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[JohnnyFootball]

So I have been using Bazzite/SteamOS in my living room PC for about 5 months and I love it, but I have decided (and/or leaning heavily) to switching back to Windows as there are just too many compromises I have to make on Bazzite and since I have 9070XT.
Compromises such as lack of full bandwiddth HDMI 2.1 in Linux (I can get 4K/120 with 8-bit 4:2:0 and it looks pretty good actually. You could tell most people it was 10-bit 4:4:4 and they couldn't tell the difference in gaming.) but the deal breaker is lack of FSR4 support, which will come, but not until later this year

Since I plan to make it a Windows gaming PC, what settings do you recommend? Is there an online guide? I know Thiojoe has suggested using English worldwide.

Do I want to use Windows 10? I am thinking I would set it up such that it boots into Steam Big Picture mode, so that I get a pretty close to SteamOS experience.

Thoughts and suggestions?

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

I replaced my Windows based HTPC in the living room with a PS5 Pro because after some time, the many little annoyances in terms of convenience were too much for me to tolerate. I have been thinking about the Bazzite option but never tried it, so you had my full attention when you mentioned you did this. Needless to say it's quite disencouraging to hear you haven't been satisfied with this scenario, either.

Afaik you can no longer setup W11 to auto-login on boot, so that'll piss you off after a while having to grab the keyboard to type in your password each time.

Also you need to have some kind of IR dongle in order to be able to turn the machine on remotely it you don't want to physically get up and press the power button.

Then there's probably a couple of notifications here and there that you can't turn off completely and going to stress your nerves when in BPM.

I most likely forgot a lot of things here but that's just off the top of my head. Good luck.

 

[RagnarokIV]

Afaik you can no longer setup W11 to auto-login on boot,

mine does?

 

[bad guy]

Using Win10 that looses it's support and future security updates this October may not be the smartest move.

 

[analog_future]

Use Windows 11 and go with Playnite as your front end. Playnite requires some tinkering but is an INCREDIBLE console UI experience once you get it configured.

 

[rodrigolfp]

I replaced my Windows based HTPC in the living room with a PS5 Pro because after some time, the many little annoyances in terms of convenience were too much for me to tolerate. I have been thinking about the Bazzite option but never tried it, so you had my full attention when you mentioned you did this. Needless to say it's quite disencouraging to hear you haven't been satisfied with this scenario, either.

Afaik you can no longer setup W11 to auto-login on boot, so that'll piss you off after a while having to grab the keyboard to type in your password each time.

Also you need to have some kind of IR dongle in order to be able to turn the machine on remotely it you don't want to physically get up and press the power button.

Then there's probably a couple of notifications here and there that you can't turn off completely and going to stress your nerves when in BPM.

I most likely forgot a lot of things here but that's just off the top of my head. Good luck.

 

[TonyMX]

 

[rodrigolfp]

I am thinking I would set it up such that it boots into Steam Big Picture mode, so that I get a pretty close to SteamOS experience.

GitHub - jazir555/GamesDows: Windows boots straight into Steam Big Picture or Playnite without displaying any Explorer UI elements. GamesDows is intended to emulate Steam OS's "Game Mode" as closely as possible.

Windows boots straight into Steam Big Picture or Playnite without displaying any Explorer UI elements. GamesDows is intended to emulate Steam OS's "Game Mode" as closely as possible. ...

github.com

 

[GHG]

GitHub - jazir555/GamesDows: Windows boots straight into Steam Big Picture or Playnite without displaying any Explorer UI elements. GamesDows is intended to emulate Steam OS's "Game Mode" as closely as possible.

Windows boots straight into Steam Big Picture or Playnite without displaying any Explorer UI elements. GamesDows is intended to emulate Steam OS's "Game Mode" as closely as possible. ...

github.com

This is the one.

Alternatively you can use BigBox (which is launchbox's premium version which includes a controller interface) and then import all you steam games.

That way you can easily have games from anywhere (including emulation) all in one easy to navigate interface.



This is currently my favourite all in one interface because of the box art feature and how beautiful it looks in general.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

How can me sharing my personal, first hand experience be wrong? Are you so fragile about your choice of platform that someone simply stating it's not for him triggers you that hard?

 

[TrebleShot]

MS is rolling out controlling desktop natively with a gamepad.

 

[rodrigolfp]

How can me sharing my personal, first hand experience be wrong? Are you so fragile about your choice of platform that someone simply stating it's not for him triggers you that hard?

You spreading misinformation is what "triggers".

