New home theater build

[ConfiXs]

Budget (including currency): 500-600 USD

Country: US

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Netflix, Hulu, HBO ect

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): 

I need it as compact as possible, capable of 4k resolution, enough ports to handle a wireless keyboard, mouse and speakers

 

The budget is for the PC only, not including perfs and tv

[saintlouisbagels]

Not gonna lie, you should probably look for a used Mac Mini M1.

Compact computer with very capable processing power.

It has 2 USB ports for a mouse and keyboard - but also 2 Thunderbolt ports for a hub if you need additional ports.

 

Audio would output from the Mac to the TV via HDMI.

From the TV you would either use (e)ARC HDMI or TOSLINK to output to home theater receiver or a pair of speakers.

Or simply plug in speakers into the 3.5mm headphone jack.

[ExpiredPancake]

Is there a reason you're looking for a PC in particular for this and wouldn't just go with an Nvidia Shield Pro ? does great 4k upscaling, HDR with dolby vision and has USB ports to use your peripherals in. Even a Raspberry Pi 4 can support 4k playback via a firmware update. Do you plan on gaming at the TV or doing something in particular that requires a PC? 

If you're insistent, there are a few small PCs like the NUC 11 (that just require your own ram and storage.)

 

[ConfiXs]

1 minute ago, ExpiredPancake said:

Is there a reason you're looking for a PC in particular for this and wouldn't just go with an Nvidia Shield Pro ? does great 4k upscaling, HDR with dolby vision and has USB ports to use your peripherals in. Even a Raspberry Pi 4 can support 4k playback via a firmware update. Do you plan on gaming at the TV or doing something in particular that requires a PC? 

If you're insistent, there are a few small PCs like the NUC 11 (that just require your own ram and storage.)

 

Im not planning on playing games on it its just for streaming/yt and Id prefer to build it just cause I enjoy tinkering, also I'm anti apple

[ConfiXs]

10 minutes ago, saint_louis_bagels said:

Not gonna lie, you should probably look for a used Mac Mini M1.

Compact computer with very capable processing power.

It has 2 USB ports for a mouse and keyboard - but also 2 Thunderbolt ports for a hub if you need additional ports.

 

Audio would output from the Mac to the TV via HDMI.

From the TV you would either use (e)ARC HDMI or TOSLINK to output to home theater receiver or a pair of speakers.

Or simply plug in speakers into the 3.5mm headphone jack.

I am heavily anti apple, Ive had horrible experiences with their products

[saintlouisbagels]

12 minutes ago, ConfiXs said:

Im not planning on playing games on it its just for streaming/yt and Id prefer to build it just cause I enjoy tinkering, also I'm anti apple

I'm gonna have to be insistent that you at least purchase the Nvidia Shield Pro like @ExpiredPancake suggested.

If you're literally only streaming, then dedicated stream boxes like the Nvidia Shield or Apple TV are much better if you care about having a good experience.

Streaming services on regular browsers is mediocre. YouTube is probably the only exception.

[ConfiXs]

1 minute ago, saint_louis_bagels said:

I'm gonna have to be insistent that you at least purchase the Nvidia Shield Pro like @ExpiredPancake suggested.

If you're literally only streaming, then dedicated stream boxes like the Nvidia Shield or Apple TV are much better if you care about having a good experience.

Streaming services on regular browsers is mediocre.

yea the shield is looking really good plus its nice and compact

[Bombastinator]

35 minutes ago, saint_louis_bagels said:

Not gonna lie, you should probably look for a used Mac Mini M1.

Compact computer with very capable processing power.

It has 2 USB ports for a mouse and keyboard - but also 2 Thunderbolt ports for a hub if you need additional ports.

 

Audio would output from the Mac to the TV via HDMI.

From the TV you would either use (e)ARC HDMI or TOSLINK to output to home theater receiver or a pair of speakers.

Or simply plug in speakers into the 3.5mm headphone jack.

Doesn’t need it though.  Movies are 2d. This is potato. Doesn’t even need a video card.  This could be done fanless even.  Not even a high end iGP is needed.  

[saintlouisbagels]

3 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Doesn’t need it though.  Movies are 2d. This is potato. Doesn’t even need a video card.  This could be done fanless even.  Not even a high end iGP is needed.  

He was willing to build a dedicated PC. I wanted to at least meet him halfway lmao.

[Bombastinator]

If new stuff is required I’d look at some newer pentium.  They’re low enough wattage you don’t even need a cpu cooler designed for fanless operation.  Slap a fuma2 on it (which may cost as much as the cpu) and set a custom fan curve.  If you do it right the fan won’t even be powered most of the time.  Cheapest h series board you can find with lga1700 and lowball the ddr4 memory. 1 stick likely.  Probably mini atx because again, it’s cheaper, the cheapest case that looks ok to you.  Airflow quality isn’t all that important if you’re willing to use case fans

 

If you can go used there’s probably something on eBay in the sub$200 range that will do fine.  This is the sort of thing that is within the power capacity of many modern smartphones. 
You don’t need fast storage but you do need a lot of it.  A mechanical HD will be the loudest thing in the case if you use one.  For a truely dead silent can’t even tell it’s there in an anechoic chamber kind of thing you’ll want SSDs.  Not for the speed but because there’s no moving parts.

 

[Bombastinator]

13 minutes ago, saint_louis_bagels said:

He was willing to build a dedicated PC. I wanted to at least meet him halfway lmao.

Fair enough.

[Bombastinator]

Looking at that Nvidia shield stuff, what about a raspberry pi running mythTV? Under $50 should be, unless the supply chain is still making PIs rare and expensive.  Nvidia shield would be easier to set up.

[ConfiXs]

2 hours ago, Bombastinator said:

Looking at that Nvidia shield stuff, what about a raspberry pi running mythTV? Under $50 should be, unless the supply chain is still making PIs rare and expensive.  Nvidia shield would be easier to set up.

i thought PIs were for like 8 bit emulators and kid's robot kits

[Bombastinator]

3 hours ago, ConfiXs said:

i thought PIs were for like 8 bit emulators and kid's robot kits

They’re less powerful than modern systems but still pretty powerful by turn-of-the-century standards.  They will run a full on Linux so they can do basically anything, just not always very fast.  Their I/o and storage tend to be limited.  You might for example have to buy a large SD card to use as a drive for example.  My upstairs tenant uses them as his main machines.  Pis and beaglebones.