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Building a HTPC
Author: Dennis Garcia
Published: Monday, December 27, 2010
The Components
Normally when building a computer you start with the heart of the system, processor, motherboard, stuff like that. However one of the major limitations of a half height system build is not the core components but the accessories.
First on the list is the Blu-ray player, for this I have chosen an LG Super Mulit. This drive comes with full SATA connections and will read and burn most anything, CD, DVD, and Blu-ray. I have used these drives for years now and so far have not a single complaint.
First on the list is the Blu-ray player, for this I have chosen an LG Super Mulit. This drive comes with full SATA connections and will read and burn most anything, CD, DVD, and Blu-ray. I have used these drives for years now and so far have not a single complaint.
Storage is always a concern when dealing with multimedia files, for this build I have settled on using 2x 500GB Seagate 7200 SATA drives. They are SATA3 compliant and should provide enough space for movie storage, games and music collection. Luckily my entire house is wired for gigabit Ethernet so instead of loading the machine up with extremely large drives I will handle long term storage over the network.
When dealing with higher end equipment and/or a large number of components a full sized PSU is a must. For this build I'm using the Thermaltake TR2 RX 650W modular power supply. It's not fancy but should have just the right amount of power for my build.
