HTPC video and audio handshaking annoyances when using a receiver and wmc

[BonzaiDuck]

The 2010 French plug-in "Audio Renderer Updater" WORKS!!

Did anyone posting in these forums KNOW ABOUT THIS? This is the solution I've been searching for over at least 6 months to a year. It was "always out there," and I don't know how my web-searches didn't turn it up.

This MEANS that you can have two, three -- who knows!? -- audio devices set up in Windows. Only one of them will be "default" in the Windows playback-devices menu. But you can switch between them in this plug-in.

This means I can put my heat-generating, power-guzzling AVR into "Standby" -- effectively turning it off, pass through the HDMI feed from my PC giving the video to my HDTV, and listen to the audio on my Logitech 740 5.1 speakers through the onboard "HD" audio.

Critics complain that the configuration is only "session-specific," that it goes back to the default selections when you reboot, but I think they just missed something in the options selection of the plug-in.

Now . . . if there were only a way to swap "left" and "right" surround channels on any one of these speaker systems, and I can have the right sound-source configuration with my back to the TV while I game.

Any ideas about THAT?!

 

[Aikouka]

what motherboard?

ASUS P8H77-I

do you use the intel HD4000 integrated video?

Yes.

do you leave your PC on all the time?

Yes.

what happens when you try to listen to music via pandora or web interface and then you power off your tv? does your audio stop for 3 seconds and then continues on, or does it stop completely and you get some speakers are disconnected error?

Never done that before. I use HDMI-CEC, which would turn my receiver off when I turn my TV off.

 

[evident]

ASUS P8H77-I



Yes.



Yes.



Never done that before. I use HDMI-CEC, which would turn my receiver off when I turn my TV off.

interesting. So you dont have the second use case scenario w/ listening to internet radio that i have problems with.

but you're able to turn off the tv / receiver without your htpc throwing a fit. i ordered a hdmi video switcher which some people claim will trick the pc to thinking a display is always plugged in. in the meantime im tempted to bypass my receiver and see if i have these hdmi handshaking problems.

I see. Is MA that much better than plain old DTS? I'm out of the loop with the latest stuff, but if it's a receiver problem and not cables, you may have to take the audio from the TV's audio out (if available) and put up with lesser (but still marvellous sounding to me) regular DTS.

Honestly, it depends on the movie. sometimes i can tell, other times, i can't. toslink optical out isn't an option since my motherboard doesn't have it, anyways.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

interesting. So you dont have the second use case scenario w/ listening to internet radio that i have problems with.

but you're able to turn off the tv / receiver without your htpc throwing a fit. i ordered a hdmi video switcher which some people claim will trick the pc to thinking a display is always plugged in. in the meantime im tempted to bypass my receiver and see if i have these hdmi handshaking problems.




Honestly, it depends on the movie. sometimes i can tell, other times, i can't. toslink optical out isn't an option since my motherboard doesn't have it, anyways.

Well, I can't tell about the OP's HT behavior with the plasma TV. But with the responses here, it looks as though there are several configuration options that fit individual needs. At minimum, I can just turn my TV off, or I can kill the video to save power. Either way, the audio feeds through the AVR. Now -- I can switch the audio between Logitech 5.1 and ONKYO/AVR 5.1, keeping the video feed to the TV either way.

I'm guessing folks are going to have different priorities based on what they want to run all the time, whether they turn off the TV before leaving the room, whether you sleep the PC and WMC and sleep the HT equipment. I think my HT equipment sleeps when I sleep the PC.

 

[poofyhairguy]

The 2010 French plug-in "Audio Renderer Updater" WORKS!!

Did anyone posting in these forums KNOW ABOUT THIS? This is the solution I've been searching for over at least 6 months to a year. It was "always out there," and I don't know how my web-searches didn't turn it up.

Congrats! It always kills me when I find some HTPC trick or solution I could have used years ago. Glad you found what you are looking for.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Congrats! It always kills me when I find some HTPC trick or solution I could have used years ago. Glad you found what you are looking for.

I'm just surprised, since I'd made earlier queries here and in general web-searches, that nobody had the same objective or hadn't found the "A-R-U" plug-in. It's four years old! I certainly didn't find it, although I made most of the searches between January and the present.

