Hey guys
This is the start of my project and it might take a couple of months to build as I will start sourcing all the different components.
This thread is first and foremost to get some help and advice and then putting the build together.
I have been doing some research and I wanted to run a few ideas by you gurus.
First, my current setup.
OrigenAE S16V (gorgeousness) with VF310 VFD/IR Module
400w power supply from way back when
i7 3770k
Asus P8z77 Vpro Fulll ATX
16GB
240GB Samsung evo 840
Asus Nvidia GTX 1070 3GB
The above rig is used mostly as an HTPC for playback of Blueray Rips, Full quality MKVs.
I feel it is oversized and that is purely because of the Asus GTX 1070 3GB and the full ATX with dual fans etc.
The software MPC HC was set up using Ezoden's guide which now appears to be offline. It was an awesome guide and a shame its no longer available.
Audio bitstream and Video goes through HDMI to a Denon AVR x2300 receiver to my 5.1.2 system and then to my TV.
Here is a picture of my living room with an old TV and Reciever.
Because I love new projects and I want to create the slimmest possible HTPC with all the bells and whistles, I am starting this build log. Its just for the HTPC though, everything else around it will stay the same.
--------------------------
The inspiration came from this case available on perfecthometheatre
Its configurable and will use an external power brick. It can also be configured with an IR Reciever
I saw a very old build log for this case here:
The only problem is that this case accepts thin mITX MBs. There are no thin mITX MBs with the built HDMI 2.0a configuration. The case is just too thin (arrgggh). In light of that I will have to resort to a different case and came across this Streacom one (not as good looking but will do).
Because I need this to work with 4k 60Hz, I will need a Mini ITX motherboard that supports that out of the box without any additional GPU. There is no way I can fit a dual slot GPU in there (of any size). Risers won't help either. I saw the user's guide and it shows that a riser card can be used for a full height GPU, but no dual slot. All modern GPU's with HDMI 2.0a are dual slot (GTX 1070 and 1080)
From some research, I saw this thread on EVGA
This leads me to believe that the ASRock Fatal1ty Z270 Gaming-ITX/ac couple with any Kaby Lake i5 or i7 CPU with Intel graphics 630/640/650 will give the desired HDMI 2.0a 4k 60Hz output. The need for a hdmi 2.0a GPU goes with this combo.
A few other MB options appear here:
At this time, there are only 5 items that I have found that will work together.
ASRock Fatal1ty Z270 Gaming-ITX/ac
Streacom FC5 Evo Fanless Chassis
A Kaby lake CPU with Iris 630/640/650 graphics
Any fast m.2 SSD
16GbB RAM (any RAM will do I guess)
A slot loading Blue ray drive.
I am still looking at
Cooling options (apparently we dont need that for the case as the whole case is a heatsink)
Power supply (external or pico)
IR receiver (full on and off functions that work with my Harmony remote)
I will build the system and show updates in this thread, I need some ideas on what else I may be missing or any suggestions for what other case options I should consider.
Thoughts, please?
This is the start of my project and it might take a couple of months to build as I will start sourcing all the different components.
This thread is first and foremost to get some help and advice and then putting the build together.
I have been doing some research and I wanted to run a few ideas by you gurus.
First, my current setup.
OrigenAE S16V (gorgeousness) with VF310 VFD/IR Module
400w power supply from way back when
i7 3770k
Asus P8z77 Vpro Fulll ATX
16GB
240GB Samsung evo 840
Asus Nvidia GTX 1070 3GB
The above rig is used mostly as an HTPC for playback of Blueray Rips, Full quality MKVs.
I feel it is oversized and that is purely because of the Asus GTX 1070 3GB and the full ATX with dual fans etc.
The software MPC HC was set up using Ezoden's guide which now appears to be offline. It was an awesome guide and a shame its no longer available.
Audio bitstream and Video goes through HDMI to a Denon AVR x2300 receiver to my 5.1.2 system and then to my TV.
Here is a picture of my living room with an old TV and Reciever.
Because I love new projects and I want to create the slimmest possible HTPC with all the bells and whistles, I am starting this build log. Its just for the HTPC though, everything else around it will stay the same.
--------------------------
The inspiration came from this case available on perfecthometheatre
Its configurable and will use an external power brick. It can also be configured with an IR Reciever
I saw a very old build log for this case here:
The only problem is that this case accepts thin mITX MBs. There are no thin mITX MBs with the built HDMI 2.0a configuration. The case is just too thin (arrgggh). In light of that I will have to resort to a different case and came across this Streacom one (not as good looking but will do).
Because I need this to work with 4k 60Hz, I will need a Mini ITX motherboard that supports that out of the box without any additional GPU. There is no way I can fit a dual slot GPU in there (of any size). Risers won't help either. I saw the user's guide and it shows that a riser card can be used for a full height GPU, but no dual slot. All modern GPU's with HDMI 2.0a are dual slot (GTX 1070 and 1080)
From some research, I saw this thread on EVGA
This leads me to believe that the ASRock Fatal1ty Z270 Gaming-ITX/ac couple with any Kaby Lake i5 or i7 CPU with Intel graphics 630/640/650 will give the desired HDMI 2.0a 4k 60Hz output. The need for a hdmi 2.0a GPU goes with this combo.
A few other MB options appear here:
At this time, there are only 5 items that I have found that will work together.
ASRock Fatal1ty Z270 Gaming-ITX/ac
Streacom FC5 Evo Fanless Chassis
A Kaby lake CPU with Iris 630/640/650 graphics
Any fast m.2 SSD
16GbB RAM (any RAM will do I guess)
A slot loading Blue ray drive.
I am still looking at
Cooling options (apparently we dont need that for the case as the whole case is a heatsink)
Power supply (external or pico)
IR receiver (full on and off functions that work with my Harmony remote)
I will build the system and show updates in this thread, I need some ideas on what else I may be missing or any suggestions for what other case options I should consider.
Thoughts, please?
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