In the market for a new computer, is there anything to look for if used as a home office streaming source?

[Timcognito]

Lots of small boxes to save space if not looking for a laptop. Read all comments for models of interest here to save some $$.

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[Hal_01]

I am looking to upgrade my home office and need to buy a new computer; my current one is over 12 years old. I don't do much that is processor-intensive; I mostly use Word, Visio, email, basic photo editing, and web browsing. Is there anything to look for if it will be the streaming music source for my home office? Currently, I have an old Dell mini-PC with Schiit Modi2 and Vali 2 and a Dayton 2.1 channel amp pushing a Dayton 10" sub and a pair of home-built 6-1/2" 2-ways. It's not perfect, but it is acceptable. The new desktop system will most likely be a Topping DX5 ii and active speakers, maybe the JBL 305s or a pair of Genelecs if I can afford them. And a sub of some sort. I haven't figured that part out yet. I am looking for opinions and suggestions, please.

I am in the same boat. Just now putting together a system for my Desktop. My old PreSonus 7" Eris just do not cut the mustard and never did. Now one has quit on me and I am very pleased to just let it be and buy something new. I chose an Edifier - R2850DB, well they only come in a pair. My new Sub eye candy for right now is the Kali Audio WS-6.2 studio subwoofer. Just sayin.
Now if you have the level of competence to build your set of speakers then you certainly have the ability to build your own PC. Does it absolutely have to be a Laptop?
Build your own all AMD PC for price and performance. Something you can be proud of. Just sayin again.
Anyway Im sure you have lots more suggestions by the end of the day. Carry on.

 

[Gitfiddle]

You are right - it sems to you.
Every noise added will raise the noise "carpet", and these streamer PCs / HTPCs are mostly close to the listening position.
Why have cooling fans where they are not necessary?
For player/streamer and most office duties, a 10 years old fanless PC will be sufficient.
If they are not, there is a "hybrid" solution - a system with cooling fan(s), but zero RPM up to a certain temperature.

The sound of a fan varies from model to model too. My noctua 140mm PWM fans are dead silent at 33% speed (roughly 500rpm) I'm pretty sure at 100% (~1500rpm) they are rated at 25db or close to that. (24.6db, checked the website.)

Multiple fans is where it gets tricky, since having 2 fans increases the DB by about 3 if I'm not mistaken.

 

[xanalog]

Would a used Intel (now under Asus) NUC be an alternative for you to consider.
I have a NUC10i7 as HTPC as well as a regular networked PC w/a 4K screen.
I also run a NUC8i5 as a regular desktop for my mate.
Look for large RAM and at least Intel i5 running Win11, if you are in that world.

 

[majingotan]

Playing back and streaming music literally takes zero effort on the resources at all. As you can see, the Ethernet streaming music is about 2.4 Mbps streaming constantly while CPU usage during playback is 3% @ 0.7 GHz on a dual core Intel laptop

 

[dalbert02]

Thank you, everyone, for your replies. I do not have a huge collection, so I mostly stream.
Before I buy something, I will look at the used computer parts bin at work and see what they are throwing away. I recall seeing a few HP micro PCs that are about 6" x 6" and fanless, and probably only 4-5 years old. Perhaps just removing the HDD and installing an SSD will be "good enough". Sometimes you don't know what you don't know, and I was under the impression I'd want something super high speed. Good to know older stuff will work fine, and I get to save a few bucks. If the used parts bin is unproductive, I'll look on eBay for a Mac Mini; they certainly look unobtrusive.

 

[rcstevensonaz]

Before I buy something, I will look at the used computer parts bin at work [...] probably only 4-5 years old. ...

For age, the only thing to pay attention to is whether you are still able to run the most recent version of the OS with latest security patches.

Since my media server is running on Debian (headless), I can easily run the latest secure version on a computer that is over 20 years old.

But my 2009 Mac mini — which still runs perfectly fine — cannot run the latest OS.

Anything that cannot run Windows 10 or Windows 11 is out of the question. And if you are going to run Windows, I'd only go with a machine that is able to run Windows 11 (which should be true of most 4 to 5 year old computers, but not all).