[Build Help] Cheap HTPC / Steam In-Home Streaming
Hi r/buildapc,
I'm looking to build a Home Theater / Steam Stream box. I have a few parts in mind, but mainly I want to see if there are any suggestions that would lower cost while maintaining the necessary performance to stream at 1080p at 60FPS. Can that be expected or is it wishful thinking? Does anyone have any experience with this? Provided my base machine can meet those performance expectations on its own, is there any reason why a particular game wouldn't match that performance on the streamed machine?
From what I understand, the only real bottleneck is the local network speed. Is that correct or should I be worried about other performance hits (i.e. CPU, Memory, SSD vs HDD). I don't see where these limitations would matter, but I just want confirmation that my assumptions are correct. The base machine is hooked via Ethernet repeater through our cable and HTPC will be connected directly into router.
Here's the build I have currently. I'm really not attached to anything, so all recommendations are welcome. I'm also looking for potential alternatives in cases that are as small as or smaller than a 360/PS3 to not overcrowd the entertainment center.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor | $124.98 @ Newegg |
| Motherboard | MSI H81I Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard | $72.17 @ Newegg |
| Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $59.99 @ Newegg |
| Storage | Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 60GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $49.66 @ Amazon |
| Storage | Western Digital RE3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $48.60 @ Amazon |
| Case | Thermaltake Core V1 Mini ITX Tower Case | $50.74 @ Amazon |
| Power Supply | Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | $53.98 @ Amazon |
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts | ||
| Total | $463.95 | |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-11 15:27 EDT-0400 |
I got the low storage SSD for the OS (I'll be installing Kodibuntu), maybe some light Steam games, and maybe some ROMs/Emulators. Otherwise, all media will be on the HDD. So budget is ~$450, but I'd like to get it as low as possible obviously.
I know the PSU is overkill, but it's the cheapest modular PSU I could find. I don't want to have to pack in a lot of wires I'm not going to use as airflow is going to be a concern as it is for a small case. But, like I said, I'm open to all suggestions/modifications in this build.
Thanks for the help!
Posted Jun 11, 2015, 7:36 PM UTC
If it's only a streaming pc even an athlon will do the job, I added a small case and a better ssd. This is my dream build because the case is really small
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
Or a J1900 with just a 10W TDP! It's going to stay very cool.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157513
Is the cpu soldered on the mobo? If it isn't I think it's better than the amd
Good question, and I can't find the answer to that. I would assume it's not, but as long as I don't see it written somewhere, I don't know for sure.
No, it seems that it's soldered onto the board. I googled "soldered q1900m" and found a few comments that said so.
Great little product for streaming movies and do some office work. But if you want to upgrade...
This looks incredibly promising. Do you think that would handle flash streaming well? I know most media outlets are switching to HTML5 but flash is still around and I know that lower clock speeds can reduce performance because flash isn't optimized with multi-threaded in mind.
Honestly the whole system cpu/mobo is so cheap that you can even reuse it as a home server if it's not strong enough(even tho I think you're still good). The only problem I can see is on the emulation of anything stronger than a snes
That's exactly what I was planning on emulating. NES and SNES. I wouldn't expect something so simple to be able to emulate something as complex as N64 anyways. That console is in no way efficient by any means.
You can stream those too anyway :)