Building an HTPC for $300?

[Dgr_874]

hopefully we can find out soon. I am leaning towards just having a cheap PC stay on 8.1 and act as the home server for my xboxes until they drop support in 2023. But, I hate to spend money on a new PC if the guide data is going to be dropped.

Can anyone point me to a PC build that would be around $300 and would be able to act as the central hub for all my media?

[Moderator note: split topic from WMC 10 thread]

[Ed]

But, I hate to spend money on a new PC if the guide data is going to be dropped.

Microsoft isn't/wont say specifically when guide data will end; so that's always gonna be a gamble for you - no matter how likely/unlikely you or anyone else feels about. Just wanna get that out there.

As for a good PC - gotta tell us more about your needs. Will you be archiving DVDs and/or BR's - if so, keeping them 1:1 or re-encoding them? Will you be archiving a large amount of recorded TV, or do you watch and delete? If you're gonna have a large amount of media - do you already have the HDDs, or need those too? Etc. Spare no details

[Dgr_874]

But, I hate to spend money on a new PC if the guide data is going to be dropped.

Microsoft isn't/wont say specifically when guide data will end; so that's always gonna be a gamble for you - no matter how likely/unlikely you or anyone else feels about. Just wanna get that out there.

As for a good PC - gotta tell us more about your needs. Will you be archiving DVDs and/or BR's - if so, keeping them 1:1 or re-encoding them? Will you be archiving a large amount of recorded TV, or do you watch and delete? If you're gonna have a large amount of media - do you already have the HDDs, or need those too? Etc. Spare no details

It will be used for OTA TV only. My gaming PC would do all the heavy encoding and I would just transfer the file later. We mostly do record and delete and don't keep a lot of shows around. I don't have any of the components around, I would have to purchase everything. I would like something that was power efficient because it would be on all the time. I have 4 Xboxes currently running off my gaming PC and would like to add a 5th later this year so it would have to run all those.

I want something that I can just connect all my stuff to, turn off updates, and have it run my tv in the house until something else comes along.

[mdavej]

You can't use a 3rd party guide data provider when/if the time comes? I plan to get at least another 8 years out of my WMC system.

[Ed]

But, I hate to spend money on a new PC if the guide data is going to be dropped.

Microsoft isn't/wont say specifically when guide data will end; so that's always gonna be a gamble for you - no matter how likely/unlikely you or anyone else feels about. Just wanna get that out there.

As for a good PC - gotta tell us more about your needs. Will you be archiving DVDs and/or BR's - if so, keeping them 1:1 or re-encoding them? Will you be archiving a large amount of recorded TV, or do you watch and delete? If you're gonna have a large amount of media - do you already have the HDDs, or need those too? Etc. Spare no details

It will be used for OTA TV only. My gaming PC would do all the heavy encoding and I would just transfer the file later. We mostly do record and delete and don't keep a lot of shows around. I don't have any of the components around, I would have to purchase everything. I would like something that was power efficient because it would be on all the time. I have 4 Xboxes currently running off my gaming PC and would like to add a 5th later this year so it would have to run all those.

I want something that I can just connect all my stuff to, turn off updates, and have it run my tv in the house until something else comes along.

So, this isn't an exact suggestion - just a ballpark of the type of things you should be looking at; to give you an idea -

Also, I'm still not sure/clear on if you're gonna need a large amount of storage; but if so either get some USB HDDs to add to something like this; or look for something with more HDDs from the get-go:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... gnorebbr=1

This only has Windows 7 Pro. So, you can use that, or look for one with 8.1 or get the 8.1 Pro Upgrade and buy WMC pack. Also, it has 2GB RAM; I'd (definitely) get another 2GB stick of DDR3L to throw in there (totaling 4GB), or look for one similar with 4GB from the start.

As for tuners get either of these 2:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6815345015

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6815345014

And just hook it up to your antenna/network.

This should be a good jumping off point to get you started.

[glugglug]

Added this poll on Anandtech:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2430321

Haven't managed to find the DVD playback user yet!

[Ed]

Added this poll on Anandtech:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2430321

Haven't managed to find the DVD playback user yet!

He's probably too worried about what you'll do to him when you find him

[Embiggens]

Added this poll on Anandtech:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2430321

Haven't managed to find the DVD playback user yet!

Check again, you found the user! Do you think it's actually Gabe Aul?

[Ed]

Added this poll on Anandtech:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2430321

Haven't managed to find the DVD playback user yet!

Check again, you found the user! Do you think it's actually Gabe Aul?

KHAAAAAAAANNNNN!!!!!!!!!

GAAAAAAAABBBBEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

[blueiedgod]

HTPC for $300 is easy to build if you use AMD CPU.