PC Games from the living room couch / on the TV

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Mizugori

[H]ard|Gawd
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Mar 25, 2004
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OK here goes - I have heard of people trying to stream their PC to their TV in the living room for years, but it was generally a very involved, expensive, and not particularly amazing process. Now with the steam link and steam machine options coming out, I am wondering if there is a worthwhile solution that would allow me to play my PC games, from the couch, on my living room TV.

Your input and advice is greatly appreciated.

Before I get to the different option breakdowns, here are a few general questions/concerns that apply to multiple different options:

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General Questions & Concerns:

1.) What if my TV's performance causes slowness/lag or other issues that ruin the gaming experience? How can I determine whether or not my TV should be powerful enough, before I lay out money on a new gaming device?

2.) Controllers - can anyone comment on those steam controllers? Are they decent or terrible? I read somewhere that Valve thinks they will actually be able to replace mouse & keyboard for just about any game - is that just marketing BS or do they actually work that well? (I'm thinking about RTS games for one thing.)

3.) Mouse & Keyboard couch usage - for those of you that somehow play PC games on the couch, how do you use a mouse and keyboard comfortably? Do you have some kind of like dinner tray setup or something?

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Option 1.) Steam Link - It streams your PC screen to the TV. It is a dumb device that just streams whatever would be displayed on your PC, to your TV screen, as I understand.

Pros:

-No need for games to be "ported" to some new platform - you should be able to play any PC games with this method, from the original StarCraft to Skyrim and everywhere in between, in theory. If it runs on your PC, you are good to go.

-Super cheap - $50.

Cons:

-You still need to maintain a powerful desktop PC and it has to be on when you use the steam link - it's just streaming after all.

-Not really clear on whether there are controller options - maybe the steam controller works on it? I can't figure it out.

-You will be playing PC games that have not been modified in any way to facilitate console-like play. So, for example, if you are trying to play a game that is heavily mouse-dependent, or requires many keybindings, you might essentially be forced to continue using a mouse and keyboard, which presents some challenges as mentioned at the top of the thread under 'general questions and concerns.' Additionally, if you want to play multiplayer with a friend on the couch, it's not really possible unless you have two TVs and two PCs and two Steam link devices.

-Your TV may present a bottleneck. This appears to depend on input delay and other factors. See #1 under 'general questions and concerns.'

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Option 2.) Steam Machine - Valve's new console, the steam machine basically is intended to let you play games from your Steam library on your TV.

Pros:

-No concerns about your TV choking on the input stream and introducing lag.

-No need to maintain a desktop PC, and have it on while playing on the steam machine.

-Potentially as games are "ported," the companies involved may also take the time to change a few things like modifying the controls to suit console play, or tweaking multiplayer modes to work as split-screen for couch co-op play. (Hey, a guy can dream!)

Cons:
-Only runs games that have been ported to linux. Which means like, a handful of games currently. There is no guarantee of which games will be ported, or when. Additionally, bad ports are a risk - porting a game can introduce tons of bugs and/or performance issues if the process is rushed.

-Only runs steam games (there are still a handful of companies out there that give Valve the middle finger, believe it or not. I think EA is one of them?) Also, some older games that came out way before Steam existed, or at least before it became popular, aren't on steam. Stuff like your Good Old Games titles won't work.

-Depending on which model you get, the prices on some of these are patently absurd. Even the relatively "cheap" ones are around the cost of the PS4 / Xbox One when they were brand new.

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Option 3.) DIY Streaming PC - Essentially you build or use an existing PC, run a cable from the PC to your TV, and play that way.

Pros:

-No need for games to be ported, naturally. You are basically just replacing your monitor with a TV screen.

-If you already have a PC that you can use for this, your costs will be pretty low.

-100% customization - you can build it however you want, upgrade when and how you please, etc.

Cons:

-You still need to maintain a powerful desktop PC.

-As discussed in the previous options, controls are a bit of a question mark. They make console-like controllers for PC, and hell maybe even the steam controller will work with a regular PC (does anyone know?) - but most like it seems like you'll be stuck trying to figure out how to comfortably use a mouse and keyboard from the couch. (If someone presents a great solution for that problem, this will be removed as a 'con!')

