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ShadowCaptain
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So I currently have my little HTPC under my TV, it is currently running on an Asus AT4NM10 motherboard with integrated atom processor (selling this in UK if anyone is interested) and does a fine job of movies, music and photo slideshows

 

However I want to turn it into a little emulator box to run SNES,N64,PS1, Atari, Sega games etc etc etc run less demanding games in the living room for my dad (racing games, platformers etc) and the atom just doenst cut it, the board also has no pci-e slot so...

also steam in home streaming

 

Now the case I am using is the Antec 300-150 which is very small, but very nice. It only has a single slot half size expansion slot so I cannot fit many graphics cards in.

 

 

SO..Do I go for something like an itx board with Pentium, and shove in the best GPU I can find that fits? Go for the fastest APU I can find? 

 

Or.. Sell the thing as is, and get something like the RVZ01 and build a little games console that I can also use to LAN (since I am selling me gaming laptop to get a macbook)

 

Thoughts?

 

Also I am in the UK, I have not set a budget, but this is a secondary rig, and does not need to run anything major as the main gaming is old emulators, and to help my dad get into gaming!

Desktop - Corsair 300r i7 4770k H100i MSI 780ti 16GB Vengeance Pro 2400mhz Crucial MX100 512gb Samsung Evo 250gb 2 TB WD Green, AOC Q2770PQU 1440p 27" monitor Laptop Clevo W110er - 11.6" 768p, i5 3230m, 650m GT 2gb, OCZ vertex 4 256gb,  4gb ram, Server: Fractal Define Mini, MSI Z78-G43, Intel G3220, 8GB Corsair Vengeance, 4x 3tb WD Reds in Raid 10, Phone Oppo Reno 10x 256gb , Camera Sony A7iii

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SO..Do I go for something like an itx board with Pentium, and shove in the best GPU I can find that fits? Go for the fastest APU I can find? 

 

Or.. Sell the thing as is, and get something like the RVZ01 and build a little games console that I can also use to LAN (since I am selling me gaming laptop to get a macbook)

Thoughts?

Also I am in the UK, I have not set a budget, but this is a secondary rig, and does not need to run anything major as the main gaming is old emulators, and to help my dad get into gaming!

I'd estimate that if you did have a budget I'd be close enough to a console/500-650 pound computer

If you choose to go with the Pentium anniversary edition I'd recommend bundling it with the Z97I-Plus from asus, good looking board and great features in 6.9" square inches. (Depending on the case you could opt for either a slim heatsink or the Noctua L9i for more space efficiency.)

The case is your choice as well as the other components

Please become a member of the Linus Tech Tips forum, keep writing smug remarks & let us love you. Peace out.


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I'd estimate that if you did have a budget I'd be close enough to a console/500-650 pound computer

If you choose to go with the Pentium anniversary edition I'd recommend bundling it with the Z97I-Plus from asus, good looking board and great features in 6.9" square inches. (Depending on the case you could opt for either a slim heatsink or the Noctua L9i for more space efficiency.)

The case is your choice as well as the other components

 

I would prefer for it to be cheaper, and I know that the pentium can be OCed on some of the h81 and b85 boards. This pc does not need to be high spec, I already have a 4770k + 780ti rig 

 

Thats why I was thinking of going for something like a 7850k, or just get the pentium on a cheap board and basic GPU

 

I plan on getting a PS4 + Xbox One, and this computers main purpose is movies and music, just my dad said he would love to play some games with me so I figured if he could play some basic games that would be good

 

Honestly I am looking for the cheapest option (which is very unlike me, hence why I am asking for help haha) I have never done a low end gaming build before so thought it would be fun

