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Suggestions for a HTPC?
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ganz
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24. March 2004 @ 19:21 |
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I have considered building a home theater pc for a while now, and since I will be moving out of the dorms next semester I would really like to have a HTPC that is easy to use so my roommates and I can easily use it to play DVDs, DivX, audio, etc, and to be able to record TV shows, like Tivo, on our home theater setup... Since I'm not really sure on how to go about this I am wondering what the best way to go would be... I want to be able to do alot, for a minimal cost. So, here are my questions:
1. What TV tuner cards are the best for the money?
2. What is the best form factor to use for building HTPCs?
3. What processor / motherboard combo do you reccommend?
4. How can I make it silent, or nearly silent, without using watercooling?
5. What software will I need?
Any help would be greatly appreciated, because I can build a better computer than any retail brand makes, therefore I don't want to go out and buy a prebuilt... I'm sure some of you out there know what I mean.
Pentium 4 2.8 Ghz w/ HT @ 3.06 Ghz
Abit IS7 Motherboard
512 MB PC 2700 DDR Ram
Benq DW400A DVD+R/+RW
Samsung 80 GB 7200 RPM HDD
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro
"I've seen what happens to the wicked and proud when they decide to take on the throne for the crown
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AfterDawn Addict
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25. March 2004 @ 03:00 |
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Quote:
I can build a better computer than any retail brand makes
lol - everyone always thinks they can ;-)
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ganz
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25. March 2004 @ 05:22 |
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Quote:
lol - everyone always thinks they can ;-)
Have you seen how much a highly upgradable prebuilt costs? About twice as much as I built my current PC for... But I'm getting off topic, just looking for some suggestions...
Pentium 4 2.8 Ghz w/ HT @ 3.06 Ghz
Abit IS7 Motherboard
512 MB PC 2700 DDR Ram
Benq DW400A DVD+R/+RW
Samsung 80 GB 7200 RPM HDD
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro
"I've seen what happens to the wicked and proud when they decide to take on the throne for the crown
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AfterDawn Addict
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25. March 2004 @ 11:09 |
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Ah, but that was why i laughed. What you meant was that you could build a cheaper computer with good components, not that you are a better computer builder ;-)
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ganz
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25. March 2004 @ 14:03 |
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lol... we all have our strengths and weaknesses... every box I've built so far have been extremely stable... but I'm a little bias I guess... ;)
Pentium 4 2.8 Ghz w/ HT @ 3.06 Ghz
Abit IS7 Motherboard
512 MB PC 2700 DDR Ram
Benq DW400A DVD+R/+RW
Samsung 80 GB 7200 RPM HDD
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro
"I've seen what happens to the wicked and proud when they decide to take on the throne for the crown
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gotisos
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25. March 2004 @ 18:11 |
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I would personally by a barebones from shuttle.com, then put in the processor ect you want, intel or amd64 or whatever. then If you wanted to record tv and crap then get a 9700 pro all in wonder. the aiw has vivo tv tuner, and mad tv capabilties for it. if you want to go cheaper than that you could just get a card with vivo.
I built a shuttle pc, with a aiw card and was sweet, but i just ended up throwing in a cheaper nvidia card, but definately get a ati aiw. check out shuttle for barebones. then if you want something silent just put a quite fan in it. right now i got a htpc with 270 gigs, so its a little more than just a theater pc. there are a bunch of options out there, but i have never had a problem with my shuttle mobo, and ive tweeked the hell out of it. you could basically use any aiw card, like a slower 8500, 9600 etc, as long as it is the aiw type. it also comes with a tight remote that should fit all ur needs. i'll see what else i can come up with for you man
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ganz
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26. March 2004 @ 11:29 |
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the radeon All in Wonder series looks like a solid choice, as for software, what should I be looking for? Is Windows XP Media Center really necessary, or are there better alternatives?
Pentium 4 2.8 Ghz w/ HT @ 3.06 Ghz
Abit IS7 Motherboard
512 MB PC 2700 DDR Ram
Benq DW400A DVD+R/+RW
Samsung 80 GB 7200 RPM HDD
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro
"I've seen what happens to the wicked and proud when they decide to take on the throne for the crown
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AfterDawn Addict
1 product review
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26. March 2004 @ 11:51 |
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Anyone who is into building home units can build a better PC because they aren't trying to shave costs. Commerical units use lower quality CAS 3 memory, and often have integrated audio and video or very low quality units that are fine for word processing but not for serious gaming or in this case HTPC. They cut corners in areas that the average buyers are unaware of. They sell units based on simple specs that anyone can understand such as hard disk size but not speed and CPU speed which can't be realized because of the other mediocre parts. Ganz go to Tomshardware.com and other tech sites and see what's hot and what's not. I've built dozens of units that not only perform better than contemporary commercialunits but also units that are highly upgradeable which slows the obsolescence. Good Luck
" Please Read!!! Post your questions only in This Thread or they will go unanswered:
Help with development of BD RB: Donations at: http://www.jdobbs.com/. |
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gotisos
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26. March 2004 @ 15:53 |
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personally i think there is no need for media edition, plus i think you can only get it with prebuilds anyways (unless you want a w4r3z version). the card should come with most the software that you would need, tv capabilities, recording software etc. i would suggest maybe getting windvr, because ati has fairly querky software. are you going to be going all out, HDTV, digital sound, or just basics, s-video, a/v, sound card etc. oh also a plus about the aiw is that it comes with a kewl remote, that can control most of the functions of the card.
