Suggestions for HTPC

[Love4sound]

Dear FM’s

It has been so long since I built a pc so completely out of sync with current market prices. I tried to get a zidoo player for demo to check if it brings improvements for both audio and video over shield but unable to get one. Will continue to try my luck but want to have a back up plan as well. Only usage is going to be for playing 4kHDR movies.I assume a 1660Ti should be good enough for 4kHDR, atmos with madvr. Kindly check and suggest the prices for the below components. Found one HTPC cabinet on amazon and seems very expensive. Don’t need a grand cabinet or a regular desktop cabinet.Cheapest HTPC cabinet like the one in link shared is my requirement. Smaller the better

HTPC cabinet
Graphics card
SSD 256GB,500gb,1TB
i5 processor
PSU
8gb RAM
Windows 10/11 64 bit

Cooler Master HAF XB II EVO, HTPC Computer Case with USB 3.0 (RC-902XB-KKN2) https://amzn.eu/d/hbXtBG4

 

[chander]

If you have a budget in mind - that should help immensely to suggest components.

 

[Love4sound]

If you have a budget in mind - that should help immensely to suggest components.

As of now no budget in mind. As I have listed the components required to build a HTPC I would request each to suggest the minimum budget required for each of them. Only requirements is movies so no point in going for higher end cards.

 

[ajuvignesh]

As of now no budget in mind. As I have listed the components required to build a HTPC I would request each to suggest the minimum budget required for each of them. Only requirements is movies so no point in going for higher end cards.

I guess, madvr themselves have listed a basic, mid tier and high end config on some forums. You can follow it blindly.

 

[Love4sound]

I guess, madvr themselves have listed a basic, mid tier and high end config on some forums. You can follow it blindly.

Ok I will google.

 

[Passive_audio_enthusiast]

As of now no budget in mind. As I have listed the components required to build a HTPC I would request each to suggest the minimum budget required for each of them. Only requirements is movies so no point in going for higher end cards.

what exactly would be your use case ? If it’s more than one, see what’s is it mostly used for and spend on the part the most that matters to you.

 

[Love4sound]

what exactly would be your use case ? If it’s more than one, see what’s is it mostly used for and spend on the part the most that matters to you.

To watch 4K HDR and atmos contents. Shield does it easily and good but I guess madvr will do it even better.Recently saw a movie in ott using earc through tv app and felt the surrounds and heights had much better separations and depth compared to shield. So only for HT purpose and have no need for gaming. I have a laptop with GTX1050 card and I5 processor. Will soon test it and see if it has better improvements over shield. Guessing I will need to spend atleast 60-70k so it’s going to be a heavy investment.

 

[sim_tcr]

To watch 4K HDR and atmos contents. Shield does it easily and good but I guess madvr will do it even better.Recently saw a movie in ott using earc through tv app and felt the surrounds and heights had much better separations and depth compared to shield. So only for HT purpose and have no need for gaming. I have a laptop with GTX1050 card and I5 processor. Will soon test it and see if it has better improvements over shield. Guessing I will need to spend atleast 60-70k so it’s going to be a heavy investment.

Do you even need a graphics card if the purpose is just to play 4K movies?
I know for sure, my ryzen 2400g was able to able to play 4K movies without any issues in vlc.

By the way, can htpc be also used for ott? I thought ott apps are available only for licensed android tvs or shield like devices.

 

[Love4sound]

Do you even need a graphics card if the purpose is just to play 4K movies?
I know for sure, my ryzen 2400g was able to able to play 4K movies without any issues in vlc.

By the way, can htpc be also used for ott? I thought ott apps are available only for licensed android tvs or shield like devices.

For madvr you definitely need a graphics card for good HDR performance. Experience interms of both audio and video, madvr is much better then vlc.For OTT will get an Apple TV once I get the HTPC set up in my chain. Planning to sell the shield later.

 

[sim_tcr]

For madvr you definitely need a graphics card for good HDR performance. Experience interms of both audio and video, madvr is much better then vlc.For OTT will get an Apple TV once I get the HTPC set up in my chain. Planning to sell the shield later.

