballistix Sport 2x4GB 49,46€ Seagate ST500LT033 38,69€ Xilence Performance C XP400 24,56€ Chieftec IX-01B 20,82€ _________________________________________ 350,95€ Originally i planned to use an BitFenix Prodigy case, but for an budget build it would be kinda overkill and a cheap case does just as well. I even chose one with an optional wall mounting. I used an APU because i wanted to see how they perform, but i probably won't get this build, so i won't see how they perform anyways, they are a good budget part and i haven't seen a console killer with an apu. I also choose to go without an optical drive, because most games are especially on steam digital. I also didn't go with WiFi, but i understand that many people only have access to WiFi so they could choose an MoBa which has WiFi like the MSI A88XI AC which costs around 104,90€

I have a new media room and i want a new pc to run the big ass 4k tv. I know that there is not much 4k content available right now, but since it is gonna come in the near future, and I dont wanna have to upgrade the pc/the tv in the next 10 years or so.. I wanna build a nice PC that will be able to stram 4k and play some games too, since I dont wanna go console. #masterrace here are the specs I propose: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor I dont wanna overclock, or have it do any rendering-ish jobs, just play games and watch movies, etc. Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler seems reasonable since i dont wanna overclock, and also keep it silent since it is in a media room. Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard Crucial Ballistix Sport 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (2-Way SLI) 2 of these should be good enough to give decent frame rates while keeping the rig within budget Corsair 760T Black ATX Full Tower Case this case only. I love the looks and it would look super sexy with nice led lighting. Corsair RM 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply seems fair. LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer blu-ray, although i dont own any blu ray discs right now, seems like the right thing since I might need it some day any suggestions/ changes please do tell. P.S.: I have tried to build this with all hackintosh compatible parts, since some day i would like to venture into that too. Peace.

Source: http://globegadget.com/shuttle-mini-pc-ds57u/ This got me thinking if this would make any sense for a media center pc in the living room. I would love to see a review from Linus about this topic/product.

You might have remembered a gaming PC with dedicated graphics announced by ZOTAC at CES 2014. That machine was set to boast a GTX 765M, but finally, ZOTAC has announced that same system with a GTX 860M - even more power efficient than it's predecessor. Only a fraction bigger than a Nintendo Wii or Wii U, it also packs a 1.6Ghz dual core i5-4200U that can turbo boost up to 2.6Ghz. Being a barebones PC though it will require the RAM (SODIMM form factor- and storage to be seperately purchased and installed by the user. Full article: http://hexus.net/tech/items/systems/70281-zotac-ushers-new-era-gaming-zbox-en760-mini-pcs/ What do you think? There is a "trend" amongst ultra-small barebones PCs and NUCs to be using mobile notebook-grade components. This is concerning since mobile grade components can't be purchased from your average PC parts store.

I just finished building a Steam Machine, Now I am looking for a good solution for Voice Chat while gaming. Currently the mic out on my Xbox Controller is not supported in SteamOS, so I am looking for a good solution to get a Mic to my couch (and or a mic that can hear me from the Entertainment center. Any suggestions? Right now, I would like to continue to use my Receiver for surround sound, so I am trying to stay away from headsets for game audio. I was looking at maybe a conference room mic, but I am guessing that will pick up too much of the sound from my stereo. I don't need studio quality and USB or 3.5mm connectivity would be ideal. Any thoughts?

For full context this TV would go in my Living Room, i'm looking at a 50-60 inch 4k TV. I know those brands of TVs are cheaper, but are they going to last long? I know I could get a Samsung, but I remember Linus picking a TCL tv over the lower tier Samsung but that was 3 years ago. I'm really not trying to go over $430, But if there's something really worth it, I'll consider going over that