Whole home DVR with 4 tuners and XBMC Media Server Build ~ Advice Needed

[Acromander]

Approximate Purchase Date: Before 8-1-2013

Budget Range: <$1200 (USA) After Rebates; Before Shipping

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Whole Home DVR 4 Channels at once / Rip DVD BD collection for XBMC / Media Server

Are you buying a monitor: No

Do you need to buy OS: Yes, Windows 7 preferred

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Any

Location: Central Minnesota

Parts Preferences: none

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Your Monitor Resolution: 1080P HDTV

Additional Comments: Quiet with low power consumption, Must be powerful enough to stream HD ota tv, as well as home media collecton

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: I cut the cable and want to run XBMC at my 4 hdtv's


I Put together this build but i fear that it may be overkill?

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1g2yQ

Note: I still need to find the Tuner cards


Any help or recommendations would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

 

[Wolfshadw]

General rule of thumb is one processor core and two GB of RAM for each video node. The system you want to build is going to depend on how many TVs you want to attach.

For OTA transmissions, you're probably looking at a couple of the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 TV Tuner cards. For whole home DVR support, you're going to need an extender for each additional TV in your home. Either an XBox or a Ceton Echo Extender.

As for your build, I can't say without knowing just how many displays are going to be attached to this system.

-Wolf sends

 

[Acromander]

Wolfshadw,

2 hdtv's initially will eventually expand to 4 TVs located throughout the house... I would also like to have the ability to stream live ota broadcasts to said TVs

 

[Wolfshadw]

Your build is somewhat over-kill. For the processor, I'd probably drop down to an 65 watt A8 APU like the A8-5500K. For system memory, you don't need 16GB, 8GB of DDR3-1866/1600 is going to be more than enough. Additionally, I think you'd be just fine with a smaller OS drive. 128GB should be more than enough for your OS and media applications.

BTW - I'm down here in the Twin Cities.

-Wolf sends