Moving desktop upstairs aways from TV and using a Nvidia Shield.

[willhub]

So I'm planning on moving my desktop back upstairs away from the TV.

I do however enjoy couch gaming when I get the chance.

I'm thinking of putting a Nvidia Shield downstairs and ensuring the desktop is connected via ethernet.

Is the Nvidia shield capable of 4k 60Hz (or even 120?) With HDR?

I've been using Moonlight on my laptop upstairs and streaming from the PC downstairs and I'm really impressed, the quality was almost native for me, no noticeable input lag and no noticeable reduction of pictures quality, but this is to my laptop not a 4k TV.

Anyone done similar and think it'll be a smooth experience?

 

[Orcvader]

I have the original Shield TV 2015 and it can do 4K 60Hz HDR. It can't do 120Hz and I don't think the newer shields are capable either.

As for streaming from the desktop (both desktop and Shield is on ethernet), it is a very smooth experience. I'm not using Moonlight myself but Parsec instead due to not having GFE installed, so I do lack some options like HDR streaming, but 1440p at 60Hz looks great. Latency is virtually near zero too so it feels like a native console/PC on the TV.

 

[willhub]

Do you still need to keep the monitor on or use a dummy plug with the Nvidia shield?

 

[Orcvader]

I still keep the monitor on since it's at my desk where the PC is. It's not been set as a stand-alone game streaming box, so no idea if it will work with no monitor installed.

 

[henson0115]

you can turn off the monitor, as thats what i do. however sometimes you need a monitor to sort out an issue every now and again.. if you are steam streaming for example.

 

[Metalface Mark]

wheres the pc going to be? If its directly above it cut a wee hole in the roof and run an hdmi cable through. This is what i do with my pc's, i keep them in the colder garage and run cables up to my office above.

 

[Haggisman]

I assume you have an Nvidia GPU if you are using Moonlight, in which case yes, it will support 4k/60hz/HDR. You can still get 4k/60hz with an AMD GPU by using the AMD Link or Steam Link apps, but no HDR support unfortunately

The long HDMI cable route is a far better solution if it's at all possible! (still trying to figure out if I can get away with it...)

 

[willhub]

It's not directly below and it's a rented hours, the room is other side, a 10m HDMi cable may be slightly too short and cause issues with 4k HDR.

 

[Haggisman]

It's not directly below and it's a rented hours, the room is other side, a 10m HDMi cable may be slightly too short and cause issues with 4k HDR.

Yeah, you'd probably need a fibre optic one for that - I tried 5-6 different brands/types with various issues until finally spending the extra for a fibre one (which works perfectly)

 

[subbytna]

Can I do similar with an AMD GPU card? If so what sort of software/hardware would I need ?

As in beginners guide to what I'd need to start playing games on my tv (PC is upstairs in my office)

Everything I'd need starting from nothing at all

 

[Haggisman]

You can, but you won't get HDR with an AMD card.

You need the following:

• Streaming client, ideally something with bluetooth to connect your controller and a wired network connection e.g.:
  • Old PC/laptop
  • Nvidia Shield
  • I think the Fire Stick supports it
  • Google Chromecast with Google TV (not the regular chromecast!)
  • Some TVs can natively support the required apps.
  • Steam Link which can be picked up for <£20 these days but only supports 1080p
  • Almost anything which runs Android TV
• Controller
• Stable and fast network connection between your gaming PC and the client device. Ideally wired all the way, although I've had success with powerline connectors.
• Steam Link or AMD Link app (both are free)

You then need to link the app to your PC (iirc in both cases the app generates a pairing code which you need to enter on the PC). You may need to enable AMD link in the Radeon software on the PC as well if you are using that.

That's pretty much it for set up, then just a bit of tweaking to get it running how you want it.

My current setup is PC upstairs running an RX6800 with cat6 directly to router, Nvidia Shield as the client also with cat6 directly to the router. I use the Shield controller and a PS5 Dualsense, but most modern controllers should work. Up until recently I was using the Steam Link app, which works fine, however I've just recently started testing AMD Link. Unfortunately I haven't really had a chance to do much couch gaming the last few weeks, so my testing so far has been limited to basically "does it work?".

One thing I did notice was that AMD link would allow me to select 4k resolution, while Steam link was limited to my UW monitor resolution, so that's definitely a plus point there.

