New Htpc Build

[wints 23]

Hi all want to build a new htpc for dedicated cinema room 7.1 Cinema Room HTPC/Server with emby server, Kodi jarvis, emby for Kodi~Epson TW3200~Homemade 7ft pj screen~AVR~Yamaha RX-A2020~Speakers~Monitor Audio RX6 Fronts & RX Centre~RXFX Surrounds~250's Rears~BK XXLS400 Sub~8033C AntiMode~HarmonyOne, it's been about 4/5 years since the current system was built and tech has moved on so not sure what gear to go with any you guys got any suggestions budget around £500 would prefer Intel cpu don't need any hdd's just a ssd for operating system (some version of windows) and kodi and rest of media programs, would be nice if it could be future proofed to play back 4k material think that's about it other then thanks for taking the time. Cheers

[Koleckai Silvestri 1154]

The new Skylake processors can do 4K video and aren't overly expensive.  I don't know about AMD's APUs but I suspect the newer chips can do so as well. Most newer video cards can also do 4K video. You will need an HDMI 1.4 or higher output, though. Either on the motherboard (for built-in GPUs) or on the card itself.
 
I just built a machine within your budget. It has:
 
Fractal Design Node 804 Case
ASRock B150M-HDV LGA 1151 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Patriot Extreme Performance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2400
Intel Core i5-6500 6M Skylake Quad-Core 3.2 GHz LGA 1151 65W BX80662I56500 Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 530
Kingston SSDNow V300 2.5" 60GB SATA3 Solid State Drive (SSD) SV300S37A/60G
1 x FSP Group AURUM S 400W Power Supply with Intel Haswell Certified

 

That was around $600 when I bought it. Or £411. You'll probably want to update the motherboard or add a sound card, though. I didn't need sound output since it is a server.

[ThermoDust 12]

1. How large is your collection? - Correction, how is it connecting?

Is this device dedicated to your projector or do you plan to have it stream to other devices?

1. Will it need to handle trans coding said devices?

Will it need to handle streaming to the 4k projector(?) and another device(s) at the same time?

Edited January 7, 2016 by ThermoDust

[wints 23]

Thanks for the replies guys

1. How large is your collection? - Correction, how is it connecting? Wired network
2. Is this device dedicated to your projector or do you plan to have it stream to other devices? The new htpc will be dedicated to my projector using the current one as just the server
   1. Will it need to handle trans coding said devices? No
   2. Will it need to handle streaming to the 4k projector(?) and another device(s) at the same time? Yes eventually in the future

 

[ThermoDust 12]

Depending on physical size you want and the fact that you have network storage for your content, this sounds like you just need a simple HTPC that can drive that content. So I would go with the Intel Nuc NUC5i5RYK - http://www.mouser.com/pdfdocs/nuckitnuc5i5rykbrief.PDF

 

Quick Perks of the Nuc

1. IR - You can control it with a remote
2. Intel 6000 Graphics Card - Supports 4k and has QuickSync if you ever need to serve content(transcode)
3. Gigabit LAN - Pull all of that good content from your network at quick speeds.
4. Wireless - If you want to not run a wire to it

One draw back is it doesn't do standard 2.5 drives it uses M.2 which is just as good just a small bit more. But I went with the same unit just older and have a M.2 and it wasn't much more money. 

 

All in all with ram and drive around $450-500.

[wints 23]

Thanks for the suggestion, always a bit weary about things in small packages 1 is upgradeability not usually much you can upgrade, will it have enough grunt to run madVR,Reclock,mpc-be, lav filters and so on at aggressive settings (as I do at the minute) also think I read that it's not hdmi 2.0?

[ThermoDust 12]

I do not know if it can as I have never done aggressive settings or even used that software. The question now is why do you need those? Was it due to the machine that was running it or speed of the decoding? Maybe with this change you should consider changing your software setup. It has HDMI 1.4a. They are releasing a new Intel Nucs this year so those might.

[wints 23]

Hi main reason for using above mentioned software is mainly because of using this

[Koleckai Silvestri 1154]

They are releasing a new Intel Nucs this year so those might.

 

The new Skylake powered NUCs only have up to HDMI 1.4b and Display Port 1.2. This does limit 4K output as you need HDMI 2.0 for 60 FPS and true 21:9 aspect ratios. I didn't realize that before.

 

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/nuc/nuc-kit-nuc6i5syh.html

[wints 23]

The new Skylake powered NUCs only have up to HDMI 1.4b and Display Port 1.2. This does limit 4K output as you need HDMI 2.0 for 60 FPS and true 21:9 aspect ratios. I didn't realize that before.

 

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/nuc/nuc-kit-nuc6i5syh.html

 

Cheers this is what I was trying to sort of get across (very badly indeed) in post #6

[Tharnax 49]

Personally, I'd suggest separating the HTPC from the Server.  Build a dedicated separate EMBY server, there a lots of options for OS.  The primary spend will be on the case as you want to allow for expand-ability as once you start maintaining your video collection online the demand for storage space will only continue to grow.

 

Not sure if Nvidia Shield is available where you are located but I highly recommend it.  It's the only device non-NUC specific which can output 4k and support HD audio.  

 

I've got a Yamaha RX-V779 attached to a 7.1 Axiom audio system with a SVS Subwoofer, Sony XBR 55" TV and the Nvidia Shield with Kodi for EMBY plays 1080p DTS-HD videos that looked and sound amazing through this setup.  The Nvidia Shield is silent unlike a NUC or Server/HTPC would be in a theater room setup.  

 

Having the server separate just adds future options that a HPTC/Server combo just won't allow for as well, well not with out compromising either size or ambient noise.

[wints 23]

 Cheers for the reply mate,

Personally, I'd suggest separating the HTPC from the Server. Build a dedicated separate EMBY server, there a lots of options for OS. Yeah this is why I posted this so that I can have a dedicated server and get rid of all the clutter I have on the htpc/server combo at the minute
The primary spend will be on the case as you want to allow for expand-ability as once you start maintaining your video collection online the demand for storage space will only continue to grow. I'd love to build a rack server but wouldn't know where to start that would sort the storage out

 

Not sure if Nvidia Shield is available where you are located but I highly recommend it. It's the only device non-NUC specific which can output 4k and support HD audio. Yeah the Nvidia Shield is available here had a look at it when trawling net looking at NUC's only thing I was put off a bit about being able to browse net from just the little I read about it people where moaning that its only available via apps?

 

I've got a Yamaha RX-V779 attached to a 7.1 Axiom audio system with a SVS Subwoofer, Sony XBR 55" TV and the Nvidia Shield with Kodi for EMBY plays 1080p DTS-HD videos that looked and sound amazing through this setup.  The Nvidia Shield is silent unlike a NUC or Server/HTPC would be in a theater room setup. I'll have to have more of a look into this 

 

Having the server separate just adds future options that a HPTC/Server combo just won't allow for as well, well not with out compromising either size or ambient noise.

[wints 23]

Hi guys thanks for your help and suggestions went with the shield so far I'm happy only thing I'm having issues with is I've installed kodi setup my playlists and so on then I installed the emby for kodi addon emby did its thing so then I thought I would add smart shortcuts so using the Nox skin first tried adding them using choose action selected smart shortcuts then had to wait about 2 minutes then an empty box popped up with no shortcuts in? so thought I would reboot then went back into kodi and usually you get the welcome emby message within a few seconds (well i did on my Server) but no it took about 2 minutes again for this to come up? any ideas what's going on? sorry about long post but after 5 hours of trying to sort this out myself I've gotten no where. any help most appreciated cheers.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 16, 2016 by wints