Intel HTPC Build Recommendation

[Brando457]

I am looking to build a HTPC using an INTEL cpu, it has been a few years since I've researched them.

I've outlined the purpose of the box below and would appreciate any assistance.


1) What will you be doing with this PC?
- HTPC - playing bluray/dvdrips directly to TV

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
- Prefer less than $400 including tax

3) Which country do you live in?
- United States, Caldwell, NJ

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget?
- CPU, MOBO, RAM, OS SSD, SMALL CASE, PSU

5) Reusing any parts?
- 3 TB WD RED FOR MEDIA

6) Will you be overclocking?
- NO

7) Max Resolution of Monitor?
- 65" 1080P Samsung HDTV

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
- within the next few weeks or end of November

9) What features do you need in a mobo?
- onboard video that does HDMI & sound over HDMI
- at least 2x SATA connectors

10) Do you already have a OS key/license?
- No, but plan on buying either Windows 7 or Windows 10

 

[Shintai]

Buy a NUC. But if you can, wait for Kaby Lake NUCs due to HEVC 10bit and VP9 in terms of future 4K.

Only issue is you are limited to 1 SATA and 1 M.2.

 

[Brando457]

Buy a NUC. But if you can, wait for Kaby Lake NUCs due to HEVC 10bit and VP9 in terms of future 4K.

Only issue is you are limited to 1 SATA and 1 M.2.

My understanding with NUCs is that I cannot add a 3.5" drive, it'd have to be 2.5"

 

[Shintai]

Sorry my mistake, I forgot the HD was 3½

I use a NUC as HTPC, and I couldn't wish for anything better. Unless it was a compute stick maybe

Its small, can be wall mounted, sips power, ultra quiet.

 

[Shadohh]

What software do you plan to run? Do you want to use WMC or something like XMBC/PLEX?

Do you want to play games on it?

 

[Brando457]

What software do you plan to run? Do you want to use WMC or something like XMBC/PLEX?

Do you want to play games on it?

OS: Windows 7 or WIndows 10

I plan on running Plex Server & Plex Home Theater on the PC to organize the library and display it nicely.


I do not intend on playing games on it, if I did they would only be emulators like GBA or something.

 

[ND40oz]

Nuc should be fine for all of that. Buy a NAS and use it for your 3.5" disk(s) as storage, it's not like there are any good HTPC cases that hold a ton of disks anyway and you'll soon outgrow that 3TB disk and need to expand anyway.

 

[Brando457]

Nuc should be fine for all of that. Buy a NAS and use it for your 3.5" disk(s) as storage, it's not like there are any good HTPC cases that hold a ton of disks anyway and you'll soon outgrow that 3TB disk and need to expand anyway.

This is for my gf's brother. Right now the way it is setup I have the media on home computer connected to the WI-FI. When trying to stream to the PS4 (connected via WI-FI) it constantly buffers and does not play well. I tried messing with the settings, but it still does not work. I would prefer to have a htpc connected directly to the TV to avoid any issues. I do not see them outgrowing the 3TB anytime soon.

 

[ND40oz]

Are you using plex currently with the PS4 plex client?

 

[Brando457]

Are you using plex currently with the PS4 plex client?

Yes and some movies will play okay then start buffering non-stop. Others will play for 20 seconds and keep buffering. I messed with all the settings and could not get it to function. I think it is because the PS4 & PC are connected via WI-FI to the network.

 

[ND40oz]

Yes and some movies will play okay then start buffering non-stop. Others will play for 20 seconds and keep buffering. I messed with all the settings and could not get it to function. I think it is because the PS4 & PC are connected via WI-FI to the network.

If they're playing for 20 seconds an buffering, were they being transcoded? It could be the CPU can't keep up and it'll transcode 20 seconds worth at a clip and it can't do the next 20 seconds before the last played. What did the CPU usage look like, what type of file and what processor?

A decent 802.11N connection should be fine for Plex but if it is the network, you could change local video quality down to something low like 4mbps and if that clears up the issue then it is the network.

 

[Brando457]

If they're playing for 20 seconds an buffering, were they being transcoded? It could be the CPU can't keep up and it'll transcode 20 seconds worth at a clip and it can't do the next 20 seconds before the last played. What did the CPU usage look like, what type of file and what processor?

