Need new HTPC for server rack

[TLS Guy]

I can agree for the most part, except those that buy instead of building. HP is a good example with their bloatware that isn’t properly tested prior to loading, which leads to ridiculous disk read and cpu issues, slowing the units to a crawl.

I'm a firm believer that anything that can be reasonably built or designed via DIY can be far better then what is available commercially. Speakers and computers definitely fit into that category.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I can agree for the most part, except those that buy instead of building. HP is a good example with their bloatware that isn’t properly tested prior to loading, which leads to ridiculous disk read and cpu issues, slowing the units to a crawl.

btw: Any PC bought from Microsoft store comes with clean bloatware free windows, but still has correct drivers.
Maybe an option for some who's not up to do DIY or remove bloatware manually

 

[everettT]

btw: Any PC bought from Microsoft store comes with clean bloatware free windows, but still has correct drivers.
Maybe an option for some who's not up to do DIY or remove bloatware manually

I get it, try telling that to impulsive customers after the fact

Other than laptops for my family, which I spec, I haven’t bought a prebuilt PC since 89...

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Alright. So last night I installed Win10 Pro x64 on one of my 13 HTPCs. After taking forever to set up and update, it seems to work just as well as Win7.

So far I don't see anything better about Win10.

I will probably experiment with Win10 for a year and see.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Alright. So last night I installed Win10 Pro x64 on one of my 13 HTPCs. After taking forever to set up and update, it seems to work just as well as Win7.

So far I don't see anything better about Win10.

I will probably experiment with Win10 for a year and see.

13? Is that a typo?

It sounds like your test system doesn't have an SSD. IMO that's a requirement for reasonable performance these days.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

13? Is that a typo?

It sounds like your test system doesn't have an SSD. IMO that's a requirement for reasonable performance these days.

Did I say somewhere that I don't use Solid State Drives for my PCs? I don't recall saying that.

11 of my 13 PCs I put together have SSD. Pretty soon 12 of my 13 PCs will have SSD.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Did I say somewhere that I don't use Solid State Drives for my PCs? I don't recall saying that.

11 of my 13 PCs I put together have SSD. Pretty soon 12 of my 13 PCs will have SSD.

You're being weird.

So, "13" was not a typo. Just out of idle curiosity, why do you have 13 HTPCs?

I didn't say you didn't use SSDs, I was just guessing that if it took "forever" to upgrade to Win10 (although I suppose "forever" could mean anything) that the PC in question didn't have an SSD. In my office we recently upgraded all of the PCs to Win10 from Win7, and they all have SSDs, and the process took less than two hours, as I remember. Perhaps two hours is forever to you, but I thought differently, which is why I drew the hard drive conclusion.

Most PCs also use SATA for SSDs, which is pretty limiting, performance-wise. You really want PCIe connected SSDs, which are usually limited to high-end, somewhat expensive systems.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

You're being weird.

So, "13" was not a typo. Just out of idle curiosity, why do you have 13 HTPCs?

I didn't say you didn't use SSDs, I was just guessing that if it took "forever" to upgrade to Win10 (although I suppose "forever" could mean anything) that the PC in question didn't have an SSD. In my office we recently upgraded all of the PCs to Win10 from Win7, and they all have SSDs, and the process took less than two hours, as I remember. Perhaps two hours is forever to you, but I thought differently, which is why I drew the hard drive conclusion.

Most PCs also use SATA for SSDs, which is pretty limiting, performance-wise. You really want PCIe connected SSDs, which are usually limited to high-end, somewhat expensive systems.

I see. You are correct on the assessment that this PC does not have SSD. It's for the guest room and I didn't care to upgrade to SSD.

I call all of the PC I built as HTPC because they are capable. Why 13? Every room needs one and then some. I just went crazy with it.

 

[Irvrobinson]

I see. You are correct on the assessment that this PC does not have SSD. It's for the guest room and I didn't care to upgrade to SSD.

I call all of the PC I built as HTPC because they are capable. Why 13? Every room needs one and then some. I just went crazy with it.

I love it when I guess correctly. I only wish it happened more often.

My Intel stock position, not to mention some Micron too, thanks you for having a PC in every room. The rest of you, get on this ASAP.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I love it when I guess correctly. I only wish it happened more often.