Best thing to do is probably just test both and see which gives you the best experience.

 

[willhub]

No point me getting a Nvidia shield if I have a laptop I could use? It's not really possible to get 4K 120Hz at all is it? Just 60Hz, HDR seems quite fiddly too?

 

[Haggisman]

I have no idea about 120hz to be honest, my TV is only 60hz so it's not something I've ever investigated. HDR should work fine if you have an Nvidia GPU and use the Gamestream app, but I've not tried it recently as I haven't had an Nvidia GPU in about 3 years.

If you already have the laptop then you might as well download Moonlight for free and give it a try. In fact looking at their site it appears they DO support 120hz, so you might be in luck there

Obviously the shield is going to give you a nicer interface & a smaller/lower power device than a laptop, but that depends whether the ~£150 for one is worth it for you

 

[henson0115]

the shield will mostly just work out of the box hassle free, been doing a very similar thing for years and whilst you can do a similar thing via other methods, nothing quite works as nicely as the shield. not sure what the fascination is with 4k 120hz especially with streaming.. but your not going to get that unless you have hdmi 2.1 throughout the entire chain. you would likely need 2 machine swith rtx 3000 series or amd 6000 series.

 

[MrRockliffe]

It’ll do 4K60 (assuming your graphics card can) but I have noticed a little bit of lag, too much for racing games, for example.


This is using a wireless Xbox controller, with both the shield and PC hard wired into the router on an OLED.

I’d probably just get a fibre optic HDMI

 

[Haggisman]

I’d probably just get a fibre optic HDMI

Yup - assuming you are able to run the cables, £50-60 for a fibre HDMI cable and decent quality USB extension is going to give you a better experience than any kind of streaming and will be cheaper than buying a Shield.

 

[subbytna]

You can, but you won't get HDR with an AMD card.

You need the following:

• Streaming client, ideally something with bluetooth to connect your controller and a wired network connection e.g.:
  • Old PC/laptop
  • Nvidia Shield
  • I think the Fire Stick supports it
  • Google Chromecast with Google TV (not the regular chromecast!)
  • Some TVs can natively support the required apps.
  • Steam Link which can be picked up for <£20 these days but only supports 1080p
  • Almost anything which runs Android TV
• Controller
• Stable and fast network connection between your gaming PC and the client device. Ideally wired all the way, although I've had success with powerline connectors.
• Steam Link or AMD Link app (both are free)

You then need to link the app to your PC (iirc in both cases the app generates a pairing code which you need to enter on the PC). You may need to enable AMD link in the Radeon software on the PC as well if you are using that.

That's pretty much it for set up, then just a bit of tweaking to get it running how you want it.

My current setup is PC upstairs running an RX6800 with cat6 directly to router, Nvidia Shield as the client also with cat6 directly to the router. I use the Shield controller and a PS5 Dualsense, but most modern controllers should work. Up until recently I was using the Steam Link app, which works fine, however I've just recently started testing AMD Link. Unfortunately I haven't really had a chance to do much couch gaming the last few weeks, so my testing so far has been limited to basically "does it work?".

One thing I did notice was that AMD link would allow me to select 4k resolution, while Steam link was limited to my UW monitor resolution, so that's definitely a plus point there.

Best thing to do is probably just test both and see which gives you the best experience.

Ah man, thanks for that, I appreciate you taking time to do that for me

 

[willhub]

I can't seem to get HDR, my desktop has 3080Ti in it, my laptop doesn't support HDR but I've got it connected to my LG OLED and HDR activated. I assume the dummy plug needs to support HDR? Thing is none seem to say they do support HDR?

 

[Orcvader]

Can I do similar with an AMD GPU card? If so what sort of software/hardware would I need ?

As in beginners guide to what I'd need to start playing games on my tv (PC is upstairs in my office)

Everything I'd need starting from nothing at all

As well as Steam Link and AMD Link there's also Parsec and Rainway. Both these options I found were very close to Moonlight performance even on AMD GPUs (based on my old HD7950 compared to my 1080Ti/3070).

I went with Parsec because it allowed me to select resolutions above 1080p and force h.265 codec which boosted quality a fair bit. Last time I tried Rainway I was locked to 1080p, and Steam Link had some weird performance/quality issues every now and then.

 

[subbytna]

Cool, will have a nosey this weekend at all the info. Ta