I’m screen mirroring with an iPad right now, and it is choppy on the signal. Plus, detail level like shadows are not shown. An Apple TV would fix the choppiness with its direct HDMI connection, but it is strangely limited to only two simultaneous Bluetooth connections.
Why not buy an ultra compact SFF PC if you are going to be using it on a TV like that? What are you looking to spend?
I’m screen mirroring with an iPad right now, and it is choppy on the signal. Plus, detail level like shadows are not shown. An Apple TV would fix the choppiness with its direct HDMI connection, but it is strangely limited to only two simultaneous Bluetooth connections.
That's good to know. I've been looking into a good way to run Zwift in the near future as well and had looked at the system requirements page a few weeks ago. I'm pretty sure my wife doesn't want me always needing her laptop for it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by FlameOn
Why not buy an ultra compact SFF PC if you are going to be using it on a TV like that? What are you looking to spend?
The Zwift video requirements might be a bit more than what most ultra compact PCs offer for graphics cards - onboard or otherwise.
That's good to know. I've been looking into a good way to run Zwift in the near future as well and had looked at the system requirements page a few weeks ago. I'm pretty sure my wife doesn't want me always needing her laptop for it!
The Zwift video requirements might be a bit more than what most ultra compact PCs offer for graphics cards - onboard or otherwise.
That's the thing, you can build something small ish and still have much better than most gaming laptop performance for cheaper.
Like this modest build in a small case + more than sufficient video card for 1080P graphics costs about $1000, and that is not even waiting on sales for the parts. Could probably get away with cheaper processor and video card too.
I gotta give a big ups to Memory Express. I've built 3 computers with them, and have never had any issues. I purchased warranty on them, as it sounded great should I have any issues (but was on the fence about the last build, as I've never had a problem). Last build was done ~May 2018
Late December I experienced 1 instance of artifacting and had to hard reset my computer. It wouldn't boot to windows - I took it in, and they reinstalled windows for me. However, when I brought it back home, less than a week later, I started getting the more graphical issues, and consistently - every game I tried to play would show artifacts and hard crash within 5 minutes.
Memory Express took it back, and bumped it to the front of the queue. They tested it, replicated the issue and determined my graphics card was shot. They replaced it with an equivalent card of the current generation - so my old 1080 Ti was swapped out for a brand new 2080 Ti.
The last month sucked, but I'm happy the system is working again (and a nice upgrade to boot)!
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I gotta give a big ups to Memory Express. I've built 3 computers with them, and have never had any issues. I purchased warranty on them, as it sounded great should I have any issues (but was on the fence about the last build, as I've never had a problem). Last build was done ~May 2018
Late December I experienced 1 instance of artifacting and had to hard reset my computer. It wouldn't boot to windows - I took it in, and they reinstalled windows for me. However, when I brought it back home, less than a week later, I started getting the more graphical issues, and consistently - every game I tried to play would show artifacts and hard crash within 5 minutes.
Memory Express took it back, and bumped it to the front of the queue. They tested it, replicated the issue and determined my graphics card was shot. They replaced it with an equivalent card of the current generation - so my old 1080 Ti was swapped out for a brand new 2080 Ti.
The last month sucked, but I'm happy the system is working again (and a nice upgrade to boot)!
Similar thing happened in November. Had a gaming laptop that was in month 36 of 36 from the IPR I bought for ~350 bucks back in 2016, about 2 weeks from expiry. I had lazily plugged it into the wall to do some work and left it on overnight, and we had a power surge. It bricked. I brought it in, they determined it was the mobo and of course, being a laptop there's no replacement part.
A week of tinkering later, they give me a laptop that's 3 lbs lighter, has a CPU that's 3 generations newer and much faster, and a GPU that's 2 generations newer and twice as fast as the old one.
My case searches continue, I found this one which I really like:
Silverstone RL08. I really like Silverstone, and I like how this flips the motherboard so the video card is at the top (though I've been looking at vertical mounts too). Mesh front if I stick with air cooling, though I don't like the drive bay being there.
But needs a mATX board.. and I've got an i7-6700k which isn't the newer socket type on new motherboards. So I might stick to ATX, I don't really want to upgrade my whole system, though I didn't realize it's been what, 4 or 5 years since I upgraded last time?! Crazy.
Some AIO coolers put their pumps on the same PWM as the fans so the pumps can be slowed down, I like that idea to ensure the PC is near silent at idle.
__________________ Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position.
But certainty is an absurd one.
Yeah I'm also a fan of the 'inverted' layout. Only niggle is any text on your GPU or other parts will be upside down.
Unless you are water cooling your GPU, vertical mount has been shown to cripple cooling due to how close the fans on 'top' are to the side of the case.
I've seen 3rd party kits that use the existing PCI slots area rather than the usual extra slots most cases add for the vertical mounting.. that pushes it further back towards the motherboard (and renders all the slots useless, but I probably don't care) from the side meaning it shouldn't be starved (I guess depending on the case).
__________________ Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position.
But certainty is an absurd one.
Yeah I'm also a fan of the 'inverted' layout. Only niggle is any text on your GPU or other parts will be upside down.
Unless you are water cooling your GPU, vertical mount has been shown to cripple cooling due to how close the fans on 'top' are to the side of the case.
What's the latest on water-cooling vs. air-cooling? I'm probably a year or two away from updating my rig (basically waiting on my TV to kick it and I can upgrade to 4K before I do), but do the new GPUs/CPUs need the extra cooling if you're only using it for gaming?
The latest is unless you want to take the time to design and build a custom cooling loop or are working with a very unconventional/tight case layout, air cooling is cheaper, simpler, and just as effective.
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What's the latest on water-cooling vs. air-cooling? I'm probably a year or two away from updating my rig (basically waiting on my TV to kick it and I can upgrade to 4K before I do), but do the new GPUs/CPUs need the extra cooling if you're only using it for gaming?
Personally I like all in one water cooling. No maintenance and super easy to use with a better cooling performance but higher initial price.
What's the latest on water-cooling vs. air-cooling? I'm probably a year or two away from updating my rig (basically waiting on my TV to kick it and I can upgrade to 4K before I do), but do the new GPUs/CPUs need the extra cooling if you're only using it for gaming?
A high-end air cooler will be cheaper, quieter, and in many cases more effective than water cooling. But unless you're overclocking you don't even need that, the included fan/heatsink from your CPU will do just fine