Building a HTPC

[Osar22]

Hi guys,

first i have to say my English is not really good, because I'm from Germany.

But I love Linus Tech Tips and now I'm here. I'm going to build a HTPC for my living room. My problem is, what operating system i should use, and what software to let it look cool.

Thank you for every answer I'm going to get.

[Xploda]

You could just run Windows or a Linux distro like Ubuntu and run XBMC or Plex on it.

Those are very nice and complete media center solutions.

You could also use something like XBMCbuntu.

It's like a small Linux distro which contains all of the functionality you can find in XBMC for any other platform.

You will find that XBMC and Plex are very much alike, since Plex is an XBMC fork.

Hope this helps :)

[Osar22]

Thank you for your quick reply, can i watch blu-ray or 3D movies with XBMC or Fork ?

[Xploda]

Thank you for your quick reply' date=' can i watch blu-ray or 3D movies with XBMC or Fork ?[/quote']

I'm not sure, I don't have a 3D TV so :P

All i know is that it supports most formats, including .mkv .

[Osar22]

mhhh kay I think I'll have to ask the internet but now I know what I have to ask ;)

[TheIceCreamMan]

Processor: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor $129.99

Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75 Pro4-M Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard $81.97

RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory $39.99

Graphics Card: Asus Radeon HD 6670 2GB Video Card $89.97 (Crossfire with Processor)

Sound Card: Asus Xonar DX 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card $80.99

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $109.99

Case: Cooler Master Elite 311 (Blue) ATX Mid Tower Case $29.99

Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply $70.17

DVD Burner (Blueray Reader): Lite-On ihes112-04 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer $54.99

Total: $688.05

This is a Great HTPC.

A media centre PC needs to be built within a certain set of guide lines. It should blend in with its surroundings, it needs to be quiet, it needs to be fast, and if you’re anything like me, it needs to be fast enough to stream to my iPad, Xbox 360, ATV2 and iPhone on the fly, all at the same time, while downloading and acting as a file server.

[Dodge]

Thank you for your quick reply' date=' can i watch blu-ray or 3D movies with XBMC or Fork ?[/quote']XBMC doesn't support Blu-ray out of the box. Afaik you can make it work with additional plugins, but I don't know how good that works or if 3D Blu-rays will work at all. I'd use Windows for 3D stuff.

[Blake]

1. an A-10 is overkill, you can use a E450 APU, and it will playback 1080p flawlessly (yes even high bitrate), but this si going to depend if you load windows on it or not and the types of codecs you use. Also, if you are running a A10, you would not need the dedicated GPU.

2. Use either XBMCbuntu or OPEN ELEC, they are very similar, both using XBMC for the interface, the differences is that open elec runs on a custom linux build without the full ubuntu build behind the scenes, and that it supports live TV playback / recording (however XBMC is bringing this feature in the next update).

[Xploda]

1. an A-10 is overkill' date=' you can use a E450 APU, and it will playback 1080p flawlessly (yes even high bitrate), but this si going to depend if you load windows on it or not and the types of codecs you use. Also, if you are running a A10, you would not need the dedicated GPU. 2. Use either XBMCbuntu or OPEN ELEC, they are very similar, both using XBMC for the interface, the differences is that open elec runs on a custom linux build without the full ubuntu build behind the scenes, and that it supports live TV playback / recording (however XBMC is bringing this feature in the next update). [/quote']

I completely agree.

I'm using an Intel Pentium G630 (Sandy Bridge) in my HTPC, with 4GB of DDR3-1333.

The advantage of using something like a G630 is that it is fast enough to play everything in software. I think that when you are using something like an E450 you would have to mess around with hardware acceleration?

[deanrock]

I have Celeron G540 with integrated graphics, 2GB of RAM and haven't encountered a movie that wouldn't play smoothly.

However, if you want to stream movies or maybe even transcode them for PS3 playback, use it as a file share and for downloading, I would recommend something more powerful.

[Osar22]

For Hardware i can select things myself but the software is more my problem can anybody tell me the plugin name to play Blu Ray and 3D Blu Ray with XBMC

[Osar22]

I would select something like this: https://www.mindfactory.de/shopping_cart.php/basket_action/load_basket_extern/id/3d8e422207638862ec921c5361bce9e8865e01ff574ef1a6155

[TechReid]

Definitely something based off of XBMC. You could just get a raspberry pi, and run it on RASBMC, then change the skin, to remove any interface lag, it has a lot of the features of a fully fledged media center, only issue is with it not playing all video codecs.

[Linuxury]

Processor: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor $129.99

Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75 Pro4-M Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard $81.97

RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory $39.99

Graphics Card: Asus Radeon HD 6670 2GB Video Card $89.97 (Crossfire with Processor)

Sound Card: Asus Xonar DX 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card $80.99

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $109.99

Case: Cooler Master Elite 311 (Blue) ATX Mid Tower Case $29.99

Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply $70.17

DVD Burner (Blueray Reader): Lite-On ihes112-04 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer $54.99

Total: $688.05

This is a Great HTPC.

A media centre PC needs to be built within a certain set of guide lines. It should blend in with its surroundings, it needs to be quiet, it needs to be fast, and if you’re anything like me, it needs to be fast enough to stream to my iPad, Xbox 360, ATV2 and iPhone on the fly, all at the same time, while downloading and acting as a file server.

