Please suggest a good configuration for HTPC

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rainbowsong2000

rainbowsong2000

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I am trying to build a good HTPC. Could you please provide the suggestion for configuration ? I have listed my usage below.

1. 90% to watch movies and 10% may be for youtube videos.
2. Currently i am using Nvidia Shield which is very good. But, just want to explore on HTPC.
3. I don't have a laptop now, so will use this pc for some general purpose.
4. I am currently streaming the movies through Kodi (Real Debrid subscription) from Shield pro > AVR (Denon 4500) to my PJ TW9400. But watching Netflix movies with Atmos is not great through Shield (Thanks @ankitbhargava for point the problems)
5. I need to stream 4k HDR, Atmos, DTS, DD etc i mean all format :)
6. I am not going to play any games for sure. I have PS4 for that.

Please suggest me the right configuration.

Cheers
 
If you intend to play your BD Rips or FLAC files, get an Intel NUC (NUC8i5BEH available for 22K) and put Plex (Ubuntu Plex Snap) on it and you will be amazed to see the performance. On the other hand, you can also install Win10 on it for general purposes, media consumption, and this system will shine there as well.
 
I am using old gen Intel NUC as HTPC for past five years. It struggles to play h265 codec files and 4K files.

Intel NUC is cute little box which has all the capabilities required for HTPC and small enough to hide within your AV equipments.

There are multiple options available. From Intel Atom to Intel i-7 with price range starting from less than 11000.

You need to invest on RAM, HDD, Operating System additionally.

I would recommend to choose i-5 based Intel NUC.
 
I have recently built a HTPC , unfortunately it does not serve me well for media...
My other purpose of building this pc is for editing videos + personal use + gaming sometimes as well.

My config
intel i7 10th gen 10700k ( intel i5 is enough if your primary purpose is media playback)
Nvidia 1650 Gpu 4GB ( 2GB gpu will be sufficient for 4k movie play back, but check they support HDR as well)
16GB RAM (8 GB will be sufficient for htpc)
500 GB Crucial SSD (250 gb SSD is enough for most cases)
MSI mother board
Windows 10 pro os(original)
Hooking up with NVidia hdmi to AVR (for both video and audio)
Totl costed around 80k.

Though it plays media on HDD files cleanly ,
I felt sound is little flat --not sure i need invest on sound card as well
Amazon prime on windows does not support DD or 5.1 sound.
There are no dedicated hotstar , mx player app on windows. Though you can play them on browsers.
Netflix seems to support DD , 5.1 through Windows App , not sure it supports dolby atmos. I could not check since my subscription expired..

I think your Nvidia Shield would serve well for your htpc needs.
If you are also a gamer + wanted to do something else with PC + Editing videos + build media server..etc , then u can consider dedicated HTPC.
 
edjamesx said:
I have recently built a HTPC , unfortunately it does not serve me well for media...
My other purpose of building this pc is for editing videos + personal use + gaming sometimes as well.

My config
intel i7 10th gen 10700k ( intel i5 is enough if your primary purpose is media playback)
Nvidia 1650 Gpu 4GB ( 2GB gpu will be sufficient for 4k movie play back, but check they support HDR as well)
16GB RAM (8 GB will be sufficient for htpc)
500 GB Crucial SSD (250 gb SSD is enough for most cases)
MSI mother board
Windows 10 pro os(original)
Hooking up with NVidia hdmi to AVR (for both video and audio)
Totl costed around 80k.

Though it plays media on HDD files cleanly ,
I felt sound is little flat --not sure i need invest on sound card as well
Amazon prime on windows does not support DD or 5.1 sound.
There are no dedicated hotstar , mx player app on windows. Though you can play them on browsers.
Netflix seems to support DD , 5.1 through Windows App , not sure it supports dolby atmos. I could not check since my subscription expired..

I think your Nvidia Shield would serve well for your htpc needs.
If you are also a gamer + wanted to do something else with PC + Editing videos + build media server..etc , then u can consider dedicated HTPC.
Click to expand...
I think the experience you had with your old sound card was because there was some processing that was happening and boosting your bass and highs, now you have a untouched signal from your HDMI and are finding this flat. I too experienced this once, had a Creative External USB sound card and found the bass better than the HDMI out, only to realise it auto switched on some audio enhancement features. I did not even download any of the creative softwares and it still did this. Just my 2 cents.

For the OP, I am using an i3 NUC7 plays everything just even 4k, for very high bitrate 4k files, yes it does struggle. As suggested by a FM above, go for an i5 and this should be sorted.
 
Last edited:
Whats the version of Nvidia Shield? The newer one plays Dolby Vision/atmos and HDR fine for me. I have Synology NAS where I store the media, and use plex to manage and play. If you are going to use more than one TV, I'll suggest segregating storage and player. You can upgrade player relatively cheaply, but wont want to upgrade the HTPC every few years.
 
edjamesx said:
I have recently built a HTPC , unfortunately it does not serve me well for media...
My other purpose of building this pc is for editing videos + personal use + gaming sometimes as well.

