HTPC + content management thoughts, I think?

[radix replica]

Hey everyone, here's my deal.

 

My intentions

 

• I have a ton of CDs - I'd like to have access to them without searching and searching for this specific copy of some symphony or whatever...you get the idea. I have too much music to handle in physical formats.
• I have a constantly increasing collection of videos - This is slightly more manageable than the music situation, but most of it is already digital. I just need to keep this somewhere.
• Here's where it gets a little interesting. I want to cut cable television and completely rely on streaming/my personal media collection for my household.
• I have netflix right now, and use it often enough. I have been considering using hulu plus in addition to this for the added content availability, as well as something like amazon prime. I still have to compare what these services offer in comparison with each other. I have espn 3 for sports through my cable internet provider, too.
• I want to keep PBS content - my parents would like to keep a bunch of their shows available. This is kind of a requirement for this whole thing to fly.

My Questions

 

• Having an antenna is out of the question in my area. How should I go about set-up to maximize my content options?
• Should I use XMBC as a stand-alone (this creates problems with hulu, right?) or should I use windows 7 and XMBC/WMC (one of the two, prefer to not need both)?
• Is this worth the trouble? Would a roku box be worth getting?
• How should I interact with the device? I feel like a remote would be easiest for XMBC, but windows might need a keyboard/mouse type deal? (Logitech keyboard with trackpad thing built in?)
• Lastly: if you were going to cut cable tv for your house, how would you set something like this up?

 

My Build

 

I have an AMD Athlon II 620, atx board, 4gb ddr3, and a ATI 4670 that are currently unused, and I'm planning on using these for the core of the build. I just need to pick out a case, psu, and figure out what I'll do for storage.

 

I'm not really concerned with picking parts, I've been around this scene for a while. Here are my thoughts if you're interested, though.

 

Case: (smallest one that fits an ATX board)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119258

 

PSU: (Don't want the 430W - too few sata power connectors, and $10 won't kill me)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

 

HDD:

Something. Maybe a 2 or 3tb WD red?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236344

 

I don't feel the need for an SSD boot drive, this pc will mainly go to a low power state (hibernate?) when not in use and I'm not concerned with instant boots (regardless of how nice they are).

 

Finally

 

So, if you guys think this is asking for too much, let me know. I feel like it can be done, but I doubt that I'll end up with something perfect. Streaming has come a long way in the last few years, but it's not as complete an offering as I'd hope we could have.

 

Feel free to make suggestions, point out where you see my wishful thinking, and laugh at me. But, please give me feedback, regardless.

 

Thanks, and I hope this is the appropriate section for this sort of thing.

[WoodenMarker]

It looks good. Go with the 3TB drive for more space and it's tougher enclosure. Compared to the other capacities of the WD red drives, the 3TB has a better enclosure that makes it nearly silent.

[tk421]

As far as XBMC is concerned, it's not your main choice if you want to stream.  Plex is much better for streaming.  To save some bucks, I would install Ubuntu, XBMC, and the Plex plug-in for XBMC.  That should give you every bit of functionality you need as far as the digitcal content is concerned.

 

For controllers, XBMC has a remote app for smartphone as does Plex.  A small keyboard wouldn't be a bad thing to keep handy though.

 

I've been looking at something like this for a long time.  I don't have any spare parts lying around so this is what I had in mind: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/tmattrobinson/saved/1fyO

[radix replica]

I don't have any problem using windows though. I just want to end up with the best possible option.

 

If ubuntu with XBMC + Plex is all I need though, that's fine with me. With plex, I should just use the HTPC as the media server, right?

All I see about Plex is that it lets you stream local media. I want to stream from the internet too, not just local content. Can Plex handle this?

[tk421]

It's done through plug-ins.  There are plug-ins for Amazon Video, Hulu, and YouTube (among others) for XBMC, and Plex covers Netflix (I believe...).  If all else fails, you could always just use an internet browser since it's still a fully functional PC.

[radix replica]

I've installed XBMC and Plex on ubuntu and it doesn't have any streaming options. Dunno what the deal is, but I must be missing something.

 

I'm starting the Addon, but it says it can't find media sources.

[tk421]

You have to go to Plex > MyPlex > [Various Options]

 

Here's a guide a found: http://www.groovypost.com/howto/get-started-plex-media-center/

[radix replica]

Ah, gotcha. I didn't have the media server installed. So, this seems to be closer. Seems like streaming isn't too awful. Seems like getting PBS, hulu, netflix, amazon isn't as hard as it was a year or so ago. Seems like local media is pretty easy to handle as well with Plex. Might just be what I'm looking for.

[tk421]

Ah, gotcha. I didn't have the media server installed. So, this seems to be closer. Seems like streaming isn't too awful. Seems like getting PBS, hulu, netflix, amazon isn't as hard as it was a year or so ago. Seems like local media is pretty easy to handle as well with Plex. Might just be what I'm looking for.

