Advice On My 1st PC Build

[Michael McChesney]

I have upgraded computers in the past, adding memory, swapping out drives and the like. But I have never built a PC myself. I am not a gamer. I use my current PC primarily as a home theater PC, connected to my 4K Samsung TV. Having a PC connected to my TV was more useful before I upgraded to a smart TV, but there are services out there (such as DC Universe) that don't have Samsung apps. I also find I prefer the PC YouTube environment over the Samsung app. But even though I have a relatively recent PC (an ASUS - VivoPC M32CD Desktop with an Intel Core i7 7700 with integrated graphics and 12GB Memory) it is incapable of streaming 4K content to my TV. I figure it has to do with the integrated graphics. So I am thinking of building my first PC. I could use some advice.

 

I want a PC that can comfortably stream 4K content. As I understand it, that is only possible using the Edge browser, though I would prefer to use Chrome. I would also like it to be powerful enough to play very large video files such as (hypothetically) a 48 GB Star Wars 4K77 file without stuttering. I don't use optical drives much anymore, but would want one for the occasions I might want/need it. I figure I might as well get one that can play 4K blu-rays. I was looking at an internal LG WH16NS60 on Amazon and some comments recommended I look at Cyberlink's blu-ray disk support page. That page (https://www.cyberlink.com/support/product-faq-content.do?id=19144) says in part “Ultra HD Blu-ray is supported only if a display is powered by Intel Graphics and supports HDCP 2.2.” I was assuming I would want a moderately powerful graphics card, but this seems to be saying it will only work with integrated Intel graphics since I don't think Intel has started selling graphics cards yet. This also seems to indicate AMD, no matter how expensive a processor, is not compatible.

 

Perhaps, I should just forget the UHD blu-ray, but I would still want an optical drive. Can you guys recommend a case with space for an optical drive in the front (preferably that does NOT put the drive on its side)?

 

What kind of processor and GPU combination would you recommend?

 

Am I right that wifi is generally built into motherboards? Do some boards have superior antennas than others? Is there a way to improve the wifi reception (other than moving the PC or router)?

 

I would greatly appreciate any advice you guys can give me. Thank you in advance.

 

 

 

 

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

10 minutes ago, Michael McChesney said:

Am I right that wifi is generally built into motherboards? Do some boards have superior antennas than others? Is there a way to improve the wifi reception (other than moving the PC or router)?

since you ask, I wonder is your current pc using a wifi? having low/ weak wifi causes lags too

 

some high end boards comes with wifi, usually higher price / got "wifi/ AC" in its name/ has 1- 2 antenna holes at i/o 

[Michael McChesney]

11 hours ago, dgsddfgdfhgs said:

since you ask, I wonder is your current pc using a wifi? having low/ weak wifi causes lags too

 

some high end boards comes with wifi, usually higher price / got "wifi/ AC" in its name/ has 1- 2 antenna holes at i/o 

Thank you for the advice.  My PC is only about 10 feet from my dual band router.  Usually I have a strong connection, but recently I have been having some connection issues.  At times it will show about a dozen available networks, but other times it can only see the 2.4 Ghz band and not the 5 Ghz.  But even when I get speed test results in excess of 30 gbps I still couldn't stream 4K.  

[celerystruct]

13 hours ago, Michael McChesney said:

but this seems to be saying it will only work with integrated Intel graphics since I don't think Intel has started selling graphics cards yet. This also seems to indicate AMD, no matter how expensive a processor, is not compatible.

You don't need an intel cpu.

 

Ryzen will work if you have an nVidia gpu with appropriate drivers. Check out this Post.

Also AMD GPUs have drivers that can play 4k on windows so they'll work as well.

13 hours ago, Michael McChesney said:

Am I right that wifi is generally built into motherboards?

No, you need to look for boards that specifically have this as a feature.

 

13 hours ago, Michael McChesney said:

I don't use optical drives much anymore, but would want one for the occasions I might want/need it. I figure I might as well get one that can play 4K blu-rays. I was looking at an internal LG WH16NS60 on Amazon

Since your intent is to only watch blu-ray movies instead of write to blu-ray discs a 4k blu-ray player is probably best for you.

