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[Music_Man]

I'm considering placing a DIY PC into HT (Home Theater) use.  The HT is in the hardware ordering phase.  The CPU & Asus MotherBoard are getting old in the tooth. 

Before proceeding, I wanted to make sure the PC's specs will be up to & exceed par!?!  I'm going to connect it to a new JBL-SDP-55 preamp-processor and that to a new Optoma UHZ-65 projector.  Surround will be provided by 7-speakers, 4-in-celing Atmos and 2-Subs. 

The HT will be used just for ripped movies and Netflix type streaming -- NO gaming or music! 

I understand that RedOctober exists and I've read the "Beginners Guide to MadVR" in this section.  But my in depth knowledge of these items is limited.  Part of the issue of a PC and video/audio discussion I believe, is the need to separate gaming requirements from a movie watcher's (ripped, streaming service or otherwise). Especially in my case where only movies are the intended software use.

This is my first projector.  But while I want the video to be as good as it can be, I'm not as critical a videophile as I am a crazy, fanatical audiophool.  Nevertheless, I want to extract as much capability out of the projector as possible.  I certainly don't want my PC to be the audio/video limiting factor!

THE PC'S SPECS. ARE:
MB: ASUS P8Z77-V PRO
CPU: 3.50 gigahertz Intel Core i7-3770K (4-Core Ivy Bridge; Introduced in 2012)
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
SSD: SAMSUNG 860 EVO Series 2.5" 500GB
OS: Windows 10 Pro
RAM: 16Mg
3.5" HD Bays: 6
2.5" HD Bays: 6

[wer]

If you want to scale everything up to 4k using MadVR, you might want a beefier video card. The PC is fine, although if you are storing ripped bluray or UHD discs, you will need more storage. Win10 is a pain.

But be very careful about selecting your projector. Most people buying a projector for the first time don't know the pitfalls. Yours is a single-chip DLP type display. Some people notice a "rainbow effect" they find unpleasant with those. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to do more research.

Extensively research your projector, and read reviews that explicitly talk about behavior at specific refresh rates and resolutions.  Lots of projectors have problems with specific combinations of resolution and refresh rates, or impose image scaling in some situations, and it will all end in tears if you discover your expensive new projector won't display content the way you want, glitch-free.  I've seen that happen to many people.

Good luck.

[Music_Man]

Thanks wer, I was more concerned with the GPU than the other PC's specs.  Regarding storage, that's covered.  My son and I have been ripping files since the early '90's. So, storage needs are well in hand. Or thinking about it further, they may be more out of hand, with more than several dozen hard drives (2.5", 3.5", internal, external, various sizes etc.) and drive docks scattered about.

The Optoma UHZ-65 was carefully researched and chosen for the room and our needs. As was the Seymour Ambient-Visionaire 0.9 screen that will accompany it. If the planned HT room was a movie night, cave-like room, another brand of projector and screen would have been chosen.  However, we intend to use the room and projector for streaming services more than descrete movie-time-movies.  Because the Optoma will be utilized more like a TV than a projector, I wanted zero worries regarding light source degradation and life.  Additionally, while room lighting can be controlled, unless it's nighttime, it can't be 100% controlled because of the basement's stairway which is open to the above floor which has an almost 1-1 ratio of window space to wall space.  Both the projector and screen should provide full-time ambient-light viewing along with very good (but not the very best) resolution and viewing for movie-night movies.

I did have a recent experience with my upstairs home theater area which houses a Sony 85" TV, Marantz AVP, Aragon 7-channel amp, & Martin Logan speakers.  I went from using a FireTV Cube to stream HBO Max, to using another DIY PC.  The sound quality substantially increased and the picture improved.  This got me to thinking of re-purposing the 2nd. (older) DIY PC for the basement home theater that I discussed in this thread.  The PC that just provided the sonic upgrade is using Intel's on-board graphics.  This was an interesting and somewhat surprising finding for me.  I wonder if this finding would transfer to an Apple TV or a Nvida Shield Prom verses my PC?