Show off your HTPC!

[Tristerin]

Was thinking, maybe I could get some ideas to further expand my HTPC capability if I could get others to talk about what theirs are capable of, or have been made to be able to do:

 

HP Pro 6300 MT

i5 3470

320W Lite on PSU

16gb DDR3 G-Skill Ripjaw ram

Hitachi Blu-Ray/M-Disc everything player burner

3.5" Media Card Reader for all current cards available + more USB 2.0 ports

USB Header Splitter - 3 open headers available

1x 1TB HDD

1x 60gb SSD Boot drive

PCI slot - 5x USB 2.0 port expansion with 1 internal if I decide to cache with it with a USB for fun or something...originally was going to put a BT USB dongle, but went with:

PCIe X1 slot - ASUS AC55BT (AC1200 wifi, Blue Tooth 4.2) with extended antennae so nothing in the way

PCIe x16 slot - Sapphire HD 7750 1gb GPU

PCIe X1 slot - Free at the moment, leaving open as I have swapped double height cards in and may be putting a 1060 in - any ideas?  Was thinking if I run out of SATA Id put a SATA III card expansion in

 

Peripherals:

Vizio 55" 1080p TV

ACER 23" 1080p Monitor

1080p 80" projector to "white painted wall" - haven't bought the theater screen yet

Rosewill 4k capable TV antennae with 8 channels from St. Louis in range

Hard Lined to router (have NAS, will travel)

2x Xbox 1S wired controllers

Logitech K400+

Logitech wireless Keyboard and Mouse

Generic TV remote (any recommendations for this, would be neat to have something...neat lol)

 

Software/Services:

VLC (for blu ray and ripping)

Leawo (for blu ray)

Netflix

FXNow

Amazon Prime

Vudu

Youtube

Hulu

NES/SNES Emulator with every game you can get

Steam (30+ games)

Neptune Rising

Tons of kids apps (any recommendations?)

 

What I know Im missing on this HTPC:

E-Sata

 

What slots are available:

5.25 bay - currently thinking of expanding the storage unless something cooler to do with this

PCIe x1 - empty, single slot spacing available

 

I think that captures what Ive been putting together.  Any suggestions or thoughts?  Anyone else want to show off their setup?  Let me steal your ideasssss!

 

EDIT - In the end (proprietary mobo, but its a good mobo) I will likely build a custom case for it so space isn't a concern in the long run - bought a VERY steampunk looking trunk/chest at the flea market for this reason (if I cant find a suitable case)

 

[Fuzzleworth1]

I don't have the hottest specs but I've tried to make it look nice. I plan on doing a 5in third monitor for temps/usage so that could be something you could do.

[Tristerin]

30 minutes ago, Fuzzleworth1 said:

I don't have the hottest specs but I've tried to make it look nice. I plan on doing a 5in third monitor for temps/usage so that could be something you could do.

 

 

Looks good!  I am not an audiophile but that looks like a DAC on the bottom right of the underside of your desk?  Can you tell me why?  I plan on getting a surround system integrated soon (I bought one and when it arrived it was blown amp so I haven't pulled the trigger yet after that RMA) and have no real experience with this

[Fuzzleworth1]

9 minutes ago, Tristerin said:

Looks good!  I am not an audiophile but that looks like a DAC on the bottom right of the underside of your desk?  Can you tell me why?  I plan on getting a surround system integrated soon (I bought one and when it arrived it was blown amp so I haven't pulled the trigger yet after that RMA) and have no real experience with this

The DAC is for the stereo speakers. They originally came from a stereo system that I never used and I wanted speakers for my computer so I bought a $20 dollar DAC instead of a $50 system.

[Tristerin]

6 minutes ago, Fuzzleworth1 said:

The DAC is for the stereo speakers. They originally came from a stereo system that I never used and I wanted speakers for my computer so I bought a $20 dollar DAC instead of a $50 system.

I need to research this. 

 

When I bought a unit I didn't like the additional receiver clutter (I want a one stop shop for my media) so RMAing it was okay (especially since the amp was blown upon arrival) with me as well. 

[circeseye]

amd 8350, 16 gig 1866, r9 380 (to be upgraded), 64 ssd, 250 ssd, 1tb hd, 4tb hd, 3 500gig hd

Logitech g910 keyboard and g602 mouse
Samsung - 65" Class - LED - NU7100 Series - 2160p - Smart - 4K UHD TV with HDR
Pioneer Surround Sound A/V Receiver - Black (VSX-532)
surround speakers are home made the 4 surrounds have 6in woofers and a 1in steel tweet in a 6x8x12 boxes, center is a 2 1/2in woofer with 1' steel tweet in a 6x4x4 box...and 2 12" powered subs 280 watt each
we havent had cable tv for the last 5 years

[Tristerin]

17 minutes ago, circeseye said:

amd 8350, 16 gig 1866, r9 380 (to be upgraded), 64 ssd, 250 ssd, 1tb hd, 4tb hd, 3 500gig hd

Logitech g910 keyboard and g602 mouse
Samsung - 65" Class - LED - NU7100 Series - 2160p - Smart - 4K UHD TV with HDR
Pioneer Surround Sound A/V Receiver - Black (VSX-532)
surround speakers are home made the 4 surrounds have 6in woofers and a 1in steel tweet in a 6x8x12 boxes, center is a 2 1/2in woofer with 1' steel tweet in a 6x4x4 box...and 2 12" powered subs 280 watt each
we havent had cable tv for the last 5 years

Im an audio noob - do you like the receiver - and what do you find best about having a receiver hooked to your HTPC - right now I just run audio passthrough HDMI to TV and those speakers...SUCK.  The reason alone I want to work on audio next

[circeseye]

i love the receiver...i have a dp to hdmi 2.0 to go to my tv (card hdmi isnt 2.0)and the card hdmi going to my receiver so im able to access the newer better dolby (you can do atmos if the receiver supports it)....optical and digital you only get the basic dolby and dts...hdmi is definitely the way to go

its all about the surround sound and quality of sound for me....i can hear stuff in movies and shows you wouldnt hear or even realized was even there...its the reason i built my speakers to get the highs and lows i wanted......the atmosphere in the movie really comes out with decent equipment...i mean the receiver i have isnt the best..its really more on the low end but it provides the dolby i was looking for and the channel separation i was looking for....and if a game supports surround its really good...i love when playing a game and i hear someone or something coming from behind me from the rear speakers lol

[Tristerin]

29 minutes ago, circeseye said:

i love the receiver...i have a dp to hdmi 2.0 to go to my tv (card hdmi isnt 2.0)and the card hdmi going to my receiver so im able to access the newer better dolby (you can do atmos if the receiver supports it)....optical and digital you only get the basic dolby and dts...hdmi is definitely the way to go

its all about the surround sound and quality of sound for me....i can hear stuff in movies and shows you wouldnt hear or even realized was even there...its the reason i built my speakers to get the highs and lows i wanted......the atmosphere in the movie really comes out with decent equipment...i mean the receiver i have isnt the best..its really more on the low end but it provides the dolby i was looking for and the channel separation i was looking for....and if a game supports surround its really good...i love when playing a game and i hear someone or something coming from behind me from the rear speakers lol

Thanks for this - If I bought a receiver separately I was looking to spend $150-220 max because I need it to just meet my needs (5.1 or better, good sound, decently loud). 

[W-L]

This is very similar to an existing thread we already here, so lets keep discussion in one big collective thread. 

 

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