HTPC, server, NAS or all in one?

mavers

mavers

mavers

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In the next few months im planning to build a system to connect to my tv so i can watch 1080p movies.

Originally i thought i'd just buy a revo or asrock 330 stick it next to the tv and everyone is happy. But recently i've been thinking of getting a NAS so the two laptops in the house can access media wherever they are. It would have the advantage that all media would be centralised. Plus from my research so far they consume little power and can be woken up via lan.

Then another thought passed my mind, instead of a NAS i could get a server. This will give me greater flexibility in the future in terms on increasing the number of drives. Plus i could use it as a download machine for torrents. Though maybe this solution seems a little overkill and i imagine the power usage would be higher than a NAS.

Then to complete the circle i though of building a htpc with a lot of storage and have it as an all in one solution. I like the sound of this but i think i might be sacrificing a quiet solution (would need a larger psu to power the hard drives) and wake up on lan wouldnt be as fast as a NAS.

I'm not really leaning towards any solution! any help is appreciated!

I'm not really sure what the ideal solution is but it seems like a NAS and a revo/asrock
 
I'd say a atom ion board, loaded with 2x1/1.5/2tb green disks running something like mythbuntu on which you can setup samba shares and install something like torrentflux. Antec's PSU calc reckons that 2 green disks + DVD combi drive with an atom would consume 94w, so you could even power this off of a pico PSU.
 
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I've done some more research and im leaning towards a server box with WHS. Means the two laptops can be backed up on a regular basis, and adding storage to a server is a bit easier and cheaper than a NAS option.

The question now is what HTPC to opt for, whether its worth building one myself or getting off the shelf. Also does anyone have any advice for the front end software, XMBC live? Media Centre? Media Portal?
 
XMBC all the way! Used to use it way back when on the original Xbox before using moving to MP when I built my HTPC last year. Decided to try out XBMC over Xmas and with all the improvements they've made over the years haven't looked back since! Runs a lot quicker on my system than MP and MC also.
 
Whats the best platform to run XMBC off? (i was thinking of running it off windows 7)

I'm thinking of building a very quiet HTPC.
Small SSD hardisk.
Any recommendations on processor/graphic card? - preferably something that can play 1080p with no jittering, the occasional encoding.

For the server. I would like it to be pretty quiet too. all i need it for is for downloading, backing up the laptops in the house, and providing media to the HTPC and the laptops.
Spec
OS - WHS
again what sort of processor should i be after? I'm not looking to run anything too challenging on this.

Thanks!
 
I'm running an Atom 330 powered WHS server. It's mainly used as a repository for all my DVDs, music and photos and sits behind a speaker powered on 24/7. It's pretty much silent and certainly quieter than the Sky+HD box.
 
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Just to say now that XBMC wont use graphics acceleration to decode HD movies. So you would need a bit more powerfull CPU than an Atom in my personal opinion. But I am happy to be proven wrong
 
XBMC looks awesome but id still like too have a seperate box one could just switch on and run a movie off.

It would have been better if there was a instant usb boot Xbmc version one where u can switch on the pc and it just loads xbmc within seconds, still wouldnt compare too say how a dvd/media player switches on and just runs but close.

Theres apparantly xbmc support coming for this player here:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/05/hands-on-with-the-boxee-box/

Boxee box looks small/sleek and decent remote for in the hand experience, and apparantly may support xbmc via plugin. Sadly its not due till this summer and for $200.
 
mavers:

Did you ever reach a conclusion ?

Ive been debating the same question for almost a year and still no closer.

In the end of the day its still nice i guess too have a large pc that can act as a download rigg/htpc/pc/server/gaming machine 24/7.

But at same time I would love a download/server pc and just que up a good few 2Tb hdds, perhaps have it act as a download rigg also with Sabnzb which I can then open via any pc/browser.

Id then idealy like a Boxee box upstairs/downstairs and just stream off the content off the download/server box.

Pc in the room can be used for surfing/chatting and gaming :)
 
if your thinking about using the htpc to watch/record live tv as well.

then u could use a seperate front/back end of mythbuntu.

the back end will have tuners, large storage, etc. And can be placed anywhere.

then have a quiet htpc front end, this can then access the media library as well as watch live tv, or recorded tv direct from the back end.
 
What do people think of the ASUS AT3IONT-I DELUXE?

Seems to me to be a one-stop shop for this kind of setup.

It's atom based so low energy but it takes DDR3 RAM so it should be fast.It's got HDMI and Optical out, 4 x Sata + PCIe for even more storage if needs be. You could chuck it in a Lian-Li with a Blu-Ray drive and you'd be laughing.

I'm seriously considering a build like this but would be interested in peoples opinions.
 
looks like a very interesting mobo. very like the Zotac one but with a DC brick.

Ive had good luck with ASUS in the past. motherboard seems very good value for money - around 120 notes i believe.

not a lot of reviews online though
 
jrwagh333 is wrong.

XBMC uses VDPAU so there is acceleration for nVidia GPU's such as ION. Google it if you don't believe me..... I have setup a load of ION HTPC's using XBMC.
 
Yeah, I've pretty active on the XBMC forums and there are a few ways now to get hardware video rendered in hardware. I have a mac mini as my media machine but my next system will be ion based, I'm currently deciding on which one to get as its for my bedroom.
 
AbsenceJam said:
jrwagh333 is wrong.

XBMC uses VDPAU so there is acceleration for nVidia GPU's such as ION. Google it if you don't believe me..... I have setup a load of ION HTPC's using XBMC.
Click to expand...

No I am not wrong. It does not support it natively. Yes there are sort of "add ons" you can get. But it is very buggy. But yes it does work
 
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