"I could not auto login on Win 11 so you can't too."

Wrong.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

You spreading misinformation is what "triggers".

"I could not auto login on Win 11 so you can't too."

Wrong.

I had been corrected already by another user at that point. When i was using my machine, i definitely couldn't setup auto-login without using some temporary registry based workarounds, as W11 forced manual login when using a MS account instead of a local one. That's not "spreading misinformation", it's to err. One is intentional, the other isn't.

 

[joeygreco1985]

Afaik you can no longer setup W11 to auto-login on boot, so that'll piss you off after a while having to grab the keyboard to type in your password each time.

Hi there, this is untrue. My main gaming rig is on the latest version of W11 and I have my Microsoft account able to auto-login on boot. I followed these directions when I set it up and its still working for me and no registry changes are required:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...ndows-11/c0e9301e-392e-445a-a5cb-f44d00289715

Also you need to have some kind of IR dongle in order to be able to turn the machine on remotely it you don't want to physically get up and press the power button.

You can use Wake on LAN to boot your PC remotely with no additional hardware required. This has been built into PCs for decades. I am able to boot my PC with both my phone and my smart watch. Very convenient.

 

[rodrigolfp]

I had been corrected already by another user at that point. When i was using my machine, i definitely couldn't setup auto-login without using some temporary registry based workarounds, as W11 forced manual login when using a MS account instead of a local one. That's not "spreading misinformation", it's to err. One is intentional, the other isn't.

You couldn't =/= can't be done.

Plus you don't need IR dongle as there are other ways to turn on pc remotelly.

Plus there are ways to turn off every single notification.

 

[Astray]

So I have been using Bazzite/SteamOS in my living room PC for about 5 months and I love it, but I have decided (and/or leaning heavily) to switching back to Windows as there are just too many compromises I have to make on Bazzite and since I have 9070XT.
Compromises such as lack of full bandwiddth HDMI 2.1 in Linux (I can get 4K/120 with 8-bit 4:2:0 and it looks pretty good actually. You could tell most people it was 10-bit 4:4:4 and they couldn't tell the difference in gaming.) but the deal breaker is lack of FSR4 support, which will come, but not until later this year

Since I plan to make it a Windows gaming PC, what settings do you recommend? Is there an online guide? I know Thiojoe has suggested using English worldwide.

Do I want to use Windows 10? I am thinking I would set it up such that it boots into Steam Big Picture mode, so that I get a pretty close to SteamOS experience.

Thoughts and suggestions?

Gets a bit technical, but I think this video will definitely help

 

[jmiller180]

I have two HTPCs (different homes) setup as TV gaming stations. One of these machines is set to auto login and boot into Playnite Theater mode, which acts kind of like Steam Big Picture but with compatibility for other launchers. You'll still need some kind of wireless keyboard (with trackpad) to control the PC from time to time, but for the most part I can turn it on and grab the controller and headset without moving the mouse cursor. The other machine I just manually control with a BT keyboard.

Fiddling with W11 can be annoying, but it is the right call if you want the most compatibility now and going forward. W11 handles HDR much better than W10 too.

 

[StereoVsn]

mine does?

Yep, need to setup local account and preferably get Win11 Pro (keys are cheap).

 

[LordBritish]

you can get windows 11 pro for like $15 on some sites.. fyi

 

[Loomy]

Do I want to use Windows 10?

Windows 10 support from Microsoft ends in October this year.

 

[RoboFu]

You can but it won't be as "console like " as bazzite. You will have to deal with pop ups , windows updates, and need a wireless keyboard with a track pad nearby at all times.

You could try tiny windows 11 I haven't but heard good things

 

[JohnnyFootball]

Windows 10 support from Microsoft ends in October this year.

So what? Its not like I'd be using it for anything other than gaming.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

For those of you saying Windows 10 support is ending.

Tech Yes City has a solution


wondering if this might be a better option.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

You can use Wake on LAN to boot your PC remotely with no additional hardware required. This has been built into PCs for decades. I am able to boot my PC with both my phone and my smart watch. Very convenient.

Never thought about that feature being useful in this context. How to do turn your PC on from your smartphone?

 

[poppabk]

Never thought about that feature being useful in this context. How to do turn your PC on from your smartphone?

I use moonlight all the time to boot my PC. You just click a button to send a wake on lan packet. I don't have my main PC without login, but again I just login with moonlight.
My fanless PC I stream to auto logs in to windows 11 and boots into moonlight which has native controller support so I can connect directly to my main PC.

