# Forum Home Renovation Home Theatres  Looking for some recommendations on HT computer

## Moondog55

Open ended question as Cecile hasn't yet decided a budget. We have room for a reasonably big case so RAID1 or RAID2 isn't out of the question.
Videos and music and possibly as a photo album.
Totally out of my depth here as everything moves so quickly
So any recommendations on a video card and operating system a Non-Geek can set-up and use?
No plans for cable at this stage or internet TV but perhaps we want the capability

----------


## METRIX

Get a NAS and store all the movies, photos Music etc on that, I have a Netgear and a QNAP, they are both nice and have pluses ans minuses for each, these come in 1,2,4 or more drive configurations and support RAID 
Put WD RED drives in the NAS as these are designed for NAS devices with extended warranties and higher MTBF than your standard type of drives, using a NAS will allow any device on the network to access all the files at the same time.  https://www.netgear.com/business/pro...spx#tab-models https://www.wdc.com/products/interna...ge/wd-red.html 
For the HT PC what do you want to do with it ? play movies and music ?, you want to keep the machine as small as possible, big clunky PC's are a thing of the past, you don;t need a big case for RAID, all RAID means is having two or more hard drives and setting them up so if one fails the other is still running so the data is safe until you can replace the failed drive. 
You would not have a PC with RAID (you could but you wouldn't if you know what I mean), this is usually reserved for Servers, and why a NAS is a better option. 
I would recommend you backup your photos to the Cloud and DVD / Blueray rateh than rely just on the NAS, photos cannot usually be replaced as they are all digital nowadays, movies / Music can be replaced easily if disaster happens. 
 Google photos allows unlimited storage of slightly scaled down photos, unlike Apple and their shyte cloud they give you a piddly amount of data then make you buy more. 
The PC doesn't have to be so powerful as it won't really be doing anything. 
 I would look at a Micro ATX Motherboard from ASUS or Gigabyte 1151 or 1151-2 type 
1150 or 1151-2 Intel i3 or i5 CPU 
8gb ram minimum, 16 is better, 32 is best but only if you are flogging the machine ram type will be DDR4 
500mb SSD either Intel 545S or Samsung EVO 850 Pro or 860  series 
Motherboard will have onboard Intel video card which is more than capable of running HD videos via it's onboard HDMI or Display port 
Corsair power supply 
Wireless keyboard and mouse  
Win 10 Home or PRO 64 bit 
Choose a case you like and your right to go. 
Also take look at a refurbished SFF of USFF Dell Optiplex, I have set up a few of these as HT machines, you can pick them up on ebay refurbished for around $400 - $600, they come with Win 10 license, just replace the supplied with a SSD or option for this at purchase time, they were spec'd with i5 and i7, but need to be careful as most had 4gb ram so need to expand this to 8 or 16, some of the boards were not capable of taking 16gb. 
These are very small machines especially the USFF ones, they are very quiet and run well, they did not have onboard HDMI but some had Display ports, need to know what you're looking for but can get a good machine fairly cheap.  
Example below  https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Dell-Opt...YAAOSwlvlZywgk

----------


## Moondog55

Got some good information there, and cheaper than I had thought. I had thought that a medium to last years high end video card would be needed rather than a $50- unit
All our current machine use SSD boot devices so that is expected as a minimum now I think but they do make a difference.
Thanx

----------


## Bigboboz

> Get a NAS and store all the movies, photos Music etc on that, I have a Netgear and a QNAP, they are both nice and have pluses ans minuses for each, these come in 1,2,4 or more drive configurations and support RAID

  Agreed, I've got a Synology which I'm very happy with but know others with QNAP that are also happy. I think they're all well developed and featured these days. 
For playback, get a media player. Similar to an Apple TV in terms of size but flexible with what they play back from. I don't have anything recent to recommend but mainly use a Beyonwiz PVR to playback stuff.  It doesn't have the latest chip so doesn't play some of the latest files. There is a newer version though. Overall would recommend them as PVRs and media players. 
Otherwise have an android TV which is ok, plays everything but could have better video apps.

----------


## Bros

> I would recommend you backup your photos to the Cloud and DVD / Blueray rateh than rely just on the NAS, photos cannot usually be replaced as they are all digital nowadays, movies / Music can be replaced easily if disaster happens.

