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Gaming PC on a 50 inch plasma?

z1ggy

z1ggy

Lifer
I decided not to post this in HTPC subforum because this won't be for movie viewing, although I do want this hooked up to my surround sound through my AVR.

I am thinking about building a new rig, but I didn't want to ask for advice in it's own thread yet, because I am unsure about the time frame. All I know is that I want it to run games like GTA, Bioshock BF4, COD, etc on my 50 inch plasma which is 1080p.

My questions are, which type of GPU set up would I go with? I want this to be pretty future proof in case I want a higher res. monitor/TV in the future. Will/should I use SLI?

Will this even be a good set up for gaming? I cant imagine sitting on a couch with wireless keyboard and mouse, using a textbook or something with keyboard in my lap are very good set ups for gaming (posture, easy of use of mouse, etc).

The whole point of this was the conundrum I am with the upcoming ps4. I enjoy console gaming now because I get to view my games on a nice deep black 50 inch plasma with 5.1 speaker set up. I also like my PC and the fact I can get better hardware and enjoy FPS games on it more. However, there is no 5.1 audio (my headphones are pretty solid open ear set though) and the overall viewing pleasures are less. I thought I could enoy the best of both worlds if I went with a setup that I am attempting to gain your help with.
 
Whether or not it will be an effective setup depends on personal preference. I've played that way and it's not as comfortable as playing at a desk or using a controller on the couch. Text is also much harder to read if the game's interface doesn't scale to a large TV well.

I know some people that have their main PC set up to game on their HDTV and are quite happy with it. Maybe you can hook your current computer or a friend's computer up to your TV and try it out?

On the other hand, some companies like Valve are starting to give the idea of TV gaming more attention, as with Steam's Big Screen mode. I haven't personally tried it.

As far as the GPU setup, I wouldn't overthink it. A good midrange card like a GTX760 or HD7950 is designed to handle 1080P for 3D games.

If you think there's actually a good chance that you'll be upgrading to a higher res display that's something to think about, but I would give that aspect of it some thought before you actually start buying parts.
 
It's pretty hard to future proof your gpu based on future resolutions...

It's tough to make a recommendation if you don't know when you want to put it together, but you should be able to max out all those games at 1080p with a single gpu. The 760 or 7950 should do the trick nicely.
 
For the hardware, it's the same whether gaming on a 22" 1080p monitor or 50" 1080p TV. The computer will be sending 1080p @ 60Hz, so it doesn't care what the screen size is.

The more prevalent question is whether couch PC gaming is a good idea, so maybe this should be in the PC gaming forum or even the HTPC forum.

I've looked into this in the past, and it seems that the best suggestion is to use an adjustable laptop cart or a lapdesk for your keyboard and mouse. Then you can use an XBOX 360 controller for any console ports with which you prefer a controller.

And search is your friend 🙂

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2311425
 
Essence_of_War said:
It's pretty hard to future proof your gpu based on future resolutions...

It's tough to make a recommendation if you don't know when you want to put it together, but you should be able to max out all those games at 1080p with a single gpu. The 760 or 7950 should do the trick nicely.
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Yeah my plasma is only 3 years old so I doubt I will be getting a high res TV monitor anytime soon. The 27'' 2560x1440 monitors are around $700, so if I did get one...It wouldn't be for a little while either. In the immediate future, it's either my current 23' 1080p monitor or the 50inch plasma.

kalrith said:
For the hardware, it's the same whether gaming on a 22" 1080p monitor or 50" 1080p TV. The computer will be sending 1080p @ 60Hz, so it doesn't care what the screen size is.

The more prevalent question is whether couch PC gaming is a good idea, so maybe this should be in the PC gaming forum or even the HTPC forum.

I've looked into this in the past, and it seems that the best suggestion is to use an adjustable laptop cart or a lapdesk for your keyboard and mouse. Then you can use an XBOX 360 controller for any console ports with which you prefer a controller.

And search is your friend 🙂

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2311425
Click to expand...

haha woops I didn't search. Sorry for the repost... Sort of.

So as to not start an all out thread on the build, since I don't know if I am going to do this next week or next month...What would be a good mobo? Would I want/need Z87? From what I gather in here so far, I will want to grab an i5. I may dable in OC'ing because I have in the past, so the "k" series would fit fine... But is it really worth the cost now?