 

[joeygreco1985]

Never thought about that feature being useful in this context. How to do turn your PC on from your smartphone?

I have a Galaxy s24 and there are many free Wake on LAN apps in the appstore. Just take your pick and configure your WOL settings in Windows and your PC BIOS, good to go.

 

[Celcius]

I'm planning to do something similar to this.
I had a PC with a 10700k but in november I upgraded to a 9800X3D. Since then whenever I do an upgrade on my main PC then I've been keeping my spare parts instead of selling them.
I'm planning to have 2 PCs:
1 for gaming with high end parts hooked up to a big TV
1 for daily driving with the older parts since surfing the web, watching videos, etc... doesn't require much power

It will also be nice to have another system up and running whenever one is down due to upgrades or issues. Planning to use wireless keyboard and mouse on the TV PC and have a DualSense controller as well.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

I can get 4K/120 with 8-bit 4:2:0

4:2:0 sucks
you deserve better

Since I plan to make it a Windows gaming PC, what settings do you recommend?

cracked win11 with all telemetry and other crappy bits stripped out
no password
scaling to 200% or so
wireless keyboard

turn on pc; boots to desktop
double-click game icon
thats it

oh and make sound system automatically turn on with tv

 

[Fess]

It’s the perfect setup, imo. I’ve had a Windows 11 Steam-focused PC for a year now. Works great! Has essentially got me to almost exclusively play on PC.

Just set it up like any other Windows PC, sync up a standard Xbox Series controller, and make sure to set up Steam to boot in big picture mode. You’ll see the Windows desktop for roughly 5 seconds before it goes into Steam, after that it works like a console and you’ll have the best and most stable controller UI in the PC space.


Minor niggles…

1. To download new graphics card drivers you need a mouse (or keyboard with touch pad). It is possible to control the mouse pointer with the analog stick but it’ll drive you crazy.

2. Gamepass games can be added to Steam but you won’t see playtime and default settings is no library art or logos just a gray box. Logos and splash screens are available in the game folders. Again, a mouse or keyboard with a touch pad is essential, you add non-Steam games outside of big picture mode and you have to install the games through Xbox App.

3. Windows pop-up boxes. It’s extremely rare in my experience but it does happen. Yet again, I would recommend to have a wireless keyboard nearby, with a touch pad to cover all scenarios.

4. Risk of having a loud box in the living room. If you build it yourself, choose parts with low dB, don’t rush it. Default fan/cooler settings for me still meant a lot of noise, but after tweaking everything for low noise it’s less noisy than a console. I don’t use any fancy fan calibration software, I just use the included software for the mb, works well enough.

 

[El Muerto]

I use a linux pc as a htpc and use steam link on it since it has a rx6400 in it. I set it to sleep after an hour but have a steam controller to wake it up. I also use a 2.4ghz air mouse to wake it up too. Windows has allow device to wake up pc in sleep feature as mentioned in the videos above. But you can download a "wake on lan" app on your phone and wake up your pc that way, just make sure wake on lan is enabled in bios.
Windows 11 is fine, people have always been nitpicky about the newest version of windows. If you're using a Xbox controller adapter it works much better in Win11 than Win10.
If you're going to use a playstation controller use DS4Windows. It will let you use the touchpad as a mouse just like in Linux. But can cause some issues in some games like the controller registering as player 2.
You can boot and login automatically but opening run and type in "netplwiz". Uncheck the box

You also dont need third party tools to start steam in big picture mode. Check turn on "Start steam in big picture mode" and make sure you have "run steam when my pc starts"

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

4. Risk of having a loud box in the living room. If you build it yourself, choose parts with low dB, don’t rush it. Default fan/cooler settings for me still meant a lot of noise, but after tweaking everything for low noise it’s less noisy than a console. I don’t use any fancy fan calibration software, I just use the included software for the mb, works well enough.

if you do want to get fancy (or use less bloated software), fan control (name of program) is pretty good.

bit of a learning curve to set up, but you can make it so your system fans respond to both your cpu and gpu, whatever is the higher temp, and it's very lean.

 

[Loomy]

So what? Its not like I'd be using it for anything other than gaming.

Hey man, some of us like free security update. But hey, if that's not you...

 

[DirtInUrEye]

This is an interesting thread to me, as I've never considered something like Bazzite or Playnight before for my own couch PC setup, which I've been enjoying for about seven years. I just use an app called Controller Companion and it's brilliant. Easily the most underrated piece of software on the store imo. A total godsend for Windows PC users who have "outgrown" traditional desktop mnk setups.

