Media streaming computer - Spec Questions

[Jadora]

I need help determining what kind of specs I should look for in a media streaming only pc.

I am looking to use this PC as the Movie/Music storage for my home entertainment and I plan to stream to chromecasts in my home.

Storage: Obviously SSD would be the optimal choice, but would it make much of a difference for streaming the occasional movie or music? Especially since I am looking at 2-3Tb of storage space to start.

CPU: Does CPU speed matter much with streaming? Could I get away with something cheaper like an i5?

GPU: I planned on just using onboard gfx with a cheapo monitor for general use since this PC will mainly be streaming to other HD displays around the house. Is this a good idea or would a dedicated GPU help with this task?

RAM: Same as CPU question, does RAM affect media streaming much in a local network?

Thanks in advance for any help. I am not looking for any specific parts advice but if you happen to have a suggestion to go along with an answer to my questions I won't ignore it.

[mmocfd1b0ab5a3]

You don't really need good computer for media streaming. I stream movies from my android phone to chromecast and only bottleneck is the wifi connection. My phone can play blu ray .iso files without a problem but wifi can't carry the bitrate, so I have to use MHL 3.0 for larger files.

i5 should be more than enough.

[Jadora]

Yea I figured it wouldnt need to be a powerhouse computer, I just want something dedicated so that when me or the wife or the kids want to watch a movie or listen to some music we just access the media server and stream it to wherever.

[Kagthul]

Okay, went with a nice Mini-ITX build, that should fit into, and look good in, most entertainment centers.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/jPtXxr
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/jPtXxr/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($183.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H170N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($116.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($36.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($84.88 @ OutletPC)
Case: Thermaltake Core V1 Mini ITX Tower Case ($40.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 400W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($42.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $506.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-09 01:49 EST-0500

Part choices and why:

first, you asked this:

Storage: Obviously SSD would be the optimal choice, but would it make much of a difference for streaming the occasional movie or music? Especially since I am looking at 2-3Tb of storage space to start.

SSD is.. not an optimal choice for this build at all. Its primarily a storage device, so you dont want an SSD because the price/GB is awful. Secondly.. absolutely nothing this rig does will take advantage of an SSD - fast boot up times... ? You leave it on all the time. Faster read times? So what? Speed will still be limited by the speed of your network, which is not even close to the read speed of an average 7200rpm drive. (Unless you've got Fiber in the house or something)

So.. regular, plain-ol mass storage it is. This case supposedly only supports 2 3.5" drives, but ive seen builds where you can easily fit 2 more in with clever use of command strips. If you ever feel like you're going to need more than 24TB of storage or so, you might want to just consider getting a NAS. Itll be cheaper. Went with the 3TB drive as they are priced well right now. You can replace this with a bigger drive if you want.

Went with the H170 motherboard for more SATA 3 ports and its USB-C port for potential future-proofing. Also supports higher resolutions over the built-in HDMI (itll do 4k @ 30fps); if, down the road, you get a nice 4k TV to plug this into, youll have to get a GPU to run at higher than 30fps, but by then, youll probably be able to get a low-end nVidia or AMD card that will have HDMI 2.0 support.

The OTHER reason i went with the H170 is the dual-gigabit LAN ports. You can connect BOTH to your home network so you can have more bandwidth to the network. This wont help when just one person is streaming (because on their end theyre going to be using WiFi or a single LAN port), but if two or three people are accessing the thing, then it will help -substantially-.

Went with the i5-6400 because you dont need a fast base clock for what you're doing, and it sill turbos well for those times when you need a fast transcode. its also quite a bit cheaper.

Honestly, i wouldn't even waste time getting a cheapo monitor for this. Just plug her into your living room TV and get one of those logitech keyboards with a trackpad built into it (like.. 30$, bluetooth). Saves you having to set up a streaming device on your primary TV. If you get an IR sensor and a remote, you can even set up something like Kodi and use it as a full up entertainment center (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodi_(software))

OS is your choice - you can go free with Win 10 as an Insider, buy a flavor of Windows you like, or use Linux. All are equally viable.

[Jadora]

Thanks! That is a lot of useful info!!!