4 things to consider before setting up a PC for couch gaming

2 weeks ago 3

While we certainly think of it in this connotation, PC gaming isn't limited to the confines of a conventional desk and chair setup. Having a PC for the living room isn't a new concept by any means, and in fact, with the advent of streaming and more powerful smart TVs, having an HTPC in your living room is slowly becoming a thing of the past.

By no means is the couch PC dead, though, especially for gaming. I recently set one up for my fiancèe to enjoy her favorite games from the couch while she deals with the ebbs and flows of pregnancy, and I would be lying if I said I didn't want to ditch my desk for a couple of hours on the comfy sofa. If you want to set up something similar, it's important to consider these 5 main things before deploying a couch gaming PC.

4 Form factor

Form follows function

If you're anything like me, you would like your living room to be a somewhat cohesive space. An ATX-sized black box radiating RGB lights doesn't exactly scream "living room" to me, so I considered many options for form factor, with the main consideration being space. In your own space, take note of potential resting places for your machine. If you have the real estate for it, you could build in an HTPC-style case, which would fit well in a TV stand console space. Alternatively, if you have space behind your TV like me, you can just put a full-sized ATX case back there. Having easy physical access to the PC isn't super necessary, at least in my mind, so an "out of sight, out of mind" approach works.

If you're extremely limited in the space available to you, you can always opt for an ITX PC or even a mini PC, mounted to the back of your TV in some fashion. The horsepower that can be packed into a small space these days is impressive, and is more than enough for some light on-device gaming. Using it as a streaming box from a more powerful PC in your home is also an option, granted you have enough network bandwidth to spare.

Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini x-1-2

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3 Input devices

Wireless is just a must

razer wolverine v3 pro controller on desk next to white xbox controller

When it comes to couch gaming, your choice of input devices is paramount. A wireless mouse and keyboard are essentially required to make the initial setup possible, and when it comes to playing the games, keeping a couple of wireless controllers around can come in clutch, even if you don't plan to use them.

How you connect these devices is another conversation. Wireless peripherals like a mouse and keyboard come with their own wireless receivers, but controllers are another battle entirely. Most controllers support Bluetooth, but depending on the location and distance to your PC, the connection might not be tenable for gaming. For my situation, going with the Xbox Wireless Adapter solved all the issues that I was having with Bluetooth, and it also allowed me to connect multiple controllers without a hitch.

a white xbox controller on top of an xbox series x

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2 To stream, or not to stream

Couch potato, or couch monster?

Xbox app on Windows 11 showing cloud-supported games

It's time to think about how powerful you want your couch PC to be. Equipping your rig with all the accouterments of a normal gaming PC is certainly one way to go, especially if you can't connect it to your network via Ethernet. Running games natively takes your network completely out of the equation, at least in single-player titles.

Alternatively, you can opt to deploy a streaming box. Streaming with a service like GeForce Now or Xbox Cloud Gaming requires a strong internet connection but not much else, while streaming games from a more powerful PC in your home just requires the system to have a good connection within your local network. You can get away with a wireless connection if your home network is well-equipped to do so, but a wired connection will always be better. In the latter case, planning cable runs is a necessary step in the process.

In my case, I built a PC that was pieced together with an assortment of random parts from old builds. The RTX 3080 and i7 10700K are powerful enough to run most titles natively, but for the really demanding AAA titles of the last few years, I can stream from my main rig, equipped with a Ryzen 7 7800X3D and RX 9070 XT.

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1 Software

There are many avenues to take

Big picture mode in Steam

There are so many options for making PC gaming on the big screen viable, many of which are quite easy to get up and running. Perhaps the easiest and most common option is using Steam's Big Picture mode, which is a TV-friendly way to interact with your Steam library. It also allows you to stream games from other PCs on your network, so long as they're turned on and signed in. If you're planning on playing only Steam games, I wouldn't look much further than Big Picture.

Where it falls short, though, is when playing any games not on Steam. Non-steam titles will launch, but making sure your controller inputs are passed through is another challenge entirely. On the streaming front, I recommend using Sunshine on your host machine and Moonlight on your streaming client. It's the most plug and play solution for streaming that you'll find. If you're looking for other library managers that offer a bit more customization, Playnite and Launchbox are both great options, the latter of which is good for emulation, if you're into that.

An image showing the internal components of a gaming PC with RGB lights.

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