YouTube video music
I use a PC with Intel Audio and Intel Video on the Motherboard to avoid the need for a separate video card and it’s heat which activates fan noise. You simply do not know it is on. https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c05737506 Integrated audio
You can use it horizontal as I do, smaller than a AVR. HDMI out to AVR ’game’ input. I use a wireless mini keypad/touchpad/mouse buttons to control the pc from the sofa. Mine is batteries, this one is rechargeable. Size of a small thin remote. https://www.amazon.com/Rii-Wireless-Keyboard-Lightweight-Controller/dp/B00I5SW8MC/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=... I do keep a full size wired keyboard and wired mouse on top of the PC in it’s horizontal position, for the few times I might need them. I have the identical PC for my office, also quiet, and it’s hard drive is extremely quiet, very important when sitting right next to it. Permanent Full Size Keyboard and Trackball in the office. I just overhauled my office for much improved audio, especially imaging, chair and monitor dead on the center of the speakers. Speakers and Monitor and seated Ear Height all perfectly aligned horizontally. Headphone jack to RCA to Chase Remote Line Controller (remote switch/volume/balance), to Carver Amp to B&W bookshelf pair and Velodyne Sub. TT, R2R, perfect listening triangle, so I am in a great position to hear the benefit of Firefox better YouTube audio over Google Chrome’s audio which is pretty enjoyable itself. I installed Firefox downstairs in the small HT, it also seems better than Google Chrome audio. Downstairs, Smart TV, I haven’t been using the PC like I needed in the past, but now I will compare Firefox sound to Smart TV’s sound, always thru my AVR to 5.1 system. |
Thanks for that link to the mini keypad/touchbad! I've forwarded that on to a friend of mine who uses a Mac Mini to do youtube and streaming in his audio room. It would be a great replacement for the normal mac keyboard/mouse. There's another idea you can explore that may improve your audio/video from your HP slimline. I have found that the upper end Nvidia video cards actually have a significantly better video quality. I found this out when I upgraded my cheap little stock video card to a Palit Kalmx 1050 Ti video card (this won't work in your situation because of the size of the card and heatsink). The best video card you can get in your HP Slimline is the Nvidia 1030 in a low profile card. EVGA is an excellent video card company and offers a good solution which has a passive heat sink (no fans!): https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-Passive-Graphics-02G-P4-6332-KR/dp/B073VPKV26 It also comes with a low profile "short" bracket that's easy to replace (just unscrew the two bolts on the DVI port to replace the bracket). These cards really don't get hot at all when doing 2D graphics (i.e. youtube videos, DVD/Bluray/etc.). It's only when you do 3D gaming that the GPU heats up. These higher end video cards are better because in addition to the GPU, they have a number of capacitors along side the GPU to give stronger/smoother power current. Also, I think they have much better HDMI transmitter chips and power supply. This is likely to improve the audio quality as well (for digital audio over HDMI line). For $100 investment, it could be a big game changer. ------ Second idea is have you every thought about switching out the hard drive for an SSD? This would lower the power supply requirements and also remove that slight "whine" from the hard drive motor. It would also be cooler inside the case and a LOT faster than the standard hard drive (which is a higher speed 7200 rpm). The SSDs have gotten really cheap nowadays. You can get a 1TB SSD for about $100, or a 500GB SSD for $50 (depending on your storage needs). |
