Razor
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Here is part 2 of the HTPC gaming thread. I have added and updated some of the info and links from the previous thread.
Part one of the HTPC Gaming Thread can be found here:
http://www.avforums.com/forums/home-cinema-pcs/989505-gaming-htpc-thread.html
If you are thinking of building a HTPC for gaming or want to convert your HTPC for gaming then read on.
If you are thinking why bother as I have a xbox 360 or a ps3 then there are a number of reasons. The main reason for me is that the graphics are allot better with a pc compared to a console. The difference is night and day.
You can get full 1080p gaming with a pc instead of up-scaled 720p or sometimes lower than that (600p). Frame rates are higher and lighting, rendering effects are allot better. DX10/DX11 effects also add to the list as well as total control on how your game looks.
You can also use a 360 or PS3 pad on a pc see link below for more info.
http://www.avforums.com/forums/pc-games/834424-using-game-pad-pc.html
Using a pad these days is very much plug and play and no set-up is normally required. Especially if you use a 360 pad be it wired or wireless. It really does feel like you are playing on a next gen console when your in your lounge with a pad in your hands running around with 1080p visuals and all the eye candy turned up. There are also great exclusives on the pc as there are with any platform and the pc has a wider variety of games compared to the consoles.
Here are a few in game screen shots take from Crysis Warhead on my pc.
Some in game shots of Battlefield Bad Company 2
Specing and Building a Gaming HTPC
When building a gaming HTPC there are a few things to remember:
Cooling - HTPC cases are small with poor to average cooling. Gaming in a HTPC can raise temperatures allot so the cooling side of things has to be correct and work well as well as being as quiet as possible.
HTPC Case - First off pick a HTPC case with 80mm fans as a minimum. Avoid cases where the fan size is 60mm. 60mm fans hardly move any air compared to 80mm fans and are allot louder. Look for 2 x 80mm exhaust fans for the rear of the pc and if the case has a side fan like a Silverstone LC17/20 then this is a bonus.
Here are some good cases with some decent airflow. There are obviously other cases out there but these are a few off the top of my head, some with examples.
SiverStone LC13-E
Silverstone LC17 - http://www.avforums.com/forums/9339437-post76.html - http://www.avforums.com/forums/10668688-post451.html - http://www.avforums.com/forums/10073141-post570.html - http://www.avforums.com/forums/pc-games/1011688-get-your-rigs-out-lads.html#post9657616
Silverstone LC20 - http://www.avforums.com/forums/9609540-post397.html
Silverstone Grandia GD01B-R - http://www.avforums.com/forums/9616229-post403.html
Silverstone CW02 - http://www.avforums.com/forums/9466220-post93.html
Silverstone CW03
Antec Fusion 'Remote' Max Premium
Zalman HD160+ - http://www.avforums.com/forums/9487013-post160.html
As you can see with this picture of the Silverstone LC17 there is a good layout for getting rid of hot air and keeping your hardware cool.
Avoid cases which have the DVD centred in the middle of the case as this will stop you installing a decent graphics card as the DVD drive bay will get in the way. Here is such a case its the Silverstone LC16. Its a nice looking case but useless for installing a long graphics card.
Fans - Once you have chosen your HTPC case its time to swap out all the fans. All stock case fans can be improved upon in terms of noise levels along with the amount of air they move (CFM = Cubic Feet per Minute). Below are some fans I would recommend with their dB levels and their CFM rating.
80mm Fans
80mm - Coolink 11dB fan - 21.1CFM - SWiF-801 80mm Case Fan
80mm – Noctua NF-R8 - 10db – 23CFM with supplied LNA adapter - NF-R8 80mm Quiet Case Fan
80mm - slim line 15mm deep fan (ideal if you cant fit a standard depth 25mm deep fan) - SilenX Ixterma Pro – 11dB – 18CFM - SilenX Fan Ixtrema Pro 11dBA 80x80x15mm Slim 18CFM : IXP-52-11 |UK's leading Water cooling, Hardware and Gaming peripherals retailer
92mm Fans
92mm – Noctua NF-B9 Vortext-Control - 13.1db – 31CFM with supplied LNA adapter - NF-B9 Vortex-Control 92mm Quiet Case Fan
92mm - Scythe Gentle Typhoon 13dB - 25.9 CFM - Gentle Typhoon 92mm 1700 RPM Cooling Fan
120mm Fans
120mm - Noctua NF-S12 800 RPM - 8dB - 35 CFM - NF-S12 800 RPM 120mm Quiet Case Fan
120mm - Noctua NF-S12 1200 RPM - 17dB - 48 CFM - NF-S12 1200 RPM 120mm Quiet Case Fan
120mm - Noctua NF-S12B ULN Ultra Low Noise RPM – 6.8dB – 33.5 CFM - NF-S12B ULN Ultra Low Noise 120mm Cooling Fan, 500/700 RPM
I always add Anti-Vibration Fan Gaskets to the build just as an added measure to reduce noise.
Fansis Fan Gaskets
CPU Cooling - Now we have the basics out of the way ie case and case cooling we look at the cpu cooling. When your using a HTPC you are restricted with what cpu cooler you can use. This is mainly due to the height of the HTPC case. Double check your clearance height inside the HTPC case you buy to make sure a the cpu cooler you want will fit in it. There are so many decent cpu coolers out there today do your research and and pick one that can cool efficiently and run quietly. I like cpu coolers where you can swap out the fans for after market ones.
