you’ll have to get a gpu then.
Please suggest a good configuration for HTPC
- Thread starter rainbowsong2000
- Start date
raman.bhadu
New Member
Did you completed your HTPC build or not? If you completed then post your specifications and give an overall view about your xperience about how this is performing and apps and accessories used. Thanks.
muzaffar559
New Member
Did u setup ur htpc, what configuration u r using? I am thinking of htpc with Madvr for 4k HDR tone mapping , I am having Epson tw9400 projector connected to Yamaha rxv695 receiver.
Do you guys want to have a gaming PC along with the HTPC? If not, then a dedicated GPU in this inflated market is an overkill and not required based on my usage
I have been using my nuc as htpc for past year and a half now on kodi...no issues whatsoever....if you just go for an i5 nuc the onboard GPU is more than sufficient for everything...I have a tw9400 too and hdr also works flawlessly through kodi on my nuc...
My nuc is just an i3 and even that is sufficient. Earlier i3 had same onboard GPU as i5/i7 but now I think intel has degraded the GPU on i3 units, which is why I am suggesting an i5 nuc to you
There was even one for sale in the forum if you want to explore that way or you can get a new one
I have been using my nuc as htpc for past year and a half now on kodi...no issues whatsoever....if you just go for an i5 nuc the onboard GPU is more than sufficient for everything...I have a tw9400 too and hdr also works flawlessly through kodi on my nuc...
My nuc is just an i3 and even that is sufficient. Earlier i3 had same onboard GPU as i5/i7 but now I think intel has degraded the GPU on i3 units, which is why I am suggesting an i5 nuc to you
There was even one for sale in the forum if you want to explore that way or you can get a new one
No Love for AMD processors ?
Lots of love but door se as they are never available at real prices due to shortageI think, in case of HTPCs (atleast in India), the progress stops at sourcing fanless case which serves the individuals purpose. Next stop? Mini PCs. Most mini PCs have Intel. I couldn't even find Beelink GR(or GTR?) series. Even tried to repurpose industrial Mini PCs. No luck finding AMD variants.No Love for AMD processors ?
The first PC that I built with own money was based around Athlon 64. Man, it was a real headache to get all things going, especially media/ driver wise. But, man it was a blazing fast build. 16 seconds to see the Login screen on a cold boot!!! So, AMD is love! So, is Linux!!! Which supported 64bit processors even before they were born...(I need to check this though)
Wouldn't that be down to the HDD and a fresh install? I assume it got slower once you loaded up with programs?I think, in case of HTPCs (atleast in India), the progress stops at sourcing fanless case which serves the individuals purpose. Next stop? Mini PCs. Most mini PCs have Intel. I couldn't even find Beelink GR(or GTR?) series. Even tried to repurpose industrial Mini PCs. No luck finding AMD variants.
The first PC that I built with own money was based around Athlon 64. Man, it was a real headache to get all things going, especially media/ driver wise. But, man it was a blazing fast build. 16 seconds to see the Login screen on a cold boot!!! So, AMD is love! So, is Linux!!! Which supported 64bit processors even before they were born...(I need to check this though)
The basis of this assumption is that my 6 year old Intel laptop based on a core i7 4th gen boots faster than my 5th gen Ryzen 7 5700 due to more programs loading up on startup. The Intel laptop had an SSD installed at a later date which helped improve its startup time from 1:30 to around 13 seconds now. The Ryzen takes a good 20 seconds or so.
Hand optimised and compiled kernel and boot process. Also, all OSes were various Linux distros. Nothing changed over years.
Also, kept windows on separate disk... Rarely used and only for a few games. Had to keep it on separate drive as it would get infected, reinstalled and would mess up MBR every time.
So from a regular users perspective then?
No real difference on Linux distros. Also, windows was on separate disk and within the disk, programs and OS resided on different partitions. Media on a separate one. So, no noticable differences over time there either. And as it used to go these days, reinstall due to virus/failed updates kept it optimised !
