Building home entertainment system

Captaindamnit · Mar 4, 2014

My friend wants help building a home entertainment PC. His requirements are Intel, show Blu-ray in flawless 1080p(does video card determine this?), SSD for OS, all under $1000 if able. He is plugging it up to a receiver for a 65" tv. I am comfortable when it comes to building big rigs, not getting all the bang for the buck he wants.

Traciatim · Mar 4, 2014

Does he want to play games with it?

If not then you don't even need a video card. The on board built in to the newer Intel CPU's is more than enough to play pretty much any video that you want. So in that case you'd just get an Intel i3 of some sort, and a motherboard with a decent on board sound card. 4 or 8GB of RAM depending on their preference, and the SSD to boot off of, 128GB should be find for OS and a few apps... and maybe a spinning disk for some storage of videos unless they are going to be storing them elsewhere.

If gaming, then ignore the video requirement and find a video card that's appropriate for the games (and maybe an i5 instead) since they will all be fine for any 2D tasks.

Danbuscus25 · Mar 4, 2014

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Danbuscus250/saved/3X41

CPU Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core $179.99
Motherboard ASRock B85 Pro4 ATX LGA1150 $74.99
Memory Kingston Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 $64.99
Storage A-Data Premier Pro SP600 64GB 2.5" SSD $49.99
Video Card EVGA GeForce GTX 760 4GB $309.99
Wireless Network Adapter TP-Link TL-WN350GD 802.11b/g PCI $8.99
Case Sentey CS1-1398 PLUS ATX Mid Tower $14.99
Power Supply XFX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V $59.99
Optical Drive LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer $59.99
Operating System Microsoft Windows 8 Professional (OEM) (64-bit) $147.98
Total: $971.89

this includes a blu-ray, OS (idk if you prefer 7 or 8) and 64gb ssd for OS. also has wifi adapter, but idk if you need that.

Captaindamnit · Mar 4, 2014

thank you!

bjaminnyc · Mar 4, 2014

Traciatim is right about modern CPU's being able to play 1080p, but I'd still go with a low end modern card. Large MKV's can be a bear to render.

Honestly your friends budget is a bit high for what you've listed as requirements. It's surprising how little horsepower you need for a killer (non-gaming) HTPC. I can play 20gb 1080p MKVs perfectly with a pentium d + a radeon 5450 at 20-30% cpu load on my guest room HTPC. I suppose there are pricey case options but I think <$750 with be way more than enough.

My suggestion is go with a smallish 120GB SSD, 3-4TB platter, something similar to a 6570 or R7 240, anything above Pentium G3220, BR drive, whatever case he likes, <75$ micro atx MB, win 8.1 (best htpc OS to date). That would make a killer box but honestly you don't really need the SSD. I use them in my HTPCs but when you think about it you're not turning it on and off all that often, and without all the normal stuff one puts on their main PC the boot time will be pretty quick with a decent platter.

Next consideration would be a cable card tuner, but that brings WMC into the equation. The nice thing about the tuner card is obviously a separate DVR, being able to convert TV to formats like .mp4/m4v for viewing on portable devices, also its nice to be able to capture something permanently. My wife has been on TV a few times in the past year, I have enjoyed being able to share the appearances and keep them forever.

Danbuscus25 · Mar 4, 2014

i would also wait for another 1-2 suggestions, im not an expert on making builds. but to the best of my ability, this build should meet your needs and a bit further. you could save a little money if you want by getting an i3, and a gtx 750Ti or radeon 6670-6770. depends on if he wants to use it for games.

bjaminnyc · Mar 4, 2014

Danbuscus25 :

1,000% agree gaming will make a big difference with the build. The video card, power supply, and cooling are way different for a gaming HTPC. I never really saw the attraction to HTPC gaming considering the necessity for a stable KB and mouse setup on the couch, and for games you use a controller or game pad a console IMO is a superior option due to simplicity and flexibility.

