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HTPC build. Thoughts. (1 Viewer)

Razz2o4

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Josh Rasmussen
I am looking to build a HTPC to back up all my BR 's. I have a daughter that reaks havoc on them. There is a list below of what I have speced out so far as a build, but am open to opinions. Also, with what I spec out, will I have any audio loss? I woudl like to keep it just as if I was watching it on a BR player. I would be using MakeMKV as my software, but unsure what to use as a player. Will be using Win 7 as an OS. I am new to this and like I said, I'm open to anything.





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Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EADS 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

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ASUS M4A88T-M LE AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

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Diablotek PHD Series PHD380M 380W Micro ATX Power Supply

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Patriot Signature 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model PSD34G13332

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AMD Phenom II X2 545 Callisto 3.0GHz Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Processor HDX545WFK2DGI - OEM

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nMEDIAPC Black Aluminum / Acrylic / Steel HTPC 6000B ATX Media Center / HTPC Case

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mattCR

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Advice: Change your post slightly, to say that you are storing your own personal home movies, and then take this advice.


First, a HTPC that will store HighDef content by the bundle is something that is hard to do with 1 or 2 1TB HDD. 1TB will hold roughly 20-40 HOURS worth of full, 1080P AVC compressed content at high bitrate. Your board and chip combo are good; realize that the 880G cannot output either bitstream HD audio or 8channel LPCM. It also doesn't have the teeth for full hardware acceleration quietly. So, plan on adding something like an ATI5450, or 6xxx or 5xxx series card, which will allow for LPCM and HD-Bitstream audio. Right now, I'm finding 2TB HDD at less then $70, so a pair (4TB) is not a bad move.

Second, grab hold of something like MediaBrowser: http://www.mediabrowser.tv/ which will help you organize your content in a much more fluid way. You can see my review here, in the review sections.


Third, even if you don't think you'll use it, you might consider a QAM/HD tuner. You can get ATI's dual tuner for about $50, others for slightly more. Why do it? Because adding a tuner gives you that option of clearQAM from cable or over-the-air, but it also enables Win7MC to turn on all the playready functions for TV, distribution, etc. And some of those are quite slick.


Good hunting! :)
 

Razz2o4

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Josh Rasmussen
Matt,

Would I be better chosing a different MB, or just stick with that and add a Vid card?
 

mattCR

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If you're on the AMD side, it's a good board to start with; combine it with a 5450 and call it good. You can get that board and card for less then $100; while the Intel i3 platform (and new 1155 platform) will do HD audio LPCM + Bitstream, they don't do 24p correctly, and I find the color isn't very good.. but that's me. In the end, if you're going to do it, do what you like.. your price difference will not be big.
 

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