I have an exclusive gaming PC. Ideally what I’d like to do is shove it in a closet or other vacant room to contain the heat and then stream games over LAN.
The problem with existing solutions is:
- They need a monitor connected
- The monitor to be powered on
- They don’t support varying refresh rates/resolutions. Only whatever is displayed on the connected monitor. I want to play on my 4k/60Hz TV in the living room for AAA visual spectacle games that work best with controller, and the 1440p/120Hz display in my office for FPS or otherwise fast-moving games that demand KBM, and the 5k monitor for photo/video editing.
- I haven’t had much success getting these working at all. Red screens, 1/4 screens, image noise, etc.
They’re literally just mirroring the screen of the connected display.
I really don’t want to have to buy a dedicated PC for each use-case. Does a solution like this exist? What are their pros and cons? Preferably something that doesn’t require a degree in software engineering.
Currently I am using Bazzite OS with 5700x + 6800xt, if that matters.
You must log in or # to comment.
Needs a monitor that is also turned on
What? You don’t need a monitor to use Steam Link. 🤨
Is this something specific to Linux?
Yes you do
Unless it’s a limitation specific to Linux, or you’re talking about the physical Steam Link and not the app: No you don’t.
I just unplugged my monitor from my PC, fired up the Steam Link app and started Elden Ring no problem.
I’m talking about the host machine.
Yes, that is obvious.
How… how else would this be referred to? What would be the point in starting it headless on the client side?
I have no idea. But they seem to be confused in some way.
I wrote a tutorial that might be of interest to you:
https://feddit.org/post/12000513
It describes setting up Sunshine on Bazzite without a HDMI dongle. Hope this helps.
I did see that (and even commented on it) but I’m not nearly smart enough for that.
Maybe you have to wait for Artemis/Apollo becoming available for Linux. They seem to be looking into Linux support.
Interesting, I’ll keep an eye on that, thanks for the heads up.
I’m not sure if I am just picky but I have literally tried everything on brand new wifi 6 and access points and it just never is that perfect feeling, I always notice a tiny bit of input lag and I’m not sure if it’s possible to fix it at all. Playable, but I just can’t do it - miles ahead of cloud gaming still.
Parsec? It has virtual monitors.
That’s what I use
Edit: I see you’re using linux though, I can’t really speak to its performance there as I only use it for windows
I just got a 10 m HDMI cable that brings 4k 120Hz video from my office to my living room. Then I use a bluetooth mouse and gamepad.
- HDMI signal well start degrading after a couple of meters.
- My office is a lot further than that.
- I don’t want cables all over my house.
Buy a headless plug, like this: https://www.amazon.com/EVanlak-DisplayPort-Headless-Emulator-3840x2160/dp/B07YLP1GG4
I use one to do VR, I can leave the computer in the corner and still do desktop stuff. Works great!
It looks like this plug only emulates 4k@17Hz?
I just found a random one as an example, I don’t remember what I bought a few years ago
This does everything you need with a super simple setup, but all the screen trickery is Windows only unfortunately. Still I can heartily recommend it: https://github.com/ClassicOldSong/Apollo
It’s not currently working for Linux, unfortunately
