First HTPC build

[KLC]

After doing a lot of reading I've decided to build an HTPC. This will be used for 2 things only, DVR for over the air antenna HD and SD digital broadcasts and wireless connection to a Samsung LCD TV, model LN52a630.

I had originally wanted to stay around $400 but my reading led me to getting an HDMI motherboard, a 32 mb cache HDD and a dual TV tuner. This comes to about $530. I already have Vista Home Premium. I had thought about getting a blu ray player and selling my dedicated blu ray player but I've decided to just keep it and save the money. Let me know what you think. I'd especially like to know about HDMI motherboards. I'm assuming I can connect the HDMI directly to my TV but it's been hard to get solid information about that. My TV can also use a DVI to HDMI cable with audio cable for input. Would that be a better choice?

Here is the list

Antec NSK2480

ASUS M3N78-VM AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8200 HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5050e

G.SKILL 4GB DDR2 800

Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB 32MB Cache SATA

SAMSUNG 22X SATA DVD Burner

Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 Media Center Kit Dual TV Tuner

EDIMAX EW-7128G PCI Wireless Card

 

[krnmastersgt]

Word of caution, you might want to just copy and paste the part names so people will be more inclined to help. Not many members are gonna do anything if they have to click on so many links just to know what you're trying to build

But it seems like you did your homework, good build for an HTPC :thumbsup: And yes, you can go straight from the HDMI on the board to the TV. DVI and HDMI won't show you a vast difference in picture quality, if any. If you already have the cables for 1 option, use that, worst case is it doesn't work and you have to go for the other output option, can't really lose there.

Edit: On second thought, I'm not sure how well that 5050e is with high-def videos. But iirc the 8200 should have some hardware acceleration to help with that, might want to really read up on whether or not the GF8 integrateds have hardware acceleration or not to avoid future headaches.

 

[KLC]

thanks for the hint, I made the text changes.

Most of the reading I did talked about the AMD 4850e. With the NVIDIA 8200 all said there were no problems with HD. Since the 5050e is the same price as the 4850e I decided to go with it.

 

[krnmastersgt]

Well in that case I'd say it's a pretty solid build Have fun with it :thumbsup:

 

[SilentRunning]

If you don't intend on recording analog then you might consider

HDHomeRun

It doesn't include a remote. No heat generating tuners in case.

 

[KLC]

I've seen references about HDHomerun but I've got to say that I'm just not experienced enough to really understand what it does or how it differs from a TV tuner card. Can you give me the HDHR for Dummies explanation or point me to something that explains it?

 

[SilentRunning]

HDHomeRun is an external pair of tuners that connect via the network to your computer. Since you are adding a wireless network card that means your HTPC would have a free lan port on the motherboard so you coud just run a cable from the motherboard to the HDHomeRun.

If you network the HDHomeRun it can be available to more than one PC.

Manufacturer's page

The biggest selling point has been the ability to record clear QAM (unencrypted cable HD) with Media Center. They work just as well as ATSC (over the air digital) tuners.