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Help me complete this puzzle

E

edzyyy

n00b
Joined
Apr 3, 2012
Messages
27
Hi all

I currently have

Cooler Master HAF 912 case

512gb SSD

Antec Eco 520 PSU

And a few sticks of 4GB PC3-12800 ram

Need

Motherboard

CPU

Video Card

What is the cheapest way to turn this into a 4k streaming box for Plex and Netflix? Absolutely zero gaming, just streaming. Will be hooked up to a 55" 4k Samsung TV

I'm in the states if that matters.
 
If it is really only for plex-netflix streaming, if your TV as issue with your encoded format, an Amazon stick or similar will tend to be the cheapest way to run an android Linux and will come with the remote, ability to open/close your tv out of the box, etc.., they have really good decoding-media playing hardware for the price.

Because of the current GPU (in the recent enough to have up to date media decoding...) probably better to go with an Intel GPU with a recent enough quicksync iGPU instead (like in the link above), I think it is an UHD graphics 730 in it:
https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...dware/1-1/overview.html#DECODE-OVERVIEW-11-12
 
For the home office machine, on a whim, I went with a Ryzen 5700G, and set it up with it's internal graphics. Running two monitors, some engineering work (sims, schematic capture).....and I completely love the thing. If the video subsystem will support your needs, it seems like a great answer for a streaming box.
 
BlindedByScience said:
For the home office machine, on a whim, I went with a Ryzen 5700G, and set it up with it's internal graphics. Running two monitors, some engineering work (sims, schematic capture).....and I completely love the thing. If the video subsystem will support your needs, it seems like a great answer for a streaming box.
Click to expand...
What would be the most basic card I can use for 4k playback?
 
edzyyy said:
What would be the most basic card I can use for 4k playback?
Click to expand...

You don't need a video card when you have integrated graphics. But you're going to use more power and probably spend more money on a motherboard and APU than if you get a mini PC.
 
edzyyy said:
Hi all

I currently have

Cooler Master HAF 912 case

512gb SSD

Antec Eco 520 PSU

And a few sticks of 4GB PC3-12800 ram

Need

Motherboard

CPU

Video Card

What is the cheapest way to turn this into a 4k streaming box for Plex and Netflix? Absolutely zero gaming, just streaming. Will be hooked up to a 55" 4k Samsung TV

I'm in the states if that matters.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, there are absolutely no cost-effective components that you can buy for that PC. The only CPU and motherboard that you could buy for the RAM that you have are all old and used (Intel 4th Gen is about the latest that you can buy, and I would not spend any decent amount of money for the combo nowadays but the parts are still selling for a lot more money than what they are worth at this point in time), while a graphics card of a sufficiently recent gen that won’t be bottlenecked by the platform’s PCIe bus version would be prohibitively expensive in any case.

In other words, it is much, much more cost effective to walk away from your build plans and just get a Roku like some of the replies stated. However, if you must build, then it would be better to sell or recycle your old RAM and just buy a newer Intel platform (such as a low-end 14th Gen i5 14400) with integrated graphics (don’t buy the F SKU, which requires a discrete GPU just to even work at all) plus a new motherboard (using something like a B760 chipset) plus new RAM (either DDR4 or DDR5, depending on what the motherboard uses).
 
Getting Netflix working at 4k on a computer also has some extra requirements. You need a browser that supports their DRM (Edge and Safari work) or the Netflix Windows app, HDCP 2.2 compliant display(s) - shouldn't be an issue with a 4k TV, a new enough vid card or integrated graphics, and the right codec. If you don't have all of that you don't get 4k.

I'd just get a Roku.
 
You could re-use the case, SSD (though a faster NVMe SSD would be better), and the PSU. If you really wanted to build something, focus on a T-series Intel CPU. I was able to get two Intel 13600T's for about $100 each, but you can only find them used. Runs at a low 35W TDP, and has an Intel UHD 770 iGPU. A capable motherboard will cost around $80, and 2x8GB DDR4 around $20. Otherwise, find a mini-PC with an Intel N97 or N100 (depending on if you prefer slightly faster, or slightly more power efficient), which have an Intel UHD 730 iGPU. They can be found for close to $135 and higher.
 
So I took Netflix off the list.

Found a 3770 for $14 dollars
Asus board for $26
And a Gt 1030 for free with the board.

So far so good.
 
depending on your plex collection (any av1 ?)....

https://developer.nvidia.com/video-encode-and-decode-gpu-support-matrix-new
https://www.elpamsoft.com/?p=Plex-Hardware-Transcoding

could lag behind a simple and cheaper 4k amazon stick (that will have a nice remote.....), 100% silent out of the box, low power, perfect idle/wakeup/tv control out of the box:
https://developer.amazon.com/docs/fire-tv/device-specifications-comparison-table.html


  • Dolby Vision    . Dolby Vision support for Profile 4-MEL, 5, 8, 9 & 10. (Up to Level 9 for profiles 5, 8 and 10. Up to Level 5 for Profile 9)
  • H.265 (HEVC). Hardware accelerated up to 3840x2160p (4K) @ 60 fps, 35 Mbps, Main 10 Profile Level 5.1, Color space 8-bit and 10-bit input with HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG
  • H.264. Hardware accelerated up to 3840x2160p (4K) @ 60 fps, 20 Mbps, High 10 Profile Level 5.2
  • H.263. Hardware accelerated up to 1080p @ 30 fps, 6 Mbps, Profile 0 Level 70
  • VP8. Supported up to 1080p 30 fps. Baseline profile, non-secure
  • VP9. Hardware accelerated up to 4K @ 60 fps, Profile 2 up to 30 Mbps, Color space 8-bit and 10-bit input with HDR10, and HLG
  • MPEG-2. Hardware accelerated up to 1080p @ 60 fps
  • MPEG-4. Up to 1080p @ 30 fps, Simple and Advanced Simple Profiles Level 5, non-secure
  • AV1. Hardware accelerated up to 3840x2160p (4K) @ 60 fps, 100 Mbps, Main Profile Level 5.1, Color space 8-bit and 10-bit input with HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG

I am not sure I get the attraction of the computer angle (specially buying part for it, not just one hanging around) for that task.
 
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