  I have just made a document safe that I hope is fireproof and I intend putting one of my backup drives in there as well as a photo album as I am not inclined to use cloud backup as they can just go the Photobucket way and you will end up having to pay for your photos. I would rather keep the photos in my possession. In other words I don't trust them.   

> Also take look at a refurbished SFF of USFF Dell Optiplex, I have set up a few of these as HT machines, you can pick them up on ebay refurbished for around $400 - $600, they come with Win 10 license, just replace the supplied with a SSD or option for this at purchase time, they were spec'd with i5 and i7, but need to be careful as most had 4gb ram so need to expand this to 8 or 16, some of the boards were not capable of taking 16gb.

  Someone gave me a Dell some time ago from an office refurbishment and I wouldn't touch them as when I investigated adding a new HD and Memory you couldn't buy it off the shelf as it had to be Dell so I was turned off Dell. I don't know what they are like now.

----------


## chrisp

Are you after 4K UHD and HDR/ Dolby Vision? If so, you are into streaming and will need to be careful with selecting the HTPC. A 7th generation Intel processor is required to decrypt the copy-protected HDR content. 
Im looking at a NUC 7iX (3, 5 or 7) when funds allow. Ideally, a fanless PC is best for HT. 
If you have funds, seriously look in to the OLED TVs - theyre amazing.

----------


## Bigboboz

> I have just made a document safe that I hope is fireproof and I intend putting one of my backup drives in there as well as a photo album as I am not inclined to use cloud backup as they can just go the Photobucket way and you will end up having to pay for your photos. I would rather keep the photos in my possession. In other words I don't trust them. 
> Someone gave me a Dell some time ago from an office refurbishment and I wouldn't touch them as when I investigated adding a new HD and Memory you couldn't buy it off the shelf as it had to be Dell so I was turned off Dell. I don't know what they are like now.

  Agree on both accounts.  For back up, I have an extra USB hard drive that I make periodic copies onto and keep it in my drawer at work.  I know others who keep their back up with their folks or kids (basically someone you trust and see often enough if you want to grab it for a backup). 
Rob

----------


## METRIX

> I have just made a document safe that I hope is fireproof and I intend putting one of my backup drives in there as well as a photo album as I am not inclined to use cloud backup as they can just go the Photobucket way and you will end up having to pay for your photos. I would rather keep the photos in my possession. In other words I don't trust them.   
> Someone gave me a Dell some time ago from an office refurbishment and I wouldn't touch them as when I investigated adding a new HD and Memory you couldn't buy it off the shelf as it had to be Dell so I was turned off Dell. I don't know what they are like now.

  Never had any problems with the Optiplex range, I have been adding extra memory, SSD, video cards etc to them for years no incompatibility. 
No one backup is perfect, so you should spread it out amongst different sources, for example I have all photos on a local machine, backed up to both NAS, as well as Cloud, and USB hardrive, If I lose all lf them then it just wasn't meant to be, 
Your document safe that you hope is fireproof doesn't sound to promising !!

----------


## METRIX

> Got some good information there, and cheaper than I had thought. I had thought that a medium to last years high end video card would be needed rather than a $50- unit
> All our current machine use SSD boot devices so that is expected as a minimum now I think but they do make a difference.
> Thanx

  
High end video cards are good for games or video editing / photoshop etc, the inbuilt ones are perfectly ok for 99% of tasks, but it doesn't hurt to add mid level one if you think you will need it, no need for high level one as these can cost  $$$ a high spec GTX card will cost you well over $1000, Onboard peripherals have changed a lot over the last few years and are perfectly ok for 90% of consumers needs. 
YES SSD does make a huge difference, my laptop takes 4 seconds to boot WIN 10, it has a faster M.2 SSD, which is even faster than a desktop SATA based SSD, decent motherboards will have a M.2 SSD slot, so you can put the super fast SSD directly onto the motherboard, see below for example. 
Desktop SSD are still very fast, my main PC will load Win 10 in 8 seconds, and day to day opening / saving are quick as, Hard Drives are a thing of the past for your main drive, they are great for data storage as they are cheap reliable and huge capacity. 
The optimum is to have SSD as your boot drive, and a large capacity Hard drive for data storage, I would g for a 500Gb SSD and a 4TB HD as starting point, this gives you plenty of storage on both sides, 256 SSD can fill too quickly, and price difference between 2TB and 4TB hard drives is negligible.