One of the best air cpu coolers about at the moment is the Scythe Mini Ninja as shown below. If you go this route swap the fan out which comes with the Mini Ninja for a 80mm/90mm/120mm fan.
Mini Ninja Heatpipe CPU Cooler
Ninja II Heatpipe Cooler, with 120mm fan
Noctua NH-U9B CPU Heatpipe Heatsink with NF-B9 Fan
A decent cpu cooler will keep your cpu running temps down and allow you to overclock your system for extra performance if you so wish. It will also keep you HTPC running quietly which is one of the main goals of a HTPC.
Watercooling - This is and another route you can take for a HTPC and this works very well. It is allot more expensive than air cooling but it works a treat and will allow you to overclock your setup to gain more performance without worrying about heat build up in your case. I use a Zalaman Reserator XT on my HTPC but there are other products on the market that do the same job. I run a Core i7 @ 4.0Ghz and a 4870X2 in a Silverstone LC17 case in a semi restricted av rack with good temps. This would be impossible without watercooling.
Another benefit of watercooling is that it runs allot more silent than a normal air-cooled set-up as you can cool your cpu, chipset and graphics card all with water which reduces the amount of fans needed and noise levels.
Hardware
Motherboard - If you are looking to game you will need a semi decent motherboard especially if you are looking to overclock. I tend to stay away from micro atx mobos and go for full sized ones, but you can game on both with no problems at all. If you are looking to overclock your cpu then do your research and buy a decent motherboard which is known for overclocking well. Also look at things like how much heat does the chipset give off.
Graphics Card - Now this is one of my favourite pieces of hardware and this is what will make your set-up a gaming one. You can have 1080p capable gaming card these days for very little money. The more money you spend the more eye candy you can have in game. Effects like Anti-aliasing and Anisotropic filtering can be turned right up which make a big difference to how a game looks. For an explanation on what AA and AF is and does read the links below.
Anti-aliasing - What is Anti-Aliasing, how does it affect our graphics
Anisotropic filtering - Anisotropic filtering - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Direct X
Direct X gives us different levels of eye candy and the higher the version of Direct X (DX) the better the games look. We currently have 3 different types of Direct X.
DX9 - Most common version of DX is DX9. DX has been with us for years. All cards and operating systems can use DX9.
DX10/10.1 - This version of DX has been around for 3 years now. There is an increase in visuals with DX10/10.1 but the difference isn't huge but it is noticeable. You will need Vista or Win7 and a DX 10 capable card to use DX10. All graphics cards from the nvidia 8000 series to present day and ATI 2000 series to present day are DX10 capable. DX10.1 is a revised version of DX10 and runs approximately 25% better than DX10. If you want DX10.1 you will need a DX10.1 capable card. At present only ATI 4000/5000 series support DX10.1.
DX11 - This is the new version of DX. Games supporting this format are to be released at the end of 2009 and will be thin on the ground. If you want to experiance DX11 then you will need Vista or Win7 Operating system installed on your HTPC and a DX11 capable card. So far the only cards on the market that support DX11 is the ATI 5000 series. Expect Nvidia GT300 series to support DX11 when it is released at the end of 2009 beginning of 2010.
Please note that Windows XP cannot use DX10/10.1 or DX11. Only Vista and Win7 can run this level of DX.
I will separate the current crop and older crop of cards into sections for performance.
Last gen
Older cards are listed below and can be picked up very cheaply 2nd hand.
Any Nvidia 8800 card will be able to handle 1080p gaming with ease, The same goes for 9800 Nvidia cards and 9600GT.
ATI cards like the 3870, 3870X2 will do 1080p gaming. Be aware that the 3870X2 is a hot card.
Current Gen
Next up is what graphics card to go for. If your looking for sheer power then these cards are top of their game at the moment (in order of power, most powerfull at the top).
We also have the new Dx11 capable cards which will give you new eyecandy once games start supporting Dx11.
ATI are first to the market with Dx11 cards with the 5000 series. These cards use less power than the older 4000 series and are what are known as next gen cards. Expect Nvidia to bring out their Dx11 cards by the end of the 2009 for the enthusiast range and mainstream range early next year. This means that the 4000 ATI series and 200 Nvidia series are all end of Line and will soon be phased out.
These cards are for enthusiasts who demand the best:
5970 - Dx11 capable dual gpu card
GTX 480 - The fastest DX11 single gpu card but runs very hot and uses allot of power
295GTX - Dual gpu card only DX10 (phased out now)
4870X2 - Dual gpu card only DX10 (phased out now)
5870 – Dx11 capable card
GTX 470 - Dx11 capable card
5850 – Dx11 capable card
Mid range cards:
GTX 460 - DX11 capable card
GTX 465 - DX11 capable card
5830 - Dx11 capable card - Price too close to 5850 to consider
285GTX - Cooler running faster version of the 280GTX (phased out now)
280GTX - Phased out now
The next level down would be (in order of power). All these cards can game at 1080p:
4890 - More than enough power for today's games (phased out now)
275GTX - More than enough power for today's games (phased out now)
260GTX 216 shader pipelines - (phased out now)
4870 - A good card (phased out now)
5770 - Dx11 capable card
260GTX 192 shader pipelines - Phased out now
5750 - Entry DX11 card - Price too close to 5770 to consider
4850 - Good entry card (phased out now)
4770 - Good entry level card (phased out now)
4830 - Good entry level card (phased out now)
These are the bottom end of the market and I wouldn't really recommend these cards as you can get better for the same money or a few quid more. They are basically old tech re badged and re marketed.