My config
intel i7 10th gen 10700k ( intel i5 is enough if your primary purpose is media playback)
Nvidia 1650 Gpu 4GB ( 2GB gpu will be sufficient for 4k movie play back, but check they support HDR as well)
16GB RAM (8 GB will be sufficient for htpc)
500 GB Crucial SSD (250 gb SSD is enough for most cases)
MSI mother board
Windows 10 pro os(original)
Hooking up with NVidia hdmi to AVR (for both video and audio)
Totl costed around 80k.

Though it plays media on HDD files cleanly ,
I felt sound is little flat --not sure i need invest on sound card as well
Amazon prime on windows does not support DD or 5.1 sound.
There are no dedicated hotstar , mx player app on windows. Though you can play them on browsers.
Netflix seems to support DD , 5.1 through Windows App , not sure it supports dolby atmos. I could not check since my subscription expired..

I think your Nvidia Shield would serve well for your htpc needs.
If you are also a gamer + wanted to do something else with PC + Editing videos + build media server..etc , then u can consider dedicated HTPC.
Click to expand...
Ya.. i was watching your thread lots of info gathered :)
 
ukjeyaraj said:
I am using old gen Intel NUC as HTPC for past five years. It struggles to play h265 codec files and 4K files.

Intel NUC is cute little box which has all the capabilities required for HTPC and small enough to hide within your AV equipments.

There are multiple options available. From Intel Atom to Intel i-7 with price range starting from less than 11000.

You need to invest on RAM, HDD, Operating System additionally.

I would recommend to choose i-5 based Intel NUC.
Click to expand...
How about HDR ?
 
dazoy said:
Whats the version of Nvidia Shield? The newer one plays Dolby Vision/atmos and HDR fine for me. I have Synology NAS where I store the media, and use plex to manage and play. If you are going to use more than one TV, I'll suggest segregating storage and player. You can upgrade player relatively cheaply, but wont want to upgrade the HTPC every few years.
Click to expand...
Its pro version i was having NAS Synology but it went crap some board problem. Just exploring will the HTPC mire powerful than shield pro
 
sl4y3r said:
I think the experience you had with your old sound card was because there was some processing that was happening and boosting your bass and highs, now you have a untouched signal from your HDMI and are finding this flat. I too experienced this once, had a Creative External USB sound card and found the bass better than the HDMI out, only to realise it auto switched on some audio enhancement features. I did not even download any of the creative softwares and it still did this. Just my 2 cents.
Click to expand...
Ok. In my old sound Asus Sonar card none of the enhancements were turned on. Still it sounds better.
rainbowsong2000 said:
Its pro version i was having NAS Synology but it went crap some board problem. Just exploring will the HTPC mire powerful than shield pro
Click to expand...
PC will be definitely more powerful , but unfortunately there are no ready made solutions in pc. Sheild pro have more OTT apps and supports all formats , and audio formats i guess.
 
ukjeyaraj said:
As per the specification it is capable of HDR and 10-bit sampling


Pliz check page 23
Click to expand...

Re: Re:10-bit color depth for NUC 10 with ASUS PA329C

Hi ThS, I am really sorry to hear that our product is not meeting your expectations and that this could be a product documentation related issue. Can you please point me to the specific section within our documentation that needs to be improved? I reviewed the Product Technical Specification...
community.intel.com
 
edjamesx said:
Ok. In my old sound Asus Sonar card none of the enhancements were turned on. Still it sounds better.
Click to expand...
Did you check into the device details in Windows for the soundcard to check nothing is being applied? If yes, then I'm not sure the reason, will probably boil down to the quality of DACs
 
sl4y3r said:
Did you check into the device details in Windows for the soundcard to check nothing is being applied? If yes, then I'm not sure the reason, will probably boil down to the quality of DACs
Click to expand...
Yeah . I also feel its because of quality of DAc.
 
edjamesx said:
Ok. In my old sound Asus Sonar card none of the enhancements were turned on. Still it sounds better.

PC will be definitely more powerful , but unfortunately there are no ready made solutions in pc. Sheild pro have more OTT apps and supports all formats , and audio formats i guess.
Click to expand...
what are you comparing he soundcard to? Are you using an receiver or amp between Shield and speaker? MQ would depend on reciever's preamp and amplifier sections.
 
dazoy said:
what are you comparing he soundcard to? Are you using an receiver or amp between Shield and speaker? MQ would depend on reciever's preamp and amplifier sections.
Click to expand...
I am comparing the sound between nvidia GPU hdmi out from PC and dedicated sound card (SPDIF out) from PC.
Both cases its hooked up with AVR. Sound from dedicated sound card is far more better - its more musical , and have good punch.
I don't own Shield , no idea about shield pro sound.
 
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