Gaming Discussions

[Ashley_AMD]

Hi all,

Recently I've been wanting to spend more time away from my desk during off-work hours, and more time sitting in the living room gaming instead. I've got a Switch and an Xbox Series X, but one of my favorite games ever that I'd really like the option to play (The Sims) isn't available on the Switch, and doesn't offer all the expansions on Xbox. Even if it did, I'd have to re-buy all of them (currently own every single one on Origin lol). Otherwise I'd just buy a mouse and keyboard and use the Xbox (because playing The Sims via controller is...not the worst, but not the best lol).

So my question is: what options do I have? My initial train of thought is to build a rig for my living room/couch gaming. Was thinking I could throw in my old 1080 Ti and 2700x, and would need to purchase a mobo, ram (just 16 gigs), hd, etc. For additional context; I'm not looking to play much else on it other than The Sims and similar, so I don't really need a beast of a machine. 

Not sure what other options might be available, and curious about y'alls thoughts! 🤔

[rockmuncher]

A friend of mine did this at his old apartment. Wireless peripherals are your friend here. The biggest enemy you'll run into is the TV itself, most of which do not support monitor level resolutions or refresh rates. 

As an alternative, consider using it as a way to play games on your main computer using steam share, using the less powerful local computer as a remote machine, you might not even need a powerful graphics card locally if the titles you're interested in support this kind of option.

[Sam_AMD]

I agree with @rockmuncher , especially going wireless, it's the way to go. 

Plus, I suggest small factor components since you're only gonna play The Sims. Meaning, get a mini-ITX case, low watt PSU, entry level GPU because of your TV, a small (cost-friendly) SSD, 8GB of mem, etc. 

If you end-up building the rig, be sure to share it with us! 😎

[Key-J]

I used to have a very similar problem @Ashley_AMD . When I bought a VR set, I wanted to play it in my living room, but my PC was in my office.

At first, I would just carry my PC, Mouse and Keyboard to my living room whenever I wanted to play, but that got tiring and cumbersome.

So, I ended up finding an HDMI cable that was a couple of meters long (luckily my PC was in the office next to the living room) and connected the TV that way, and I also found an extender for the DVI and USB 3 (i didn't loose any noticeable quality over the extra distance). Then I just hooked into that and was good to go!

So in your case, I think with a cheapo wireless M/KB combo, and a long enough HDMI cable (as long as your PC is somewhere that you can snake a HDMI cable to) your gaming in the livingroom problems are solved!

Besides, instead of buying yourself all those new computer parts, save the money for this:

[ThunderBeaver]

Now I'm somewhat disappointed.

All PC Gamers know that a Recliner is a far superior form of PC Gaming Hardware. 😛

[tenzo23]

Any reason to build a new rig is a good reason!

A decent laptop with HDMI plus wireless KB and mouse would work too, I'd think.

*Edit - I have an LG Smart TV and tried using Cast to Wireless Display from Windows settings.

At first it couldn't find my TV, which is connected to internet via WiFi. My PC is connected by ethernet at the router. After I plugged in a USB WiFi adapter to my PC and scanned, it found my TV.

But, it couldn't connect. I'll try an ethernet connection to the TV tomorrow..

Anyway, it's something you can try!

[Ashley_AMD]

Thank you for the replies everyone! 

Rockmuncher, I'll have to investigate Steam share - wondering if it works on non-Steam games that are manually added to my Steam library?

Sam, I was searching for a mini-ITX case but wasn't able to find one that would accommodate the gpu's radiator (it's a 1080 TI SC2 Hybrid) and I'm not in the market to buy a new gpu when I have one I can use already. xD I will definitely share if I build it!

KeyJ, thank you for the suggestion! Unfortunately the HDMI option would probably not work for me based on the location of my office and living room. 😞

Tenzo, ahhh didn't think about a laptop. Might cost me a bit more than building the rig, but I'll look into it! Also curious about how casting to your tv works out. 👀

[tenzo23]

Never could get Windows to cast to my TV, but I ended up using Chrome browser to cast my desktop (video and audio) to the Chromecast plugged into one of my TVs HDMI ports.

You could say it works, but not great for gaming. As expected, there was some latency and lag input (about half a second). Fine for browsing, videos, and maybe some casual games, but not for anything fast paced.

Dedicated hardware and a wired video connection is definitely the way to go!

[Ashley_AMD]

Thanks for looking into it @tenzo23 ! Really like your tv set up by the way, very nice. 

Well, looks like I'll be building a new rig! 😁

[Sam_AMD]

@tenzo23 I have to ask, how big is your TV? 

[tenzo23]

@Sam_AMD  It's just a 42" LED. I guess it looks bigger in the pic. 😀 There's a 50" TV in the living room.

[rdenmon]

1. Use a tablet/ phone and use Steams Remote Play

How to Use Steam's Remote Play Anywhere Feature (makeuseof.com)

2.) Depending on distance from living room to PC maybe miracast and I think Steam/ Windows have a way to connect to smart TV which could be options.

3. You can buy SteamDeck, im sure you can link to tv.