4670 - Basically a 3850 re badged. Now the 4770 is out there's no point in buying this card
250GTX - Expensive for what it is and its basically a re badged and over clocked 8800gt
I would also recommend going for cards with more than 512mb. 512mb will be fine but at higher resolutions like 1080p, but more memory is needed if you want to apply higher levels of AA. If you are gaming at 720p this wont effect you so much but I would still recommend going for more memory if you can afford it.
GPU Cooling - One thing to pay attention to is the cooling side of these cards. ATI has the worst stock coolers in terms of noise and cooling. The stock cooler sounds like a leaf blower and isn't recommended for a HTPC at all. At idle its quiet but it also runs the cards hot so I can't recommend using an ATI 3000/4000 stock cooler in a HTPC. If you want an ATI card get one with after market cooling on it like the HIS ICEQ4 or Saphire Vapor X. Temperatures are approximately 20c lower than stock coolers and they run silent.
Nvidia cards have better stock cooling and you might not need to buy a card with after market cooling.
If you already have a graphics card and the stock cooler is noisy you can swap out a stock cooler for an after market one which are sold at most on-line retailers.
I have done this with my 4870X2 and a waterblock. If you want to see how its done there is some info in the link below, the same method of swapping coolers should apply to an air-cooled gpu cooler:
http://www.avforums.com/forums/home-cinema-pcs/972521-razors-watercooled-silent-gaming-htpc.html
One thing to look for when buying a gaming graphics card for a HTPC is don't get a passive card as all that will happen is that your HTPC case will get very hot and it will end up shutting your pc down due to the high temps. A graphics card with a decent cooler will run silently and wont be heard in operation.
I would recommend getting a graphics card with a dual slot cooler like this one:
With a dual slot cooler all the hot air from your case and gpu gets vented outside the back of your HTPC and not blown around your case as it would with a single slot cooler.
A decent graphics card is an essential part of a gaming set-up especially if you are gaming at 1080p as at this resolution most of the work is done by the graphics card and not the cpu.
CPU - Any decent dual core cpu will be fine for gaming. If it can play HD formats then paired with a graphics card it will be fine for gaming. I would say that the minimum spec for a dual core cpu would be 2.0-2.2Ghz. There are of course tri core and quad core cpu's out on the market and these are also good for gaming especially as more and more games are starting to use more cores.
At the present time we have a few different cpu solutions.
Intel
Currently the king of the hill in terms of power. Clock for clock nothing can touch them. I will list the benefits of each cpu and socket.
Core i7 Socket 1366 - It has hyper threading, triple channel DDR3 memory supports SLI/Crossfire with 2 or 3 16x pcie 2.0 express sots and will also get 6 core cpus next year. This is known as ultra high end gear and on average will cost about £100 than a similar core i5 setup.
Core i5/i7 Socket 1156 - This platform is very similar to the 1366 but it aimed for more mainstream users. The core i5 is cheaper than the core i7 (1366 cpu). There is no triple channel memory on the 1156 socket and it uses dual channel DDR3 memory instead. There is only 1 x 16xpcie 2.0 slot on this socket. Core i5 has no hyper-threading but core i7 1156 cpus do. Core i5 use slightly less power and give off less heat than the socket 1366 core i7's mainly due to the fact that there is no hyper-threading.
What does this mean? It basically means that with the 1366 socket you have an upgrade path to six core cpus, performs better if you were to go crossfire or sli and when apps and games start using triple channel memory you will see some benefit. Also the socket 1366 core i7's seem to overclock a little bit better than its 1156 socket brothers.
What is hyper-threading? Hyper-threading is a useful thing to have if you like to multi task but it isn't really taken advantage of in games yet. Hyper-threading basically splits a core into 2 threads.
For example if a cpu is only using 20% of one core to do a task that leaves 80% of that core going to waste. What hyper-threading does is allocate that 80% of the unused core to another task. This means a quad core cpu has 8 threads instead of 4, which means it can do 8 things at the same time instead of 4.
Both core i5/17 1366/1156 will give you an excellent base for a gaming rig and as both sockets are new and will have a good upgrade path. Which one you go for is totally up to you the user depending on which route you want to take and what kind of rig you are looking for.
Socket 775 - This is now the outgoing socket and it has been with us for 3+ years. This was the previous king of the hill until core i7. This is still an excellent platform and should still have years of life left in it. You can get dual and quad core cpu's on this socket and they are very cool running cpus.
AMD
Phenom II - There are tri core and quad core X3/X4 cpus. These are what are known as the bang for buck processors. Clock for clock they aren't as fast as the Intel core i5 and i7 cpus and come close to the socket 775 cpus. However the AMD Phenom come with high clock speeds out of the box for very little money. This is handy if you are on a budget or cannot overclock. These cpus will be fine for gaming on and if you are on tight a budget. This cpu supports DDR3 dual channel memory.