I'd think this would be the next hottest plug-in option to something that would enable using one audio device for certain sounds, and one for the Media Center, games or whatever. I still think VAC enables that possibility, I'm just not sure yet. But you would think with two audio devices (or speaker sets) you could allocate the speakers to work concurrently with different programs.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I'm just surprised, since I'd made earlier queries here and in general web-searches, that nobody had the same objective or hadn't found the "A-R-U" plug-in. It's four years old! I certainly didn't find it, although I made most of the searches between January and the present.

I'd think this would be the next hottest plug-in option to something that would enable using one audio device for certain sounds, and one for the Media Center, games or whatever. I still think VAC enables that possibility, I'm just not sure yet. But you would think with two audio devices (or speaker sets) you could allocate the speakers to work concurrently with different programs.

I will be completely honest, I have no clue what exact issue you just solved but I am a huge HTPC fan so I want to be supportive. I haven't used Windows on a HTPC in a year or so, but I can't tell you how many times I try to do something on one of my Ubuntu HTPCs only to find the patch or app I need was released years ago. It is even more frustrating on the Linux side when the fix is some sort of binary that no longer works with the current version of Ubuntu that you are basing everything on (happens to me ALL the time with my emulators).

So congratulations on finding your four year old fix, I know that feeling of relief! I hope you can find a way to make each app output how you want!!!

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I will be completely honest, I have no clue what exact issue you just solved but I am a huge HTPC fan so I want to be supportive. I haven't used Windows on a HTPC in a year or so, but I can't tell you how many times I try to do something on one of my Ubuntu HTPCs only to find the patch or app I need was released years ago. It is even more frustrating on the Linux side when the fix is some sort of binary that no longer works with the current version of Ubuntu that you are basing everything on (happens to me ALL the time with my emulators).

So congratulations on finding your four year old fix, I know that feeling of relief! I hope you can find a way to make each app output how you want!!!

I just hope I'm not perceived as high-jacking the OP's thread. He had trouble turning off his TV and maintain aspect ratio for WMC. This is a video problem that parallels my annoyance at how finicky WMC can be with changes in the audio "device." I don't want to run my AVR all the time. I have other speakers -- a 5.1 system connected to my onboard audio, a 2.1 system connected and enhancing my TV's own speakers.

The plug-in enables switching easily between different audio devices -- different speaker systems. And I'd seen forum posts elsewhere with people whining about the lack of this ability -- yet the Audio-Renderer-Updater had been available in 2010!

Just amazing. And now? You have to BUY Media Center for Windows 8? Is that true? I'm losing my ability to tolerate change!!

 

[evident]

I just hope I'm not perceived as high-jacking the OP's thread. He had trouble turning off his TV and maintain aspect ratio for WMC. This is a video problem that parallels my annoyance at how finicky WMC can be with changes in the audio "device." I don't want to run my AVR all the time. I have other speakers -- a 5.1 system connected to my onboard audio, a 2.1 system connected and enhancing my TV's own speakers.

The plug-in enables switching easily between different audio devices -- different speaker systems. And I'd seen forum posts elsewhere with people whining about the lack of this ability -- yet the Audio-Renderer-Updater had been available in 2010!

Just amazing. And now? You have to BUY Media Center for Windows 8? Is that true? I'm losing my ability to tolerate change!!

sadly, microsoft is once again killing a product that many still utilize and enjoy. with xbox one not getting media center extender support, the writing is on the wall.i intend to keep this box as my HTPC indefinitely because it's essentially the only way to use a cable card w/ a PC.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

sadly, microsoft is once again killing a product that many still utilize and enjoy. with xbox one not getting media center extender support, the writing is on the wall.i intend to keep this box as my HTPC indefinitely because it's essentially the only way to use a cable card w/ a PC.

I think we're all of one mind -- on the same frequency with that.

Think of usage patterns and longevity for home entertainment electronics: I had Onkyo 4-channel stereo system I'd purchased in the early '90s, and it was perfectly adequate for my needs through 2010. I've known others who change their HT equipment like my ex-mechanic father bought new cars after he became a white-collar insurance salesman.

In contrast to our "enthusiast-HTPC" category, mainstream PC, laptop and mobile-device users likely want different devices for different applications. I can't imagine my brother building an HTPC; he has FIOS connection for his TV subscription and the separate pieces of equipment for that. Would never think of integrating it with his PC.

