Building a HTPC....

cokewithvanilla

The case is up to him. Did you say that those cases have IR in the front?

His tuner comes with a WMC remote and IR.

cokewithvanilla

gim54pod wrote: »

Looks good except for the MB, personally i would stay away from anything "Open Box" i've never had any luck with buying "Open Box" stuff. Just pay the extra $$ and get new.

Yes. for the $20 or whatever extra, it would probably be worth it. I actually stepped down one model to buy mine new. I did not buy the 'corporate stable model', and it probably isn't necessary.

The OP really needs to say his budget.

Bobsama

cokewithvanilla wrote: »

The case is up to him. Did you say that those cases have IR in the front?

His tuner comes with a WMC remote and IR.

The only reason I brought up that some chassis have IR receivers is because they're completely built in--you don't end up with an awkward dongle. That of course only works if you have an open-front cabinet and I'm not sure how it'll interact with glass fronts or the like. Here's my build...



Places to cut back might be to use an OS you already own (Vista HP or you can go for a media-center version of *nix). Otherwise, a pair of HVR-1250's would cost less than one HVR-2250, but it'd take the PCI-E x16-length slot. Also, if you're not interested in playing Blu-Rays, a regular DVD burner instead would cut a bit further.

cokewithvanilla

For $10 more he can get WMC remote. I would opt for the ASUS Bluray, you save a bit of money and it's a solid unit. Is that case a slim case that requires a smaller PSU and smaller brackets for that Tuner? The OCZ ram is a bit cheaper and won't cause any issues... they have a few sets of ram on discount right now that will save some money. The motherboard is whatever (I'm an Asus fan). The one you spec'd is slightly better, also more expensive. That's entirely up to him.

If the IR is on the front of that case, I would be a fan.. dunno if I like the 350 watt PSU. Looks like it only holds one hard drive!?

Here's mine:

cokewithvanilla

I think he would benefit from a case that can hold at least 3 hard drives. If he buys one for a boot drive, one for recorded tv, he could still have one for ripped or downloaded dvd's and blurays. It's amazing how fast you can fill 1tb (or even 2) when you rip/download movies. It would also be ideal for him to have IR on the case. an SD card reader and a LCD is a +

Without an os, he can get it done for around $550 after rebates.

Also, he's gonna need something to support Bluray. WMC doesn't support it native. Cyberlink Power DVD 10 fully integrates with WMC though. Anyone know of any free options w/ WMC integration?

Bobsama

It's part of the reason that the motherboard I suggested supports USB3--external hard drives work well. Otherwise, there's a larger but much more expensive route with many other HTPC & mATX desktop (instead of tower) cases.

cokewithvanilla

Bobsama wrote: »

It's part of the reason that the motherboard I suggested supports USB3--external hard drives work well. Otherwise, there's a larger but much more expensive route with many other HTPC & mATX desktop (instead of tower) cases.

The case I picked out holds 4 hard drives.

Estata works well for externals, but I assume he does not want external hard drives all over the place. May as well put a server somewhere and stream from it. The asus combo offers 2x esata, while the MSI would offer one.

I figure 4 hard drives will be enough. That allows for at least 6tb (with one small boot drive). To be honest, if you need more than 6tb, you should probably have a server.

disneyjoe7

Is it worth getting a nicer case?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811235008

disneyjoe7

Also for now could I use an older computer for this? MSI motherboard, 6800GT video card, 4 gigs of ram, sata drive 300g small. Not sure of all the specs could get more details later, its my main computer which I use very little now. Don't think the motherboard would do dual cpu or anything like that, about 5 years old.

cokewithvanilla

disneyjoe7 wrote: »

Is it worth getting a nicer case?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811235008

Well, aside from the gigantic LCD screen and 1 extra hd bay.. not really. The real reason one might pay that much for a case is for looks and better quality construction

It's up to you.

What's your budget? If you give a price idea, it will be easier to find the best thing for the money.

I like this board, for $20 more http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131660

you could try to use an old pc for this. Keep in mind though, depending on what you want to do with it, there will be a lot of setup time to get windows media center to do everything you want it to.

disneyjoe7

Wow why that board, not really sure what I thinking of right now I sometimes like to play some ideas then it grows up some. Hmmm, that board don't like it since it doesn't have a lot of pci slots, not sure but I don't wish to be limited out.

cokewithvanilla

disneyjoe7 wrote: »

Wow why that board, not really sure what I thinking of right now I sometimes like to play some ideas then it grows up some. Hmmm, that board don't like it since it doesn't have a lot of pci slots, not sure but I don't wish to be limited out.

