Media PC / Blu Ray Ripping & Encoding Build Advice Needed Pls...

nate247 · 30 Nov 2010 at 01:48

Hi guys...

I guess to cut to the chase I am really in need of some of your expert advice in regards to a PC I am looking to build and thank you in advance for any that you can offer.

Long story short is that I have just CAT5'd the whole house, will be buying media extenders / building small HTPC's for each room. But for now I want to build the main hub / PC and more specifically something that is mega quick at ripping & encoding (via handbrake for size) my entire and vast DVD / Blu Ray collection.

I'm a little while out of the PC game but I presume the i7 is still the processor of choice for this (or are the cheaper AMD's up to the encoding task)? Also looking to make the PC as quiet as possible and stacked with large hard drives (so do I need a high powered PSU?). Sorry to sound dense but I am mainly an Apple guy although have dabbled with putting my own PC's together in the past to good effect. Just get a little l left behind in terms of the latest hardware when it comes out so always need a refresh

The main aim is to get over 500 dvd's and 100 Blu Ray's encoded and streamable in as high a quality as possible around the house. I already have a case earmarked from a friend (Silverstone FT02 silver) but am really sketchy as to what the best hardware to use in this build would be.

Any help would be hugely appreciated and look forward to any suggestions you may have. I also read intel have new processors launching soon, so is it even worth waiting a month or two? Anyway, babbling now but look forward to hearing.

All the best
Nathan

whitecrook · 30 Nov 2010 at 03:28

at 50GB a bluray and 10GB a DVD (roughly) I calculate you'll need around 10TB of hard disk space. That's quite a lot.

nate247 · 1 Dec 2010 at 08:54

whitecrook said:
at 50GB a bluray and 10GB a DVD (roughly) I calculate you'll need around 10TB of hard disk space. That's quite a lot.

I'm looking to compress each movie with Handbrake, but would also have no trouble in buying 5 x 2TB hard drives if required

iBSOD · 1 Dec 2010 at 09:11

This would do very well: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-053-OE&groupid=43&catid=339&subcat=

Considering your budget of course. And if that isn't enough, upgrade to the almighty X5680

(Please say your budget next time!)

Baboonanza · 1 Dec 2010 at 09:39

nate247 said:
I'm looking to compress each movie with Handbrake, but would also have no trouble in buying 5 x 2TB hard drives if required

If you strip the chaff from them most DVDs are <5 GB and BluRays < 25-30 GB. Personally I would strongly advise against doing compression. Surely the whole point is to have an ideal setup? Why sacrifice image quality?

I use MakeMKV for this purpose. It has a simple, streamlined interface for ripping straight to MKV with selectable subtitles and audio tracks.

Confused · 1 Dec 2010 at 12:57

I'd suggest just extracting the DVDs and BR's without any of the extras. With that - you're not going to require a hugely expensive "server" system.

I would, however - put the money saved from that towards getting yourself some more HDDs, and a Windows Home Server licence.

WHS is great for "set and forget" - and adding or upgrading disks in the future is made VERY easily. It will also do scheduled backups of all your attached machines - so rebuilding any one of them is a very, very quick task!