Sup, /wsr/. I'm looking at building an HTPC for my mother and her boyfriend. They're cordcutters who watch most of their shows through pirate streaming sites by connecting their laptops to their flatscreen through HDMI. They're alright with their setup, aside from the inconvenience caused by tripping over their HDMI cable once in a while, but I think this would be a nice gift for them. Plus, I've been wanting a new project to work on.
Anyway, I'm thinking this box should:
- Run fast, and quietly
- Be able to handle different streaming sites, as well as torrent downloads in various formats
- Have a slick user interface that can be navigated with something like an Xbox One controller
- Be able to run 24/7 with relatively low power consumption
- Be able to emulate classic systems from the NES to the N64, maybe PS2 and Gamecube if this doesn't ramp up the system requirements too much (if it does, maybe I'll just set up a softmodded Wii and PS2 instead; my mother misses her Gamecube, and the laser burnt out on her PS2)
For specs, I was thinking of:
- a higher-end AMD APU, or maybe a Pentium G3258 paired with a 750ti
- 8GB of ram
- mini ITX or microATX case and mobo
- an SSD for the OS and applications, and a large capacity HDD (2TB+) for media
- Xbox One controller with wireless receiver
- Windows 7, or maybe a Linux distro that can be set up to update automatically without user intervention
- some sort of reliable onboard WiFi solution
What kind of build would /wsr/ recommend? What parts should I use? What software should I use for the OS, UI, media player, etc? Should I just give them my crappy old Core 2 box? This should be something that can easily be used by non-technical users with minimal maintenence. Low cost would be nice too, but if I have to recycle a few of my spare components and save up some of my autismbux for certain things, so be it.
>>18469
Seems reasonable.
If it were animu, I'd spec a stronger CPU.
Add on a PS3/PS4 Bluetooth remote control.
As for OS, fuck Windows, just install OpenELEC, and Bob's your proverbial.
>>18474
My mother despises animu, which is strange since she watches a lot of cult scifi series. Is 10bit video really that demanding?
I was debating going with a PS3/4 controller, but I wasn't sure how compatible one would be. It would probably be better than an XBone controller on Linux though.
I've heard of OpenELEC but never used it. What distro is it based on? Does it take much work to set up?
>>18482
>Is 10bit video really that demanding?
It's not the 10bit video, it's the subtitles. Some fancy tracks can have 250,000 glyphs per second, each of which needs to be rendered, textured and composited by the CPU*.
By "PS3 remote", I meant this thing. Works well. Behaves like the kind of remote a normal TV would have, which helps normies acclimatise.
>I've heard of OpenELEC but never used it. What distro is it based on? Does it take much work to set up?
I think it's an Ubuntu, but it might be a Knoppix. You just stick the CD in, and that's you running XBMC. You can set it all up yourself with Windows or Ubuntu, but why bother?
* why, yes, that /would/ be no sweat for a modern GPU. But it's less engineering effort to just make you get a faster processor.
>>18500
250,000 glyphs per second? Holy shit. I mean, I've watched some subbed anime, but never anything with that much onscreen text.
My mother's pretty comfortable with a gamepad, I mean when I was a kid she used to beat all my games before I'd get halfway through. She liked action adventure stuff like Zelda and Ratchet & Clank, as well as JRPGs which is incredibly ironic given her dislike of anime. I think she would enjoy Full Metal Alchemist if I showed it to her though. But, that's off topic.
Would it better to install OpenELEC to an SSD or something instead? My mother lives about 2-3 hours from me, and I'd want this thing to stay up to date to protect it from security vulnerabilities. Remember, she watches most of her shows through pirate streaming sites.
I know a GPU is essential, so that's why I'm considering a 750ti or an APU. I'd even consider something stronger if they were into PC gaming, but most of what my mother and her boyfriend play are older console titles and *puke* Facebook games.
Speaking of Facebook games and streaming sites, how is Flash support on Linux nowadays? Can it be done safely and relatively efficiently? This is actually the main reason I was considering Windows, but Windows requires a lot more maintenence...
>>18517
>>18517
>250,000 glyphs per second?
The ASS format doesn't support shaders or lighting or anything, so if you want sparkles, or glows, or shadows, you need to to do it with layer upon layer of the same text. Some fancy karaokes can have hundreds of layers.
But anyway.
Like Knoppix, you can install OpenELEC to a drive and set it to auto-update. But it can also run off a stick so you can try it and see what you think.
I'm afraid I have no idea about Flash on Linux. I remember it had big issues with 64-bit browsers, but Linux is a lot nicer about mixing 32 and 64 than Windows is, and 32-bit Linux doesn't have a memory limit. There's definitely an official Flash plugin, but I'm not sure how good or up-to-date it is.
You've got 8GB to play in, so Windows under VMWare is also an option.
You have to ask yourself how usable any kind of web thing is going to be from six feet away, though. It might be better to focus on console games and HTPCing, rather than trying to supplant everything the laptops currently do.
>>18545
Yeah, even if my mother did watch anime, I very highly doubt she'd be into karaoke.
I didn't know you could actually install Knoppix-based distros to a hard disk. I know USB drives are popular for live Linux distros, and I even ran Puppy Linux on an old laptop from one for a while.
If my experience with WINE is anything to go by, mixing 32 and 64 bit libs on Linux can be extremely problematic. But, WINE is a shitty program anyway. I wonder though, if 32-bit Linux kernels can use PAE to access more than 4GB of memory, is there any point to using 64bit? Is 64bit better for things like HD video, or emulators?
Is there a way I could seamlessly integrate a Windows VM for flash streaming? This is an HTPC, don't forget.
The only webpages I could see being used on this machine are sites like ProjectFreeTV. They might want to pull up the occasional webpage just to show people, but more than likely they'll just use their laptops at the same time. Now, to make the text easier to read for these sites, would it be at all feasible to increase the dpi? I actually use a slightly increased dpi on my laptop to make things easier to see on my small screen.
OP here again, would it be worth spending the extra for a Mini ITX build? Also, should I go with the Pentium and the 750ti, or should I go with an APU? I know Linux tends to favor Intel/Nvidia, but I'm thinking I could use a smaller case if I went the APU route.
Kodi
>>18618
Kodi is kind of clunky tbqh.
>>18610
Every time I've looked into doing that, it's added a buttload to the BOM with no appreciable benefit.
If you want the same PC but ITX-sized, you're suddenly dropping $200 on a power supply, $100 just to get a cooler that makes the same amount of noise, and so on.
Every generation it becomes easier, as the processor TDP drops, but it's still discouragingly expensive.
Further, there's the disheartening feeling that one simply cannot assemble modules together and end up with a ZBox or a Mac Mini. These big companies can benefit from economies of scale and build their own bespoke power supplies, cases, motherboards, thermal solutions, that all fit together like a jigsaw and work better than the sum of their parts. It's more than a little discouraging knowing that even one's very best will not be as good, or as cheap, as something from off-the-shelf.
>>18610
What do you plan to use the graphics card for? PC gaming?
If it's just videos, emulators, and GUIs, a good CPU and onboard video will be absolutely fine.