-Your TV may present a bottleneck. This appears to depend on input delay and other factors. See #1 under 'general questions and concerns.'

-As with the Steam Link, you will be playing PC games that have not been modified in any way to facilitate console-like play. So naturally no controls intended for console style play, no tweaked multiplayer stuff, etc.

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If this thread becomes an active discussion and people suggest other options, I will add them and update this original post.
 
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Steam Link is compatible with the Steam Controller, Xbox One or 360 Wired Controller, Xbox 360 Wireless Controller for Windows, Logitech Wireless Gamepad F710, or keyboard and mouse.

I love my Steam Controller, personally. It has a learning curve but it is indeed capable of replacing keyboard and mouse in everything I've tried it with. Using the gyro for aiming in FPS games can provide even more precision than a mouse, and mouse region support makes minimaps in RTS games actually useful.

My PC is located in between my desk and my TV, so I have nothing to contribute to the streaming part of this discussion. If it's possible for you to do, having the same PC directly connected to your TV (over HDMI or HDMI-to-Ethernet) is always going to provide a better experience than streaming.
 
If you can, just hook it up via HDMI. You only need a single cable (it does both audio and video) and HDMI works 100% fine up to 15'ish yards. Cables are cheap now, too.
From your couch, you have the choice of numerous wireless gamepads. The 360 is the most ubiquitous, but you might see the Xbox One controller/dongles on sale today. I got a combo pack for $50'ish a few weeks ago.
Wireless KB/M combos are common and cheap and even "gaming" wireless mice aren't as much as they used to be. G700s mice can be had for under $50 at many places.
 
But if you do use a wireless KB/M combo, how do you use it on the couch?
 
I just picked up an Nvidia shield, and it works well. Ended up getting it for $100.00 I did have some issues with lag on multiplayer games, but single player games work great.

As far as the controls con, a LOT of games have built in controller support. Any games that I had felt would be better played on a couch had the support for a controller. I wish Xbox controllers didn't require proprietary hardware to function, but what do you do?
 
Mizugori said:
But if you do use a wireless KB/M combo, how do you use it on the couch?
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I use a pair of these:
table-mate_zps9649e50e.jpg
 
I've got a linux box that is my HTPC frontend connected to my TV. I've got Steam installed on it, and it's got decent hardware (i3 and GTX 570). Not the best hardware, but good enough to run stuff like Shadows of Mordor. Because it's on a linux box, I'm somewhat limited on the game it will play. However, I've recently tested streaming on the Windows only games, and it work fine. Its network connection is wired.

As far as the TV goes, look around online and see if you can figure out how bad the input lag is on your TV. The general rule is that the "smarter" your TV, the worse the lag will be. You want a TV that has the fewest online features as possible. The more it has, the greater the lag will be (though that's definitely not the only cause of input lag).

I have a bluetooth mouse and keyboard connected to the HPTC. It works fine at about 13' (where our couch is). It works beyond that, but gets less reliable if I go too far away.

I've got two wireless Xbox 360 controllers connected and the work great. We don't play anything on the TV that is so critical that it requires wired controllers. They all work fine. We just use a TV tray for the keyboard/mouse when needed for gaming.

I've never had a problem running the games on the PC. Steam Big Picture works great and is super easy to navigate with a controller. Playing the games works fine with either the controller the kb/m.
 
Wow, that's a huge wall of text, OP. Didn't we just answer all these same questions a week or two ago? I need to find my response there and quote myself. :p

I game from the couch almost exclusively. Set PC tower next to TV stand, run HDMI to 5.1 receiver, use wireless M/KB & 360 controllers as needed. I just set the keyboard in my lap, it's perfectly comfortable. Mouse on pad beside me on the couch. My TV is a Samsun Plasma, few years old now, but no noticeable lag at all running through the receiver to the TV. Not sure what specs you need on a newer TV to get the lag-free experience.

