PC or Console to be connected to HDTV as "entertainment system"

[AlphaJohn]

Personally opted for the PC route but that because I have a gaming PC in the study. With Steam I had the ability to stream my games from my top end gaming PC so only needed a cheap R4000 PC. I did add an Air-Mouse + Xbox one Controller so that its more TV Friendly plus with Kodi's addons I got Mame and Steam integration.

You can do more with a PC and games are cheaper but consoles is the way to go if you just want to plug in something simple and let people tell you how and what you must do.

 

[Krosis]

A Pentium is not a i5. The argument i'm making is not about the core count. I'm saying the pentium is just not as high performance as the i5 and if OP decides to move past "casual gaming" it just won't do. The pentium will be a big bottleneck to even a 1050Ti.

There are very often reasonably priced kaby i5's on carbonite so the argument from a budget point of view also falls away for the most part.

Found this, somehow the G4560 looks even better than I thought it to be. This should show that entry level and midrange cards don't really need the fastest CPU as they don't have to push as many frames as the bigger cards.

[video=youtube_share;FUapuF0y30s]https://youtu.be/FUapuF0y30s[/video]

I don't dispute that the i5 will have more power, but when a midrange card has reached it's perfomance limit, a faster CPU won't make it go faster. Also, as I said earlier, Ryzen should be considered over an i5, even an unlocked i5 would be rather poor value considering the added cost. I would recommend OP invest in a good storage solution instead. But admittedly none of the options are bad options.

So my view: Pentium < i5 < R5 1600. If not conviced, there's nothing wrong with going for an i5 build, it'll still be a pretty descent machine. Plus plugging in a more powerful card in the future will mean you'll be able to push it much harder. My own recommendation is an R5 1600 and GTX 1060 6GB build with plenty of storage.

 

[deesef]

My solution was to pull-in an HDMI cable from the study to the TV room. This connects the PC video and audio to the sound system and the TV. As a remote control, I mainly use VNC with two android vnc apps:
- Desktop 169 for remote mouse + remote screen on the phone
- Remote 169 for remote mouse only.

I do general PC stuff in the study. Games are played either in the study or in the TV room, using xbox wireless gaming pads.
We watch 2d and 3d movies, series, etc in the tv room.

This was the cheapest solution for my requirement, as the PC would otherwise do nothing while we watch TV.

 

[AlphaJohn]

My solution was to pull-in an HDMI cable from the study to the TV room. This connects the PC video and audio to the sound system and the TV. As a remote control, I mainly use VNC with two android vnc apps:
- Desktop 169 for remote mouse + remote screen on the phone
- Remote 169 for remote mouse only.

I do general PC stuff in the study. Games are played either in the study or in the TV room, using xbox wireless gaming pads.
We watch 2d and 3d movies, series, etc in the tv room.

This was the cheapest solution for my requirement, as the PC would otherwise do nothing while we watch TV.

Why not just pop a PC on a stick then?

Bought a PC on a stick for my bedroom that runs Windows 10 and stream media very well. Less hassle and SO can watch independently.

 

[deesef]

Why not just pop a PC on a stick then?

Bought a PC on a stick for my bedroom that runs Windows 10 and stream media very well. Less hassle and SO can watch independently.

My SO can only watch tv even I say so .

In any case, an HDMI cable is cheaper than even the cheapest pc on a stick...

 

[AlphaJohn]

My SO can only watch tv even I say so .

In any case, an HDMI cable is cheaper than even the cheapest pc on a stick...

Hey don't mock the cost, I got at least 2 nights of happyness (R1100 well spent) for thinking of her

 

[ponder]

Also, as I said earlier, Ryzen should be considered over an i5, even an unlocked i5 would be rather poor value considering the added cost.

R2200 for and i5 7500 is not poor value.

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

R2200 for and i5 7500 is not poor value.

That's a bit of an exception to the norm, that's not the regular retail price and I think a lot people would probably be more comfortable purchasing from a reputable store.

 

[ODTech]

That's a bit of an exception to the norm, that's not the regular retail price and I think a lot people would probably be more comfortable purchasing from a reputable store.

Implying the folks on carbonite doesn't have good reputations?

I've bought many items from there and several cpu's from PotterH and i have zero complaints.

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

Implying the folks on carbonite doesn't have good reputations?

I've bought many items from there and several cpu's from PotterH and i have zero complaints.

Not at all what I was implying. I'm saying a lot of people would rather want to purchase from a well known store (e.g. Takealot, Loot, Wootware, etc) than from a person they've never heard of on a classifieds website.

 

[ODTech]

Not at all what I was implying. I'm saying a lot of people would rather want to purchase from a well known store (e.g. Takealot, Loot, Wootware, etc) than from a person they've never heard of on a classifieds website.

Shoppers frequently ask for opinions on online stores and they can do the same for a person on carbonite. Forums exist for that purpose amongst others.

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

Shoppers frequently ask for opinions on online stores and they can do the same for a person on carbonite. Forums exist for that purpose amongst others.

You're missing the point entirely and I'm not going to waste anymore time on something this obvious.