I've been using my primary desktop as my WMC for the past 3 years with 3 Xbox's as extenders. Up to this point it has worked great, but it has recently started blue screening on me all the time, like 5 times a day. So it's time to upgrade the 6 year old desktop. I'm thinking of getting rid of my primary desktop and replacing it with a laptop and a dedicated htpc. My thoughts are using an HTPC with a small SSD and connecting This [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002UU ... TUX2A6RQ1A] to my Asus router to store and stream all my media from. I have all gigabit switches and router and think this should work with no problem. I think..
My problem is I can't seem to decide what I need for my actual HTPC. I will be doing NO gaming on it or browsing. I only want to run Windows Media Center, Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. and stream to my extenders. I have it narrowed down to 3 choices and wondered if anyone had input on any of them.
1) the cheapest way to go ($237): refurbished Gateway SX2110G-UW308 (DT.GDYAA.001) AMD Dual-Core Processor E1-1200(1.40GHz) 4GB DDR3 500GB HDD Capacity AMD Radeon HD 7310 Windows 8
I would replace the 500gb hdd with a 64 or 128gb ssd and I should be able to fit my old tv tuner in this unit.
2) the flashiest way to go ($663): refurbished DELL Alienware X51 AWX5061990501SA Intel Core i3 3220(3.30GHz) 6GB DDR3 1TB HDD Capacity NVIDIA GeForce GT 640 / 1GB Windows 8 64-bit
Again, I would replace the 1tb hdd with a 64 or 128gb ssd but in this instance I would have to buy another HDHomerun.
3) the techiest way to go ($510): Intel NUC with Dual HDMI, Gigabit LAN, Core i3-3217U DC3217IYE, Lite On Plextor M5M 2.5-Inch 128GB mSATA Solid State Drive (M5M 128GB), Komputerbay 8GB (2x 4GB) DDR3 SODIMM (204 pin) 1333Mhz PC3 10600 8 GB (9-9-9-25)
This price doesn't include O/S, I'm assuming the version of windows 7 I have will work with it. It should. I will need another HDHomerun with this build too.
please help...
Help me choose an HTPC
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Help me choose an HTPC
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The AMD is slow and may struggle with HD video at times.
The NUC is of course,small and not really that upgradable.
If you want something that doesn't take a lot of room and don't
mind running usb hardware,go for that.
The alienware is the only on I see that would be easier to work with
and can take upgrades as needed.
Media center load balances across CPU cores,so more is better in this case.
The NUC is of course,small and not really that upgradable.
If you want something that doesn't take a lot of room and don't
mind running usb hardware,go for that.
The alienware is the only on I see that would be easier to work with
and can take upgrades as needed.
Media center load balances across CPU cores,so more is better in this case.
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Thanks for the reply. Not too worried about upgradeability and that was what I was afraid of with the Gateway too being that the processor wasn't good enough.
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I built a socket 1155 mini itx system in an old kiss dvd player case, pentium cpu,ssd,pico psu. It is beautiful...
i cut the cpu cooler fan off. Cut an hole in the case put a 120mm fan in with a grid/dust cover. Quiet as a mouse. And upgradeable.
i cut the cpu cooler fan off. Cut an hole in the case put a 120mm fan in with a grid/dust cover. Quiet as a mouse. And upgradeable.
Lee