HTPC as a server only what spec would i need

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › HTPC as a server only what spec would i need

samsam

167 posts

Master Geek

#34346 21-May-2009 19:22

i am looking to build a HTPC as just a server for all my content this includes movies and streaming HD tv from freeview to 2 xboxs maby 3 in the future, it would also be used for all downloading so running uTorrent aswell. I just wanted to know minimum spec that i would need ie dual OR quad core PC, and if anyone has any sugestions for minimsing noise and power costs?

thanks

mcraenz

1140 posts

Uber Geek

#216852 21-May-2009 23:29

You don't need much, it's mainly the front end that needs the power. e.g Playing Freeview HD is where you'll need to look at your hardware requirement. "Recording" digital Tv is nothing more than saving a data stream to your harddrive not CPU or ghaphics intensive. You could do all that you've listed on a Pentium4. Throw a bunch of disk at it and a gigabit network card tuck it away somewhere where the noise won't bother you and you'll be away. It's the fron't end(s) where you want to invest in power/quietness.

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samsam

167 posts

Master Geek

#216925 22-May-2009 11:22

ok thanks, so streaming doesn't require much CPU usage? it will have 4xDVB-T and 2xDVB-S tuners in it, and i will be using xbox 360 as the front end

mcraenz

1140 posts

Uber Geek

#217403 24-May-2009 13:32

Streaming at the server side is mainly just disk io and network io. What software will be you be running on the sever? What software can xb360 act as a front end to?

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samsam

167 posts

Master Geek

#217560 24-May-2009 23:47

im just going to be running windows 7 with media center so it is all integrated nicely, also going to keep media files on there to stream to the xbox

mcraenz

1140 posts

Uber Geek

#217611 25-May-2009 11:17

I'd be interest to know how you go with watching freeview on the xbox 360. Keep us updated :-)

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RustyGonad

495 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#217619 25-May-2009 11:40

Freeview HD works very well on the 360 - I'm running it on a 1080p screen. So does Sky HD...

You get some lip sync issues when playing back recorded TV (when you use the ff/rw functions or pause a recording), but other than that its very very good, there's still a few little niggly slow down issues in 7100, but every release so far has made significant in roads. Its now almost as fast as using the actual media center.

All of the other stuff including Divx plays seemlessly, although currently you can't ff/rw only skip (30 second blocks). This includes any mapped server content (all my content sits on Window Home Server).

Everything else works just like the native Media Center interface. Like I said its very very good...

mcraenz

1140 posts

Uber Geek

#217621 25-May-2009 12:06

What protocol is used? Would it be possible to use a different backend? I wonder if there is any security around it? I've got a 360 but I really like MediaPortal TV Server :-S

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RustyGonad

495 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#217630 25-May-2009 12:30

Its MS unique...

My understanding is that it uses a hybrid RDP type protocol for the display portion ie MCE interface, and uses local Xbox GPU decoding for the video decoding/display.

The only way would be if MediaPortal choose to add support for it... Maybe in MediaPortal II

, but we might be using Windows 8 by then...

samsam

167 posts

Master Geek

#217793 25-May-2009 19:48

they use to have an add on for media portal that added an application that you could open in the xbox MC but i don't think it is supported anymore. Ever since 7100 i don't see any need to install media portal as the DVB-S guide works great and i haven't experienced any problems with playback of live TV or recordings, and the series scheduling works well unlike previous builds

mcraenz

1140 posts

Uber Geek

#217845 25-May-2009 21:53

Yeah but it sill don't support multi-mux recording on dvb does it? If it did well...hmm it would be hard to ignore.

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samsam

167 posts

Master Geek

#217860 25-May-2009 22:56

yea that is a good point put i do have a few tuners so that not a problem for me :)

mcraenz

1140 posts

Uber Geek

#217897 26-May-2009 07:54

So do I

But it's just such a cool feature

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samsam

167 posts

Master Geek

#218086 26-May-2009 17:42

yea i no but it was a toss up between working through the xbox 360 and onto two TV's or that so guess you can't have it all yet

trig42

5809 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#218204 27-May-2009 07:26

The cool thing about the 360 is the ease of setup. Once you have the Win7 (or Vista) MC setup, you just 'Add Extender', which gives you a code which you enter into the XBOX and away it goes. Happy Times!

You can also get other WIndows Media Extender devices (Linksys make one), but I think it is cheaper to get a 360 now. If only the 360 played BluRay!

My wish list would be software on another windows PC that allowed you to extend media centre to another PC - as far as I know, that does not exist.