And let's say I wanted to play Crysis 3, or any game that may be a heavy GPU reliant game. Would it be worth it to buy a mobo that has two PCIE slots for the GPU, but only buy one now and maybe a 2nd one at a later time?
 
Just try it and see if you like it. I watch streaming video off the Internet almost exclusively. Dont even pay for Cable TV anymore. I have a 40 inch Samsung LCD HDTV. I probably shouldnt but I never sit very far from the TV. My distant vision is not that good. So if I sit further away I need glasses. So sometimes I just use my little 18.5" Dell Monitor.
 
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Buying one card not and a second later is not usually an effective upgrade strategy. SLI doesn't generally actually double performance, and so by the time you get around to buying a second card there's usually a new single card out there that's just as fast or faster.

Add in that buying a second card effectively doubles the power draw and the heat output of the graphics subsystem and it's rare that SLI is worth it.

Now, if you're planning on getting a very high-res display then SLI often makes sense. In that case though the idea is to go with dual cards right off the bat and design your system with that in mind in terms of power supply and cooling.

Either way, starting with one card and then upgrading to two is rarely effective.
 
DSF said:
Buying one card not and a second later is not usually an effective upgrade strategy. SLI doesn't generally actually double performance, and so by the time you get around to buying a second card there's usually a new single card out there that's just as fast or faster.

Add in that buying a second card effectively doubles the power draw and the heat output of the graphics subsystem and it's rare that SLI is worth it.

Now, if you're planning on getting a very high-res display then SLI often makes sense. In that case though the idea is to go with dual cards right off the bat and design your system with that in mind in terms of power supply and cooling.

Either way, starting with one card and then upgrading to two is rarely effective.
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Okay. Thank you for the advice.

To anybody else who reads, do you also advise on the 76(7)0 for the gpu? Will that run top tier games well?
 
z1ggy said:
Okay. Thank you for the advice.

To anybody else who reads, do you also advise on the 76(7)0 for the gpu? Will that run top tier games well?
Click to expand...

For what it's worth, I'm not just recommending the 760. AMD's offerings are quite good as well, so I would consider cards like the HD7950. For starters look up benchmarks for the games you intend to play and see how different cards compare to one another.
 
DSF said:
For what it's worth, I'm not just recommending the 760. AMD's offerings are quite good as well, so I would consider cards like the HD7950. For starters look up benchmarks for the games you intend to play and see how different cards compare to one another.
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Good thought. I just checked some bences and based on price vs performance, it seems like its really a tie. The 770 is about 33% more $$ than the 7950. There are a bunch of benches where the 770 does not yeild 33% better frame rates, and then games like Crysis or BF3 where it does. Seeing as I do mainly FPS'es (although I may start playing games on PC that I used to play on console if I get the wireless adapter) it seems like the 770 might be worth the extra cost, especially in the long run.
 
I've had a TV as my only PC monitor for probably 4 years now. Right now I'm running a GTX670 with a 50" Panny plamsa through a Denon receiver. I know this isn't exactly what you were asking about, but I would give you one warning about doing this.

Image Retention.

It's not horribly bad, but enough to annoy me. I did a break in period with it, and made sure to change up what I was doing every couple of hours. But the faint ghost of the last game I was playing is unmistakable when doing something else (IE webbrowsing). It will go away after enough screen wipes, but I don't want to sit there and do 10 minutes of wipes after an hour or two of gaming. That's the longer retention stuff. Looking at the windows desktop for a couple of minutes, then switching to something else gives a noticable ghost of my desktop for a couple of minutes.

It's not enough of an issue for me to stop using the plasma now, but it's enough for me to plan on going back to an LCD when I get my next TV (ran a 46" LCD before the plasma).

In regards to readability and what not as mentioned above, I've had no issues with that.
 
Some plasmas have more image retention than others. PC games don't seem to cause worse IR than console games. The OP mentioned console gaming on his plasma, so he should already have an idea of how the IR is.

