My upgraded HTPC

[Fallen Kell]

Well, I just finished purchasing the parts for upgrading my HTPC. I was going to post in here to discuss, but as I have been doing this since before XP Media Center edition came out, I figure I know how to pick hardware.


Anyway here is the upgraded system:
Case: Antec Fusion Remote MAX (no change)
Motherboard: MSI Z68A-GD80 (previously used Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6)
CPU: Intel i7-2600k (previously E6600)
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X F3-12800CL8D-8GBXM x2 (16GB total) (previously G.SKILL F2-6400CL4D-4GBPK x2)
Graphics: PowerColor SCS3 HD5750 (no change)
Power Supply: Enermax Modu82+ 500W 80Plus Gold (no change)
Optical: LG GGW-H20L (no change)
OS drive: Intel SSD 510 120GB (previously was Seagate 7200.11 500GB)
Data drives: 4x Western Digital Green 2TB
Capture Device: Hauppauge HD-PVR-1212 (no change)
Waiting on HDHomeRun Prime (and will make a decision then on that or the Centon)

Yes, I know the 2600k is a little over the top here, but with Microcenter having -$90 deal on it, it really made it a no-brainer upgrade over the i5-2500k I was originally planning to use. The extra threads will certainly be put to good use when using FFDShow on HD video.


Updated with photos below

 

[joutlaw]

16GB of RAM for a HTPC?

 

[Fallen Kell]

I take it you have never tried to do on the fly processing of HD/Blu-Ray media.

Edit: and by processing, I mean sending it through avisynth filters/scripts to remove compression artifacts, noise, color-space correction, audio sync, and proper frame timing to output on your display device. As well as support multiple playback devices and extenders ranging from other PC's/Laptops to PS3's and Xbox360's to devices like the SageTV HD Theater 300. I can have anywhere from 1 to 6 video playback devices accessing and playing TV/Movies/Audio that is on my HTPC, which is why I desperately needed a CPU upgrade. It is also why I picked the MSI motherboard as it had firewire (which I use to connect to my three 200disk DVD+/-R changers), as well as dual gigabit network with teaming which I used to connect this system to my home network).

 

[Fallen Kell]

Its ALIVE!

All the parts arrived on Wednesday, and I was able to take apart my old HTPC that night, but didn't have time to build the new one, other than dry fit all the parts together (needed to check location and placing of different things, specifically needed to see if the Noctua NH-D14 would fit, and it does).

Still re-installing/configuring everything. Will probably not be until next week that I am back up and recording again (my two older 2TB drives both failed diagnostic tests, which means they are about to go, so I transferred the data to the 2 new ones, and setup RMA's for them, but I am not going to put the system back into the rack until I have swapped the drives out with the replacements, and until then, I can't test the HDMI output to verify DD+ and DTS-HD streaming).

 

[Binky]

Damn, that is one crazy over the top HTPC. My little passively cooled E8400 box with 4GB does just fine!

Actually, it kinda stutters when writing 4 OTA HD streams and playing back one. Must...look...into...that...

 

[poofyhairguy]

I take it you have never tried to do on the fly processing of HD/Blu-Ray media.

I do all the time with 2GB of RAM. Of course, the system is still a quad core.

With transcoding the CPU matters more than anything.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

meh. I would have just got a q9550 and dropped it in the existing system if you needed more processing power.

 

[Emulex]

stutter is probably disk i/o or cheap nic than cpu

 

[Cardio]

Your system is in no way over the top. An HTCP is also good for general use and games. A high end HTPC can still be quiet. Nice rig. I'm sure mine would be described as absolutely insane and I love it.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Photo's incoming....

 

[videopho]

Nice rig!
Should consider 3D gaming.
Built mine exactly a year ago and still kicking pretty good.
I do both 3d BR playback and 3DVision gaming as well.
No going back to 2D, ever!