I've been wanting an HTPC for the living room for a while.
I came up with this idea.
I put up a web page
Tell me what you think!
I came up with this idea.
I put up a web page
Tell me what you think!
Just built my HTPC
- Thread starter SilverBack
- Start date
Nice job. Great Idea to use the apex for the case, and drive. I'm trying to find a suitable material for an under the car seat itx computer. I may go with laptop optical to save space, I haven't found anything that has really made sense to me yet (mine isn't going to be fancy as it will be obstructed from view 24/7.
I can do that.
The EPIA M900 motherboard wasn't designed to be a powerhouse by any means.
However, it is very good at what it was.
DVD quality on a vga connection is superb.
The quality on my HDTV depends on the resolution. It's easily as good as a standard standalone dvd player, but the quality isn't up to our Sony progressive scan player.
With the EPIA board an endless amount of media content can now be seen (and heard) in the living room. MP3's, WMV's, mpeg's, and avi's all are now available.
I'm using 802.11b in the house and have the HTPC hooked up to my dsl. We can broadcast any media content to the living room from any pc in the house. Web browsing while on a 43" HDTV adds a whole new experience to the mix.
Divx plays, but has to be set to medium settings. The decoder on the motherboard was designed for mpeg playback which is flawless
The 5.1 digital sound works great as well in AC3 mode.
It's great, I think everyone should have one. LOL
I'm running Win XP Pro on the system and it runs really well. I was quite surprised really considering the C3 Ezra cpu isn't the most powerful processor.
I would say that anyone wanting an inexpensive file server or just a cheap home pc would love to have one of these.
The list of features for the M9000 is a long one:
933 Mhz C3 cpu
USB 2.0
Firewire
DVD decoder
S-Video out
Spdif or RCA out ( jumpered)
ATA 133 support
DDR memory ( 266 Mhz ) support
5.1 Digital sound
It has an awful lot of features for $149, all in a 17cm x 17cm size!
You won't play a lot of high profile games on it, but D3D does work.
If you have ever run the Aquarium Screen saver at 800x600 16bit frame rate is at 70fps.
Looks great on the TV, it's just not a gaming machine.
The EPIA M900 motherboard wasn't designed to be a powerhouse by any means.
However, it is very good at what it was.
DVD quality on a vga connection is superb.
The quality on my HDTV depends on the resolution. It's easily as good as a standard standalone dvd player, but the quality isn't up to our Sony progressive scan player.
With the EPIA board an endless amount of media content can now be seen (and heard) in the living room. MP3's, WMV's, mpeg's, and avi's all are now available.
I'm using 802.11b in the house and have the HTPC hooked up to my dsl. We can broadcast any media content to the living room from any pc in the house. Web browsing while on a 43" HDTV adds a whole new experience to the mix.
Divx plays, but has to be set to medium settings. The decoder on the motherboard was designed for mpeg playback which is flawless
The 5.1 digital sound works great as well in AC3 mode.
It's great, I think everyone should have one. LOL
I'm running Win XP Pro on the system and it runs really well. I was quite surprised really considering the C3 Ezra cpu isn't the most powerful processor.
I would say that anyone wanting an inexpensive file server or just a cheap home pc would love to have one of these.
The list of features for the M9000 is a long one:
933 Mhz C3 cpu
USB 2.0
Firewire
DVD decoder
S-Video out
Spdif or RCA out ( jumpered)
ATA 133 support
DDR memory ( 266 Mhz ) support
5.1 Digital sound
It has an awful lot of features for $149, all in a 17cm x 17cm size!
You won't play a lot of high profile games on it, but D3D does work.
If you have ever run the Aquarium Screen saver at 800x600 16bit frame rate is at 70fps.
Looks great on the TV, it's just not a gaming machine.
What do you mean by set divx to medium quality? Does it have problems playing some of the higher bitrate files?
Thats exactly what I'm saying.
Divx at high quality setting, stutters.
Mpeg decoders aren't made for divx.
Divx at high quality setting, stutters.
Mpeg decoders aren't made for divx.
Man, that looks sweet!
I'm going to put one together soon, all inside an xbox Got all the stuff, just need to get to work
Our part lists look really similiar I'll post when finished.
I'm going to put one together soon, all inside an xbox
Got all the stuff, just need to get to work Our part lists look really similiar
I'll post when finished.SilverBlack: That is indeed an excellent use of Mini-ITX! Kudos for using the ultimate household entertainment Trojan Horse, an APEX DVD player for your mod! I am curious though... Can you elaborate on what power supply you used and what was done to set it up? Are you using that second power plug (the original for the DVD player) for anything, like powering a monitor, or is it just for show? I got my Mom an APEX AD-1200 a while back and someone has since broken it... Perhaps a similar mod is in order?
HUN-YA!
Red Ronin
HUN-YA!
Red Ronin
Hi.
The power supply is a standard 200w IU server supply. All I did to it was take the outside cover of to make a little bit of clearance for the dvd drive.
The power connector is bogus on the back of the box. It's not being used.
SB
The power supply is a standard 200w IU server supply. All I did to it was take the outside cover of to make a little bit of clearance for the dvd drive.
The power connector is bogus on the back of the box. It's not being used.
SB
How did you isolate and/or ground the various components when connecting them to the inside of the case? Did you use standard issue standoffs or some other technique to secure the motherboard and power supply?
HUN-YA!
Red Ronin
HUN-YA!
Red Ronin
The power supply is a standard ATX so it's grounded through the regular 3 prong household recepticle.
The cd-rom has a grounding wire to the bottom of the case, which I believe is not needed, but I did it anyway because my obcessive cumpulsive disorder
The Power supply is fixed to the chassis by 4 screws.
Fitting the motherboard was an ordeal to get it right, but it came out pretty good I think. The holes I measured and drilled into the floor of the chassis.
The motherboard is held by four bolts and nuts, to insulate the board two rubber washers are between the board and chassis on each post to maintain the right height for the back plate.
The cd-rom has a grounding wire to the bottom of the case, which I believe is not needed, but I did it anyway because my obcessive cumpulsive disorder
The Power supply is fixed to the chassis by 4 screws.
Fitting the motherboard was an ordeal to get it right, but it came out pretty good I think. The holes I measured and drilled into the floor of the chassis.
The motherboard is held by four bolts and nuts, to insulate the board two rubber washers are between the board and chassis on each post to maintain the right height for the back plate.
SilverBlack: Thanks for answering those questions with specific details! Again, it was a wonderful project, I just wanted a bit more clarification on your build process.
HUN-YA!
Red Ronin
HUN-YA!
Red Ronin
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