HTPC Build

[Slacker]

Hey Guys-

I am looking to cut cost from the cable bill- I am looking to build a machine that will act as a DVR. looking to have a tv tuner cable card ready and record in hd and playback in HD was thinking I could use plex to deliver the content - Also open to any DVR software. I have a $600 budget that might(I'd like to stay around $600) have $100 to $200 wiggle room- Looking to order within the next month.

I have the case and only and will need everything else- Case will fit ATX board-

 

[PP Mguire]

If you're cutting the cable bill how do you intend on getting the content with the card?

 

[Slacker]

I am cutting costs- not the cable- 4 STB and 1 DVR--looking to trim the fat and update our current media platform(current media platform the cable company)- I know upfront out of pocket will be more but over time I have already paid to build a htpc in rental fees- I am looking to get rid of their equipment- Also was looking to plex so that we can access the shows on more than just our tv-

 

[PP Mguire]

Ah ok, misunderstood your OP (been up all night). Plex doesn't have DVR functionality as it doesn't utilize TV tuners for live TV. You'll have to use Kodi for that. How and what exactly you setup depends greatly on what devices you want to stream to.

 

[carnageX]

Plex does have DVR functionality (in Beta), but you have to have a paid, Plex Pass to use it:
https://www.plex.tv/features/dvr/

 

[PP Mguire]

Plex does have DVR functionality (in Beta), but you have to have a paid, Plex Pass to use it:
https://www.plex.tv/features/dvr/

Those are for local channels. It shows support for the HDHomeRun PRIME which is for cable, but they don't specifically mention any support for getting cable channels.

 

[Slacker]

Those are for local channels. It shows support for the HDHomeRun PRIME which is for cable, but they don't specifically mention any support for getting cable channels.

I will need to research this point- but I was not looking for plex to handle the DVR job- I was looking at using it to deliver the content-

I was thinking I could get rid of all the STB and DVR- setup a HTPC that can capture and record from the cable card(using HDHomerun or something like) and then use plex to deliver that content-?

in this setup I would use the main tv for live tv- all other devices would only access the recorded content-

I only need live tv on the main tv-- b/c nobody watches any of the other TV's-- most often they are streaming to their phone,tablet or laptop-

 

[PP Mguire]

I will need to research this point- but I was not looking for plex to handle the DVR job- I was looking at using it to deliver the content-

I was thinking I could get rid of all the STB and DVR- setup a HTPC that can capture and record from the cable card(using HDHomerun or something like) and then use plex to deliver that content-?

in this setup I would use the main tv for live tv- all other devices would only access the recorded content-

I only need live tv on the main tv-- b/c nobody watches any of the other TV's-- most often they are streaming to their phone,tablet or laptop-

Yea that's what I figured you wanted to do, but in my mind why have two pieces of software if you can have one? Looks like it does though. Neat.

https://www.plex.tv/blog/air-human-plex-dvr-divine/

 

[Slacker]

That makes sense to me as well-

I was thinking that an i3 paired with a 750ti would be enough to record in HD and playback at the same time?

Also would something like ASUS Z170M-PLUS be over kill for a MB?

and can I get away with using a hdd instead of ssd for the os? I would
have a hdd dedicated to storage only also- right now I have 3 1tb drives sitting idle-

4gb of ddr4 ram enough? I am thinking 8gb but...


oh and would be a good cheap cooler for the i3?

 

[PP Mguire]

If most of your devices streaming will be mobile idk if the i3 will handle the transcoding.