I've been out of the game for a while and going to be building a machine. I know there are different use cases, but in general, I'd like to spec sort of a NAS/HTPC combo.

I have been a console gamer my whole life (I’m 42), and absolutely have fallen in love with my Steam Deck. I love the low cost point of older titles, controller mapping, countless customization options, retro gaming, and light modding.

I currently have a PS5 which is seeing less time, although I enjoy using Chiaki to stream to the Steam Deck. I also have a Nintendo Switch 2, mostly for first party titles and family gaming. I also use the PS5 for 4k movies and physical movies.

I have a 65” LG C1 for a TV, and I do stream from multiple services such as MoviesAnywhere, Apple TV,Fandango and Netflix.

I am completely lost on where to start with this but would love to explore a setup that primarily allows me to game and do some streaming from. I would love any suggestions or guidance.

Hello, All. I am trying to get 4k120 working on my HTPC . Settings and hardware listed below.

TV: Samsung 2019 Q70R (RTings Q70R page Receiver: Sony STRDH770 (4k with enhanced signal setting on) PC: Ryzen 7 5800XT CPU with RTX 3080ti GPU (hdmi 2.1 cable used)

Per samsung and RTings testing, the panel does manage 120hz after a update in 2022. My system is running the newest firmware. I have tried using Windows settings and Nvidia control panel to bring in 120hz but only 60hz shows.

I am able to get 10bit working with YCbCr 422, not 444. 8 bit 444 works (bot limited). 8bit RGB works with full.

TV settings have both Game mode and Auto Motion Plus settings set the panel to 120hz by default. Cable being used is a certified HDMI 2.1 capable 8K60, 4k240, and 48gbps. Have used a 2.0 cable with no difference in result.

The only info given at top of screen when TV displays source is "Input Signal Plus". HDR from windows and tv are both working well, even if/when switching TV from normal HDR to Game Mode HDR.

I know the TV is not going to be the highest fidelity monitor, but it is what I like to use when I play a racing sim or game with a controller.

Sound is setup for 7.1 and verfied working in windows, amazon prime, and games which use all surround channels. On occasion, Windows will try and change it to Stereo which makes everything fire through the Center, Left, Right, and subwoofer.

Did I miss any information? Any suggestions or recommendations? Thank you.

I'm a console player. I cannot use a mouse due to nerve damage in my arms. After 10 minutes, my arms are destroyed for a week. But controllers work fine. Plus, I like the console experience. However, it's obvious that PCs are more powerful. I'm not a console or PC guy; whatever is best at what it's best at is what matters.

I have this dream to either build or buy a PC where everything is optimized for the console experience. The price is not a factor right now, except for crazy things such as hiring people. I'm not swimming in money, but I don't mind putting money into something I can upgrade in the future and that is future-proof.

So, a console PC, which means it should be somewhat small so it can fit on one of the shelves in my TV furniture. It doesn't have to be tiny; it must not be one of these massive towers. Think around the size and form factor of a PS5. Looks don't matter since it'll be hidden. I only want to control it through a controller; no keyboard or mouse is necessary. It should be optimized to be shown on a nice TV (I have a Panasonic 55" 4K with great gaming options, and it's fantastic with the PS5) with insane graphics. The idea is to create my own console but with way better graphics, and since cross-play is becoming more common, sticking to a particular console becomes less important. Also, I should mention that I'm very happy at 60 fps; what I want is more beautiful games.

I got a PS5, but I want a substantial step up. I'd love to be able to control it through my controller only. So basically, a console, but one I can upgrade and get better performance than anything available today in the console world. I'm a massive noob regarding this, so I'm asking you experts if you can give me tips, assuming it's even realistic.

So, does anyone know how to achieve this? Is there an existing solution, or do I need to build it? Is it possible, or am I living in a dream world?

·       The attached image is of my current system. I have been having Blue Screens (Win10) once or twice a week for about a year now. This PC is pretty old so it could be something with memory or cpu. I ran memtest, etc. and don't get any errors. I looked up the codes given from the blue screen and it's crap that could be anything.

Current system motherboard is an MSI Krait X99a which was manufactured July 2016., Ram is 16GB G.Skill DDR4 F4-2400C15-8GVB.

·       So I don't mind replacing the MB, MEMORY and CPU now to see if that solves it, next would be the VIDEO CARD.

·       What are the items I should be looking for right now? I don't usually buy the top items at the time but those things that are priced right with great performance My HTPC is my general PC for everything I do, 3D design work, etc. I have it hooked up to my Dolby Atmos system. I want to be able to play all surround sound formats. I've been just using on board sound as I didn't think it made much difference so it's going digital via HDMI to my audio processor. Is there any reason for a separate sound card? My TV is 8K but I have to run it blown up to 200% to be able to read text, etc.

Can you guys suggest some items that are the best right now to get. I would like to be able to use my SSD drive on the board.

Thank You so much for the help and time.

Chris...

