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ecosmartpc

Member
Aug 15, 2012
67
0
66
www.ecosmartpc.com
This is one of my latest living room PC builds. I used this system for some testing and fully intended to make it my personal HTPC but then took the parts and put them in another PC I built for someone. I am planning to redo this build for my personal livingroom HTPC either with an A8-3800 if I can find one second hand or with the A10-5700 when it comes out.

Iwill HT100 mini-ITX HTPC case with built-in 120W power supply and IR receiver
AMD Llano A6-3500 APU
ASRock A75M-ITX motherboard
Kingston HyperX DDR3-1866 RAM (2 x 2GB)
Crucial m4 128GB SSD
Sony Optiarc BC-5600S slim slot-load bluray ROM/DVD burner
LCDModKit LCD running LCDSmartie

Front view
4t8120.jpg


Running with LCD installed
2w65c7c.jpg


NT07-AM2 CPU cooler installed
2dcer0g.jpg


Power usage
kapojo.jpg
 
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billyb0b

Golden Member
Nov 8, 2009
1,270
5
81
a purchased assassin's htpc guide and i must say it is very thorough and guides u step by step - hardware and software.

for me, the hardware part was not needed since building a computer is cake... but the intricate details on how to setup several specific programs is an absolute must for a great htpc experience (IMO).... Assassin delivers
 

assassin24

HTPC Moderator
Mar 27, 2005
394
0
0
a purchased assassin's htpc guide and i must say it is very thorough and guides u step by step - hardware and software.

for me, the hardware part was not needed since building a computer is cake... but the intricate details on how to setup several specific programs is an absolute must for a great htpc experience (IMO).... Assassin delivers

Thanks. I appreciate the kind words. Glad you like the guides!
 

secretanchitman

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2001
9,352
21
91
right now:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 2.66Ghz @ 3.4Ghz
Asus P5Q Deluxe
G.Skill 2x2GB (4GB) DDR2-1000
eVGA Geforce 8800GTS 640GB
LG GGC-H20L (Blu-Ray/HD-DVD)
Seagate 7200.10 400GB (7200RPM)
Seagate 7200.11 500GB (7200RPM)
Seagate 7200.11 1TB (7200RPM)
Seagate 7200.11 1.5TB (7200RPM)
Enermax 500W Modular
Silverstone LC-17 (black)
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1

screen is a 100 something inch stewart screen, denon receiver, snell 7.1 speakers, the works. video is through dvi to hdmi going to a sony VPL-VW100 1080p projector and optical for audio.

before, it had these specs (everything else was the same though):

Intel Xeon 3060 2.4Ghz @ 3.4Ghz (Core 2 Duo E6600)
Asus P5W DH Deluxe
G.Skill 2x1GB (2GB) DDR2-800
eVGA Geforce 8800GTS 320MB
Windows XP Professional SP3
 

MadScientist

Platinum Member
Jul 15, 2001
2,153
44
91
Built this back in early 2010.
Lian Li PC-C37 HTPC case - a bit pricey but very well built and only 5" tall, comes with 2-70 mm fans, room for a full size PSU and 2 HDs.
Gigabyte GA-H55M-S2H micro ATX MB - except for a double boot now and then no problems
Intel i3-530 CPU with a Scythe Shuriken heatsink/fan
Antec Neopower 480W modular PSU - leftover from an old build
Hitachi 500 gb HD
4 GB G. Skill DDR3 ram
Samsung SH223C DVD burner
Rosewell RNX-N150-PCx wireless adapter card - comes with external antenna and a low profile adapter, excellent range.
Win 7 Ultimate 64
Lenovo Wireless keyboard/trackball - good range and trackball, but keys are small and hard to see in dim light, got it for $30., any more is too much.
Logitech Harmony 700 remote - one remote does it all

I'm satisfied with the picture quality from the onboard video so I have no plans to install a video card.

HTPC1.jpg


HTPC3.jpg


HTPC2.jpg


HTPC5.jpg


HTPC4.jpg


Lenovo.jpg
 
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Xonim

Golden Member
Jul 13, 2011
1,131
0
0
Meet "Spock":

Intel i3-2100
Asus P8H67-M LE
G.Skill 2x2GB DDR3
Crucial 64GB C300 SSD
Seasonic 400w Fanless PSU
Ceton InfiniTV 4 PCIe
Samsung Bluray Drive
Lian Li PC-V354B
1.5TB WD Green
2x 2TB Samsung F4
Win7 Pro x64
Media Browser
TMT5

Planning on dropping cable next week after summer shows are done, so I'll be removing/selling the Ceton, taking 2 more 2TB Samsung F4 drives (media currently mirrored manually...when I remember) from my gaming PC and adding to Spock, setting up something like Flexraid, and converting the whole thing to XBMC.
 

brywisco

Member
Jul 9, 2012
29
0
61
This is my very first HTPC build (also 1st PC build of any sort). The goal is DVR'ing OTA broadcasts, streaming Netflix/Hulu/etc., storing some ripped dvd movies, and some home movie editing/storage/viewing.
I am using Assassin's HTPC guides to get everything working smoothly. So far, I have the hardware assembled, the os loaded, and am about to start tweaking WMC etc.

cpu: Intel i3 2125
mobo: ASRock H77M LGA 1155
ssd: Samsung 830 series 128GB SATA III
hdd: SAMSUNG F4 2TB
odd: LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer Model iHAS424
ram: 8gb
case: In Win BK644.BN300TBL mATX mini twr w/300W psu
os: Win7 Home premium SP1 64-bit
TV tuner: Silicondust HDHR3
keyboard: Lenovo n5902 wireless keyboard
 

deimos3428

Senior member
Mar 6, 2009
697
0
0
Mine's a bit different.

