Anyone using an HTPC in 2020?

jpaul · 19 Jul 2020 at 10:20

benjii said:
Our HTPC just has a G4560, 8GB ram and a GTX 1060 6GB. It does very well with madVR processing.

so, although my laptop has the cpu power+mem, it can't match a 1060 performance, this is becoming an expensive&hot laptop upgrade.

garnett said:
I am probably missing something.

the laptop screen, next to you on the sofa, means easy selection of media, using keyboard, as opposed to using, multi-function numeric remote keys.

andy_mk3 · 19 Jul 2020 at 10:29

Sold mine a few years ago. I run Emby on a server and use smart TV or chromecast to play stuff now.

Although I have ended up building a new PC to attach to the living room for gaming, it doesn't get used for any kind of media playback really.

hornetstinger · 19 Jul 2020 at 11:31

jpaul said:
so, although my laptop has the cpu power+mem, it can't match a 1060 performance, this is becoming an expensive&hot laptop upgrade.

the laptop screen, next to you on the sofa, means easy selection of media, using keyboard, as opposed to using, multi-function numeric remote keys.

LOL rubbish. Kodi much better than using keyboard/mouse and laptop screen, or music player.

Android S912 for video plus squeezebox for music.

jpaul · 19 Jul 2020 at 11:38

you've tried pilotting TIDAL from a phone/tv, versus a laptop ?

Mujja · 19 Jul 2020 at 11:58

Front end is a Shield TV plus a HTPC with DVB-T tuners and several HDDs for media running Emby.

The only person who refuses to watch streamed TV is the wife. e.g. she only wants to watch the news live or recorded on the TV. I've setup a tablet for her with all the streaming apps and Emby, she can watch more on the tablet but no it has to be the living room TV.

I still record some live TV but don't remember the last time anyone except the wife watched any. Even downloaded TV is rarely watched, kids prefer Prime Video, Netflix, Youtube etc.

hornetstinger · 19 Jul 2020 at 11:59

jpaul said:
you've tried pilotting TIDAL from a phone/tv, versus a laptop ?

Don't use streaming audio/video music services, and certainly wouldn't use paid services.

robgmun · 19 Jul 2020 at 12:08

Gimpymoo said:
Anyone using a PC in 2020 in their main living area instead of a streaming stick/box/native TV apps?

Yes, I have a full-blown gaming desktop connected and it's 90% of what I use in the living room. When not on the PS4/xbox or playing a UHD/BD disc. I'm steaming, playing steam games, and internet browsing, mostly YouTube.

I don't see this changing anytime soon

the shadow · 19 Jul 2020 at 12:27

desktop connected to tv 100% no live tv

Steeps · 20 Jul 2020 at 01:40

I run a low powered pc as a stand up desk next to the TV for checking emails, quick shopping or catching up on anything instead of sitting down with the laptop. It stores media for direct access from the TV as the TV handles 24fps content better, saved on multiroom cost with pc handling skygo with the main box in a different room. Slowly using the pc less as I'm exploring plex and a NAS, smart TV handles everything else including streaming and recording live TV to USB stick.

iamtheoneneo · 20 Jul 2020 at 20:57

Server upstairs that provides media to an OSMC in two living rooms works for me. I used to have a windows HTPC but it's so much faff to configure for just movies.

agw_01 · 20 Jul 2020 at 21:12

I run some crappy HP 4th gen i5 thing, 8GB RAM and an M-Audio sound card hooked up to both a stereo amp and my Yamaha receiver. I mainly use it for Spotify and Tidal, but it's also handy for when I want to watch Netflix/Youtube or any films stored on my server on the projector. For everything else though, I use the apps on my TV and ARC to the receiver.

mid_gen · 23 Jul 2020 at 14:45

This thread is giving me flashbacks to the HTPC I had in 2008/9...nice Silverstone unit with an LCD display. Took ungodly numbers of hours to get it all working reliably.

Ain't got time for that anymore. Virgin/sky box plus a console does everything.

DJai · 25 Jul 2020 at 08:05

This is a very interesting thread, keep it going. I've got a HTPC I built na couple of years ago that all music, videos and pictures are kept on. It has a decent graphics card in it in case there is ever time to play games. It can be hooked up to a Freesat tuner in the future too and can then record.

gEd · 26 Jul 2020 at 14:53

I've been running a HTPC for 15 years.
Current spec is a 2500K with 16GB RAM (from old main rig) a GTX450, Blackgold DVB-T2 tuner, 10TB of storage, FLIRC remote in a black Silverstone HTPC case.
I use NextPVR for scheduling and playback of TV and Radio recordings and for accessing my archive of video content which includes TV shows, movies and music videos (concerts).
NextPVR can stream (and transcode when required) to other clients such as web browsers and mobile devices so I can watch live TV in another room if I want to.
It can also run as a recording service for Kodi, Emby and Plex but I don't currently use these apps as they don't give me any additional functionality that I actually need at this time.

I run Roon server for managing and streaming all of my music and internet radio to my main hifi and kitchen radio via raspberry pi endpoints.
I also periodically replicate my photo collection from my main rig to this PC as additional backup but it also means we can show photos to family on the TV.

For streaming services I use a Roku stick into my Sony 1080 TV which is has no smart apps as it's quite old.

Why bother with recording live TV instead of streaming the show?
Well mainly because that's how I've done it for 15 years and also, our list of TV recordings is limited to just the content we want to watch without having to browse / search through 100's of shows (in say iPlayer) we're not interested in.
I also recall that the streaming services on the commercial channels force you to watch adverts which is annoying. I've barely watched a TV ad for years, I just press FF 3 times to skip past them.

As a when I get a 4K TV, I will likely explore using MadVR for upscaling 1080 content to see how it compares to the TV's upscaling but I imagine heat/noise might become an issue and I may also need a new graphics card.

The PC runs very quiet but not silent which I'd prefer. I use speedfan to regulate the single 120mm case fan as well as CPU fan but the PSU fan is slightly noisier than I'd like (it's an 8 year old Corsair).

I also like having a HTPC as it's basically something I can tinker with.

DJai · 26 Jul 2020 at 17:09

You have the same idea as me and then some!

hornetstinger · 26 Jul 2020 at 17:37

I have built a raspberry pi silent Kodi boz with 50 X 60,000rpm 400volt delta crossaflow fans.

DJai · 26 Jul 2020 at 19:45

hornetstinger said:
I have built a raspberry pi silent Kodi boz with 50 X 60,000rpm 400volt delta crossaflow fans.

Photos please

MG42Maniac · 28 Jul 2020 at 18:29

I used to run a HTPC for years. Retired it about 2 1/2 years ago when I got a Shield. I could never get 4K HDR content to play properly, always had weird issues with audio and dropped frames. Switched to a shield and it's been faultless since. I've got a i7 9700K based server with a Synology NAS that runs Plex in the office but don't miss my HTPC at all.

DJai · 29 Jul 2020 at 09:28

All interesting and helpful to those who are trying decide which way to go.

Blue160 · 29 Jul 2020 at 15:05

I've got a mini ITX HTPC under the telly and have done for many years. It's running a G3258, 4GB DDR3 and onboard graphics. The Virgin Media box gets more use but the HTPC gets used regularly for a number of things.

The workout videos my wife uses come through their own website and aren't streamable via the TV box. It allows us to play films we bought through Sky Store while we had a Sky contract via the Sky Store website. Sticking a webcam on top of the telly allows for a family zoom meet-up on a screen big enough for us all to see as well. It's also been used for some living room gaming through GeForce Now.