I'm happy to see the Steam devices taking off, but I'm not planning on adopting any time soon. The steam machines seem underpowered and overpriced, and I'm not ready to give up on windows OS because of the lack of games available. And from what I've heard of the Steam controller, it is too large for most people with small/medium-sized hands, the build quality is lacking, and it doesn't function as well for many games as expected. While I really like the concept, sounds like this is another wait-&-see item.
 
I really don't understand why a thread like this is even necessary on a tech enthusiast forum. Is this GameFAQs?
 
madFive said:
And from what I've heard of the Steam controller, it is too large for most people with small/medium-sized hands, the build quality is lacking, and it doesn't function as well for many games as expected. While I really like the concept, sounds like this is another wait-&-see item.
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I've had mine almost a month now and the only part I can potentially agree with is the build quality. We'll see how it's holding up in a couple years. Valve has said they plan to refine the hardware and eventually open up all the designs for how its made, so it's entirely possible that a much better version will be available by the time I need to replace it.

I have "small/medium hands" (look at my older posts regarding gigantic mobile phone sizes if you care about this). The controller needs to be held with index fingers on the bumpers and middle fingers on the triggers. This is not the way I was used to holding a controller, but after adjusting, it feels great.

It functions much better in games than I ever could have expected, especially with the new mouse region support. It's a legitimate replacement for mouse and keyboard, even for top-level players. Gyro is essential for aiming. If set up properly, it's even more precise than a mouse with switchable DPI support. You need to get used to it, but the benefits are worth it.

The vast majority of negative reviewers didn't dedicate the time to learning it that's necessary to reap the rewards. You didn't learn how to precision aim with a mouse overnight, it's based on muscle memory. Give your mind and body time to build muscle memory for the Steam Controller the same way you would when learning a new instrument and it will completely change the way you interact with your games, for the better.

Honestly, the only negative in my opinion is the lack of support for Force Feedback, but I think that it will eventually be added to the haptic engine through a software update.
 
naticus said:
I really don't understand why a thread like this is even necessary on a tech enthusiast forum. Is this GameFAQs?
Click to expand...

What's odd is that whenever it comes up, people don't seem to realize how easy it is. You'd think it was some complicated process instead of just treating your TV like the monitor that it is.
 
Ok so essentially, thread highlights / TLDR:

-The steam controller is actually decent, give it a shot
-No one cares about the steam machine, move on
-There are some decent options (lap desks and tray table configurations) for mouse & kb on the couch
 
Domingo said:
What's odd is that whenever it comes up, people don't seem to realize how easy it is. You'd think it was some complicated process instead of just treating your TV like the monitor that it is.
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This. I read crap like "I've moved to console gaming because I can sit on my couch" all the time on [H] now. There's nothing about PC gaming that precludes couch gaming. This thread shouldn't be needed, but is.
 
Domingo said:
What's odd is that whenever it comes up, people don't seem to realize how easy it is. You'd think it was some complicated process instead of just treating your TV like the monitor that it is.
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Wait. Are you saying I don't have to wire my home with CAT5e, purchase a Steam Link and re-learn how to play all my games with a touchpad in order to use my PC on my flat screen?

It's ironic how simple PC gaming in the living room was before Valve came along and "simplified" it.
Mizugori said:
-The steam controller is actually decent, give it a shot
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While this may be the opinion of people who've already spent money on it, I struggle to find one objective review that paints Steam Controller in a positive light.

Keep in mind Steam Controller is for those rare games that have zero controller support. How many games in your Steam library lack any controller support? And of those, would a touchpad be better suited for playing them than the aforementioned Bluetooth mouse and keyboard?
 
crusty_juggler said:
Wait. Are you saying I don't have to wire my home with CAT5e, purchase a Steam Link and re-learn how to play all my games with a touchpad in order to use my PC on my flat screen?

It's ironic how simple PC gaming in the living room was before Valve came along and "simplified" it.While this may be the opinion of people who've already spent money on it, I struggle to find one objective review that paints Steam Controller in a positive light.