AMD Athlon II - This is the older AMD cpu and again isn't as fast as the intel cpu's clock for clock and is also slower than the its bigger brother the Phenom II.
Memory - The sweet spot for the amount of ram you have installed is 2gb, you can add more and it will benefit some games but most games are happy with 2gb.
Good makes of ram are:
Corsair
Crucial
OCZ
Kingston
There are 3 different types of memory you can buy. Make sure you buy the right one if you are building a new rig. DDR2, DDR3 (dual-Channel) and DDR3 (triple-Channel).
PSU - Please don't skimp on the psu by buying a £30.00 600 watt all singing and dancing psu. As it can and probably will die on you taking your hardware with it. If your going for a lower end graphics card say a £100 or below then a decent 500watt psu will be more than enough to power your set-up. If you are going for one of the more expensive or top end graphics card then look at buying a 600watt+ psu.
Here are some decent makes of PSU's:
Corsair
OCZ
Seasonic
Enermax
Bequiet
If you are not sure on what wattage psu you should buy here is a handy psu calculator to help you.
eXtreme Power Supply Calculator Lite v2.5
As long as you stick to a quality psu you cant go wrong. Also try and get a modular psu as there isn't much space in htpc cases and a modular psu will help you cut down on cables in your case. This will give your case potentially better airflow and make the install easier.
Sound Card - All games benefit from using a decent sound card. X-fi cards are the best in terms of compatibility and giving accurate in game sound.
You can experience Dolby Digital Live and DTS Connect whilst playing your favourite games. It does add allot to the whole gaming experience and is well worth doing if you have a surround system.
There are a few different sound solutions to try on a pc.
- Onboard sound from the mobo. This solution is fine for gaming but it wont give you the most out of your system. You wont be able to get multichannel surround sound from your games and you will be limited to stereo or pro-logic.
- Sound from an ATI graphics card. This will give you multichannel digital surround sound which is a nice step up from onboard sound. This is easy to setup and will output sound via a HDMI cable so make sure you have an amp/receiver with a HDMI input. Another benefit of the newer 5000 series of ATI cards is that they also bit stream HD audio to your amp if you so wish. The ATI 4000 series can also do HD audio but passes the signal as PCM.
- Separate sound card. This will give you the best in game sound, you will be able to experience Dolby Digital Live and DTS Connect in any game. This does add allot to the whole gaming experience and is well worth doing if you have a decent surround setup.
I have tried a few sound cards solutions and one sound card which I will say is not great for gaming on is the Asus HDAV1.3. This card is a good card for HD audio but when it comes to gaming it has issues. The HDMI pass-through on this card sometimes doesn't like to play ball with certain games and doesn't like any res which isn't 1080p or 720p. This can cause issues as some games boot up for the very first time with strange pc resolutions like 640x480. This will lead to a blank screen.
One thing I would like to point out is that all Asus sound cards don't do any of the gaming sound decoding on hardware. They do this decoding via software which can give you a hit in your frame rates ie more load on your cpu. If you have an Asus sound card ie non HDAV gaming will be fine but please be aware that your frame rates will probably take approx a 10% hit.
Here are a few recommendations of some good gaming sound cards.
Auzentech Forte
Auzentech Prelude
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer
Useful Apps for a Gaming HTPC
Overclocking and Monitoring your Graphics card temps -
Ati Tool - ATi Tool 0.27 b2 download from Guru3D.com
RivaTuner - RivaTuner v2.24 download from Guru3D.com
Monitoring HTPC Temperatures -
GPUZ - techPowerUp! :: Download TechPowerUp GPU-Z v0.3.4
Coretemp - Core Temp
Benchmarking -
Futuremark 3D Mark 06 - Futuremark - Benchmarks - 3DMark06 - Download
Futuremark Vantage - Futuremark - Benchmarks - 3DMark Vantage - Download
Latest Graphics Card Drivers -
ATI & Nvidia - http://www.avforums.com/forums/pc-games/629682-latest-graphics-card-drivers-nvidia-ati.html
Final Word
You can build a gaming HTPC really cheaply these days and it will give you decent gaming on a 1080p display which will far outperform a modern day console and if done correctly will be just as quiet as a non gaming HTPC.
Here is an example for a cheap gaming HTPC basic components
Intel E5200 clocked @ 2.5Ghz - £50
Asus P5Q SE Socket 775 - £70
ATI HD 4770 - £70
2gb DDR2 800Mhz - £23
Add on HDD's, case, fans etc as you see fit..
If you already have a HTPC then all that is really needed is a graphics card. Just make sure your psu is powerful enough and monitor your temps whilst gaming by using some of the apps listed above.
If you would like to see some examples of what hardware you will need for a gaming HTPC build then scroll down a few posts as I have included a few templates for different budgets to get you started.
http://www.avforums.com/forums/home...-thread-part-2-updated-info.html#post10593393
I hope this little guide will help some people get into pc gaming and give others who are looking to build or add to their existing HTPC some ideas.
