I?m a predominately lurking noob, so please be gentle. All advice, experience and opinions are welcome, especially related to the tuners (and software) available and what people?s experiences with them are. I?ve searched and read many threads both here and at other forums, but I?m having trouble determining and matching items to my particular usage.
I'm planning on building my first HTPC within the next week or so...looking to spend $500-$600 or so USD.
I'm going to hook it up to my older Samsung 61" DLP (HLP-6163w) via DVI/HDMI cable (or standard VGA cable if necessary) and also hook it to my older Kenwood VR-505 Audio-Video receiver. I know the receiver is not that good, but it?s what I have available now. The tv is already hooked through the receiver, but the tv doesn?t provide native surround sound. I do believe the TV is native 720p, but the newer ones are 1080p capable
I plan on using it for medium-duty Windows gaming (newer games) - RPG's, MMO's, driving games, and single-player and non-competitive FPS's. By that I mean not going for player stats or participating in clan tournaments as the slight delay in the Samsung will probably play havoc with more serious FPS playing.
I want to use the system as a DVR for my basic cable channels, and if possible also with my digital basic and HD channels (provider supplied Pioneer Voyager HDTV box model BD-3510HD). I am not clear (I cannot determine from researching) if I can use the Firewire and USB on the cable box to interface with the HTPC - I figure I will find that out once I have the system set up.
I live in a rural area and OTA HD is non-existent, along with standard soon-to-be-digital OTA channels.
I eventually want to add a BD drive for watching Blu-Ray movies, however that will not be part of the initial build.
Because of the gaming, I plan on using Vista Home Premium, a 1-gig 4850, 4 gig of paired ram (2 x 2 gig), and either an E7400 @ 2.8 ghz or an E5200 @ 2.5 ghz. If it boils down to the basic difference (usable experience) is negligible - I will go with the less expensive one.
Overclocking is an option, but not a requirement. The main board is up in the air for this - I was originally planning on an ECS-G31T motherboard (based on price) as I?ve had good luck with ECS boards many years ago, but I don?t know what my current options are that overclock well (and paired with what processor).
I already have the ancillary stuff (case, keyboard, mouse, hard drives, Firewire card) that I?m re-purposing, but I?m planning on getting a decent 500-watt power supply (looking at the Thermaltake series now).
I?m really confused about the tuners available?..it seems like all tuners have (at least some) bad user reviews, and it?s hard separating potential fact from grumpy or non-knowledgeable users.
I think I want a card with dual-tuners (plus options), and I?m looking at this ASUS My Cinema-PHC3-100 PCI card. I was also looking at the Hauppauge cards, but I think I get more potential bang for the buck with the ASUS. Also, since it?s a PCI card, I think it will be easier to add a PCI-e tuner card down the road for multiple inputs and more recording flexibility (if necessary).
I would like to store my music collection (250-300 CD?s) and my video collection (80-100 DVD?s and growing) along with the PVR/DVR capabilities. The local storage would be used for the recording capabilities, and the archived movies and recordings will probably be stored on a RAID?ed network system. I also plan on using another faster machine for ripping the archived moves down to other formats (for my kids? IPod and Archos, along with a file-size-smaller-than-original [VCD?] version for taking with me on my laptop).
I also plan on initially working with the Vista MCE, and investigating other media software available - I do not have any experience in this area, and I?m not sure yet what I?d like.
Sorry for the lengthy post, but I tried to include pertinent information.
I eagerly await responses!
(edited for typo's and link)
I'm planning on building my first HTPC within the next week or so...looking to spend $500-$600 or so USD.
I'm going to hook it up to my older Samsung 61" DLP (HLP-6163w) via DVI/HDMI cable (or standard VGA cable if necessary) and also hook it to my older Kenwood VR-505 Audio-Video receiver. I know the receiver is not that good, but it?s what I have available now. The tv is already hooked through the receiver, but the tv doesn?t provide native surround sound. I do believe the TV is native 720p, but the newer ones are 1080p capable
I plan on using it for medium-duty Windows gaming (newer games) - RPG's, MMO's, driving games, and single-player and non-competitive FPS's. By that I mean not going for player stats or participating in clan tournaments as the slight delay in the Samsung will probably play havoc with more serious FPS playing.
I want to use the system as a DVR for my basic cable channels, and if possible also with my digital basic and HD channels (provider supplied Pioneer Voyager HDTV box model BD-3510HD). I am not clear (I cannot determine from researching) if I can use the Firewire and USB on the cable box to interface with the HTPC - I figure I will find that out once I have the system set up.
I live in a rural area and OTA HD is non-existent, along with standard soon-to-be-digital OTA channels.
I eventually want to add a BD drive for watching Blu-Ray movies, however that will not be part of the initial build.
Because of the gaming, I plan on using Vista Home Premium, a 1-gig 4850, 4 gig of paired ram (2 x 2 gig), and either an E7400 @ 2.8 ghz or an E5200 @ 2.5 ghz. If it boils down to the basic difference (usable experience) is negligible - I will go with the less expensive one.
Overclocking is an option, but not a requirement. The main board is up in the air for this - I was originally planning on an ECS-G31T motherboard (based on price) as I?ve had good luck with ECS boards many years ago, but I don?t know what my current options are that overclock well (and paired with what processor).
I already have the ancillary stuff (case, keyboard, mouse, hard drives, Firewire card) that I?m re-purposing, but I?m planning on getting a decent 500-watt power supply (looking at the Thermaltake series now).
I?m really confused about the tuners available?..it seems like all tuners have (at least some) bad user reviews, and it?s hard separating potential fact from grumpy or non-knowledgeable users.
I think I want a card with dual-tuners (plus options), and I?m looking at this ASUS My Cinema-PHC3-100 PCI card. I was also looking at the Hauppauge cards, but I think I get more potential bang for the buck with the ASUS. Also, since it?s a PCI card, I think it will be easier to add a PCI-e tuner card down the road for multiple inputs and more recording flexibility (if necessary).
I would like to store my music collection (250-300 CD?s) and my video collection (80-100 DVD?s and growing) along with the PVR/DVR capabilities. The local storage would be used for the recording capabilities, and the archived movies and recordings will probably be stored on a RAID?ed network system. I also plan on using another faster machine for ripping the archived moves down to other formats (for my kids? IPod and Archos, along with a file-size-smaller-than-original [VCD?] version for taking with me on my laptop).
I also plan on initially working with the Vista MCE, and investigating other media software available - I do not have any experience in this area, and I?m not sure yet what I?d like.
Sorry for the lengthy post, but I tried to include pertinent information.
I eagerly await responses!
(edited for typo's and link)
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