Ideas for new gaming setup.

[SgtChaos]

Before you read. This is purely for convenience

Hey,

I'm just about to move out into my house which I've been renovating. So I've bought a new TV and gaming rig because I now have the space to actually have one! Im mounting the TV in the living room, but having my rig upstairs under a desk with a monitor (not purchased yet) because I prefer using a pc on a desk most of the time.
I also love playing games like witcher 2, crysis 2 and battlefield 3 with a Xbox controller. What I'm trying to achieve is a way to play games downstairs on my TV and also have a desktop upstairs (doesn't need to be simultaneous)

What I've considerd so far.

1. Good cable management upstairs and downstairs so all I have to do is "plug and play" my tower. Down side is general inconvenience, because my tv is 1080p but when configured its just under the 1920x1080 resolution at around 1840x1080ish. So every time I switch monitors the resolutions will need changed (I think). Moving my tower (possible damage). Big glowing blue noisy tower in the room.

2. To run a hdmi and USB cables from my games room to the living room externally. I've measured the distance and it's about 11m overall. I know that a USB needs a booster past 5m and a hdmi can get iffy past 10ish. This is alot more work and potential to fail.

These are just two ideas that I've came up with to produce my perfect setup. I would be thankful if you could give your opinion on what you would do in my situation. Thanks for your time.

[inux94]

How about a wireless HDMI transmitter/reciever?

HDMI cables can get really expensive over 5 feet.

[SgtChaos]

Thanks for the suggestion but Ive read that these have lag issues and I'd still have to wire my USB. Also price is alittle steep for me. Going to read into it abit more tho. Thanks

[Drunkenvalley]

Have you considered having the PC in the living room? Alternatively, I would imagine you'd have less trouble if you ran things via the network (ala Teamviewer, Remote Desktop Viewer, etc), but I don't know how well that works. (Except that CAT5 will presumably handle the job better.)

[chachki]

I have a very similar set up. I have a VGA and 3.5mm audio cable ran between my TV and computer. I have the TV set up as a second monitor and just drag/drop what I want over there when I want to sit on the couch, also I have an extended audio jack mounted on top of my desk, so that I don't have to get down to change out my headphones and TV.

[Drunkenvalley]

I have a very similar set up.

No, you honestly don't.

[SgtChaos]

Have you considered having the PC in the living room? Alternatively, I would imagine you'd have less trouble if you ran things via the network (ala Teamviewer, Remote Desktop Viewer, etc), but I don't know how well that works. (Except that CAT5 will presumably handle the job better.)

I have but I really want that "office" space upstairs and ideally just to knock my pc it on up stairs start a game/movie up and drag it onto my tv downstairs with zero lag(dream world haha). I will look into remote desktops etc to see what they offer thanks

Any other ideas?

[Drunkenvalley]

Considered seeing if there's a spot that is between office space and living room, so you can reduce the distance to the living room at least?

[SgtChaos]

No unfortunately . Im gona keep searching but it looks like its just not possible at the moment. I'll update this post if I do find a way. Thanks for your suggestions

[Lemmiwink]

I bought a Silverstone Sugo SG08 http://www.komplett.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=744593 and fitted it with a Zotac miniITX z68 MB an i5 CPU and a 7850 video card. I got a 128GB SSD in it and a 1TB green disk. On my main computer I have a shared hard disk with all the movies, music etc. So all movies I stream from this disk on my TV and I got a couple of games (Borderlands 2 and Skyrim) on the Sugo. Works like a charm and doesn't cost much more than an Ipad.

[yurano]

Some wireless keyboards and mice can work at 30 feet. My Logitech M510 works at 30ft away through 2 walls. You can probably shorten the distance a little by using a USB extender wire to place the wireless USB adapter a couple feet closer to the living room. As a result, you'd probably only need a long HDMI cable.

31-50 ft $15-$50 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...%20-%2050%20ft.

Using this method, you can probably just have 2 sets of keyboard+mouse. One set would be wireless in your living room and the other set would be wired in your office.

---------- Post added 2012-10-07 at 11:04 PM ----------

Some wireless keyboards and mice can work at 30 feet. My Logitech M510 works at 15ft away through 1~2 walls. You can probably shorten the distance a little by using a USB extender wire to place the wireless USB adapter a couple feet closer to the living room. As a result, you'd probably only need a long HDMI cable.

31-50 ft $15-$50 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...%20-%2050%20ft.

Using this method, you can probably just have 2 sets of keyboard+mouse. One set would be wireless in your living room and the other set would be wired in your office.

EDIT: Tested a Logitech K360 wireless keyboard. The signal propagates up to about 30 ft. But is only truly accurate at 20 ft and below.

Maybe presentation mice/keyboards will have the 30ft range?

[SgtChaos]

Thank you both for your suggestions, I spent nearly all my spare cash on the pc and tv and my next purchase is a decent monitor. So buying a second pc isn't really a option yet.

Thanks for looking into the keyboard and mouse but I also have wired controllers I want to use.