Killer Home Theater PC

[Stephg2525]

I need help to build a pc for home theater 

I want it to play movie on my HardDrive plug in my DLink AC3200 acros the house

It will be plug direct in my amp for sound and video

So what hardware i need ? 

WIFI card ? 

Sound card ? 

Graphic Card ? 

 

Thank's

[Bl00dgod]

1. what is your budget?

2. what content are you planning to view on your home theatre? ( depending on the resolution you need more or less CPU power )

   4k content or only like 1080p

 

no need for a wifi card because many motherboards have integrated wifi

but keep in mind wifi doesnt replace a good wiring for constant quality

IMO most of the new boards have good onboard sound, but you could get a sound card

 

[Stephg2525]

yup 4k 

so i can just take a good mobo with good sound and wifi 

[Steve.604]

Wifi isn't usually the best way to stream media at even 1080p, 4k will be even more challenging.

I highly recommend hard wired if possible. If not, make sure youtake advantage of the wireless AC.

Personally I would just simply plug the HDD into the PC you are trying to play the file on over plugging it into the router.

 

My main focus for an HTPC would be quite. I'd also make sure your graphics card supports HDMI 2.0 if you are looking to display 4k video

[DragonTamer1]

For 4K, don't use WiFi. If possible run a cable to link the systems. If not possible then you can look into power line adapters for your Ethernet.

 

For a processor you can probably get away with an i3 and use the integrated graphics as long as you are only doing video playback. Use a 4th gen or newer and you should be good to go.

 

On-board audio should be fine in most cases. You can find cables that convert the 3.5mm jack to just about every other standard for whatever sound system you are using.

 

Most people I know like to put very big HDDs in their HTPC to store movies on. An SSD isn't necessary but you can see some benefits from having one for me personally though the benefits are not enough to justify the huge amount of money for one with enough capacity.

 

Might as well throw a Blu-ray drive in there while you're at it just to cover all your bases.

 

You can look into a capture card, but you will need to ask more questions about them. I've never used one and know almost nothing about them.

 

8GB of RAM should be more than enough especially if you are only doing light work.