My Quest to Build a Living Room PC in 2025 for Gaming

What Led to This Quest

Roughly 10 years ago, in 2015, I built a home theater pc so I could play PC games with my friends online. I also wanted something I could use to play my back catalog of PC games, as well as older console games from my childhood. I enjoyed the PC for a few years, played a lot of Starcraft 2 and Super Mario Bros. Then Arkham Knight came out and was such an embarrassing mess of a PC port, I started thinking about getting a console for the first time since I procured an Xbox 360 10 years prior. Ultimately in 2017 I did end up getting a PS4, then a PS5 in 2020. I gave my old HTPC to my sister, so her family could play the back catalog of older games if they desired. I also picked up an Xbox Series X – excited about the prospect of Starfield and other Xbox exclusives. Little did I know at the time that Microsoft was about to completely shift their strategy to becoming a publisher who releases on all platforms. As of this writing, their marquee franchise Forza series was just released on PlayStation. Sony themselves have started releasing their best exclusives (Horizon, Spider-Man, God of War and others) to PC over the last few years. If I could take my favorite PlayStation games and replay them on PC with pumped up graphics, could play Microsoft published games as well… why not build a new PC for the home theater and bargain hunt to fill out my steam library for older quality PC games I’ve missed since I got my PS4?

Inventory of Hardware and Software

The challenging aspect of building a PC that goes in an entertainment center is the small form factor. Specifically, mini-ITX. The small form factor means, generally, that you need tweezer fingers and every component must be considered in 3 dimensions to ensure everything fits, and they can be assembled in the correct order so that everything can fit. These builds can be incredibly painful, unless you know of a combination of components that work (or if you want to do the intense homework of considering the measurements of each component). Luckily, I found someone who did a build here and essentially copied their config. Below the hardware configuration is the software I’m using and why.

Here’s the Hardware:

• CPU – AMD Ryzen 9 7950x3d
  • My first AMD build in 20 years, the processor is unique in that during gaming workloads it ‘parks’ one core and activates a faster core. More on that below.
• Motherboard – ASUS ROG Strix B650E-I
• Case – Lian Li A4-H20 Mini-ITX
  • The case has a riser for the GPU, worked pretty well.
• RAM – G.SKILL Flare X5 Series (AMD Expo) DDR5 RAM 64GB (2x32GB) 6000MT/s
• Storage – SAMSUNG 990 EVO Plus SSD 4TB, PCIe Gen 4×4 | Gen 5×2 M.2
• Cooling – Thermalright Aqua Elite 240 V3 Aio CPU Cooler
• Power Supply – CORSAIR SF750 (2024)
• GPU – ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 4080 Super AMP DLSS 3 16GB GDDR6X
  • Stating the obvious… it was a TIGHT FIT, but it fit.
• Keyboard – Logitech K400 Plus Wireless Touch

Here’s the Software:

• Microsoft Windows
• LaunchBox / BigBox
  • This is a gaming front-end, most people just use steam, but if you use a 3rd party front-end you’re not tied to a single storefront. Plus, LaunchBox expertly handles gaming emulators for all systems and is actively developed and continues to improve.
• AMD Chipset Driver Software (this specifically, Adrenaline doesn’t cover it)
  • This is necessary for the core parking mentioned above, AMD 3d services must be running, and they weren’t installed by default with the ASUS drivers website, nor does AMD’s Adrenaline cover the needs.
• JoytoKey
  • Great software, I use it to map controller keys, specifics below
    • Select and Y = close focused application
    • Select and B = Open MSI afterburner/Riva overlay
• Gaming Storefronts (i.e. Steam, Epic Games, etc.)

Setup Steps

BIOS Steps

• Due to the nature of the 7950x3d processor and how it parks CPU cores, the BIOS needs to point to the OS driver to know when to use the core with the x3d cache, youtuber JayzTwoCents has a great video explaining this. The BIOS setting is called “CPPC Dynamic Preferred Cores”. By default, it’s set to Auto, it needs to be set to Driver.
• Due to the memory purchased being EXPO compatible, we set EXPO under AI Tweaker –> AI Overclock Tuner to get the most out of the RAM (25% uplift in memory performance).

Software to Install

• Install .net
• Install DirectX
• Install LaunchBox and apply license
• Install Steam
• Install Epic Games Launcher
• Install Nvidia app
• Install Ubisoft Connect
• Install JoytoKey
• Install MSI Afterburner

Windows Config

Set up Windows speakers config for 5.1 sound Settings –> sound –> more sound settings – right click on TV sound connection and left click configure speakers
Disabled guide button summoning game bar under Settings –> Gaming –> Game Bar
Disable Windows notifications and clean up taskbar – Right click taskbar –> Taskbar Settings
Disable prompt for password on wake – Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options and change the “Require sign-in” setting to “Never”.
Set up Windows Auto login via registry – Registry — HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon (Follow this article)
Turn down UAC settings – run -> useraccountcontrolsettings
Enable HDR and AutoHDR – Settings –> System –> Display –> HDR

Misc App Config

Set steam to not do pop-ups on launch
Install MSI afterburner and riva, customize, set hotkeys for turning on and off (ctrl ;), start with bigbox silently in launchbox settings
Enable g-sync vrr in nvidia app (confirm with TV that it’s on)
Use joytokey to map select+b to Ctrl ; (which initiates riva overlay via msi) and select+y to map to alt+f4

LaunchBox Config

Set up emulators
Set up security in Big box
Download and install startup video
Update sounds to sci-fi set 2
Map game details to the select button
Set big box as Windows shell