Another HTPC / Centralized NAS build - mini tower!

[NAC]

So, I'm going to ditch cable, setup a TV antenna and a HTPC to act as DVR. In addition to the over the air stations – we'll rely on Netflix and perhaps other premium internet services like Hulu. I'll also use the PC as a media server for other devices, and probably as a centralized NAS – I'll have my main PC backup to it. In the future I might expect some file sharing type use. I hope to do simple gaming with it – very simple arcade type games, perhaps emulating older systems. No 3d or fancy gaming. It will be on 24*7, so I want it quiet and efficient. I might underclock it to save power and heat.

I plan to buy the parts in about a month. I don't really have a budget. I just want to buy the parts that fit my requirements and get the job done for the lowest price and best performance. I was thinking $750 should get it done. I'll buy from the USA. To save money, I'll be taking the 2tb backup hard drive from my main PC, and that will be the only drive in the HTPC in the beginning. Currently I have about 600 gigs of stuff worth backing up. I also might not buy a disc drive yet, I can install windows from a USB dvd drive I have.

I debated a lot regarding the case. I want small, elegant, and preferred something vertical and not very deep because it would fit better in the cabinet I currently have audio equipment, and later on a shelf. The shape of the Lian Li I chose seems to fit the best. I struggled over a power supply, but believe that for quiet and small space, a pico supply just makes a lot more sense. I hope it will be reliable. By having an external power supply, I'll have the space to add some extra hard drives inside the case in the future if needed. And I think 150 watts should be enough to power them.

Other decisions were pretty straight forward – I don't think I need more processing power than a Celeron G530, and I could only find one mini-ITX board from a mainstream manufacturer with the connections I want: 4*SATA (with SATA 6), DVI, HDMI, Optical Audio Out, and preferably display port, USB 3.0, and eSATA. I was hoping for an Intel brand motherboard, with the assumption that it may be more reliable and more energy efficient. I researched a lot of HSF on frostytech.com, and believe the one I chose can be basically inaudible – I hope to duct fresh air from the back of the case directly to the HSF, which will then leave the case via the many openings. We don't watch much TV – I believe a dual tuner is sufficient.

In a separate thread I discussed Windows – I have a copy of Vista and will buy a copy of 7. The advice was I should install 7 on my main PC, and Vista on the HTPC.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2215069
Also in a separate thread I discussed some of my questions for the case and power supply:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2216189

Here is the full list:
case Lian Li PC-Q07 $75
motherboard intel dh67cf $120
CPU Intel G530 $52
memory crucial 2*2gb $21
HSF Xigmatek SD963 Loki $30
power Premium picoPSU-150-XT/12.5A 150W AC-DC $83
(link: http://www.short-circuit.com/combo/premium-picopsu150xt-150w-acdc.html )
hard drive existing 2tb Hitachi drive
Blu-ray to be added later
OS Windows Vista (existing copy)
tuner card Hauppauge 2250 $130
antenna ClearStream4 HDTV Antenna $100

Total excluding antenna, windows, hdd & blu-ray drive: $511

Thoughts?

 

[infoiltrator]

Power Supply listed OOS.
Antec Earthwatts EA380 is usually about $44 at newegg, USA. It is quiet, though not modular or pico.
NCIX has ANTEC VP350 in stock $29 I think.

Case has one expansion slot, Hauppauge kit $150/160 comes with second antenna connector (plugs could be chassis mounted, I think) and remote.

 

[notposting]

I seem to recall Vista blowing chunks in regards to clear-QAM/ATSC and sorting things out that way. 7MC seems better (though fiddling with it can still be a fun and torturous way to spend an afternoon). Have you considered an HDHomerun for a tuner instead?

Our setup is somewhat similar, limited basic cable (basically just the OTA channels anyway) and using Netflix to supplement. Nice thing about the HDHR is another PC can use it as well...they also are "stackable" on the network.

 

[NAC]

Good catch on the power supply. This one is similar and should be back in stock in Feb:
http://www.mini-box.com/picoPSU-192-XT-192W-Adapter-Power-Kit

By Hauppauge kit - do you mean something like the below?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815116036
Yeah, I'd want that kit with the remote, or buy a separate remote.

I haven't looked much into the Hauppage card, and hadn't heard of HDHomeRun. I like the idea of freeing up a slot. IT looks like HDHomeRun does not have built in mpeg-2 encoders - which would leave more to the CPU? I had assumed that with the Hauppage, the HTPC could stream to another device while still recording the show (similar to HDHome Run allowing two devices to access the antenna at once). Any other reasons to recommend over the other?

Sounds like I have to look into the TV turner cards.

 

[notposting]

Doublecheck with the streaming from the Hauppage. Assuming anything in HTPC land usually means cranky wife. BTW, an HTPC is the most versatile, wonderful, awesome piece of pain in the ass, high maintenance, buggy, erratic piece of shit ever. Just a warning. Definitely take your time in the research stages.

edit: I really don't know about the encoding...I remember reading that it does strip out excess crap so your network bandwidth is minimized (just the feed not extra or some such). Any modern hardware will be fine. We run on some 2GHz Athlon X2.