2x pci x1, 1 pci? that's what your gonna get with a micro atx board.... unless you want to go with a full size board... but it certainly isnt necessary..... in the future what might you addd?

tuner, wifi, maybe a nicer sound card??? and you could even add a video card later.

Sherardp

disneyjoe7 wrote: »

Wow why that board, not really sure what I thinking of right now I sometimes like to play some ideas then it grows up some. Hmmm, that board don't like it since it doesn't have a lot of pci slots, not sure but I don't wish to be limited out.

Actually you don't really need PCI slots, everything has gone to PCI express. That mobo will allow for video card upgrade and additional expansion cards. If you case allows just go full ATX mobo and be done with it.
.

Bobsama

Sherardp wrote: »

Actually you don't really need PCI slots, everything has gone to PCI express. That mobo will allow for video card upgrade and additional expansion cards. If you case allows just go full ATX mobo and be done with it.
.

I've gotta full-ATX board in my desktop.

Slot #1: PCI-E x1
Slot #2: PCI-E x16 (ATI Radeon HD 3850 graphics card)
Slot #3: Blank
Slot #4: PCI-E x1
Slot #5: PCI
Slot #6: PCI (cheap 1394/Firewire card that I never use)
Slot #7: PCI (cheap 802.11b/g wireless card)

PCI isn't quite dead, but it's getting there. The reason for the Firewire card is because it was cheap. The reason for the wireless card is because it was cheap and I may need one for my dorms this year (I really hope not).

For an HTPC, a single PCI slot is plenty if you want to use a cheap WiFi card (Rosewill's cards seem decent and are like $10-20 shipped for 802.11b/g or 802.11b/g/n). The modern Happauge cards are PCI-E x1, so having one or two x1 slots would be good.

x16-length cards will not work in x1-length slots.
x1-length cards will work in x16-length slots.


I agree that, if the chassis supports it, that you should go with a full ATX motherboard. The one I linked (the Antec MicroFusion Remote 350) will only support micro-ATX and low-profile expansion cards.

Only thing to revise with mine is to use the retail version of the TV tuner.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116036

cokewithvanilla

The case I picked is also micro atx only.

It's all you will really need. I still have some full atx boards around, most the time I am not using many of the pci/pcix slots. Hell, in my micro atx media center I have empty slots.

If you can think of more than 4 accessories that you might need, then maybe you do need full atx.

I would, however, still recommend you stick with a case that allows for at least 3 hds whether you go full atx or micro.

disneyjoe7

Well hooked up my main computer which is a MSi K8N board maybe not sure, but a sli video with 2 pci express, 2 pci 16, and 2 pci slots. MSi GS6800 video card, hooked up to my tv set via. componet hd 1080i. The motherboard has an optical out, so I'm streaming over the net right now.

I like the look of a computer on a really large screen something way cool about that. Learned a few things, Keyboard and or mouse if needed.... needs to be long range wireless. The computer overall is LOUD fans suck, MSi MB as a north bridge fan, the video card has a fan, PS fan but speed can be turned down. Zalman CPU Fan. All I hear is FANS, Sucks.

So playing around with veetle.com streaming but not really happy with it. What is a good stream service to get some national news, and some other sat channels?


http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=proddesc&prod_no=169&maincat_no=1#

Sherardp

I usually shop Newegg or Frozen Cpu for fans. If the PC is old you can save some money just by upgrading mobo,RAM if needed and storage. That should save you tons there. Take the old case to a decent garage or somewhere you know, blow it out real good with air and it should be ok. I'm willing to think some fans are noisy due to dust.

cokewithvanilla

You can use hulu if you want... thing is, when I hear "media center PC", I imagine something that can be controlled from a remote sitting on the couch, as if it were any other component in the system. At this time, hulu doesn't really allow this.

I would go with Windows Media Center, it has a small set of it's own internet tv also, a plug-in called "Secondrun.tv" has a lot of other Internet tv channels. In my experience though, I have not found internet tv to provide tons of NEW stuff. Although, secondrun.tv has tons of channels and I have not tried them all. It also has support for regular tv via a tuner.

If you can't get WMC, you can ask the guys in that other thread that use J River Media Center, and see what they think.