Any questions you may have please post away. Also if anyone has any pictures of their gaming HTPC set-up please post them up.
Part one of the HTPC Gaming Thread can be found here:
http://www.avforums.com/forums/home-cinema-pcs/989505-gaming-htpc-thread.html
If you are thinking of building a HTPC for gaming or want to convert your HTPC for gaming then read on.
If you are thinking why bother as I have a xbox 360 or a ps3 then there are a number of reasons. The main reason for me is that the graphics are allot better with a pc compared to a console. The difference is night and day.
You can get full 1080p gaming with a pc instead of up-scaled 720p or sometimes lower than that (600p). Frame rates are higher and lighting, rendering effects are allot better. DX10/DX11 effects also add to the list as well as total control on how your game looks.
You can also use a 360 or PS3 pad on a pc see link below for more info.
http://www.avforums.com/forums/pc-games/834424-using-game-pad-pc.html
Using a pad these days is very much plug and play and no set-up is normally required. Especially if you use a 360 pad be it wired or wireless. It really does feel like you are playing on a next gen console when your in your lounge with a pad in your hands running around with 1080p visuals and all the eye candy turned up. There are also great exclusives on the pc as there are with any platform and the pc has a wider variety of games compared to the consoles.
Here are a few in game screen shots take from Crysis Warhead on my pc.
Some in game shots of Battlefield Bad Company 2
Specing and Building a Gaming HTPC
When building a gaming HTPC there are a few things to remember:
Cooling - HTPC cases are small with poor to average cooling. Gaming in a HTPC can raise temperatures allot so the cooling side of things has to be correct and work well as well as being as quiet as possible.
HTPC Case - First off pick a HTPC case with 80mm fans as a minimum. Avoid cases where the fan size is 60mm. 60mm fans hardly move any air compared to 80mm fans and are allot louder. Look for 2 x 80mm exhaust fans for the rear of the pc and if the case has a side fan like a Silverstone LC17/20 then this is a bonus.
Here are some good cases with some decent airflow. There are obviously other cases out there but these are a few off the top of my head, some with examples.
SiverStone LC13-E
Silverstone LC17 - http://www.avforums.com/forums/9339437-post76.html - http://www.avforums.com/forums/10668688-post451.html - http://www.avforums.com/forums/10073141-post570.html - http://www.avforums.com/forums/pc-games/1011688-get-your-rigs-out-lads.html#post9657616
Silverstone LC20 - http://www.avforums.com/forums/9609540-post397.html
Silverstone Grandia GD01B-R - http://www.avforums.com/forums/9616229-post403.html
Silverstone CW02 - http://www.avforums.com/forums/9466220-post93.html
Silverstone CW03
Antec Fusion 'Remote' Max Premium
Zalman HD160+ - http://www.avforums.com/forums/9487013-post160.html
As you can see with this picture of the Silverstone LC17 there is a good layout for getting rid of hot air and keeping your hardware cool.
Avoid cases which have the DVD centred in the middle of the case as this will stop you installing a decent graphics card as the DVD drive bay will get in the way. Here is such a case its the Silverstone LC16. Its a nice looking case but useless for installing a long graphics card.
Fans - Once you have chosen your HTPC case its time to swap out all the fans. All stock case fans can be improved upon in terms of noise levels along with the amount of air they move (CFM = Cubic Feet per Minute). Below are some fans I would recommend with their dB levels and their CFM rating.
80mm Fans
80mm - Coolink 11dB fan - 21.1CFM - SWiF-801 80mm Case Fan
80mm – Noctua NF-R8 - 10db – 23CFM with supplied LNA adapter - NF-R8 80mm Quiet Case Fan
80mm - slim line 15mm deep fan (ideal if you cant fit a standard depth 25mm deep fan) - SilenX Ixterma Pro – 11dB – 18CFM - SilenX Fan Ixtrema Pro 11dBA 80x80x15mm Slim 18CFM : IXP-52-11 |UK's leading Water cooling, Hardware and Gaming peripherals retailer
92mm Fans
92mm – Noctua NF-B9 Vortext-Control - 13.1db – 31CFM with supplied LNA adapter - NF-B9 Vortex-Control 92mm Quiet Case Fan
92mm - Scythe Gentle Typhoon 13dB - 25.9 CFM - Gentle Typhoon 92mm 1700 RPM Cooling Fan
120mm Fans
120mm - Noctua NF-S12 800 RPM - 8dB - 35 CFM - NF-S12 800 RPM 120mm Quiet Case Fan
120mm - Noctua NF-S12 1200 RPM - 17dB - 48 CFM - NF-S12 1200 RPM 120mm Quiet Case Fan
120mm - Noctua NF-S12B ULN Ultra Low Noise RPM – 6.8dB – 33.5 CFM - NF-S12B ULN Ultra Low Noise 120mm Cooling Fan, 500/700 RPM
I always add Anti-Vibration Fan Gaskets to the build just as an added measure to reduce noise.
Fansis Fan Gaskets
CPU Cooling - Now we have the basics out of the way ie case and case cooling we look at the cpu cooling. When your using a HTPC you are restricted with what cpu cooler you can use. This is mainly due to the height of the HTPC case. Double check your clearance height inside the HTPC case you buy to make sure a the cpu cooler you want will fit in it. There are so many decent cpu coolers out there today do your research and and pick one that can cool efficiently and run quietly. I like cpu coolers where you can swap out the fans for after market ones.
