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I am a complete newb at all this so all the help I can get would get would be appreciated.
Long story short, I have about 250 blurays I would like to rip to a drive and use an interface for them. After looking around I really loved the XBMC outlay from what I saw.
1. Is this possible?
2. What is the best way to go about this?
3. I am somewhat computer knowledgeable, so If need be, I can build something.
4. Can someone help me with this process?
Thanks everyone.
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1. Yes
2. Build a HTPC with a few large hard drives (2-4TB) that can store your movies. I prefer MKV as you can strip out all the extras, menus, etc easily to conserve disk space. A bluray movie is about 20-35GB or so.
3. Building is the way to go, imo. Its also only about 10% of using a HTPC. The remaining 90% is software setup and use.
4. Consider using my guides. I go over all of this step-by-step with illustrations for you.
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Exactly. The best way to go about it is fully dependent on what you plan to do with it. So, what do you plan to do with it besides watch movies?
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to be honest thats all I really want it for, for right now.
my current set up:
46" samsung led 3d
denon recv w 3d pass
full def tech tower system
xbox360
ps3
im a huge movie buff and want something to better organize my movies and not go crazy. for now, like i said it will be only for the blu rays.
thanks everyone for the help so far.
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I see you have 3D capable h/w - do you want to be able to play 3D content from your HTPC?
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it would be nice to, but its not a need for me. i only have about 5-10 3d movies. would this make a big difference in price of the build to have this capability?
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The marginal cost of having it be 3D-capable would not be very much. You could go with an i3-2100 or A6-3500 based system.
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i read somewhere that for 3d 1080p you would need a dual core cpu. and do i need to have 2 units like i noticed a lot of people have (1 storage, 1 main) or is it just 1 unit capable?
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bluray, would i need any other units, or its just that one unit? and the link you posted with the motherboard says its unavailable, would you recommend any others, or should i just find that one somewhere else?
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2012-06-27, 16:29
(This post was last modified: 2012-06-27, 16:37 by Dougie Fresh.)
I think he's asking if he should build separate HTPC and Server PCs. With as much media as you have I would say yes. It's more of a personal decision however. There are lots of pros and cons. In general, it's nice to have an HTPC that doesn't take up too much room and runs quiet. Whereas a server you want something that has lots of room for hard-drives and cooling (big and relatively noisy). You can compromise in the middle or break out the competing requirements into two separate machines. I have a couple of HTPCs and a couple of general use/office PCs with just a CPU, motherboard and 1 SSD and then a server in my basement with 6 HDDs that has all my media, documents, etc. all mirrored. These also run different operating systems, with Windows 7 on the clients and Windows Home Server 2011 on the server which is another advantage IMHO.
The case bluray suggests, the PC-Q08, makes a nice mini-server case with room for 6 x 3.5" (data) and 1 x 2.5" (OS). It also has room for a 5.25" blu-ray drive. There is also an updated version, the PC-Q18 that is easier to work with. Then you can have a small HTPC with no optical drive and just a CPU, SSD and motherboard as your HTPC.
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2012-06-27, 16:30
(This post was last modified: 2012-06-27, 16:31 by mikev927.)
wsume99, i dont mind having something bulky because for the most part everything is pretty much "hidden" in my close behind the tv. and i listen to my movies almost at movie theater level lol (i like to feel like im in the movie). its more of a cost thing than anything else.
because of the amount of blus i have does it even make sense to do this and stop being lazy?