The Media Mandate
We set out to build an affordable media center – the perfect rig for your living room.
IT’S EASY FOR us to forget sometimes that people use computers for more than just gaming, benchmarking, and editing magazines. And that, sometimes, people might even plug their computers into a screen other than a monitor. So, when we got our hands on Fractal Design’s Node 202 case, we knew what we had to do: Build a sleek, powerful, but inexpensive media center, designed to sit snugly beneath the television. The brief for this project was a little tricky, though – it needed to be a PC that didn’t look like a PC. We needed a Mini-ITX motherboard, HDMI port, and a processor with onboard graphics. Oh, and keep the price as low as possible, thank you very much.
Media center PCs are nothing new, but the components that can be used to make them are continually evolving – albeit at a slower rate than parts for beefy gaming PCs. There’s little to no precedent to fit a GPU inside one of these dinky rigs, and as more processors with onboard graphics are released, so expands our selection of potential builds. The “perfect” media center build may not exist; indeed, builds like this are already competing with home consoles and high-end smart TVs. It’s complicated, heavily populated ground. The advantage of these computers is the advanced degree of customisation and flexibility – unlike consoles and smart TVs, they have access to different operating systems, a wider selection of software, and can use internet browsers in a way that doesn’t make you want to cut your hands off. They might not be as suitable for gaming as consoles, thanks to the lack of a dedicated graphics card, but they have the added bonus of easier repairs and upgrades – no waiting for the next console generation here; if you want to upgrade your processor, you can just go right out and do it.
MEDIA CENTER PCS ARE NOTHING NEW, BUT THE COMPONENTS THAT CAN BE USED TO MAKE THEM ARE CONTINUALLY EVOLVING – ALBEIT AT A SLOWER RATE THAN PARTS FOR BEEFY GAMING PCS. THERE’S LITTLE TO NO PRECEDENT TO FIT A GPU INSIDE ONE OF THESE DINKY RIGS, AND AS MORE PROCESSORS WITH ONBOARD GRAPHICS ARE RELEASED, SO EXPANDS OUR SELECTION OF POTENTIAL BUILDS.