Xbox + Desktop Combo Help

CORaven

Ok guys I will be purchasing a desktop hopefully in the next few weeks as my laptop is out of action and I need a replacement. Now want I want to do is to use the one desk for my xbox and my pc. So this means space and power socket efficiency. I do intend to get an xbox to VGA cable and use the monitor along with a good few other things to enhance the crossover between them. AS I doubt many people have done everything I want to do, I have split the various things into sections and if anyone has experience with anything related to them, please to add your two cents or any alternatives you think may be suitable.

What I have:
Xbox 360 w/ 20Gb HDD
Turtle Beach x31 Headset
Desktop w/ LCD monitor (hope to have)
500 GB HDD
Cable that allows me to use TBs with PC

Video:
As I said, I would like to play on the LCD monitor so I need a Xbox to VGA cable which is easy enough to acquire. Now the extra thing I want to add in here is a Belkin Switch2. This will allow me to have the PC and xbox on at the same time and I can switch the screen back and forward when needed. I will be also able to use the same keyboard for both xbox and PC.

Sound:
Ok, I have the TBs, odds are I will have speakers as well. I could hook up the TBs to the Switch2 as above, but I would like to listen to music on the PC while on the xbox (as an example). Basically I want to have both sources coming through the headphones at once. What could I do?

Net connectivity:
I do not have a wireless adapter for the xbox. PC will have wireless, throw an ethernet cable to link the xbox and bridge the connection. It should not be a problem.

HardDrive
The 20GB HDD is a joke with DLC and gamesaves filling it up. I'm thinking of partitioning the 500GB hard drive or a new one. Is it doable?
The problem is that my current HDD externally powered. Is there a way of freeing up a socket? The usb powered HDDs would be grand, but could I use one that is in the PC?


Cheers guys for constructive opinions, suggestions and criticism in advance.

-=al=-

you can stream media across the xbox from the pc when they're both connected via ethernet cable, i done a similar setup here and it worked great

so you can just use the 3.5mm jack on the xbox vga cable and put it into the same jack as the desktop with a 3.5 double adapter jack

connect the hard drive to the xbox too for extra storage, shud work fine

jamestdelaney

you shouldthink about having two moniters one could be a tv that way you can use them with the pc with out xbox

CORaven

-=al=- wrote: »

you can stream media across the xbox from the pc when they're both connected via ethernet cable, i done a similar setup here and it worked great

so you can just use the 3.5mm jack on the xbox vga cable and put it into the same jack as the desktop with a 3.5 double adapter jack

connect the hard drive to the xbox too for extra storage, shud work fine

Thanking you
1) Yup, that's what I am currently doing at the moment, however I only used the listening to music as an example.

2) Ok sounds good. What would that do exactly? Could I move back and forth while both are on?

3) grand.

jamestdelaney wrote: »

you shouldthink about having two moniters one could be a tv that way you can use them with the pc with out xbox

I have, but I would rather have one big monitor over two small ones.

calex71

Can't help with some of the stuff, but I use my xbox and pc side by side, Both on the same monitor. I wou't suggest not getting the switch box for the monitor just yet. I have a bog standard 21" monitor but it has vga and dvi on it so pc connected with dvi xbox with vga, there is a button on the monitor i can press to hop between the two. My screen is not special most monitors these days have more than one input.


As for storage on the xbox, are you aware you can use usb sticks to add an extra 16gb's ?

TheMooseInNam

calex71 wrote: »

Can't help with some of the stuff, but I use my xbox and pc side by side, Both on the same monitor. I wou't suggest not getting the switch box for the monitor just yet. I have a bog standard 21" monitor but it has vga and dvi on it so pc connected with dvi xbox with vga, there is a button on the monitor i can press to hop between the two. My screen is not special most monitors these days have more than one input.


As for storage on the xbox, are you aware you can use usb sticks to add an extra 16gb's ?

As far as I'm aware, you can partition your 500gig drive to have as many 16gig xbox partitions as you want.

As for media streaming, that bridge should work. Try using TVersity for your streaming needs. It's a lot better than Windows Media Center and will transcode any media format that the xbox doesn't support, in real time! Doesn't have the polished look of Media Center but I always choose function over form

I have the x41's and use them with a optic cable from the xbox and also have the red/white leads on the back plugged straight into the headphone jack of either my laptop or iphone. Works perfectly. Not sure if the x31's have a similar base station.

Shiminay

I'd suggest a monitor with DVI and HDMI to save yourself getting one of those VGA adaptors which seem to have a mixed response in terms of quality and clarity. I'll be honest though, I'd personally have 2 X 22" monitors rather than one bigger one, but that's because I have 2 in work and I've become used to it. That said, this monitor looks pretty sweet and my mate has a 22" Iiyama which he switches between PC and Xbox and it's a damn fine device. There's the added flexibility of it having small speakers and if you're sending XBox through the HDMI, it'll pick that up. But honestly, if you're sitting at a desk, you're going to be close enough that 22" will be plenty big and you won't be stretching to see it all.

As for the X31s, seems like you can USB to the XBox and RCA to the PC (via some manner of adaptor I'd say). Also, if you went for a monitor like the one I linked, you can run a 3.5mm jack cable from the PC to it's loudspeakers.

[edit]
I'm seeing tales of interference between Wi-Fi and the receiver of the X31s. Anyway, if you're very serious about gaming, you don't play over wireless - it's too prone to going wrong and being interfered with like this.