----------


## phild01

If you buy DELL always look to the Optiplex range. They are designed for reliable business use rather than leading edge advancements.

----------


## Bros

> Your document safe that you hope is fireproof doesn't sound to promising !!

  Well the only way to know is burn the house down and I don't intend to do that so hope is the only word as it is on a concrete floor lined with hardiflex and the documents and drives are in fiberglass pouches.

----------


## METRIX

> Agreed, I've got a Synology which I'm very happy with but know others with QNAP that are also happy. I think they're all well developed and featured these days. 
> For playback, get a media player. Similar to an Apple TV in terms of size but flexible with what they play back from. I don't have anything recent to recommend but mainly use a Beyonwiz PVR to playback stuff.  It doesn't have the latest chip so doesn't play some of the latest files. There is a newer version though. Overall would recommend them as PVRs and media players. 
> Otherwise have an android TV which is ok, plays everything but could have better video apps.

  
Agree, I  currently use the 4K Android media player, this seems to handle everything I can throw at it  https://www.ebay.com.au/i/1128298966...=ps&dispItem=1

----------


## Bros

> Agree, I  currently use the 4K Android media player, this seems to handle everything I can throw at it  https://www.ebay.com.au/i/1128298966...=ps&dispItem=1

  Does it do free to air catch up TV?

----------


## Moondog55

Last years $1000- card is next years $200- card the way the thing evolve

----------


## fredgassit

Metrix, 
Does your  4K Android media player upscale SD video? 
Thanks.

----------


## davegol

also a suggestion: go for a decent switch for your backbone (connecting NAS to HTPC etc). 
The desktop switches ($35) will die slowly (ports stop negotiating to gigabit and you won't know it's happening). 
You're better off with a $150 (or greater) job that is designed to be running 24/7. 
I have exactly the same setup (QNAP 4-bay) that METRIX detailed in post 2, and it's been rock solid for years (except for the switch dying).
And it goes without saying (but I did anyway  :Doh: ) that blue cables are far better than wifi for anything other than phones and tablets.

----------


## Moondog55

Damn All our blue cables are Yellow. Still thinking about a new stand alone computer tho as none of the videos have been ripped and we will need a new Blue-Ray capable disc reader to do so, not that we have many B'Ray but getting more slowly.
Mainly tho because the cabinet has a space set aside for a slim line desk-top case and that is the only space left available.

----------


## r3nov8or

A little left field of the conversation, XBox One S is probably the simplest standalone (and maybe cheapest) all-in-one player for 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and 4K video streaming

----------


## David.Elliott

_"Damn All our blue cables are Yellow. Still thinking about a new stand alone computer tho as none of the videos have been ripped and we will need a new Blue-Ray capable disc reader to do so, not that we have many B'Ray but getting more slowly._ _Mainly tho because the cabinet has a space set aside for a slim line desk-top case and that is the only space left available."_ 
SWMBO went through a stage of buying dvds...Lots and lots of dvds, despite my protestations.. 
 In the shed we now have  5 x 100 litre storage boxes of DVDs and a couple of smaller one, and I filled a 300 wide x 3000 high segment of a bookshelf with the Blurays. 
 Despite her mantra that "it" is a great movie, we have some that have not even been opened and the rest only watched once... 
Note to the wise, don't buy movies...at $7.00 a watch it's cheaper to stream...

----------


## phild01

> Note to the wise, don't buy movies...at $7.00 a watch it's cheaper to stream...

  Didn't know it was that expensive to stream a movie.  That's insane! :Shock:

----------


## METRIX

> Does it do free to air catch up TV?

  Yes if you load the Freeview FV app, same as any Android box, everything is done via Apps same as an Android phone.

----------


## METRIX

> Metrix, 
> Does your  4K Android media player upscale SD video? 
> Thanks.

  No I don't believe it has the Upscale hardware, all my stuff is in either Bluray or 4K quality so no use to me, not sure which media players have this feature.

