If your path in life includes kids, you do not want your pride and joy to attract attention. You may find the cabinet route wasn't such a bad idea after all. I've done this successfully, but it helps that my wife does enjoy watching me play games while she putters on the couch or adjacent living space.
In my opinion, the solution to your dilemma starts with separating your gaming harness from your media center. Deploy your plex server / media center to another room, or less powered (and silent) machine. Use Apple TV and Airplay to stream movies and content to your TV. Next, turn off / hibernate your gaming machine when not in use. The sound the machine makes is irrelevant while you're playing games.
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If your path in life includes kids, you do not want your pride and joy to attract attention. You may find the cabinet route wasn't such a bad idea after all. I've done this successfully, but it helps that my wife does enjoy watching me play games while she putters on the couch or adjacent living space.
In my opinion, the solution to your dilemma starts with separating your gaming harness from your media center. Deploy your plex server / media center to another room, or less powered (and silent) machine. Use Apple TV and Airplay to stream movies and content to your TV. Next, turn off / hibernate your gaming machine when not in use. The sound the machine makes is irrelevant while you're playing games.