Keep in mind Steam Controller is for those rare games that have zero controller support. How many games in your Steam library lack any controller support? And of those, would a touchpad be better suited for playing them than the aforementioned Bluetooth mouse and keyboard?
Click to expand...

I wonder what it would be like to see the world completely in black and white like you do. Must be a poor existence.

How can you possibly say that the Steam controller is only for games that don't support controllers. That makes absolutely no sense in any way. You may not like it, and you're not required to, but that statement is asinine.

Yes, playing in the living room has NEARLY always been easier than people think. I've been running a nice living room config for years now (probably almost a decade now actually.) However, the steps Valve is taking really are streamlining the process, and lowering the bar to entry. It may or may not end up being the case, but I would also wager that it does change the perception of what can be done with a PC in the living room. People may not widely adopt their hardware, but I bet that due to the publicity, the options becoming available, that the PC platform in the living room's adoption will accelerate in general.
 
Very happy with my Steam Link, got about 50+ hours on it. But it would only work best with ethernet. (not WIFI, not Powerline and not MOCA) Stream settings set to 30Mb/s and "Beautiful" and I can't tell the qualitative difference between the TV and the desktop computer. You will not see the same performance if you let the Link decide/auto configure.

My only complaint is if the game on the host machine crashes, it crashes the Steam client too (1 out of every 30-40 sessions) so be prepared for occasional marches back to the host to re-login to Steam.

Haven't tried kybd/mouse with the Link yet, and I haven't found any Steam Controller config that I'd use for any FPS.
 
crusty_juggler said:
While this may be the opinion of people who've already spent money on it, I struggle to find one objective review that paints Steam Controller in a positive light.

Keep in mind Steam Controller is for those rare games that have zero controller support. How many games in your Steam library lack any controller support? And of those, would a touchpad be better suited for playing them than the aforementioned Bluetooth mouse and keyboard?
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It's for all games, especially ones that already have robust controller support, because it makes those ones even better and allows you to do things the controller the game was designed for can't. Suddenly you have a huge leg up over everyone else using a controller because additional functions are now at your fingertips that the other players don't have buttons for. You also have the ability to remap all of the controls in games that don't natively support it. For anyone left-handed, disabled or simply unconventional, your games are now more comfortable to play because the input is designed by you, for you.

If you play a game that is compatible with analog movement, you're missing a lot by confining yourself strictly to WASD for movement. Suddenly you're dodging and moving in irregular diagonal vectors that your opponents aren't accustomed to. Serpentine movement goes from a gimmick to something that reliably lets you close distance without being hit. Maybe you get extra distance when lobbing grenades if you jump first, so bind both actions to a single trigger together with delay so you lob at the jump apex. Mouse Regions make it easy to play complex games like 4X strategy and MMOs that have many more functions than your controller has buttons.

As far as reviews go, most of the people reviewing the unit didn't spend enough time with it to develop the muscle memory necessary to actually utilize the additional power of the controller over something like a 360 controller. If you sit down at a piano for the first time for a few hours and give it a 2 out of 10 because it's not as comfortable and easy to play as your train whistle, it shouldn't reflect badly on the piano.

Saturn_V said:
I haven't found any Steam Controller config that I'd use for any FPS.
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Make one yourself. Spend some time setting up the gyro in a way that's comfortable based on the angle you hold the controller at and how much you want to move around. Once you know how you like to use the gyro, you'll be able to set up your settings for other games in a snap.
 
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J3RK said:
How can you possibly say that the Steam controller is only for games that don't support controllers. That makes absolutely no sense in any way.
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I'm simply quoting the many Steam controller users who have posted here and elsewhere, and also Valve themselves. Steam controller is intended for games that do not support controllers out of the box. Hence the "is for" in my post.

I stand behind what I said, and what Valve says.
 
IMO, and feel free to disagree, it's a controller designed to be widely usable in as many types of games as possible. Yes, it's trying to move into new territories by making games that were once gamepad un-friendly much better on one, trying to take over a chunk of M+KB territory, etc. But, it's still a gamepad with the same basic functions that we've always had. I don't see how that limits it in any way to games that "don't support game pads". I see it as adding those games to the list of games that already DO have good support. I don't see how it subtracts from that in any way.