I remember the windows 98/Me days. A fresh install was the cure for all evils, including speeding up boot times.No real difference on Linux distros. Also, windows was on separate disk and within the disk, programs and OS resided on different partitions. Media on a separate one. So, no noticable differences over time there either. And as it used to go these days, reinstall due to virus/failed updates kept it optimised !
Same here. Have hand optimized my raspberry PIs, BananaPIs, allo usbridge. My system has evolved over the years
from 2006 to 2014 - AMD processor based self built HTPC running clemtine music player. This didn't allow shared playback
2014 to 2016 - HTPC with mpd and the Music directory shared using NFS - OS openSUSE tumbleweed
2016 - 2017 - RPI4 as a NFS server with external 4Tb hard disk connected and all systems running music player daemon on all clients. This gave me the best sound. OS Raspbian 64bit debian buster
2017 till now - RPI4 becomes my media server. I now use one master mpd process running in Realtime Mode on the RPI4. It serves the mpd database to all clients. It takes just few seconds to catalogue 3 Tb of music files. My usbridge, allo piano player use this mpd database. All my dacs are driven (allo revolution, xonar essense one) by mpd. High resolution music is phenomenal.
That's some really good technical suggestions
Don't know how I missed this gem. Did you try 64studio in those olden days. I had to compile "lame" and other media packages before that.
Never tried 64studio or any debian variants. Started with slackware and briefly redhat and from 2003 have been always on Fedora with one or two machines on openSUSE. Stayed away from debian only because of their archaic debian package managing system with full of hacks in shell scripts to install systems. But with the raspberry PIs I have started using the debian packaging because raspbian is essentially debian. Also because I have written few software where I have more debian/ubuntu users compared to fedora/archlinux/alpine/gentoo distros.
RPM came in 1997, the apt, dselect came in 1998 and then came the Yellodog updater modified (YUM) in 2002, all of which made it possible to distribute binary package over the internet. Before that one had to compile lame, ffmpeg, almost everything. Gentoo still does it like that and many BSD folks I know still do everything by compiling the source. In 1997 I had to compile pppd on my slackware linux so that I could connect to Citibank datacenter from home using a telephone line and a modem and I did IP over ppp and that was a high point doing telnet to the SunOS servers to login and carry out some work. Things are very different now.
The reason OP is not enjoying the Atmos experience is not cuz of nvidia shield.
It's cuz of OTT (Netflix, Prime Disney etc)
You will not find any difference in audio played via HTPC. You see OTT platforms have ripped audio format and not full monty HD tracks.
Since nvidia shield pro is capable of playing back all formats audio & video.
All OP needs to do is connect his HDD(movies) to nvidia usb and play. See the difference as long as the movies file size is big meaning it has HD audio tracks like Atmos, DTS HD, TrueHD etc it will sound much better than any OTT platforms.
Should you buy a HTPC to download the movies on ur HDD, you can go with NUC i3. Should be good enough to playback media too. OR buy a Laptop for same purpose of getting movies and transfer them to ur HDD>Nvidia
*Note: For NUC consider only 8th or 11th gen i3/i5 as they have IrisPro GPU integration. Supposed to be good. 9th & 10th gen were deprived of that against focus on other features. Not good IMO
It's cuz of OTT (Netflix, Prime Disney etc)
You will not find any difference in audio played via HTPC. You see OTT platforms have ripped audio format and not full monty HD tracks.
Since nvidia shield pro is capable of playing back all formats audio & video.
All OP needs to do is connect his HDD(movies) to nvidia usb and play. See the difference as long as the movies file size is big meaning it has HD audio tracks like Atmos, DTS HD, TrueHD etc it will sound much better than any OTT platforms.
Should you buy a HTPC to download the movies on ur HDD, you can go with NUC i3. Should be good enough to playback media too. OR buy a Laptop for same purpose of getting movies and transfer them to ur HDD>Nvidia
*Note: For NUC consider only 8th or 11th gen i3/i5 as they have IrisPro GPU integration. Supposed to be good. 9th & 10th gen were deprived of that against focus on other features. Not good IMO
rainbowsong2000
Well-Known Member
Wow this thread is alive after a year
So, I dropped the plan of HTPC and bought a MSI laptop with GTX1660 Graphics card. Let me list my way of using HT with Nvidia Sheild pro and laptop as my sources.