Desktop - Corsair 300r i7 4770k H100i MSI 780ti 16GB Vengeance Pro 2400mhz Crucial MX100 512gb Samsung Evo 250gb 2 TB WD Green, AOC Q2770PQU 1440p 27" monitor Laptop Clevo W110er - 11.6" 768p, i5 3230m, 650m GT 2gb, OCZ vertex 4 256gb,  4gb ram, Server: Fractal Define Mini, MSI Z78-G43, Intel G3220, 8GB Corsair Vengeance, 4x 3tb WD Reds in Raid 10, Phone Oppo Reno 10x 256gb , Camera Sony A7iii

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a raspberry pi can do all of these things

 

play older games (n64 etc)

play all your codecs

and can use (forgot the name) to stream games from your pc

 

just check it out

If your grave doesn't say "rest in peace" on it You are automatically drafted into the skeleton war.

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a raspberry pi can do all of these things

 

play older games (n64 etc)

play all your codecs

and can use (forgot the name) to stream games from your pc

 

just check it out

 

Well I already have this atom powered pc....so its already better than a raspberry pi, and no messing around with Linux. I do want it to play low end pc games, shame this motherboard does not have a pci-e slot :(

 

I was tempted to get the cheapest 1150 motherboard, take the g3220 out of my server and put a better CPU in my server, then just slam the best gpu that fits, though my server runs just fine as is so maybe thats pointless

Desktop - Corsair 300r i7 4770k H100i MSI 780ti 16GB Vengeance Pro 2400mhz Crucial MX100 512gb Samsung Evo 250gb 2 TB WD Green, AOC Q2770PQU 1440p 27" monitor Laptop Clevo W110er - 11.6" 768p, i5 3230m, 650m GT 2gb, OCZ vertex 4 256gb,  4gb ram, Server: Fractal Define Mini, MSI Z78-G43, Intel G3220, 8GB Corsair Vengeance, 4x 3tb WD Reds in Raid 10, Phone Oppo Reno 10x 256gb , Camera Sony A7iii

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As @qwertywarrior suggested, I would first test the Steam In-Home streaming if you have another PC to do the stream with.

 

If you don't have another PC or you want to get new hardware anyways, a good build could be the following:

  • Intel Core i3 (you could get the 'T' version if you want to minimize power consumption)
  • mini-ITX board (the suggested asus is a good one)
  • GTX 750Ti (these ones run good and come in single slot PCIe)

If you want a cheaper budget, you can try AMD A10 processors.

.

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Well I already have this atom powered pc....so its already better than a raspberry pi, and no messing around with Linux. I do want it to play low end pc games, shame this motherboard does not have a pci-e slot :(

 

I was tempted to get the cheapest 1150 motherboard, take the g3220 out of my server and put a better CPU in my server, then just slam the best gpu that fits, though my server runs just fine as is so maybe thats pointless

what atom exactly most atoms until the baytrail ones dont have hardware decoding

while the raspberry pi does (your needs fits it  very well)

 

anyways thoughts on a quad core baytrail  board or a 1007U intel board + cpu ?

If your grave doesn't say "rest in peace" on it You are automatically drafted into the skeleton war.

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what atom exactly most atoms until the baytrail ones dont have hardware decoding

while the raspberry pi does (your needs fits it  very well)

 

anyways thoughts on a quad core baytrail  board or a 1007U intel board + cpu ?

 

Its very expensive

 

I am using the asus AT4NM10, the atom is soldered to it, its an older one, i assume it does not have hardware decoding

 

As @qwertywarrior suggested, I would first test the Steam In-Home streaming if you have another PC to do the stream with.

 

If you don't have another PC or you want to get new hardware anyways, a good build could be the following:

  • Intel Core i3 (you could get the 'T' version if you want to minimize power consumption)
  • mini-ITX board (the suggested asus is a good one)
  • GTX 750Ti (these ones run good and come in single slot PCIe)

If you want a cheaper budget, you can try AMD A10 processors.