So, if you like how it feels and operates, then it would be a good solution for a lot of different games. If not, then it's not for you.

I also do not get the feeling that Valve only intends it to be used with games that don't support game pads or don't work well with them exclusively. I see it as widening the spectrum of what's considered playable in the living room.

Personally, I don't see it as the solution to EVERYTHING. I'm ordering a pair shortly, but I don't see it replacing my custom arcade sticks for arcade games, or my standard gamepads for platformers. I see it as yet another way to play, and possibly add some games to my living room PC that were once only acceptable on my desktop.

And, in some peoples' cases, maybe they will be enough to be the sole controllers in the living room. In other peoples' cases, perhaps not.
 
I'm more than happy using my 360, PS4, and Xbox One pads on the PC. However I’m very interested in what the Steam controller brings to the table. We’ve been using mostly extensions of the same basic idea going back to the PS1’s version of the analog pad. We all know that if it ain’t broke don’t fix it…but maybe there really is a better way? Nintendo tried with the Wii-Mote and various attachments, but most others have stayed tried and true. Once Valve works the kinks out a bit, I might end up getting one. Especially once we get more into the “VR era.”
 
I think there are games that will adapt well, and ones that will never be perfect on it. For example. I play Borderlands mostly on the desktop with KB+M. However, I have also played it enough on a regular gamepad now to where playing it on the couch isn't an absolute chore. BL is forgiving enough as a shooter to where maybe the gamepad wasn't my first choice, but was good enough. I see the Steam Controller improving this experience.

You would NEVER catch me trying to play Q3A from the couch. No way in hell. It just plain wouldn't be up to my standards of controlling this game. I could see the Steam Controller making it a little better, but not enough to make playing Q3A on the couch a reality.

There are going to be cases where the right tool for the job is just the way it has to be. There will be other cases where a certain range of options will be acceptable or perhaps preferable. I don't see it solving all of couch gaming's problems, but I don't see it taking anything away either. Only adding, and certainly improving a lot of border cases. (pun not originally intended, but now intended. :D )
 
I'm trying to actually move away from KB/M. For twitch shooters, that's not feasible. I never really liked it as a control scheme, but have to admit that as a pointing device the mouse is unmatched. So unmatched that nothing else is close. However if something could even close that gap a little more, I'd be all for it. It's certainly not the keyboard that's offering advantages (beyond just having lots of buttons) but mouse pointing is tough to top.
I'm not saying the Steam controller will make a difference, but I just want to see more control schemes that aren't just going with what we already have. At least try heading down a new path that could lead to something better.
 
Domingo said:
I'm trying to actually move away from KB/M. For twitch shooters, that's not feasible. I never really liked it as a control scheme, but have to admit that as a pointing device the mouse is unmatched. So unmatched that nothing else is close. However if something could even close that gap a little more, I'd be all for it. It's certainly not the keyboard that's offering advantages (beyond just having lots of buttons) but mouse pointing is tough to top.
I'm not saying the Steam controller will make a difference, but I just want to see more control schemes that aren't just going with what we already have. At least try heading down a new path that could lead to something better.
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Oh I agree completely on the KB aspect. Something that fits just in your left hand that offers accurate and instant input while the right hand still uses the mouse (assuming right-handedness for example) then that would be incredibly good. I've seen some devices that were supposed to do this, but they've all been deficient in some way. Someone just needs to do a lot of research, and spare no expense. People who play this sort of thing would pay if it offered real-world improvements, and no setbacks. I'm fine with KB+M though, as it does ok for me. I don't play competitively or anything, but just demand more accuracy than a gamepad would provide in something twitchy.
 