As for the fans, they could be dusty,or just naturally loud. Worst case, you can replace them with larger, slower moving fans.

disneyjoe7

The computer I'm using now running xp, which I could start building from since it has most of what I need to get it to all work. Not bad considering its 5 years old, 1080i optical. Still need a tuner, and since I playing with it downloaded a program from www.sagetv.com which is like WMC in a way. My problem seems to be some cable / sat channels which I enjoy like Foxnews or HGTV I know I'm boring. Not sure if running some Media program I can get any video streaming though it.

disneyjoe7

So if I have the computer boot from one drive (boot drive 160g 7200 ide) how do I have WMC only use the second drive?

nhhiep

I just completed one recently with:

Dual core Intel with ATI 4350 video card
XBMC software running Win7...almost stay with Win7 WMC, but it doesn't support ISO natively
2 2TB Seagate HDs for movies, 80GB drive for OS
Panasonic 65S2 tv
Polk Rti8s and Csi5, infinity for rears
Infinity 12" sub
Sony V444ES AVR
Rii Mini wireless keyboard (love this little guy,,,you should check it out)

all this in a 12x15 bedroom

Bobsama

disneyjoe7 wrote: »

So if I have the computer boot from one drive (boot drive 160g 7200 ide) how do I have WMC only use the second drive?

With Win7, I do believe it uses the Library system. You can reassign the library's locations to take it off of C: and put it onto , for example. I can't personally confirm this as I removed the Media Center portion from Windows 7 Pro 64 (vLite)

cokewithvanilla

Bobsama wrote: »

With Win7, I do believe it uses the Library system. You can reassign the library's locations to take it off of C: and put it onto , for example. I can't personally confirm this as I removed the Media Center portion from Windows 7 Pro 64 (vLite)

You are correct. It will use the default libraries. If you change them, it will no longer use the C:. Also, you do not even have to change them if there is nothing in the folders, simply add a folder to the library in WMC and you're good to go.

disneyjoe7

I getting a little more serous about this, and I have been reading a lot about this. I'm going to do it with Intel cpu vs. an AMD cpu. What do you guys think about this?










Ubuntu issue's sorry.


A little about $1000.00

cokewithvanilla

I think I can't see your build sheet

Why did you choose intel? AMD really has the market on low power/low cost cpus. If I were going to add any money (and I don't know, because I cannot see your build), it would be spent to lower the watt consumption. AMD has some 45 watt cpus (or was it 65? IDK) that might be worth looking in to.

All in all, not bad choices. Keep in mind, the case only has 2 hard drive slots. You might wanna add a cheap wifi card... you have probably also over spec'd the computer for it's needs. If you have the cash, I guess that doesn't matter. Just thought i'd put that out there.

disneyjoe7

I google it and found this. I like what he stated.


http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=940972&page=472#Peripheral Components and OS: Sound Card

disneyjoe7

cokewithvanilla wrote: »

I think I can't see your build sheet

Why did you choose intel? AMD really has the market on low power/low cost cpus. If I were going to add any money (and I don't know, because I cannot see your build), it would be spent to lower the watt consumption. AMD has some 45 watt cpus (or was it 65? IDK) that might be worth looking in to.

All in all, not bad choices. Keep in mind, the case only has 2 hard drive slots. You might wanna add a cheap wifi card... you have probably also over spec'd the computer for it's needs. If you have the cash, I guess that doesn't matter. Just thought i'd put that out there.

I glad you liked what I would build, I don't really have the cash... But saving $90 a month I can buy parts here and there. Today I did the tuner and the software Win 7. Not cheap but feel if you're going to do it... Then do it great.

bknauss

Do MAJOR checks on the ATI/AMD onboard graphics cards with HMDI out. I have an Asus with an ATI card built in, and the audio via HDMI works sometimes when I boot up, but generally doesn't.

Also, if you're looking for a fancy case, I purchased a Silverstone and was extremely happy with it. Yes, it costs a bit more, but its built like a tank (and just as heavy).

renowilliams

I would rethink the cooler master power supply. I bought the 850 watt silent pro and it died on me in 4 months.

cokewithvanilla

disneyjoe7 wrote: »

I glad you liked what I would build, I don't really have the cash... But saving $90 a month I can buy parts here and there. Today I did the tuner and the software Win 7. Not cheap but feel if you're going to do it... Then do it great.

If you're gonna save the money, you should hold off on the purchase entirely. Technology will change in that time, and so will what you will purchase. Also, everything will be cheaper when you go to buy it.