Question Motherboard recommendations as I am not very knowledgable

[Oasis Curator]

Not very knowledgable when it comes to sockets.
I know obviously get a 1151 socket processor to match the motherboard but I don't know what's best to start looking at?

While my case has a window, I am not fussed about lights (although the motherboard in my MAIN PC (specs in sig) has an on board light - it's actually helpful as my current build as a problem with posting if I shut down the PC. If the light doesn't come on, I know instantly it's not going to post. Turning the plug socket off for a few hours cures it 99% of the time. Never really got to the bottom of this (yes, tested the PSU, all pins give the right voltages).

So anyway, I don't need WiFi on board as the PC connected physically to a router, but not sure what to look at.

A side-line plan, is the motherboard in the HTPC (specs in sig) pretty decent still?
I was looking at downsizing the space the HTPC takes up by using this Coolmaster Elite 130 mini-ITX case, so could look at buying a new motherboard for that (4k capable) and moving the current one to the new build, if that makes sense?
If the HTPC motherboard is fairly old and will bottleneck any gains by a moden-ish graphics / processor, then can scrap that idea.

Guidance is needed sirs and siresses!

Thank you kindly.

 

[hotaru.hino]

A few pointers:

• Unless you have a CPU and RAM that needs a home, don't go after old boards.
• Figure out what I/O you need, such as how many storage drive connections and what kind (SATA vs M.2), built-in Wi-Fi, USB ports, etc. This will help narrow down the number of boards to look at
• For an HTPC, you don't really need any thing high performance. Modern iGPUs can also handle video decoding up to 4K just fine. If you plan on streaming 4K content from say Netflix or something, there are certain hardware requirements to watch out for though because of DRM.

 

[Oasis Curator]

Yeah, just figuring out that good 'ole 1151 isn't really used these days.

Only have two drives, one sata SSD and one HDD.
Happy to upgrade the SSD to an NVMe but I read the performance isn't that different so don't want to spend money when I don't need to as the more money I can save, means the more money I have to put into a new system.

A note on the HTPC though:
It may or may not happen. Found a good replacement board that will fit in a new case and existing compentents but I think the case will be too tall.
The board from the HTPC is too old to move to the MAIN PC, although I could look at selling it, but it may be a while before it goes as it's pretty specific.


Discovered the parts picker website so can narrow down motherboards from there using the 12th Gen intel processor.
Now it's just deciding between an i7 or an i9.

 

[hotaru.hino]

Now it's just deciding between an i7 or an i9.

If this is for HTPC tasks, you don't need that powerful of a processor. I would argue to aim for lower power processors because the cooling system doesn't need to be as beefy, which would mean less noise.

The only thing I can think of needing a powerful processor is to support real-time transcoding, but there's the question of if you really need that or not.

 

[Oasis Curator]

Well, I finally got my stuff together and figured out what I am doing...

HTPC:
Bought a new board and case. Will recycle old RAM and processor. Sell old board and case.
The PC will be: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/MrStayPuft/saved/#view=CV2spg

Main PC:
I have to decide between Intel or AMD still.
I'm further ahead on the plans for Intel: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/MrStayPuft/saved/#view=scBBqs
AMD on the other hand is limping behind: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/MrStayPuft/saved/#view=NQw4pg

I think both will be a massive improvement over what I have now. The Ryzen is much cheaper but I'm not sure they're in the same bracket as each other. Others have suggested an i5 will be more than sufficient, so I may drop down a tier there.