Playing Xbox 360 on Computer.

[ZzZGuy]

This may fall under general hardware, but I figure this falls in the realm of console gamers. I'm also not talking about emulators.


This may seem a bit odd to some, to want to play a console system on a computer, but there is a method to my madness. My TV is crap, and smaller then my 19'' LCD monitor, I watch tv for news and the discovery channel, if i want to watch a movie i'll wait for something good to come to the theater, or rent one and watch it on my computer.

So far all i've found is one post on www.cnet.com (googled) saying the ATI TV Wonder 200 PCI
card is the best bet with "virtually" no lag and "decent" video quality. I had tried before with the "WinTV-PVR 150" but discovered there was a unavoidable 3 second delay (eg- press a button to fire and it takes 3 seconds for the monitor to display said firing), which makes the game unplayable.


So to sum up my questions:
1- Would the ATI TV Wounder 200 PCI card be my best bet?
2- Or is there something better?

-edit-
For those who will say "go and buy a better TV", i'll get a better monitor first (and this may force me to do so)
-edit-

 

[gorcorps]

It'd be much easier to get an HDMI or component video to VGA or DVI adapter and plug it in directly to your monitor.

 

[Dacalo]

I wouldn't bother.

One solution would be purchasing a new monitor. Almost all of them come with component/HDMI these days.

 

[sheemone00]

You don't need to get a new video card to play Xbox 360 on your monitor. All you need to do is to buy an adapter that from RCA to VGA or if your XB360 has HDMI and your monitor supports DVI-D you can even buy an HDMI-DVI-D Cable.

 

[ZzZGuy]

AH, many thanks.

Looking for a RCA to VGA adapter, i found that there is a VGA adapter made for the Xbox 360 http://www.futureshop.ca/catal...S10087761&catid=23556#]http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10087761&catid=23556#[/url]

 

[gorcorps]

that looks like a pretty good set and will be what you need

 

[sheemone00]

Does your monitor have speakers? If not you have to find another source for audio output.

 

[ZzZGuy]

crap, forgot about that.

Well, i'll drop by futureshop, and see if this adapter can split off the the audio to be played on something else (white=audio/red=video/black=wtf, right?). If not then i'll shop around for something else, and if that fails i'll try the tv card i mentioned.

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[Thraxen]

Originally posted by: ZzZGuy
crap, forgot about that.

Well, i'll drop by futureshop, and see if this adapter can split off the the audio to be played on something else (white=audio/red=video/black=wtf, right?). If not then i'll shop around for something else, and if that fails i'll try the tv card i mentioned.

Thanks for the help guys.

The red and white cables should be the stereo audio cables. Looking at the picture it looks like the black cable next to those is the optical audio cable.

 

[oznerol]

If I understand you correctly, you should do what I currently do:

Get a 360 VGA cable - straight 360 to the VGA input on your monitor. My monitor has a VGA and a DVI input, so I use the VGA for my 360 and the DVI for my PC and switch whenever I want to play.

The cable has an audio out (2-channel RCA outputs) - which I simply combine with a RCA-stereo miniplug adapter - and plug it into the line-in on my PC's sound card which outputs to my PC speakers. Works great - only downside is my PC needs to be on to get sound.

The cable cost me ~$15 at buy.com (got the Madcatz one), and the RCA-miniplug adapter cost about 2 bucks at Radio Shack.

Edit:

Here's some I found:
VGA cable

RCA to miniplug

 

[sheemone00]

If your speakers accepts auxiliary input then you can use an RCA to mini-jack adapter to connect the XBox360 audio straight to your speaker. You don't have to turn on your computer to have sound then.

 

[tdawg]

Originally posted by: ducci
If I understand you correctly, you should do what I currently do:

Get a 360 VGA cable - straight 360 to the VGA input on your monitor. My monitor has a VGA and a DVI input, so I use the VGA for my 360 and the DVI for my PC and switch whenever I want to play.

