Help building budget DVR based on InfiniTV 4 Quad-tuner

[TBay]

Hi Everyone,

I'm trying to build a home theater PC based on theCeton InfiniTV 4 Quad-tuner Card. I do need it to be small or quiet, and would prefer to build it in a regular PC framework to allow for future upgrades (blu-ray drive, more HDD's once the prices drop). I currently have DirecTV, but will switch to comcast to make this work.

Will the onboard graphics (ATI Radeon 3000) be sufficient for HD viewing? If not, what graphics card do I need? Seems like I wouldn't need much given that it won't be for ANY gaming...

Is there anything else I need?

Thanks for the help!




Information:

Purpose: ONLY media viewing (watching TV with DVR, DVD/blu-ray, streaming netflix, podcast, etc.) It will be connected only to an HD TV and will never be used for gaming.

Parts ($608 total):

(based on the newegg combo http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboB...t=Combo.790396)
-Case and PSU - LOGISYS Computer CS305BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Enhanced SOHO Computer Case 480W Power Supply
-MB - MSI 760GM-P23 (FX) AM3+ AMD 760G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
-CPU - AMD Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX640WFK42GM - OEM
-RAM - G.SKILL Value Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL9S-4GBNT
-HDD - Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500413AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
-Heat sink - Thermaltake A4022 92mm CPU Cooler

-OS - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
-Set-top box/tuner - Ceton InfiniTV 4 Quad-tuner Card for Watching Digital Cable TV on the PC, PCI-Express x1 Interface
http://cetoncorp.com/products/infinitv-4-pcie/

 

[TBay]

Anyone?

 

[Attic]

I've been eyeing that tvtuner card for awhile. It's an awsome card. Your setup looks fine for basic function. Get the ceton card from newegg, it should be cheaper there. Read the reviews, theres lots of good information on how to deal with cable companies that are reluctanct to support cablecards and lose out on revenue of renting out DVR's to customers. Onboard gfx of your mobo is fine for HD viewing.

Considerations:

Bigger hard drive. Tough time now b/c HD prices are insane. With the ability to record 4 HD channels at once you may find you eat up lots of space. I use 500gigs quickly with a card that can record 2 HD channels at once, and i'm limited in HD stations I get. I'd recommend 1tb drive in addition to an OS/App drive and dedicate your recording to be done on that drive. Recording 4 HD channels may impact system performance if being done to the same drive as the OS drive.

Discreet video card: This would be for bit-streaming HD audio from blu-ray, if you don't know what this is, look it up and see if it matters to you. The mobo you have selected may or may not support it. A cheap HTPC vid card would support it, and its the best audio you can get.

Media Extenders: XBOX360, cheapest version can do this. This gives the ability to watch tv from the Ceton card on any tv hooked up with a media extender. Cheap way to get multiroom DVR functionality in addition to media available at any TV. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Set-up-a-Windows-Media-Center-Extender

Kinect: you can consider using one to control Windows Media Center with your hand. Look up KinEmote or Win&I

Edit:
Case: Consider the Lian Li PC-?? as a case that fits in aesthetically with home theater components.

 

[Binky]

Personally, I'd build an i3/i5 on a Z68 board, or I'd build a Llano system. I wouldn't use an Athlon for an HTPC. You would probably even be fine with a Pentium 630 or 840, but I'd just go for the 2120 or 2105. An aftermarket heatsink is an added cost that is not necessary.

Your list doesn't include a media center remote. You will need one, or at least the receiver and another programmable remote.

 

[blckgrffn]

My $.02 from having built several HTPC setups for myself and friends over the last few years - and I have a fairly high WAF to overcome in my home

Spend the money on a decent case that will be quiet. Ditto on the power supply. I used some nice (enclosed) antec cases with their three speed fans.

SSD boot drive. Media Center is so much snappier with it... plus you don't have to worry about your DVR IO intruding on your app launching experience.

Freaking wired ethernet to your HTPC. I have spent so much time with wireless/powerline/smokesignal tech, just do what you need to do to get it wired.

The processor doesn't have to be awesome, really a dual core should do it but I wouldn't (and didn't) hesitate to put a quad in there. Recording a stream does take some CPU time in my experience.

Get 8GB of DDR3 and be done with it. $20 versus $30? You know what to do

I second the discrete card nomination. 6450/GT430 whatever, ideally passively cooled. The fewer fans the better.

Lastly, temper your HDMI out expectations with regards to sound. This is very hit or miss in my experience so be prepared (ie, it is nice and easy if your mobo has the output for) to use digital out (optical, typically) to get audio to your receiver.

Again, just my $.02.

lol, and yes, get a remote and IR receiver

 

[jacc1234]

My $.02 from having built several HTPC setups for myself and friends over the last few years - and I have a fairly high WAF to overcome in my home

Spend the money on a decent case that will be quiet. Ditto on the power supply. I used some nice (enclosed) antec cases with their three speed fans.

SSD boot drive. Media Center is so much snappier with it... plus you don't have to worry about your DVR IO intruding on your app launching experience.

Freaking wired ethernet to your HTPC. I have spent so much time with wireless/powerline/smokesignal tech, just do what you need to do to get it wired.

