PBtech exlease for HTPC

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › PBtech exlease for HTPC

blackjack17

1705 posts

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#275728 6-Sep-2020 19:43

My old HTPC desktop is dying, takes a number of reboots each time, beeps randomly and hardrives stop working and then restart when SATA ports are switched.

Would something like this work (playing movies and tv attached to a projector, no gaming)

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/EXWKSHP6061/HP-Prodesk-600-G1-SFF-A-Grade-OFF-LEASE-Intel-Core

Any idea on how many sata ports it has?

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xpd

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#2558038 6-Sep-2020 19:47

4 according to the service manual

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blackjack17

1705 posts

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#2558042 6-Sep-2020 20:05

Kinda out of the PC buying loop but it seems pretty good value for what it is.

I have an SSd plus case and all the extra HD.

Any Gottas or better deals?

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Tzoi

424 posts

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#2558110 6-Sep-2020 21:20

The problem would be whether there is space inside to mount those hard drives

blackjack17

1705 posts

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#2558186 7-Sep-2020 06:55

Tzoi:

The problem would be whether there is space inside to mount those hard drives

Should be a simple matter of throwing the guts into a standard case shouldn't it?

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Andib

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#2558191 7-Sep-2020 08:04

blackjack17:

Tzoi:

The problem would be whether there is space inside to mount those hard drives

Should be a simple matter of throwing the guts into a standard case shouldn't it?

Then you run into the issue of it using a non ATX PSU with non standard connectors. You would need to buy an adaptor to use a standard ATX PSU (which you would need to use as that PSU wouldn't fit a standard ATX case nor will its short cables)

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blackjack17

1705 posts

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#2558192 7-Sep-2020 08:10

Could you run the hardrives as external SATA drives and feed the SATA cables into the case?

Or is this sounding like just buy a new hardboard, cpu ram and power supply territory?

Existing HTPC is a random collection of components scavenged and replaced over 10 years with the newest component being a 4 year old SSD

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1101

3122 posts

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#2558279 7-Sep-2020 10:10

blackjack17:

Would something like this work (playing movies and tv attached to a projector, no gaming)

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/EXWKSHP6061/HP-Prodesk-600-G1-SFF-A-Grade-OFF-LEASE-Intel-Core

too expensive. I wouldnt pay that . Its a approx 2013 PC (original release date)
Look on trademe. Used i5's PC's are often quite cheap

Also, that HP will have non standard parts & a non standard case, as mentioned above . OK untill you need to replace the PSU etc .
You may not even be able to buy a Power Supply any more (except used )
Not the sort of thing for tinkering with .

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JimmyH

2886 posts

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#2560620 9-Sep-2020 08:54

Tzoi:

The problem would be whether there is space inside to mount those hard drives

I wouldn't fill it with hard drives myself. On the assumption that as a HTPC it will be next to the TV, you want to keep it as quiet as possible. And lots of drives/fans etc can be noisy.

Personally I would put one/two drives in it (an SSD for the OS drive, and an SSD or spinning rust specced for low noise for recording), to keep things as simple and quiet as possible.

Then I would use a NAS or server for mass storage, networked, and in another room or closet where noise isn't such an issue.

allio

885 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2560746 9-Sep-2020 10:36

JimmyH:

Tzoi:

The problem would be whether there is space inside to mount those hard drives

I wouldn't fill it with hard drives myself. On the assumption that as a HTPC it will be next to the TV, you want to keep it as quiet as possible. And lots of drives/fans etc can be noisy.

Personally I would put one/two drives in it (an SSD for the OS drive, and an SSD or spinning rust specced for low noise for recording), to keep things as simple and quiet as possible.

Then I would use a NAS or server for mass storage, networked, and in another room or closet where noise isn't such an issue.

Take this to its logical conclusion and ditch the HTPC entirely. Get a small ARM device that runs Kodi like a Shield, ODROID or RPI4 instead.

Trying to spec a cheap HTPC capable of modern requirements like 4K and HDR is just not time, cost, space or noise effective these days.

blackjack17

1705 posts

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#2560798 9-Sep-2020 11:08

NASs are expensive esp 5 disk one. I could spend $600-$800 on one, then another $100 on a thin client, or I could take that nearly $1000 and get myself a mountain bike or new sleeping mat/tramping stuff.

