New HTPC build questions.

[nOOky]

Currently we use a 1080p 60" Panasonic plasma that is still going. However it is not a smart t.v., it will do Netflix and Amazon, but nothing else. Having said that, here is what I want to do. I want to build a HTPC that basically just uses the t.v. as a monitor. I want to stream Netflix, Amazon, Youtube, Google Play movies, etc. and any content from the PC like home movies. Possibly the new Disney service also. I anticipate moving to 4k when my current t.v. dies.

My budget for the box is hopefully to stay under $1000 U.S. I would need everything, including a wireless mouse and keyboard, and Windows 10. I am not up on what components it takes to play back up to 4k movies these days. My goal is quiet, low power consumption, and only enough horsepower to just play back the content, they'll be no gaming on it.

I'm just starting to research these things, but looking for help if others have built a box like I want.

 

[evident]

I recently got rid of my Panasonic P55ST50 locally for $200 sadly. It was relegated to a spare room TV after i got my Sony OLED, but it was too heavy and we will be doing plenty of room configuration changes in the next couple of years so I figured i'd let it go to someone who can enjoy it more.

You will need at least a Kaby Lake or higher CPU to get Netflix to run on MS Edge Browser in 4k due to DRM stuff. I think this is true for a lot of the streaming services. and correct me if i'm wrong, but I think you will also need a decent video card like a GTX 1060 or maybe 1050 to do 4K with HDR video playback. I have the corsair SFX platinum PSUs. completely quiet (fan only turns on under heavy load) to go with my noctua low profile fans.

for my main HTPC setup, i'm kind of stuck on windows 7 because i'm using windows media center as a DVR. I'm using a skylake cpu w/ a GTX1060 and it plays my ripped 4K videos fine. I havent tried HDR or even know if it's capable on windows 7.

 

[Rifter]

Personally id just buy a Nvidia shield and be done with it, cheap and will play damn near any format.

 

[nOOky]

Thanks Rifter. I was half-arsed looking for a box or smart player, didn't realize the Shield would already do everything I wanted. I'm not to up on these things as most of my stuff is older, but it looks like it will fit the bill.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Look into an ASRock DeskMini A300 barebones mini-PC kit, and then a Ryzen 2200G or 2400G APU, 2x16GB DDR4-2933 SO-DIMM, and a 1TB HP EX950 M.2 NVMe SSD.

 

[nOOky]

I hooked up the Shield last night, I'll have time to play with it this evening more. The one thing I'd like about a HTPC is I could add a Bluray player, but software to play disks in Win 10 is sketchy at best.

 

[Rifter]

I hooked up the Shield last night, I'll have time to play with it this evening more. The one thing I'd like about a HTPC is I could add a Bluray player, but software to play disks in Win 10 is sketchy at best.

Yeah thats one feature missing, i just ripped all my blu-rays and play them over the network off my server.

 

[limsandy83]

Look into an ASRock DeskMini A300 barebones mini-PC kit, and then a Ryzen 2200G or 2400G APU, 2x16GB DDR4-2933 SO-DIMM, and a 1TB HP EX950 M.2 NVMe SSD.

I just built myself a long-overdue HTPC rig with Asrock A300, Ryzen 2200G, ADATA SX8200 Pro NVMe SSD and some 8GB memory. I don't have a Bluray library so I won't be bothered with playing movie from a disc. But I can tell you Win 7 is not (yet/really) supported for these AMD Ryzen APUs.

I'm really happy with this build. It's small, I can take it anywhere, connect it to any TV that has HDMI and it's quite powerful.