• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Advice for Home Entertainment PC needed..

H

Heliskier59

Junior Member
I recently purchased a 61 inch Hitachi LCD RP HDTV. Now that I have this beast, I want to get the most out of it. Rather than going the TIVO, Replay, or DVR route I thought about buying or building a small pc that is connected to the home entertainment system. I am under the impression that there are some software alternatives out there that can do the job of some of these subscription services. I'd also like to surf the net without having to connect my laptop to the system etc... So I figured a large hard drive, good video card small case (quiet and cool system is a must). I want this thing to hide inside my stereo cabinet without overheating...
Any ideas as to what type of hardware would work well in this situation? Would I be better off just buying from Dell etc?
 
http://www.pcalchemy.com/

That is a good site to get you going for hardware. If you find anything you like, you can always compare prices elsewhere, but they seem to be pretty competitive with their pricing.

At minimum, you need:

Case + Quiet PSU (Check out SilverStone HTPC cases, relatively cheap and they look good)
CPU + Motherboard (Maybe a low-end Athlon 64, S754 motherboard with quiet'n'cool enabled)
Quiet Heatsink (Zalman 7000 AlCu or a Thermalright XP-90 with Panaflo @ 5v)
DVD-ROM or DVDRW (Samsung, Toshiba, NEC)
Large Quiet Hard Drive (Samsung, Seagate)
Video Card w/ DVI Out (Passive Cooled ATi 9xxx series with DVI)
TV Tuner/Capture Card (Hauppauge WinTV PVR series 150 or better)

On the software end of things, there are lots of good choices. GB PVR is a great free choice, but there are other choices like BeyondTV 3, SageTV 2, and even Microsoft Windows Media Center 2005 (a complete OS solution).

http://www.htpcnews.com/

That is a good site for reviews, but also check out the HTPC section at AVSForum.com

I think your choice in components has a lot to do with your budget and specific uses. For example, you can get by with a cheap ATi 9600 (passively cooled) video card for playing DVDs, web-surfing, and light gaming. But if you want to game harder, maybe a ATI X800PRO or XT with a ATI Silencer (or 6800 series video card with NV Silencer) would be a better solution.
 
Thanks for the ideas!!! Airfoil, have you seen the Asus Digimatrix in person? Can a unit like this be safely stored inside a stereo cabinet without frying everything (I have a Salamander cabinet with perforated metal front doors)? Would there be any reason to have a DVD burner in a system like this?
 
Originally posted by: Heliskier59
Thanks for the ideas!!! Airfoil, have you seen the Asus Digimatrix in person? Can a unit like this be safely stored inside a stereo cabinet without frying everything (I have a Salamander cabinet with perforated metal front doors)? Would there be any reason to have a DVD burner in a system like this?
Click to expand...

Here's a review of the Digimatrix, which should answer most of your questions.

Also, I see *NO* reason why any new build should not contain a DVD burner. My current favorite is the NEC 3500A, $67 at Newegg.

No, I dont own one nor have I seen it in person, but would consider buying one. Check out the high resolution pictures offered at the Newegg site for the product.
 
I was reading through the review myself when I realized the Digimatrix is shipped with a built in CDRW combo drive with a slim form factor.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top