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Is this PC a good starting point for an HTPC?

660 views 28 replies 11 participants last post by  Tip24/96 
#1 ·
Ok, so I have a slightly older Windows 7 H/P Pavilion Slimline HP S1931a, desk top PC that I want to use as the core for my movie and music setup. It will use an Asus Xonar U7 DAC running straight into my amps, with JRiver controlling everything. It will be tasked with storing my DVD/Bluray, CD, and music downloads. I will be running makeMKV and/or PowerDVD for ripping Blurays and such. I will be adding some Western Digital external hard drives for media storage. I plan to use JRiver for total control, watching movies in the HT room and sending music to the living rooms speakers.

My questions are; is this PC a good starting point? I would prefer to use what I have and not have to buy a new PC. I have the Asus Xonar U7 already as well. Would I be wise to upgrade the OS to Windows 10 from Windows 7? Any advice would be great.
 
#2 ·
Since the model you name in your post is an 18-inch HP monitor, I'd say that it's not a good starting point for an HTPC. Apart from that, an older Slimline is NOT a good basis for an HTPC. Slimline PCs are prone to failure due to inadequate ventilation and airflow in their cases. Given the age of your model, it's likely that it does not perform that well to begin with and would require RAM and GPU upgrades, which would only increase the heat inside the chassis.
 
#3 ·
Ok, so I have a slightly older Windows 7 H/P Pavilion Slimline HP S1931a, desk top PC that I want to use as the core for my movie and music setup. It will use an Asus Xonar U7 DAC running straight into my amps, with JRiver controlling everything. It will be tasked with storing my DVD/Bluray, CD, and music downloads. I will be running makeMKV and/or PowerDVD for ripping Blurays and such. I will be adding some Western Digital external hard drives for media storage. I plan to use JRiver for total control, watching movies in the HT room and sending music to the living rooms speakers.

My questions are; is this PC a good starting point? I would prefer to use what I have and not have to buy a new PC. I have the Asus Xonar U7 already as well. Would I be wise to upgrade the OS to Windows 10 from Windows 7? Any advice would be great.
I tend to agree with LexInVA that it ultimately would be a waste of time and money. But free is free. That said I did use one as my htpc that was "new" on closeout. Ultimately they are extremely tight and that is very limiting and hard to work on [I doubled the ram right to start to 4GB to be able to use an xb 360 as an extender and I think I took it to 8 to handle three TV tuners recording at one time - think it was a 1.8 intel dual core]. Mine had a power supply that died and HP's replacement is very pricey and off brands were very noisy. Sort of killed the use as htpc and I sold it and did a noiseless custom build.

There are some mini computers that are designed for NAS or attached storage [usb 3.0 or esata desirable for attached drive but giga speed nic required for NAS]. Take a look at a Zotac Zbox, they make models starting in the $150 range and what I think there are nice units for $250 [shop around]. Your asus sound box might work well with one of these items.

Windows 7 or 8.1 are the only game in town right now if your looking at cable TV and an ocur tuner [cablecard]. If your looking at OTA then you have a lot of choices for PVR for whatever platform you want. If none of that is an issue then it may not matter but consider that W7 has the most amount of built in codecs, in W8 home you pay $100 to add most of them or $10 with the Pro version. Still discovering what they left out of W10 but mpeg 2 is one and ou yeah WMC does not exist at all. I recently heard someone is hacking WMC back into W10.
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the reply. Well, I guess that I should start trying to find another desktop PC to use for my purposes. I will likely buy something used, budget in the $150 range. What are some of the relevant specs I should be watching for? Once again, I will have around 8TB of ripped media stored on external hard drives, using JRiver to manage and play back, then have my Asus Xonar U7 doing the D/A conversion going from there straight into my amplifiers. I will not need any TV tuners/cable cards, ect as this will be strictly a movies and music only setup.
 
#5 ·
That computer might represent trade bait, or some cash to start with a new modern build.....


How is the local used internet computer scene? That might let you sell, and then acquire more suitable parts,
at budget prices.


Isn't the big thing about Win10 is DX12? Which means a recent video card is needed, to take advantage of that.


Are you going for a small build? And what display device will you be using?
 
#6 ·
You need to review this from JRiver as to requirements and what you need to take advantage of advanced features -


Hardware Requirements (Minimum)
 Intel or AMD x86 Compatible CPU with SSE2
 256MB RAM
 300MB free hard drive space for installation (plus space for digital media)
 Sound device with a working WDM or ASIO driver
 DirectX-capable Graphics Card (GPU)
 Internet connection (recommended).
Software Requirements
 Windows XP (SP3) and newer
 Please Note: Server editions of Windows are not officially supported.
 Internet Explorer above V6 (see here)
 Microsoft Windows Media Player
 RealPlayer, QuickTime, and Microsoft DirectX may be required to play certain filetypes.
 BluRay Playback requires a non-encrypted source disc, or realtime decryption software.
Windows Server Core and OS Enhancers
JRiver does not support running Media Center on Windows Server, especially when in Core Mode, or with any kind of third-party OS "enhancer" utilities. If you are doing either of these things, then we will be unable to assist you with any issues you encounter.