But the consolification of my PC? I'm not sure I understand the appeal. I dunno, I really like having full Windows functionality, on a controller using the big living room TV. What are the benefits of getting rid of this broad feature set and instead going with a more streamlined console-like experience? Don't PC users get a PC because of the vast number of features available to them, including when gaming?

 

[darrylgorn]

Get one of these..

 

[Crayon]

I've got bazzite in the TV machine rn and I'd just wait for the fsr4. If I got a 9070, I'd be planning to use it for several years so just let if brute force stuff till they get the fsr4 up.

Warning for potential linux users - you often have to wait a bit for support on new hardware. You have to wait a bit till it's available at all. Then you might have to wait a little longer before it's rolled into your distro and you don't need to do anything manual. Depending on the target audience of a give distro, maintainers usually don't like to throw in bleeding edge stuff before it's been proven reliable.

 

[Fess]

if you do want to get fancy (or use less bloated software), fan control (name of program) is pretty good.

bit of a learning curve to set up, but you can make it so your system fans respond to both your cpu and gpu, whatever is the higher temp, and it's very lean.

Yup I’ve heard a lot of good things about fan control. I need to try it! The graphics card is out of reach on the included mb software. I use a factory silent bios but that’s about it on that end.

But I’d say that half the job is done when choosing parts, goes for case fans, graphics card, cpu cooler, power supply, even motherboard and chipset fans. Check the dB and noise characteristics on everything. And make sure there are no common coil whine problems, it’s the worst!

 

[Otakuninja2006]

I say do it.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

This is an interesting thread to me, as I've never considered something like Bazzite or Playnight before for my own couch PC setup, which I've been enjoying for about seven years. I just use an app called Controller Companion and it's brilliant. Easily the most underrated piece of software on the store imo. A total godsend for Windows PC users who have "outgrown" traditional desktop mnk setups.

But the consolification of my PC? I'm not sure I understand the appeal. I dunno, I really like having full Windows functionality, on a controller using the big living room TV. What are the benefits of getting rid of this broad feature set and instead going with a more streamlined console-like experience? Don't PC users get a PC because of the vast number of features available to them, including when gaming?

Is this a serious question? How can you not understand the appeal of having a PC that functions as a console?

In this case the PC, has one purpose: gaming.

I already have a bedroom PC that pc stuff.

 

[thief183]

Get one of these..

Where can I find this?

 

[hououinkyouma00]

So I have been using Bazzite/SteamOS in my living room PC for about 5 months and I love it, but I have decided (and/or leaning heavily) to switching back to Windows as there are just too many compromises I have to make on Bazzite and since I have 9070XT.
Compromises such as lack of full bandwiddth HDMI 2.1 in Linux (I can get 4K/120 with 8-bit 4:2:0 and it looks pretty good actually. You could tell most people it was 10-bit 4:4:4 and they couldn't tell the difference in gaming.) but the deal breaker is lack of FSR4 support, which will come, but not until later this year

Since I plan to make it a Windows gaming PC, what settings do you recommend? Is there an online guide? I know Thiojoe has suggested using English worldwide.

Do I want to use Windows 10? I am thinking I would set it up such that it boots into Steam Big Picture mode, so that I get a pretty close to SteamOS experience.

Thoughts and suggestions?

You’ll never have a perfect console like experience but there are a couple things you can do to get close.

When I did it I set windows to auto login without a password and then just set Steam to launch into BPM at launch.

You’ll have press the power on your pc if you turn it off and then turn on the controller but it mostly works.

What won’t work without special dongles is stuff like HDMI CEC or turn on with the controller.

My friend has his set to a smart plug which he just flips with his phone to turn on his PC.

 

[Celcius]

Those of you who have a PC hooked up to the living room TV for just gaming, I assume the specs on that PC are higher than your daily driver PC since you only really need the power for gaming?

 

[Buggy Loop]

Is this a serious question? How can you not understand the appeal of having a PC that functions as a console?

In this case the PC, has one purpose: gaming.

I already have a bedroom PC that pc stuff.

Did it for years when I was in apartment for university where space too restricted to have a PC desktop and gaming laptops are shit.

It acted 100% like a console on my end with modifications done circa 2016 and reading most solutions in the thread now not much as changed. Only snag I have with it is you can’t wake up with controller unless you find an obscure Microsoft 360 dongle, which I had back then but no longer have when the controller bit the dust.

I think that’s the most annoying thing that no controller vendors have no wake up functionality which is in the USB protocol anyway.