 

in home streaming doenst work on the atom, but it does work great in my house 

 

I have all of the pcs that are in my sig, 2 gaming laptops and a high end gaming pc, as I said in the first post this is a not a main pc

 

Yeah a cheap i3 or pentium and 750ti would be a decent set up

 

I was looking at the a10 7650k but its so damn expensive and so are the boards, when you can get much better hardware for the money

 

I was looking at AM1 as its dirt cheap BUT would the 4x pci-e hold it back?

Desktop - Corsair 300r i7 4770k H100i MSI 780ti 16GB Vengeance Pro 2400mhz Crucial MX100 512gb Samsung Evo 250gb 2 TB WD Green, AOC Q2770PQU 1440p 27" monitor Laptop Clevo W110er - 11.6" 768p, i5 3230m, 650m GT 2gb, OCZ vertex 4 256gb,  4gb ram, Server: Fractal Define Mini, MSI Z78-G43, Intel G3220, 8GB Corsair Vengeance, 4x 3tb WD Reds in Raid 10, Phone Oppo Reno 10x 256gb , Camera Sony A7iii

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i got this A10 build here

 

only missing the RVZ01 casing

 

 
CPU: AMD A10-7850K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£111.97 @ CCL Computers) 
Motherboard: MSI A88XI AC Mini ITX FM2+ Motherboard  (£69.46 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Power Supply: Silverstone 450W 80+ Bronze Certified SFX Power Supply  (£79.39 @ Amazon UK) 
Total: £389.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Budget? Uses? Currency? Location? Operating System? Peripherals? Monitor? Use PCPartPicker wherever possible. 

Quote whom you're replying to, and set option to follow your topics. Or Else we can't see your reply.

 

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i got this A10 build here

 

only missing the RVZ01 casing

 

 
CPU: AMD A10-7850K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£111.97 @ CCL Computers) 
Motherboard: MSI A88XI AC Mini ITX FM2+ Motherboard  (£69.46 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Power Supply: Silverstone 450W 80+ Bronze Certified SFX Power Supply  (£79.39 @ Amazon UK) 
Total: £389.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

 

I would only need the CPU and board, I have everything else as I can just slap it in the case I already have so I guess it would only cost like £180, unless there is a cheaper ITX board, 

Desktop - Corsair 300r i7 4770k H100i MSI 780ti 16GB Vengeance Pro 2400mhz Crucial MX100 512gb Samsung Evo 250gb 2 TB WD Green, AOC Q2770PQU 1440p 27" monitor Laptop Clevo W110er - 11.6" 768p, i5 3230m, 650m GT 2gb, OCZ vertex 4 256gb,  4gb ram, Server: Fractal Define Mini, MSI Z78-G43, Intel G3220, 8GB Corsair Vengeance, 4x 3tb WD Reds in Raid 10, Phone Oppo Reno 10x 256gb , Camera Sony A7iii

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I would only need the CPU and board, I have everything else as I can just slap it in the case I already have so I guess it would only cost like £180, unless there is a cheaper ITX board, 

yes that is the cheapest i can find

 

 
CPU: AMD A10-7850K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£111.97 @ CCL Computers) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L9a 57.5 CFM CPU Cooler  (£34.00 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Motherboard: MSI A88XI AC Mini ITX FM2+ Motherboard  (£69.46 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Total: £215.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
 
the CPU is a low profile which can fit nicely into the silverstone casing
 
do note APU need a decent speed RAM to run well

Budget? Uses? Currency? Location? Operating System? Peripherals? Monitor? Use PCPartPicker wherever possible. 

Quote whom you're replying to, and set option to follow your topics. Or Else we can't see your reply.