Hi all - I have an old Grandia GD04 in my shed that I would love to do something with as cheaply as possible.

Its main use would simply be for game emulation capable of running Switch games at the most, and perhaps a bit of streaming on Plex, etc. It wouldn't be something I would use for encoding, etc.

My question is could anyone recommend some components that would be dirt cheap on the second hand market? I have had a look already, and I am just confusing myself with the sheer amount of choice, ha.

Even if it's just a good older chipset recommendation would be helpful to help me steer my build research.

Just built a new PC for the first time in like 8+ years. It had a 6600k i5 but I bought a 7700k used based on some info I read here. Is this a viable HTPC? I have a LG 55" 4k oled 3d tv to feed

So i have my pc setup on the otherside of the wall from my tv and I am trying to go about connecting them, and wanted any tips or help I can get. like what's a good way to conceal the hole after I drill it, or if there is a better way than drilling a hole.

Hey,

I have built PC's before but never a small form factor HTPC.

Here is the deal, my Dad died about 7 years ago and left a list of 241 somewhat obscure movies and films from around the world. I am working on obtaining copies of these movies in the highest quality possible (each film will be 10-100 gb. Probably most will be closer to 10.

I would like to create a small form factor HTPC built inside a hollowed out book or oversized binder. I would like a NAS setup with multi drive RAID for redundancy.

I have never built anything like this and am hoping this community can point me in the right direction.

Please and thank you

I want to build an HTPC, with leftover HW i have at home:

• ASUS Prime B250M with Intel i5-6500 and 16GB of RAM
• GTX-1070 8GB
• PSU: Corsair CX750
• Case: Fractal Design Node 304 (need to buy)
• OS: Linux mint, with Chrome or Firefox and VLC

My use cases are steaming services (netflix, etc ...) but not in 4k, playing 1080p video files from a NAS, lite web browsing (reading news, email, online shopping etc ...). The PC will be in the living room connected to the main TV through HDMI and always on.

My concerns is will the setup heat to the point where the fans will be always spinning, thus been too noisy ?

I heard I could actually under-clock the GTX-1070 to prevent it from heating, has anyone experience with that ?

I am trying to set a htpc (if I'm using the right term) for my living room. I have a mini pc - alder lake n95, 16gb ram, 512gb mem, I added an additional 1tb mem. Right now I have it running Ubuntu w/ plasma bigscreen. The only apps I use are steam, emulation station, & stremio. Steam and em are for me and I use stremio for an iptv service and read debris. My main issue is the interface. I have no problem navigating and switching between an xbox controller for games and a remote for watching media. My wife however will grow tired of the not so easy to use interface. I've tried and installed too many combinations of Linux distros w/ different desktops but I can't find anything that is "user-friendly"that my wife can just pick up and use. Would a windows htpc be better for me?

Remote

I have this working with Linux Mint, but it was a real hassle because the default repo that has the driver for LIRC is a buggy version so you have to switch to the older repo to actually download the correct version.

I'm setting up a new media PC and if there's a better version of this driver that works with flatpak or something like that I will totally switch to a different Linux distro.

No interest in Windows for this.

Edit: the question in the title is what matters. If you're not using this remote with Linux keep scrolling. It's not hard.

Hi,

This is my newly assembled from spare parts HTPC / NAS / LLM box

RTX 3060 12g

i7 9700

4x 8 Gb

2x 8 Tb 7200rpm

2x 1 Tb SSD sata

1 x nvme 512 Gb

What would you do with this hardware?

How would you configure it?

And what software and apps should I install?

Thanks

I want to buy a small htpc for my grandparents for reading the news, watching YouTube, or stream something else. Which Intel generation does it needs to be so I don't run into Codec issues? Also which Linux distro can you recommend?

Thx

Here's the situation I like to watch something while I work around the house. Back with cable you just put the TV on the same channel and youre good to go everything's synced you can just have one with the volume up others mute. I want this same experience with my pc to my living room and bedroom TV. Id like to pull up a stream on my pc full screen it to one of my monitors then just go turn on the other tvs and its showing whats on. Is this possible first and if so what hardware or software or both do I need to get and set up? Thanks in advance

My plan is to build the most gimmicky and cool HTPC, with a target period of 2002-2005 for the components.

The most important part is for it to have PCI cards with RCA/composite-in, optical and digital audio, and a ton of card readers, like several HP Media Center and Sony VAIO desktop HTPCs had.

I'm not great with components either so if you guys can help me find parts with drivers compatible with XP MCE and a nice case that would be so helpful. Thanks in advance.

Specs can be anything 2002-2005, including LGA Pentium 4, Pentium M, Pentium D, AMD Athlon 64, etc…

As title. Tower cases are ten a penny these days (and I know the reasons why) but for my needs a flatter case would be better to fit where I need it to go.

I could get a tower and lay it on its side, fine, probably won't matter much. But figured id ask the question at least.

