FullHD Wifi Streaming?

[cluelessgenius]

so a friend of mine wants me to plan a aco system where he can have a mass storage somewhere with all his media like HD movies and then stream them to a media pc im also gonna build via wifi. he is also planning to game a little on it sometimes but mostly older stuff so performance wise i thought about a pentium annyversary and a 750ti since that will be enough and also where managable in terms of heat and noise. 

 

what im not sure of is if ac is needed and/or how to setup the network stuff. also a very small or slim case will be needed that fits mATX since we might add some cards. any thouhgt on the matter is appreciated.

[ShadowCaptain]

so a friend of mine wants me to plan a aco system where he can have a mass storage somewhere with all his media like HD movies and then stream them to a media pc im also gonna build via wifi. he is also planning to game a little on it sometimes but mostly older stuff so performance wise i thought about a pentium annyversary and a 750ti since that will be enough and also where managable in terms of heat and noise. 

 

what im not sure of is if ac is needed and/or how to setup the network stuff. also a very small or slim case will be needed that fits mATX since we might add some cards. any thouhgt on the matter is appreciated.

 

 

I have media files stored on my server and stream around my house using PLEX which you can do on smartphone, tablets, iphone, ipad chromecast etc etc etc it also streams to my phone over 3g too!!!!!

 

That is the best way of streaming media in my opinon

 

For gaming you could use any pc and just use steam in home streaming or get an nvidia shield

[cluelessgenius]

I have media files stored on my server and stream around my house using PLEX which you can do on smartphone, tablets, iphone, ipad chromecast etc etc etc it also streams to my phone over 3g too!!!!!

 

That is the best way of streaming media in my opinon

 

For gaming you could use any pc and just use steam in home streaming

so Wifi n would be enough? plex is software? - hes not a typical gamer he doesnt own a dedicated gaming rig and also wants to move the thing from time to time to his parents and game with his brother or at least have the option to

[Sauron]

I can stream fhd video pretty well on 54mb/s wifi, so that shouldn't be an issue, just get a decent wireless card and you're done. The pentium+750ti build sounds pretty good to me and balanced, as long as you oc the pentium. As for the case, what about... this?

[Vacsol]

You can use a NAS running Plex to stream your movies to any PC in your house

I'd take a look at a Netgear ReadyNAS

[Vacsol]

Wireless N should be enough, it can stream 300mb/s

[ShadowCaptain]

so Wifi n would be enough? plex is software? - hes not a typical gamer he doesnt own a dedicated gaming rig and also wants to

move the thing from time to time to his parents and game with his brother or at least have the option to

 

Wifi N is enough though try to get everything hooked up with ethernet for best results

 

Plex is software yeah, its completely free too, he can just store his stuff on a NAS or Server and share it around

 

Everyone has the drive mapped to their laptops even if they do not live at home, my friends also have access to a drive to drag and drop data too if they need it

 

Yeah a little itx rig with say i3 and 750ti would be great

[skywake]

N300 or above should be fine, go for dual-band N600 if you want to play it safe.

[MrBucket101]

If you're going to use plex, put an i5/i7/Xeon in the server to handle the transcoding.

Plex plays content directly when it can, but if you use tablets or any other devices it will transcode it on the fly to be compatible. So you'll want the extra power

Personally, I prefer XBMC over PLEX for local playback. Plex was forked from XBMC so they're similar but different. XBMC has more config settings and eye candy/fan art

I run plex just for my tablets, but use xbmc for everything else

[cluelessgenius]

I can stream fhd video pretty well on 54mb/s wifi, so that shouldn't be an issue, just get a decent wireless card and you're done. The pentium+750ti build sounds pretty good to me and balanced, as long as you oc the pentium. As for the case, what about... this?

it looks like the graphics card is blocked by the power supply isnt it? the is also supposed to be as quiet as possible.

[cluelessgenius]

If you're going to use plex, put an i5/i7/Xeon in the server to handle the transcoding.

Plex plays content directly when it can, but if you use tablets or any other devices it will transcode it on the fly to be compatible. So you'll want the extra power

Personally, I prefer XBMC over PLEX for local playback. Plex was forked from XBMC so they're similar but different. XBMC has more config settings and eye candy/fan art

I run plex just for my tablets, but use xbmc for everything else

 

Wifi N is enough though try to get everything hooked up with ethernet for best results

 

Plex is software yeah, its completely free too, he can just store his stuff on a NAS or Server and share it around

 

Everyone has the drive mapped to their laptops even if they do not live at home, my friends also have access to a drive to drag and drop data too if they need it

 

Yeah a little itx rig with say i3 and 750ti would be great

so a nas wouldnt be enough ? id also have to run a server ? dudes im a noob at networking so babysteps with me

[dmegatool]

Take a look at Plex as other suggested. Your friend will be able to stream to his media PC but also his phone, tablet, browsers... anywhere it the world. It transcode like a champ. It's getting meta data automatically and setting posters for movies and all. It's great. 

 

What do you mean by "a mass storage somewhere" ? Anyway you can install a NAS, get the Plex Media Server on the computer and then import the files from the NAS. 

[dmegatool]

so a nas wouldnt be enough ? id also have to run a server ? dudes im a noob at networking so babysteps with me

 

You can install Plex directly on some NAS models but it won't do transcoding then. You better off installing it on the computer and import the media from the NAS. That would mean letting the computer on if he wants to stream from outside the house though... 

