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Started By
Message
Can you help me with an HTPC?
Posted on 5/28/14 at 2:14 am
Posted on 5/28/14 at 2:14 am
I'd like to hook up a pc to my tv. I'd like it to:
-run YouTube,Netflix, and all that jazz..
-run xbmc
-id probably like to run steam for gaming.
-id prefer something with 1-2 tb of storage space.
-id like to be able to play blu-ray quality flicks.
Can I buy something like this off the shelf, ready to go? (I've been looking at the Lenovo q190, but it's probably already outdated at this point).
Or am I stuck having to piece something together? (im lazy)
-run YouTube,Netflix, and all that jazz..
-run xbmc
-id probably like to run steam for gaming.
-id prefer something with 1-2 tb of storage space.
-id like to be able to play blu-ray quality flicks.
Can I buy something like this off the shelf, ready to go? (I've been looking at the Lenovo q190, but it's probably already outdated at this point).
Or am I stuck having to piece something together? (im lazy)
4
Posted on 5/28/14 at 6:34 am to PhifeDogg
this is so vague. i have no idea how to help.
what format are your media files in?
bluray torrents? MKV?
audio..FLAC? 320? V0?
how are you hooking this up? ethernet? wireless? hdmi into your tv?
other devices on your network?
what is your wireless speed? g? n?
using phones? android? iphone? tablets?
AVR? 5.1 surround?
windows 8? windows home server?
how are you structuring your backup? RAID? no redundancy?
what is your preferred UI? xbmc? plex? windows media sharing?
what format are your media files in?
bluray torrents? MKV?
audio..FLAC? 320? V0?
how are you hooking this up? ethernet? wireless? hdmi into your tv?
other devices on your network?
what is your wireless speed? g? n?
using phones? android? iphone? tablets?
AVR? 5.1 surround?
windows 8? windows home server?
how are you structuring your backup? RAID? no redundancy?
what is your preferred UI? xbmc? plex? windows media sharing?
Posted on 5/28/14 at 6:42 am to CAD703X
quote:
what is your preferred UI? xbmc? plex? windows media sharing?
He already stated XBMC and some of your questions won't make one bit of difference in his build. All newer GPUs come with HDMI outputs and wireless adapters on newer motherboards will work with G, N, etc and also usually have at least 5.1 audio on them. They are also RAID compatible.
No need to confuse him with shite that won't make one bit of difference.
Posted on 5/28/14 at 6:45 am to stout
quote:
No need to confuse him with shite that won't make one bit of difference.
so knowing whether this is wireless or plugged directly into the tv via hdmi 24/7 has no bearing on this?
you think xbmc is the way to go?
Posted on 5/28/14 at 6:47 am to PhifeDogg
Fm2 board, a6ish line cpu, 8gb ram, the rest should be personal preference.
Posted on 5/28/14 at 6:51 am to CAD703X
quote:
so knowing whether this is wireless or plugged directly into the tv via hdmi 24/7 has no bearing on this?
If he wants to run Steam Big Picture on his TV then he would need to hook directly up to his TV via HDMI and like I said all newer GPUs have an HDMI output unless you are buying bottom of the barrel.
No way would I run Steam wirelessly and deal with that lag or FPS issues on games.
quote:
you think xbmc is the way to go?
It's all personal preference IMO
Posted on 5/28/14 at 6:53 am to Hopeful Doc
quote:
Fm2 board, a6ish line cpu
If you mean him getting an APU that would be great and all for just an HTPC but those APUs are still crap for gaming with decent FPS unless you crank down the GFX.
I would still do a stand alone CPU/GPU build if he wants to also game on it.
Posted on 5/28/14 at 7:13 am to PhifeDogg
if you don't NEED the steam gaming, I have 2 of these for HTPC's.
Refurbed DELL PC
You'd need to add a Blu-ray and maybe a cheap vid card. I haven't added the Blu-ray to mine, but each I got a $50 vid card for the HDMI out. I'm running win7 MCE.
I'm not a steam gamer, so don't know the requirements for it. They do have i3-i7 pcs on the site as well.
Refurbed DELL PC
You'd need to add a Blu-ray and maybe a cheap vid card. I haven't added the Blu-ray to mine, but each I got a $50 vid card for the HDMI out. I'm running win7 MCE.
