Building your own console

[waggythegeek]

I feel like I have seen people doing this, but it seems impossible... Is it possible? If so, how is it done?

[Lotus]

It's easy if by console you mean "steambox" or Windows PC running Steam in Big Picture, and you don't mind choosing from a mini-itx cases, which can get very small. For instance, here's one I would like to build that's extremely powerful, and is good for both gaming and workstation tasks:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($242.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($82.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($104.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 290 4GB PCS+ Video Card  ($269.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case  ($41.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $856.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-13 19:18 EST-0500

 

Case selection is key for determining size. Also, if you don't want to just use it for steam games in big picture mode, you can always just use it as a normal PC. Almost any price point is possible too. This is just an example of the kind of hardware you can cram into a tiny case.

[waggythegeek]

It's easy if by console you mean "steambox" or Windows PC running Steam in Big Picture, and you don't mind choosing from a mini-itx cases, which can get very small. For instance, here's one I would like to build that's extremely powerful, and is good for both gaming and workstation tasks:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($242.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($82.98 @ Newegg)

Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($63.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($104.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 290 4GB PCS+ Video Card ($269.99 @ Newegg)

Case: Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case ($41.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)

Total: $856.92

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-13 19:18 EST-0500

Case selection is key for determining size. Also, if you don't want to just use it for steam games in big picture mode, you can always just use it as a normal PC. Almost any price point is possible too. This is just an example of the kind of hardware you can cram into a tiny case.

I feel like I've seen people playing Xbox games too. Is that just me hallucinating?

[deathjester]

I feel like I have seen people doing this, but it seems impossible... Is it possible? If so, how is it done?

 

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/260603-gigabyte-mini-itx-gtx-970-impressions/

 

One I built for sister with a GTX 970. The K CPU was only due to a combo deal at Microcenter, otherwise I would have went non K. Was around 800ish microcenter/pcpartpicker.

 

Highly, HIGHLY recommend that case. Cheap, SUPER easy to work with for a first timer, enough airflow to skip more expensive water cooling. You can fit a decent sized tower cooler (smaller than a evo 212) You can take all 4 side panels off and it is as easy or easier to build in as a tower.

 

With bluetooth she can use her Wii controller with Dolphin emulator.

 

This would be the OFFICIAL dongle you need for wireless Xbox 360 controllers. Was plug and play with Win 8. Supports 4 of them I think. Wireless, keyboard/mouse? I just got her a 20 dollar logitech combo. 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-Wireless-Gaming-Receiver-Windows/dp/B000HZFCT2

 

As far as Xbox One emulation/PS4. Not yet. MS has a big media day on the 21st about PC Gaming with Phil Spencer there, so should be interesting. As far as my build, you could go with a lesser GPU like a R9 270/80. You could go as low as a I3 or G3258. That build was a "she won't have to mess with it for years" other than maybe adding a SSD in the future build. Also the PSU I used was ONLY due to it being on sale and smaller PSU's not being on sale. A 500w bronze would be fine. They just cost the same as that big one at the time. 

[Lotus]

I feel like I've seen people playing Xbox games too. Is that just me hallucinating?

Original XBox Games? No good emulator that I know of exists for that. However there are TONS of emulators for many consoles, and you can even use a controller like an XBox 360 controller. Snes, PS1&2, N64, even Gamecube (I think).

[waggythegeek]

Original XBox Games? No good emulator that I know of exists for that. However there are TONS of emulators for many consoles, and you can even use a controller like an XBox 360 controller. Snes, PS1&2, N64, even Gamecube (I think).

could you recommend an Xbox 360 emulator?

[Lotus]

Doesn't exist yet.

[waggythegeek]

:'(

[Dabombinable]

Does modding the bios in an old P3 desktop count? Becuase I had it playing Xbox games (I needed to use an Xbox dvd drive though, and it was finicky a lot of the time since it was running on a higher clocked cpu and 4x the RAM).

[waggythegeek]

Does modding the bios in an old P3 desktop count? Becuase I had it playing Xbox games (I needed to use an Xbox dvd drive though, and it was finicky a lot of the time since it was running on a higher clocked cpu and 4x the RAM).

That's epic. How'd you do it?

[Dabombinable]

That's epic. How'd you do it?

I copied the bios off my chipped xbox then the bios of the computer, then spent hours manually stripping down and combining them (took me over 4 months working in my spare time, and the parts of the bios related to managing fatx and xbox DVDs was an absolute pain in the ass to work with), and to top that all off I ended up having to clone the Xbox's HDD and create custom drivers for the OS to get everything working correctly (shout out to those who worked on UnleashX, a lot of time was saved because of it). The end result was effectively an Xbox in a PC case with the added ability to be upgraded (of course to add anything to it I needed to write more drivers and actual programs-which was frustrating but not too bad because things aren't locked down that tight).

[waggythegeek]

Nice.

[waggythegeek]

I copied the bios off my chipped xbox then the bios of the computer, then spent hours manually stripping down and combining them (took me over 4 months working in my spare time, and the parts of the bios related to managing fatx and xbox DVDs was an absolute pain in the ass to work with), and to top that all off I ended up having to clone the Xbox's HDD and create custom drivers for the OS to get everything working correctly (shout out to those who worked on UnleashX, a lot of time was saved because of it). The end result was effectively an Xbox in a PC case with the added ability to be upgraded (of course to add anything to it I needed to write more drivers and actual programs-which was frustrating but not too bad because things aren't locked down that tight).

I applaud you for your effort. This guy needs to be featured somewhere, guys.