Advice on the HTPC build

[Detale]

OK so I saved up some scratch and I'm gonna drop some bucks on a nice new HTPC here are the preliminary specs I am looking at:

I will use my old Gigabyte board as it's still good and I only used it for about a month before upgrading

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059)

I'll keep the wolfdale (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037) 3.0 processor in there cause it's cool and uses little voltage.

I'm gonna upgrade my ram and get some decent 4 gig G Skill 1066 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166)

2 Seagate Baracudda (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148288) SATA drives (prob Raid em)

upgrade the Vid card from the 3450 to this ASUS 3650HD (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121237)

and finally where most of the money is going. I a still undecided but I am leaning towards this HTPC case

Thermaltake DH102 VH2001BNS (http://thermaltakeusa.com/product/chassis/desktop/dh102/vh2001bns.asp)

I like it because I can use a regular ATX not micro board and of course the touch screen looks cool as hell. it's over $500 US so I want to make sure this is the one I really want before I buy.
http://www.hardveraj.hr/shop/images/thermaltake-VH2001BNS-DH102-htpc-crno.gif

If anyone has any suggestions as always I am open to them. Thanks guys

[clocker]

Today only, Newegg has a special on hard drives.
Either the Seagate 750 or (my choice) the Samsung Spinpoint F1 750 for $99.

[Detale]

I saw that but it's a 24 hour deal and I'm not going to order for a few days. I know you love the seagates but the Spinpoint has a 32mb cache while the SG only has a 16. Lastly you can only get one at that price and not like it's that big a deal really reg price is $119 so for the $20 saved I can wait

[DKre8ive1]

Wow! that is a nice case for sure but the price is pretty hefty.

[Detale]

Yeah expensive as shit but I cant say no to the touch screen built in like that.

[ryan20021982]

Dont know if you already ordered it or not but here is a nice case also with the touchscreen

I have there smaller model and its very nice quality

http://htpc.mce701.com/product_info.php?cPath=17&products_id=35

[Acid_death69]

That is gonna be cool detale, ive never thought about building a HTPC before. Can you use it like a normal PC?

[Detale]

Sure you can it is in a normal PC but looks like a Home theater component. I used a lower end Video card because I didn't need a really high end one but you can build it to suit you. Also they have some way cheaper cases out there check on newegg. I did build the system above but I haven't taken any pics yet, maybe today if I have some time. Let me say the case is expensive but looks awesome as hell. Piano black finish looks great. Runs like a dream, I did add a D-link Wireless N card so I didn't have any more wires then I needed coming out of the back. :)

[MEDBEDb]

id prefer some geforce video card instead of radeon ones ... got burned on 9800 pro cpl years ago, wont do same mistake again ... the cooling on radeon's sux .. unless u mod it of course. ...

[TheSickEmpire]

I'm thinking of building a HTPC also. I figured I'd use my old 4000+/Gigabyte SLI mobo and build off that.

For me, looks aren't a huge deal as it will be sitting behind a rear projection TV (my plan was to grab an external DVD drive and place it near my other components.. possibly a bluray drive also).

I looked into tuner cards/video cards, however, I'm not sure I know enough about the requirements of displaying 1080p to choose one as of yet.

[Acid_death69]

Is it always the case that all the money goes straight into the case?

[TheSickEmpire]

Is it always the case that all the money goes straight into the case?

Not for me :P

I'd use this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147056

Free Shipping + 4x 3.5" bays. Sure as hell not a looker, but it gets the job done.

[Acid_death69]

Is it always the case that all the money goes straight into the case?

Not for me :P

I'd use this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147056

Free Shipping + 4x 3.5" bays. Sure as hell not a looker, but it gets the job done.

lol aye i suppose:D i would still prefer a case with an LCD touchscreen on the front. even if it werent on i would still like to poke it :whistling:P

[TheSickEmpire]

Not for me :P

I'd use this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147056

Free Shipping + 4x 3.5" bays. Sure as hell not a looker, but it gets the job done.

lol aye i suppose:D i would still prefer a case with an LCD touchscreen on the front. even if it werent on i would still like to poke it :whistling:P

I'd perfer it also, but I'm not willing to spend $400+ on a case unless it's a Lian-Li.

[Detale]

oh now don't be one of those Lian Li snobs. I saved up the cash and I wanted it to have some style. I figured if I was going to spend some money anyway why not go big and so I did :)

[clocker]

I wouldn't spend $400 on ANY LL case- I think they're slavishly overrated.