In a way, I'm stuck with this by choice and habit. Began experimenting with tuner cards and the old stereo system at the turn of the millennium. Once a person gets it to work, you don't want to change your approach.

On the cable-card question, I've got the $2 add-on to my cable-TV subscription for use with my Silicon Dust triple-tuner. The ISP/cable provider gave us an extra STB free for one year, so I have "redundancy." And after the year expires, it will cost us about $7/mo.

The only drawback with Media Center: I cannot play "On Demand" movies from my provider, or I haven't figured out how. But I also don't need to pay for the extra DVR options with the provider. I'm actually thinking to add another Silly-Dust Homerun Prime to our network.

And anyway, if "On Demand" requires the STB, I get Netflix, Hulu etc. through Media center.

Frankly, I have so many switchable options in this setup, I don't know what to do with them. Everybody remembers the neighborhood kid in a polo shirt and shorts, stomping down the street with tin-cans wrapped around his shoes -- with the giant Hersey bar in hand -- chocolate drooling down his chin and neck, staining his shirt.

I'm beginning to feel that way. And the feeling is good!

Now -- I want that Hersey bar, and I haven't even had breakfast yet!

 

[Raduque]

interesting. So you dont have the second use case scenario w/ listening to internet radio that i have problems with.

but you're able to turn off the tv / receiver without your htpc throwing a fit. i ordered a hdmi video switcher which some people claim will trick the pc to thinking a display is always plugged in. in the meantime im tempted to bypass my receiver and see if i have these hdmi handshaking problems.

I am able to turn off my TV/AVR without my HTPC pitching a fit either. I always sleep (STR) my HTPC when I'm done with it. I don't do Live TV with it, though.

However, if I wake my HTPC before the TV and AVR are on, I get colorspace issues. Everything has a purple overlay. I can fix it by sleeping the HTPC, power cycling the TV and AVR and waking the HTPC, and then it handshakes correctly.

I have a 2011 model Samsung LED, a Yamaha RX-V375, and my HTPC is a custom build running a low-end Radeon - I believe it's an R5 240.

I had a hell of a time getting my HTPC setup in the first place! And it definitely does not like change. But, change is coming...

On a different note, say I wanted to do LiveTV... are there any cablecard tuners for PCI slots?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I am able to turn off my TV/AVR without my HTPC pitching a fit either. I always sleep (STR) my HTPC when I'm done with it. I don't do Live TV with it, though.

However, if I wake my HTPC before the TV and AVR are on, I get colorspace issues. Everything has a purple overlay. I can fix it by sleeping the HTPC, power cycling the TV and AVR and waking the HTPC, and then it handshakes correctly.

I have a 2011 model Samsung LED, a Yamaha RX-V375, and my HTPC is a custom build running a low-end Radeon - I believe it's an R5 240.

I had a hell of a time getting my HTPC setup in the first place! And it definitely does not like change. But, change is coming...

On a different note, say I wanted to do LiveTV... are there any cablecard tuners for PCI slots?

I think there may be, but more likely the available units use a PCI-E slot -- can't remember if it would be an x1 or x4. Ceton makes them, I'm sure.

BUT!!! Why do that? And -- sure, I'd considered Ceton as an option. But I and a lot of others swear by the SilliconDust HD HomeRun Prime:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-006-_-Product

The HomeRun is a network device, and can actually be shared between computers, although the sharing pre-empts one computer from using all of the three tuners in the box. Another model has six tuners, but requires two cablecards.

And here's the bottom-line. You don't have to have an Ethernet LAN to use the HD HomeRun. It can be configured to a direct-connection with a motherboard Ethernet port.

As to the need for reboots to get the handshaking between PC and AVR/HDTV, I've found this to be likely -- or -- rebooting is what I'd chosen to do. Someone else mentioned switching the AVR between HDMI ports, but I've yet to be able to make it work.

 

[evident]

I am able to turn off my TV/AVR without my HTPC pitching a fit either. I always sleep (STR) my HTPC when I'm done with it. I don't do Live TV with it, though.

However, if I wake my HTPC before the TV and AVR are on, I get colorspace issues. Everything has a purple overlay. I can fix it by sleeping the HTPC, power cycling the TV and AVR and waking the HTPC, and then it handshakes correctly.

I have a 2011 model Samsung LED, a Yamaha RX-V375, and my HTPC is a custom build running a low-end Radeon - I believe it's an R5 240.

