HTPC Build Request

Trojan

Trojan

Trojan

Soldato
Joined
19 Sep 2003
Posts
5,319
Location
Adelaide, Australia
I'm looking to build a HTPC to replace the R-Pi I have that's running RaspBMC and am hoping for some advice as to what to go for.

Usage, from most to least, will be as follows:

  • 1080P DTS Movie and TV Streaming from NAS
  • Foxtel (Sky) Go
  • Netflix
  • Emulation Gaming
  • Steam Streaming

Requirements are:
  • Must have SSD
  • Must have SPDIF
  • Must be quiet (not noticeable at idle)
  • Needs to run Windows 8.1 (Already have a copy)

Budget isn't set in stone. Ideally I'd like it to come in at £250 however if I need to spend more to fulfill all the requirements then so be it.

I was looking at NUCs and similar but couldn't find any with SPDIF.

Any advice anyone has would be much appreciated.
 
Finding a board or NUC with SPDIF and keeping a low budget (maybe easiest to just add a sound card with optical out) is going to be hard to impossible, is this to hook up to a home theatre amplifier? would HDMI out to the amp and then pass through work for you?
 
Unfortunately I only have a HTIB Blu-ray setup rather than a proper amp. Although I could technically run to HDMI In on the player that would mean having to put up with the clunky interface all the time. Ideally, I want to run HDMI to the TV (which doesn't have passthrough) and SPDIF to the player Optical in. That way when I'm watching content that I don't care about surround, I never need to touch the HTIB.

In terms of size I'm really not fussed. Small is good, but I have plenty of room to hide larger devices if need be.

I have found this that could be the ticket - http://www.gigabyte.com.au/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4859#ov

Can pick it up for £175 which would mean that with memory and disk, I wouldn't be too far over the budget. What do you think, would the i3 CPU and 4400 Graphics pack enough punch for my usage?
 
The i3 + graphics would work perfectly fine for what you want... even when you move to 4k, that'll still do the trick without any trouble.

Only... when the fans spin up, you WILL notice it... without a doubt.

It might be quiet enough at idle... but that depends on your room.



In my house, I can hear hard drives spinning and it disturbs me... do I had to build a completely fanless build.

You can build a fully fanless/spinning hdd-less build for about 450 quid... look at the Streacom cases & a dual-core i3 with onboard graphics is powerful enough for 4k playback.




My build:
Streacom FC8-S
Gigabyte H97N-WIFI motherboard
i3 4360
8GB ram
120GB kingston ssd

Which can handle 4K video playback with ease.

You can add a blu-ray drive too... but I prefer my standalone player.
 
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in case you don't realise, when people say they handle 4k, they mean 4k ~24hz, not 60. So while its fine for movie/tv it wont be very fun for steam streaming.
Not that you will get better from onboard, just so you know what you are getting.
 
Annoyingly, the chrome extension has stopped working for me, so I can't post a spec.

I'd suggest an AM1 mini ITX build in an antec isk300 with a Asus dgx sound card for optical out.
 
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