HTPC build up and running!

Charlie98 · 01-08-2013, 04:12 PM

Finally got all the parts for my HTPC and built it up. It's up and running but I'm having some problems with display settings and such, but that's for another thread.

Specs:

Intel G620 w/stock 2500 cooler,
Gigabyte B75M-D3H,
Generic 2x 2GB RAM,
Corsair CX430 PSU,
2GB Seagate HHD, 1GB Seagate HHD,
Lite-On BR player,
Fractal Design Define Mini case,
Windows 7 Home,
Rosewill W7 media remote.

Biggest surprise was the Fractal case... this thing is AWESOME! Very well finished, plenty of sound deadening material... the side panels weigh almost 4 pounds each! I picked the Mini because it had to fit in a very tight space and I only had choice of 3 mATX cases, I seriously lucked out with the Mini; it puts my CM HAF922 to shame.

Biggest disappointment so far is the G620 processor... it's slow. It took almost 30 minutes to rip a 2-hour DVD, compared to 8 minutes on my 2500K. I really wished I would have sprung for an i3, or, money being no object, put my 2500K in and get a new 3570K for my desktop!

Everything went together well, I'm waiting to get a bigger SSD for my desktop and then I'll swap my old 64GB Agility3 SSD into the HTPC, so for right now I have an old 500GB Hitachi HDD as the system drive. The CX430 only has 4 SATA power plugs, so I had to do a little creative disk positioning for now.

Never mind the non-existent cable management... I have the permanent cables on order...

...and in it's new home. Told you it was a tight fit!

thestrangebrew1 · 01-08-2013, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie98

Biggest disappointment so far is the G620 processor... it's slow. It took almost 30 minutes to rip a 2-hour DVD, compared to 8 minutes on my 2500K. I really wished I would have sprung for an i3, or, money being no object, put my 2500K in and get a new 3570K for my desktop!

Nice build, glad it's working. As far as the disappointment goes, you could always use your main rig to rip and transfer the file over. I rip all my movies on the main rig, transfer it to the server, and play files on the htpc from the server. I'm not storing anything on the htpc except for mandatory files.

Charlie98 · 01-08-2013, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thestrangebrew1

Nice build, glad it's working. As far as the disappointment goes, you could always use your main rig to rip and transfer the file over. I rip all my movies on the main rig, transfer it to the server, and play files on the htpc from the server. I'm not storing anything on the htpc except for mandatory files.

...and that's probably what I'll continue to do. My desktop already has AnyDVD installed on it, and it's easy enough to move them with an external HDD.

My bigger concern is if the IGPU is enough to keep up with the 1080 resolution... it's already stuttering.

assassin24 · 01-08-2013, 06:27 PM

What are you using to playback? Shouldnt be stuttering.

Yes, the g620 is no i3. Then again its almost 1/3rd the cost.

Charlie98 · 01-08-2013, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by assassin24

What are you using to playback? Shouldnt be stuttering.

Yes, the g620 is no i3. Then again its almost 1/3rd the cost.

I'm using XBMC right now...

Shadowknight · 01-08-2013, 06:55 PM

Are you using Frodo? If so, turn off all DTS options in the setup, you'll get stuttering/loss of sound no matter what, because of the new audio engine.

Charlie98 · 01-08-2013, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shadowknight

Are you using Frodo? If so, turn off all DTS options in the setup, you'll get stuttering/loss of sound no matter what, because of the new audio engine.

v 11.0 'Eden.'

Doesn't stutter so bad using VLC and WMP, but it still stutters...

assassin24 · 01-08-2013, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie98

I'm using XBMC right now...

Turn off all DXVA. If you use my guides I go over my other setup and install instructions. I have a few builds of XBMC that I have tested extensively that work very very well (with HD Audio capabilities).

Charlie98 · 01-08-2013, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by assassin24

Turn off all DXVA. If you use my guides I go over my other setup and install instructions. I have a few builds of XBMC that I have tested extensively that work very very well (with HD Audio capabilities).

Check. Did that and it helped some.

I'll go over your setup guide and see what else I need to tweak, thank you.

Binky · 01-09-2013, 02:20 PM

Slap a GT430 (my choice, $30AR at newegg) or HD65XX in it and be done with it. Even on my i3-based systems, the playback is smooth but I get annoyed with the slight stuttering in the MediaBrowser menus - I like my coverflow to flow smoothly.

Charlie98 · 01-09-2013, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Binky

Slap a GT430 (my choice, $30AR at newegg) or HD65XX in it and be done with it. Even on my i3-based systems, the playback is smooth but I get annoyed with the slight stuttering in the MediaBrowser menus - I like my coverflow to flow smoothly.

My wife will blow her stack if she sees stuttering...

I designed my components to accomodate a GPU if I needed to, after the fact. I'm going to work with it a bit more before I surrender...

ketchup79 · 01-09-2013, 03:53 PM

How are your temps doing?

Charlie98 · 01-09-2013, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ketchup79

How are your temps doing?

It barely breaks 50C in LinX testing...

I don't think I've ever heard the CPU fan spool up.

The Fractal case came with a 3-way fan controller... but I don't believe it works.