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First post, by buckeye

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Been playing around with this idea for quite some time, as looking for a superior alternative to the Xbox1 X. Has anyone gone down this road using latest hardware? Like to see your comments about the experience and trials!

Some thoughts to consider:

Cooling issues?
What OS is best? Does Win10 lend itself or better off with Win8 media player?
Wireless keyboard/mouse brand?
What type of TV tuner?
What about "front end" interface?

May be more to consider, but keep in mind I'm looking at using recent hardware not retro stuff.

Asus P5N-E Intel Core 2 Duo 3.33ghz. 4GB DDR2 Geforce 470 1GB SB X-Fi Titanium 650W XP SP3
Intel SE440BX P3 450 256MB 80GB SSD Radeon 7200 64mb SB 32pnp 350W 98SE
MSI x570 Gaming Pro Carbon Ryzen 3700x 32GB DDR4 Zotac RTX 3070 8GB WD Black 1TB 850W

Reply 1 of 20, by badmojo

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I've tried all sorts of things - Xbox 360, PS4, Raspberry Pi. What I've been most happy with is a cheap Windows8 laptop - been using it for years. Totally silent, easy to control via cheap logictech wireless keyboard / mouse unit, runs everything - Kodi, Netflix app, anything you can use via the browser. And it's such a low power option that I just have it on all the time, so there's zero waiting for it to boot, etc. And of course it's a proper PC, so I can browse the web to read reviews, etc. It's also great for when we go on holidays - I just unplug it and chuck it into the luggage. Windows 8 also lends itself well to working on the telly with that home screen tile thing.

I won't go into why the others fell short but they all had at least one thing that bothered me and made it unworkable for the family.

Life? Don't talk to me about life.

Reply 2 of 20, by gdjacobs

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A powerful Android box like an NVidia Shield is excellent for this role. The Wetek Hub offers similar compatibility but is a little less smooth on startup (works fine though). Coupled with something like an air mouse, both devices are very flexible but much more carefree and appliance like than a full blown PC.

All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder

Reply 3 of 20, by appiah4

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Nothing offers me what a simple Openelec install on a Pi3 cant. I swear by Pi for HTPC beeds.

Retronautics: A digital gallery of my retro computers, hardware and projects.

Reply 4 of 20, by ODwilly

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A friend of mine recently built a MITX APU build utilizing a $60 FM2+ A10-6700. He originally went with an A6 dual core and found some almost unnoticeable stuttering and swapped them out.

Main pc: Asus ROG 17. R9 5900HX, RTX 3070m, 16gb ddr4 3200, 1tb NVME.
Retro PC: Soyo P4S Dragon, 3gb ddr 266, 120gb Maxtor, Geforce Fx 5950 Ultra, SB Live! 5.1

Reply 5 of 20, by appiah4

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ODwilly wrote:

A friend of mine recently built a MITX APU build utilizing a $60 FM2+ A10-6700. He originally went with an A6 dual core and found some almost unnoticeable stuttering and swapped them out.

Is there any point to this anymore now that you can have a Ryzen 2200G for $99?

Retronautics: A digital gallery of my retro computers, hardware and projects.

Reply 6 of 20, by tayyare

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Here is mine:

I built it several years ago, so it's a bit old school, event retroish but still kicks considering the purpose of its existence.

98241492176717434469.jpg

- Frisby FC-S6035B small footprint case. It's an important starting point, since I had the space for HTPC already fixed, so it needed to be fit in it. I positioned it horizontaly, it came with spongy self adhesive tabs thick enough to do that. It also came with a 300W PSU, integrated front panel SD card reader, and a 80mm caged fan. Can hold 1 x 5.25", 1 x 3.5" and 1 x 2.5" drive. It's dimensions are 99 x 390 x 305 (mm). I'm pretty happy with it, apart from flimsy construction, which is actually true for many other contemporary cases.

It was a low budget project, so almost all the other parts are collected from secondhand shopping sites or was already available on hand. In short, I was not that picky.

