So totally new to HTPC building and need a lot of advice

Zion Halcyon

2[H]4U
Joined
Dec 28, 2007
Messages
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Really, I am used to building and tweaking gaming rigs, where the tendency is to always go with MOAR!!!! and the like, and its pretty straightforward in terms of video cards, processors, and hard drives.


But because I firmly have a gaming-rig builder's mindset, it's left me a little lost at HTPC, as I look at specs, and some of them I just look at like "that's it?" and the rest I am totally lost.

So first, let me tell you what I am looking for my HTPC to do, being totally naïve and new to this.

I am looking for a way to get rid of cable TV (which I'm guessing means buying a digital receiver for the local channels), but have the adaptability to use it for cable TV should I get it again in the future. I want a DVR capacity with the ability to schedule recordings of shows ahead of time, and also entire series if possible - more recording options the better. And I need it to allow me to view things in HD (have an HD TV set). I also want it to take the place of my blue ray player, and work with a remote. Finally, the plan is to use Windows 8 with Windows Media Center (not looking for suggestions on alternatives to this unless you are telling me the Windows Media Center can't do what I want it to). I do have a wireless router in my home, and therefore want to add a wireless card.

Things I am uncertain about:

* Graphics cards - how much is good enough? What happens when a card isn't good enough - is the TV picture choppy, etc? SLI - Crossfire make any difference?

* processors - considering getting a micro atx board with an I7 2600 processor (because I have a spare processor and wouldn't need to buy it), but will that really make a difference compared to the AMD APUs people are buying? Should I be looking at an APU instead and if so, what should I be looking for to make my Media center the best it can be, and what happens if the APU isn't up to snuff in terms of performance problems to look for?

*Other Parts - for a PC, I get the staples - Proc, Mobo, HD, RAM, Vid Card, maybe a sound card. But it seems like some of these units have even more than this. Are there other parts beyond the standard PC builds I should be considering?

BTW, I ask all this after checking out the stickies, and finding that either they aren't very beginner-friendly or contains dead links.

Any assistance to a total HTPC novice would be appreciated.
 
I'm not sure about the TV thing, but for the CPU just use what you have and at first try it out with the iGPU.
If you need more GPU power you always have the option to get something more powerful, I have a 650 in my rig and I can play DmC @1440x900 with ultra setting, while a 1080p movie is running on the 1080p TV I have as a secondary display.

Protip: Start out with XBMC it's probably the best thing you could get for an HTPC. You could even get XBMCbuntu for free if you don't want to do any gaming with this rig.

Oh, another thing about the GPU, if the iGPU isn't good enough you don't have to go for something like a 650 just grab anything above 620 and it should be fine.
 
I second Xbmc it's awesome software, you might want to think about a tv tuner card if your not going to go to advanced with your setup. I would start with the one htpc box and if you like it then look at how to do a whole house/apartment setup. There is a lot you can do if you have the time to do your research and tinker with different things
 
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