[Detale]

And that dear sir is why you da man :)

[silent h3ro]

That is a really awesome looking case although $500 seems a little overpriced. I've always wondered though, what is the advantage of using of Home Theater PC?

[Detale]

It looks cool in my living room with my TV. I like it to play Blue Ray movies and if I were to buy a Blue Ray player that would be around $400-$500 anyway so I look at it as I'm getting more for my money. It is now replacing my DVD player, stereo and will soon replace the cable box as well :) I will only have this in my setup next to my 42" LCD HDTV. Not to mention when people come over I enjoy the when they ask what's That?

[Acid_death69]

It looks cool in my living room with my TV. I like it to play Blue Ray movies and if I were to buy a Blue Ray player that would be around $400-$500 anyway so I look at it as I'm getting more for my money. It is now replacing my DVD player, stereo and will soon replace the cable box as well :) I will only have this in my setup next to my 42" LCD HDTV. Not to mention when people come over I enjoy the when they ask what's That?
Lol do you get all nerdy and show it off:P see this is a really flash box that does all kinda tricks not like your crappy DVD player pfffft lol.

[silent h3ro]

Not to mention when people come over I enjoy the when they ask what's That?lol There's a good enough reason right there. :P

[Detale]

LOL People are very surprised to find out what a nerd I am, even my wife. One thing that they don't tell you anywhere I can find is that the USB/headphone jack cover and the DVD tray cover both have an awesome "delay when you close/open them. So when you put in a dvd the tray cover closes slowly a seconds or two after the tray does giving it a very cool and high end feel to it.

[Acid_death69]

Do you basically just watch films on it then? I im curious to what else you can do. For example can you record live telly with it?

[lynx]

Do you basically just watch films on it then? I im curious to what else you can do. For example can you record live telly with it?Amazing, I was going to ask a similar question myself.

Namely, is there a TV tuner in there, and if so what software are you using.

I got myself a twin tuner TV card (DVB-T) a couple of weeks ago and I've been trying to find some decent software for it.

[Detale]

ATM I just watch Blue Ray movies and the regular Xvids I get. Also I have it connected to a pair of speakers so I can use it like a Stereo as well. I am looking into getting a tuner card right now actually so then I will be able to record TV as well. The problem is I don't know enough about tuner cards to make an informed purchase yet. I am looking for something that has an HDMI in and out. Again Im not too sure about software for is as I am still reading up an TV tuner cards them selves, sorry :( when you do get it figured out please drop me a line. Thanks

[lynx]

I don't think there are any tuner cards with HDMI ports. The reason being that the signal has to be processed first, so your graphics card (or a third party editing card) would deal with output (and input) of the processed signal.

Watch out for the software for digital broadcasts, most of it has been converted from analog tuner software, and they haven't grasped the concept of a signal being present without all the channels being transmitted. Consequently they only pick up the channels which are currently being broadcast, which means it doesn't work when one channel is only broadcast during the day, and another channel takes the same bandwidth (but with different channel IDs) at night. Definitely try before you buy.

[Detale]

NM wrong section :(

[DKre8ive1]

There is a HDMI capture card but not sure if it could record shows that are flagged with C5(I think think that is what the copy protection is called) but you can always use the analog hole and use the Component connection to capture your shows.

But the price for this card is pretty steep being that it costs $350.00US

Link-> http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/intensity/

[Villain]

I am also building myself a new HTPC. It will play blu ray discs and 1080p content. I decided to use:

GIGABYTE GA-MA70G-DS3H (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128335)
AMD Phenom X4 9550 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010340343+1050733654&name=Phenom+X4)
Seagate Baracuda 500GB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148288)
1x2GB RAM

What case would you recommend me? It should be in silver color or even better in white.

[Detale]

There is a HDMI capture card but not sure if it could record shows that are flagged with C5(I think think that is what the copy protection is called) but you can always use the analog hole and use the Component connection to capture your shows.

But the price for this card is pretty steep being that it costs $350.00US

Link-> http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/intensity/

I did see that myself but I wasn't sure about it because I want a tuner card not just a capture card myself and I feel like $350 is a bit much o spend for something I'm not too sure about.





I am also building myself a new HTPC. It will play blu ray discs and 1080p content. I decided to use:

GIGABYTE GA-MA70G-DS3H (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128335)
AMD Phenom X4 9550 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010340343+1050733654&name=Phenom+X4)
Seagate Baracuda 500GB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148288)
1x2GB RAM

What case would you recommend me? It should be in silver color or even better in white.