Hard drive / Storage - honestly, I'd recommend getting a 16GB usb key and if/when it becomes full, just buy another. That's the biggest partition it'll recognise anyway. Easier to carry around with you, significantly less likely to take damage if you're bringing it round to your mate's to play (you can store your profile on it too which is great) and they don't require external power. You might be able to connect a few in via a USB hub, I haven't looked into that, but I know it works for Rock Band instruments, so maybe for the data storage too.

Post pics of your setup when you get finished

cython

CORaven wrote: »

Ok guys I will be purchasing a desktop hopefully in the next few weeks as my laptop is out of action and I need a replacement. Now want I want to do is to use the one desk for my xbox and my pc. So this means space and power socket efficiency. I do intend to get an xbox to VGA cable and use the monitor along with a good few other things to enhance the crossover between them. AS I doubt many people have done everything I want to do, I have split the various things into sections and if anyone has experience with anything related to them, please to add your two cents or any alternatives you think may be suitable.

What I have:
Xbox 360 w/ 20Gb HDD
Turtle Beach x31 Headset
Desktop w/ LCD monitor (hope to have)
500 GB HDD
Cable that allows me to use TBs with PC

Video:
As I said, I would like to play on the LCD monitor so I need a Xbox to VGA cable which is easy enough to acquire. Now the extra thing I want to add in here is a Belkin Switch2. This will allow me to have the PC and xbox on at the same time and I can switch the screen back and forward when needed. I will be also able to use the same keyboard for both xbox and PC.

I'd echo looking into what Calex said, given that monitors with 2 inputs are abundant these days (even a lot of the ones coming with Dell PCs these days have them!), and you should get DVI out on any PC having a discrete GPU, you'd be better putting the money from the switch (if you are determined to spend it, of course!) into a better spec in the monitor itself. Plus, less cable mess!

CORaven wrote: »

Net connectivity:
I do not have a wireless adapter for the xbox. PC will have wireless, throw an ethernet cable to link the xbox and bridge the connection. It should not be a problem.

If you're planning on using this setup for gaming on XBL, it's anything but ideal. It was the only option I had when I first got an xbox, and I decided against renewing the gold subscription after the free month, cos the latency it introduced was shocking, and really detracted from the games. Wireless networks typically have worse latency than wired networks anyway, for various technical reasons, and routing the traffic through a PC only adds more. I suppose if it was an appropriately configured linux box, it might be possible to minimise that issue, but Windows just isn't optimised for passthrough network traffic like that.

Lucious Sweet

I have a Dell monitor like this one with xbox connected via HDMI and PC via DVI so no need for belkin switch or VGA cable. It also has audio line out and have Turtle beach connected through that.
Very easy to switch between PC and Xbox.

TouchingVirus

Get a monitor with dual-input - VGA and HDMI or VGA and DVI then you just need to hit the source button on the monitor and you'll change between sources.

CORaven

Thanks a million lads.

Video:
@calex71, Thanks man, I didn't know that monitors had them
@ Kharn + TouchingVirus, cheers guys I will def go down that route. I was unaware that the VGA cables were iffy.
@ moz, Right, I have set myself on buying that monitor.


Net connectivity:
@ TheMooseInNam, I used TVersity on my old laptop and it is was very demanding on it I found. I'll try stick to watching stuff on the PC.
@ Kharn + cython, I have used the xbox online over wifi before and I honestly did not find that much of a difference. And sure if I have a problem with it, I have 10m of ethernet cable to change my mind I'll pick a splitter up somewhere.


HardDrive:
@ TheMooseInNam, Yeah I think that I will partition my drive a few times rather than getting a load of USB sticks. The less wires, the less chance of something going wrong.
@ Karn, I found once you go above 5ish (depends on their functions and power use) usb things on a hub, you need external power.

Thanks very much guys you have cleared alot up for me. I did not expect to get such a response so quickly. I think going on what is said above I think I have my mind made up on what to do, and I am far more confident, and ye have saved me a few bob too . Though, I still value your opinions.

There is one thing however outstanding, and this is the sound. I have speakers and the headphones, but I am going to aim to have both the PC and the xbox coming through the headphones. As the TBs take sound through RCA cables, I am going to have to deal with the sound issue with these. I have a headphone jack to RCA adapter (handy little thing I got with another yoke). Now I intend to put both White cables (PC + Xbox) into "1 Male to 2 Female" and both red cables in the same way, into the TB transmitter. Should I encounter any problems?

If I get this far, I will be happy. Though, at some point in the future, I can imagine myself putting some form of manual volume control on the sources of sound. Just to complicate things.

Shiminay

I'd recommend you get a monitor with a 2ms response time - that Dell moz listed is only 5. Smaller this number the better it is for fast moving stuff like gaming. That said, it's at a good price at €229. Samsung and LG are top quality brands if you're looking around.

I think your RCA setup with your TBs should work, but I'm curious if there's a reason you're not using the USB for digital sound?

CORaven

Kharn wrote: »

I'd recommend you get a monitor with a 2ms response time - that Dell moz listed is only 5. Smaller this number the better it is for fast moving stuff like gaming. That said, it's at a good price at €229. Samsung and LG are top quality brands if you're looking around.

I think your RCA setup with your TBs should work, but I'm curious if there's a reason you're not using the USB for digital sound?

Noted.

TBs only use the USB connection as a power source, so for audio I need to use the RCAs.