[MrDamnation]

Before I get into it, I apologize for not using Poofyhairguy's pinned thread. I'm a bit of a cheat -- the last post there was from 11/2012 and no one has responded to the last guy who asked advice there yet so I figured I get better results here. I may be a horrible person.

Anyway, I had a HTPC setup that I thoroughly enjoyed until the fan crapped out on me. It was an ASUS nettop and the fan was soldered in without a soldering iron I was screwed -- plus I've never had the guts to solder anything outside of metal shop class in High School. Regardless, my previous setup worked as just a nettop attached to an external 2TB USB2.0 hard drive. It worked for what I needed but since then I've come to a place where I can spend a bit more money on home entertainment.

I'm currently looking into a combo HTPC/NAS setup. Is this the right approach? I'm a software guy so I'm useless when it comes to networking. I've read posts here that say it's the way to go, and considering the vast amount of media that my girlfriend and I collect, on top of backups I want to start creating it seems like the right choice. Are there any NAS options someone would recommend for serving media that allow additional drives to be added? In that respect, would it be possible for me to pop open my 2TB external drive and insert that into a NAS?

Regarding the HTPC, I'm honestly not sure which direction to go. I had a bad experience with my previous HTPC since I wasn't able to salvage it, so maybe I should build it from scratch? If so, any suggestions on the pieces? I think instead of the ION, which did me well, I'll go for an I3 this time. I'm looking to do the following with my HTPC:

• Run 1080p video from XBMC
  
• Play NES/SNES/Genesis roms (luckily the easiest requirement to fill)
  
• Watch Live TV (do American cable companies support this? As in, can I hook Comcast or FIOS into XBMC)
  
• Run Netflix (I have a ton of WIndows keys, server and OS, from my MSDN account)
  

All that said, does anyone have any suggestions for me? Does it make more sense to just build a NAS using Windows Media Server and plug that into my TV? If I go seperate HTPC and NAS, do I need to run Ethernet cable from one to the other?

Thanks for any help.

[Christer K]

Did you search or aare you just lazy? These threads come up dime a dozen every day

There should be a standard form for people searching for specs for plain htpc.s and combo boxes..

The I3 would do all the above.

The main problem for people making a combo is , will it transcode? If gaming choose a decent GPU.

[MrDamnation]

Did you search or aare you just lazy? These threads come up dime a dozen every day

There should be a standard form for people searching for specs for plain htpc.s and combo boxes..

The I3 would do all the above.

The main problem for people making a combo is , will it transcode? If gaming choose a decent GPU.

I started looking -- I thought people here may have some suggestions though especially in the department of things like "this is a nice HTPC but". I wish I had known that when I got my ASUS barebones nettop that I wouldn't be able to replace all the pieces. In terms of a NAS, I'm clueless. I've gotten some pointers from friends, but nothing that seemed appropriately priced. That said, my friend is a network engineer so I'm sure he showed me the latest and greatest.

I also will edit my post to say that I'm looking to emulate older generation games, not full-on PC gaming.

[Dougie Fresh]

The sticky threads are all out of date anyway. It's recommended you start a new thread like you did.

[PobjoySpecial]

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[MrDamnation]

The sticky threads are all out of date anyway. It's recommended you start a new thread like you did.

Good, now I don't feel like such a dick

1) Cable TV won't work. Broadcast TV is iffy.
2) Don't know anything about game emulation
3) Netflix integration is a kludge. I'd use a Roku or ATV3 + universal remote
4) Pretty sure Intel GPUs have hardware decoding problems under Windows. It may have been fixed, but you can rely on software decoding regardless.

If you want to enjoy using your HTPC rather than enjoy working on it, my recommendation is to keep things simple. IMO, XBMC is great at local file playback and a work in progress everywhere else.

1) N40L running UnRAID
2) Intel Celeron NUC running OpenELEC
3) Enjoy

P.S. Soldering is easy with the right tools, basic instruction and a workable project (i.e. not SMD parts). Be not afeared.

Looks like we're far away from Cable TV integration, huh? I'm hoping the next Xbox does that but I doubt it. Netflix I can live without. I'm cancelling after Arrested Development comes up -- I just don't use it enough to warrant the money. I'm looking to build out a movie machine mostly with some supplemental TV shows to replace shitty weekend afternoon TV. How many hours can I stand of Pawn Stars and Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives before I go insane?

Can I ask why you suggest using OpenELEC compared to a Windows machine? I'm leaning towards Windows because I feel the game emulation is better, plus I have a trillion keys I've never use for VMs. Just curious. Thanks for the suggestions though, it helped a lot!

[PobjoySpecial]

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