tbh you really don't need a dedicated GPU for a silent HTPC nowadays because integrated graphics have gotten so good at handling 4K stuff without breaking a sweat... I’ve built a few of these and keeping things cool is all about that TDP and the media engine. - Intel Core i3-12100: This is basically the gold standard for a budget HTPC right now. It stays super cool and the UHD 730 graphics handle 4K HDR and AV1 decoding perfectly thanks to QuickSync which is way more efficient than raw power for video playback and you can easily pair this with a low-profile cooler so it's dead silent.
- AMD Ryzen 5 8600G: If you wanna do some light gaming on the side or just want more overhead this is the way to go because the RDNA 3 graphics are insane for an APU and it handles any media codec you throw at it but it does run a bit warmer so you gotta watch the fan curves if you're going for that total silence vibe. Stick to integrated graphics for sure because adding a GPU just adds more heat and noise which is exactly what you don't want for a theater setup.

Honestly, staying with integrated graphics is 100% the way to go for a silent build. Adding a dedicated GPU just adds more heat and another fan thatll eventually get loud. From a technical standpoint, if the chip has a modern media engine, it handles the 4K stream on dedicated silicon, so the actual CPU cores barely even work. This keeps the power draw tiny and lets you run a really quiet fan profile without worrying about thermal throttling during a movie... basically, low TDP is king for HTPCs if you want that library-quiet vibe.