How to build a home theatre PC

The 10-Minute PC Project

1. For a home theater PC, start with a small motherboard with an HDMI output. Many mini-ITX-format boards come with the processors pre-installed, which cuts down prep work. Just snap in memory modules and the board is ready for the case. 

2. If your case comes with an internal power supply (as opposed to an external power brick), make sure it has a fan for extra cooling. Screw your motherboard into the case before locking down other components. 

3. DIY cases allow you to be flexible about what components you use. We built in a slot-load Blu-ray player and a 500 GB hard drive. 

Home Theater PC Without the PC

 

Not interested in having a PC in your living room but still want to play video files on your TV? Try these pint-size players instead. The Western Digital WD TV Live and Seagate FreeAgent Theater are far friendlier to the wallet than even the cheapest computers and can stream video content either over a network or directly off a USB-connected hard drive. The software and most video codecs are built in, and these devices plug directly into your HDTV or home theater via HDMI. In our tests, both devices played every format we could throw at them, displaying stutter-free, high-quality HD video. The onscreen menus—­browsable via remote control—are a bit clunky, but serviceable. While not a replacement for a computer (they have limited access to Web content), these are a cheap and easy alternative if you just want to play video files.