Help building HTPC

[samkaye]

A friend asked me to build an HTPC (LCD and all, ground up), since I "know about computers". I said sure no problem, but now I'm wondering if maybe it's not as easy as building a PC (which I've done a number of times). If anyone could point me in the direction of a website that covers the basics; things I wouldn't think of needing or whatnot... or any pointers at all would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks to all...

 

[moonboy403]

how about buying a receiver for starter?

 

[atybimf]

Never build a PC for a friend - he will run to you for every little thing that goes wrong. You will be held responsible for anything that messes up, because you built it.

 

[samkaye]

Understood, but in all honesty he's going to b the guinea pig... I'll make all the mistakes building his, and make (almost) none building mine.

 

[moonboy403]

wow! what a friend you are! :disgust:

 

[moonboy403]

what is his budget and his priority?

a gamer?

 

[samkaye]

Budget (not counting LCD, but including surround sound system) is +/- $4000. The system is not at all for gaming (shame), but more for home office which incorporates XP media center/banging sound system/HDTV/Movie station.

 

[moonboy403]

dude, 4000 is for like serious gaming

you don't even need much for office use

i say you spend as much on sound system and monitor (say 3007fpw, and a harmon kardon sound system for around 1000?)

then use whatever you have left to build the computer

 

[samkaye]

Really the thing is I've got no problem figuring out the pc components, or even the speaker system or LCD... it's more about which video card the maximize clarity to a 27" LCD as well as how to seemlessly connect he LCD to an HDTV cable stream as well as a DVI to the PC with as little hassle in installation and hot-swapping input feeds as possible. I've never done it, and I don't want to get caught elbow-deep in this project and then find out I'm missing some key adapter...

 

[moonboy403]

get the dell 3007wfp....it has all the inputs you'll ever need (component, dvi, vga, and composite)

as for displaying text, all video cards are more or less the same especially in 2d....
if his pocket's that deep, get him the upcoming 7900 gtx that's due to release on march 9th

if he can't wait, get him a x1900 xtx

 

[openwheelformula1]

Key is to have passively cooled components to silence the htpc. Then quality/efficient PSU from Seasonic/Fortron/Antec is a must. I would recommend a Gigabyte passively cooled 6600GT for now, then upgrade as soon as DVI-HDCP enabled graphic cards come out. (currently there is none) Software wise use MCE2005 and Nvidia Purevideo decoder. Use spdif out for pure digital sound to a quality receiver and quality speakers. (Denon, Yamana.....) If you got more questions ask. Here are my pics for your reference:

http://www.htpcnews.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=9999

 

[moonboy403]

personally, i prefer watching dvds on my samsung hd841 dvd player, it has much better quality than any decoder for pc

i tried ffdshow and purevideo, they both didn't fare well in comparison to my cheap dvd player

purevideo tends to soften things a little too much

ffdshow is better than purevideo, but it's still miles away from a dedicated dvd player

 

[imported_ST]

Originally posted by: moonboy403
personally, i prefer watching dvds on my samsung hd841 dvd player, it has much better quality than any decoder for pc

i tried ffdshow and purevideo, they both didn't fare well in comparison to my cheap dvd player

purevideo tends to soften things a little too much

ffdshow is better than purevideo, but it's still miles away from a dedicated dvd player

You're kidding me right? The Samsung uses a mediocre Zoran deinterlacer/scaler. It tends to have more jaggies during deinterlacing than a comparable Faroudja player. It is also light years behind what a modern CPU / GPU combo can do via FFDSHOW. What set are you using this on for comparison sake?

To the OP: See http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/bui..._high_definition_home_theater_pc_htpc/ for a nice guide on HTPC. Be happy to answer other questions regarding it.

 

[moonboy403]

i followed the guide on that ffdshow website

but like i said, it's better than purevideo, but no better than my dvd player
my dvd player has dvi input and does upconversion...it's clearly better than anything i've tried on my comptuer (cyberlink, windvd, purevideo, and ffdshow)

i was blown away when i tried my dvd player then my theatertek dvd with ffdshow set as my decoder

 

[imported_ST]

Originally posted by: moonboy403
i followed the guide on that ffdshow website

but like i said, it's better than purevideo, but no better than my dvd player
my dvd player has dvi input and does upconversion...it's clearly better than anything i've tried on my comptuer (cyberlink, windvd, purevideo, and ffdshow)

i was blown away when i tried my dvd player then my theatertek dvd with ffdshow set as my decoder

interesting...i've tried them all also...ffdshow, purevideo, stock, and a faroudja deinterlacer/scaler based dvdplayer....afterwards i gave away my dvd player, regular tv, and went all out HPTC

Oh well, YMMV i guess....

 

[moonboy403]

i was comparing all of them on my dell 2005fpw

 

[NeezyDeezy]

the point of HTPC's are that they are cheap:

nice case (100)
dfi nf4 ultra-d (90)
amd 3200+ (120)
1 gig ram (100)
evga 7300gs (70)
xi-fi sound (120)
400w psu (50)
2 300gb hdds (200)
silent fans (30)

total = $880

NOTHING else would substantially help the ability or performance of an HTPC except POSSIBLY dual core cpu, and an opteron 165 would only run you 120 more or so

 

[openwheelformula1]

only the very high end upconver DVD players can compare to HTPC and ffdShow.