media center dvr & general purpose system build

[KLC]

I had considered building an HTPC for our new 52" Samsung LCD TV but since my kids already have an xbox 360 I've decided that it would be cheaper to rebuild our existing pc to work as a general purpose pc and as a vista media center player and use the xbox as an extender.

We don't have cable, only antenna. We also rent/buy dvds and BD. This computer is wired to our DSL modem with ASUS router and g wireless home network. The main use would be using media center as a dvr for OTA digital broadcasts as well as accessing web content on the TV. The computer will also be used as a general purpose pc for homework, web browsing, office apps but no gaming.

The existing pc has an AMD X2 3800+, 1gb ram and 250 gb HD. I will reuse the Antec Sonata II case, keyboard, dvd burner, mouse and monitor, I also have Vista Home Premium OEM. I'm thinking of the following components:

Corsair 400CX 400W power supply
Intel E7400 cpu
A-DATA 4GB DDR2 800
Western Digital Caviar Green WD6400AACS 640GB
HDHomerun (attached to router)

On the motherboard I'd like firewire for camcorder downloading. I know the e7400 has a 1066 FSB but the 1333/1600 FSB motherboards are cheaper. Can I use these 1333/1600 FSB mb with the e7400 without problems?

ASUS P5Q Intel P45
Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R

I'm considering two video cards, both are fanless which I really want in order to make this quiet:
Sapphire HD 4670 512MB
Sparkle GeForce 9500GT 1GB 128-bit GDDR2

Thanks for any criticism, comments or suggestions about which motherboard and video card would be better for intended use.

 

[somethingsketchy]

You can use the motherboard, it would only use the CPU at the rated 1066MHz (since the CPU is the limiting factor in your system and the motherboard would only run as fast as the core components). At that point 1066MHz you will not have any issues, short of decoding/encoding HD video. But for what you are using the system for, the P5Q and UD3R are very good and reliable motherboards. As for the video card, they're both good choices, maybe a tad overkill, but that's hardly an issue if you plan on keeping this build in its state for the next 2-5 years. You can always upgrade the CPU to an E8400 to help reduce any bottlenecks.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115037

Good build overall.

 

[Slugbait]

Originally posted by: KLC
I also have Vista Home Premium OEM.

If you've activated it already, your decision has been made for you: you will keep the mobo.

You're not going to activate an OEM dist on a new mobo...that's just for retail copies.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Vista Media Center is not the greatest of front ends. I went from bad to worse with their patch.

Back in Sept they released a major update - but only to OEMs. Win7 Media Center seems to be a substantial upgrade thus far. It even recognized my Fusion 5's on setup without difficulty.

I haven't spent a great deal of time bringing my HD Homerun up to speed in Win7. But across my network using VLC if one person was watching TV on the Vista box I could bump them off by launching VLC on the XP box.

You may also want to consider the new Intel IGP G45s or an AMD chipset. How are you going to handle your audio? Are you using the PC analog outs or are you porting to a receiver?

 

[KLC]

Thanks for the replies.

The Vista OEM was never activated, I bought it and it failed to boot with some new components that I bought to redo the old system, which was and is having some problems freezing up randomly that I've never been able to solve. I returned the components but since the OS was opened I kept it. If it still freezes with the new build I'll replace the case too and go from there. It's an old system, built in Dec of 2005, so it's time for a rebuild no matter what. Our main reason for doing this is to get some kind of DVR capability with the new TV. If that works we'll be happy, other things like web content on the TV, etc. would be extra. Since I had the Vista Premium I knew it had media center capability and that is what started this whole process.

Right now we are just using the sound from the TV speakers, no receiver, no HT setup. Sound is one of the areas I'm still not sure of in this media center thing. It's all new to me since Christmas and I'm still trying to get my mind around it. Let me know if there are any fatal errors in my plans regarding sound.

 

[Slugbait]

Originally posted by: KLC
Sound is one of the areas I'm still not sure of in this media center thing.

Link

 

[Nebor]

I recommend the Intel DG45ID or similar chipset depending on what form factor you want. I'm running one in my HTPC, and my dad is building a similar machine this week. Handles blu-ray decoding on-board and HDTV flawlessly, very quiet and low energy as well. Mine is running with an E6400 and 4GB of DDR2800. My dad's is an E7400 w/ 4GB of DDR2800. I also run vista media center with an HD Homerun, but I watch digital cable, not antenna.

 

[KLC]

slugbait, thanks for the link, I'm learning more each day.

Any opinions about the new AMD X3 processors? The 710 is the same price as the Intel e7400 and several reviews I've read rank its performance more on the level of Intel e8xxx processors. I'm thinking of getting one instead of the e7400. It looks like the X3 720 is a great deal for overclockers but I'm not interested in that right now.

 

[heyheybooboo]

I think you are heading in the wrong direction but the PhII 720 is a great chip.

For your HTPC and simple tasks you would be best served with an AMD X2 5050e or an Intel e5200 - - let the mobo chipset (and/or inexpensive discreet card) off-load video processing.

The AMD 780g system will consume 45w at idle and 75w during BluRay playback. The Intel G45/e5200 will be similar.

