Mini ITX HTPC 4k playback upgrades?

Movie Maestro

Hey all,

My current HTPC:

Gigabyte F2A85XN-WIFI Motherboard (REV 1.0) (Socket FM2, AMD A85X, DDR3, S-ATA 600, Mini ITX, PCI Express 2.0, Wi-Fi, USB 3.0, HDMI)
AMD APU A6 6400K Black Edition Quad Core Processor (Socket FM2, Dual Core, 3.9GHz, 1MB, 65W, AD640KOKHLBOX, Richland, Turbo Core 3.0 Technology) -
1x Samsung EVO 840 120GB SSD
1x Seagate 2tb 2.5 inch hard disk.
8GB DDR3 RAM
Streacom FC8 EVO Fanless Case
Mini-Box picoPSU-120-WI-25 + Genuine Channel Well Technology (CWT) 12V 10A, 120W AC adapter.

The machine has a spare PCI-E low profile expansion card slot.


My HTPC is around 7 years old and can't play 4k video content well so I'd like to change that without spending a fortune!
The way I see it is that I have two options...

1. Add a low profile graphics card capable of 4k HDR playback to my current HTPC, passively cooled.
2. Replace the entire system with an Intel NUC that's capable of 4k playback. Would prefer this for the size.

Any suggestions on the best route to take here please? The device is currently under the TV in my living room and blends in very well. My priority is keeping the whole thing cool and quiet:)

I'm conscious that the power supply may struggle with the extra card so I'm not sure what route to take. The case does get quite warm right now but never overheats.

Thanks guys,
Movie Maestro:D

BloodBath

This should do the job and give you more power, and better upgrade options, than an intel nuc of a similar price. Pushing the PSU but it should be fine.

There's 6 and 8 core newer gen Ryzen APU's on the way as well if you want to wait for those for even more power or it's an upgrade option later. There's going to be 35w and 65w variants of the 6 and 8 core chips too.

I've read it might not be able to play netflix 4k though. There's people in here who know more about this than me anyway. Maybe someone else can chip in.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3400G 3.7 GHz Quad-Core Processor (£128.32 @ Senetic)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B450 I AORUS PRO WIFI Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard (£99.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (£59.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £288.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-08-24 19:28 BST+0100

Movie Maestro

BloodBath wrote: »

This should do the job and give you more power, and better upgrade options, than an intel nuc of a similar price. Pushing the PSU but it should be fine.

There's 6 and 8 core newer gen Ryzen APU's on the way as well if you want to wait for those for even more power or it's an upgrade option later. There's going to be 35w and 65w variants of the 6 and 8 core chips too.

I've read it might not be able to play netflix 4k though. There's people in here who know more about this than me anyway. Maybe someone else can chip in.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3400G 3.7 GHz Quad-Core Processor (£128.32 @ Senetic)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B450 I AORUS PRO WIFI Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard (£99.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (£59.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £288.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-08-24 19:28 BST+0100

Cheers for that Bloodbath, gives me something to consider alright. Would be interested to hear from others here too.

Gooey Looey

Why not just buy a Nvidia Shield. I spent years building custom PC's and went from HTPC to a Shield a few years ago as it's now not worth the hassle of self build a HTPC. I instead built an 8TB NAS hidden away on a rack in the attic which I have as mounted network storage on the shield but I stream most media through Emby, Netflix, Tivimate etc. I also have a shared directory 300GB of retro games I can emulate on the Shield using Retrox. The Shield does so much out of the box and has ongoing support through updates

Inviere

Gooey Looey wrote: »

Why not just buy a Nvidia Shield. I spent years building custom PC's and went from HTPC to a Shield a few years ago as it's now not worth the hassle of self build a HTPC. I instead built an 8TB NAS hidden away on a rack in the attic which I have as mounted network storage on the shield but I stream most media through Emby, Netflix, Tivimate etc. I also have a shared directory 300GB of retro games I can emulate on the Shield using Retrox. The Shield does so much out of the box and has ongoing support through updates

I done exactly the same. I bought x2 Nvidis Shield's for the house, and now have all my media stored on an Unraid server hidden away. I've configured Kodi to use a shared database, which lives on the server....meaning I can stop watching content in the living room, and continue it in the other room. I have the media set as shares in Unraid (Movies, TV, etc)...and simply point the Kodi clients to those shares (no transcoding needed in the house), so it's nice and simple. The Shield will handle most any regular media, from SD to 4K without breaking a sweat.

I've recently moved most of my emulation content onto the Server too, though I still use my itx pc in the living room to access that (the Shield is ok for emulation, but for a better experience you need something with a bit more grunt. Then you can use the run-ahead feature in RetroArch, run some nice shaders, and more higher end systems like PS2, PS3, Wii U, etc).