I had a hell of a time getting my HTPC setup in the first place! And it definitely does not like change. But, change is coming...

On a different note, say I wanted to do LiveTV... are there any cablecard tuners for PCI slots?

There's one called the Ceton InfiniTV 4 but it's finicky. It's very sensitive to your signal. Even though the cable signal to my tv area is great, it kept bitching that i had low or no signal depending on what channels i viewed. the issues are well documented, ceton's customer support determined I had a defective card and sent me out a brand new one, which i then sold.

the HD Home Run Prime is such a cleaner hassle free solution because it just lives on your network, you hook it up via ethernet to your router and you're good to go. and it's easier to get other windows 7 PC's to recognize it on your network and play live TV. for example, i can leave my laptop in the kitchen and watch TV when i'm doing something there for a long period of time. you can also do this with the infinitv, but again, it's a PITA to set up.

 

[sm625]

I have a logitech harmony remote, and can't find a way to make a macro to close WMC before powering down the TV and receiver.

Can you set up the remote to call a batch file? If so then create a batch file with this command:

taskkill /im wmc.exe

(or whatever the process is actually called)

 

[Raduque]

Edit: Sorry for the thread jack

I think there may be, but more likely the available units use a PCI-E slot -- can't remember if it would be an x1 or x4. Ceton makes them, I'm sure.

BUT!!! Why do that?

My HTPC is so old, it only has a PEG. It's a Socket 939 AMD X2. Does that Network HD Home Run thing integrate well with 7MC? In other words, will 7MC open the stream from that if I click "Live TV"?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Edit: Sorry for the thread jack



My HTPC is so old, it only has a PEG. It's a Socket 939 AMD X2. Does that Network HD Home Run thing integrate well with 7MC? In other words, will 7MC open the stream from that if I click "Live TV"?

My sig-rig defies the common wisdom of "specialized-low-profile" HTPCs using dual-core or below-top-end CPUs.

It runs two "monitors:" an old Viewsonic LCD with a maximum resolution of 1700x[something], and the HDTV @ 1920x1080. The HDTV shows up as "ONKYO" because the HDMI signals pass through my AVR receiver, whether it is turned on or in "standby."

The system is overclocked, as the sig says. I have a Hauppauge HVR-2250 tuner-card in the PCI-E x1 slot nearest the processor -- just clearing my NH-D14 cooler. Both the 2250 and the HDHomeRun Prime are configured for Media Center in Windows 7. The 2250 draws in OTA broadcast HD with a coax cable connected to a robotic antenna; the HD HomeRun device connects to a tuner adapter (fed by coax) using a USB cable and coax patch, and the HomeRun then simply plugs into a LAN gigabit switch. [Even a 10/100 switch would be adequate -- but why go that route?]

You install the Silicon Dust drivers to the computer. It recognizes the HomeRunPrime on the network. Really -- never had a problem with it, although it had come under suspicion when I'd been troubleshooting another very (VERY!) intermittent instability that might not occur for weeks or more than a month.

We had it set up so that the drivers were installed on my Mom's computer upstairs as well as my own. Since there are three tuners in the HD HomeRunPrime, and since this is the post-Jack-Valenti era with HDCP, here's what happens with that: The second computer commandeers one of the tuners, making it unavailable for the first computer (which might still have two.) Thus, you could record two programs on the first computer simultaneously while recording the channel being watch on the second system.

I HATE Jack Valenti and those . . . Media Nazis!!

But -- this is what we get. If one wanted, for the ~$2 rental of a second tuner card and another tuner-adapter from your cable provider, you could buy a second HD Homerun Prime and then have three additional tuners to allocate.

JUST AS FOOTNOTE. Media Center runs continuously as a "low-level background process" that hardly takes 5% of CPU usage. So while watching the news or the latest episode of "Hell on Wheels," I can also game on the other monitor or do "business" stuff, answer and send e-mail and a pile of other things.

 

[Aikouka]

The HomeRun is a network device, and can actually be shared between computers, although the sharing pre-empts one computer from using all of the three tuners in the box. Another model has six tuners, but requires two cablecards.

Ceton's InfiniTV 6 ETH allows you to dynamically share tuners, and it only requires a single CableCard for all six tuners. I use one and have it setup to share amongst four PCs. The price may seem a bit off-putting at first, but if you pay attention to Ceton's Facebook page, they flat out tell you when the device is on sale, and it's usually a pretty hefty chunk of change off normal price!