- Intel Core 2 Duo 2.83 GHz E8300 (now upgraded to C2Q Q9550) - second hand/on hand

- Intel stock CPU cooler (now upgraded to Deep Cool HTPC-200) - second hand/new

- Asus P5G41T-M LX Motherboard (DDR3 but no USB 3.0 or SATA 6) - second hand

- 4GB DDR3 Kingston Hyperx 1333 MHz RAM - second hand

- Sapphire AMD HD5450 1GB Low Profile display card (now upgraded to Palit Nvidia GT 1030 2GB) - on hand/new

- 500GB WD Black 3.5" HDD (now upgraded to Sandisk 120GB SSD) - on hand/new

- LG CH10LS28 SATA BD-ROM/DVD-RW drive - second hand

- Generic USB 3.0 I/O card - on hand

- Generic USB Bluetooth adapter - on hand

- Generic USB Analog video capture device - on hand

- Generic USB Remote Control - new

- Logitech K400 wireless keyboard/Mouse combo - new

- Windows 7 32bit - on hand

No TV card, since my TV has Integrated satellite capability and I have membership for a local pay TV service. I'm using that rig for KODI, youtube etc. streaming, streaming digital content of my pay TV service from the net, playing bluerays/DVDs (rarely - when I need extra subtitles), video capturing (rarely) and of course as a PC. There is not much problem of excessive heating (no additional fans other that the one it came with but I changed it with a better and silent model). Of course it is hotter than my 6 fan main tower rig, but still acceptable and stable.

I have plans for increasing it's RAM to at least 8GB and installing an 64 bit OS for the near future (Windows 7 again, most possibly).

GA-6VTXE PIII 1.4+512MB
Geforce4 Ti 4200 64MB
Diamond Monster 3D 12MB SLI
SB AWE64 PNP+32MB
120GB IDE Samsung/80GB IDE Seagate/146GB SCSI Compaq/73GB SCSI IBM
Adaptec AHA29160
3com 3C905B-TX
Gotek+CF Reader
MSDOS 6.22+Win 3.11/95 OSR2.1/98SE/ME/2000

Reply 7 of 20, by ODwilly

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appiah4 wrote:
ODwilly wrote:

A friend of mine recently built a MITX APU build utilizing a $60 FM2+ A10-6700. He originally went with an A6 dual core and found some almost unnoticeable stuttering and swapped them out.

Is there any point to this anymore now that you can have a Ryzen 2200G for $99?

Well the parts are super cheap, and this was around December or earlier before all the low-end Ryzen APU chips dropped. Just saying you really dont need anything very intensive for a HTPC, any quad core with any sort of HD capable graphics. We ended up going with Windows 10 after struggling and failing with work arounds for HBO streaming and the Ubuntu version of Firefox.

Main pc: Asus ROG 17. R9 5900HX, RTX 3070m, 16gb ddr4 3200, 1tb NVME.
Retro PC: Soyo P4S Dragon, 3gb ddr 266, 120gb Maxtor, Geforce Fx 5950 Ultra, SB Live! 5.1

Reply 8 of 20, by buckeye

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I guess from the responses that it's common to pick hardware w/o gaming in mind? I was thinking about building something in a shuttle case with the latest I7 CPU and a 1070Ti GPU for an "all in one" solution.

Also thinking of building a "lap table" for kb and mouse for some FPS sessions on the couch or lazy boy chair.

Along those lines check this out: http://www.steigerdynamics.com/productcart/pc … p?idproduct=375

Asus P5N-E Intel Core 2 Duo 3.33ghz. 4GB DDR2 Geforce 470 1GB SB X-Fi Titanium 650W XP SP3
Intel SE440BX P3 450 256MB 80GB SSD Radeon 7200 64mb SB 32pnp 350W 98SE
MSI x570 Gaming Pro Carbon Ryzen 3700x 32GB DDR4 Zotac RTX 3070 8GB WD Black 1TB 850W

Reply 10 of 20, by krcroft

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Any modern android arm-based htpc would fit the bill:

  • - microscopic in size (I have one Velcro'd to the back of my tv)
    - very low power draw versus an x86-based PC (perhaps a NUC would come closer though)
    - no moving parts, so no noise
    - will have great support for remote-controls, out of the box
    - OS managed fully by android / openELEC updates (as opposed to futzing with Windows or Linux, which is something I personally enjoy.. but can get tiresome as well)
    - Recent devices can play high-bitrate h265 and VP9 at 4k too (some even at 60 frames-per-second).. so you're relatively future proofed too.
    - Price is typically $50 to $75 USD

Getting more specific, it looks like S905-based devices are the current sweet spot. There's a fantastic forum thread here spanning the last ~6 months with active posts as of a couple hours ago!