Wondering if anyone who swears they'd never play a twitch shooter with the controller has actually tried using the gyro. It provides a much larger control space than a mousepad is capable of delivering. My scores in TF2 are higher since getting used to the controller (especially as sniper) and I'm using a very similar config in Battlefront with great results. The only way I could see a mouse being good in the same way would be one with a pressure-sensitive grip that alters DPI or precision based on how tightly I squeeze the mouse. My Logitech mouse has DPI adjustment, but it's not analogue the way the controller is. The lack of accuracy in shooters is the primary problem the Steam Controller set out to solve. It's not at all like using a mouse, but you still get the same precision and accuracy, if not more.
 
CEpeep said:
Wondering if anyone who swears they'd never play a twitch shooter with the controller has actually tried using the gyro. It provides a much larger control space than a mousepad is capable of delivering. My scores in TF2 are higher since getting used to the controller (especially as sniper) and I'm using a very similar config in Battlefront with great results. The only way I could see a mouse being good in the same way would be one with a pressure-sensitive grip that alters DPI or precision based on how tightly I squeeze the mouse. My Logitech mouse has DPI adjustment, but it's not analogue the way the controller is. The lack of accuracy in shooters is the primary problem the Steam Controller set out to solve. It's not at all like using a mouse, but you still get the same precision and accuracy, if not more.
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I haven't yet, as I haven't ordered my controllers yet. However, first thing is that I don't use a mousepad, and use up plenty of desk space when I need to in order to make large sweeping movements. Luckily my mouse and desktop surface get along well. I wouldn't want to artificially limit that range of movement. Second is that I've never (on any device equipped with one) had a good experience using a gyro for any type of movement that required a high degree of accuracy. I could see them being useful for slower paced sorts of things (for example I love aiming with the Wii U game pad in Zelda...) However, for something like Q3A (as used in my previous example of something I wouldn't give up the mouse for) I just can't see it working. Doesn't mean I won't give it a shot just for curiosity's sake, but I really don't think it would change my mind on that one. That said, there are plenty of more forgiving shooters, third person types spring to mind, and ones that don't require twitch accuracy that maybe the gyro or pads might be wonderful for where the tradeoff would be well worth the added comfort of the couch/TV scenario.
 
It's all about using the gyro and the pad together. The pad is for coarse movement and the gyro is for precision adjustment. The closest thing I can compare it to would be playing Silent Scope in an arcade, where you pull your body away from the rifle to find a target and then look down the scope to line up the headshot. There's a very visceral feeling while aiming down the sights that takes advantage of what your body is already used to doing. If you do precision work already like painting/drawing or shooting at the range/hunting, you're taking advantage of some of that muscle memory. It also has the added bonus of making your interaction with the game feel more real, which has been particularly exciting for me while playing racing games and Battlefront.
 
I did look into options like the Razer Hydra, but then when I read that "many games support it" I was instantly turned off. I'm looking for 100% compatibility - not "well 80% of the games I like will allow me to use this."
 
Mizugori said:
I did look into options like the Razer Hydra, but then when I read that "many games support it" I was instantly turned off. I'm looking for 100% compatibility - not "well 80% of the games I like will allow me to use this."
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Yeah, what good is a Hydra if I can't play Guitar Hero with it?
 
IMO, for something to be a true control solution it needs to either emulate a KB/M or gamepad and work with everything that supports one of those two.
 
CEpeep said:
It's all about using the gyro and the pad together. The pad is for coarse movement and the gyro is for precision adjustment. The closest thing I can compare it to would be playing Silent Scope in an arcade, where you pull your body away from the rifle to find a target and then look down the scope to line up the headshot. There's a very visceral feeling while aiming down the sights that takes advantage of what your body is already used to doing. If you do precision work already like painting/drawing or shooting at the range/hunting, you're taking advantage of some of that muscle memory. It also has the added bonus of making your interaction with the game feel more real, which has been particularly exciting for me while playing racing games and Battlefront.
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I can see that depending on just how precise the gyro controls are. If it's truly precise to where it can match the precision of one's movement, then I suppose it would be ok. I'll know more about how I feel about this after I pick up some Steam Controllers. Who knows, maybe I will like it. I do have my doubts though right now for very specific games. I'm optimistic though that it will be great in most.
 
