Budget 4k HTPC build

circadian

Looking to build a small but 4k HDR capable HTPC. It'll also handle a few other minor tasks but nothing major, 4k HDR is the requirement here.

1. What is your budget? Around €250

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Playing full 4K HDR videos and storage

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? No.

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? I have 4x2TB drives that I'd like to use for storage, I also have some DDR3 SO-DIMMS that could be used in a SOC setup.

5. Do you need a monitor? No

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? Full HDR 4k Screen

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? No

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? No.

8. How can you pay? Credit Card.

9. When are you purchasing? ASAP.


I've done a little digging around and found this as a potential setup;

J3455-ITX, Intel SoC Mainboard - Intel Celeron J3455 https://www.caseking.de/en/asrock-j3455-itx-intel-soc-mainboard-intel-celeron-j3455-mbar-208.html €89.90

Kolink 400W PSU - https://www.caseking.de/en/kolink-core-80-plus-netzteil-400-watt-nekl-014.html €27.90

Gigabyte GeForce GT 1030 Silent - https://www.caseking.de/en/gigabyte-geforce-gt-1030-silent-2048-mb-gddr5-low-profile-gcgb-195.html# €84.90

Kolink Satellite Mini-ITX - https://www.caseking.de/en/kolink-satellite-mini-itx-micro-atx-gehaeuse-schwarz-gekl-006.html €32.90

Total of €240.59 and I can use my old laptop RAM and HDDs for storage.

K.O.Kiki

I'm a little skeptical, but it does appear that would be enough for playback as long as the GPU does the decoding.

Do note that SoC only has 1x RAM slot.

Found a video review of that case, seems OK but the build quality isn't the best.

I'd definitely recommend an SFX PSU if you're going for it
https://www.caseking.de/en/kolink-sfx-250-netzteil-250-watt-nekl-004.html
SFX-to-ATX bracket: https://www.caseking.de/en/silverstone-sst-pp08-netzteiladapterblende-fuer-sfx-auf-atx-schwarz-nest-116.html

circadian

Had a quick look over it all, the PCIe slot on that mobo is PCIe 2.0 1x so the GPU won't fit.

Open to suggestions for a cheap build!

K.O.Kiki

circadian wrote: »

Had a quick look over it all, the PCIe slot on that mobo is PCIe 2.0 1x so the GPU won't fit.

Open to suggestions for a cheap build!

Good catch.
Look at these boards?
https://geizhals.eu/?cmp=1525552&cmp=1525520
ASRock J3355B-ITX (90-MXB3V0-A0UAYZ)
ASRock J3455B-ITX (90-MXB120-A0UAYZ)

circadian

Thanks for that. The caveat there is the fact that there's only 2xSATA ports. It seems these SoC boards are either 4xSATA with a 1x PCIe or 2xSATA and 16x PCIe.

Guess it's back to the drawing board for me!

K.O.Kiki

circadian wrote: »

Thanks for that. The caveat there is the fact that there's only 2xSATA ports. It seems these SoC boards are either 4xSATA with a 1x PCIe or 2xSATA and 16x PCIe.

Guess it's back to the drawing board for me!

There's AMD systems that might suit; needs regular DDR3 though.
https://geizhals.eu/?cmp=1174641&cmp=1740127

*edit:
Review for Biostar A68N-5000

TerrorFirmer

I would avoid that as the CPU is slow, and hardly worth just making a choice based on having old laptop ram lying around!

Build it around an AMD 2200G? CPU is radically better, integrated GPU is very similar to the GT1030 (and will obviously do all the decoding), and that case will take a cheap €50 m-atx board.

Will cost a little more but go so much further.

K.O.Kiki

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

I would avoid that as the CPU is slow, and hardly worth just making a choice based on having old laptop ram lying around!

Build it around an AMD 2200G? CPU is radically better, integrated GPU is very similar to the GT1030 (and will obviously do all the decoding), and that case will take a cheap €50 m-atx board.

Will cost a little more but go so much further.

Watch the video review; the Kolink case will almost certainly have problems with mATX boards despite being marketed as such.

MoodeRator

Is there a need for a HTPC? Can you not just invest in a large external drive and play through the TV? Works perfect for me.

circadian

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

I would avoid that as the CPU is slow, and hardly worth just making a choice based on having old laptop ram lying around!

Build it around an AMD 2200G? CPU is radically better, integrated GPU is very similar to the GT1030 (and will obviously do all the decoding), and that case will take a cheap €50 m-atx board.

Will cost a little more but go so much further.

Yeah I might look at a lower end CPU build, the case is marketed for m-atx but finding one at those dimensions will be tricky. The motherboards don't have HDMI 2.0a/b and generally use a displayport to HDMI conversion so that means HDR isn't available without a dedicated GPU.

MoodeRator wrote: »

Is there a need for a HTPC? Can you not just invest in a large external drive and play through the TV? Works perfect for me.

Yeah the pc will be serving a number of functions on top of playing on the telly. I already have an old i7 laptop running as my media centre/VPN/etc but there's not a hope it's doing any 4k work. I'd like to utilise the storage I've got available instead of using usb drives to plug in and out of the TV.

I'm trying to keep the cost down so I can upgrade my gaming rig in the next year otherwise I'd have thrown everything into a node 304 and be done with it. If only money was no object.

captain_boycott

did you consider the NVIDA shield instead of a HTPC?

circadian

captain_boycott wrote: »

did you consider the NVIDA shield instead of a HTPC?

Yeah but then my storage needs to go somewhere, the cost of a Shield then NAS or something similar would take me well over the cost of building a low power htpc. I'd also be lacking the other functions I want it to perform.

The high horse brigade

The Shield was on sale at €170 last week, amazing value

captain_boycott

Do you have any old PC hardware that you could use to serve the disks? Don't need to have any graphics card or high wattage PSU, any old PC should do. Could probably even pick up a suitable machine 2nd hard for €50 or so. Does not even need to run Windows, go with a Linix distro. Then the shield would make a perfect client for 4K/HDR..not to mention you said you are a gamer.

As a matter of interest, what are the functions you need that the Shield lacks? I ask as I currently have 2 TVs being driven by HTPCs, and have just procured a Shield to test it out as a possible small footprint alternative, and take advantage of the Android TV interface. Not had a chance to put it thru too much testing yet, but the few minutes I had to play with it, I was shocked at how fast and snappy it was, compared to my Core i3 PC with simple tasks such as switching Apps, opening and closing windows, loading kodi & youtube videos, etc. I've always stayed away from Android in favour of Windows machines so will see if the shield will change my approach.