:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Apple-Mac-mini-M2-and-M2-Pro-lifestyle-230117_big.jpg.large_2x-799b1adae0a54fb3825bff77088bdfd7.jpg?w=1500&resize=1500,843&ssl=1 "The Greatest House Theater PCs of 2024")
One of the best house theater PCs are small, highly effective, and costly. In case you’re engaged on a price range, you’ll be able to anticipate to sacrifice both dimension, energy, or each to hit your required worth level. That can assist you discover the most suitable choice to your setup, we’ve researched and examined programs from all the highest producers, together with Intel, Apple, Asus, and others.
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Apple
Excessive base price
Upgrades are costly
Built-in graphics
The M2 Mac Mini is an exquisite piece of tech with spectacular specs and a excessive price ticket. Accessible in varied configurations, the Mac Mini comes with one HDMI 2.0 port able to piping 4K video to your TV, and you can too hook up a second 4K show through one of many included Thunderbolt 4 ports. All fashions embody Ethernet for connecting to your house community, and you may even improve to 10GB Ethernet and a suitable high-speed network-attached storage (NAS) unit to spherical out your house theater expertise if you happen to like.
One of the best factor in regards to the M2 Mac Mini, which makes it so properly suited to the position of house theater PC, is the diminutive, unassuming case. This tiny pc is sufficiently small to slip into nearly any house theater setup, both alongside or on prime of your different parts, and the glossy, silver case is unlikely to conflict with the remainder of your gear.
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Amazon
Mounting brackets price further
Solely two excessive definition video outputs
No discrete graphics choices
The Dell Optiplex 3070 Micro is a wonderful alternative if you happen to’re engaged on a price range and have house constraints. Whereas this unit is sufficiently small to suit into most house theater cupboards and different conditions, you’ll be able to mount it to the again of your VESA-compatible tv with an non-obligatory bracket. Rigorously route brief cables behind your tv and add a soundbar, and the Dell Optiplex 3070 can kind the core of one of many stealthiest house theater programs.
The entry-level Dell Optiplex 3070 Micro provides a wonderful mixture of affordability and efficiency, with a dual-core Pentium processor, 4GB DDR4 RAM, and a spacious 500 GB onerous disk drive, all with a price ticket decrease than a lot of the competitors. In case you want the next efficiency choice, you’ll be able to improve to quite a lot of Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 processors, add a 256GB PCIe SSD, add as much as 8GB of RAM, and extra.
The one actual downside of the Dell Optiplex 3070 Micro is that there isn’t any choice for discrete graphics. If that isn’t essential, then this line has a lot to supply.
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Origin PC
No free PCIe slots for upgrades
No free DIMM slots for extra RAM
Producer add-ons are costly
The Origin Chronos is on the bigger aspect of PCs we suggest for house theater settings, however there’s a great cause for the exception. This PC remains to be considerably smaller than your typical tower unit. But, it’s highly effective sufficient to run the 4K show in your house theater system after which seamlessly swap over to play most of the newest video games on the highest settings. In case you’re a home-theater buff who can be into PC gaming, the Origin Chronos ticks all the proper packing containers.
Whereas the Chronos is a bit on the big aspect, players shall be instantly comfy with the dimensions and kind issue. It doesn’t conform exactly to the dimensions specs of any particular sport system. Nonetheless, it doesn’t look misplaced subsequent to an Xbox One or PlayStation 4, nor will it have overstayed its welcome by the point you improve to the following technology of consoles.
The bottom configuration of the Origin Chronos comes full of a six-core AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Tremendous, which suggests you’ll be able to even use it with a few of the greatest VR headsets. It’s also possible to improve to numerous extra highly effective Intel and AMD Ryzen CPUs and even slot in a beastly Nvidia GeForce3 RTX Titan if you happen to’re seeking to future-proof your house theater and gaming experiences.
The Origin Chronos is a bit expensive if you happen to’re not on the lookout for a house theater PC that may double as a strong gaming rig, nevertheless it’s a unbelievable choice if that’s what you’re on the lookout for. It even permits you to improve after the very fact, like a standard PC. Nevertheless, the PCIe and DIMM slots are all full from the manufacturing facility, so that you’ll be changing parts with upgrades reasonably than simply including new performance on prime.
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Amazon
Remarkably small dimension
Respectable efficiency
Inexpensive
Full Home windows expertise
The Intel Compute Stick is a tiny house theater PC with a kind issue that isn’t a lot bigger than most tv streaming units. It’s designed to plug instantly into one of many HDMI ports in your tv, or you should utilize an HDMI adapter if the Compute Stick is simply too huge.
In contrast to streaming units with the same kind issue, the Intel Compute Stick is a respectable Home windows PC. It options the entire Home windows 10 expertise, which suggests you should utilize this tiny house theater PC to do something you’ll be able to with every other Home windows pc. You’ll be able to set up apps, browse the web, and stream media to your house theater.
The Intel Compute Stick is available in a number of configurations, so selecting the best one is important. Essentially the most inexpensive choice packs a light-weight Atom processor appropriate for primary streaming, however don’t anticipate it to do any heavy lifting. Dearer variations can be found with quicker processors, all in the identical tiny kind issue.
What to Look For in a House Theater PC
Processor
You’ll discover house theater PCs geared up with each Intel and AMD CPUs. AMD is a advantageous alternative if you happen to’re after a price range mannequin and don’t want excessive efficiency, whereas Intel usually offers greater efficiency. The most recent AMD processors have flipped that script with a unbelievable efficiency from their costliest choices, however you’re unlikely to make that form of funding in a house theater PC.
Graphics Card
You want your house theater PC to have a discrete graphics card for the most effective efficiency. It doesn’t should be highly effective sufficient to play the most recent video games if you happen to aren’t additionally a gamer, nevertheless it does should be highly effective sufficient to drive an HD or 4K show or a number of shows, relying in your configuration. If price range is extra essential, you might have to accept built-in graphics.
Storage
You’ll want loads of storage to transform your media library to digital content material which you can play on your house theater PC or stream to different units. Search for not less than a 256GB SSD with the choice so as to add extra through USB or Ethernet. In case you want to stream your content material, search for a house theater PC with a built-in 802.11ac or 802.11ax Wi-Fi card.
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