HTPC that can be a gaming machine

[Sephiracle]

So here's what I'm looking for.

I have a TV: specifically a LG TV model 46LA6200. This TV has the capability of Dual Play(letting two people play 'split screen' games with a full screen view.

Anyways, I want a HTPC mostly because, no single gaming system really provides an 'all-in-one' solution. Plus, Ive been a pc gamer forever, I'd rather not have to 'rebuy' games, I would like to do the following:

Play recent and upcoming games with mid-high quality. Pair that with some upgrade ability down the road as well

For example, I'd like to be able to run two instances of some of those games, say like League of Legends. On my PC I don't think that's possible unless I had like a VM program, which unless it's extremely easy to interact and use, I'd like to avoid that route.

I'll be building it so if you could provide a list of parts or anything I'd prefer that route over any prebuilt option.

I don't need any DVR or cable tuning capability (I work for a cable company) so I have the equipment to do so, although if it could enhance that, that might be cool as well.

As far as budget, I'm not picky, somewhere in the neighborhood of 500-1k would be nice though.

Let me know if you need any more info.

Thanks

[tielknight]

First things first, HTPC's can vary wildy in size so what do you have in mind? Knowing a maximum-size or sorts will let us know what we can try to cram in there.

[Sephiracle]

First things first, HTPC's can vary wildy in size so what do you have in mind? Knowing a maximum-size or sorts will let us know what we can try to cram in there.

Mid to mini atx size. I would like some variety in sizes if you're putting parts together because I can work the specifics out and see what the best option is. I do want to kind of wrap my head around the whole existence and integration of the system to what I have and what programs I'll need to download when setting up to make the process 'complete'.

[tielknight]

Right at the top-end of your budget.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($223.98 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H87N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($111.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Team Xtreem Dark Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($65.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($104.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 270X 2GB PCS+ Video Card ($169.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Silverstone GD05B-USB3.0 (Black) HTPC Case ($95.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Plus 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($68.89 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1006.77
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-26 19:36 EDT-0400)

Not used to HTPC builds, so better wait for some more opinions in case i fudged something up.

[Judai]

Depending what games you play maybe give the Gigabyte Brix a shot, they seem to be getting mixed reviews about the fan being loud, but seem to be able to play some pretty good games fine (Crisis 4, Skyrim etc) and it's tiny as.



Edit: Image re-size

[tielknight]

As nice as they are(aside from the i7 version, which seems to run like a space-heater/jet engine) they won't really be able to handle multiple people and are very very limited in upgrade-ability. It(it being the iris pro 5200 graphics) does seem to do ok at 1366x768 resolutions, getting ~40-50 fps in most games at medium settings with the i7-4950HQ CPU.

[Sephiracle]

I think a custom option is far better than a prebuilt one. I'm not even sure I can accomplish my desired results with launching multiple instances of games. Unless it's specifically made to do what I need

Dual play allows you to play two games as full screen that are normally played split screen. So, even if I can run two copies of the game, I have to make the system think they're split. I think building a pc might be a better option because if I can't accomplish that, I'll at least have a new PC to use.

If anyone has any insight on doing that, feel free to comment

[tielknight]

As for running two games, it seems like your going to have to run one from a virtual machine from what a quick googling showed. That would keep them "split" so your tv should be able to pull-off the dual-screen properly.

[chazus]

Gonna move this to the build/upgrade subforum

[Deleted]

Check this build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master GeminII M4 58.4 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($105.66 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($72.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($69.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital WD Green 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($81.69 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB DirectCU II Video Card ($229.20 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case ($45.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1000.44
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-27 14:05 EDT-0400)

[tielknight]

Only things I don't like is that the 4670k + mobo is only ~$10 more plus you gain the ability to overclock and the PSU isn't modular, which is damn near essential for a MiniITX/HTPC build me thinks(airflow and limited space and all that).

[Deleted]

I wouldn't reckon on a reallly small case overclocking. Along with gpu you dont get as much proper airflow. Also on really small cases, half the time modular psu's are worse cause they dont fit in there. You need extra space for the plugs.