My experience for the past 1+ years after posting this thread.
1. 99% watching movies online primarily with Kodi, Video addons and Real Debrid subscription. Its easy to stream Bluray Remux content with 50GB, 60GB, 90 GB size... and the HDR, lossless audio will be almost intact with Blu-ray. I mostly used Nvidia Shield till I bought my laptop.
2. Though the Nvidia shield is very versatile and easy to use, thought of trying to utilize madvr to boost the HDR, tonemapping etc. That was the first and foremost reason to checkout the HTPC option in the first place, when i post this thread.
3. Looking at the the insane Graphic card market, i went down to Laptop with decent GPU which support Madvr and tonemapping. So, the need is beyond downloading and watching movies.
4. And you won't believe, playing the OTT in PC is giving good uplift in audio, example you will get Netflix lossless Atmos in PC and in Shield it will be DD+. Only few devices will support Netflix lossless atmos. Ex. Apple TV, LG tvs , Microsoft OS PC etc.
5. Now, mostly I am using PC to play KODI RD streaming, OTT content and to play downloaded top movies with MADVR.
6. Though, NVidia shield is my preferable ease of use device, mostly I use PC nowadays to watch movies.
So my purpose is solved
That's good to know. Good move of going for the laptop.Wow this thread is alive after a year
So, I dropped the plan of HTPC and bought a MSI laptop with GTX1660 Graphics card. Let me list my way of using HT with Nvidia Sheild pro and laptop as my sources.
My experience for the past 1+ years after posting this thread.
1. 99% watching movies online primarily with Kodi, Video addons and Real Debrid subscription. Its easy to stream Bluray Remux content with 50GB, 60GB, 90 GB size... and the HDR, lossless audio will be almost intact with Blu-ray. I mostly used Nvidia Shield till I bought my laptop.
2. Though the Nvidia shield is very versatile and easy to use, thought of trying to utilize madvr to boost the HDR, tonemapping etc. That was the first and foremost reason to checkout the HTPC option in the first place, when i post this thread.
3. Looking at the the insane Graphic card market, i went down to Laptop with decent GPU which support Madvr and tonemapping. So, the need is beyond downloading and watching movies.
4. And you won't believe, playing the OTT in PC is giving good uplift in audio, example you will get Netflix lossless Atmos in PC and in Shield it will be DD+. Only few devices will support Netflix lossless atmos. Ex. Apple TV, LG tvs , Microsoft OS PC etc.
5. Now, mostly I am using PC to play KODI RD streaming, OTT content and to play downloaded top movies with MADVR.
6. Though, NVidia shield is my preferable ease of use device, mostly I use PC nowadays to watch movies.
So my purpose is solved
I also wanted to try the nvidia shield so bought it over the NUC for its convince.
Really liking it so for. Wanted to get rid of keyboard & mouse from the HT chain & see.
I've been an HTPC guy since long before and loved the PQ of Powerdvd over Kodi.
Kodi has become much better now and i wish nvidia also had Powerdvd.
rainbowsong2000
Well-Known Member
Dear all,
Ok, now I am ready to build a HTPC for utilizing the Tonemapping with MADVR to play all the 4K HDR & DV movies in Sony XW5000 ES laser projector. Also, some time later thinking of upgrading the HTPC to Videoprocessor (http://videoprocessor.org/) so, I can connect whatever the sourcing devices (Apple TV, Shield ETC) to play the HDR perfectly after tonemapped with madvr through Video processor. So, Could you please provide the best build configuration ?
Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
Ok, now I am ready
to build a HTPC for utilizing the Tonemapping with MADVR to play all the 4K HDR & DV movies in Sony XW5000 ES laser projector. Also, some time later thinking of upgrading the HTPC to Videoprocessor (http://videoprocessor.org/) so, I can connect whatever the sourcing devices (Apple TV, Shield ETC) to play the HDR perfectly after tonemapped with madvr through Video processor. So, Could you please provide the best build configuration ?Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
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