----------


## METRIX

> If you buy DELL always look to the Optiplex range. They are designed for reliable business use rather than leading edge advancements.

  Yep agree, they are reliable and upgradable.

----------


## fredgassit

Thanks Metrix. 
BTW, a bigger box than the Optiplex series, but I've found the Dell Vostro 460s to be bullet-proof too.

----------


## METRIX

> also a suggestion: go for a decent switch for your backbone (connecting NAS to HTPC etc). 
> The desktop switches ($35) will die slowly (ports stop negotiating to gigabit and you won't know it's happening). 
> You're better off with a $150 (or greater) job that is designed to be running 24/7. 
> I have exactly the same setup (QNAP 4-bay) that METRIX detailed in post 2, and it's been rock solid for years (except for the switch dying).
> And it goes without saying (but I did anyway ) that blue cables are far better than wifi for anything other than phones and tablets.

  Agree, the main switch here is a HP ProCurve, it's rock solid and gives consistent transfer rates of 111-112MB/s, I also have a number of Netgear GB switches the ones in the Metal cases not the plastic ones and these have all been good none failed yet. 
I have a slight overhead problem somewhere as theoretical MAX speed of a GB network is 125 MB/s so I am slightly under at 112 MB/s, anyway I am happy with this as it's always around that no matter when transferring anything to anything, but then this could be due to this PC going through 2 switches, and the images shown below are from this PC in the lounge which is shared with 7 other devices on that switch. 
And yes 100% hardwire everyday, although I have red cables as they go faster  :Smilie:

----------


## METRIX

> Note to the wise, don't buy movies...at $7.00 a watch it's cheaper to stream...

  Wow, who is charging $7 per stream, that seems excessive.

----------


## Moondog55

> _"_... 
> Note to the wise, don't buy movies...at $7.00 a watch it's cheaper to stream...

  Not with grandkids who watch the same movie umpteen gazillion times in a week-end but why pay $7- when I can buy on special for $4- or borrow from the local library for free?

----------


## David.Elliott

Ahhh - grandies that changes the game A LOT.. 
$6.95 is Apple movies for latest releases. So worst case.  Maybe one every couple of weeks, as there's not much worthwhile. Otherwise there are heaps at 99c. And then Netflix, Stan, and Prime Video. Just got Prime for a month to get the Grand Tour, which I like. Some of their own content is really great.  Look out content producers these guys are hot on your tails.

----------


## r3nov8or

> ...with grandkids ...

  The Xbox One S option just grew legs  :Smilie:

----------


## chrisp

> The Xbox One S option just grew legs

  ... and I think that Aldi has then as a ‘special buy’ soon.

----------


## METRIX

> Ahhh - grandies that changes the game A LOT.. 
> $6.95 is Apple movies for latest releases. So worst case.  Maybe one every couple of weeks, as there's not much worthwhile. Otherwise there are heaps at 99c. And then Netflix, Stan, and Prime Video. Just got Prime for a month to get the Grand Tour, which I like. Some of their own content is really great.  Look out content producers these guys are hot on your tails.

  Ahh yes Apple that explains why it's so expensive, I downloaded the entire Season 1 and 2 Grand Tour from some website quite some time ago for free, I don;t want to ruin it but don;t bother watching the last ep of Season 2 it's terrible. 
Overall Jeremy Ruined the entire experience with his childish behaviour.
Top Gear is now crap since they left I can't watch it with the new presenters, Grand Tour is very ordinary because it's Soooooooooo scripted it's not actually funny,

----------


## Moondog55

Great information.
Seeing as Herself now has a shiny new laptop I think we can safely strip the high-end video card from her machine and re-use it for H-T duties, I don't play any video games except Solitaire so it's wasted in my old machine and onboard audio is reasonable these days.
H-T is completely separate from the Stereo but we will probably also use if for some easy to listen to music etc.

----------


## Moondog55

Just came from the computer shop we normally use, No real price difference between systems so we are having a little trouble making up our minds.

----------


## Moondog55

Also I think I need to invest in a new 5.1/5.2 amplifier The old Rotel split is nice but is simply taking up too much room

----------