One of the best air cpu coolers about at the moment is the Scythe Mini Ninja as shown below. If you go this route swap the fan out which comes with the Mini Ninja for a 80mm/90mm/120mm fan.
Mini Ninja Heatpipe CPU Cooler
Ninja II Heatpipe Cooler, with 120mm fan
Noctua NH-U9B CPU Heatpipe Heatsink with NF-B9 Fan
A decent cpu cooler will keep your cpu running temps down and allow you to overclock your system for extra performance if you so wish. It will also keep you HTPC running quietly which is one of the main goals of a HTPC.
Watercooling - This is and another route you can take for a HTPC and this works very well. It is allot more expensive than air cooling but it works a treat and will allow you to overclock your setup to gain more performance without worrying about heat build up in your case. I use a Zalaman Reserator XT on my HTPC but there are other products on the market that do the same job. I run a Core i7 @ 4.0Ghz and a 4870X2 in a Silverstone LC17 case in a semi restricted av rack with good temps. This would be impossible without watercooling.
Another benefit of watercooling is that it runs allot more silent than a normal air-cooled set-up as you can cool your cpu, chipset and graphics card all with water which reduces the amount of fans needed and noise levels.
Hardware
Motherboard - If you are looking to game you will need a semi decent motherboard especially if you are looking to overclock. I tend to stay away from micro atx mobos and go for full sized ones, but you can game on both with no problems at all. If you are looking to overclock your cpu then do your research and buy a decent motherboard which is known for overclocking well. Also look at things like how much heat does the chipset give off.
Graphics Card - Now this is one of my favourite pieces of hardware and this is what will make your set-up a gaming one. You can have 1080p capable gaming card these days for very little money. The more money you spend the more eye candy you can have in game. Effects like Anti-aliasing and Anisotropic filtering can be turned right up which make a big difference to how a game looks. For an explanation on what AA and AF is and does read the links below.
Anti-aliasing - What is Anti-Aliasing, how does it affect our graphics
Anisotropic filtering - Anisotropic filtering - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Direct X
Direct X gives us different levels of eye candy and the higher the version of Direct X (DX) the better the games look. We currently have 3 different types of Direct X.
DX9 - Most common version of DX is DX9. DX has been with us for years. All cards and operating systems can use DX9.
DX10/10.1 - This version of DX has been around for 3 years now. There is an increase in visuals with DX10/10.1 but the difference isn't huge but it is noticeable. You will need Vista or Win7 and a DX 10 capable card to use DX10. All graphics cards from the nvidia 8000 series to present day and ATI 2000 series to present day are DX10 capable. DX10.1 is a revised version of DX10 and runs approximately 25% better than DX10. If you want DX10.1 you will need a DX10.1 capable card. At present only ATI 4000/5000 series support DX10.1.
DX11 - This is the new version of DX. Games supporting this format are to be released at the end of 2009 and will be thin on the ground. If you want to experiance DX11 then you will need Vista or Win7 Operating system installed on your HTPC and a DX11 capable card. So far the only cards on the market that support DX11 is the ATI 5000 series. Expect Nvidia GT300 series to support DX11 when it is released at the end of 2009 beginning of 2010.
Please note that Windows XP cannot use DX10/10.1 or DX11. Only Vista and Win7 can run this level of DX.
I will separate the current crop and older crop of cards into sections for performance.
Last gen
Older cards are listed below and can be picked up very cheaply 2nd hand.
Any Nvidia 8800 card will be able to handle 1080p gaming with ease, The same goes for 9800 Nvidia cards and 9600GT.
ATI cards like the 3870, 3870X2 will do 1080p gaming. Be aware that the 3870X2 is a hot card.
Current Gen
Next up is what graphics card to go for. If your looking for sheer power then these cards are top of their game at the moment (in order of power, most powerfull at the top).
We also have the new Dx11 capable cards which will give you new eyecandy once games start supporting Dx11.
ATI are first to the market with Dx11 cards with the 5000 series. These cards use less power than the older 4000 series and are what are known as next gen cards. Expect Nvidia to bring out their Dx11 cards by the end of the 2009 for the enthusiast range and mainstream range early next year. This means that the 4000 ATI series and 200 Nvidia series are all end of Line and will soon be phased out.
These cards are for enthusiasts who demand the best:
5970 - Dx11 capable dual gpu card
GTX 480 - The fastest DX11 single gpu card but runs very hot and uses allot of power
295GTX - Dual gpu card only DX10 (phased out now)
4870X2 - Dual gpu card only DX10 (phased out now)
5870 – Dx11 capable card
GTX 470 - Dx11 capable card
5850 – Dx11 capable card
Mid range cards:
GTX 460 - DX11 capable card
GTX 465 - DX11 capable card
5830 - Dx11 capable card - Price too close to 5850 to consider
285GTX - Cooler running faster version of the 280GTX (phased out now)
280GTX - Phased out now
The next level down would be (in order of power). All these cards can game at 1080p:
4890 - More than enough power for today's games (phased out now)
275GTX - More than enough power for today's games (phased out now)
260GTX 216 shader pipelines - (phased out now)
4870 - A good card (phased out now)
5770 - Dx11 capable card
260GTX 192 shader pipelines - Phased out now
5750 - Entry DX11 card - Price too close to 5770 to consider
4850 - Good entry card (phased out now)
4770 - Good entry level card (phased out now)
4830 - Good entry level card (phased out now)
These are the bottom end of the market and I wouldn't really recommend these cards as you can get better for the same money or a few quid more. They are basically old tech re badged and re marketed.