For gaming on these devices, check out ETA PRIME's reviews:

Reply 11 of 20, by gdjacobs

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^-- This, although support for Netflix HD is something only available on a handful of devices.

All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder

Reply 13 of 20, by tayyare

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buckeye wrote:

I guess from the responses that it's common to pick hardware w/o gaming in mind? I was thinking about building something in a shuttle case with the latest I7 CPU and a 1070Ti GPU for an "all in one" solution.

Also thinking of building a "lap table" for kb and mouse for some FPS sessions on the couch or lazy boy chair.

Along those lines check this out: http://www.steigerdynamics.com/productcart/pc … p?idproduct=375

If you will use a small footprint case, then you need the consider if you can have the cooling capability needed for mainstream/high power CPUs and or GPUs

GA-6VTXE PIII 1.4+512MB
Geforce4 Ti 4200 64MB
Diamond Monster 3D 12MB SLI
SB AWE64 PNP+32MB
120GB IDE Samsung/80GB IDE Seagate/146GB SCSI Compaq/73GB SCSI IBM
Adaptec AHA29160
3com 3C905B-TX
Gotek+CF Reader
MSDOS 6.22+Win 3.11/95 OSR2.1/98SE/ME/2000

Reply 14 of 20, by buckeye

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tayyare wrote:
buckeye wrote:

I guess from the responses that it's common to pick hardware w/o gaming in mind? I was thinking about building something in a shuttle case with the latest I7 CPU and a 1070Ti GPU for an "all in one" solution.

Also thinking of building a "lap table" for kb and mouse for some FPS sessions on the couch or lazy boy chair.

Along those lines check this out: http://www.steigerdynamics.com/productcart/pc … p?idproduct=375

If you will use a small footprint case, then you need the consider if you can have the cooling capability needed for mainstream/high power CPUs and or GPUs

Alienware has a small footprint setup, which could be a Xbox1 X/PS4 alternative, I wonder if it's limited too as far as upgrades. Surely you can beef up the hard drive at least I assume.

Asus P5N-E Intel Core 2 Duo 3.33ghz. 4GB DDR2 Geforce 470 1GB SB X-Fi Titanium 650W XP SP3
Intel SE440BX P3 450 256MB 80GB SSD Radeon 7200 64mb SB 32pnp 350W 98SE
MSI x570 Gaming Pro Carbon Ryzen 3700x 32GB DDR4 Zotac RTX 3070 8GB WD Black 1TB 850W

Reply 15 of 20, by Weebob

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I have had four main HTPCs over the years, but didn't really set them up for proper gaming.

1st - a Atom ITX, great for 720p content at the time, 1080p was a no go.

2nd - an Atom with Nvidia ION gpu, much better than above. Started to struggle with streamed content, killed off as I wanted to do some lightweight gaming.

3rd - i3 3220 + Nvidia Gt 640. Perfect and very flexible, just took up a wife unfriendly amount of room.

4rd - Raspberry PI's 2nd/3rd Gen, did a great job, H265 content killed these off.

5th - Amazon Fire TV Gen2, Kodi and a load of Emulators side loaded, access to Amazon video and netflix. Only slight downside at the moment is the YouTube problem and Amazons slightly clunky fix.

