Relocating the PC

[Chromatischism]

Features and Benefits
• Transmits an uncompressed high speed HDMI signal over one CAT-5e/6/7 cable
• Supports HDTV resolutions to 1080p and computer resolutions to 1920x1200

No DisplayPort and no ultra-wide or 3840x2160?

 

[Berwhale]

and it will simplify the regular backups

Backing up to a drive in the same PC is not a great idea. A good backup strategy should include physical separation and separate media.

 

[Chromatischism]

Because the PC needs to be used as a PC in the same room as the music is listened to and the PC needs to be on to make the music files accessible. Previously, the PC could be turned off as the music files were hosted on a NAS.

Correct. Plus the NAS is an extra cost that can be cut out. However...

Personally, I would spend my time and money making the PC silent. I don't get the heat issue, my PC puts out very little heat - in fact, I have a heated mat under my desk, where my PC is, to keep my feet warm in winter!

I will consider it but I'm quite happy with my i7-6700k at 4.5 Ghz and didn't plan on changing things for a couple of years. Maybe.

The simplest is to just move it out of the room. If only Corning et al didn't want $400+ for an optical Thunderbolt cable.

 

[Chromatischism]

Backing up to a drive in the same PC is not a great idea. A good backup strategy should include physical separation and separate media.

My backup is to an external drive that is removed and put into storage.

 

[sarumbear]

I included your mini PC 'solution' along with 2 others and then pointed out that they may not meet the requirements in other ways.

What other ways do you think that Mac Mini will not be enough as an audio server, the OP asked for?

 

[Berwhale]

What other ways do you think that Mac Mini will not be enough as an audio server, the OP asked for?

The OP did not ask for an audio server, you have completely missed the point of the question

 

[Trell]

My PC is practically silent. It's housed in a Cooler Master Silencio 352 case, has a quiet, all-in-one water CPU cooler, 4x Nocuta fans and a Noctua digital fan speed controller (allows the fans to run very slowly without stalling). The extra measures to make the case quiet probably added about 10% to the overall system cost.

How much noise does the water pump make when under low load, like when just browsing the WWW, listening to music or watching Netflix? That is one of the weak points of water cooling if one wants it quiet.

 

[sarumbear]

The OP did not ask for an audio server, you have completely missed the point of the question

It's my main rig but will also become my media server

Did I?

 

[Berwhale]

How much noise does the water pump make when under low load, like when just browsing the WWW, listening to music or watching Netflix? That is one of the weak points of water cooling if one wants it quiet.

I can't hear it, it's integrated into the water block. I used to build custom water cooling rigs, so I know what an Ehiem pump can sound like ratting around in the bottom of a case

I suspect the PSU fan is the noisiest one in my current PC. To be honest, I don't play games any more, so it's never really under load - I've forgotten what my GTX 1060 sounds like.

 

[Berwhale]

Did I?

Yes, you missed the first part about it being the OPs 'main rig'.

 

[Lambda]

I would get dedicated a Low power PC for everyday use and as NAS.
You wont hear it at ideal and its saves you power.
If you need the computing power turn on your old PC.

Or bite the bullet and buy the expensive extenuation Cable.
I would go with fiber but ther are planty of video and USB3 to fiber solutions available.

While at it i would think abut routing a power cable the same way so you don’t get any Ground potentiall issues in case you need to plug non fiber cable in the pc

 

[AudioAaron]

The simplest is to just move it out of the room. If only Corning et al didn't want $400+ for an optical Thunderbolt cable.

Just bite the bullet and be done with it.

 

[Chromatischism]

I would get dedicated a Low power PC for everyday use and as NAS.
You wont hear it at ideal and its saves you power.
If you need the computing power turn on your old PC.

Or bite the bullet and buy the expensive extenuation Cable.
I would go with fiber but ther are planty of video and USB3 to fiber solutions available.

While at it i would think abut routing a power cable the same way so you don’t get any Ground potentiall issues in case you need to plug non fiber cable in the pc

Using a basic PC for regular stuff is one idea, but I can see a lot of crossover that may make actual use more complicated. And, I think it would only work if the computers shared the same drives. I'll consider it, though.

Also I didn't get the impression that USB3 is enough to run monitors and is why I would want Thunderbolt.

