Minimum requirements for a 3D Blu-ray playing HTPC ?

[ahmadka]

Hi guys ... So I'm thinking of building a HTPC (first one ever), and I need to know what components to use (CPU, etc.). As I'm limited on budget, I'd like to keep the total to a minimum. Once built, the HTPC will be connected to a JVC RS-46 via a Denon X4000.

It will ONLY be used for the following purposes:
>>> Play 1080p movies
>>> Play Blu-rays (3D and 2D)
>>> Stream 1080p movies (e.g. through PS3 Media Server) (Some light on-the-fly transcoding might also be needed occasionally)

It will NOT be used for gaming at all (I have consoles for that).

So please recommend me some specs. Also, I don't really like AMD and Radeon brands .. I prefer Intel and nVidia

Some questions that come to my mind:

1) Will an i3 processor be sufficient for the tasks listed above ?

2) Can the integrated Intel graphics handle 3D Blu-ray playback, or do I need a dedicated card ?

3) If I need a dedicated graphics card, what's the cheapest nVidia card I can get which can play 3D blu-rays without any problems ?

 

[TheELF]

Any haswell,even the smallest celeron, is capable of 4k video playback,bluray 3d is essentialy two 1080p movies one ontop of the other witch is ~4k resolution, so just get the biggest haswell you can afford/are willing to spend the money for.

 

[Puffnstuff]

What software are you planning to use for playback? Several communities are reporting problems with hd4000 and powerdvd.

 

[ahmadka]

What software are you planning to use for playback? Several communities are reporting problems with hd4000 and powerdvd.

I plan to use TMT6, although PowerDVD would probably serve as an alternate.

 

[ahmadka]

Any haswell,even the smallest celeron, is capable of 4k video playback,bluray 3d is essentialy two 1080p movies one ontop of the other witch is ~4k resolution, so just get the biggest haswell you can afford/are willing to spend the money for.

So a 4th Gen celeron or i3 would be capable of playing a Blu-ray ?

Also, would I need a graphics card for 3D Blu-ray playback ? I ask because I read some articles that say that a 3D supporting graphics card is needed for 3D Blu-ray playback ..

 

[TheELF]

No discrete graphics card needed, but you will probably want to read up on the available motherboards since it is possible that a lower quality mobo might have hdmi ports that are not good enough for bluray.

 

[ahmadka]

No discrete graphics card needed, but you will probably want to read up on the available motherboards since it is possible that a lower quality mobo might have hdmi ports that are not good enough for bluray.

Apart from reading customer reviews, any other way to filter out such mobos ?

EDIT: Added one more task that this HTPC will be doing :: Stream 1080p videos on the local network via software like PS3 Media Server .. Some light on-the-fly transcoding might also be needed occasionally .. Will an i3 still be okay ?

 

[Burpo]

Yes, an I3 is a great choice for what you're doing

 

[gmaster456]

You'd be hard pressed to find a current CPU that couldn't handle blu ray playback. Perhaps something like an E1-2100 couldn't. But any A4+ AMD APU, or Core i3 1st gen+ will handle it just fine.

 

[ahmadka]

Thanks guys .. So I'll be able to play 3D Blu-rays too on software such as TMT6, WITHOUT having a dedicated graphics card ?

Also, would 4GB RAM be enough, or would 8GB be more recommended ? I'll most probably we installing Windows 7 or Windows 8 on it.

 

[Essence_of_War]

Up until haswell, intel igpu's would playback 24 fps (23.976) incorrectly, and if you were annoyed by the frame drops, you really needed a discrete gpu. This appears to have been fixed.

Just one small additional note, this:

bluray 3d is essentialy two 1080p movies one ontop of the other witch is ~4k resolution

is not quite right. The usual 4k resolution (3840x2160) is actually 4x as many pixels as 1920x1080 (doubling of both width and height!), so while 3D blu-ray may actually be the equivalent of 2x 1920x1080 movies on-top of one another, that's still half the pixels of 4k.

 

[TheELF]

is not quite right. The usual 4k resolution (3840x2160) is actually 4x as many pixels as 1920x1080 (doubling of both width and height!), so while 3D blu-ray may actually be the equivalent of 2x 1920x1080 movies on-top of one another, that's still half the pixels of 4k.

You're right I got mixed up there but this should make playback even easier since haswell is capable of 4k.