Well the first thing is price, how much do you want to spend? They do have a similar silver case like mine ;)
http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/ProductImageCompressAll125/11-235-008-10.jpg
but it is $469

One thing to remember about a case is can it fit my Motherboard Newegg (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010090690+1549636661+1549936684&name=ATX&Order=RATING) has 16 silver cases that will take a full size ATX board like the one above here. I like this one for $200 Thermaltake Mozart Sx

http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/ProductImageCompressAll200/11-133-029-01.jpg

Another question I have for you is are you going for a Blu Ray burner or just a rom, and what models are you looking at? I am waiting for Burners to come down in price a lot before I get one I figure I can download all the blueray content I need for now.

[tt189]

Thank you for posting this topic. I also want to know about that.

[Villain]

How about which OS to use? Any special plugins so I can control PC with remote?

[Detale]

Well my case came with the highly regarded Imon software. Personally I don't care for it much. It's not terrible but I use Vista( I hate the OS but it has Media Center) for this though you can get a copy of XP media center edition but I tried both and Vista works better and faster. Also I remember I came across a "media center edition converter" somewhere it converts regular XP to MCE without doing a reinstall.

Pretty sure you can buy a remote that comes with software as well. Some like mine will even allow you to turn the computer on AND off, most I saw only allowed you to power down not power up.

[silent h3ro]

How about which OS to use? Any special plugins so I can control PC with remote?Something like this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16880100851) or this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815260017) maybe?

[Villain]

How about which OS to use? Any special plugins so I can control PC with remote?Something like this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16880100851) or this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815260017) maybe?

Well I actually don't need remote because I am gonna use Harmony One. But I am looking for good OS for HTPC.

[Detale]

Yes but even with the Harmony 1 you will need a USB stick of some kind so the computer can read the signal to my knowledge it doesn't come with one, or does it???

[Villain]

I started planning about my massive storage server for movies/music/pics/games...
I will use this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811219021) case for server. Its very cheap and it can hold 20 drives. Basiclly how server should work: I hold all my files at server and lets say I want to see a movie with my friends, I use my HTPC and trought network connections copy movie to HTPC hard drive (there wouldn't be any streaming and stuff...). What hardware & software will I need. Oh yea I plan to start with 6x 1TB Seagate drives in RAID 5 or RAID 6 (still have to decide :P). When I fill this drives can I simply buy more and plug them without losing data or there will be some complications?

[silent h3ro]

That's a cool idea, Villian. I would buy only as many drives as you would need at first and then buy more as you need them since hard drive prices go down so quickly, you can save more money that way and not feel like you would have wasted space. I'm personally not familiar with making a server so I couldn't help you out about what else you would need though, sorry.

Do you think you would be able to fill it with 20 drives?

[Detale]

@ Villan Dude you don't need tpo copy em and decent router even wireless you can stream them with no problems at all. Set up a network and set the folders that hold your movies/pics/whatever to "shared" then on your HTPC you can browse the folders and play em with windows media player or whatever you wish just as if they were on your HDD already with no hassle and no extra software either ;) Hardware wise I recommend get yourself a Wireless PCI card so you don't have to run any cables and a wireless router, G works fine for me but now I have N and it's still fine.

As far as Raiding the drives I am 90% sure you cannot add a drive to a raid 5 array unless you are using a contorller card that supports thiis. Even still backup before you add because no matter what there is a risk involved. I still think that you can't do it without wiping the drives and creating a new array.

[Villain]

That's a cool idea, Villian. I would buy only as many drives as you would need at first and then buy more as you need them since hard drive prices go down so quickly, you can save more money that way and not feel like you would have wasted space. I'm personally not familiar with making a server so I couldn't help you out about what else you would need though, sorry.

Do you think you would be able to fill it with 20 drives?

Well media servers are each day more popular because of the cheap price of HDD's.
Well if I buy 20x1TB HDD's and connect them on RAID5 or RAID6 I'd have 16TB-18TB of space. Because I mostly download untouched blu-ray movies (20GB-50GB per movie) that would mean I could store just 500 movies but considering I also want server for music, games, tv shows and other stuff that just wouldn't be enough. If I needed more then 20 drives I would just buy one more Norco case. And problem would be solved.

[dstuyen]

Case is very nice

[edgarb]

Check out this guys HTPC and server storage.

48 TERABYTES!!!!!!!!!! file server and 20 TB backup server

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1045086

[Detale]

Dude that shouldn't count as a HTPC ,look at the size of that rack. He calls it a "media server" but I think that's more of a workstation, he even says it himself its what he uses to transcode HD video files . Show me a living room where that would fit and blend in with the other components. Don't get me wrong its awesome it really is but just not practical for most people.