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My plans for my HTPC. Is it enough?

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htpc plans
2K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  RTS100x5 
#1 ·
I want to be able to stream with out choppiness. Maybe some game play(D3-WoW). I want quality. So I threw together a plan. tell you what you guys think..
Case w/PSU - $115 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163171

Motherboard - $90 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157273

Processor - $120 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819106001

RAM - $45 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148485

Hard Drive - $120 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148681

SSD - $120 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148442
 
#2 ·
That should be fine. Many made-for-streaming devices (WD TV Hub, Netgear NeoTV, Dune) don't have near that processing power. More important is your home network. Forget wireless for streaming HD - some folks get it to work, but most don't. Go hardwired 1 gig and you should be fine.

Make sure you have room for more than one hard drive (both in the case and SATA ports on the motherboard). HD video files run between 6-11 gigs per hour, depending on encoding rate. You may want to swap that SSD for a 2TB or so standard hard drive to give more storage. Also, you should add a blu ray drive.

I just noticed that you did not list a graphics card. I don't think you want to depend on on-board graphics. A nice AMD or Geforce card with HDMI and HDCP compliance is what you need. 1 Gig of video RAM is plenty. Should be able to get one for $100 or less. Dual HDMI outputs could be handy as well, although you can do that externally with a HDMI splitter for about $40. Most cards come with one HDMI and one or two DVI ports. Not sure if the DVI ports will support HDCP, likely not.

Also pay attention to fan noise - for the power supply as well as the case fans.
 
#4 ·
That is plenty powerful. I have a laptop with a cpu in the same family. Mine is the slowest (A4-3300). This has Hdmi out and can do 1080p with hd audio without any hiccups. What the other posters don't realize is the integrated video with these processors is quite powerful. It will handle htpc duty easily.
 
#5 ·
Third on getting a dedicated graphics card and a large traditional hard drive.

I sucked up over 2/3rds of a 2TB on about 50 DVD's and a lot of Simpsons and Family Guy sets.
 
#8 ·
I think Media Players will kill this HTPC world soon. Some time ago I build my first PC for "all needs". Today I found that "WD Hub" doing even more then I dreaming about. So, in my opinion, I will spend some time to searching what new in this industry right now instead to build second HTPC.
 
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