Building Home Theater PC

[Heinrich]

Hi there.

Fantasizing over a Home Theater PC to take over from my DVD player and TiVO. As I remember the 8500DV All In Wonder review seems to say that the TiVO functionality from a software perspective was sorely lacking (and with NVidia's product as well.) Perhaps that will change with the new 9700 Pro AIW.

Then I could play games on my 61" Tosh HDTV. Right? What resolution?

How do I need to build this thing to replace my current typical standard components? One problem I foresee is sound. PCs might be too noisy for movie watching.

Hmmm

 

[cmdrdredd]

don't you turn up the volume on your movies? If you think you'r PC is louser than your games and movies then you don't deserve a PC

 

[UncleWai]

There are quiet scenes in movies...... I am pretty sure at that moment the PC fans will be louder than the movie.....

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

The folks here can probably answer all your questions:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=e4692d7a45f5abd0f678613aaaf569d0&forumid=26

As for noise, if you pick the right components you can have a near-silent HTPC.

 

[Goi]

If you're concerned about the noise, go with as few fans as possible. So, try to eliminate case fans altogether, relying only on the PSU fans. As for PSU fans, get super quiet PSUs with adjustable PSU fans so you can turn them down to the minimum. Enermax and Antec both make pretty quiet PSUs, but there are others. As long as you get one with adjustable fans you should be fine

Graphics card wise, get one with passive cooling, which means you probably have to forgo the ones with the best performance, the Radeon 9000 Pro is probably the best you can get. Some of them come with passive cooling so get those.

HDD wise, get one of those Seagate Baracuda IV's, they're the quietest 7200rpm drives around. Or if you really wanna overdo it get a slower 5400rpm drive.

CPU wise, get a 1+Ghz chip that doesn't produce so much heat, so you won't need such a powerful CPU fan on it. Get the best damn heatsink you can so you can scrimp on the fan and go for a lower rpm, quieter one from Papst or Panaflo.

Case wise, stay away from Aluminum cases as they tend to be louder. Padding would also help keep the noise in the case.

 

[rbV5]

Then I could play games on my 61" Tosh HDTV. Right? What resolution?

If you can wait, that AIW 9700 looks to be a winner for HTPC with the new component video output, gaming on your HDTV will be limited only by the support in the game itself as far as resolution is concerned. TIVO like functionality is getting better with every MMC release, but the real shortfall IMHO, is the lack of support for digital channels via Guide Plus for scheduling programming, othewise the timeshifting works very well with a somewhat powerful rig.

 

[Heinrich]

Thank you cmdrdredd for your intelligent, insightful, informative, and just absolutely stunning comment. I really thank you. If you send me your address via PM I will send you a $5 tip for your wonderful knowledge that you imparted to me.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I don't see the need for a PC to be quiet...I never use my PC without some sound comming from my speakers...be it a CD, Movie, Game or Mp3. My PC is very loud and even when all is silent around you can barely hear it...please don't complain about that which there is reason to

 

[rbV5]

please don't complain about that which there is reason to

Silent PC operation is highly desired for HTPC solutions (but certainly not exclusive to "just" HTPC), just because you don't see the need...doesn't mean there is no need..wake up.

 

[Goi]

Yup, while in normal desktop operations, silent operation is a nice to have thing rather than a neccessity, in HTPC/audio applications, its almost a must have. Amps/receivers have traditionally been criticized if they have any sort of cooling fan installed. What's the use of having a 120dB SNR when you're cutting 40-50dB away from that figure with all the fans making the background noise?