[US] Building a Budget Media Server/HTPC (<$300)
I'm looking to either build or purchase a computer that will be connected to my HDTV that can accomplish the following tasks:
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Download and stream videos from various sources at max quality (torrents/Youtube/Hulu/Netflix)
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Play local video files on my HDTV via HDMI (1080p+720p .mkv/.avi/.mp4)
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Serve local videos to network devices such as Xboxes and tablets using UPnP software (Serviio in this case).
My budget is $300. This price does not need to include hard drives or the OS. I would like the computer to be as small and quiet as possible since it will be in the living room. Size and loudness are VERY important. It will most likely be running Win7 x64.
I was looking at the variety of HTPCs made by Zotac and they seem to be up to the task of playing local 1080p files without a problem but I can't determine if they are capable of serving my videos to network devices, which is equally important. If I need to clarify anything, please let me know. Thank you very much.
Posted Jan 1, 2013, 3:58 AM UTC
[deleted]
This is a great choice. If you ever need more graphics power, you can add an AMD 6670 that works with the APU in crossfire.
Thank you so much. This is a great starting point. I take it the Zotac PCs didn't have enough processing power to serve media?
[deleted]
Can you speak a little bit about the AMD A10's ability as a CPU? I've been reading a couple reviews about it and am 100% confident it'll play any files I throw at it due to it's GPU, but I also need it to be able to serve media over my network as well. As I understand it, serving media is strictly dependent on the CPU, not the GPU.
[deleted]