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HTPC-sort-of

G

glal14

Junior Member
I have a main machine up on my second floor which stores all my media. I want to stream this media wirelessly down to my HDTV, which is in the basement.

I'm thinking of building a really basic HTPC with an HDMI-capable motherboard and a decent wireless card so I can get the streaming going. I wouldn't really need the HTPC itself to store media, so I could go with a cheap HDD and DVD-ROM drive.

What sort of processor/how much RAM would I need on a machine like this? Or is there a better way to go about doing what I need to do?
 
Have you considered just buying a Media Streaming box?

BTW, Are going to be streaming "actual HD" content?
 
I don't think it's an issue of cpu/mobo/ram - it's the wireless connection.

I haven't poked around the issue recently but I think most folks would recommend against wireless streaming. I think you can make it work but to make it work well you have to deal with issues of packet size, buffering, etc ...
 
Well, the two computers would be a floor apart, and I won't be able to run Ethernet through the wall, so wireless is my only option.

And the vast majority of the content would be standard-def, but I want to have the option of HD as well.
 
It shouldn't matter what type of pc you are using, if you are trying to stream true HD signals wirelessly your main issue will be bandwidth
 
Well, in that case, what's the borderline for reliable Wi-Fi streamed video? Let's say I don't do any HD stuff, just SD. Would it still be more than what Wi-Fi can handle under my conditions, or?
 
If you want SD stuff, a good wireless-G connection should be enough. I've been able to stream SD movies at 36-54mbps without much of an issue. Anything HD, and you'll need wireless-N, and even then I've only tried 720p, haven't tried 1080p.
 
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