Movie Maestro

@ Gooey Looey & Inviere, WOW thanks for the suggestion! I knew about the Shield but never really considered it as I do like to have a Windows 10 box under my TV running KODI. The Shield seems to handle 4k flawlessly which is a huge plus for me. This would also avoid the hassle of building another HTPC. Is it possible to connect an external USB hard disk to the shield and play content off that?

Inviere

Movie Maestro wrote: »

The Shield seems to handle 4k flawlessly which is a huge plus for me.

It handles 4K in a way Windows can only dream of I went from a weird madvr Windows setup with batch files etc....so just simply pressing play on a Shield.

This would also avoid the hassle of building another HTPC. Is it possible to connect an external USB hard disk to the shield and play content off that?

Yes it has x2 USB 3.0 slots on the back. It'll provide enough juice to run x1 unpowered drive, but not two. If using x2 you'd be better using powered desktop drives.

Gooey Looey

Kodi runs lovely in the Shield and handles any 4k bitrate and every audio and video codec you can throw at it.

I also forgot to mention gaming. The Shield is primarily a console, which is why it gets so much support and constant updates. As well as retro emulators you also have native Android games, Nvidia geforce now (pc games streamed to your Shield from Steam, uplay and epic stores) and Nvidia gamestream (stream pc games from you gaming pc on your lab if you have a Nvidia GPU)

You honestly won't find a better setup than a Shield and it's pretty much plug and play. Hey the 2017 version with the gaming controller the new one has no real advantages and the gaming controller is 80ish

Movie Maestro

Inviere wrote: »

It handles 4K in a way Windows can only dream of I went from a weird madvr Windows setup with batch files etc....so just simply pressing play on a Shield.



Yes it has x2 USB 3.0 slots on the back. It'll provide enough juice to run x1 unpowered drive, but not two. If using x2 you'd be better using powered desktop drives.

Great info, thanks for that Inviere :D:D

Movie Maestro

Gooey Looey wrote: »

Kodi runs lovely in the Shield and handles any 4k bitrate and every audio and video codec you can throw at it.

I also forgot to mention gaming. The Shield is primarily a console, which is why it gets so much support and constant updates. As well as retro emulators you also have native Android games, Nvidia geforce now (pc games streamed to your Shield from Steam, uplay and epic stores) and Nvidia gamestream (stream pc games from you gaming pc on your lab if you have a Nvidia GPU)

You honestly won't find a better setup than a Shield and it's pretty much plug and play. Hey the 2017 version with the gaming controller the new one has no real advantages and the gaming controller is 80ish

Cheers Gooey Looey, great info. Not a big gamer but always a bonus and the retro emulators would be cool to have.
Expecting delivery of an LG 48CX OLED TV this week from Richer Sounds so the Shield looks like a solid addition to have for 4K

Inviere

Movie Maestro wrote: »

Expecting delivery of an LG 48CX OLED TV this week from Richer Sounds so the Shield looks like a solid addition to have for 4K

It's a perfect combination

Movie Maestro

Hey guys, are any of you using a USB hub with the shield, I' d need to attach 2x USB hard disks and a Logitech K400 keyboard. Should I go for a powered hub just in case?

Gooey Looey

Movie Maestro wrote: »

Hey guys, are any of you using a USB hub with the shield, I' d need to attached 2x USB hard disks and a Logitech K400 keyboard. Should I go for a powered hub just in case?

Yes, I'm using a hub with a 64GB usb3 thumb drive and a k400 also. Mine isn't powered but you definitely need powered.

Movie Maestro

Excellent, thanks for the info Gooey Looey

Inviere

Movie Maestro wrote: »

Hey guys, are any of you using a USB hub with the shield, I' d need to attach 2x USB hard disks and a Logitech K400 keyboard. Should I go for a powered hub just in case?

Late reply, but yeah, 100% you'll need a powered hub.

Movie Maestro

Cheers Inviere:)

Movie Maestro

I'm about to buy a Shield and will be expanding the internal storage by attaching an external drive.

Which would be my best option from these two thanks?

1 - Attach this USB thumb drive to the shield (using an extension cable to avoid overheating issues).
2 - I have a spare 256GB SSD which I could put into an external drive enclosure and attach that via USB.

Gooey Looey

Movie Maestro wrote: »

I'm about to buy a Shield and will be expanding the internal storage by attaching an external drive.

Which would be my best option from these two thanks?

1 - Attach this USB thumb drive to the shield (using an extension cable to avoid overheating issues).
2 - I have a spare 256GB SSD which I could put into an external drive enclosure and attach that via USB.

Either is fine. I myself have the first option but I also have 8TB network storage mounted on the Shield. You can adopt the storage as internal storage on the Shield

Movie Maestro

Cheers for the quick reply Gooey Looey!