 

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yes that is the cheapest i can find

 

 
CPU: AMD A10-7850K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£111.97 @ CCL Computers) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L9a 57.5 CFM CPU Cooler  (£34.00 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Motherboard: MSI A88XI AC Mini ITX FM2+ Motherboard  (£69.46 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Total: £215.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
 
the CPU is a low profile which can fit nicely into the silverstone casing
 
do note APU need a decent speed RAM to run well

 

 

Why are FM2 boards so much ><

 

Yeah I have some 2166mhz ddr 3 lying around

Desktop - Corsair 300r i7 4770k H100i MSI 780ti 16GB Vengeance Pro 2400mhz Crucial MX100 512gb Samsung Evo 250gb 2 TB WD Green, AOC Q2770PQU 1440p 27" monitor Laptop Clevo W110er - 11.6" 768p, i5 3230m, 650m GT 2gb, OCZ vertex 4 256gb,  4gb ram, Server: Fractal Define Mini, MSI Z78-G43, Intel G3220, 8GB Corsair Vengeance, 4x 3tb WD Reds in Raid 10, Phone Oppo Reno 10x 256gb , Camera Sony A7iii

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Why are FM2 boards so much ><

 

Yeah I have some 2166mhz ddr 3 lying around

coz its A88X based chipset?

 

A88X have nice VRMs and lets you OC the APU very well and it got WiFi AC

Budget? Uses? Currency? Location? Operating System? Peripherals? Monitor? Use PCPartPicker wherever possible. 

Quote whom you're replying to, and set option to follow your topics. Or Else we can't see your reply.

 

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coz its A88X based chipset?

 

A88X have nice VRMs and lets you OC the APU very well and it got WiFi AC

 

Its literally 2 foot from my router so I will be using gigabit ethernet :P

 

yeah though I am not really big into OCing, hmm I will see if I can find a cheaper less featured board but maybe I cant, for that money I can get a £40 1150 board, the pentium anniversary and 750ti

Desktop - Corsair 300r i7 4770k H100i MSI 780ti 16GB Vengeance Pro 2400mhz Crucial MX100 512gb Samsung Evo 250gb 2 TB WD Green, AOC Q2770PQU 1440p 27" monitor Laptop Clevo W110er - 11.6" 768p, i5 3230m, 650m GT 2gb, OCZ vertex 4 256gb,  4gb ram, Server: Fractal Define Mini, MSI Z78-G43, Intel G3220, 8GB Corsair Vengeance, 4x 3tb WD Reds in Raid 10, Phone Oppo Reno 10x 256gb , Camera Sony A7iii

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Its literally 2 foot from my router so I will be using gigabit ethernet :P

 

yeah though I am not really big into OCing, hmm I will see if I can find a cheaper less featured board but maybe I cant, for that money I can get a £40 1150 board, the pentium anniversary and 750ti

well the Pentium Anniversary needs a Z97 board and wow wee iTX Z97 boards cost a lot more :x

 

 

 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£93.56 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card  (£99.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Total: £193.55
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Budget? Uses? Currency? Location? Operating System? Peripherals? Monitor? Use PCPartPicker wherever possible. 

Quote whom you're replying to, and set option to follow your topics. Or Else we can't see your reply.

 

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well the Pentium Anniversary needs a Z97 board and wow wee iTX Z97 boards cost a lot more :x

 

 

 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£93.56 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card  (£99.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Total: £193.55
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

 

No it doesnt, you can overclocked on Asus (and others) H81 and B85 boards

 

http://www.techpowerup.com/202196/asus-enables-overclocking-on-h97-h87-b85-and-h81-series-motherboards.html

Desktop - Corsair 300r i7 4770k H100i MSI 780ti 16GB Vengeance Pro 2400mhz Crucial MX100 512gb Samsung Evo 250gb 2 TB WD Green, AOC Q2770PQU 1440p 27" monitor Laptop Clevo W110er - 11.6" 768p, i5 3230m, 650m GT 2gb, OCZ vertex 4 256gb,  4gb ram, Server: Fractal Define Mini, MSI Z78-G43, Intel G3220, 8GB Corsair Vengeance, 4x 3tb WD Reds in Raid 10, Phone Oppo Reno 10x 256gb , Camera Sony A7iii

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This could be a good setup:

 

 
Motherboard: Asus H81I-PLUS Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£47.38 @ Amazon UK) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card  (£110.10 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Total: £199.47
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

.