 

It's a pretty sweet little program, and considering the price, it's hard to say anything bad about it.  One thing to watch out for is your naming scheme of locally stored media.  Plex is VERY picky and yu'll need to follow this guide to make sure Plex correctly identifies your media.

[radix replica]

Is that a big deal though? Why wouldn't I just use XBMC for locally stored content and Plex + XBMC plugins for Streaming?

[tk421]

You can definitely do that too.  I'm a bit obsessive with my media so I like a very accurate and consistent organization, but you're plan is more than sufficient. 

[radix replica]

I've just got all of my media in an architecture that I'm happy with - I don't want to go and change everything.

[knight_40k]

You have a good core to start with, just a few things I would add.

 

1) Is this pc going to be in the same room as your TV? If yes, you will want a aftermarket cooler of some kind, the stock cooler on AMD is fairly noisy and will be audible when you are watching video content. I replaced mine for this reason. I recommend Zalman as they are known for silent operation.

 

2) Also, in terms of silence make sure the PSU has a quiet fan that you can live with. I didn't want to take any chances so I went with a fanless Seasonic X460-FL. I can highly recommend this! It is a bit pricey though.

 

3) XBMC is a great program for media use but does require a lot of tinkering, so just a heads up. If you have a logitech harmony remote, you can get codes for it to act as a keyboard and control all functionallty of your HTPC and other media devices (tv, receiver, etc). This makes it very user friendly as you can label the keys in the remote software to read as 'play', 'stop' etc instead of trying to remember which key on the keyboard does what.

 

Good luck.

[radix replica]

I've used the stock cooler for about 3 years and it wasn't noisy at all. I stick with it for starters, might change after some time.

The psu fan is inaudible on this psu, and fanless power supplies are ridiculously expensive compared to a regular psu.

 

I don't have a harmony remote right now, but I've been considering just picking up a regular htpc remote that has good support for xbmc.

[knight_40k]

I've used the stock cooler for about 3 years and it wasn't noisy at all. I stick with it for starters, might change after some time.

The psu fan is inaudible on this psu, and fanless power supplies are ridiculously expensive compared to a regular psu.

 

I'm not saying the stock cooler is loud but from my experience you tend to notice background noise more when you are watching a movie, especially during the quiet parts. I personally cannot tolerate that. For every day computer use fan noise doesn't bother me, I got 10 fans going in my current rig. When watching movies or tv though, quiet is a must, at least for me, so if the fan doesn't bother you, then awesome. I agree the fanless PSU's are expensive, but again, I'm a silence freak.

[radix replica]

Ah, never thought of noise awareness when watching movies. I'll have to check it out and see what it's like with the stock cooler. Hopefully it won't be too bad, cause there's no need for an aftermarket cooler on this cpu, it stays plenty cool with the stock cooler running at 3.2 GHZ (OC from 2.6).

[fataldog187]

How should I interact with the device? I feel like a remote would be easiest for XMBC, but windows might need a keyboard/mouse type deal? (Logitech keyboard with trackpad thing built in?)

 

We use a wireless keyboard and mouse for our HTPC (Logitech K750 + Performance Mouse MX). It works well enough, it's in the living room and theres a coffee table right there for them to rest on, there are also tv tray things that we can put the mouse on if you want to lay on the couch and not sit up to control.  Didn't get the combo keyboard/trackpad because I didn't like the idea of having to use the larger keyboard no matter what you were doing and thought having a mouse would be easier and more precise anyway. There's a cheap Rosewill remote for things like XBMC but no one uses it. Most of the time we just use windows explorer and double click the files for playback in VLC, there's usually no interaction with the remote control unless its a real quick pause/play, I don't think it would be any different if we had a more expensive harmony remote. We don't listen to music on it at all though so there's very little interaction with the system other than getting the file playing, we're not switching tracks or opening up different playlists and stuff. I have thought of getting a Nexus 7 for use as a XBMC remote though, would just need to get a dock for it so that it stays charged and doesn't get misplaced.

 

You can also get a power supply that has a fan but does not turn on until a certain load is put on it. I know corsair hx750 and hx850 are like this because I was looking at getting them, they have slightly lower efficiency at such low loads though. They are also more expensive than most fanless PSU's but you would be getting the best of both worlds with something like that. Also concerning noise, I would have liked to put a large fanless heatsink on the CPU but we just have the stock cooler on, never really notice noise from it, its the slim intel cooler that comes with the i3-2120t. It only has a small SSD boot drive, no mechanical HDDs and no optical drives. Everything gets streamed from network storage or the internet which cuts down on drive noise and blinking lights on the front of the case.