Setup a gaming environment

w00519772

I asked the following question recently: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5369256

I am planning to upgrade my PC in the next few days based on the advice given.

My PC is currently physically located in a study upstairs. I want to play games on my TV in the living room. I believe I have a few options:

1) Leave the PC in the study and buy a wireless video streamer e.g. this: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2889210/nzxt-doko-review-the-little-streaming-box-that-barely-could.html. Switch the PC on upstairs and stream the video content wirlessly to the TV. I have read that this can be patchy? Is a Doko the best option?
2) Move the PC to the living room and connect it to the TV using a HDMI cable. Buy a laptop for the study. When I want to work in the study I will RDP (Remote Desktop) from the laptop in the study to the PC in the living room. The laptop will not be good enough to do everything (software development) locally, so I will have to RDP.
3) Leave the PC in the study and put the laptop in the living room. Wirlessly stream the video from the PC to the laptop. Connect the laptop to the TV using HDMI.

Which option do you use? Do you use another option? Where is your PC located? In the living room or in a study?

ricardinho88

Personally, I'd move the PC and hook it up to the TV.

If you're gaming you want the fastest response times, and streaming over a network is never going to be as quick as a normal wired connection.

Slithery

Option 4.

Leave the PC in the study and run HDMI/USB cables to the living room.

w00519772

Slithery wrote: »

Option 4.

Leave the PC in the study and run HDMI/USB cables to the living room.

That would mean cables trailing though the house?

Nilrem

w00519772 wrote: »

That would mean cables trailing though the house?

Depending on distance it's doable, but could end up being fairly costly as you'd likely need good quality cabling, and active USB cables (or usb over cat5 adaptors).
If you were to go this route it would probably be looking at HDMI and USB over cat 5 cabling, as that just requires two small cables run with the relevant adaptors on the end.

The easiest, most trouble free and reliable option would be to put the PC within a few feet of the TV.

The next option would possibly be to get something like the Steam streaming box which is designed specifically for this sort of role (and could be cheaper and a lot less hassle than running longer cables of a reasonable quality).
This would be about £80 for the box and a cheap cat5 cable from memory.

No matter how you do it, unless the distance is quite short (under about 15 feet from memory*), you're going to run into the realms of fairly expensive cabling and adaptors.


*USB requires active adaptors for the signal after 15 feet or so.

w00519772

Thanks for your responses. I am interested to hear how other people setup a gaming environment. Do you play games in the lounge, bedroom or study?

Nilrem

I tend to play games in the bedroom, either on the monitor or on my TV (connected to the PC by a 10 foot hdmi cable).

Cycrow

The best option would be to buy a decent monitor for the PC then you game in the study. A Decent monitor would be cheaper than buying a laptop. And would be better than the TV, especially if you get a higher res one, like 1440p

The cheaper option would be to get the Steam link and stream to the TV. You would need both the PC and steam link connected to a network via a cable.

The cheapest option would be to simply move the pc into the living room when gaming and back into the study when working, this wont cost you any extra, but adds the hassle of moving the pc around

Slithery

w00519772 wrote: »

That would mean cables trailing though the house?

Not if you properly chase them into the walls.

I have my PC in the loft and CAT5 and USB faceplates in my lounge.

w00519772

Is there any cost to create a Steam (http://store.steampowered.com/) account and download the PC software?

I was thinking about buying the Controller and Link so that I can play games in my living room on the TV.

Can you sell Steam games you download after you have finished with them. I do not believe you can after reading this: http://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/7/846939071211825454/. Is this not a big limitation with Steam. After all people are selling physical games on Ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Call-Of-Duty-Infinite-Warfare-PC-Brand-New-And-Sealed-/122212929236?hash=item1c74754ed4:g:FksAAOSwal5YHau7

DCFC79

No I dont believe you can sell games bought via Steam as they are tied to your account.

It is a big limitation imo but it doesnt stop people still using steam.