You'll be spending $100 on the optical drive and in addition to that you'll need to pay seperately for software that'll let you play 4k blu-ray discs on your computer like the CyberPower PowerDVD which costs around $60bucks on it's own.

Even if you find free software having that optical drive limits your case choices and really isn't worth it if you only intend to watch movies off it.

 

Honestly your pc is fine. You could probably just upgrade it instead with a discrete graphics card. Any nVidia GPU that's 1060 and up should do the trick with proper drivers. You could even go AMD if you wanted for GPU.

 

You're gonna have to use Microsoft edge or the windows app if you want 4k Netflix. There's no way around it. Or just watch it on your Samsung netflix app.

 

PC to stream 4k doesn't need to be very powerful. Not as much as a gaming pc or a workstation pc.

 

If you want to build a PC from scratch for fun and the experience and can afford it I'd say wait till July 7th when the new AMD CPUs drop since that'll probably causes prices for CPUs to change.

 

Edit:

Also i don't know why you would have trouble streaming 4k netflix on i7 7700. It should be able to do it just fine. Might be a problem with your wifi instead.

[Michael McChesney]

Thank you Celerystruct.  I had been thinking that Cyberlink's Power DVD software would come with any drive I purchased.  I know it always used to come bundled with new PCs, though I was surprised to find it missing on my current one.  That PC is only about 2 1/2 years old so it should be good for a while yet.  But lately I have been noticing a high pitched whine which must be the CPU fan.  It seems to start up if I do something strenuous like opening 1 instance of chrome.  I think what I might do is buy a wifi PCIE card and see if it improves my reception.  Later this summer if I decide to go ahead and build a new PC I can just move it into the new case.  Thanks again.

[fluxdeity]

2 hours ago, Michael McChesney said:

Thank you Celerystruct.  I had been thinking that Cyberlink's Power DVD software would come with any drive I purchased.  I know it always used to come bundled with new PCs, though I was surprised to find it missing on my current one.  That PC is only about 2 1/2 years old so it should be good for a while yet.  But lately I have been noticing a high pitched whine which must be the CPU fan.  It seems to start up if I do something strenuous like opening 1 instance of chrome.  I think what I might do is buy a wifi PCIE card and see if it improves my reception.  Later this summer if I decide to go ahead and build a new PC I can just move it into the new case.  Thanks again.

Streaming video over network would be using CPU and network. If you're using b/g/n and not ac you could experience less than desirable results. You could try adding an access point closer to the TV.

 

From what you said in the original post, I'm assuming you have the TV hooked up directly to the PC via HDMI, and therefore driving 4k resolution from the integrated GPU. In this case yes, the integrated GPU will be the problem. What you need to do is use a 1080p display, connect the TV to WiFi network, and actually stream the files using VLC, casting via youtube/chrome browser, or such other programs. This would drastically increase playback performance as you'd only be driving a 1080p display while streaming the 4k footage, instead of driving a 4k TV.

[celerystruct]

5 hours ago, Michael McChesney said:

Thank you Celerystruct.  I had been thinking that Cyberlink's Power DVD software would come with any drive I purchased.  I know it always used to come bundled with new PCs, though I was surprised to find it missing on my current one.  That PC is only about 2 1/2 years old so it should be good for a while yet.  But lately I have been noticing a high pitched whine which must be the CPU fan.  It seems to start up if I do something strenuous like opening 1 instance of chrome.  I think what I might do is buy a wifi PCIE card and see if it improves my reception.  Later this summer if I decide to go ahead and build a new PC I can just move it into the new case.  Thanks again.

What sort of CPU cooler do you have? Also if you do decide to build this summer Ryzen is releasing their new cpus July 7th. It's speculated to go toe-to-toe if not beat the intels i9-9900k for about a hundred bucks cheaper. You can check out independent benchmarks around release and decide based on that.

 

Edit: if you need a new cooler along with a fan I'd suggest the Arctic Freezer 34 Duo.