 

[Essence_of_War]

You're right I got mixed up there but this should make playback even easier since haswell is capable of 4k.

Agreed!

OP, you may want to check this out also:
http://www.anandtech.com/print/7007/intels-haswell-an-htpc-perspective

 

[gmaster456]

Thanks guys .. So I'll be able to play 3D Blu-rays too on software such as TMT6, WITHOUT having a dedicated graphics card ?

Also, would 4GB RAM be enough, or would 8GB be more recommended ? I'll most probably we installing Windows 7 or Windows 8 on it.

4gb is fine. Whether or not you need a dedicated card depends on what Igp you have

 

[mfenn]

Any haswell,even the smallest celeron, is capable of 4k video playback,bluray 3d is essentialy two 1080p movies one ontop of the other witch is ~4k resolution, so just get the biggest haswell you can afford/are willing to spend the money for.

3D 1080p is about twice the data, but 4K is four times as much data. So 3D is much easier to do than 4K. Though if you're building a PC today, you should probably make it 4K capable anyway.

EDIT: Regarding 3D, TMT is discontinued, so it may no longer get software updates for compatibility with new Blu-Ray discs (updated keys, etc). ArcSoft has a also pulled down many of the pages regarding requirements etc. I did look on the PowerDVD requirements page, and they support driving recent Intel IGPs in stereoscopic mode.

 

[Charlie98]

I would normally recommend a Pentium for HTPC duty, but if you are at all encoding I suggest an i3. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but transcoding doesn't take that much CPU horsepower...?

I also agree that 4GB of RAM should suffice, if you are on a budget.

Up until haswell, intel igpu's would playback 24 fps (23.976) incorrectly

Just Sandy Bridge... or both Sandy and Ivy?

 

[mfenn]

I would normally recommend a Pentium for HTPC duty, but if you are at all encoding I suggest an i3. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but transcoding doesn't take that much CPU horsepower...?

Transcoding is the same as decoding and then immediately encoding, so an i3 would be preferable.

Just Sandy Bridge... or both Sandy and Ivy?

Both.

 

[ahmadka]

Okay, so the Haswell i3 processors should able to play 2D and 3D Blu-rays fluently (i.e. without any stuttering), even during those action scenes ?

 

[TheELF]

And even while doing background tasks,where with a pentium you might get stutter if the antivirus or whatever decides to do something.

 

[gmaster456]

Okay, so the Haswell i3 processors should able to play 2D and 3D Blu-rays fluently (i.e. without any stuttering), even during those action scenes ?

Yes it will be fine.

 

[ahmadka]

Thanks all ...

Also, is there any specific hardware that I would need to buy in order to ensure 7.1 sound output to my AVR ? Generally all motherboards nowadays claim to have built-in 8 channel support, but I'm not sure if that's enough for a HTPC or not ..

 

[ViRGE]

Is it too late to suggest just getting a dedicated Blu-Ray player?

As much as I love HTPCs, the current crop of Blu-Ray software is absolutely dreadful and not worth the trouble. You'll fight with it to get it updated for new keys practically every time you use it.

 

[gmaster456]

I was thinking that too^^

Hell even a $150 PS3 will do most of what people do with a HTPC. You can stream from media servers, lots of streaming apps including amazon and you don't have to worry about blu ray playback.

 

[ahmadka]

Is it too late to suggest just getting a dedicated Blu-Ray player?

As much as I love HTPCs, the current crop of Blu-Ray software is absolutely dreadful and not worth the trouble. You'll fight with it to get it updated for new keys practically every time you use it.

I was thinking that too^^

Hell even a $150 PS3 will do most of what people do with a HTPC. You can stream from media servers, lots of streaming apps including amazon and you don't have to worry about blu ray playback.

Well, my PS3 and PS4 are region locked, and since I have a decent amount of different region steelbooks, I need a region free player .. But these aren't available readily in my locality, and importing one will cost almost as much as a HTPC .. This is why I'm thinking of investing in a HTPC rather than a standalone player ... A HTPC can also do a ton of other things that PS3/PS4 can't, like readily play MKV files, etc ..

 

[mfenn]

Thanks all ...

Also, is there any specific hardware that I would need to buy in order to ensure 7.1 sound output to my AVR ? Generally all motherboards nowadays claim to have built-in 8 channel support, but I'm not sure if that's enough for a HTPC or not ..

With an HDMI connection, you can bitstream out any codec that is on the disc.