The cable has an audio out (2-channel RCA outputs) - which I simply combine with a RCA-stereo miniplug adapter - and plug it into the line-in on my PC's sound card which outputs to my PC speakers. Works great - only downside is my PC needs to be on to get sound.

The cable cost me ~$15 at buy.com (got the Madcatz one), and the RCA-miniplug adapter cost about 2 bucks at Radio Shack.

Edit:

Here's some I found:
VGA cable

RCA to miniplug

:thumbsup: Exactly how I have my 360 hooked up to my monitor, only I went with the official 360 vga adapter. Works like a charm.

 

[imported_Imp]

Originally posted by: ZzZGuy
crap, forgot about that.

Well, i'll drop by futureshop, and see if this adapter can split off the the audio to be played on something else (white=audio/red=video/black=wtf, right?). If not then i'll shop around for something else, and if that fails i'll try the tv card i mentioned.

Thanks for the help guys.

I'd go to Futureshop to "look" not to "buy" if possible. On Boxing Day, I went out to get a component video cable for my PS3 and saved 50% (regular price) by buying from EB World ($40 compared to $20). If they aren't trying to rip you with Monster cable, it's Rocketfish or "official brand" price gauging. It's your money, but when I need "accessories", I take a look at Futureshop then go see Wal-mart, Canadian Tire and the Source (almost as bad) to see if they have it.

Also, someone in the house currently has their 360 hooked to a 17" LCD monitor with the VGA adapter and to some Logitech speakers somehow. I'm not familiar with the inputs and outputs of the 360 and Z-2300s, but there should be a few instructional websites (saw a few yesterday when searching for something else). Just google it. Good luck.

 

[GregGreen]

Originally posted by: ducci
If I understand you correctly, you should do what I currently do:

Get a 360 VGA cable - straight 360 to the VGA input on your monitor. My monitor has a VGA and a DVI input, so I use the VGA for my 360 and the DVI for my PC and switch whenever I want to play.

The cable has an audio out (2-channel RCA outputs) - which I simply combine with a RCA-stereo miniplug adapter - and plug it into the line-in on my PC's sound card which outputs to my PC speakers. Works great - only downside is my PC needs to be on to get sound.

The cable cost me ~$15 at buy.com (got the Madcatz one), and the RCA-miniplug adapter cost about 2 bucks at Radio Shack.

Edit:

Here's some I found:
VGA cable

RCA to miniplug

I can't believe it took anyone this long to say "VGA CABLE". It is definitely the best solution. I use one hooked up to my Dell 2007WFP and my Vizio LCD. Works beatifully

 

[SoundTheSurrender]

Yes seriously. I have a VGA cable and use it on my monitor. Awesome stuff.

 

[ZzZGuy]

Ok, got the xbox VGA calble and finally found a way to get audio to my headphones.

The package i have has a RCA to mini-stereo adapter BUT i had to go look for a double ended female plug to connect to my headphones, which does not appear to be in stock anywhere in Newfoundland (canada), so it was recommended to me to use a mini-stereo splitter instead and it works!!! I just taped up the male end to avoid any unforeseen accidents and it works as a double female plug.

Thanks for the help.

 

[exdeath]

You don't want to do the RCA or RF to VGA cable or a tuner card. Problem is it will only output a 480i or worse signal which will then be scaled and filtered by a a VGA up converter or tuner card. Bad bad idea, it will look like shit.

Go with an actual native VGA or DVI cable and run a native 1280x720 signal from the 360 to the LCD.

 

[ZzZGuy]

I stated in my previous post that i have already gotten the xbox VGA cable, this is what i am reffering to

http://www.futureshop.ca/catal...FS10067319&catid=23556

(below is pic of cable in the package)
http://hardware.teamxbox.com/s...x-360-VGA-HD-AV-Cable/


Upon being told that there is a better solution then a tuner card, i searched and found above product. It plugs directly into the xbox, replacing the original video cable, and goes straight to my computer monitor and bypassing my computer all together. Also connected my headphones to the audio cables, explained in previous post.