Gaming options include console purchases or PC builds. Yes, I understand.
Gaming options include console purchases or PC builds. Yes, I understand.
Good evening. I’m not someone who spends much time playing games, my gaming history mostly revolves around the Atari 2600. But I’m a big fan of home theater setups and PC building, so I’m putting everything together. Last week, after moving into our new house, my original Xbox stopped working completely. My two young boys, aged 4 to 6, were only starting to enjoy gaming—playing hockey and snowboarding. I almost bought a new one this weekend just for them as a Christmas gift (I promise).
The space where it would go is part of my main home theater room inside the existing cabinet. It currently holds a big media server (MS W10, old Q6600), an Asus P5K Deluxe with 8GB RAM and an AMD HD7870 with over 40TB storage. My main worries are fourfold:
1. Running games on the media server would likely suffer due to its limited power. The screen is a Sammy PN64F8500 Plasma, so that’s fine.
2. I’m not sure how to get PC gaming gear—controllers and peripherals I don’t know much about yet.
3. I’d prefer they use real controllers instead of keyboards until they’re older and ready for their own gaming spaces. I’d also love them to try Kinect or a PS4 camera for dancing games if possible.
4. I want a comfortable environment where we can all play together, especially on rainy days.
I’m thinking of either buying an Xbox One/PS4 with accessories within my budget, or building a custom gaming rig in a separate case inside the cabinet. Upgrading the media server to handle both gaming and streaming would also be ideal. With a $800 budget (roughly what the new console would cost plus a few games), I’m not sure what options are available right now.
I’d appreciate any advice or suggestions you can offer. Thanks!
SRT10
Consider using an existing setup instead of purchasing a new console. A Q6600 with an HD 7870 should be able to run most games smoothly at lower to medium settings, offering good performance. You may need to allocate some of your budget toward PC accessories.
I considered it, but the media server is broadcasting elsewhere in the home. I need better gaming quality and prefer to keep the server running with what I have. As I read more, I’m thinking about setting up a simple gaming setup.
Abyssal really captured my attention, especially during that Christmas bowling night. It made me think about how convenient the Wii U was—just like picking up what you already enjoy. Today I noticed my CPU fan on the media server is ready to shut down, which is a bit concerning. I’m considering a full upgrade: board, CPU, RAM, cooler, SSD, and video card. Adding peripherals might work, but I’m unsure where to begin. I think I’ll start researching now.
I've seen some exciting developments and choices. I upgraded the Media server with a HyperX 480GB Savage SSD, added a new Noctua NH-C14, got the R9 290x for a good price, increased storage, and installed a raid/sata expansion card since two HDDs stopped working like old bike spokes. This week I also swapped those two drives. My plan (no thanks to my wife) is to keep the original Wii with all the extras for the kids and our gaming fun. For now, I'll tackle Minecraft, Lego, and a few other PC games using two PS4 DS4s plus a Bluetooth dongle so they can try PC games. Everything else outside these hardware changes will stay until Christmas, I'm sure.