Small computer under your TV depends on the games you play. If like to play Valve's games then it's a tough call because most likely that little box will have fan noise you may not care for. You can make such a box that can play most of the games on Steam just fine without requiring a robust cooling system. You just may not be playing the latest and greatest high-end 3D games; based solely on how much fan noise you are willing to accept.
If you look around there's already a somewhat healthy market of pre-built computers for that purpose. Most of them are HTPC types but some of them can be upgraded enough that will play games nicely.
> If like to play Valve's games then it's a tough call because most likely that little box will have fan noise you may not care for.
I think a lot of gamers including myself can tolerate the fan noise, especially if you have a good sound system. The earlier generations of Xbox 360 were really horrible for fan noise, and most people needed an extra 3rd party fan to keep it from becoming defective; which adds another level of noise (it took me four years before I had a red ring problem). I don't think this was even fixed until the latest gen in 2010.
Oh, it's quite true we can tolerate it when more than likely your setup involves your speakers being closer to your ear than the fans in your box. I'd have to imagine most PC gamer's setups are like this. But for a PC hooked up to a TV is not the same unless you are using a surround sound system of some type.
Plus, depending on the games, many PC gamers use headphones.
But that's PC gamers though, I see your point about your 360. Your example is basically what I'm saying, I don't think many people would care for that very much. When it comes to electronics connected to the TV the most common experience is that they produce no noise.
Most HTPCs are built to perform their duty with little to no fan noise but putting in a proper discrete video card can ruin that. You can get accustomed to it over time but you have to get over that initial unfamiliar white noise coming from the general direction of your TV.
The reason I feel that this is important is that if Steam were to start being used on a typical TV environment it will expand beyond games. They've already tested the waters with one movie, granted it was very relevant to their market. Steam is already well suited to be an iTunes and/or Netflix type service.
> I'd have to imagine most PC gamer's setups are like this. But for a PC hooked up to a TV is not the same unless you are using a surround sound system of some type.
My Xbox 360 along with the 3rd party fans sounded like a leaf blower. You don't need a good surround system, you just need to turn the volume up on your TV or get a cheap sound bar. With PC's it's even cheaper to get a 2.1 speaker system that does the job for like $20.
> But that's PC gamers though, I see your point about your 360. Your example is basically what I'm saying, I don't think many people would care for that very much.
People still care but many either tolerate it or work around it based on the games.
Turning up the volume to cover up the white noise is not an ideal solution and in many cases not a solution at all. A neighbor in an apartment building may not care for the extra noise coming through the wall. I feel your 360 example is supporting my thought, fan noise is an issue that different people handle differently. You accepted the additional level of white noise in the situation but it's not reasonable to assume every else will too.
> People still care but many either tolerate it or work around it based on the games.
Of which I totally agreed with. My point is that it's an issue because I expect Steam to expand beyond games. If the box is not built with this in mind then it's a potential issue. To expand into the TV audience market you'll need a box that won't make noise that people who are not accustomed to may not like.
> If the box is not built with this in mind then it's a potential issue. To expand into the TV audience market you'll need a box that won't make noise that people who are not accustomed to may not like.
I think there's a bigger problem than noise if they want to expand beyond techies and gamers. Ease of installation comes to mind. It's hard to compete against the Apple TVs, Rokus, PS3's and Xbox 360s on that end.
If you don't mind doing some of the work yourself, Silent PC Review [1] has a lot of information on building computers with low noise profiles. I had an a GPU a few years ago (GeForce 8600) with a passive heatsink that performed better than the stock blower did, without sounding like a jet engine.
It won't save you any money, but quiet gaming PCs are doable if you're willing to invest a bit more time.
Really, the only reason why fan noise is ever a problem is because GPUs got the short end of the stick with ATX form factor - two or three expansion slots doesn't really give enough volume or cross-sectional area to hold the kind of heatsink and quiet fan that CPUs get. Since high-end GPUs are 250+ watts and high-end CPUs are only 130W, we ought to be giving the GPUs the wind-tunnel treatment and use the smaller down-blowing fans on the CPU.
Well, to be fair, when ATX first came out video cards didn't require two or three slots. Most of them were single cards with passive heatsinks. I don't recall video cards having fans at the time but it's possible.
Actually, if you bought a Voodoo then you needed two slots; three if you did SLI.
The setup you describe is done now, more or less. My case has the video card at the bottom directly in front of a large fan that blows outside air across it. The card itself has two fans that suck that air in and partially blows it out the back. At the top the CPU has a small attached fan with a large fan on the upper rear of the case sucking hot air out. Some cases also have an extra fan on the side of the case directly above the CPU.
The only thing missing is the tunnel as you describe. But I have seen people do that with custom SLI rigs. I think that the problem isn't necessarily the ATX form factor, meaning the motherboard, but the case design itself. I've seen some creative case designs from pre-built computer manufacturers but it makes it difficult to service yourself.
If you look around there's already a somewhat healthy market of pre-built computers for that purpose. Most of them are HTPC types but some of them can be upgraded enough that will play games nicely.