Got a 37" LCD HDTV on black friday, my current cable company is raising my rates, so I am thinking of switching to time warner. Unfortunately they don't broadcast my local ABC and Fox stations in HD, but CBS, NBC and a couple others are in HD with their HD cable package. I want to be able to pick up the other 2 channels in HD, so I am planning to build an HTPC/DVR.
I currently have 2 series 2 tivos(6.95 a month for each) which I use for recording SD cable. I will definitely be including at least 1 HD tuner in the box(would love to try the upcoming dual tuner from vbox. But I am torn on if I should keep paying for the reliableness of the tivo, or if I should incorporate SD recording into the HTPC as well. My wife and I love the ease of use of the tivos, and they are very reliable(with the exception of when programs start late, but unless they check for updates every 15 minutes, there is not much of a way around this). I would hope that the HTPC would be able to at least come close to the reliability of the tivo. I know it will require some tinkering and may not be quite as easy as the tivo, although with some of the frontends available today, they make it pretty easy. So on to what I am thinking for this build.
I have an idea of what i want, but unfortunately I am undecided in several key areas. I can't decide between Intel(C2D probably) or AMD(3800+ 65watt X2 maybe)from what I hear socket 939 is dead, so its either C2D or socket AM2. I was leaning towards the antec fusion case, but C2D doesn't have many mATX boards to choose from. I am flexible on the case though. I wouldn't mind a nice one that blends into the entertainment system, but I can just as easily hide a mini tower out of sight. Plus I think if I am going with a lot of tuners ATX may be a better choice.
As for tuners, vbox seems to be a good choice, probably the 150 for now, but maybe I can force myself to wait for the 164e(pcalchemy says December 11th). I do currently have an HDTV wonder, that has served me okay on my PC, but is it good enough for watching on a 37" LCD? What about SD tuners, should I go with them or stick with the tivos. If I go with some, which is a good choice? I think I have a hauppauge roslyn card from back a few years when I tried out sage tv once, but I haven't used it since then.
Motherboard/CPU and the tuners where my main areas of indecisiveness, but I have never worked with DDR2, so I could probably use some help with that, but I am guessing corsair value ram or the like should be fine. As for uses and budget, I plan to use this for DVRing, DVD playback(possibly post processing as well) possible PC gaming, not sure what else. I would like to spend as little as possible, but don't want to skimp, try to keep a budget of under 1000.00, but preferably closer to 500, but I think thats probablly a bit too low to do what i want. LOL
As for any parts I already have, like I said I have the HDTV wonder and roslyn if they are useful. My main rig has an EVGA 7600(GT I think) its possible I could sacrifice this for the sake of the HTPC, as long as I can game somewhere. I guess thats about it.
Any help is appreciated, thanks.
I currently have 2 series 2 tivos(6.95 a month for each) which I use for recording SD cable. I will definitely be including at least 1 HD tuner in the box(would love to try the upcoming dual tuner from vbox. But I am torn on if I should keep paying for the reliableness of the tivo, or if I should incorporate SD recording into the HTPC as well. My wife and I love the ease of use of the tivos, and they are very reliable(with the exception of when programs start late, but unless they check for updates every 15 minutes, there is not much of a way around this). I would hope that the HTPC would be able to at least come close to the reliability of the tivo. I know it will require some tinkering and may not be quite as easy as the tivo, although with some of the frontends available today, they make it pretty easy. So on to what I am thinking for this build.
I have an idea of what i want, but unfortunately I am undecided in several key areas. I can't decide between Intel(C2D probably) or AMD(3800+ 65watt X2 maybe)from what I hear socket 939 is dead, so its either C2D or socket AM2. I was leaning towards the antec fusion case, but C2D doesn't have many mATX boards to choose from. I am flexible on the case though. I wouldn't mind a nice one that blends into the entertainment system, but I can just as easily hide a mini tower out of sight. Plus I think if I am going with a lot of tuners ATX may be a better choice.
As for tuners, vbox seems to be a good choice, probably the 150 for now, but maybe I can force myself to wait for the 164e(pcalchemy says December 11th). I do currently have an HDTV wonder, that has served me okay on my PC, but is it good enough for watching on a 37" LCD? What about SD tuners, should I go with them or stick with the tivos. If I go with some, which is a good choice? I think I have a hauppauge roslyn card from back a few years when I tried out sage tv once, but I haven't used it since then.
Motherboard/CPU and the tuners where my main areas of indecisiveness, but I have never worked with DDR2, so I could probably use some help with that, but I am guessing corsair value ram or the like should be fine. As for uses and budget, I plan to use this for DVRing, DVD playback(possibly post processing as well) possible PC gaming, not sure what else. I would like to spend as little as possible, but don't want to skimp, try to keep a budget of under 1000.00, but preferably closer to 500, but I think thats probablly a bit too low to do what i want. LOL
As for any parts I already have, like I said I have the HDTV wonder and roslyn if they are useful. My main rig has an EVGA 7600(GT I think) its possible I could sacrifice this for the sake of the HTPC, as long as I can game somewhere. I guess thats about it.
Any help is appreciated, thanks.
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