+1 Plus get a board with more options on the RAID for example to get RAID5 or something close for a cheap but powerful mean Media/File Server :D

[Blake]

1. an A-10 is overkill' date=' you can use a E450 APU, and it will playback 1080p flawlessly (yes even high bitrate), but this si going to depend if you load windows on it or not and the types of codecs you use. Also, if you are running a A10, you would not need the dedicated GPU. 2. Use either XBMCbuntu or OPEN ELEC, they are very similar, both using XBMC for the interface, the differences is that open elec runs on a custom linux build without the full ubuntu build behind the scenes, and that it supports live TV playback / recording (however XBMC is bringing this feature in the next update). [/quote']

I completely agree.

I'm using an Intel Pentium G630 (Sandy Bridge) in my HTPC, with 4GB of DDR3-1333.

The advantage of using something like a G630 is that it is fast enough to play everything in software. I think that when you are using something like an E450 you would have to mess around with hardware acceleration?

exactly like cushy said

[cushy91]

For Hardware i can select things myself but the software is more my problem can anybody tell me the plugin name to play Blu Ray and 3D Blu Ray with XBMC

This forum post over on XBMC may prove helpful: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=116724

It would seem that 3D Blurays aren't supported because of the format they are in and as such an external player needs to be called from within XBMC when you want to play one. Calling an external player would also solve the problem of limited menu support too.

[ismand95]

I would not recommend spending 500-600$ on a system that only is going to do something a 35£ raspberry PI or 200$ atom machine could do flawlessly :)

My recommendation is XBMC :) Always go open-source when you can :)

[Tigerbomb8]

Processor: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor $129.99

Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75 Pro4-M Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard $81.97

RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory $39.99

Graphics Card: Asus Radeon HD 6670 2GB Video Card $89.97 (Crossfire with Processor)

Sound Card: Asus Xonar DX 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card $80.99

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $109.99

Case: Cooler Master Elite 311 (Blue) ATX Mid Tower Case $29.99

Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply $70.17

DVD Burner (Blueray Reader): Lite-On ihes112-04 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer $54.99

Total: $688.05

This is a Great HTPC.

A media centre PC needs to be built within a certain set of guide lines. It should blend in with its surroundings, it needs to be quiet, it needs to be fast, and if you’re anything like me, it needs to be fast enough to stream to my iPad, Xbox 360, ATV2 and iPhone on the fly, all at the same time, while downloading and acting as a file server.

+1 on using RAID.. but if are going to using RAID 5/6 get a PCIe card, it will be a lot quicker

oh and watch this (Info RAID 5/6 on XCIX)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuwjadbtUCY

[Kyouki]

Processor: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor $129.99 Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75 Pro4-M Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard $81.97 RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory $39.99 Graphics Card: Asus Radeon HD 6670 2GB Video Card $89.97 (Crossfire with Processor) Sound Card: Asus Xonar DX 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card $80.99 Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $109.99 Case: Cooler Master Elite 311 (Blue) ATX Mid Tower Case $29.99 Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply $70.17 DVD Burner (Blueray Reader): Lite-On ihes112-04 Blu-Ray Reader' date=' DVD/CD Writer $54.99[/url'] Total: $688.05 This is a Great HTPC. A media centre PC needs to be built within a certain set of guide lines. It should blend in with its surroundings, it needs to be quiet, it needs to be fast, and if you’re anything like me, it needs to be fast enough to stream to my iPad, Xbox 360, ATV2 and iPhone on the fly, all at the same time, while downloading and acting as a file server.

Why would you add a soundcard to a HTPC? Just for local playback or any other reason?

[Huntsman]

my htpc:

Pentium G860 (underclocked to 2.5GHz for better temps)

Gigabyte GA H77N WIFI

4GB Kingston ValueRam

500GB HDD

LG DVD combo drive

Cooler Master 500W

Silverstone SG02(bad pick)

runs XBMC fine, plus i fold in the background.

[Huntsman]

1. an A-10 is overkill, you can use a E450 APU, and it will playback 1080p flawlessly (yes even high bitrate), but this si going to depend if you load windows on it or not and the types of codecs you use. Also, if you are running a A10, you would not need the dedicated GPU.

2. Use either XBMCbuntu or OPEN ELEC, they are very similar, both using XBMC for the interface, the differences is that open elec runs on a custom linux build without the full ubuntu build behind the scenes, and that it supports live TV playback / recording (however XBMC is bringing this feature in the next update).

You could even get away with a low end pentium. I'm personally using that for my own htpc. Running off the internal graphics too.

[Huntsman]

Processor: AMD A10-5800K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor $129.99

Motherboard: ASRock FM2A75 Pro4-M Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard $81.97

RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory $39.99

Graphics Card: Asus Radeon HD 6670 2GB Video Card $89.97 (Crossfire with Processor)

Sound Card: Asus Xonar DX 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card $80.99

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $109.99

Case: Cooler Master Elite 311 (Blue) ATX Mid Tower Case $29.99

Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply $70.17

DVD Burner (Blueray Reader): Lite-On ihes112-04 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer $54.99

Total: $688.05

This is a Great HTPC.

A media centre PC needs to be built within a certain set of guide lines. It should blend in with its surroundings, it needs to be quiet, it needs to be fast, and if you’re anything like me, it needs to be fast enough to stream to my iPad, Xbox 360, ATV2 and iPhone on the fly, all at the same time, while downloading and acting as a file server.

The processor, motherboard, graphics card and the sound card is just overdoing it. You can get away with a low end pentium and use the internal graphics. Motherboard could be anything that outputs HDMI or whatever your tv supports. Sound card might be justified if you have a awesome audio setup else it's just a big waste.