HTPC Upgrading Advice

siross

Hi all,

I'm upgrading to a 4k TV and need my HTPC to keep up.

I need it to play 4k and be able to handle all audio formats. Files will be ripped blu rays in x.265 format predominantly.

Current specs of PC:

                                                                                                                                               

Undecided whether using integrated graphics or dedicated card is the best way forward.

Ideally I'd like to keep it as cheap as possible, open to going second hand.

techquest

What budget do you have?

siross

Max £500 but would like to spend under that if possible. I already have the case and power supply (Antec Fusion).

techquest

This MB is ATX format and not sure what your case supports. Is the a model # on your Antec Fusion?

This MB has a Display Port capable of max 1.2 with max resolution  of 4096 x 2160 @ 60 Hz which will interface with your 4K TV set which would be 3840 × 2160.

Asus ROG STRIX X470-F GAMING AM4 DDR4 ATX Motherboard  
ROG STRIX X470-F GAMING   | Motherboards | ASUS United Kingdom

Asus ROG STRIX X470-F GAMING AM4 DDR4 ATX Motherboard | Ebuyer.com   £194.49


Ryzen 2700X CPU

https://www.amazon.co.uk/AMD-Ryzen-Processor-Wraith-Cooler/dp/B07B428M7F/ref=sr_1_1?hvadid=8861378177&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&keywords=ryzen 7 cpu&qid=1566823092&s=gateway&sr=8-1   £229.99


2 x 8GB DDR4 Memory

Patriot Viper V4 16GB 3000MHz CL16 | Ebuyer.com   £70.52


Total of above is £495 but I didn't do a shop around for best prices or look at 2nd hand. But it gives you an example of what you could do.

EndlessWaves

No it wouldn't, as no TVs on the market over the last few years have DisplayPort inputs. You need something with an HDMI 2.0 output.

techquest

So why not use a Displyport to 4k adapter, £9 !

siross

Thanks for the advice, I think I'll have a look in the classifieds and see what comes up.

My other option is to invest in some network storage and an Nvidia Shield to perform the transcoding?

ChuckMountain

What's your actual use case.  Do you need a htpc to do anything other than play movies or TV series?

If that's all then get a NAS and a media player, plenty of the latter using Kodi for around or under one hundred pounds. They will play all your media in whichever format with no need to transcode.  The media player will be silent and drink a lot less juice than a pc

siross

Not really no, all my other computer related stuff is done on other machines.

My HTPC is literally just for playing movies and TV shows.

Will a media player still play all formats that a PC can, such as x.265 compressed files?

Would I be better going down a NAS route or would a WD cloud storage drive suffice?

ChuckMountain

Answer is yes to all your questions.

What media player/ software did you use at the moment?