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Ceton's InfiniTV 6 ETH allows you to dynamically share tuners, and it only requires a single CableCard for all six tuners. I use one and have it setup to share amongst four PCs. The price may seem a bit off-putting at first, but if you pay attention to Ceton's Facebook page, they flat out tell you when the device is on sale, and it's usually a pretty hefty chunk of change off normal price!

That's an interesting thing to find out. It partially restores the hope I have for the so-called free-market under more competitive circumstances. Looking at the cus-reviews at Egg, it looks more like this particular Ceton device was released within the last two years.

the SiliconDust had been around longer. At that time, the Ceton devices I saw were PCi-E cards. But this looks like a device similar to the HomeRun Prime -- for the network connection, USB and Coax.

It looks like a winner. Only the price is the drawback. Something to keep an eye on while ferreting ducats away into savings. [Of course, there's always the Preferred Account, but I'd have to meet the "threshold" at $500 purchased to catch that wave . . . ]

Don' spen' yur penny too fast in one place!

 

[evident]

Ceton's InfiniTV 6 ETH allows you to dynamically share tuners, and it only requires a single CableCard for all six tuners. I use one and have it setup to share amongst four PCs. The price may seem a bit off-putting at first, but if you pay attention to Ceton's Facebook page, they flat out tell you when the device is on sale, and it's usually a pretty hefty chunk of change off normal price!

is that what you're using now? how is it? i got an infinitv 4 before switching to an hdhomerun prime. the infinitv 4 kept giving me all sorts of low signal issues even though it was basically hooked up to the fios ONT. their customer service was great, i sent it back to them and they determined my card to be defective.

but in the mean time waiting for the card to get sent back i picked up a HDHRP and it has been chugging along ever since. I really hope both companies are successful because i want more cablecard support!

 

[BonzaiDuck]

is that what you're using now? how is it? i got an infinitv 4 before switching to an hdhomerun prime. the infinitv 4 kept giving me all sorts of low signal issues even though it was basically hooked up to the fios ONT. their customer service was great, i sent it back to them and they determined my card to be defective.

but in the mean time waiting for the card to get sent back i picked up a HDHRP and it has been chugging along ever since. I really hope both companies are successful because i want more cablecard support!

I can speak firsthand about Silly-Dust Prime, and the InfiniTV 6 ETH is something I'd keep my eye on. Aikouka seems to think it's tops.

It may be that a lot of people have used tuner-cards -- PCI or PCIe. Gears shifted with the changeover to HD, ending the value of an earlier investment in something like a Hauppauge PVR-500 or 250. I'm trying to remember how I had my HVR-2250 configured for HD before I bought the Silicon-Dust box. Maybe it was a strictly coax-to-coax connection (all it might have been, given the 2250's two inputs.)

I'm not so sure HTPC is used extensively by "mainstreamer" computer users. The consumer-base drives the demand for these products. I only know that SillyDust hasn't gone belly-up -- neither has Hauppauge, and neither has Ceton.

I'm only guessing I could replace the HomeRun Prime with the InfiniTV 6, use the same cable-card, probably need to call my cable-provider to reinitialize the adapter and/or cablecard, and re-run the Media Center configuration. Pain in the A**, but it would be a "major changeover" and worth the trouble.

I'm thinking I could also just add the InfiniTV 6 to my network and get another cablecard. How the two drivers and softwares would play together, I couldn't say. There's no conflict between my 2250 card and the Silly-Dust, though.

 

[Aikouka]

is that what you're using now? how is it? i got an infinitv 4 before switching to an hdhomerun prime. the infinitv 4 kept giving me all sorts of low signal issues even though it was basically hooked up to the fios ONT. their customer service was great, i sent it back to them and they determined my card to be defective.

Yes, I have an ETH 6; I've been using it for about 10 months now. I had an InfiniTV 4 PCI-E before the 6, and it worked fine for me. The reason why I switched is that I have two HTPCs and a main desktop that I use quite often, but I really don't need any more than 4-6 tuners. So, the ability to share tuners over the network was really appealing. I read some of the same reviews about the device being flaky, and to be clear, I have had it screw up on me. I believe twice now it has gone into this weird state where it refused to tune anything, and the only indication is that none of my stuff recorded.

