Wotcher all. Lady BMcH has asked me to investigate our having a PC console - basically a Steam Machine. It should be a similar size and noise level to an XBone or PS4, and should be able to run pretty much anything at 1080p60 with high detail settings (though mostly it'll be playing fairly simple indie stuff).
When I try to configurate such a thing at any of a range of suppliers it seems to come out around the grand mark, and I think it should be about half of that. Any suggestions?
I have a mini ITX box coming for the workshop which I'll test out, but I think the solution will need better than Intel HD graphics and a fanless Celeron!
"[Sporky] brings a certain vibe and dignity to the forum."
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Offset "(Emp) - a little heavy on the hyperbole."
It's got a gtx960, a 330w power supply (although its happy to run higher apparently and plenty of people online seem to have managed to upgrade the gpu to a gtx 1060 which has more power but drinks less energy), core i7 6700, 256gb Samsung M.2 Pci-e 950 Pro ssd, 2tb spinning disk drive, in built disc reader/writer, 16gb ram, Windows 10 home.
About the size of an xbox, quiet (I put games on the hard drive, but it's not horrendously loud) and as the power supply is external it's not got fans running all the time to cool that off. Plenty of usb/connectivity options. Runs Doom really damn good.
Looks daft mind.
Mine was second hand from John Lewis with 3 year extended warranty, but missing power supply (picked one up from a laptop PSU spares shop, official Dell stockist - about £60). You might find one on ebay.
On set up, I needed to download an alienware firmware update and Dell support helped me install a fresh driver for the disc drive, which worked fine but wouldn't eject when pushing the button, only when ejecting on screen with the mouse. Bar that, it's been pretty amazing with very few crashes and insanely fast boot up time. I love it so much I'll probably take it to a computer shop in the summer for an internal clean and software tidy up to keep it running perfectly. If that's of any benefit (thread will come nearer the time!).
Can't recommend it enough. Also, being a high end alienware, means it qualifies for dell's premium support, so faster response times and 1-to-1 live chat. They've been excellent with me.
I would also find it useful, but it's genuinely more for her than for me, though she knows I'll enjoy the research and build bits.
If you want to build you own, please ignore *every* word I said.
Although, spec wise it's a nice indicator. There are newer processors out now, but the i7 6700 is *brilliant* and the i5 is probably better with higher clock speeds.
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Football is rubbish.
What's shocking is that she even plays games where she doesn't get to be a woman.
(also ta for the suggestions chaps - found a Shuttle style option with a 1050ti for about £770 which is getting more sensible)
They're also a good £40 cheaper than the equivalent i5.
@Sporky, may I hijack this thread for advice as well, or should I create my own?
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
Football is rubbish.
In that case, Alienware are not cool and it's no longer made, but I've nothing but positivity for the x51 r3. Bloody quick, pretty quiet, not huge, and available for not too many pounds, with decent chat support available.
Build quality - not a clue sadly. But the specs are impressive and mine only gets warm when playing doom for a while. I'm currently playing final fantasy ten for extended periods of time around job applications on high graphics at 1440p and it runs fine (old game mind). Doom runs at mostly high settings at 1080p perfectly.
Add to this the possibility of dropping in a newer graphics card (needs to be a slim one) that eats less energy and it's a pretty winning combination.
The most taxing thing mine does beyond doom is probably Lightroom - it does great now I've disabled the graphics processor in Lightroom (don't ask, Adobe have weird ways). Loads and processes 24mp raw files pretty quickly, doesn't often lag and when it does its just time to clear the cache.