4670 - Basically a 3850 re badged. Now the 4770 is out there's no point in buying this card
250GTX - Expensive for what it is and its basically a re badged and over clocked 8800gt
I would also recommend going for cards with more than 512mb. 512mb will be fine but at higher resolutions like 1080p, but more memory is needed if you want to apply higher levels of AA. If you are gaming at 720p this wont effect you so much but I would still recommend going for more memory if you can afford it.
GPU Cooling - One thing to pay attention to is the cooling side of these cards. ATI has the worst stock coolers in terms of noise and cooling. The stock cooler sounds like a leaf blower and isn't recommended for a HTPC at all. At idle its quiet but it also runs the cards hot so I can't recommend using an ATI 3000/4000 stock cooler in a HTPC. If you want an ATI card get one with after market cooling on it like the HIS ICEQ4 or Saphire Vapor X. Temperatures are approximately 20c lower than stock coolers and they run silent.
Nvidia cards have better stock cooling and you might not need to buy a card with after market cooling.
If you already have a graphics card and the stock cooler is noisy you can swap out a stock cooler for an after market one which are sold at most on-line retailers.
I have done this with my 4870X2 and a waterblock. If you want to see how its done there is some info in the link below, the same method of swapping coolers should apply to an air-cooled gpu cooler:
http://www.avforums.com/forums/home-cinema-pcs/972521-razors-watercooled-silent-gaming-htpc.html
One thing to look for when buying a gaming graphics card for a HTPC is don't get a passive card as all that will happen is that your HTPC case will get very hot and it will end up shutting your pc down due to the high temps. A graphics card with a decent cooler will run silently and wont be heard in operation.
I would recommend getting a graphics card with a dual slot cooler like this one:
With a dual slot cooler all the hot air from your case and gpu gets vented outside the back of your HTPC and not blown around your case as it would with a single slot cooler.
A decent graphics card is an essential part of a gaming set-up especially if you are gaming at 1080p as at this resolution most of the work is done by the graphics card and not the cpu.
CPU - Any decent dual core cpu will be fine for gaming. If it can play HD formats then paired with a graphics card it will be fine for gaming. I would say that the minimum spec for a dual core cpu would be 2.0-2.2Ghz. There are of course tri core and quad core cpu's out on the market and these are also good for gaming especially as more and more games are starting to use more cores.
At the present time we have a few different cpu solutions.
Intel
Currently the king of the hill in terms of power. Clock for clock nothing can touch them. I will list the benefits of each cpu and socket.
Core i7 Socket 1366 - It has hyper threading, triple channel DDR3 memory supports SLI/Crossfire with 2 or 3 16x pcie 2.0 express sots and will also get 6 core cpus next year. This is known as ultra high end gear and on average will cost about £100 than a similar core i5 setup.
Core i5/i7 Socket 1156 - This platform is very similar to the 1366 but it aimed for more mainstream users. The core i5 is cheaper than the core i7 (1366 cpu). There is no triple channel memory on the 1156 socket and it uses dual channel DDR3 memory instead. There is only 1 x 16xpcie 2.0 slot on this socket. Core i5 has no hyper-threading but core i7 1156 cpus do. Core i5 use slightly less power and give off less heat than the socket 1366 core i7's mainly due to the fact that there is no hyper-threading.
What does this mean? It basically means that with the 1366 socket you have an upgrade path to six core cpus, performs better if you were to go crossfire or sli and when apps and games start using triple channel memory you will see some benefit. Also the socket 1366 core i7's seem to overclock a little bit better than its 1156 socket brothers.
What is hyper-threading? Hyper-threading is a useful thing to have if you like to multi task but it isn't really taken advantage of in games yet. Hyper-threading basically splits a core into 2 threads.
For example if a cpu is only using 20% of one core to do a task that leaves 80% of that core going to waste. What hyper-threading does is allocate that 80% of the unused core to another task. This means a quad core cpu has 8 threads instead of 4, which means it can do 8 things at the same time instead of 4.
Both core i5/17 1366/1156 will give you an excellent base for a gaming rig and as both sockets are new and will have a good upgrade path. Which one you go for is totally up to you the user depending on which route you want to take and what kind of rig you are looking for.
Socket 775 - This is now the outgoing socket and it has been with us for 3+ years. This was the previous king of the hill until core i7. This is still an excellent platform and should still have years of life left in it. You can get dual and quad core cpu's on this socket and they are very cool running cpus.
AMD
Phenom II - There are tri core and quad core X3/X4 cpus. These are what are known as the bang for buck processors. Clock for clock they aren't as fast as the Intel core i5 and i7 cpus and come close to the socket 775 cpus. However the AMD Phenom come with high clock speeds out of the box for very little money. This is handy if you are on a budget or cannot overclock. These cpus will be fine for gaming on and if you are on tight a budget. This cpu supports DDR3 dual channel memory.