Captaindamnit · Mar 4, 2014

bjaminnyc :

Danbuscus25 :

1,000% agree gaming will make a big difference with the build. The video card, power supply, and cooling are way different for a gaming HTPC. I never really saw the attraction to HTPC gaming considering the necessity for a stable KB and mouse setup on the couch, and for games you use a controller or game pad a console IMO is a superior option due to simplicity and flexibility.

I verified like 5 times asking if he wanted to use it for gaming, he said not at all. And for a KB he has a wireless one with a built in trackpad.

bjaminnyc · Mar 4, 2014

If that's the case, you can dial down that PCParts suggested build a LONG way.

If he has that budget, get a killer case that will look nice in a component rack.

bjaminnyc · Mar 4, 2014

Sorry I didn't mean to hit best solution.

CPU: Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($64.97 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus H81M-PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Blu 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($113.17 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R7 240 2GB Video Card ($69.24 @ Amazon)
Total: $387.36

You'd need to add a case, PS and OS but that would be a very nice HTPC for HD content.

Danbuscus25 · Mar 4, 2014

ok then he can get it for like $500 to run movies 100% perfect. lemme build one real quick

Danbuscus25 · Mar 4, 2014

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Danbuscus250/saved/3X6s

CPU Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Combo or $124.99
Motherboard MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Combo or $32.99
Memory GeIL EVO POTENZA 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 $64.99
Storage A-Data Premier Pro SP600 64GB 2.5" SSD $49.99
Toshiba Product Series

T01ACA 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM $48.99
Video Card XFX Radeon HD 6670 1GB $60.38
Sound Card Asus Xonar DGX $30.98
Wireless Network Adapter TP-Link TL-WN725N 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 $8.88
Case Sentey CS1-1398 PLUS ATX Mid Tower $14.99
Power Supply Corsair 430W ATX12V $29.99
Optical Drive LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer $59.99
Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) $89.98
Total: $607.14

sorry its $600, forgot about the OS. and the mobo and psu are really cheap, but i picked them cuz they have a lot of positive reviews.

Danbuscus25 · Mar 4, 2014

wow, sorry about the emoticon in the hdd, gues it had :_D in it lol

bjaminnyc · Mar 4, 2014

You certainly don't need a sound card. I can't imagine this box is going to be hooked up by anyway other than HDMI.

Also go with Win 8.1 standard, zero reason for pro. The Metro environment was primarily designed for touchscreens but lends itself to work nicely with HTPC remotes. Also the metro splash screen looks great on a large screen with the active tiles for weather, news and what have ya, in addition to most of the streaming services (Netflix,Hulu,xFinity,Prime) all have metro apps/tiles now. I have my XBMC tile surround by the streaming services. You don't need anything other arrows on the remote to navigate.

I've used a few of these remotes. The build quality isn't fantastic, but they've all lasted over a year which makes me think I got more than my money's worth for <$20.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1NV0V95635

Danbuscus25 · Mar 4, 2014

if you dont want the soundcard, then thats totally fine

and when it comes to windows 7 vs 8, its really all about your preference.

zeph_yr · Mar 4, 2014

You could save money on RAM by sticking at 4gb, if he's only going to be playing videos, it shouldn't use 8. Also, using a Pentium or A-series processor will save money. I recommend an AMD A6.

Danbuscus25 · Mar 4, 2014

oh yeah, i didnt think of an amd apu. yeah, an A-6 should be fine too.

bjaminnyc · Mar 4, 2014

Danbuscus25 :

HDMI is going to pass the audio to the receiver untouched for processing or direct audio. It's just 1,000,000% unnecessary and won't play any role at all for sound. The receiver will handle 7.1 TrueHD and DTS-MA from BlueRays, no DAC in the PC with HDMI.

I've run every flavor of windows XP forward for HTPCs and 8 is hands down superior in virtually every way. That is unless for 1 reason, you plan on using media center extenders for live TV. I've even ran linux and XBMC OS's, frankly weaker options due to silverlight compatibility.

zeph_yr · Mar 4, 2014

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/34c9E

Money could be saved by eliminating the SSD or getting a cheaper case. The case really depends on the orientation, if it's going to be horizontal then something without a door will be necessary.

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