Topic: On buying a Home Theater PC and SFC:OP, OS concerns.

[Tumulorum Fossor]

Hi, SFCers.

I've just put together a badass home theater, if I do say so myself, with projector and hidden theater components.

But I've held off on buying the media PC.  I'm thinking it's time to remedy that situation.

However I haven't purchased a computer since WinXP (gasp!).

So I'm thinking I need to go Windows 7.  Will our beloved SFC:OP run on it?

And I'm thinking desktop replacement laptop 17" screen, that I can take on the road when I (rarely) need to do so, but mostly for running the home theater (playing hulu tv off the internet and PC games).  Anyone who is more up to date than me have any rules of thumb for what I should be looking for in terms of CPU and graphics card?  I'm WAAAAY behind on this and don't have the time to research like I normally would, and I REALLY want this to be a kick ass SFC platform, frankly.

Oh, and given that my home theater component rack does not have line of sight to the seating area, I'm thinking I need BLUETOOTH keyboard/mouse.  Right?  (Oh, and a captain's chair upon which to mount them in front of a huge ass view screen.  ).

Thanks for any input, SFC Community.

-TF

PS: For my own personal use when I finally get the hardware, Pestilence's OP Enhancement pack 5.0 link: http://starfleetcommand3.filefront.com/file/Orion_Pirates_Enhancement_Package;85320

[Sirgod]

I moved your thread here man. People here will be in soon to help ya with what you need.

I just recently built a new system myself, Using a Asus M4A785-M and a AMD Phenom 9850 Quad Core, with 4 gig of ram, right under 300 bucks.  This from Newegg of course.

 I also put Windows 7 Ultimate on it, but from what I understand, Win 7 won't run online SFC.

So for games like SFC, you might want to try and get a copy of this...  http://www.microsoft.com/hk/windowsxp/mediacenter/default.mspx

I believe Pesty used the XP media center for years, and had zero problems with it.

Now I'm not sure if there is a 64 bit version, as you would need it to be able to use more then 3 gig of memory. (32 bit structure is kind of lacking in that aspect.)

Now there i also a regular version of Win XP that is 64 bit, and it should be easy enough to find.

Mind you I'm thinking only to allow you to play SFC. If you want better or more powerful, Then I really think you should talk to Pestilence aka Pesty. The man is great with configuring machines et. al.

As for monitors, Newegg always has the 22" Asus flat screens for around 150 bucks. and they are pretty nice to say the least. Another option, is the 19" Hanspree. Not heard of often, but darn good monitors.

Anyways, as for the captains chair, hehe, what do you want to spend? There are some nice ones that go upwards of 2-3 k.

Stephen

[knightstorm]

In terms of the OS, it depends on whether you want to play on the dynaverse.  You can still play GSA matches on vista and windows 7, but the dynaverse doesn't work right.

[Sirgod]

Right on , Thanks for the clarification Knight.

Stephen

[Tumulorum Fossor]

Hmm.  The OS question is as bad as I suspected.

Whatever system I get, I want it to run the current dominant OS, so that would be Win7.

BUT shouldn't there be a way in which I can dual boot it to XPMedia Center, which is, if I'm reading it correctly, the most advanced OS that still allows multiplayer SFC:OP?

Regarding monitors, since this is a home theater PC, that is ONE place where I am set.  I home-built a 12' x 5' (13'diagonal) screen, coupled with a projector that puts out 1080p, and a 9.2 speaker system.  I did my homework there (hence taking the easier route on the PC).  And I'm SALIVATING to play SFC on this setup.

But I'll be pissed if I get a great media pc that CAN'T play SFC:OP.

I'm not married to the idea of a desktop-replacement laptop, but all things considered, would consider that a significant advantage if I can get it to dual-role as a Home Theater PC (that video-outputs HDMI @ 1080p ideally).

But I'm with you definitely with regards to one thing, Stephen.

Newegg kicks ass (and I owe most of my home theater to it thus far).

Now, excuse me (taps communicator badge): "Pestilence to Engineering.  Pestilence to Engineering."

-TF

[Sirgod]

Well, the good news is that yes, you can dual boot, and it is very easy to set up with Win 7.

