a PC for gaming

[RCBH928]

Hello everyone...

After long thoughts, I decided to get a PC to emulate all my gaming needs and connect it through component cables(no hd tv here) to my computer.

This thing as I understand can play Saturn, PS1, games not to mention PC games of early 2000's (because I skipped few on the original xbox). Also I believe this is better because I don't have to deal with hardware malfunction of older consoles or memory cards going bad. I know the real thing is the best , but there is nothing I can do about it. Also i do not mind playing current games on it as I have an external display if it needs keyboard and mouse

Also this would serve as a media center, to watch movies , cause I download most of the stuff, so it would save me ripping to dvd's and having it in divx compatible and all that stuff.

There is a perfect machine, its called the mac mini:
http://www.apple.com/macmini/specs.html

Now I love macs, but I feel my needs are a windows thing.
Though the mac mini can runs windows, I think there must be a cheaper pc alternative.

Can I find a pc alternative that is as small and convenient as the mac-mini? Can I build it?
Or does it have to be a tower? But the tower does not fit with a TV-setup nicely. Does the tower make a loud noise?

please advice me on this topic. I to have a good understand in PC hardware, but I lost it long time ago and I am not sure what to buy and for how much.

[Ziggy]

It all depends on your budget. The Mac Mini is about $600, right? So is that your budget?

If you're able to, I would definitely recommend building over buying a branded PC. The end result is always better (if you know what you're doing). If you're looking for a budget, I was actually just checking out the "barebones" PCs on NewEgg.com.

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory ... ne-Systems

So take this one for example...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6856115031

$100 for the case/mobo/PSU. You can use a variety of LGA775 CPUs on it, I would definitely go with a Core 2 Duo at least (which is what the Mac Mini has). If you have the money to splurge, a Core 2 Quad. The mobo has on board VGA, but it has a PCIe x16 too so you can get a video card that will meet your gaming needs. Get some DDR3 memory (up to 8GB), an OEM copy of Windows, an optical drive and a SATA hard drive and you're all set. This would be a very fast computer for fairly cheap. You could easily do it for the price of the Mac Mini (if not less) and it would at least meet the specs of the Mac Mini. You could easily make it exceed the specs of the Mini as well, depending on your budget.

[CRTGAMER]

You could buy a used older mini, that is if you can find one. There are a lot of EMUs for OSX on the higher priced Mac. Definitely very compact, I would like one myself. A recent discussion, Niode mentioned another one here.

http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... 64#p254864

[Ziggy]

Your link goes to a reply box of that thread.

[CRTGAMER]

Oop, fixed, thanks.

[durkada]

Mac Mini == meh.

I have one, and I'd say it's alright -- but I'm not convinced it really works well for emulators.

I've had pretty good luck using the VIA based platform. Like the mini, its small form factor and many models can go fanless. From an aesthetic standpoint, its just a small motherboard -- not pretty unto itself -- but, you should look up VIA ITX case modding and see the many great things people have done. VIA ITX inside an Atari, Nintendo, a toaster, etc.

I wouldn't recommend running Winders on it. Linux is ideal -- particularly a stripped down distribution that won't burden the system with useless services and flare that are wholly unnecessary for a gaming appliance. The OpenGL acceleration via the OpenChrome drivers is superb.

While I haven't tried it yet, I believe you can also put linux in the BIOS -- essentially allowing the bugger to fully boot within a couple seconds.

[RCBH928]

I am trying to get one for cheap
I think $600 is too much for psx/saturn emulation and watching movies/xbmc

getting a used mac-mini sounds a good choice, but I am afraid that it is very under-powered as my last year macbook is under-powered to run current games, they have hard time running 2007-08 games full power. As for software, i can run windows on macs no worries...

I went over to dell.com and hp.com
and they have new computer for $300,
Dell

look at this small one from hp:
HP

Few questions remain:
1) It must have a Wifi, preferably N signal
2)Are desktops noisy?
3) Can I change the graphics cards on these?
4) Are the specs good?

I still understand that 2GB ram , and we are in the world of 2.0 GHz CPU is powerful enough.
The noob area are graphics card.
If its a tiny tower I can hide it somewhere...

as long as I can control it with a bluetooth remote of some sort

[jeffro11]

You could update the graphics cards in those computers IF the card you want to use is a small tiny card that will perform pretty badly. Also they lack a decent powersupply to drive a newer faster video card.

You should look at buying an HTPC computer.

Desktops are not noisy if you have the proper cooling.

[NintendoPower]

I recommend that you build your own PC, most of the HP's have shitty and cheap PSU, HOBO, RAM etc. And MAC's (including mac mini) is way overpriced..

But you can build one like:

Cumputer case of your choice
Cheap and stable PSU, recommend that you read reviews an the one your going to get.
AMD Athlon II X2 250, 3,0Ghz, AM3, 2MB, 65W, Boxed
RAM from Corsair/Kingston/Crucial 2-4GB 1333mHz DDR3
HOBO with DDR3 Socket, AMD AM3 and DDR3
Radeon HD 5670 512MB-1GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0, DVI-I, native-HDMI, DisplayPort, 775MHz
HDD 500GB 7200rpm
DVD Burner SATA

Cheap and good enough for what you are using it to.

[RCBH928]

I recommend that you build your own PC, most of the HP's have shitty and cheap PSU, HOBO, RAM etc. And MAC's (including mac mini) is way overpriced..

But you can build one like:

Cumputer case of your choice
Cheap and stable PSU, recommend that you read reviews an the one your going to get.
AMD Athlon II X2 250, 3,0Ghz, AM3, 2MB, 65W, Boxed
RAM from Corsair/Kingston/Crucial 2-4GB 1333mHz DDR3
HOBO with DDR3 Socket, AMD AM3 and DDR3
Radeon HD 5670 512MB-1GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0, DVI-I, native-HDMI, DisplayPort, 775MHz
HDD 500GB 7200rpm
DVD Burner SATA

Cheap and good enough for what you are using it to.

Suppose I get those specs, how much will it cost approximate?
I will also need a wireless wifi and a bluetooth for remote control.

I know connecting a pc to a CRT sucks but
I just want to watch videos and play emulation using this pc,
will it be ok or do I need an hdtv? I will be using component