I'm not a steam gamer, so don't know the requirements for it. They do have i3-i7 pcs on the site as well.
Posted on 5/28/14 at 7:20 am to stout
quote:
stout
Shhhh, I really want to watch this one play out.
Posted on 5/28/14 at 7:24 am to ILikeLSUToo
Posted on 5/28/14 at 7:45 am to stout
quote:
If you mean him getting an APU that would be great and all for just an HTPC but those APUs are still crap for gaming with decent FPS unless you crank down the GFX.
I guess I was thinking that steam was rather non-intense retro-style gaming. I realize I am wrong now. In that case, I've read and heard from a buddy that the fm2+ and a-10 APUs can actually somewhat hang (on a budget) for some more GPU-heavy stuff. I think he has the Trinity line...5800k maybe? It's the original fm2 top of the line. I believe they've had a 6800k come out on top of it in the same fm2 socket, then they released the fm2+ and have come out with two more iterations of a-10s on top of that.
As said, they're decent for gaming. They won't be as good as the r9 series GPU of anything, but on a budget, they're solid.
Posted on 5/28/14 at 7:50 am to ILikeLSUToo
quote:
Shhhh, I really want to watch this one play out.
Just link your thread. You know you want to.
Posted on 5/28/14 at 7:53 am to Hopeful Doc
quote:
but on a budget, they're solid.
The top of the line APU AMD makes is the 7850k which cost $185. You can get an AMD 760K CPU with a 270x GPU for a total of $245. What you lose in performance is not worth the $60 savings.
You also need to buy at least 2133MHz ram to get the most out of that APU vs getting 1600MHz ram for a CPU/GPU build so that is another added cost that further diminishes the savings of an APU build.
Posted on 5/28/14 at 8:04 am to stout
Fair enough. Outside of steam, I can say that the old fm1-socket 3870k does a good job in an HTPC build, and is actually probably overkill for it. I went from an a4-3400, which would occasionally hiccup when transcoding video AND watching a bluray on 1080p to an a8-3870k.
I'm out of my element when it comes to gaming requirements.
I'm out of my element when it comes to gaming requirements.
Posted on 5/28/14 at 8:09 am to stout
Here is a comparison I made. The same parts but one has the top of the line APU and the other has a separate CPU/GPU set up.
The CPU part of the APU is a quad core and runs at 3.7Ghz and the GPU on it is an R7 250 running at 720Mhz.
The CPU/GPU build is running a quad core also at 3.8Ghz with a R9 270x running at 1.06Ghz.
AnandTechs stats aren't the best but you can see the performance difference in the 250 and 270x
Not even close to being worth the $50 savings
This post was edited on 5/28/14 at 8:14 am
Posted on 5/28/14 at 8:40 am to stout
Build to the left is a no-brainer. Could maybe shave a few dollars off the price by going with mATX instead of ITX, which might also leave a tad more room to go with the non-modular version of that PSU and save another $30.
And I have that same 270x just laying around, like-new condition, box and accessories, for a good price. Just sayin'.
And I have that same 270x just laying around, like-new condition, box and accessories, for a good price. Just sayin'.
Posted on 5/28/14 at 9:22 am to stout
You're right. The only qualm I could find is that you could buy a lower-powered PSU on the build on the right, but it's still not worth another $10-20 in savings.
Posted on 5/28/14 at 12:56 pm to Hopeful Doc
Yea you could downgrade the PSU on both builds really but for what little difference it makes in the price I would rather the modular capability and have too much power for future upgrades.
Posted on 5/28/14 at 1:49 pm to CAD703X
quote:I have all of these file types.
what format are your media files in?
bluray torrents? MKV?
audio..FLAC? 320? V0?
quote:yes.
how are you hooking this up? ethernet?
quote:yes.
hdmi into your tv?
quote:
other devices on your network?
A printer and an xbone. I'll toss the Logitech revue and wdtv if I can get something out of this thread.
quote:yes . Android.
using phones? android?
quote:yes. Denon reciever, Polk 5.1 surround.
AVR? 5.1 surround?
quote:
how are you structuring your backup? RAID? no redundancy?
What?
Budget is $800 or so. I want some fly shite.
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