My Intel stock position, not to mention some Micron too, thanks you for having a PC in every room. The rest of you, get on this ASAP.

Some rooms have 2 or more PCs.

For example, a bedroom will have a PC-area and a TV-area. So naturally I put a PC in the PC-area and a PC in the TV-area for HTPC. BTW, all the PCs are Ethernet wired, not WiFi.

The more the merrier, right?

 

[GlocksRock]

Wow, that's a lot of computers... maybe you should just sell me one of yours so I don't have to go through the hassle of buying/building a new one!

 

[Irvrobinson]

Wow, that's a lot of computers... maybe you should just sell me one of yours so I don't have to go through the hassle of buying/building a new one!

It's not much of a hassle these days. Order yourself a ~$600 Intel "NUK" from Amazon, a couple of 8GB DDR4 DIMMs, an M.2 PCIe SSD, and a copy of Windows 10, a couple hours of assembly and software installation, and voila, a nearly instant HTPC that has more performance than you'll ever use is yours for less than $1100.

 

[GlocksRock]

Trying to keep it inexpensive right now... I may just get a used pc for now and put it in the rack as it is, then worry about doing something nicer in the future when I start running 4k. But that will be a few years away most likely, when native 4k projectors get better and cheaper.

 

[panteragstk]

Some rooms have 2 or more PCs.

For example, a bedroom will have a PC-area and a TV-area. So naturally I put a PC in the PC-area and a PC in the TV-area for HTPC. BTW, all the PCs are Ethernet wired, not WiFi.

The more the merrier, right?

I think you might have a problem...Are "PC Addiction" interventions a thing? Well, if it were I guess you'd have been in one for your speaker addiction as well. Or should I say former addiction. Still remember your old sig with the 50 or so pairs of speakers in your one room.

I've actually been giving my old PC parts away cause I just don't need them any longer. That may change when I find something my Android TV boxes can't do. Hasn't happened yet.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Wow, that's a lot of computers... maybe you should just sell me one of yours so I don't have to go through the hassle of buying/building a new one!

Here's a fully loaded i3 NUC with an SSD and Windows for $499:

https://www.amazon.com/NUC7i3BNK-Dual-Core-i3-7100U-Bluetooth-Professional/dp/B07522YV5M/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1517264399&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=intel+i3+nuc&th=1

You can't beat that with a stick.

 

[everettT]

Here's a fully loaded i3 NUC with an SSD and Windows for $499:

https://www.amazon.com/NUC7i3BNK-Dual-Core-i3-7100U-Bluetooth-Professional/dp/B07522YV5M/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1517264399&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=intel+i3+nuc&th=1

You can't beat that with a stick.

Just ordered a similar kit for my ex wife should be at her house Thursday

 

[GlocksRock]

Here's a fully loaded i3 NUC with an SSD and Windows for $499:

https://www.amazon.com/NUC7i3BNK-Dual-Core-i3-7100U-Bluetooth-Professional/dp/B07522YV5M/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1517264399&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=intel+i3+nuc&th=1

You can't beat that with a stick.

Haven't heard of these before, sounds like it might be just what I need. This will have no problems playing back 4k blu-rays/rips right? I won't need that for a few years until I upgrade projectors, but want to make sure I won't need to upgrade this for a long time.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Haven't heard of these before, sounds like it might be just what I need. This will have no problems playing back 4k blu-rays/rips right? I won't need that for a few years until I upgrade projectors, but want to make sure I won't need to upgrade this for a long time.

All 7th generation and later Intel CPUs are capable of 4K video.

 

[panteragstk]

Haven't heard of these before, sounds like it might be just what I need. This will have no problems playing back 4k blu-rays/rips right? I won't need that for a few years until I upgrade projectors, but want to make sure I won't need to upgrade this for a long time.

The difficult part is getting good software on the HTPC so it has a good user experience. Kodi and Plex are always going to be at the top of my list. Kodi using the Plex back end is pretty much the perfect solution.

If you only plan to have one HTPC then Kodi alone will work great. You can sync the database between other instances of Kodi, but I've not done that so I can't say how well it works.

 

[GlocksRock]

I've used Kodi before, and still do on occasion, but I'm fine with just using windows explorer to view all my files, and playing things back on media player classic and power dvd for my .iso files. I'm really leaning towards that NUC linked above, seems like it has everything I need, except for an external hard drive.