With all the talk of more console games coming to PC I thought I would see what all the fuss is about. I've been a console gamer for almost 20 years. So I'm going to need some major help creating a build.
First things first, I'm on a major budget, but I have strict size & performance requirements. I'm not talking price right now, but if I can't get my size & performance met while in my budget, then I'm sticking with consoles. LOL
I want a small HTPC form factor. Doesn't need to be as small as a my XB1X or XB1S, but no bigger than the XB1 fat? I won't be connecting it to a PC monitor, so it needs to be small enough to move to my living room or bedroom TVs. So I'm thinking the mini ITX form factor will work. Don't need any 1/2 height bays, but I want USB ports on the front. Nothing flashy. So no need for clear windows or internal lights. Would be nice to be able to mount it horizontal or vertical. Though that XBSX square tower form factor is really neat. Max 12"(30cm) deep is needed, so it can sit on my wall shelves. I think that shouldn't be a problem since I'm not installing any DVD or Bluray drives. It does need to have enough room for extra quiet fans though.
Next, my performance requirements. Since I have to use a TV for my monitor, gaming in 1080P is probably all that is necessary. Though one of my TVs is 4K(55" TCL R615). It won't be my primary display though, the 1080p TV in my bedroom will be. With that said, I would like to play games at 60fps with better than Xbox One X quality settings. Not planning on VR either. I could go either Intel or AMD for the CPU. Don't really care there. But I would like to stay with AMD graphics. No NVIDIA whatsoever. This is a stupid question, but are there any Intel or AMD integrated graphics capable of beating a Xbox One X at 1080p? Wouldn't think so, but again, I haven't kept up with the PC industry for 20 years. Upgrading graphics later would be nice. I might eventually want to see what all the fuss is with ray tracing.
What about RAM? No clue where to even start. 16GB minimum? What kind?
Storage is next. I want to go with some SSD for storage. As it's only going to be used for gaming, I don't need a lot of storage. I can always get a cheap external USB hard drive to store the games, then move them over to the SSD when I want to play. What's the bare minimum size? 250gb, 500gb or higher? Lots of different acronyms I don't understand(M.2, PCIe, Gen3, Gen4, etc). I could start slow & cheap now, then upgrade to a bigger faster module later.
With all those requirements am I so out of touch? LOL If Microsoft made the XBSX capable of running Windows this would be moot, but I seriously don't see that happening. My goal here is to transition from console gaming back to PC gaming. I don't expect I will be streaming on Twitch/Mixer or play VR games. I will be playing games mainly with a Xbox controller on a TV. Secondary use could include using Photoshop or hooking up a Cricut or 3D printer. Stuff I can't do easily on my Chromebook, if at all. In fact, I'm playing with the idea of remotely accessing the PC via my Chromebook when the TVs are in use. Going to do some research on that.
Any help you guys can provide is much appreciated.
Tommy McClain
First things first, I'm on a major budget, but I have strict size & performance requirements. I'm not talking price right now, but if I can't get my size & performance met while in my budget, then I'm sticking with consoles. LOL
I want a small HTPC form factor. Doesn't need to be as small as a my XB1X or XB1S, but no bigger than the XB1 fat? I won't be connecting it to a PC monitor, so it needs to be small enough to move to my living room or bedroom TVs. So I'm thinking the mini ITX form factor will work. Don't need any 1/2 height bays, but I want USB ports on the front. Nothing flashy. So no need for clear windows or internal lights. Would be nice to be able to mount it horizontal or vertical. Though that XBSX square tower form factor is really neat. Max 12"(30cm) deep is needed, so it can sit on my wall shelves. I think that shouldn't be a problem since I'm not installing any DVD or Bluray drives. It does need to have enough room for extra quiet fans though.
Next, my performance requirements. Since I have to use a TV for my monitor, gaming in 1080P is probably all that is necessary. Though one of my TVs is 4K(55" TCL R615). It won't be my primary display though, the 1080p TV in my bedroom will be. With that said, I would like to play games at 60fps with better than Xbox One X quality settings. Not planning on VR either. I could go either Intel or AMD for the CPU. Don't really care there. But I would like to stay with AMD graphics. No NVIDIA whatsoever. This is a stupid question, but are there any Intel or AMD integrated graphics capable of beating a Xbox One X at 1080p? Wouldn't think so, but again, I haven't kept up with the PC industry for 20 years. Upgrading graphics later would be nice. I might eventually want to see what all the fuss is with ray tracing.
What about RAM? No clue where to even start. 16GB minimum? What kind?
Storage is next. I want to go with some SSD for storage. As it's only going to be used for gaming, I don't need a lot of storage. I can always get a cheap external USB hard drive to store the games, then move them over to the SSD when I want to play. What's the bare minimum size? 250gb, 500gb or higher? Lots of different acronyms I don't understand(M.2, PCIe, Gen3, Gen4, etc). I could start slow & cheap now, then upgrade to a bigger faster module later.
With all those requirements am I so out of touch? LOL If Microsoft made the XBSX capable of running Windows this would be moot, but I seriously don't see that happening. My goal here is to transition from console gaming back to PC gaming. I don't expect I will be streaming on Twitch/Mixer or play VR games. I will be playing games mainly with a Xbox controller on a TV. Secondary use could include using Photoshop or hooking up a Cricut or 3D printer. Stuff I can't do easily on my Chromebook, if at all. In fact, I'm playing with the idea of remotely accessing the PC via my Chromebook when the TVs are in use. Going to do some research on that.
Any help you guys can provide is much appreciated.
Tommy McClain