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This could be a good setup:

 

 
Motherboard: Asus H81I-PLUS Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£47.38 @ Amazon UK) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card  (£110.10 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Total: £199.47
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

 

Yeah thats exactly what I was thinking, I doubt you can get much better for under £200

 

and hopefully I can sell this atom board for £30-£50 to regain some money :)

Desktop - Corsair 300r i7 4770k H100i MSI 780ti 16GB Vengeance Pro 2400mhz Crucial MX100 512gb Samsung Evo 250gb 2 TB WD Green, AOC Q2770PQU 1440p 27" monitor Laptop Clevo W110er - 11.6" 768p, i5 3230m, 650m GT 2gb, OCZ vertex 4 256gb,  4gb ram, Server: Fractal Define Mini, MSI Z78-G43, Intel G3220, 8GB Corsair Vengeance, 4x 3tb WD Reds in Raid 10, Phone Oppo Reno 10x 256gb , Camera Sony A7iii

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No it doesnt, you can overclocked on Asus (and others) H81 and B85 boards

 

http://www.techpowerup.com/202196/asus-enables-overclocking-on-h97-h87-b85-and-h81-series-motherboards.html

if that is true

 

then this board

 

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-h81iplus

 

but you need a BIOS update

Budget? Uses? Currency? Location? Operating System? Peripherals? Monitor? Use PCPartPicker wherever possible. 

Quote whom you're replying to, and set option to follow your topics. Or Else we can't see your reply.

 

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if that is true

 

then this board

 

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-h81iplus

 

but you need a BIOS update

 

Yeah seems the best value, updating the bios should be easy enough

Desktop - Corsair 300r i7 4770k H100i MSI 780ti 16GB Vengeance Pro 2400mhz Crucial MX100 512gb Samsung Evo 250gb 2 TB WD Green, AOC Q2770PQU 1440p 27" monitor Laptop Clevo W110er - 11.6" 768p, i5 3230m, 650m GT 2gb, OCZ vertex 4 256gb,  4gb ram, Server: Fractal Define Mini, MSI Z78-G43, Intel G3220, 8GB Corsair Vengeance, 4x 3tb WD Reds in Raid 10, Phone Oppo Reno 10x 256gb , Camera Sony A7iii

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Damn! Now that I'm seeing the video card its double slot... The one that has single slot is the 750, but the 750ti doesn't seem to have (or I'm not able to find it...). A GTX 750 should drop the budget a little more...

 

 
Motherboard: Asus H81I-PLUS Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£47.38 @ Amazon UK) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 750 1GB Video Card  (£89.98 @ Amazon UK) 
Total: £179.35
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

.

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Damn! Now that I'm seeing the video card its double slot... The one that has single slot is the 750, but the 750ti doesn't seem to have (or I'm not able to find it...). A GTX 750 should drop the budget a little more...

 

 
Motherboard: Asus H81I-PLUS Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£47.38 @ Amazon UK) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 750 1GB Video Card  (£89.98 @ Amazon UK) 
Total: £179.35
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

 

Still wont fit as the slot is half height too ;)

 

but I am tempted to change the case to the RVZ01 or something else small (undecided)

Desktop - Corsair 300r i7 4770k H100i MSI 780ti 16GB Vengeance Pro 2400mhz Crucial MX100 512gb Samsung Evo 250gb 2 TB WD Green, AOC Q2770PQU 1440p 27" monitor Laptop Clevo W110er - 11.6" 768p, i5 3230m, 650m GT 2gb, OCZ vertex 4 256gb,  4gb ram, Server: Fractal Define Mini, MSI Z78-G43, Intel G3220, 8GB Corsair Vengeance, 4x 3tb WD Reds in Raid 10, Phone Oppo Reno 10x 256gb , Camera Sony A7iii

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