 

[boomhower]

Pretty similar to the build I have going on. I would strongly consider putting W7 on the HTPC. WMC7 was a pretty big step-up. If nothing try Vista and if you it doesn't cut the mustard for your needs upgrade it.

The HDhomerun card works pretty good from what I have heard. Basically it sits on your network and you can assign different PC's to it. So if you have a two tuner version you can assign one to two PC's or one each. Some versions have four tuners.

There is one key point you need to keep in mind when it comes to Windows Media Center. For programs you record you can only watch them on that PC and media extenders. The Xbox 360 is the most common with some others(Linksys, HP, and I thing Dlink) that are out of production but available on ebay. You can't just network the drive to another PC and watch it due to DRM. Since your just doing OTA you may want to look into BeyondTV or other replacements and see if it may suite your needs better.

Surf over to the HTPC section of the AVS forum, tons of info over there.

 

[mfenn]

Good catch on the power supply. This one is similar and should be back in stock in Feb:
http://www.mini-box.com/picoPSU-192-XT-192W-Adapter-Power-Kit

Pico PSUs are not suitable for a NAS IMHO because of the limited number of Molex connectors. The Q07 can take a full-sized ATX PSU, so just get one of those. The ones that infoiltrator recommended are fine.

By Hauppauge kit - do you mean something like the below?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815116036
Yeah, I'd want that kit with the remote, or buy a separate remote.

I haven't looked much into the Hauppage card, and hadn't heard of HDHomeRun. I like the idea of freeing up a slot. IT looks like HDHomeRun does not have built in mpeg-2 encoders - which would leave more to the CPU? I had assumed that with the Hauppage, the HTPC could stream to another device while still recording the show (similar to HDHome Run allowing two devices to access the antenna at once). Any other reasons to recommend over the other?

If you want to watch one show and record another at the same time, you need to make sure that the card has dual tuners. The HVR-2250 does indeed have that feature.

The rest of the build looks fine, but the Intel mobo is pricey. Lower-end (i.e. not workstation and server) Intel mobos are really just Foxconns these days so I see no reason to get one over a Big 3 mobo unless the price is right given the feature set.

 

[ShaitanTheGreat]

To respond to boomhower's comment: it is not true that you cannot watch recorded shows on other PCs that aren't officially media extenders. I do exactly this every day of the week and it works perfectly. The only catch to know about is that if you record your shows with Windows 7 media center, then you need to have other Windows 7 PCs to watch the show on. W7 records on a format which Vista cannot read (they changed the format for W7). While you can convert in W7 so that it works on Vista, this is a total pain and is not recommended because of the overall inconvenience. The recommendation for me is to have all your other comps on W7 is that is possible.

When watching the shows on a separate PC, there is one thing in particular to know: you cannot set recordings on the other PC. Since it is not seen as a "extended" it cannot access the guide for the main HTPC. You can view files, just not do anything else. The XBox 360 is an extended, so it can view, set recordings and delete them.

 

[NAC]

Based on this feedback, I might have to spring for a Windows 7 three pack.

Regarding connectors on the pico - I thought I could just use splitters? I thought I would only be limited on the ~8 amps on the 12v and 5v lines. Certainly if I was expecting to have lots of hard drives, a regular supply would make sense, but in this case I'll start with one, and eventually might need a second and third one.

Gotta research remotes too... if I go with the HD Home Run I'll need to get a separate remote.

 

[mfenn]

Yes you can use splitters, but every split increases the resistance. 8A on the 12V is only 96W, which isn't very much, considering that pretty much everything in a modern PC is driven by 12V. For a couple of drives it would be fine, I guess when people say "NAS" to me that means 4-6 drives.

 

[boomhower]

To respond to boomhower's comment: it is not true that you cannot watch recorded shows on other PCs that aren't officially media extenders. I do exactly this every day of the week and it works perfectly. The only catch to know about is that if you record your shows with Windows 7 media center, then you need to have other Windows 7 PCs to watch the show on. W7 records on a format which Vista cannot read (they changed the format for W7). While you can convert in W7 so that it works on Vista, this is a total pain and is not recommended because of the overall inconvenience. The recommendation for me is to have all your other comps on W7 is that is possible.

When watching the shows on a separate PC, there is one thing in particular to know: you cannot set recordings on the other PC. Since it is not seen as a "extended" it cannot access the guide for the main HTPC. You can view files, just not do anything else. The XBox 360 is an extended, so it can view, set recordings and delete them.

My brain has been overloaded from to much reading. I think I'm half right. For the OP's situation it will work fine. What I am thinking of is with cable card use on play once DRM'd channels. Sorry to be confusing, hell I think I've confused myself.