upgrading a HTPC CPU/GPU to more gaming setup..

413x · 7 Mar 2014 at 20:44

I find im using my HTPC more and more to play games with xbox controller

atm i have an i3-2120 and 7850 GPU

i think i want to upgrade them both over my main rig

my problem is controlling the heat.

what is the best way to handle the heat? it is quite a packed case and thus a traditional GPU isnt going to work!
In fact a ref model would probably be better due to rear exhaust.

is there some option other than water that can effectively give me a 280x GPU inside a space limited case?

RJC · 7 Mar 2014 at 20:47

What model case are you using?

413x · 7 Mar 2014 at 20:58

its a rather tight silverstone gd06

413x · 7 Mar 2014 at 21:02

mine looks like that except there is another pci-e card- a tuner card

james.miller · 7 Mar 2014 at 21:06

you are pushing it with the one front intake fan, i would have thought. still, you may well get away with a reference design 280 or such. Might be worth waiting to see what nvidia comes up with - their 750ti's are brilliantly power-efficiant for the performance, so if they can come up with something at 280x-performance levels using much less power then that would be a tasty card for a htpc.

That's what im waiting for, anyway. Need to replace the 5850 in my lc17b

413x · 7 Mar 2014 at 21:11

yes, tbh i had thought i would have to fashion something

the 7850 in there atm (non ref) seems to be ok and i dont urgently need this upgrade. I shall wait on nvidias offering in that case. A reference may be more useful

actually that is probably the best bet. The machine is on for quite a long time just on TV mode so low power draw would help there too

james.miller · 7 Mar 2014 at 21:30

That was i was thinking. right now im running a phenomII-965 and a 5850, thirsty hardware lol. The cpu, board and gpu are getting swapped out for a billy bargain i5 ivy bridge / 6850 i picked up which should bring some decent power saving, but the 6850 is just temporary until i can find a proper replacement. in the interest of saving trees and keeping the pc nice and quiet....mostly the later lol... I'm pretty interested in what nvidia do next.

413x · 8 Mar 2014 at 10:23

Yep. Atm is fine. I don't play many games that often any more (currently on Fallout new Vegas) but I really find I'd rather sit in the living room than on the PC. It's near the point where I don't think I may bother upgrading my i7920 any more at all until components die.

Plus the TV is 1080p and much more easy to drive than 1440p

Ideally I want something that will clock right down most not the time and ramp right up for games