build and new to all this
#1
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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#2
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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#3
(2012-06-26, 22:03)mikev927 Wrote: 2. What is the best way to go about this?
There really is not a "best" way - you kind of have to figure out what's best for you. My personal answer is that the best setup is a small, silent, low power HTPC in the TV room which has no storage in it whatsoever. I prefer the appliance feel of OpenElec for the HTPC (no browser, no games, etc.) Pair that with a NAS (like UnRaid) sitting in another room which houses all of your content.
Other people prefer the opposite HTPC setup: powerful enough for games, 3d video card, running windows, full web browser, huge hard drives for local storage, keyboard and mouse connected.
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#4
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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#5
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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#6
I see you have 3D capable h/w - do you want to be able to play 3D content from your HTPC?
HTPC: Win 7 Home 64-bit | MB | CPU | GPU | RAM | Case | PSU | Tuner | HDDs: OS, Media | DVD Burner | Remote
Media server: unraid 4.7 | CPU | MB | RAM | Case | PSU | HDDs: Parity-2TB, Data-2x2TB
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#7
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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#8
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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#9
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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#10
This build should work then.....it'll give you enough CPU power to rip/transcode your 250 blu-ray discs, and you should be able to playback everything in your list with the included HD3000 iGPU

Case/PSU: LIAN LI PC-Q08B Black Aluminum Mini-ITX and SeaSonic SS-300ET Bronze 300W ($169)
CPU+iGPU:Intel Core i3-2125 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz + HD3000 65W ($160)
MOBO: ASRock B75M-ITX LGA 1155 Intel B75 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX ($97)
SSD: Corsair Force Series 3 CSSD-F60GB3A-BK 2.5" 60GB ($60)
RAM: Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 ($32)

You can start off with one of this "Seagate Barracuda ST3000DM001 3TB" for your storage.....

>Alienware X51- do it all HTPC
>Simplify XBMC configurations
>HOW-TO Bitstreaming using XBMC
I refused to watch movie without bitstreaming HD audio!
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#11
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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#12
(2012-06-27, 16:04)mikev927 Wrote: 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?
You can do it with a single machine but a lot of users prefer to have their media stored on a server that can be tucked away which allows you to build a smaller HTPC.

If you have 250 blurays that you want stored then that could end up being a lot of space. If you do just a straight rip you are talking about >10TB of data. If you compress the files (which would cause a minimal loss of quality) then you could get that down to ~3TB. The other thing to consider here is if you want protection from a HDD falure. If you lose a drive after ripping all your movies then you may have to re-rip them all again. If you want this kind of protection then you're going to need an additional HDD. So what I'm getting at here is that you are probably looking at multiple drives to store your all of your data. My rule of thumb is no more than one HDD in my HTPC otherwise the case just gets too big and the noise level is too high for me as well. So it really is up to you to decide on what works for you. What you are asking can be done with a single unit or two sepearte units.

HTPC: Win 7 Home 64-bit | MB | CPU | GPU | RAM | Case | PSU | Tuner | HDDs: OS, Media | DVD Burner | Remote
Media server: unraid 4.7 | CPU | MB | RAM | Case | PSU | HDDs: Parity-2TB, Data-2x2TB
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#13
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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#14
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?
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#15
(2012-06-27, 16:30)mikev927 Wrote: 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.
Ok, then the case that bluray suggested is a good choice. If you're putting this into a closet you could get a cheaper case (like an Antec 300) since nobody will actually be looking at it. Don't get me wrong, the Lian-Li is really nice but you're paying a lot more just for aesthetics.

(2012-06-27, 16:30)mikev927 Wrote: because of the amount of blus i have does it even make sense to do this and stop being lazy?
It sounds to me like you are pretty serious about your movies. If that is the case I'd say that it makes very good sense and you actually need to do this. I think you'll be very pleased with what you end up with.

HTPC: Win 7 Home 64-bit | MB | CPU | GPU | RAM | Case | PSU | Tuner | HDDs: OS, Media | DVD Burner | Remote
Media server: unraid 4.7 | CPU | MB | RAM | Case | PSU | HDDs: Parity-2TB, Data-2x2TB
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