""Cool and Quiet""

 

[KLC]

hhbb, if this were just an HTPC I would be right with you. I was originally going to build an HTPC to connect to our new Samsung 52" LCD so I started reading up on something that was until then totally new to me. Making the HTPC would mean I would have two computers sitting in the living/family room since we already have a pc at a desk for general computing, homework, internet access, etc.

During my reading I found out about media extenders and my kids already have an xbox 360 hooked up to the new TV. So I decided that the simplest and cheapest route would be to upgrade the old pc in the room to make it a media center pc that can use the xbox as an extension.

That means that this pc will be more of a mid level general use pc, not a dedicated htpc. So I'm looking for good mid level value that will allow use for homework, light photoshop, some video editing/downloading from a camcorder, etc. but no gaming, that's all xbox. The 3 core AMDs look like a great mid level value. I'm really intrigued by this Newegg special that is on today X3 710 and Gigabyte mother board for $223

Like I said, this was something I knew nothing about before late December so I'm finding my way, trying to decide what the best course is. We want to use VMC for DVR mostly and would like to be able to have internet media access on the TV.

It seems to me that repurposing the existing pc into a media center pc and using the xbox as an extender is cheaper and more efficient than adding a new dedicated pc onto the TV, but I may be wrong. That's why I read the forums and ask beginner questions. Please let me know if you disagree with my reasoning or assumptions, I'm trying to make the most cost efficient choice that won't limit the uses I've described above.

 

[Binky]

You're on the right track from what I've read above.

Regarding the CPU power, if you're just using the computer as a back-end mainly (recording only, not playback), then the existing 3800+ will be fine. Just add a LOT more HD space. The 640GB drive you list is way too small. An hour of HDTV is 6-8GB (I think, I don't look at this often). I'm running 3TB myself, and it seems like too little! You said you rent Blu-ray discs, so I'm assuming that you have a dedicated player and you wont need this PC to play blu-ray discs. Even if you do, the 3800+ with the 4670 video card you mention will probably work fine for blu-ray playback. One of my Vista media center machines is an 1.6ghz Intel Core2 with an ATI 3450 video card. Works great.

If you won't be viewing much TV on the actual computer itself, the video card isn't very important. If you do plan to hook the computer directly to the TV, I'm a huge fan of the ATI stuff for HTPC's. Anything 3450 or higher will be able to do blu-ray and HDTV just fine. People will tell you that you need the 4650 or better to do perfect quality Blue-ray playback with 8.1 channels, but seriously, the $20 Asus 3450 does well enough that most people wont ever be able to tell the difference. The 4670 that you linked looks great too, assuming you have enough airflow in the case. If you have minimal airflow, look for a card that exhausts air out the back (like some of the HIS cards).

The HTPC MUST be wired to the network. It is possible to hook the Xbox360 to the network via wireless, but I'd strongly recommend that you run a network cable to both it and be done with it. You will never get good results with both wireless, and you may get sufficient results with the PC wired, and the xbox wireless.

The HDhomerun is great for dual tuner HDTV recording. It also integrates with Vista Media Center very well. Again, you need to wire this to the network, and the HTPC has to be wired.

 

[KLC]

Thanks Binky, Anandtech and AVS forums have been a big help in understanding this whole process.

If I understand correctly, OEM copies of Vista can't be loaded onto my existing motherboard that is now registered with xp home, right? And since I've been having some freeze up problems with the existing pc and I wanted to use my already bought copy of vista for media center, I had thought the best course would be a new mb/cpu/ram.

When you say you're a fan of ATI and that my existing cpu should be good enough, does that mean an Intel e5200 and say an ATI 4550/4650 (there are very few 4550s available on newegg) would be a good combo for my general computing as well as the media center functions, like hhbb said? I'm happy to spend less money if I can.

 

[Binky]

An E5200 with the ATI 4550/4650 will be significantly better than what I'm already running, and my system works great as a HTPC.

I'm not sure about the licensing part of Vista. Your OEM copy isn't registered, so you can load it wherever you want. The Question is, can you load it on your old hardware, register it with that hardware, but then swap the MB/CPU later? You could read the operating systems forum for more info on when M$ will let you swap motherboards/CPU's.

An easy solution - try Vista on the old hardware but don't register it. I think you have 60 days...maybe 30. But that's long enough to give the old hardware test drive to see if it's up to the task.

You never mentioned the existing/old video card. Vista media center is somewhat picky about video cards, even if you wont be viewing the TV on that computer.

Buy a lot more HD space no matter what. There are 1TB hard drives listed in the hot deal forum for $80-$90 every other day or so. The Hitachi is on sale now at zipzoomfly for $79.

The best place to get Vista Media Center info is The Green Button forums.

 

[KLC]

Well, I just ordered the following:

Intel e5200
Gigabyte GA-E7AUM-DS2H with integrated nvidia 9400 graphics
Corsair 400watt ps
G. Skill 2x2gb ddr2 800
WD green 1tb HD


After I get this up and running I'll get the HDHomerun. Thanks for the help and reassurance.