Saturn_V said:
Very happy with my Steam Link, got about 50+ hours on it. But it would only work best with ethernet. (not WIFI, not Powerline and not MOCA) Stream settings set to 30Mb/s and "Beautiful" and I can't tell the qualitative difference between the TV and the desktop computer. You will not see the same performance if you let the Link decide/auto configure.

My only complaint is if the game on the host machine crashes, it crashes the Steam client too (1 out of every 30-40 sessions) so be prepared for occasional marches back to the host to re-login to Steam.

Haven't tried kybd/mouse with the Link yet, and I haven't found any Steam Controller config that I'd use for any FPS.
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I've been contemplating trying out Steam Link but I have a powerline ethernet connection between my router and a switch beside the TV. It's a 500mbit adapter but in practice I can only pull about 100-120mbit/s in each direction, probably because we live in an older house.

I'm guessing 30mb/s means megabytes/s and not mbit? Unfortunately I cannot run cat5/6 where we are now, do you think I have enough bandwidth to bother trying? What's the minimum bandwidth/latency to not have degradation in video quality?

For me, I'm interested in trying either the Steam controller or Xbox, I wouldn't bother with KB/M as I would just play those at my desk in the next room. I have a Panasonic Plasma TV which supposedly only has 16ms of input lag, I really love the image quality on my set so I'm curious to game on it. Moving my tower is not practice because of cable management at my desk.
 
grambo said:
I've been contemplating trying out Steam Link but I have a powerline ethernet connection between my router and a switch beside the TV. It's a 500mbit adapter but in practice I can only pull about 100-120mbit/s in each direction, probably because we live in an older house.

I'm guessing 30mb/s means megabytes/s and not mbit? Unfortunately I cannot run cat5/6 where we are now, do you think I have enough bandwidth to bother trying? What's the minimum bandwidth/latency to not have degradation in video quality?

For me, I'm interested in trying either the Steam controller or Xbox, I wouldn't bother with KB/M as I would just play those at my desk in the next room. I have a Panasonic Plasma TV which supposedly only has 16ms of input lag, I really love the image quality on my set so I'm curious to game on it. Moving my tower is not practice because of cable management at my desk.
Click to expand...

Just FYI, I do powerline streaming between my desktop upstairs and an HTPC in the living room and despite it being not the fastest connection in the world, I rarely have problems streaming.
 
grambo said:
I've been contemplating trying out Steam Link but I have a powerline ethernet connection between my router and a switch beside the TV. It's a 500mbit adapter but in practice I can only pull about 100-120mbit/s in each direction, probably because we live in an older house.

I'm guessing 30mb/s means megabytes/s and not mbit? Unfortunately I cannot run cat5/6 where we are now, do you think I have enough bandwidth to bother trying? What's the minimum bandwidth/latency to not have degradation in video quality?

For me, I'm interested in trying either the Steam controller or Xbox, I wouldn't bother with KB/M as I would just play those at my desk in the next room. I have a Panasonic Plasma TV which supposedly only has 16ms of input lag, I really love the image quality on my set so I'm curious to game on it. Moving my tower is not practice because of cable management at my desk.
Click to expand...
That's sufficient. The Steam Link only has 100mbit ethernet anyway, so a gigabit connection won't give you any improvement. Keep in mind that that there's compression anyway so the picture won't be as good as what you see on your desktop, but generally it's more than adequate. I could tell the difference when playing The Witcher 3, but didn't care because 120" screen > 23" monitor.
 
grambo said:
I've been contemplating trying out Steam Link but I have a powerline ethernet connection between my router and a switch beside the TV. It's a 500mbit adapter but in practice I can only pull about 100-120mbit/s in each direction, probably because we live in an older house.
Click to expand...

All I can give you is it might work with your existing PL setup.

I've tried upgrading my Powerline adapters in preparation for the Link, I was still on an ancient WD Livewire (HomePlug AV 200 Mbps) when I started six months ago, and I went all the way up to the 1200 Mbps adapters. Powerline Ethernet and I have had a big ugly falling out.

