What is the main difference between a HTPC. and a game rig?

[generalgrant]

All I can seem to come up with is that you need an additional card in the form of a tv/video capture card.

I got a e6300 and mobo laying around and havent played with a desktop in awhile. Im jonzing for some real gaming. But I have recently become quite the movie buff as well. Im about to buy this westinghouse 42' 1080p lcd tv. But it has no HD tuner. I figured I got this conroe laying around why not stickem together? Im a lil out of date.

 

[rdhood]

My HTPC IS my gaming rig.


Actually, I have my 7900GS (gaming) and my myHD mdp-130 (QAM HD tuning) in the same system. I run a component cable from the myHD card to my 37" LCD TV.

When I get a DVD, I extract to hard disk and play it with myHD because the myHD does 1080i upconversion and it looks better than my DVD player at 480p. Sound is via digital output to my reciever (digital/DTS).

I only get into a few games, but play them all on this system with my 7900GS.

My core2duo system is more for creating maps, rendering video, cpu-intense activities. A Sempron 2600+ runs the HTPC until the 4300 finally drops in price, at which point I will switch to 4300/ECS with mild overclock to 2.4Ghz.

 

[brick88]

the difference is that a gaming rig usually requires a beefed up video card and is geared towards performance. a htpc is geared toward versatility and quietness.

 

[predaking]

given that an htpc is next to the TV, they are usually smaller and quieter.

 

[generalgrant]

Well i currently dont have any rig at all. My last one was made 3 years ago and destroyed by GF with coffee. and I have been using my Laptops ever since.

But I got that silly retail edge thing, and ive been wanting to get a big 1080p tv for my ps3 so I was thinking of building a combo gaming/htpc. Currently I have a e6300, DG965WH mobo, a case, a sound blaster live and a wifi card. So i was thinking all i needed was a video card, memory, a HD, tv tuner, and a PSU. and Im in the money. Now what i get to fill those roles i have no idea. I was thinking either a 8800 gts or a 200 dollar jammie to hold me till the r600, 2 gigs of 566 ddr2 ram, some random 500 gig harddrive, and a? 600w psu? i dunno im a rookie now days. its been 11 years since i build my first pc and my level of knowledge on the stuff hasnt increased much since then. Ive only ever overclocked one cpu and that was my athlon xp. although i read somewhere i cant overclock with the board i currently have.
****throwing that mobo away for a Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3****

 

[edbe]

Gaming PCs tend to get over clocked hence needing more cooling which then raises the noise levels *unless using water cooling. You also want more CPU and GPU power = more $$.

A HTPC would need a decent video card which would be aimed at VIVO (Video In Video Out) many of the graphic cards on the market support this. If your using the PC as a TIVO and media server you will want lots of HD space. Also you more than likely would be opting for a smaller quieter case.

 

[jaguarskx]

It is possible to build an HTPC that doubles as a gaming rig and at the same time be quiet. However, you need to choose the right parts and be willing to spend extra money to lower noise. Just be aware that there is always going to be a compromise between performance and noise.

For example, it may not be possible to stick a nVidia 8800GTX into a typical HTPC case because the card is 12" long. Too long for many cases. The 8800GTS is about 9.5" long and will have a better chance of fitting into most cases. If the 8800GTS can fit into the case you want then you need may need to consider a 3rd party HSF (like Zalman) because the stock HSF may be too loud.

Hard drives are noisy as well. Samsung Spinpoints are generally considered the quietest drives around, but they do not perform as well as other drives like the Seagate Barracuda 7200.10. But the 7200.10 is very noisy. Hitachi drives generally offers a decent balance between noise and performance.

You'll also need to look at quiet fans that can cost anywhere between $6 to $20 each depending on the size, manufacturer and performance level. It also a good idea to replace the stock CPU fan with something quieter whether you are going to overclock or not.

Generally speaking an HTPC that is both quiet and a good gaming machine can cost $1,500 or more. But it's really impossible to tell until you start putting together a list of parts.

That's my $0.02.

 

[AeroB1033]

Western Digital's drives are much quieter than Seagate FYI... and they have a better reputation for reliability and performance than Samsung and Hitachi.