Building a 4K HTPC game console?

[tkline]

I would like to look into building a windows game system for a 4K tv rather than a regular pc, and pretty much replace my xbox. First question.. would 1 GTX 1070 or 1080 be good enough for 4k gaming for most modern games? Should I wait a while for what comes next (1090?)? I was worried they might not fit but there's lots of itx cases out there that are big enough, I will probably use phanteks evolv. I don't have an unlimited budget, I think maybe $1500 max, but I'd love to be able to be under $1000. I'll be playing around with pc parts picker to see what I can do.

Second, I know I can use a wireless keyboard and mouse, but I really don't want to. I really want it to work like a console. I'm not going to be emailing people on my TV. How do you configure windows (and steam too?) to use a game controller 99.9384% of the time? I know Dell and other companies have their own console-ish systems, but never actually used them, so there must be a way... just not sure how it's done.

 

[Dustybin]

The 1080 has been described as the first 1 card 4k solution, the 1070 will struggle in some games unless you start reducing the settings and possibly lose the benefit of the higher resolution.

Steam has big picture mode, it works OK but it isn't perfect and obviously any games made by Blizzard and EA have to be added manually into Steam as you can't purchase them from the platform. There is the option of Steam OS which is kinda like big picture mode but is basically running Linux on your PC, you get worse performance and a much more limited selection of games.

Personally my own solution is the Nvidia Shield TV and network cables. Streaming has problems (controller lag, network hiccups) but it lets me play pad games on my TV and still go upstairs to sit at my PC to play games that demand a mouse and keyboard.

Also if you're willing to wait the next thing from Nvidia will be the 1080 ti but that would be a huge chunk of your budget, really should wait and see what AMD come out with at the end of Feb. If rumours are true their top card is supposed to beat the 1080 and maybe give the ti a run for its money.

 

[jackspeed]

Steam has an OS so I would use that. You will not be able game on max settings on 4k with a 1080 on multiple games. a 1070 is a great card for 2560x1440 gaming.

from toms article on best GPU of 2017
"Now, however, we can suggest the GTX 1080 for playable 4K frame rates and the Titan X for maxed-out quality settings."
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gpus,4380.html

if you go with this want to do this you will need a 1080, an i7 and an SSD.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($343.33 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z270 Gaming-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($159.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($168.01 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Superclocked Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card ($559.89 @ B&H)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Mini ITX Tower Case ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($78.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home Full - USB 32/64-bit ($106.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1521.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-02-14 10:06 EST-0500

 

[gillhooley]

Steam Controller can act like a mouse, so that would allow you to control the PC well, Then use Steam big picture mode. You can launch Non Steam Games from Steam as well so That will be your main interface. I would get and XB1 controller as well some Games I prefer it to the Steam controller. DO NOT USE Steam OS, it is Linux and severely limits the number of steam games you can run. Do you have a main gaming PC? Have you thought of just streaming to the HTPC? Thats what I do and while I don't run 4k It works great.

 

[tkline]

I have a gaming PC right now but I was going to keep that for my workstation and just do gaming on the TV. After sitting at a desk all day, I don't wanna do it all night. Gaming is just more comfy on my sofa. I'll try out the big picture mode on steam, that will probably work for me. What about xbox games? I know there are some like Gears of War that you can play on a PC or Xbox. Doesn't seem like there's a big list of them though. I got Overwatch for Xbox, kinda wished I got it for PC instead, but I don't like it enough to buy it twice.

Here's a system I was messing around with on PCPartPicker
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/KVj4wV

I have a 2 TB storage drive that I would add in, and also do I have to pay for Windows? When I built my last PC, it let me just download it onto a thumb drive and I installed it in the new PC and that was it. Can't I just do that again? or will it only work on 1 PC at a time?

I'll probably wait a couple of months though for the new AMD cards, and to see if the 1080 prices go down because of it too.

 

[tkline]

Oh and.. silly question. If I connect my TV to the PC video card with a HDMI cable, will the video card be able to pass the audio through too? I'd rather not have to have a separate audio cable

 

[jackspeed]

I have a gaming PC right now but I was going to keep that for my workstation and just do gaming on the TV. After sitting at a desk all day, I don't wanna do it all night. Gaming is just more comfy on my sofa. I'll try out the big picture mode on steam, that will probably work for me. What about xbox games? I know there are some like Gears of War that you can play on a PC or Xbox. Doesn't seem like there's a big list of them though. I got Overwatch for Xbox, kinda wished I got it for PC instead, but I don't like it enough to buy it twice.

Here's a system I was messing around with on PCPartPicker
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/KVj4wV

I have a 2 TB storage drive that I would add in, and also do I have to pay for Windows? When I built my last PC, it let me just download it onto a thumb drive and I installed it in the new PC and that was it. Can't I just do that again? or will it only work on 1 PC at a time?

I'll probably wait a couple of months though for the new AMD cards, and to see if the 1080 prices go down because of it too.

Just an FYI the cards are speculated to come out Summer to fall of this year, CPUs are rumored to be Q1.

The XBOX games that also work on windows are the digital downloads of them purchased through either the xbox or windows store. The disks are not dual compatible.

A new Windows license are needed for the new pc.

 

[gillhooley]

If you already have the Gaming PC Try a Steam Link and Steam Controller. You will get 90% of what you want for under $100. Sure it will not be 4k but from TV viewing distance I Challenge you to notice the difference. Give it a try you have nothing to lose, its a very low cost. HDMI will do sound too no matter how you go. Xbox games that also work on Win 10 will stream as well. Got mine on sale for $20 but its worth full price IMO. If its not all you want then your only out a few bucks and can reuse the controller on the HTPC. I have gone both routes, Dedicated HTPC and SteamLink.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/353380/

 

[tkline]

Steam link looks cool but i think I would rather go with a dedicated system. I might even start by swapping some stuff out of my current pc to use for the new system and start smaller.. I don't even have a 4k tv yet, I'm going to be moving soon and was going to get a new TV then. So technically I'll only need HD gaming for the next few months. Would it be good enough for HD with just the onboard video with an i7 7700 cpu? Figured I could wait and get the GPU later when I get the new TV.

 

[g-unit1111]

The 1080 has been described as the first 1 card 4k solution, the 1070 will struggle in some games unless you start reducing the settings and possibly lose the benefit of the higher resolution.

1080 works great, the first single card I've had that will run games like GTA V at full settings with 60 FPS. You can run lower resolutions on 4K monitors. Some of the more graphic intense games I play like Fallout 4 I will run at 1440P to get better frame rates.

 

[gillhooley]

Onboard will run games, but not well and only at low settings unless its an older title. It would 720p pretty well.

Steam link looks cool but i think I would rather go with a dedicated system. I might even start by swapping some stuff out of my current pc to use for the new system and start smaller.. I don't even have a 4k tv yet, I'm going to be moving soon and was going to get a new TV then. So technically I'll only need HD gaming for the next few months. Would it be good enough for HD with just the onboard video with an i7 7700 cpu? Figured I could wait and get the GPU later when I get the new TV.

 

[tkline]

My old system I wouldn't be gaming on at all really if I was doing onboard video. I meant for general stuff, web browsing, photoshopping, stuff like that. I'd pretty much move all of my gaming to the TV.