Home Theater Personal Computers (HTPC) sit in the living room's entertainment center. Often, they are placed next to the TV or on a stand shelf with little space. These computers replace DVD players, DVRs and even CD players. For this reason, take into consideration what case type and other hardware are required to build the best HTPC for your needs.
HTPC Case
Although a computer tower works as well as a slim, set-top style case in theory, it will not look as nice. The computer will likely be louder, too. Small HTPC cases are designed to consume less power and, as a result, make less noise. Many also come with a remote; premium cases come with touchscreens. Choose a case that comes with its own power supply to avoid headaches, because putting a full power supply into a tiny case is a challenge.
Motherboard and Processor
An HTPC computer typically uses either a mini ATX or a mini ITX motherboard. Mini ATX boards come closest to a regular computer's standard, with the exception that they offer fewer expansion slots and memory bays. Both boards come in either Intel- or AMD-compatible sockets for your processor. All but the tiniest HTPCs use the same processors found in larger desktops. Buy a single-core Atom only if the board you choose requires one; otherwise, use a dual-core processor.
RAM
An HTPC computer will likely run Windows Vista or Windows 7 editions bundled with Windows Media Center. You must install at least 2GB of RAM into your HTPC, but 4GB is better. Both of these Windows versions require a minimum of 1GB, but Windows uses most of that amount, leaving little memory for playing media.
Drives
To run your HTPC as a digital video recorder (DVR), you need a lot of disk space. If you network the HTPC to a storage device, hard drive size is not an issue. For storage directly on your HTPC, however, go with at least a 500GB hard drive. You also need an optical drive to play movies and games on the computer. A DVD player will do, but for Blu-Ray fans, get a Blu-Ray and DVD combo drive.
TV Tuner
A TV tuner is a must-have for any HTPC. Without one, a computer cannot receive TV channels. The two big types of TV tuners on the market are internal cards and USB "stick" adapters. Internal cards are available for either PCI or PCI-E slots. A PCI-E card fits into a PCI slot, but the reverse is not true. All a USB stick adapter needs is an available USB port on your computer. Both tuner types add at least one coaxial port for connecting a cable between your computer and your TV signal's source.
Graphics Card
Not every HTPC needs a graphics card. Most motherboards come with on-board graphics and, inside a tiny HTPC case, there is not always room for both a TV tuner and a graphics card. You do need at least 256MB of graphics memory for good play and 512MB is recommended. If you do buy a graphics card, try to find a low-profile model that needs only one slot.
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