Need HTPC help! ****

[BUrassler]

I have been having a few problems and could really use some help. I hope you dont mind, I would really appreciate it. I will give you my set up first, and the recent upgrades I just made that I am begging to regret a bit with the more reading I do.

System:
Athlon64 3000+ Venice s754 w/ Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 PRO (Upgraded from a 3000+ Newcastle)
DFI Lanparty UT 250GB s754 (Upgraded from a broken/unstable ePox ep-8kda3j)
2 x 1 GB G.Skill Extreme PC4000 (Upgraded from 2 x 512mb Mushkin)
Leadtek 6600GT AGP stock cooling
1 x 160GB Seagate SATA
PCP&C 425watt PSU (Loudest part of my system I think)
Lian-Li 6070 Black (Stock fans replaced with Panaflo's and a top blow hole with a 120mm vantec stealth)
DVD-RW Drive

Three days ago I bought Beyond TV 4.1 and I am using PureVideo as my decoder. Since then I have not stopped trying to find out more about the abilities of a HTPC and how to truely take advantage of one and how to optimize it. Simply put, I am lost. Ffdshow, zoomplayer, media player classic, correct settings for BTV 4, post processing, encoding, decoding...... I am giving myself a headache!! You get the idea.

I wount get into all of the many questions I could ask, but what I feel is most pertinant right now. First off, do you think my system is powerful enough to take full advantage of what a HTPC has to offer? I am not dealing with HDTV yet, but will in the future.

What is the best way to play back my DVDs on my system? I THINK I correctly set up Media Player Classic to use ffdshow for playback and it looks great, but for all I know I am imagining it and it is not even set up right!?
What is the best way to post process my recorded TV shows? If there are ways to improve my real-time TV watching, that would be great also. My picture is not too great right now, but I live in an apartment building and I dont think my feed is too good.

Any links to quality guides would help out a lot, and reviews and sites could help too.

Thats it for now, thank you so much!
-Greg

 

[frankgomez75]

Couple of things...

1) Don't use your HTPC as a Gaming Rig/HTPC/Workstation... trust me, the more apps you install the more bugs will come crawling out. Its best to make an HTPC 2 ways:

Gaming Rig / HTPC Client (streaming video from a server/pvr)
OR
A "DEDICATED" HTPC PVR

Reason for this is it eliminates hiccups when recording (ESPECIALLY WITH HD) and less conflicts with software.

2) Use a backup image software app like Acronis to make a fresh image of your fresh XP install... trust me, while first wading into the world of HTPC's you WILL screw something up. I always make an image of my OS before I install a new app or try to tweak a setting... that way if I fudge sumthin up I can undo it by restoring my image

3) Software that I use ALOT and recommend:

Meedio Essentials (HTPC Front End) -- I have this installed on my HTPC Client... I have modules that let me catalogue my entire 200+ DVD collection with dvd covers, reviews etc. I can view my pics and listen to my music too. I have RSS Feeds scrolling across my screen using some of Meedios plugins. Overall this app is very customizable.

Theatertek 2 (Video Playback... uses Nvidia Decoders) -- I particularly like this for noobs because it doesn't require much to setup and get started to get you a nice pic out the box.... And using VMR9 with Nvidia Decoders outputs a very very nice picture. Advance features allows using FFDShow, and after reading more about FFDShow and how to properly use it, you can apply it in TT2 which can give some very nice results, and it can play AVI, ISO's, MPG's, XVID's, etc.... via local hard drives or over a network. Oh and it plays back any recorded shows you have stored.

ZoomPlayer (for my movie trailers)

Daemon Tool ( I mount DVD ISO's stored on my server and launch them via Meedio, which then launches TT2 for me)

DVDProfiler (to catalog my DVD's... export to an XML file and use meedio essentials to make it look all nice and pretty)

BTV Link (streams video from my media server)

Avast Antivirus

Acronis Imaging Software

Codecs: AC3 filter, Xvid and Divx alpa

3) Partition your drive!!!! Geez.. this is a must! Make your OS partition about 15 -20 GB
I have my 250GB HD in my HTPC Client partition as such:

C: XP PRO (20GB)
D: PAGE FILE (2GB) *though I only use 1056MB set as my page file
E: GAMES (40GB)
F: MUSIC (70GB)
G: PICS (8GB)
H: MUSIC VIDS (80GB)
I: STORAGE (20GB) -- stores my downloads and backups

4) Disabled all XP Updates and System Restore.... I only download critical security updates
I'm not using .NET FRAMEWORK 2.0 as it has been giving ppl issues with HTPC's

5) Buy Digital Video Essentials DVD for calibrating your TV so you can actually see the results of your hardwork and verify that your colors are setup properly. This is a must... use it in Theatertek for best results or Zoomplayer

6) This one I can't stress enough... once you find a good set of video/audio/chipset drivers... DO NOT GO SCREWING AROUND by updating them all the time. This may cause instability in your setup and you will regret it. Stick to some good drivers and update ONLY if the drivers fix MAJOR ISSUES... not minor gaming tweaks. And before updating drivers or software always make an image of your last working/stable state prior to doing so.

7) I have a Wireless Gyration Keyboard since its small like a laptop keyboard, and an MX1000 Laser Logitech Mouse

8) I also bought a Microsoft Media Center Remote and IR Reciever Kit for $30 which is USB... I use my Logitech Remote to control my HTPC from the couch... The remote can learn all of the MCE Remotes commands and works seamlessly in BTV 4 and Theatertek2


Now, my 1Terabyte Media Server has:
FusionHDTV5 Lite Capture Card (records my OTA HDTV)
BTV 4.1

I use my media server strictly for recording shows, backuping video and encoding video.
This eliminates any issues with my recording and games since I game on my HTPC and Record on my server