HTPC build

[John1967]

Hello everyone,

I am going to be getting rid of my cable, and I would like to build an HTPC and use it to stream videos(hopefully in HD), and also use it as a DVR. I wouldn't mind adding a blu-ray drive if that's possible within my price range. I was also thinking about sharing the videos that I DVR'd with the other computers in my house via WiFi.

I've heard that running a HTPC could be noisy and distracting while watching a movie on my TV, and that the HDD's gets really hot, is that true?

I was wondering if anyone could tell me what's a good build for $700 and under, or is that not enough money? I was thinking about installing Windows 7 64-bit as well, or should I go with Windows 8 64-bit?

I would appreciate any help I could get. Thank you.

 

[djangoringo]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/DcdR
Get the bluray drive either in amazon or newegg, same price free shipping, i don't know why it defaults to outlet pc.

Rest of the stuff on ncix us :
CPU : http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=75430&promoid=1312
OS : http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=77180&promoid=1312
PSU : http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=62331
Ram : http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=74758
HDD : http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=74462&promoid=1312
Total : 538.50$ (including all the parts)
Ncix us offers free shipping with 100$ or more in the cart.

 

[stickmansam]

^ they also price match AFAIK

 

[Few Oranges]

Hello everyone,

I am going to be getting rid of my cable, and I would like to build an HTPC and use it to stream videos(hopefully in HD), and also use it as a DVR. I wouldn't mind adding a blu-ray drive if that's possible within my price range. I was also thinking about sharing the videos that I DVR'd with the other computers in my house via WiFi.

I've heard that running a HTPC could be noisy and distracting while watching a movie on my TV, and that the HDD's gets really hot, is that true?

I was wondering if anyone could tell me what's a good build for $700 and under, or is that not enough money? I was thinking about installing Windows 7 64-bit as well, or should I go with Windows 8 64-bit?

I would appreciate any help I could get. Thank you.

well considering noise is more of a subjective matter thats something you would more than likely determine but there are always ways to get noise levels down, they even make "sound proofed" cases. would you be going with an ITX factor case and setup?
Also by "streaming" do you mean the literal term or do you mean just playing netflix etc. on your tv via hdmi? the reason i ask is because the Whdi (wireless high definition) devices out right now are pretty expensive and can be tricky at times

 

[Wolfshadw]

Just because I'm not a fan of integrated graphics (still not convinced they can play blu-ray without issue), here in an older tech AMD build that wouldn't have any issues doing all that you need:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Athlon II X2 260 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus M5A78L-M LX PLUS Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($55.00 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.98 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: OCZ Agility 3 60GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 6670 1GB Video Card ($67.74 @ Amazon)
Case: nMEDIAPC HTPC 5000B HTPC Case ($84.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHES212-08 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($82.28 @ TigerDirect)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Other: Hauppauge WinTV-HVR 1850 MC-Kit FM radio and MCE remote PCI-E x1 ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $727.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-12 23:20 EST-0500)

A little over the $700 price range, but if need be, drop down from Blu-Ray to a standard DVD (remember folks, you need third party software which is included with this drive to play Blu-Ray discs).

This system would actually outperform my current HTPC (see specs below) and mine is more demanding.

-Wolf sends

 

[djangoringo]

The intel i3-3225 is a good cpu for htpc, the intel hd 4000 can play any blu-ray without hiccups.

 

[Few Oranges]

The intel i3-3225 is a good cpu for htpc, the intel hd 4000 can play any blu-ray without hiccups.

agreed^^ the intel HD 4000 IGPU is actually considerably strong for an integrated chip,

according to this
http://www.game-debate.com/news/?news=2128&game=Battlefield%203&title=Can%20Intel%20HD%204000%20Run%20Battlefield%203

on medium settings this game is playable, BF3 is a very demanding game especially for an IGPU, obviously nothing nearly as good as a discrete GPU but you get the point

 

[John1967]

Best answer selected by John1967.

 

[John1967]

I would just like to thank everyone for taking the time to help me out! This website and its members are an invaluable resource!