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msb5150
Member
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26. March 2004 @ 16:35 |
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I'd go the opposite route of some of these posts: try a mini-itx board with 1ghz fanless processors from via, small quite, decently fast for an htpc, and integrated everthing. for recording, with whatever pc your choose to build, a hauppauge wintv (I think) 250 or 350 is an excellent choice: remote, and hardware mpeg2 encoding so you can do other things whilst recording shows. If you went the small pc route, I would bet that you could put all of it together, not including software, for less than $600 depending on the options you choose. A nice big hard drive and wireless keyboard and mouse would prolly be a requisite. I would also like to emphasize the importance of the power supply you choose, there are available powersupplies build for via mini-itx boards that are incredibly quite, and well powered for what the via motherboards require. Check out this build for an awesome example of what can be done: http://www.popsci.com/popsci/computers/article/0,12543,600198,00.html for lots of different mini-itx comps, and information this site can't be beat: http://www.mini-itx.com
This is an amazingly imformative site with many places to find information and help. Please support it.
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ganz
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27. March 2004 @ 19:11 |
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What would the power requirements for a setup that I am considering:
p4 2.4 ghz (400 or 533 mhz fsb version)
200 gig hdd
8x dual format dvd burner
512 mb ddr ram
ATI All In Wonder card... don't know what I am going to invest in yet...
Would a 300 watt PS be enough?
btw...I really like that LCD frame box, that is a great project idea...
Pentium 4 2.8 Ghz w/ HT @ 3.06 Ghz
Abit IS7 Motherboard
512 MB PC 2700 DDR Ram
Benq DW400A DVD+R/+RW
Samsung 80 GB 7200 RPM HDD
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro
"I've seen what happens to the wicked and proud when they decide to take on the throne for the crown
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gotisos
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28. March 2004 @ 09:58 |
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that should be no problem, your main power consumer is going to be that card. I'm running a 2ghz intel, 768 ram, 120 hd, 160 hd, liteon 52x burner, and a newer nvidia card off a 200W psu, and I have had no problem, other than a little heat.
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AfterDawn Addict
1 product review
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28. March 2004 @ 10:37 |
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I would recommend no less than 300 watts but 400 would be better especially since the cost isn't that much greater. Incomplete power will make your system unstable. My system consists of P4 2.8 @ 3.149 ghz, a gig of corsair 2X Cmx512-3200 C2 DDR memory, with high speed zalman fan,4 case fans, ATI 9500 pro card, Dru-500AX, Samsung SM-352B combo drive, Leadtek Winfast TV2000 XP, Audigy 2 Platinum, numerous items attached to USB. I have a 420 watt power supply, 300 Watts just wouldn't work. I consider my PC to be a hometheater which is why I have a 22" Viewsonic P225f monitor and 500 watt RMS 5:1 surround Logitech THX ceritfied Speakers. Although I have a P4 but if you are on a budge don't ovelook AMD processors they offer more bang for the buck than does intel processors.
" Please Read!!! Post your questions only in This Thread or they will go unanswered:
Help with development of BD RB: Donations at: http://www.jdobbs.com/. |
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ganz
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29. March 2004 @ 10:04 |
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Yea, i have considered AMD processors, mainly because they are so cheap... but who knows what I end up going with, I'm still a few months away from building it.
Pentium 4 2.8 Ghz w/ HT @ 3.06 Ghz
Abit IS7 Motherboard
512 MB PC 2700 DDR Ram
Benq DW400A DVD+R/+RW
Samsung 80 GB 7200 RPM HDD
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro
"I've seen what happens to the wicked and proud when they decide to take on the throne for the crown
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LordZuul
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30. March 2004 @ 00:13 |
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I HTPC runs on the latest VIA fanless miniITX motherboard... well actually two of them... The first machine is an EPIA MEII 6000...
This one does the main guts of the HTPC... It drives the DVD and video, does Time shift video etc... With the video card show below... Its the Hauppage WinTV PVR350 Tuner/PVR Card.
The second board is a EPIA 800 ...
This one is a firewall... Both PCs are running on a 12v DC power supply... the PSU is actually a lab supply that was incorporated into my case... So not a single fan in sight...
Thanks to www.mini-itx.com for the pics...
LZ
:: LZ ::
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