small form factor pc

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milomak

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i am looking to setup a pc as a media center. so it would need a video card that has hdmi (nvidia preferred).

not so concerned about hard drive space as I'll be hooking external space to it via usb.

i'm guessing any processing power that's equivalent to core 2 duo or above would suffice.

i'm willing to build one if needs be.
 
milomak said:
i am looking to setup a pc as a media center. so it would need a video card that has hdmi (nvidia preferred).

not so concerned about hard drive space as I'll be hooking external space to it via usb.

i'm guessing any processing power that's equivalent to core 2 duo or above would suffice.

i'm willing to build one if needs be.
Click to expand...

Look at the ASUS VivoPC... VM42 is the model. Can go up to Core-i3 but the Celeron should be fine.
 
Does it have to have a gpu?
Build a micro atx pc with a motherboard that has hdmi. Most do.

Any i3 (overkill I know) will be up to the task.
 
SYNERGY said:
Does it have to have a gpu?
Build a micro atx pc with a motherboard that has hdmi. Most do.

Any i3 (overkill I know) will be up to the task.
Click to expand...

+1 A nice mATX or ITX motherboard with HDMI and I say go for a Pentium G3258, 4GB RAM and you will be very happy.
 
I'd look at the HP Microserver Gen 8 and using Linux on it, either with Plex or Kodi. Or Windows, if you happen to have a license for it. You'll still have to buy a GPU for HDMI (like this one), but as with Soul Assassin's suggestion, you can pop in a GPU that supports 4K and H.265 accelerated video decode in the future. If you use Kodi, you can use the Kodi app to control it through your phone/tablet.

Esquire sells cheaper, older versions of the Microserver, you can look at those as well.
 
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Soul Assassin said:
I say this, it will last you much longer, in a couple of years when 4K and x265 are standard you just add a GPU and you're good for another few years:

Intel Haswell Pentium G3258
Corsair Value 4GB DDR3
ASRock B85M ITX
Corsair VS450
Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX

Total : R4353
Click to expand...

Thanks for this kind sir. Was looking for a nice build for HTPC. Any suggestions on a chassis that looks like a receiver type setup that will house these components ? I know how to put it together but get lost with the form factors. Is there a build thread specifically for this . I searched but did not find :(
 
how are these options presented here with transcoding for plex?
 
Corbin said:
Thanks for this kind sir. Was looking for a nice build for HTPC. Any suggestions on a chassis that looks like a receiver type setup that will house these components ? I know how to put it together but get lost with the form factors. Is there a build thread specifically for this . I searched but did not find :(
Click to expand...

You can go for something like this:

CFi 6719

But then you have to keep in mind, it only has a 150w PSU, the components I listed under 100% load should use around 130w, so if you add drives they need to be external powered otherwise you are pushing it.
 
pboy said:
how are these options presented here with transcoding for plex?
Click to expand...

I use a Pentium G3258, the same as the build I recommended, and I can do a couple of 1080P streams, and even stream x265 files no problem to my iPad.
 
Soul Assassin said:
You can go for something like this:

CFi 6719

But then you have to keep in mind, it only has a 150w PSU, the components I listed under 100% load should use around 130w, so if you add drives they need to be external powered otherwise you are pushing it.
Click to expand...

Exactly something like that. but will have to change power supply. I have 4 drives in my current HP N40L. Need power for all 4.
 
Corbin said:
Exactly something like that. but will have to change power supply. I have 4 drives in my current HP N40L. Need power for all 4.
Click to expand...

That case only has space for one 3.5" drive, the receiver cases like you want are unrealistically expensive, a proper one with HDD space costs more than the components you add inside it, why not get something similar to the N40L form factor?
 
Soul Assassin said:
I use a Pentium G3258, the same as the build I recommended, and I can do a couple of 1080P streams, and even stream x265 files no problem to my iPad.
Click to expand...
I use a core 2 duo and I get alot of buffering on 1080p bigger files sizes.. Wtf?
 
how can i find out the integrated card on this - https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/H110M-A/

edit - oh i see it depends on the cpu one uses. thinking of this one - http://ark.intel.com/products/90741/Intel-Celeron-Processor-G3900-2M-Cache-2_80-GHz

though that seems the motherboard would be the strangle at 4k @ 60Hz. though I suspect when it comes to that point, i would be doing general upgrades anyway.

edit 2 - wait it has a PCI Express 3 slot. So I will just need to buy the relevant nVidia card with HDMI 2.0 (or better standard) at that time to run 4k @ 60Hz?
 
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