CREATE YOUR PERFECT HOME THEATRE PC

How to spec, build and set up a home theatre PC — whether it’s for gaming, streaming, or a simple plug-in NAS, Zak Storey breaks down exactly what you need.

Take your mind back for a moment. The year is 2007, Steve Jobs has just announced the iPhone, the Sydney Harbour Bridge celebrates its 75th birthday, the PlayStation 3 is brand new, and Windows Vista has now been out for two whole months. Microsoft’s operating system brought with it a hefty installation size, a ton of unnecessary resource-consuming processes, and — more importantly for us — access to the Windows Media Center across all of the various editions of the flagship OS.

For the first time (outside of the Windows XP Media Center Edition OS, of course), there was an intuitively designed, integrated user interface developed specifically for simpler input methods, such as a remote control, and baked directly into the operating system itself. This is arguably the one thing that Windows Vista got right, and it would later inspire the Xbox 360’s media center as well and arguably even help encourage the development of third-party players like Kodi and Plex.

We’ve built rigs around the concept, we’ve tinkered with features about backing up your legally obtained media collections, and we’ve delved into how to stream the latest 4K content direct to your home computer. This month, we’ve combined the lot into a suitably-huge APC superguide that dives into the technological territory of building your own perfect home theatre and contentconsumption computer.