HTPC Or Nvidia Shield Tv

[loke12]

Hi guys i could use some input
i currently have a gaming rig
i5-3570k / 8gbs of ram / 2x 128gb ssd/ 750 +1tb hdd/ 750 watt psu and a MSI GTX 970
thats my main user , i also use this for work so it needs to stay where it is

i do like to be able to play at my tv , i have a panasonic vierra 60" plasma

i did read about the nvidia shield tv , and paired with my 970 i could game stream to my tv
the 500gb version is going to cost roughly 400$ canadian shipped

but i am wondering if i invest more , into just a htpc gaming rig would that be better and could you guys suggest some builds for 700-1000$ i like to enjoy my games at max settings as much as possible.

 

[phillyman36]

Have you read the reviews on the Shield?
http://www.anandtech.com/show/9289/the-nvidia-shield-android-tv-review

A couple of users talk about it here

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/39-ne...937-nvidia-shield-android-tv-set-top-box.html
I'm more interested in playing local media movies than games via Xbmc so a HTPC suits me better than a Shield.

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

I wouldn't get tied down to a Shield when there are other options available. Plenty of <$200 small PC's out there that can Steam Stream perfectly well, as well as Steam's own upcoming box. Heck, the base Alienware Alpha pops up at $400 or less from time to time and can handle most games locally and then stream whatever it can't.

Actually the Alpha is $430 right now at Best Buy:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/alienwa...b-hard-drive-black/9561097.p?id=1219424183258

 

[Justinbaileyman]

Why is everyone so down about the Shield Console? I think its pretty bad ass if you ask me.. I have an Ouya and its pretty good for basic media stuff and is only a small fraction of the horse power that the Nvidia Shield console has. I bet the shield console is way better then everyone is letting on.Or they are thinking its the same thing, power and strength wise as the shield handheld and it is not.Personally I would like to get one but money is tight right now. So Op if you wanna get one go ahead there is nothing wrong with this system.

 

[aj654987]

I wouldn't get tied down to a Shield when there are other options available. Plenty of <$200 small PC's out there that can Steam Stream perfectly well, as well as Steam's own upcoming box. Heck, the base Alienware Alpha pops up at $400 or less from time to time and can handle most games locally and then stream whatever it can't.

Actually the Alpha is $430 right now at Best Buy:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/alienwa...b-hard-drive-black/9561097.p?id=1219424183258

Shield probably has better playback than any small form factor PC under $200, youre going to be limited to the lowest end celeron and atom stuff, the shield does support 4k playback and everyone is reporting it works well. It also is using android so its not like youre restricted to only nvidia proprietary software.


I did get a used alpha on ebay myself though, was $377 shipped for the 8gb one, its a great deal for a thing this size with a maxwell gpu and windows license, you cant build anything close to that size for that amount. Theres good deals to be found for used ones, people had unrealistic expectations that it cant play everything at ultra, its only been out a few months, most of these have been used a few hours max.

 

[Kneedragger]

I would check out this thread on the Kodi forums. http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=220297

They have a wiki page which points out some problems they are having with it. http://kodi.wiki/view/Nvidia_SHIELD_Android_TV

I was going to consider this box for my movies but I was really looking for a box that can pass HD audio through.

HD audio, DTS-HD MA, Dolby True HD & Dolby Atoms can not be passed through/bitstreamed, nor can those formats be software decoded and output as multichannel PCM (at this time), with the exception of possibly True HD (needs further confirmation). However, DTS (core from DTS-HD MA) and DD 5.1(AC3) can be passed through/bitstreamed or software decoded and output as multichannel PCM.[3]

 

[Fox5]

Shield probably has better playback than any small form factor PC under $200, youre going to be limited to the lowest end celeron and atom stuff, the shield does support 4k playback and everyone is reporting it works well. It also is using android so its not like youre restricted to only nvidia proprietary software.


I did get a used alpha on ebay myself though, was $377 shipped for the 8gb one, its a great deal for a thing this size with a maxwell gpu and windows license, you cant build anything close to that size for that amount. Theres good deals to be found for used ones, people had unrealistic expectations that it cant play everything at ultra, its only been out a few months, most of these have been used a few hours max.

There are Haswell, Broadwell, and Braswell boxes out now for under $200 that'll playback 4k.

This if you want to build a PC. It can probably even do 24p 4k just on cpu power alone.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA24G3434067

This if you want to build a PC with lesser cpu power and better codec support:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...20&cm_re=celeron_n3150-_-13-157-620-_-Product

This to round out the choices:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856167088

 

[poofyhairguy]

Why is everyone so down about the Shield Console?

A jack of all trades does nothing well. Something like a PS4 makes a better game console, while a Chromebox running Openelec is a better local media player 99% of the time.

For my side of it (media playback) it doesn't support HD audio, it doesn't support VC1 content except in SOFTWARE (bleh), the interlacing support is behind what VAAPI can do, and (the big one for me) only 24p output and not 23.976p. That last one is HUGE for me, the whole reason I avoided Intel GPUs for YEARS is because until Haswell they couldn't do 23.976p right.