The Fire TV is great, if not fussed about PC games on it obviously, shame the newer models got rid the LAN port etc. For gaming on the TV I use a high-end laptop and just plug that in, leaving the media tasks to something the family can use and abuse.

bjxhae-6.png

Reply 16 of 20, by KT7AGuy

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Setting up an HTPC is a very subjective and personal experience. You'll want to choose hardware components that will interface well with your TV, receiver, speakers, etc. For example, I have an old 5.1 receiver that doesn't have any VGA, DVI, or HDMI connections. For video, I run DVI-out on my HTPC to HDMI-in on my TV. For audio, I run optical s/pdif to the receiver and bypass the TV's audio and speakers completely. I also have a Blu-Ray player and VHS player too, so I had to make sure I had the correct inputs, outputs, and cables to get everything working together. My VHS player is from the late 90s. My 5.1 receiver is from 2004. My HTPC is circa 2011-ish. The Blu-Ray player and my TV are modern, about 2015-ish. Getting all this stuff working required some planning.

The current incarnation of my HTPC is:

SilverStone Lascala LC17 Case
ABIT IP35 Pro mainboard
Intel E8600 3.3Ghz Core 2 Duo CPU
Rosewill RNX-N300X PCI Wifi Adapter
XFX Radeon 5770
ATI/AMD TV Wonder 650 PCI
4GB (4x1) DDR2 PC2-6400 800mhz RAM
Windows 7 Pro x86

I think I'll be adding a USB 3.0 PCIe adapter soon.

I like Windows 7 Pro for this HTPC because it includes Media Center. I didn't use Windows 8 because I hate it. I'm trying to avoid Windows 10 for the same reason. I also like that this is a full, real computer. I live alone, so there's no need for my HTPC to have a simplistic user-friendly 10-foot interface. Win7 works for me, but if my girlfriend needs to use it she can use my HTPC remote control to quickly bring up Media Center for that user-friendly interface. The big green button makes it easy.

The most demanding game I run on this PC is Alan Wake. Previously with an E6850, the game stuttered a bit. After upgrading to the E8600 it runs perfectly at 1360x768. So far this computer meets all of my HTPC and living-room-gaming needs. While it can't run many newer games, it excels at most pre-2014 titles. I recently completed Oxenfree on this HTPC and it ran perfectly. It's also quite good for running emulators. If Microsoft ever kills support for Media Center, I'll have to consider switching to Kodi or something.

If you're going to be doing any gaming with your HTPC, consider the convenience of gamepads. Get good ones with both Direct-Input and X-Input support. I find the Logitech F310 to be an inexpensive and good choice. Gaming with a keyboard and mouse is possible, but you'll probably want to find a good lapdesk (the Steiger seems like overkill) and wireless keyboard and mouse to make it a non-frustrating experience. I use a Logitech M510 mouse and an ancient Gyration wireless keyboard that is starting to have issues. The JETech Ultra-Slim wireless keyboard will probably be what I get to replace it.

DO NOT get a bluetooth keyboard or mouse if you will be doing any gaming. Input lag and other issues will quickly annoy you.

DO GET either a white keyboard or one that is backlit. Unlit black keyboards make typing in dim living rooms a challenge.

Here's the lapdesk I use. It won't accommodate a full keyboard and mouse, so that's why I use the old Gyration keyboard. It's also why I'll be replacing it with another small keyboard.

Reply 17 of 20, by buckeye

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KT7AGuy wrote:
Setting up an HTPC is a very subjective and personal experience. You'll want to choose hardware components that will interface […]
Show full quote

Setting up an HTPC is a very subjective and personal experience. You'll want to choose hardware components that will interface well with your TV, receiver, speakers, etc. For example, I have an old 5.1 receiver that doesn't have any VGA, DVI, or HDMI connections. For video, I run DVI-out on my HTPC to HDMI-in on my TV. For audio, I run optical s/pdif to the receiver and bypass the TV's audio and speakers completely. I also have a Blu-Ray player and VHS player too, so I had to make sure I had the correct inputs, outputs, and cables to get everything working together. My VHS player is from the late 90s. My 5.1 receiver is from 2004. My HTPC is circa 2011-ish. The Blu-Ray player and my TV are modern, about 2015-ish. Getting all this stuff working required some planning.

The current incarnation of my HTPC is:

SilverStone Lascala LC17 Case
ABIT IP35 Pro mainboard
Intel E8600 3.3Ghz Core 2 Duo CPU
Rosewill RNX-N300X PCI Wifi Adapter
XFX Radeon 5770
ATI/AMD TV Wonder 650 PCI
4GB (4x1) DDR2 PC2-6400 800mhz RAM
Windows 7 Pro x86

I think I'll be adding a USB 3.0 PCIe adapter soon.

