I’m currently using a Raspberry Pi 3 with LibreElec as a Kodi box. However I’ve been wanting to upgrade due to the Raspberry Pi not coping well with Hi10p, recent lack of Amazon Prime support, slow speeds with large Plex libraries, occasional stutters and in general just a lack of performance.
I now wanted to build myself a custom HTPC because I thought that would allow me the greatest freedom and the best performance available to do pretty much anything I please.
My goal was to integrate a DVB-S card in it as well as a Blu-ray drive so that I could go ahead and just use it as a general media center appliance (also for playing music in the living room etc.).
Now those requirements pushed me pretty much into the direction of wanting to build an Intel/AMD based normal desktop in a nice HTPC enclosure like the Node 605 and equip it with both a drive and a PCI-E card for Sat receiving.
I also have the requirement that it should be an easy to use thing (Preferably with a remote control). That isn’t too hard to use for other people in the family, i.e. as easy to use as a normal Sat Receiver or similar things.
I wanted to Linux base this thing as well so everything can be nicely automated/ I can customize the system even further.
Now after reading through the current topic here I get the feeling that this is a route almost no one takes these days. Most of the topics are about set top boxes that do only Kodi and usually don’t contain any sort of optical drives let alone Sat receivers.
So I was wondering: Is it actually worth it?
There must be a reason why there aren’t many people here that custom build their HTPCs. Is it a false thought that this would lead to the highest performance/customizability/interoperability etc.? Is it too much of a DIY job for most people? Whats a good resource for those that want to go that route?