MMlakeman very kindly gave me an old HP SFF 800G1 with 16gb of ram and it is working very nicely, so much quieter and faster than my old one. I have been able to get 3 hardrives into it, but the only limitation is the MB only has 3 sata ports. Will need to get a PCI expansion board or something. Those old HP ex lease computers are really quiet.

In an ideal world yes a NAS setup with thin client set up with a brand new 4K projector but the reality is I have a working pc that can run games and movies/TV plugged into an old project with an 80 inch screen that I didn't have to spend much money on.

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allio

885 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2560860 9-Sep-2020 11:30

You definitely don't need to buy one of those dedicated NASes. I agree that they're far too expensive for what they are. Any old general purpose hardware will do. You can run FreeNAS, UnRAID, OpenMediaVault... or just Linux (or Windows if you prefer).

I use my oldest/slowest CPU and motherboard as my NAS. It very slowly gets upgraded as my other machines do, but to be honest even an old dual core and 4GB of RAM is enough. It's easy enough to find motherboards with 6x SATA ports, or you can buy a PCIe card that will handle 8x SATA drives for around $100 and use it in whatever machine you want.

Up to you though.

I would not buy the PBTech ex-lease for what you want of it. They are not set up to comfortably have more than 1-2X internal 3.5 HDDs, and as mentioned above it's not straightforward to move the guts into another case. If I were you I would look for a cheap old second hand regular desktop with a case that can fit 5 HDDs. You can use it either as an HTPC + fileserver, or just as a straight NAS later if you end up picking up a thin client.

Mehrts

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#2560954 9-Sep-2020 12:35

I've recently purchased an ex-lease HP Elitedesk 800 G2 SFF with Intel i5 6500 & 8 GB RAM, so very similar to what you're looking at, just slightly newer/better hardware. Paid $375 for it via Trademe, so you can definitely get better deals than what PB Tech have on offer. This particular model only has three SATA connectors on the MB however.

I've replaced the original 3.5" HDD with an NVMe SSD via a PCIe to m.2 adapter, and it's made a world of difference to boot & usage speeds.

I've also already had plenty of 1TB 2.5" drives lying around, so I purchased a bracket which allows the mounting of two 2.5" drives in the same space as a 3.5" one.

Decided to throw a low profile GTX 1650 in it too, just because really..

End goal for this machine is to load up a bunch of VMs under Proxmox, including GPU passthrough, so I can use it as a mild "remote" gaming rig while also serving up all my standard home needs (Unifi Controller, NAS software, Plex, Ad-blocking etc).

For a HTPC, I think there are smarter options, however it's not a completely silly idea to use one of these ex-lease machines. They don't use much power (I'm measuring ~20watts at idle & 120w at full usage under extreme stress-test conditions).

Just thought I'd share my 2cents based on my limited experience with these machines.

PANiCnz

990 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2561159 9-Sep-2020 15:46

What frond end are you using for your HTPC? If its just Kodi you can probably get better value from an ARM device like an Odroid N2 or similar.

The Prodesk 600 G1 wont do 4k60 or HDR, will be fine for 1080p.

JimmyH

2886 posts

Uber Geek

#2562498 11-Sep-2020 18:33

I assumed that you wanted a full HTPC etc. With things like an optical drive, terrestrial/satellite tuners, and recording capability etc. Which is pretty much the point of using a "full fat" PC connected to the TV nowadays.

Reading the further replies it now reads as if you just want something to play back media files, and deal with the major streaming services, and not also deal with discs and live TV etc.

If that's the case then a full PC is probably overkill in terms of both expense and hassle. I would set up a small server with something like Plex (which could be as simple and inexpensive as a raspberry pi with one or more USB drives plugged in) and network it. Then just connect a cheap networked client (Chromecast, Roku, Apple TV, Mii Box or similar) to the TV. As long as it can direct play most formats, as a Pi isn't really up to transcoding. Job done.

everettpsycho

614 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2562510 11-Sep-2020 19:10

I picked up a second hand dell optiplex for $100 on trade me with similar specs to the one linked. Essentially just stuck a 4tb drive in it and whacked it in the garage to serve files using Plex and installed the Plex app on our smart TV and it works a treat. The 4570 is ok enough for a single transcode stream so we can also use Plex on the chromecast, Xbox and PS4 if we need it, the TV handles native playback though.