However, the mess ups are the reason why I put a fan on top of my 6 ETH (pic). That Enermax TB Silence 140mm is one of my favorite fans because it doesn't require any sort of modification to be dead silent, but it still pushes a good amount of air. Using that fan lowered my temps from about 55-60C to around 30-33C (pic). Honestly, I really wish Ceton would develop an enclosure that had a fan built into it, and it allowed the ETH 6 to slide in. Essentially, the power would plug into the enclosure, which would first power the fan and then provide power to the ETH 6. Right now, I'm using a Molex-to-AC adapter to power the fan.

 

[Childs]

FYI, you can also buy a device to clone the EDID of the receiver or TV, so when the output is changed on the receiver the PC will still think its active.

http://www.amazon.com/ConnectPRO-TMD...&keywords=edid

 

[BonzaiDuck]

. . . . Using that fan lowered my temps from about 55-60C to around 30-33C (pic). Honestly, I really wish Ceton would develop an enclosure that had a fan built into it, and it allowed the ETH 6 to slide in. Essentially, the power would plug into the enclosure, which would first power the fan and then provide power to the ETH 6. Right now, I'm using a Molex-to-AC adapter to power the fan.

That was one reason I wanted to limit the use of my ONKYO to broadcasts that begged for "best sound output," with the ability to switch to the Logitech 5.1 PC speakers without a hiccup or configuration agony. I've got a collection of fans, so I picked up a little 12V "power-brick" with enough amperage so I could run a fan in the HT enclosure.

I used to call it a "stereo cabinet." I built it in 1975. It's rock-solid; has large ball casters; comes apart in five frame pieces and the shelves slide into a set of grooves in the side-panel interior. I'd drilled holes in the top for ventilation, and the ONKYO is right below those holes. I'll probably still put the fan in there, but it's not a big priority now.

Makes you wonder about the InfiniTV 6, though. They may still have some work to do on that product -- never had that trouble with the Silly-Dust.

But we always want to purchase a new gadget, and the Ceton device intrigues me.

 

[Aikouka]

That was one reason I wanted to limit the use of my ONKYO to broadcasts that begged for "best sound output," with the ability to switch to the Logitech 5.1 PC speakers without a hiccup or configuration agony. I've got a collection of fans, so I picked up a little 12V "power-brick" with enough amperage so I could run a fan in the HT enclosure.

I've always heard about ONKYO receivers running a bit hot, and you're certainly not the first person that I've heard talk about putting a fan on one. Although, I would consider a laptop cooler if you have enough room on top. My thought is that most receivers have USB ports, and laptop coolers are powered through USB and usually have RPM control built into them. Although, trying to find a dead silent one seems to be hard. I have a nice Cooler Master one, which is pretty quiet, but it does have a slight droning noise.

Makes you wonder about the InfiniTV 6, though. They may still have some work to do on that product -- never had that trouble with the Silly-Dust.

But we always want to purchase a new gadget, and the Ceton device intrigues me.

Honestly, I'm not 100% sure if the heat is what causes the InfiniTV to mess up or it's something else. I decided to give it a shot after I read an article about how a guy threw a 6 ETH into his networking closet and he found that the temps dropped massively after he put a fan on it. I believe 50-60C is within the range specified by Ceton, so the card should work without any issues. To note, I think my Ceton is very, very out of date firmware-wise. I rarely update the thing, and I believe mine's still version 13.xxxx and it's now on 14.xxxx. Although, I need to do some research to see what has changed. Last I knew, you needed the beta firmware to do dynamic tuner sharing/pooling.

 

[Raduque]

Network tuners sound interesting, as a concept, but I don't need one.

I have a single HTPC, and was looking for an internal solution. I don't want boxes hanging off the case. My HTPC also only has 10/100 ethernet.

It's old, but it still works great, and I don't see any reason to upgrade it for the moment.

Edit: My previous HTPC was even older... It used an AMD Athlon XP 2800+, 2gb of DDR and an AGP Radeon 9700 Pro! It housed two 250gb drives in striped raid for the 3 Hauppage PVR-150s (always heard bad things about the multi-tuner 250 and 350 cards) connected via S-Video to 3 Dish Network receivers. It ran XP MCE and was connected through DVI-D to a 54" RPCRT HDTV.