 

As for the processing power, you certainly wouldn't need a i5/i7/Xeon. It doesn't take THAT much. Maybe others can confirm what would be enough. 

[MrBucket101]

so a nas wouldnt be enough ? id also have to run a server ? dudes im a noob at networking so babysteps with me

NAS are servers, sort of, just a bit dumber.

Building a server is pretty much just building a second computer without a graphics card. But you can skimp on RAM and other things you don't really need. Rest is all in drive cost, Linux is free and can function as a NAS w/ samba plus do WAY more.

Weigh your options vs cost and make a decision

@dmegatool doesn't that defeat the purpose of using a NAS and further complicate the setup? If he were to do that, the NAS and his desktop would need to be on to watch media on his media PC. He'd be better off just buying internal HD's and sharing them from within windows.

I've got PLEX on my server running a 4-core Xeon. When I transcode 1080p content all 4 cores go up to 90% usage and hover around there. I'm sure you could get-by with less but you need a CPU fast enough to transcode so the client isn't buffering. You can have all the bandwidth in the worl but if your CPU can't convert fast enough, the client will have to wait regardless.

[cluelessgenius]

You can install Plex directly on some NAS models but it won't do transcoding then. You better off installing it on the computer and import the media from the NAS. That would mean letting the computer on if he wants to stream from outside the house though... 

 

As for the processing power, you certainly wouldn't need a i5/i7/Xeon. It doesn't take THAT much. Maybe others can confirm what would be enough. 

so if i do decide to get a tiny system for the server who much horsepower would actually be neccesary, lookin at the price here i mean i dont wanna spend more than neccesary but i also dont want him to be able to stream fullhd just on a good day. also what if there where multiple users?

[Sauron]

it looks like the graphics card is blocked by the power supply isnt it? the is also supposed to be as quiet as possible.

 

uhm you're right, I hadn't thought of that because 750tis are single slot from the outside even thoug they actually take 2 slots. Then this one is better.

[dmegatool]

@dmegatool doesn't that defeat the purpose of using a NAS and further complicate the setup? If he were to do that, the NAS and his desktop would need to be on to watch media on his media PC. He'd be better off just buying internal HD's and sharing them from within windows.

I've got PLEX on my server running a 4-core Xeon. When I transcode 1080p content all 4 cores go up to 90% usage and hover around there.

 

We can agree that the NAS won't do transcoding ? I was just offering the possibily to stream on wan. If the computer ain't on, the file on the NAS remain avaible anyway. 

 

Seems like the OP wants a small PC so you won't be able the fill it with drives. Depends on how much data we're talking. If the case can take 2-3 drives, you could put some 4TB in there and be good. 

 

Personnally I got a full tower right beside my tv which is on 24/7 so... That's kind of the easy way  

[cluelessgenius]

uhm you're right, I hadn't thought of that because 750tis are single slot from the outside even thoug they actually take 2 slots. Then this one is better.

yes ill probably be getting the msi one so yeah its dual slot the doesnt look bad bad i was hoping for something not so "gaming"-ly

[MrBucket101]

so if i do decide to get a tiny system for the server who much horsepower would actually be neccesary, lookin at the price here i mean i dont wanna spend more than neccesary but i also dont want him to be able to stream fullhd just on a good day. also what if there where multiple users?

If you're on a budget get an i3 w/ hyper threading , and a cheap mobo, ram, and a case big enough to hold 4-6 drives. You really don't need that much to make a server. You might even be able to get by with an overclocked Pentium K. I'm thinking 3-400 or so on the hardware NOT including drives.

I pretty much offload everything I can onto my server. (See sig for more info)

[cluelessgenius]

We can agree that the NAS won't do transcoding ? I was just offering the possibily to stream on wan. If the computer ain't on, the file on the NAS remain avaible anyway. 

 

Seems like the OP wants a small PC so you won't be able the fill it with drives. Depends on how much data we're talking. If the case can take 2-3 drives, you could put some 4TB in there and be good. 

 

Personnally I got a full tower right beside my tv which is on 24/7 so... That's kind of the easy way

yeah you got me right. a huge full tower is not an option the is supposed to fit in with the other hifi stuff on his tv rack so im thinking now off maybe a server with storage somewhere in the house and doing a really tiny build feat. the pentium and the 750ti

[cluelessgenius]

If you're on a budget get an i3 w/ hyper threading , and a cheap mobo, ram, and a case big enough to hold 4-6 drives. You really don't need that much to make a server. You might even be able to get by with an overclocked Pentium K. I'm thinking 3-400 or so on the hardware NOT including drives.

I pretty much offload everything I can onto my server. (See sig for more info)

i thought i3s didnt have ht

[dmegatool]

Good alternative would have been to build a server without the graphics card and then add a streaming box (Like a Roku or something) in the living room. That would have been incredibly small and quiet. 

 

But that get rid of the "he is also planning to game a little on it sometimes but mostly older stuff" part... 

[MrBucket101]

i thought i3s didnt have ht

I think when they first launched they didn't, but then they added it.

A recent article I read said ALL i3's have hyper threading.

Either way - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116995

@dmegatool 's suggestion sounds good to me. Roku are cheap 50-80$