 

[Lambda]

Do you already have a working thunderbolt setup?
Because Thunderbolt is basically PCI over a USB Cable or display port or USB3.
So compatibility is sometimes tricky.

There are " 4K@60Hz 40m/130ft over Single Cat5e/6a" options for about 100$
Going SDI might be a also option to consider.

Also I didn't get the impression that USB3 is enough to run monitors and is why I would want Thunderbolt.

usb3 would be only for data not for video

 

[Offler]

Also I didn't get the impression that USB3 is enough to run monitors and is why I would want Thunderbolt.

USB 3.0 can run 5, 10 or 20 gigabit.

USB - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Display Port 1.4 (without A) on my system allows for 32,4 gigabit at 4k 120Hz, 24bit RGB...

I would say its comparable and depends on resolution, refresh rate... etc...

 

[restorer-john]

The beauty of a NAS on the network is anything and everything can access it, it's self contained, doesn't pull much power and can be put anywhere. The bigger ones of course have more fans and make more noise, but I retired my 5 bay Synology as I simply didn't need all that storage and went to a fanless single bay NAS. I would always maintain my own local network storage.

But like the OP, it is getting old and I recently backed up everything 'just in case' it fails.

It's a catch 22. If you want a full blown extremely powerful PC in your audio/video system, it's going to make noise. If you just want to watch movies, Netflix, blurt on the internet a bit, a silent small form factor PC is fine.

Running long cables from a PC in another room or in a cupboard is not my cup of tea either.

 

[pseudoid]

Diskless (BYODx2) WD MyCloud EX2 Ultra is at $150 at amazon.
I got stuck using WD wayback-when and this 'newer' version "serves" my needs w/ease and "Flex"!
I did not catch what vintage you current pc-rig is but if older than about 5 yrs, building a BRAND NEW rugged HomeTheatrePC server maybe to build your own to last another 5 years. I am guessing spending the equivalent of <$200/yr (x5yrs) is about the best ROI target you should aim for. Incrementally, you can upgrade the current monitor(s) and HDD/SDDs as required and still keep under $1k initial build cost on target.
Water Cooling, as previously suggested, is already provisioned in most high-end 21st century gamer motherboards. Properly-built with cooling and inlet/exhaust considerations will allow the rig to not need full-on fan noise because all new PC fans are 3pin pwm fans (especially the BSH Noctua fans)... even when video transcoding >> if the proper "ADD-ON" GPU is part of the HTPC.
If video is involved resist the temptation to go for fanless designs, or the Intel NUC family, or CPUs w/built-in GPUs.
Including a dual-NICs (in your build) will allow to serve your home network separate from the ISP (but in a "Bridged" config.)

 

[Chromatischism]

I did not catch what vintage you current pc-rig is but if older than about 5 yrs, building a BRAND NEW rugged HomeTheatrePC server maybe to build your own to last another 5 years. I am guessing spending the equivalent of <$200/yr (x5yrs) is about the best ROI target you should aim for. Incrementally, you can upgrade the current monitor(s) and HDD/SDDs as required and still keep under $1k initial build cost on target.
Water Cooling, as previously suggested, is already provisioned in most high-end 21st century gamer motherboards. Properly-built with cooling and inlet/exhaust considerations will allow the rig to not need full-on fan noise because all new PC fans are 3pin pwm fans (especially the BSH Noctua fans)... even when video transcoding >> if the proper "ADD-ON" GPU is part of the HTPC.

It's a 2016 build:

i7-6700K at 4.5 Ghz
ASUS Z170 Pro
32GB DDR4
Nvidia GTX 1070
Samsung EVO 850 drives

The next system would likely be an AMD Zen (4?) based system.

 

[Berwhale]

Also I didn't get the impression that USB3 is enough to run monitors and is why I would want Thunderbolt.

As I explained in my previous post, I have a 34" UWQHD display connected over USB 3.2 Gen 2. USB 3.2 Gen 2 supports supports 20Gbps of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient to drive the screen at full resolution and refresh rate.

I guess the issue will be what version of USB is supported on your motherboard (my laptop has Thunderbolt). Looks like your Z170-Pro supports USB 3.1 which supports up to 10Gbps.

 

[Berwhale]

USB 3.0 can run 5, 10 or 20 gigabit.

USB 3.0 can run 5, USB 3.1 can run 10, USB 3.2 can run 20.