I know this has been covered a bunch in this forum and I've perused many of those threads, but it seems like everyone has different requirements that impact the builds so I thought I'd start a new one. Sorry for any overlap!
Ok, I'm looking to put together a HTPC. My target budget is sub $1,000 US. How far under? As far as I can get and still accomplish what I want. What do I want to accomplish? Glad you asked
Usage:
No games or disc ripping. I'll do that on my dedicated workstation. I also don't think I'll need a BD drive. My Oppo BD-93 is more than capable of playing Bluray discs better than anything I'll want to build PC wise. All I want to do is be able to play movies, music and pictures from a NAS via Wifi (no wired connection possible).
Form factor:
I've got a dedicated component rack which is home to a pretty enormous AVR so the case could be big, but if it doesn't have to be, I'd rather keep it smaller. No towers...need a desktop format. All my components are black so if i can get a case that looks nice, that's great, but if not, I'll live. Most of all, I want this case (and entire build) to be as quiet as possible (I hate any noise during movies).
OS:
Windows 7 x64 Pro and will probably use Plex for Media Server software
I pretty much need a recommendation for everything.
CPU and cooler: Intel or AMD? Does it matter if all I want to do is play movies back?
HDD: Do I need any more than enough to house my OS? I'm hoping I can use Plex to stream the media from my NAS to my HTPC making it basically just a playback device.
RAM: How much and how fast?
Video card: I want to be able to do 1080p 60 or 24 playback at the minimum. Do I need to go discrete or will integrated graphics work? Again, this HTPC won't be a multi-use device. It will strictly be used for playback if possible.
Sound card: Again, I'd prefer my AVR to do the audio decoding/processing. Unless I spend big bucks I doubt the HTPC will be able to do a better or even close to similar job. How hard is it to have audio passed to outboard processing? Can you pass things like Dolby True HD unmolested from the HTPC to outboard processing?
mobo: I have no clue what I need here.
PSU: Hopefully this is a pretty power-lean build, but I'm not sure what I'll need.
Case: As mentioned above: black, desktop, quiet are the primary concerns.
Accessories: I would love to be able to control this HTPC by remote. Preferrably my Logitech Harmony One remote. Not sure what I'll need to make this happen.
Thanks for any advice/suggestions!
Ok, I'm looking to put together a HTPC. My target budget is sub $1,000 US. How far under? As far as I can get and still accomplish what I want. What do I want to accomplish? Glad you asked
Usage:
No games or disc ripping. I'll do that on my dedicated workstation. I also don't think I'll need a BD drive. My Oppo BD-93 is more than capable of playing Bluray discs better than anything I'll want to build PC wise. All I want to do is be able to play movies, music and pictures from a NAS via Wifi (no wired connection possible).
Form factor:
I've got a dedicated component rack which is home to a pretty enormous AVR so the case could be big, but if it doesn't have to be, I'd rather keep it smaller. No towers...need a desktop format. All my components are black so if i can get a case that looks nice, that's great, but if not, I'll live. Most of all, I want this case (and entire build) to be as quiet as possible (I hate any noise during movies).
OS:
Windows 7 x64 Pro and will probably use Plex for Media Server software
I pretty much need a recommendation for everything.
CPU and cooler: Intel or AMD? Does it matter if all I want to do is play movies back?
HDD: Do I need any more than enough to house my OS? I'm hoping I can use Plex to stream the media from my NAS to my HTPC making it basically just a playback device.
RAM: How much and how fast?
Video card: I want to be able to do 1080p 60 or 24 playback at the minimum. Do I need to go discrete or will integrated graphics work? Again, this HTPC won't be a multi-use device. It will strictly be used for playback if possible.
Sound card: Again, I'd prefer my AVR to do the audio decoding/processing. Unless I spend big bucks I doubt the HTPC will be able to do a better or even close to similar job. How hard is it to have audio passed to outboard processing? Can you pass things like Dolby True HD unmolested from the HTPC to outboard processing?
mobo: I have no clue what I need here.
PSU: Hopefully this is a pretty power-lean build, but I'm not sure what I'll need.
Case: As mentioned above: black, desktop, quiet are the primary concerns.
Accessories: I would love to be able to control this HTPC by remote. Preferrably my Logitech Harmony One remote. Not sure what I'll need to make this happen.
Thanks for any advice/suggestions!
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