Hi!
I am willing to build an HTPC (my first), but still, I can't find an exact answer to my questions. Most people are telling what their build is, and if it works for Red October HD, but I can't seem to find anything about 720p playback. Thing is my Samsung TV is 720p only, so I rip my bluray to 720p only. I'll probably rip them in 1080p one day, but not now as I plan on keeping that TV for as long as I can.
I tested with my gaming rig (i5 3450; AMD 7850; 8gb DDR3-1600), and playback was smooth on JRiver MC via HDMI, way better than via PS3 media server. Before, I was using PS3 media server to stream my files from my PC, but I would like to put all my movies and flac music on my new HTPC, and play everything from JRiver.
That being said, I don't want to throw as much in my HTPC than in my gaming rig. Would a new gen i3 or AMD Trinity/Llano suffice (even without a video card) for RO HQ in 720p, or would I need something better? I don't want to have a choppy performance on action movies.
Thanks for your help,