It seemed the faster I tried to go, the more unstable the connection was; which is truism for all Powerline adapters I've since learned- especially on older houses like mine. (70 y.o) I was able to make it work with the older PL adapters, but not consistently and not pretty enough to send to a 60" TV. Bandwidth-starved Steam IHS looks and sounds horrible.

And then I ran a 50' Ethernet cable from the router to the home theater rack switch downstairs, and it was perfect. "30 Mb/s" (bit/s) is the largest manual bandwidth setting on the Steam Link next to "Unlimited" (which increases latency).

I used a WinBook tablet to test Steam in-home streaming with the various PL adapters before the Link was released. If you have an older laptop you can test that way too, as long as hardware-decoding is supported. But then again, the Link is only $50.
 
OP, getting back to your questions:

The easiest option is the Steam Link, assuming you have ethernet. Introducing wifi adds too many unknowns for an absolute recommendation.

The BEST solution is a dedicated gaming PC with an ethernet connection.

The solution that will do the best by you in terms of balancing performance and power is a streaming PC. Use a basic, easy to use version of Linux and run Steam in big picture mode streaming from your main rig, preferably via ethernet.

Reccomendations:
1- stop worrying about your TV. I assume you already have one, so it's a moot point. Just google the model number and see what others have found.

2- Ignore the steam machines. Unless you don't want to build your own streaming box as above, it's not the way to go. They are generally overpriced. The EXCEPTION is the oft-discounted Alienware Alpha, particularly the i5 version. For $400, WITH a controller and respectable specs in a tiny case, it's hard to beat. Just buy a few of these, as the MS dongle sucks and WILL die.

3- Really do your research on building your own streaming machine. With some work on searching for deals, you can piece together a nice m-itx system with basic specs to do the streaming you need. Use the Alpha mentioned above as a benchmark for price and specs.
 
Modred189 said:
OP, getting back to your questions:

The easiest option is the Steam Link, assuming you have ethernet. Introducing wifi adds too many unknowns for an absolute recommendation.

The BEST solution is a dedicated gaming PC with an ethernet connection.

The solution that will do the best by you in terms of balancing performance and power is a streaming PC. Use a basic, easy to use version of Linux and run Steam in big picture mode streaming from your main rig, preferably via ethernet.

Reccomendations:
1- stop worrying about your TV. I assume you already have one, so it's a moot point. Just google the model number and see what others have found.

2- Ignore the steam machines. Unless you don't want to build your own streaming box as above, it's not the way to go. They are generally overpriced. The EXCEPTION is the oft-discounted Alienware Alpha, particularly the i5 version. For $400, WITH a controller and respectable specs in a tiny case, it's hard to beat. Just buy a few of these, as the MS dongle sucks and WILL die.

3- Really do your research on building your own streaming machine. With some work on searching for deals, you can piece together a nice m-itx system with basic specs to do the streaming you need. Use the Alpha mentioned above as a benchmark for price and specs.
Click to expand...

Good recommendations here.

I would add that you don't necessarily need to go with a small form-factor system, IF you have space, or a concealed area to work with. My living room PC is a Dell Precision T3500, Xeon W-series, 24GB of RAM, and a GTX-660Ti. :D The reason being, it was given to me for free (minus the video card). It's actually a larger mid-tower, so not small in any sense of the word, but I just happen to have a gap near the cabinets under my TV and the wall, that is also obscured by a big leather ottoman. So it's basically invisible despite its size. Plus there's lots of room inside, so I've added a few SSDs to it for media, games, emulation, etc. It's also nearly silent because it doesn't need a ton of air-flow to keep it cool.

Point being, if you can get away with it, without destroying your room's aesthetic, don't go small or tiny for the PC. Just grab an older desktop that you aren't using as much (if you're the type to have one kicking around) pop in a decent video card, and stick it in your living-room. (or even an adjacent room, and cable through to your TV from there)

Just thought I'd throw that in there, because while small PCs or link-devices are cool if you need that to maintain the appearance of your room, IMO a larger PC is better.
 
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