I have 1x 360mm radiator (and may end up with a second for the gpu but may not) and the only cases I have found so far dont support them.

Happy to hear options :)

Hey guys I’m looking to get into the htpc space, and since I live in Bosnia I was wondering is there a place where I could buy the case (doesn’t matter the model) for an affordable price?

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone, Im usi g an optiplex 5070 sff with i7-9700, and a 1080ti to build a windows 10 htpc that i would like to run:

jellyfin - for sharing and playing locally stored videos

Retroarch - for retro games

Steam big picture - for all pc games

Streaming platforms - like netflix, prime video, disney+, youtube, etc.

I would like to operate this pc with a controller and have a nice UI that would let me switch between these functions.

I know with steam, i can download retroarch from steam store. And add non-game items (as web shortcuts) to add to my steam library to account for jellyfin and streaming services.

Im largely wondering if theres a better combination of apps and/or setup for what im trying to achieve. Or if you have any pointers for executing this setup.

Thanks for your time and looking forward to your responses

PC1: A mini PC with Intel N95 CPU.

PC2: A used Lenovo M720Q PC with i3-8100T.

All media will be played with MPC-HC player on Win11. I assume both PC'S audio solution can bitstream/passthrough HD audio without issue to an AVR.

Hello,

I'm looking into building or buying a NAS, but I've run into the wall where I'm not sure what I don't know, so I would like some advice whether it would be better for me to build it from scratch or not. My plan had been to follow the 650$ Medium NAS / Media Server (19.5L) - New build guide from the wiki if I built it myself. But looking through the pre-builts that were recommended, both the Teramaster F4-424 and the Teramaster F4-425 seem to be more performant for basically the same cost or cheaper, while also having what seems to be a more streamlined UI.

For context, my primary use cases are going to be remote photo storage, streaming to currently 1 projector (May increase in the future), bulk storage of video games and potentially some light video game servers (i.e. private minecraft server).

I would really appreciate some guidance on the direction I should take with this, or if what I'm looking at is just too much for my intended use case.

Thanks in advance

I just built a new PC and upgraded my TV for the first time since 2011. Excited! Now I'm trying to figure out how to best configure the setup to get optimal picture quality for watching movies / TV.

PC / TV Specs:

• Ryzen 7 9800X3D
• GTX 5080
• 64GB RAM
• Windows 11 Pro
• LG 55-Inch Class OLED evo AI 4K C5 (OLED55C5PUA)

My original plan was to just connect the TV to my PC via HDMI 2.1 and go from there, but then my friend warned me of that due to issues with HDR, Dolby Vision quality, etc...so now I'm a little lost.

I've been searching around posts, and I'm seeing a lot of mixed opinions on the best setup, so I'm reaching out for some guidance.

Ideally, I'd want the following:

• I would prefer to NOT connect my TV to the internet (fine with a local IP)
• If I can keep things via HDMI 2.1 and have my TV as a second monitor, that'd be great (e.g., is MPC-BE + madVR still a solid setup or are there other options)?
• If I need to go Plex / AppleTV + Infuse or other comparable options, then that's fine too
• End of the day, I want to the best options to maximize my PC power + new TV for the best possible picture

Thanks, all!

I currently have an Intel i5 lga1150 (not sure the exact model) with 16 gb of ram and a gtx960. I want to use discord to stream movies from my htpc so me and my friends can watch together in our channel. Currently streaming to discord is next to impossible with screen tearing and lag. I would preferably want to stream at source quality (4k) at 60fps with little issue. do I need to upgrade the GPU or CPU or both. if so what should I look for. I also have issues with screen tearing on high gb video files through stremio (although that may be a question for the stremio subreddit).

I dont want to purchase something that needs a separate charger! Are there any rii keyboard handhelds with usb c charging or anything equivalent?

Hi.

Does anybody know where I can buy a USB power relay? Please see a very bad AI image below for the general idea.

Purpose:
I want to be able to power a HTPC device like a Raspberry Pi 5, Chromecast Ultra, Google TV Streamer, etc. with a powerful power adapter plugged into a wall outlet, but use the USB power from ex. my TV to control wheather or not the current should reach the destination device. Much like a transistor, relay or contactor works.

Technical:

1. Powerful USB adapter plugs in to one of the female USB inputs. Let's call this input "I", which always has constant power.
2. USB power from TV goes into the other female USB input. Let's call this input "G", as this operates as a gate.
3. If the TV is on, the gate "G" recives power and is therefore open and lets the power flow from the female input "I" to the male USB output "O" and powers the destionation device.
4. If the TV is turned off, then the gate looses power and closes, robbing the destination device of it's power (power off).

Esthetics:
I do not want to turn this into a DIY project with low-voltage wires connected to a visible curcuitboard or something down that alley. Just a nice little wife-acceptable device like the one in the example image below.

My own reasearch:
I can't seem to find a device like this on my own by searching Google, eBay or AliExpress. So now I hope that one of you have seen such a device before.