FWIW, the IR is practically non-existent on my 5yo Pioneer plasma. That's with both PS3 gaming and HTPC usage.
 
kalrith said:
Some plasmas have more image retention than others. PC games don't seem to cause worse IR than console games. The OP mentioned console gaming on his plasma, so he should already have an idea of how the IR is.

FWIW, the IR is practically non-existent on my 5yo Pioneer plasma. That's with both PS3 gaming and HTPC usage.
Click to expand...
IR seems like it's not an issue with my current TV thankfully.

XavierMace said:
I've had a TV as my only PC monitor for probably 4 years now. Right now I'm running a GTX670 with a 50" Panny plamsa through a Denon receiver. I know this isn't exactly what you were asking about, but I would give you one warning about doing this.

Image Retention.

It's not horribly bad, but enough to annoy me. I did a break in period with it, and made sure to change up what I was doing every couple of hours. But the faint ghost of the last game I was playing is unmistakable when doing something else (IE webbrowsing). It will go away after enough screen wipes, but I don't want to sit there and do 10 minutes of wipes after an hour or two of gaming. That's the longer retention stuff. Looking at the windows desktop for a couple of minutes, then switching to something else gives a noticable ghost of my desktop for a couple of minutes.

It's not enough of an issue for me to stop using the plasma now, but it's enough for me to plan on going back to an LCD when I get my next TV (ran a 46" LCD before the plasma).

In regards to readability and what not as mentioned above, I've had no issues with that.
Click to expand...

Have you ever experienced any EMI? I worry about having a wireless KB at 2.4Ghz and a mouse also at 2.4Ghz all sending signals at an area where I have speakers set up, all with unsheilded cables. I worry the KB could interfere with the mouse, or the kb/mouse giving problems to the speakers.
 
z1ggy said:
Have you ever experienced any EMI? I worry about having a wireless KB at 2.4Ghz and a mouse also at 2.4Ghz all sending signals at an area where I have speakers set up, all with unsheilded cables. I worry the KB could interfere with the mouse, or the kb/mouse giving problems to the speakers.
Click to expand...

What about a bluetooth kb & mouse? I use one on my HTPC with no problems.
 
KB and mouse shouldn't have any problems. I've used both wirelessly before. Many people do.

As far as the effect on the speakers, I don't have enough knowledge to say.
 
kalrith said:
What about a bluetooth kb & mouse? I use one on my HTPC with no problems.
Click to expand...
As far as I know, BT uses the same frequency as most RF kb & mouse. 2.4Ghz. BT is a protocol too I believe, where the RF stuff just sends info, no protocols or security methods. I could be wrong though..

DSF said:
KB and mouse shouldn't have any problems. I've used both wirelessly before. Many people do.

As far as the effect on the speakers, I don't have enough knowledge to say.
Click to expand...

Might not effect them if the signal is weak enough, but a quick google search shows people complaining about their RF stuff making noises through their speakers.

I have even had instances of badly shielded charging cords for phones making noises in my computer speakers. Wrapping my speaker wires with EMI shielding would solve the problem if it was to happen though. Just a tiny pain to deal with if it happened (if at all).
 
z1ggy said:
IR seems like it's not an issue with my current TV thankfully.



Have you ever experienced any EMI? I worry about having a wireless KB at 2.4Ghz and a mouse also at 2.4Ghz all sending signals at an area where I have speakers set up, all with unsheilded cables. I worry the KB could interfere with the mouse, or the kb/mouse giving problems to the speakers.
Click to expand...

No issues there at all. Wifi and bluetooth had horrible interference making an early logitech bt laser mouse useless when doing anything on wifi, though
 
I've got a pair of bluetooth keyboards plus the PS3 controllers, never had an issue. Never heard any interference over the Klipsch speakers. Don't have any WiFi though, just BT.
 
1080p with BF4 and beyond means something like a dual 7950/7970 or dual 760/770 rig.
 
You'll need to update your CPU and PSU as well, because an i3 isn't going to cut it, and neither will an Antec 550W unit if you're running CrossFire or SLI.
 
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RF won't affect the signal in speaker cables - that is, the signal amplified by your power amp.
Not unless it is extremely powerful - military grade radar might interfere, for instance.

If your speakers are active, though, the signal is much more prone to interference.

EDIT: typos
 
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