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[hsnopi]

So my brother has sold me on JRiver. I'm new to the whole thing. I also want to build a NAS box to store all our video, dvd's, movies, pics and such. I'm confused though. Can I build a small headless box out of a mini ATX, throw drives on there and have it server both purposes and run it through the tv? I guess I'm wondering what the difference between a NAS and HTPC is and can I use one low power device for both? Do I have to rip all my DVD's or can I just make ISO's and throw them on the system and JRiver uses that?

Thanks
Hsnopi the Noob.

[AndrewFG]

^

Short answer: yes 

A NAS is basically a very lightweight PC running a lightweight operating system, that normally does not have the power cannot run MC. Whereas an HTPC has a little bit more power, can run a stronger operating system and can run MC on it.

My own HTPC is based on the following, and works perfectly..

CPU: http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/N3150-ITX/
Case: http://www.origenae.co.kr/en/htpc_mm100.htm
SSD: http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/memory-storage/MZ-75E120B/AM (small capacity drive just for O/S and MC)
HDD: any 2.5 inch spinning disk (big capacity drive for the media library)
Bluray:  http://www.streacom.com/products/ob3-blu-ray-drive/
O/S: Windows 10

I run this headless, with HDMI output into my Receiver, and I use either JRemote (on an iPad) to control it, or alternatively MC's TheaterView on the TV.

(
My only issue was that the I/R receiver provided in the OrigenAE case is not suitable for driving MC (it is not eHome compatible) so I had to replace that with one of these:  http://shop.inteset.com/inteset-pc-irs5-01-basic-kit
)

PS with the above bluray drive you can play disks directly or rip and play later; but you do need to buy AnyDVD also to enable that  http://www.slysoft.com/en/anydvdhd.html

[hsnopi]

thanks!

[hsnopi]

I've read a lot of discussion on video cards. However that board has HDMI on it. Do you have any issues with lag or anything? We only have a 1080p tv.

[AndrewFG]

I've read a lot of discussion on video cards. However that board has HDMI on it. Do you have any issues with lag or anything? We only have a 1080p tv.

To be honest I don't really use it much for video. I have an Oppo Blu-ray player as well

[mwillems]

I've read a lot of discussion on video cards. However that board has HDMI on it. Do you have any issues with lag or anything? We only have a 1080p tv.

If you use the Red October Standard setting in JRiver's video settings (which is the default), you should have no problems with video output on any modern integrated graphics chip.  I've used it without tearing or lag with the integrated graphics on a cheapy 1037U celeron from a few years back.

If you want to use Red October HQ, you'll need a discrete video card or potentially some of the higher end integrated graphics (like the one's that come bundled with newer i5 and i7 Core chips) depending on the settings you want to use with it.

If you're mostly watching Movie Blu Ray's on a 1080p screen, the picture quality difference between RO Standard and RO HQ is not (IMO) that big.  If you're upscaling  (because you're watching DVDs or other SD content) or deinterlacing (because you're watching television shows), the difference is more visible. 

I personally use RO HQ because my HTPCs are also used for video games, so I already have the video card installed; RO HQ comes "free" for me. RO Standard is very good though, and if I were setting up a system tomorrow as a dedicated HTPC on a 1080p screen, I might just use the integrated graphics with RO Standard.

People have different views, and I'm sure the size of the screen also figures into how obvious the differences are; hope this helps.

[hsnopi]

that does help yes. I plan on building a JRiver only HTPC (NAS). Small, quiet. I will be ripping (Legally) all the allowed DVD's and streaming those movies to the hdmi on the TV. an integrated chip would be nice but I don't plan on using a bluray player. Just ripped files. Hook the roku, amazon, hulu, netflix etc on it. Sounds like I want a miniITX or microATX with a card. Which makes me wonder about cooling, quietly.

JRiverID? I was looking at those and they look nice but I'd want to throw in a 4tb drive or something.

[mwillems]

that does help yes. I plan on building a JRiver only HTPC (NAS). Small, quiet. I will be ripping (Legally) all the allowed DVD's and streaming those movies to the hdmi on the TV. an integrated chip would be nice but I don't plan on using a bluray player. Just ripped files. Hook the roku, amazon, hulu, netflix etc on it. Sounds like I want a miniITX or microATX with a card. Which makes me wonder about cooling, quietly.

For cooling quietly, checkout http://www.silentpcreview.com/  they have really excellent fan reviews with sound measurements and even audio clips of the noise profiles of the fans (sometimes).

Some of their recommended fans are really excellent and so quiet I cannot hear them from more than a foot away.  Lot's more info (and specific recommendations) over here: https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=85573.0