First put WinXP media on the first partition, then You can install Win & on another Partition.

Wow, now that sounds like one heck of a Home theater screen. I have often wanted to try a projector myself.

I would like to point you in another Direction also, But it might be more expensive.

ATI has a new EyeFinity card out, I belive the 5000 + cards. Now this will allow 3-6 monitors off of one card, however, all but two monitors must have the Display Port. Sadly very few have them.

Now there is adapters, for a DP port, but you have to make sure they also have the USB plug, to help power them. The normal ones will not work.

That all being said, I believe Dell and HP  both have some outstanding 30" monitors that you could easily build a Wall out of.

I also heard that samsung is working on some with hardly any Bezil (bevil ? That plastic around the screen.) so that may be something to look into.

I do a lot of Multiboxing with online games, so I am constantly running multi monitor displays, and that is what I have been looking to in the far off future.

Anyways my friend, I hope this gives you a few more things to look into.

Stephen

[Bonk]

What are the specs on the projector? Does it have more than one input?

As knightstorm mentioned, You only need to go with an XP install if you want to play on the Dynaverse. Everything else works on Vista/7 (with some fiddling)

If your projector has more than one input I'd be tempted to go with a full-meal-deal gaming/media Windows 7 PC for everything but the occasions you play on the Dynaverse when you can switch to an old PC or a new bare-bones XP system with a good video card. Saving the hassle of setting up and maintaining a dual boot. However the dual-boot solution saves the hassle of two boxes more wires etc.

A fair to middlin video card should be adequate as SFC will not be able to use the latest-greatest-buy-a-new-card-feature-that-you-absolutely-must-have-to-play-the-latest-game anyway. But will still benefit from speed, memory, colour accuracy, etc.

Personally, I'd go with extension cords over anything that needs batteries or better yet, a physical arrangement that requires neither. (I can just see trying to weasel/het/mine/whatever and realizing your keyboard batteries are dead.) 

Dems my thoughts.

[Tumulorum Fossor]

Stephen:
I haven't looked into multiple displays, so it is something to consider.  But really, in the home theater environment, there's a big ass screen, and a couch some distance away (and a dizzying array of speakers), so where to mount the secondary display(s) becomes an issue.  Furthermore, when you have a 13' diagonal screen right in front of you, are you really going to want to play on another screen (even a sweet 30" Dell)?  Now, in the home office, multiple screens sounds much much more appealing (unless there ever comes a method my which one could put panel displays from SFC onto a small screen while the big screen shows the main display (drool)).

Regarding the specs for the JVC projector, it only has 2 HDMI inputs, but one of those inputs are through the Onkyo AV Receiver, which, in itself passes on the video signals from, I don't know, 9 HDMI inputs.  The point is, there are HDMI inputs to spare from my AV Receiver to the projector.  The projector handles 1080p beautifully, so it should be able to handle whatever a  video card puts out (JVC DLA-RS25), with resolution of 1920x1080 (  http://www.projectorreviews.com/jvc/dla-rs25/#specifications ).

Normally I don't like futzing with batteries either, but given the layout of the theater, I don't think I have a choice in this case, wherein the components do not have line of sight.  And given the size of the room and seating, they're far away.  So I think I need something that can withstand even a little drywall between the keyboard/mouse and the CPU, so I'm hoping bluetooth will do it for me (confirm?).

Sorry if I am delayed in responding to these posts.  I'm now working away from home.  And I currently understand that in order to be able to afford such cool toys, one has to have a job apparently that precludes one having enough time to actually play with said toys.

Could be worse.  If I ever get this up and running, will send pix.

Thinking that I want to make the effort towards a kickass rig with dual boot. I'm turning into an old fart, and
I am sure there will be other legacy games that I will want to access so the XP becomes worth it.  Right now I've got to decide whether the performance hit I will take in insisting upon a laptopish (albeit desktop replacement size) solution versus just getting a regular non transportable box.  I'm beginning to think that it may be not worth it to make the CPU transportable, given its a pain in the ass to get to the components in my home theater in the first place.  And I have an old laptop, but it does what I need.