I think next year will see a lot of things change for PC comfy couch. Steam is supposedly making a big move for their OS and hardware, Microsoft is allegedly exploring to make windows more handheld / gaming friendly.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

Those of you who have a PC hooked up to the living room TV for just gaming, I assume the specs on that PC are higher than your daily driver PC since you only really need the power for gaming?

In my case no. My living room PC is a 7800X3D with a 9070XT in Fractal Ridge case. My bedroom PC has a 9800X3D with a 4090.

You may ask why not have the 4090 in the living room? Well, several things:
I save the 4090 for the desktop experience and I have a 4K/240Hz QD-OLED as well as a 21:9 1440p 240Hz ultrawide QD-OLED from Acer (apparently its exclusive to Best Buy) that I use for that.

if you have an nvidia GPU Windows gaming is really your only option, as performance on Linux is still pretty poor, but it is getting better. AMD is really your only option for a SteamDeck/Bazzite setup. At the moment.

My living room has a C1 that is limited to 4K/120 and I would more or less be wasting my 4090s potential. Thanks to DLSS and FG, I can easily get over the 120 fps limit in many games.

If LG releases a 4K/240 TV in the future, I would definitely consider it. That would combine all the best aspects of PC gaming and a home theater setup. Right now the G5 is at 165Hz, so we're getting there. My gut feeling is that it wont happen until we see HDMI 2.2 ports.

Don't me wrong 120 fps is still an amazing and smooth experience, but 240 is better.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

Did it for years when I was in apartment for university where space too restricted to have a PC desktop and gaming laptops are shit.

It acted 100% like a console on my end with modifications done circa 2016 and reading most solutions in the thread now not much as changed. Only snag I have with it is you can’t wake up with controller unless you find an obscure Microsoft 360 dongle, which I had back then but no longer have when the controller bit the dust.

I think that’s the most annoying thing that no controller vendors have no wake up functionality which is in the USB protocol anyway.

I think next year will see a lot of things change for PC comfy couch. Steam is supposedly making a big move for their OS and hardware, Microsoft is allegedly exploring to make windows more handheld / gaming friendly.

Mass market SteamOS could be a gamechanger, I would hope that it provides the punch the HDMI forum needs to allow full bandwidth HDMI 2.1 functionality with AMD GPUs on Linux.

I want it to take marketshare from Windows which is now a legit shitty OS, that MS seems hellbent on making it worse.

MS could literally be a hero if they made a stripped down version of windows that could give full support to video drivers, but all the non-gaming bloat removed. Have it like Bazzite, where you boot into the gaming interface and then have a mode to access the desktop.

Assuming it worked well, I would literally pay a yearly subscription fee for this.

 

[hououinkyouma00]

Get one of these..

I think I’d rather give up pc gaming then have this ugly ass shit anywhere in my home n

 

[darrylgorn]

I think I’d rather give up pc gaming then have this ugly ass shit anywhere in my home n

It's the most elegant solution you'll find lol

 

[darrylgorn]

Where can I find this?

Amazon but you can also order direct from the manufacturer.

It's not perfect but I can definitely see this thing evolving to be even more compact and adjustable.

 

[hououinkyouma00]

It's the most elegant solution you'll find lol

I can't say I'm surprised. A lot of PC gaming components and accessories are ugly as fuck/look they want to appeal to 12 year olds. This goes for gaming in general as well, but PC gaming is by far the worst. All these ugly ass keyboards, skeleton mice, pc cases masquerading as fish tanks filled with ugly ass RGB. People can obviously like what they like but I'll never understand.

I used to move my ITX build between my desk and tv stand (same room) but only used a controller. I only used KB/M once when I didn't have my desk yet and just placed a shelf from a small bookshelf we weren't using on my lap and turned my DPI up.

 

[Crayon]

Those of you who have a PC hooked up to the living room TV for just gaming, I assume the specs on that PC are higher than your daily driver PC since you only really need the power for gaming?

Yes. My office pc is hand me down parts and i may even downgrade that with this sweet tablet. The tablet can still run a lot of great games, if i needed a sort of portable console. I almost only play games on the tv though. I can hardly say the last time i played at a desk.

The tv/gaming pc is on bazzite. When not gaming, steam bpm is minimized and we use chrome for video streaming. Have an air mouse for that.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

4:2:0 sucks
you deserve better

Most people would never know it wasn't 444. You can tell its not 444 if you know exactly what to look for, but when sitting on a couch about 10 feet from a 65 inch OLED, you really can't tell.