I like Windows 7 Pro for this HTPC because it includes Media Center. I didn't use Windows 8 because I hate it. I'm trying to avoid Windows 10 for the same reason. I also like that this is a full, real computer. I live alone, so there's no need for my HTPC to have a simplistic user-friendly 10-foot interface. Win7 works for me, but if my girlfriend needs to use it she can use my HTPC remote control to quickly bring up Media Center for that user-friendly interface. The big green button makes it easy.

The most demanding game I run on this PC is Alan Wake. Previously with an E6850, the game stuttered a bit. After upgrading to the E8600 it runs perfectly at 1360x768. So far this computer meets all of my HTPC and living-room-gaming needs. While it can't run many newer games, it excels at most pre-2014 titles. I recently completed Oxenfree on this HTPC and it ran perfectly. It's also quite good for running emulators. If Microsoft ever kills support for Media Center, I'll have to consider switching to Kodi or something.

If you're going to be doing any gaming with your HTPC, consider the convenience of gamepads. Get good ones with both Direct-Input and X-Input support. I find the Logitech F310 to be an inexpensive and good choice. Gaming with a keyboard and mouse is possible, but you'll probably want to find a good lapdesk (the Steiger seems like overkill) and wireless keyboard and mouse to make it a non-frustrating experience. I use a Logitech M510 mouse and an ancient Gyration wireless keyboard that is starting to have issues. The JETech Ultra-Slim wireless keyboard will probably be what I get to replace it.

DO NOT get a bluetooth keyboard or mouse if you will be doing any gaming. Input lag and other issues will quickly annoy you.

DO GET either a white keyboard or one that is backlit. Unlit black keyboards make typing in dim living rooms a challenge.

Here's the lapdesk I use. It won't accommodate a full keyboard and mouse, so that's why I use the old Gyration keyboard. It's also why I'll be replacing it with another small keyboard.

Nice well thought out setup! Love the Silverstone cases, they're high-dollar though. As far as a "lapdesk" I'm probably going fire up my cad program and draw up something homemade out of high quality wood. Appreciate all the great ideas from this post!

Asus P5N-E Intel Core 2 Duo 3.33ghz. 4GB DDR2 Geforce 470 1GB SB X-Fi Titanium 650W XP SP3
Intel SE440BX P3 450 256MB 80GB SSD Radeon 7200 64mb SB 32pnp 350W 98SE
MSI x570 Gaming Pro Carbon Ryzen 3700x 32GB DDR4 Zotac RTX 3070 8GB WD Black 1TB 850W

Reply 18 of 20, by KT7AGuy

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I really like the idea of making your own lapdesk. I don't have the equipment or tools to do it, but my father does. This may become a summer project for us if he's willing to help.

Looking at several different models, they're all basically just cut-out planks of wood with a bit of padding on the bottom. It can't be too hard to design something myself for less than $20 that will hold a full-size keyboard and mouse.

Also, I built this setup on the cheap. I got the case, PSU, motherboard, DVD, and hard drive on craigslist for $60. The guy also included copies of retail WinXP Media Center 2005 and a 3-pack of retail Win7 Home licenses. After selling those on craigslist, I think I actually made about $30 on the deal.

Last edited by KT7AGuy on 2018-04-17, 20:54. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 19 of 20, by buckeye

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That's what was thinking too, it doesn't have to be complicated just functional.

Here's something regarding a HTPC that may warrant a look: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?I … N82E16883152372

Asus P5N-E Intel Core 2 Duo 3.33ghz. 4GB DDR2 Geforce 470 1GB SB X-Fi Titanium 650W XP SP3
Intel SE440BX P3 450 256MB 80GB SSD Radeon 7200 64mb SB 32pnp 350W 98SE
MSI x570 Gaming Pro Carbon Ryzen 3700x 32GB DDR4 Zotac RTX 3070 8GB WD Black 1TB 850W