A decent 802.11N connection should be fine for Plex but if it is the network, you could change local video quality down to something low like 4mbps and if that clears up the issue then it is the network.

It is an I5-3570K at stock speed w/ 8 gigs of ram. I tried 8 gig MKVs, 2 gig XViD, and MP4.

I also tried lowering local video quality to 4 MB and other settings with no change.

 

[ND40oz]

If it can't handle the 4mbps setting then there has to be something else going on then just the network unless it's really old 802.11b stuff. The 3570k should handle a couple 1080p transcodes, so it shouldn't be the problem. Where is the transcode directory and is there enough free disk space to handle the temporary transcoded files?

 

[wildpig1234]

Don't forget the HEVC x265 hardware decoding capability. You will definitely need that for 4K

Only the latest intel graphics has built in hardware decode of HEVC. and it's limited to 8 bit:

Learn about the Significance of HEVC (H.265) Codec | Intel® Software

for full hw decode support you probably will have to get at least rx 460 or gtx 950 which does support 10bit 4K HEVC

 

[ND40oz]

Don't forget the HEVC x265 hardware decoding capability. You will definitely need that for 4K

Only the latest intel graphics has built in hardware decode of HEVC. and it's limited to 8 bit:

Learn about the Significance of HEVC (H.265) Codec | Intel® Software

for full hw decode support you probably will have to get at least rx 460 or gtx 950 which does support 10bit 4K HEVC

Plex doesn't support hardware decoding on the server side, passmark scores are your best bet for determining how much CPU you need to buy. Some of the clients can direct play it, but Plex Home Theater cannot (and is no longer under active development) and I don't believe Plex Media Player can yet.

 

[Brando457]

If it can't handle the 4mbps setting then there has to be something else going on then just the network unless it's really old 802.11b stuff. The 3570k should handle a couple 1080p transcodes, so it shouldn't be the problem. Where is the transcode directory and is there enough free disk space to handle the temporary transcoded files?

I am not sure where the transcode directory is located, I did not change the default director. The OS drive has 90 gigs free and the media drive has 1.8 TB free.

 

[Brando457]

Don't forget the HEVC x265 hardware decoding capability. You will definitely need that for 4K

Only the latest intel graphics has built in hardware decode of HEVC. and it's limited to 8 bit:

Learn about the Significance of HEVC (H.265) Codec | Intel® Software

for full hw decode support you probably will have to get at least rx 460 or gtx 950 which does support 10bit 4K HEVC

No intention of doing 4k video as it isn't supported by the tv and it will be at least 3-4 years before upgrading to a new tv.

 

[wildpig1234]

No intention of doing 4k video as it isn't supported by the tv and it will be at least 3-4 years before upgrading to a new tv.

actually it's not really even related to a 4K TV. a lot of contents are moving toward HEVC due to the higher compression. so even a lot of 1080p material will be also in hevc. if you have at least a sandy bridge i5 or i7 you should be able to use the cpu to decode, although it still not as ideal as being able to use gpu for that

also it's nice to be able to decode any 4k hevc content that you might come across and display on your 1080p tv.

If you have that now, you won't have to think about upgrading your htpc anytime soon.

 

[ND40oz]

I am not sure where the transcode directory is located, I did not change the default director. The OS drive has 90 gigs free and the media drive has 1.8 TB free.

You may want to go over to the Plex forums and have them take a look at the logs to see if they can figure out what's going on. Somethings definitely wrong though.

Anyway, on to the build, for $400 your options get limited. A decent HTPC case that can hold a 3.5" drive is going to be $70, ML07 fits the bill. You could probably get away their 300w SFX bronze power supply for $50, although you may want to spend more and go bigger if you ever think you'll need to throw a video card in.

The ~250GB SSDs seem to be the ones to go with if you want to stay cheaper these days, so the MX300 for $70.

So now you have $210 left for a cpu/mb/ram. Your biggest issue here is going to be finding a mITX board combo in that price range. Microcenter has the Asrock H110M-ITX for $70, pair it with the i3-6300 which you get a $30 bundle discount with so it ends up only being $100. And then pick what ram you want. But I'd rather have the i5-3570k that you already own then that combo for an all in one box. Honestly, if you want a do it all HTPC and are willing to up the budget, go with the i7-5775C, power usage is much better then the i7-6700K.