Thank you for that detail.
I do have a pc (windows 10) with gtx 1660 super.
Am I better off use madvr on this pc for watching 4K 5.1 downloaded movies than Kodi installed on android tv?

 

[Love4sound]

Thank you for that detail.
I do have a pc (windows 10) with gtx 1660 super.
Am I better off use madvr on this pc for watching 4K 5.1 downloaded movies than Kodi installed on android tv?

If you are satisfied with your current performance you can continue as it is but you can just test once how much of a difference you experience with madvr. In my experience I felt the madvr was much better. 1660 should be good enough to use madvr in basic settings. I tried with 1050 only and it was much better than kodi and vlc player.

 

[ajuvignesh]

Ok I will google.

Guide: Building a 4K HTPC for madVR

Last Updated: 2019-07-26 What Is madVR? | Complete madVR Set up | How to Get Help This guide outlines the hardware necessary to achieve high-performance playback from madVR at 3840 x 2160p. The current landscape of UHD technology is shifting and true 4K UHD PC support is still new. Therefore...

www.avsforum.com

Here you go. It says last updated on 2019. But you will get an idea about system requirements for madvr.

 

[Passive_audio_enthusiast]

what exactly does this different from a normal video playback?

 

[zero7]

@Love4sound I have a used HTPC case if you are interested. Antec Veris Fusion HTPC case - https://a.co/d/3AZQqNC. PM me if you are interested.

 

[zero7]

By the way, can htpc be also used for ott? I thought ott apps are available only for licensed android tvs or shield like devices.

With Kodi, many OTT addons can be installed and they work fine. Even on Firestick, I prefer to use Kodi and addons than using the OTT app for the ease of use. (for watching series etc.)

 

[Love4sound]

@Love4sound I have a used HTPC case if you are interested. Antec Veris Fusion HTPC case - https://a.co/d/3AZQqNC. PM me if you are interested.

Thanks and will let you know

 

[sim_tcr]

With Kodi, many OTT addons can be installed and they work fine. Even on Firestick, I prefer to use Kodi and addons than using the OTT app for the ease of use. (for watching series etc.)

If ott addons such as prime is setup and played via kodi, will it still play in 4K ( if the movie is in 4K)

 

[zero7]

If ott addons such as prime is setup and played via kodi, will it still play in 4K ( if the movie is in 4K)

I don't have a 4K TV and haven't tried it yet

 

[Love4sound]

Well I myself did some research and short listed the below. Prices are from Amazon and hopefully offline prices should be 1-3k less for each components. Going to use my laptop with Nvidia gtx 1050 and 8th or 9th gen i5 processor for 1 or two months and see how much of a difference madvr brings.


ASUS Dual AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT OC Edition 8GB GDDR6 128-Bit Gaming Graphics Card-29940

ASUS Prime Z690M-PLUS D4 LGA 1700 12th Gen Intel Core mATX Motherboard with PCIe 5.0, 3 M.2 Slots, DDR4, 1 Gb LAN, HDMI, USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C, Front USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C, Thunderbolt 4 Header, Black-18470

Intel Core i5 12400F 12 Gen Generation Desktop PC Processor 6, CPU with 18MB Cache and up to 4.40 GHz Clock Speed 3 Years Warranty with Fan DDR5 and DDR4 RAM Support LGA 1700 Socket-15989

Crucial P3 Plus 500GB PCIe 4.0 3D NAND NVMe M.2 SSD, up to 5000MB/s - CT500P3PSSD8-4480

Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (1x8GB) DDR4 3200MHZ C16 Desktop RAM (Black)-2610

Cooler Master MWE 550 Bronze V2 Power Supply - Non-Modular | 80 Plus Bronze Certified | 120mm HDB Fan | DC-to-DC Circuit Design | ATX 2.52 Version | 550 Watt-4239

 

[Nero9]

so did you buy the parts