[darwin503]

Hi all,

I'm not new to building pc's, but I want to build my first HTPC and I'm a bit lost. I'm not sure if the builds I'm putting together are overkill, or falling short for my intended use. Advice would be greatly appreciated.

I basically want to build a machine as cheaply as possible capable of the following:

Run windows with XMBC
Stream netflix, hulu, youtube, etc
Playback bluray/3d bluray smoothly
Pleayback 1080p mkv files, sbs 3d, and full iso 3d
Playback and recording of OTA tv content

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3cTy6

This is the current iteration of my build, but I am highly skeptical that it would be up to the challenge.

Thanks for any help.

EDIT: I'm also open to other solutions capable of my requirements, such as a nuc or a box.

[bluray]

You can do this- BD & 3D Advisor Overview. It'll tell you exactly what your needs to playback 3D....

[darwin503]

You can do this- BD & 3D Advisor Overview. It'll tell you exactly what your needs to playback 3D....

Thanks, but that is an app that would require me to build the system then test it.

[noggin]

Hi all,

I'm not new to building pc's, but I want to build my first HTPC and I'm a bit lost. I'm not sure if the builds I'm putting together are overkill, or falling short for my intended use. Advice would be greatly appreciated.

I basically want to build a machine as cheaply as possible capable of the following:

Run windows with XMBC
Stream netflix, hulu, youtube, etc
Playback bluray/3d bluray smoothly
Pleayback 1080p mkv files, sbs 3d, and full iso 3d
Playback and recording of OTA tv content

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3cTy6

This is the current iteration of my build, but I am highly skeptical that it would be up to the challenge.

Thanks for any help.

EDIT: I'm also open to other solutions capable of my requirements, such as a nuc or a box.

AIUI in Intel terms you'll be looking at a Core i3 or better and Windows as your OS? If 24p is important, it will need to be Haswell (Sandy and Ivy Bridge don't do perfect 23.976Hz output) unless you want a graphics card. I'd expect a Haswell i3 NUC to do everything you want?

[nooryani84]

I didn't realize people still were interested in 3D. Wait for holographic 3D and lower the price of your HTPC instead. Current gen of 3D is just a marketing trick

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/132...free-3d-tv

[bluray]

You can do this- BD & 3D Advisor Overview. It'll tell you exactly what your needs to playback 3D....

Thanks, but that is an app that would require me to build the system then test it.

I thought that you have another PC to verify it before building a new PC. This place "Budget System" is offering the same APU in your list for 3D HTPC....

[darwin503]

Aside from netflix playback, I'm wondering if a cubox pro is capable of what I'm looking to do?

[noggin]

Aside from netflix playback, I'm wondering if a cubox pro is capable of what I'm looking to do?

If you want 3D Blu-ray playback - you need to run Windows I believe. The Cubox doesn't run Windows.
(XBMC doesn't currently have MVC support, which is required for 3D Blu-ray replay. In Windows you can call external Blu-ray software)

It may be possible to rip a 3D Blu-ray to a format that will play under XBMC - but this will require software that only runs on a a PC or a Mac I believe.