htpc, nas, media center...err help

C

Climber

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I'm stepping into building my first htpc, I think, but the more I read the more confused I'm getting. Im kinda lost and not sure what I need or if I already have it.

I had some spare parts lying around which is what got me thinking about what to do with them. Here is what I would ideally like to do. I would like to setup a central media server to feed several rooms in the house none of which are hardwired with cat6. I currently have HDTVs in the Kitchen, Living Room, Family Room, Master Bedroom, 2 guest rooms, and a quite unfinished home theater / party room in the basement. The networking closet, if you want to call it that, is in the basement. All it has in it currently is the cable modem (30MB Infinity) and Router (ASUS RT-N66U Dual-Band Wireless-N900 Gigabit Router). With a repeater on each floor I'm getting close to or over 90% signal on all 3 floors.

The parts I have to work with are:
i5-760
Asus P7P55D
8gb RAM
1 Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD
1 Seagate 3TB ST3000DM001
XFX 6950 2GB
Seasonic X650

Don't have a case or another OS to use so would need to buy those. Was considering the Silverstone GD08B (or similar) but unsure if I need WHS 2011 or Windows 7/8. The 3TB Seagate is currently in my main computer and I've been ripping my Blu Rays to it and playing around with XBMC locally. I still have another 50 or so Blu Rays left to rip as well as a few hundred DVDs I haven't got around to yet. I'd also like to stream Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu through them if possible. While building this would be fairly easy for me where I'm not sure what to do is do I need to also build a central media server or a NAS? Would the HTPC function as either the NAS or the Media Server. I don't ever forsee myself having enough media to fill up more than 12TB of space, I mean right now I've almost filled up 1 3TB HDD and that took 61 Blu Ray lossless rips and I'm just a little shy of half of my blu rays. So would buying like a Synology DS213 and slapping 2 4TB drives in there be necessary or just build the HTPC and put the HDD's in there?

I have 2 systems 1 for gaming (i5 3570k 680 yadda yadda yadda) and 1 for design and photo work (i7 3770k again pretty beefy). Is there anything either of these systems can do or help with or should I just focus on the spare parts and build something dedicated?

Sorry for the lengthy and probably useless rant. Just not sure why this is so confusing for me.
 
Some nice spare parts, they should run anything you would want :cool:

One thing to consider with a NAS or File Server is power consumption because they generally run 24/7 and the i5-760 and 6950 are good parts but draw a decent amount of juice.

The Silverstone GD08B is a nice looking HTPC case...
 
Look into Plex, best home theater solution around. You will need to run a server and a client to actually play back. That can both be on the same system if you are using a full-on PC. Clients can also be android/iOS devices or Roku's around your house. I have used all of those.

Do not run windows server, it just complicates things and a lot of the software and drivers I needed wouldn't run on it. Use 7 or 8.

If it were me I would not use those spare parts for power consumption issues. The 6950 is way overkill and the server side of it won't even use it to transcode. I would run the server on one of your other two rigs so long as you don't mind leaving one running 24/7. Then use those spare parts for a client PC in the living room if you want. That client would be able to decode any format so the server wouldn't need to transcode and you probably would t notice much if any overhead while you were gaming or working.
 
My gaming rig is generally on 24/7 for folding purposes so I don't mind using that. So Superjoe, if I decide to turn my gaming rig into what you're describing it can be both the server and the client? Not familiar with Plex so forgive the probably really basic question but if I install Plex, toss in a couple more 3TB drives I can stream from my gaming PC to any of my DLNA devices. Seems like the option I will want to go with.

Also would buying like a Dune, WD TV Live, or a Roku be necessary to help facilitate individual options, like if my wife wanted to watch Hulu, I could be in another room watching netflix or a mkv file from the server?

Thank you both for taking the time to respond. For whatever reason this seems so much more complicated then just building a PC and I feel like I should be able to pick this up but the more I read literally the more I get confused.
 
Don't sweat it, this has been one of my primary hobbies and it didn't happen overnight, that's why I like sharing with others.

So yor gaming rig is going to run Plex Server since it is always on. It can also run Plex Client, sure, if that is the device you want to watch shows on. Otherwise the client can be installed on another PC, iOS or android, Roku, etc. Plex Server also supports DLNA like you mentioned so you can stream to WD TV Live, Xbox, PS3, etc. DLNA support is basically beta and I don't really use it so can't I would recommend browsing the Plex forums. Roku has long been the easiest out of the box experience because 3rd party apps are Encouraged on the device, no hacking necessary. A windows or Mac HTPC with Plex client installed is usually the best experience because of greater codec support and horsepower, but the Roku is much much cheaper than building a dedicated PC and as long as the server is powerful enough to transcode everything, more than adequate for viewing everything in my experience. Your gaming rig will probably be able to transcode to more clients than you will ever use at once. I think I saw a youtube of some guy using Plex server on an i7 Mac Mini and transcoding to 10 devices simultaneously.

I use both an HTPC and a Roku and while the Roku occasionally hiccups its easier to get up and running than an HTPC. Just getting a remote control to do everything on an HTPC is an expensive project nowadays so I really recommend using a Roku.
 
Thanks Superjoe that was really the advice I was looking for. Basically it was understanding how the clients interacted with each of the tvs that was perplexing me but I see the light hallelujah! !!

Any particular roku you like over another for this purpose?
 
I have the Roku 2 XS, same as the XD but has an ethernet port and a bluetooth remote. The ethernet port is an obvious plus, but having a bluetooth remote is pretty hand so it doesn't have to be aimed at the Roku.

Now, on the flipside I actually use a Logitech Harmony One so I'm using IR to the Roku anyways.
 
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