[celerystruct]

3 hours ago, fluxdeity said:

Streaming video over network would be using CPU and network. If you're using b/g/n and not ac you could experience less than desirable results. You could try adding an access point closer to the TV.

 

From what you said in the original post, I'm assuming you have the TV hooked up directly to the PC via HDMI, and therefore driving 4k resolution from the integrated GPU. In this case yes, the integrated GPU will be the problem. What you need to do is use a 1080p display, connect the TV to WiFi network, and actually stream the files using VLC, casting via youtube/chrome browser, or such other programs. This would drastically increase playback performance as you'd only be driving a 1080p display while streaming the 4k footage, instead of driving a 4k TV.

He's watching Netflix and watching Youtube videos. Those aren't heavy tasks, they're just decoding. He has an i7-7700 with iGPU that shouldn't cause him problems.

 

OP isn't having trouble streaming local videos on his computer he has trouble watching netflix so there's no 'file' to stream from his computer.

[fluxdeity]

On 6/2/2019 at 11:13 PM, Michael McChesney said:

I have upgraded computers in the past, adding memory, swapping out drives and the like. But I have never built a PC myself. I am not a gamer. I use my current PC primarily as a home theater PC, connected to my 4K Samsung TV. Having a PC connected to my TV was more useful before I upgraded to a smart TV, but there are services out there (such as DC Universe) that don't have Samsung apps. I also find I prefer the PC YouTube environment over the Samsung app. But even though I have a relatively recent PC (an ASUS - VivoPC M32CD Desktop with an Intel Core i7 7700 with integrated graphics and 12GB Memory) it is incapable of streaming 4K content to my TV. I figure it has to do with the integrated graphics. So I am thinking of building my first PC. I could use some advice.

 

11 hours ago, celerystruct said:

He's watching Netflix and watching Youtube videos. Those aren't heavy tasks, they're just decoding. He has an i7-7700 with iGPU that shouldn't cause him problems.

 

OP isn't having trouble streaming local videos on his computer he has trouble watching netflix so there's no 'file' to stream from his computer.

7700 is more than enough to handle watching Netflix. A $35 fire stick watches 4k no problem.

 

I've went through and highlighted the parts in his original post that seem to contradict themselves. His post would lead one to believe he has the 4k TV(4x the amount of pixels as 1080p) hooked up to the PC via HDMI. This would cause the 7700 to struggle as it's having to drive a 4k display(Intels iGPU can barely do) and decode the file for playback. 

 

My suggestion was for him to connect the PC to a 1080p display, and actually stream the file over his home network, to the Smart TV, also connected to his home network. 

[celerystruct]

19 minutes ago, fluxdeity said:

contradict themselves.

 

20 minutes ago, fluxdeity said:

I use my current PC primarily as a home theater PC, connected to my 4K Samsung TV. Having a PC connected to my TV

What do you mean contradict? OP was very straight forward about his set up.

 

Also intel iGPU on i7 7700 can handle 4k display. It's not like he's trying to game with it. He can stream to his 4k tv like you suggested but that just seems like a very roundabout solution for something that he can probably fix by checking to see if he's using HDMI 2.0.

[TechyBen]

The "4K Limited to intel" might be the DRM engine Netflix or Amazon uses (I forget which). 

Ah. Yep, as above, seems that or a " GTX 1080 Ti, GTX 1080, GTX 1070 and GTX 1060".

[Michael McChesney]

Thank you for all the advice guys.  I do want to make one thing clear though, I am not using my PC to stream Netflix at least not normally.  I have a Samsung smart 4K TV and it streams 4K netflix fine.  But DC Universe for instance doesn't have a Samsung app so I have to use my pc to stream it (if I want to watch it on my tv anyway).  I am not sure if they even offer 4K content, but just to check if my pc could stream it if it was available, I tried streaming Netflix via Edge.  It wasn't able to stream at 4K even after I upgraded the hdmi cable I had connected to the pc.  

 

I think I will take the advice offered and wait until at least July before I make any build decisions.  I will be away the first 1/2 of July and it can wait till I get back.  Thanks again.