Home Theater PC Component Overview

The first step to building a home theater pc is to decide what you are going to need and what you want your HTPC to do. A couple of the decisions that will affect your final price are:

• How much storage do you want?
• Do you want Blu-ray capability?
• Will you be gaming on the system?

My goal in this guide is to build an HTPC that can output high quality video to a projector or High Def TV, store and play music and video files, and be used for a DVR. At the same time, I want to ensure that it blends in well with the existing home theater system, and is nice and quiet so I don't have to listen to fans in my living room all the time. Here is a list of the basic equipment I will use to build an HTPC:

• HTPC Case
• Processor
• Motherboard
• Power Supply
• System Memory
• CPU Heatsink
• Sound Card - Optional
• Video Card - Optional
• DVD / Blu-ray
• Wireless Keyboard / Mouse
• Remote Control - Optional
• TV Tuner / HD TV Capture Card - Optional

Let's head next to the Buying Guide and look at each part in detail...

Return to Computer Guides from Home Theater PC Component Overview

Return to Homepage