The processor doesn't have to be awesome, really a dual core should do it but I wouldn't (and didn't) hesitate to put a quad in there. Recording a stream does take some CPU time in my experience.

Get 8GB of DDR3 and be done with it. $20 versus $30? You know what to do

I second the discrete card nomination. 6450/GT430 whatever, ideally passively cooled. The fewer fans the better.

Lastly, temper your HDMI out expectations with regards to sound. This is very hit or miss in my experience so be prepared (ie, it is nice and easy if your mobo has the output for) to use digital out (optical, typically) to get audio to your receiver.

Again, just my $.02.

lol, and yes, get a remote and IR receiver

Listen to this person 100%! I have a HTPC running Mediaportal as the only thing connected to my TV. The wife has no issues with it and it runs great even on AMD hardware.

I have a nice NAS with all of my content in my office and the amount of time and money i spent trying to get smooth playback over wireless was crazy.

Tried G wireless, then N wireless, installed DD-WRT, removed DD-WRT, purchased a new antenna, built a cantenna and finally paid some kid 50 bucks to run some cat 6 between the rooms. No problems since then.

I am waiting for the new digital tuners to be supported on something other then WMC and i will seriously consider subscribing to cable again.

 

[Elixer]

Friend built a llano based system with a SiliconDust HD homerun Prime, and he loves it.
He did try the InfiniTV 4 Quad-tuner card, and it had issues, so he got the homerun prime instead.

 

[TBay]

Wow, thanks for all the feedback! I should mention, my overall goal is to prove that this works before investing more money (a demonstration of concept). Then, I figure I can add more components later.

Bigger hard drive. Tough time now b/c HD prices are insane. With the ability to record 4 HD channels at once you may find you eat up lots of space. I use 500gigs quickly with a card that can record 2 HD channels at once, and i'm limited in HD stations I get. I'd recommend 1tb drive in addition to an OS/App drive and dedicate your recording to be done on that drive. Recording 4 HD channels may impact system performance if being done to the same drive as the OS drive.

I want to get a bigger HDD, but, as you mentioned, the prices are too high. So, I figured I'd get a case that can support many HDD's and add more drives when they get cheap again.

Kinect: you can consider using one to control Windows Media Center with your hand. Look up KinEmote or Win&I

Good call, I will add one of these to the list.

Personally, I'd build an i3/i5 on a Z68 board, or I'd build a Llano system. I wouldn't use an Athlon for an HTPC. You would probably even be fine with a Pentium 630 or 840, but I'd just go for the 2120 or 2105. An aftermarket heatsink is an added cost that is not necessary.

Your list doesn't include a media center remote. You will need one, or at least the receiver and another programmable remote.

The reason I chose those components (with the heatsink) is because it's sold as a bundle on newegg for $268 (for the case, 480W PS, MB, quad core CPU, 4GB DDR3, 500GB HDD, and CPU cooler). Seems like a pretty good deal.

My $.02 from having built several HTPC setups for myself and friends over the last few years - and I have a fairly high WAF to overcome in my home

Spend the money on a decent case that will be quiet. Ditto on the power supply. I used some nice (enclosed) antec cases with their three speed fans.

I guess I'm not so concerned about noise because it's gonna be closed in a cabinet thing (big enough for huge TV), so I figured I wouldn't really hear it... I also wanted the ability to add many more drives in the future (blu-ray, larger HDD, etc.). Do you still think I should find something quieter?

SSD boot drive. Media Center is so much snappier with it... plus you don't have to worry about your DVR IO intruding on your app launching experience.

That's a really good point! It sounds like that's almost mandatory given the reasons you mentioned and considering how much SSDs are now compared to HDDs. If I recall correctly, I've seen some around $80 for ~60GB.

Freaking wired ethernet to your HTPC. I have spent so much time with wireless/powerline/smokesignal tech, just do what you need to do to get it wired.

The processor doesn't have to be awesome, really a dual core should do it but I wouldn't (and didn't) hesitate to put a quad in there. Recording a stream does take some CPU time in my experience.

Definitely planning on hard wiring it!

The reason I chose quad core is because it Ceton list "2.0GHz dual core" as a minimum requirement, so I figured, extra cores could be good. Even if the software isn't designed to use them, it seems like lots of software could be running at the same time (to watch/record 4 channels + stream any of those across LAN + OS I/O)

Get 8GB of DDR3 and be done with it. $20 versus $30? You know what to do

haha $19 for 4GB, no arguments here! 8GB it is!

Friend built a llano based system with a SiliconDust HD homerun Prime, and he loves it.
He did try the InfiniTV 4 Quad-tuner card, and it had issues, so he got the homerun prime instead.

I haven't considered this option, but will definitely add it to the list!


Overall, it sounds like this setup will get me started. Then I can upgrade components later (like video cards and HDD's). Is this correct? Are there any other cheaper deals on parts that anyone has come accross? I think it's hard to beat that newegg bundle...

I guess I need to do more research on audio to figure out what I need, it's still sort of a mystery to me. I just figured I would run audio in the same way I do with my normal PC (ie straight to speakers), but I'm guessing some sort of amp is needed.


Thanks again for all the help!