"Wife Approved" HTPC Machines

Rivettz · April 9

My Significant Other said that I wasn't allowed to have a PC in the living room. I wanted to snap at her and tell her how dumb that sounded considering all the crazy things she tells me she wanted. Regardless, I held my tongue and started to think why this would be the case. She isn't a PC Nerd like You or me. in fact, the only computers she's seen are Office Depot, HP and Dell computers. Which, I agree has no business being in the living room. And also my crazy, massive, loud, flashing, expensive, heavy gaming computer. Well. . . I mean.. As cool as it would be for that to be in the living room. It is understandable. So I responded and told her. "But babe, I would build it in such a way to where you wouldn't have any idea there was even a computer in the room." While I was satisfied with my response, She had other thoughts as it seemed she doubted my abilities. Her response was petty, cocky, and confident that I couldn't do it. Knowing my skills that I have acquired over a decade of building specialized computers, I humbly accepted the challenge and simply said. "Challenge Accepted". I spent the better part of 4 months sifting listings and searching for the perfect case and parts list and I can assure you that I had done it. I set it up in a way to where I had my laptop "plugged into" my TV. When in reality the HTPC was plugged in. I had the same backgrounds and played like I was gonna do something, but I forgot and unplugged and moved my laptop into the other room. Completely lost and very puzzled as to what was happening she asked. "Umm. . You don't use your laptop anymore?" I briefly glanced over and quickly said "Nope." This is when, possibly the single greatest moment in my life occurred when she asked. "Well, where's the computer?" Ladies and Gentlemen, At this moment. I had won. So much so that I was able to build a second one for the Bedroom without question. Here is my Wife Approved Setups (Plural). I also collect these cases as hobby. I wanna see your "Wife Approved" Setups or Even HTPC Machines.

Specs for the Fat one. (Gertrude):

-Antec Fusion 430 V2 Silver PC Case

-Intel i7 4790k (Overclocked to 4.4Ghz)

-Z87 Asus Gryphon Motherboard

-16Gb of DDR3 1866Mhz RAM

-Noctua NH-C14S CPU Cooler

-RTX 2060 Super FE

-EVGA 750Watt PSU

-500Gb SSD

-2Tb 7200RPM HDD

Specs for the Thin One. (Penelope):
-Antec Fusion Micro 350 Silver PC Case

-Intel i7 4790k

-Z97 Asus Gryphon Motherboard

-32Gb of DDR3 1600Mhz RAM

-Noctua NH-L12S CPU Cooler

-Gigabyte GTX 1650 LP

-Antec 350Watt PSU

-500Gb SSD

-2Tb 7200RPM HDD

Both of these Cases have iMON Integrated Media Control Center Screens. These offer the use of iMEDIAN HD Which comes with a remote (that I dont have ) and unlock proper Media Functions. They both work flawlessly, especially since the software hasn't been updated since 2011.

I hope you enjoy my Addiction!

Sidenote: Our Relationship is fantastic and I absolutely love this person with every fiber of my being. She is the greatest women I have the pleasure of being around. She treats me with respect and showers me with true love and affection. I am going to propose to her later this year.

OhioYJ · April 9

That's a nice looking case. These days for my HTPCs I'm using Silverstone GD09s. Then I'm using a Sofabaton X1S (Started with the U2) to control everything. It's nice as a single button can turn everything on (TV, receiver, switch inputs, etc), or you can control everything through Alexa.

I've ordered one of these as well, so I can turn the PC on/off with the remote above as well. However, I ordered it almost a month ago, and still waiting. The guy is at least still communicating though (and offered a refund if I didn't want to wait). I know people on other forums that have received them.

OU812 · April 9

No pics of mine but specs are in my sig.

OhioYJ · April 9

24 minutes ago, OU812 said:

No pics of mine but specs are in my sig.

Silverstone seems to be the go to for HTPC cases. I know I started out with a couple HTPCs here at the house using the ML03 case. Then went to the SG12. I ended up with the GD09 I posted the link to above, as it made it easier for me to pass my gaming parts down to the HTPCs, as the GD09 allows me to use full size parts.

tkitch · April 16

I just use these tiny PCs today:

They're not much bigger than a paperback book, and since intel 7th gen iGPUs and newer output proper 4K (and no video decoding needs more power than this has on the iGPU) slap on a wireless keyboard/touchpad combo, and it's done.

Caroline · April 16

Cool PC. I like the silver cases, but I kept thinking of two things.

On 4/10/2024 at 7:59 AM, Rivettz said:

My Significant Other said that I wasn't allowed to have a PC in the living room.

This would be an instant red flag to me, if my hypothetical husband said something like that and gave me no explanations. And I wouldn't do the same to him if I was married.

And complaining about a computer taking up space when the table is full of random items reminded me of this lol