Recommended System
Theater View and Video playback both require a more powerful, modern PC. While Video playback using Red October Standard should support most current hardware common now, some low-end netbooks and tablet computers may struggle with difficult, high data-rate sources. However, Red October HQ is designed for high end computers, and has more advanced requirements. Our strong recommendation is to download the free trial and test it on your own PC before making any purchasing decisions.
 Intel Core i5 (Quad-Core) or better
 Windows 7/8.1 (32 or 64 bit) or newer
 4GB of RAM
 AMD Radeon HD 6770, Nvidia GTX 550, or better GPU
 Solid state (SSD) boot drive for installation and Library files.
 Theater View quality settings can be modified via: Options > General > Video Card
 
#12 ·
I have decided to go ahead and try to get started using what I currently have. I have my Asus Xonar U7 DAC and will be purchasing another 3TB of storage and downloading JRiver later this week or next. Might as well see if I can get it up and working before dropping more money on a different PC.
 
#13 ·
If I were to upgrade the RAM and CPU in my existing PC, what should I go with? Any links on where to buy this stuff, or specifics on what I should be looking at, would be great.

I don't think that my overall goals and real world usage would be all that demanding. I am just using this PC for movies and music that I am ripping to several TB's of storage for playback on two different rooms/locations, running JRiver. I do, however, plan to utilize some of JRivers many EQ/DSP options, and plan to use this PC going straight into my amplifiers with no AVR or pre/pro.
 
#14 ·
If I were to upgrade the RAM and CPU in my existing PC, what should I go with? Any links on where to buy this stuff, or specifics on what I should be looking at, would be great.
Again, we have no idea what your hardware is because you have not given us any useful information at all. Given the age of your computer and the fact that it's a Slimline, you really can't do anything with it apart from upgrading the memory or replacing the HDD. Even installing an add-in card for USB or a low-profile video card could put your system into dangerous temp levels with the lack of airflow and heat from your CPU.
 
#20 ·
I don't consider any small form factor computer to be a great budget computer, in the long term. What they are, is small and
they tend to be expensive. What they lack, is cost effective expandability, and you tend to get less processing power for your
dollar. There's a limited heat handling capabilities of small and tiny cases.


And when comes the day, that new computer doesn't do what you want, you start over from scratch. With a more standardized computer, you
might have upgrade options that might stave off obsolescence. And you don't necessarily need to start over, from scratch.


You might well be feeling those influences with your current computer. If it was a more standardized format, you might just be upgrading
the processor, motherboard, and maybe the ram. Those small boxes also never allow for the potential of upgrading a video card, either.


I can appreciate the allure of those small boxes, and they can be a nice purpose specific solution, but I would never ever consider them a budget
solution. Now you might get a much quieter computer, but when the noise floor of most rooms is around 55 db, that's somewhat of a sales pitch.
You do get a device that draws less power, but that is somewhat of a sales pitch too.


LexinVA's advice, really nails it. Without your current computer's exact hardware, you run a risk of buying of buying into a small form factor
computer, that doesn't really offer much improvement in overall performance.
 
#23 ·
Is this honestly a decent option? What new parts would I have to add to this unit to make it meet the necessary specs for my intended usage? I am assuming that I would have to immediently have to upgrade some things on it....I also need to get with my programming buddy and see what it would cost to build a new unit. I know that he won't charge me any labor due to the fact that I built him a new bathroom vanity. lol
 
#24 ·
add to it as needed, I wouldn't upgrade the operating system to win 10 and for the intended use I would turn off auto update, maybe slip in a ssd for the os and add 2 2tb wd red internal hard drives, maybe add 4 more gb ram if needed and roll on.


notice through the side panel there is room for hard drives, 4 pci/pci-ex slots, 4 ram slots, so its expandable.
 
#28 ·
I am heavily leaning towards building from scratch. My buddy that I mentioned earlier said that he would help me with it for a pizza and beer.

If I end up going that route, and building from scratch, what would you guys recommend for the CPU, video/graphics card, ect.. The build needs to be done for around $300 if possible. Lower would be better, and I don't mind buying used parts from places like EBay and Craigslist, although if necessary, I could potentially extend the budget marginally higher, but that is hopefully not going to be necessary.
 
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