AMD Athlon II - This is the older AMD cpu and again isn't as fast as the intel cpu's clock for clock and is also slower than the its bigger brother the Phenom II.
Memory - The sweet spot for the amount of ram you have installed is 2gb, you can add more and it will benefit some games but most games are happy with 2gb.
Good makes of ram are:
Corsair
Crucial
OCZ
Kingston
There are 3 different types of memory you can buy. Make sure you buy the right one if you are building a new rig. DDR2, DDR3 (dual-Channel) and DDR3 (triple-Channel).
PSU - Please don't skimp on the psu by buying a £30.00 600 watt all singing and dancing psu. As it can and probably will die on you taking your hardware with it. If your going for a lower end graphics card say a £100 or below then a decent 500watt psu will be more than enough to power your set-up. If you are going for one of the more expensive or top end graphics card then look at buying a 600watt+ psu.
Here are some decent makes of PSU's:
Corsair
OCZ
Seasonic
Enermax
Bequiet
If you are not sure on what wattage psu you should buy here is a handy psu calculator to help you.
eXtreme Power Supply Calculator Lite v2.5
As long as you stick to a quality psu you cant go wrong. Also try and get a modular psu as there isn't much space in htpc cases and a modular psu will help you cut down on cables in your case. This will give your case potentially better airflow and make the install easier.
Sound Card - All games benefit from using a decent sound card. X-fi cards are the best in terms of compatibility and giving accurate in game sound.
You can experience Dolby Digital Live and DTS Connect whilst playing your favourite games. It does add allot to the whole gaming experience and is well worth doing if you have a surround system.
There are a few different sound solutions to try on a pc.
- Onboard sound from the mobo. This solution is fine for gaming but it wont give you the most out of your system. You wont be able to get multichannel surround sound from your games and you will be limited to stereo or pro-logic.
- Sound from an ATI graphics card. This will give you multichannel digital surround sound which is a nice step up from onboard sound. This is easy to setup and will output sound via a HDMI cable so make sure you have an amp/receiver with a HDMI input. Another benefit of the newer 5000 series of ATI cards is that they also bit stream HD audio to your amp if you so wish. The ATI 4000 series can also do HD audio but passes the signal as PCM.
- Separate sound card. This will give you the best in game sound, you will be able to experience Dolby Digital Live and DTS Connect in any game. This does add allot to the whole gaming experience and is well worth doing if you have a decent surround setup.
I have tried a few sound cards solutions and one sound card which I will say is not great for gaming on is the Asus HDAV1.3. This card is a good card for HD audio but when it comes to gaming it has issues. The HDMI pass-through on this card sometimes doesn't like to play ball with certain games and doesn't like any res which isn't 1080p or 720p. This can cause issues as some games boot up for the very first time with strange pc resolutions like 640x480. This will lead to a blank screen.
One thing I would like to point out is that all Asus sound cards don't do any of the gaming sound decoding on hardware. They do this decoding via software which can give you a hit in your frame rates ie more load on your cpu. If you have an Asus sound card ie non HDAV gaming will be fine but please be aware that your frame rates will probably take approx a 10% hit.
Here are a few recommendations of some good gaming sound cards.
Auzentech Forte
Auzentech Prelude
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer
Useful Apps for a Gaming HTPC
Overclocking and Monitoring your Graphics card temps -
Ati Tool - ATi Tool 0.27 b2 download from Guru3D.com
RivaTuner - RivaTuner v2.24 download from Guru3D.com
Monitoring HTPC Temperatures -
GPUZ - techPowerUp! :: Download TechPowerUp GPU-Z v0.3.4
Coretemp - Core Temp
Benchmarking -
Futuremark 3D Mark 06 - Futuremark - Benchmarks - 3DMark06 - Download
Futuremark Vantage - Futuremark - Benchmarks - 3DMark Vantage - Download
Latest Graphics Card Drivers -
ATI & Nvidia - http://www.avforums.com/forums/pc-games/629682-latest-graphics-card-drivers-nvidia-ati.html
Final Word
You can build a gaming HTPC really cheaply these days and it will give you decent gaming on a 1080p display which will far outperform a modern day console and if done correctly will be just as quiet as a non gaming HTPC.
Here is an example for a cheap gaming HTPC basic components
Intel E5200 clocked @ 2.5Ghz - £50
Asus P5Q SE Socket 775 - £70
ATI HD 4770 - £70
2gb DDR2 800Mhz - £23
Add on HDD's, case, fans etc as you see fit..
If you already have a HTPC then all that is really needed is a graphics card. Just make sure your psu is powerful enough and monitor your temps whilst gaming by using some of the apps listed above.
If you would like to see some examples of what hardware you will need for a gaming HTPC build then scroll down a few posts as I have included a few templates for different budgets to get you started.
http://www.avforums.com/forums/home...-thread-part-2-updated-info.html#post10593393
I hope this little guide will help some people get into pc gaming and give others who are looking to build or add to their existing HTPC some ideas.
Any questions you may have please post away. Also if anyone has any pictures of their gaming HTPC set-up please post them up.
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