Desktop Computers
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Jovec
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While not GN-level methodology, Der Bauer did a video on SSD heatsinks. Besides some of the jankiness of the various models, the highlights would be no heatsink vs the mobo heatsink, which provides enough mass to soak up the heat generated and then dissipate it quickly afterwords. Burst loads allow most gen 3 and 4 drives to not throttle - in the video he is running 27 loops of a drive benchmark to get his results. Gen 5 drives though do run hot - at least the initial releases do.
For most people, this is a non-issue. Just use the motherboards included nvme drive heatsink/cover.
Chysamere
<WoW Guild Officer>
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Damn if only I had waited a few more weeks to build my new computer.
Also I absolutely did not see a 5800X3d for sale for the same price as the 5600x I bought. Nope, absolutuly not, didn't happen.
Also I absolutely did not see a 5800X3d for sale for the same price as the 5600x I bought. Nope, absolutuly not, didn't happen.
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fris
Vyemm Raider
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Dunno if it's been asked recent, I don't open this thread much. Is there any guide or recommendations for a media PC? I just want something to steam whatever services I'm paying for, no offline storage of downloaded videos. Prime, HBO, twitch, YouTube, etc. HDMI out so it can connect to my receiver and thus to my 4k cheap HDR tv and 5.1 speaker setup.
I keep seeing these cheap tiny PCs and curious if they're enough for this
I keep seeing these cheap tiny PCs and curious if they're enough for this
Mist
Eeyore Enthusiast
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It would mainly be an issue during the installation or patching of games, not at run-time. Run-time reads are just not that intensive. Bloop bloop load the level assets, done. But Steam's download and installation process is insanely disk/CPU intensive, and so is their patching process. Blizzard's patching process also has a large number of CPU-intensive, disk-intensive writes, as it opens up existing files and tries to shove new data into the existing schemas.
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Fucker
Log Wizard
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Vorph
Bronze Baronet of the Realm
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Just to get it out of the way, why a media pc and not a Fire TV/Stick, Chromecast with Google TV, Shield TV, Roku, etc? Hell, even just about any TV has those apps available now... and if that's not an option Fire TV Sticks are dirt cheap for early Black Friday sales.
Anyway... I bought a Lenovo ThinkCentre m710q for about $100 to use as a Jellyfin streaming box for my Shield TV. The one I got has an i7-7770T in it because I needed hardware acceleration for transcoding; for just streaming from Netflix and such you could easily get away with an i3/i5 cpu and also 6th gen instead of 7th. I'd advise looking at ones that come with Windows installed, or at least a key if you don't already have extra installs available on your MS account. You need HDCP and either the official apps for each streaming platform or a browser that supports DRM, and you can't get any of that working with Linux. I'd look for ones with SSDs to keep it as quiet as possible.
HP made a bunch of different models too, simplest way to find them on Ebay is to search for 'hp tiny pc' since you can't tell from the model number alone whether it's tiny or just SFF.
Some other caveats: They almost never come with a power cord, so factor that into the cost too. Same goes for the wifi antenna if you aren't going to run ethernet. Mine was completely bare with no drive or OS either, which is common. Also, they seem to all have 2-3 DisplayPorts and a slew of USB 2 and 3 ports, but no HDMI, so you'd need a DP to HDMI cable for your setup too.
All that said, I still don't really see the reason for not choosing a dedicated streaming device. Only real advantage of going the tiny PC route is being able to stream stuff you download locally via Plex or Jellyfin (and even then it's best as a server, not the thing you actually plug into the TV). Power usage isn't a win either; even as efficient as a Intel T cpu is it will still get beaten easily by something that just draws USB power.
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Mist
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PCs make terrible streaming-app players on high-end TVs, because most of them are fucky about HDR because Windows still sucks with HDR. Some streaming apps on PC won't even play shit in 4K for reasons.
You're much better off with an Nvidia Shield or a high-end Roku device. Or just using a Playstation 5.
You're much better off with an Nvidia Shield or a high-end Roku device. Or just using a Playstation 5.
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Tmac
Adventurer
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I use an Amazon Fire stick for apps and Plex along w a Synology NAS for my media. I’ve used a PC for years and the NAS is a much better experience.
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Tmac
Adventurer
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Izo
Tranny Chaser
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fris
Vyemm Raider
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the opposite? i'm less concerned w/ price, more performance and size/sound. my thought was a pc would work better. it's a pain to switch between services or search for shows, despite amazon having voice search and nav. every time i go back to a show, it randomly puts me back at s1e1, despite being half way through season n+1.
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Actually I do not have any problems with the various apps and web based streaming services on my PC. Only one which comes to mind which is fucked is Disney+ which pulls me out of full screen mode every time the show episode switches. All the others work flawlessly.
That being said the wife has all kinds of issues like you say with her smart TV and apps. She would pause a show for a wile and then it resets the episode, sometimes going back to S1 Ep1. Shit like that.
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Mist
Eeyore Enthusiast
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Mist
Eeyore Enthusiast
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Most web-based streaming services will not output true 4K HDR on Windows PCs.
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Denamian
Night Janitor
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Mist
Eeyore Enthusiast
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Except when they occasionally fuck up an update and nearly brick the fucking thing.
I've had a shield pro for years and it is the king of streaming boxes.
But hey, it runs Retroarch really fucking well for a streaming box. Wish they'd come out with a new one.
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