The HTPC itself is a cheapo Acer Aspire from Futureshop, (AX1430-ER20P), to which I added an HVR-2250, 4GB of decent heatsinked RAM I had lying about, and I strapped a quiet 120mm fan to the grill for good measure. Storage is on a Synology DS410 and view downstairs on an Xbox 360 extender via a dedicated wireless-N 5Ghz bridge. (2xASUS RT56U). Of course any other PC can view recorded TV directly off the NAS.

(The whole HTPC rig actually sits on my desk, behind my gaming rig's monitors.)
 

nhocstrasser

Junior Member
Jun 19, 2009
22
0
0
Mine's a bit different.

The HTPC itself is a cheapo Acer Aspire from Futureshop, (AX1430-ER20P), to which I added an HVR-2250, 4GB of decent heatsinked RAM I had lying about, and I strapped a quiet 120mm fan to the grill for good measure. Storage is on a Synology DS410 and view downstairs on an Xbox 360 extender via a dedicated wireless-N 5Ghz bridge. (2xASUS RT56U). Of course any other PC can view recorded TV directly off the NAS.

(The whole HTPC rig actually sits on my desk, behind my gaming rig's monitors.)


I don't know why more people aren't using Xbox extenders.

I'm extremely happy with my setup. I have a Shuttle SH61RH with an i3-2120T and 16GB of RAM running Windows Media Center in my office. The system has a 3TB hard drive internal for DVR purposes and I store all my other media on multiple HP StorageWorks x310 servers. The MediaCenter is paired with an HD Homerun Prime and 2 CableCards which can stream cable to every TV in my house as they all have Xbox 360s attached to them.

Where I don't have direct ethernet connections between systems I use an Actiontec MoCA adapter which works better than powerline or wireless networking in my experience.
 

Fallen Kell

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
6,009
417
126
My current one (need to replace the motherboard due to failure):

Antec Fusion Remote Max case
MSI Z68a-GD80 motherboard (bios failure/infinite boot loop)
Intel i7-2600k CPU
Noctua NH-D14 heatsink (yes this fits in that case)
8GB RAM
Powercolor SCS3 HD5750 (fanless)
Seasonic 480W power supply
Intel 520 SSD 120 GB
4x Western Digital 2 TB green
140mm Noctua side exhaust fan (7V)
120mm Noctua rear exhaust fan (7V)
120mm Noctua intake fan (7V)
Hauppauge HD PVR

Software:
Windows 7 64bit Home Premium OS
SageTV for recording scheduling
MediaPortal for standard 10 foot interface
TMT3 for blu-ray and hd-dvd playback (integrated with MediaPortal)
FFDShow for video upscaling and image enhancement
 

RyC

Junior Member
Aug 30, 2012
15
0
61
First and only htpc setup:

Case + power supply: Antec ISK 310-150
MSI E350ia-e45 (AMD E-350)
4 gigabytes RAM
160 gigabyte WD Blue hard drive
64 gigabyte Crucial M4
Ceton InfiniTV 4 <- best part
Running Windows 7 Ultimate and Windows Media Center and XBMC.

All TV recordings are archived to an old HP running WHS 2011 with 4x 1 TB hard drives in RAID 5. Comskip runs on the HP and marks the commercials. The E-350 machine is not powerful enough to run comskip reliably, and I can see interlacing on animation in Windows Media Center that I can't seem to deinterlace. But other than that, non-animation and XBMC plays back with no hitch whatsoever, which is wonderful for how cheap it was to put together.
 

NutBucket

Lifer
Aug 30, 2000
27,033
545
126
Mine is pretty lame by comparison I guess:

Dell Inspiron 620
i5-2320
6 gigs RAM
60gig SSD
1TB storage
3TB ext storage
AVerMedia dual-ATSC tuner
Lenovo mini-keyboard
Logitech Harmony
Win7 MC + Media Browser

Got lazy and went this route and am quite satisfied. Wife likes it too which is great!
 

NAC

Golden Member
Dec 30, 2000
1,105
11
81
I upgraded to a 3570k and so my Q8300 was demoted to HTPC:
Q8300 at 3ghz
Radeon HD 6450 1gb video
4 gigs memory
1 TB drive
Windows 7 & Windows Media Center
Old Antec case & DVD/CD drives

Rather than spend money quieting it down or getting a smaller / more attractive case &#8211; I ran 35&#8217; HDMI and USB cables to the TV room. It works well.

Other hardware:
HDHomerun
Antenna in the attic
Media Center remote & infrared receiver &#8211; I forget the brand/model
 

Golgatha

Lifer
Jul 18, 2003
12,640
1,482
126
My original thread - http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2200884

The only difference from the current build is I swapped out the GT 430 for a passively cooled ASUS GT 520. Otherwise the build is exactly the same and still trucking along very nicely. I also upgraded the network from a ZyXEL 200M powerline adapter to a 500M model. Don't really need the USB 3.0 ports anymore, as I can stream Bluray over the network now without issues. Although they're still nice for transferring bigger or large volumes of files to local storage.

http://www.amazon.com/ZyXEL-Powerline-Gigabit-Wall-plug-PLA4225KIT/dp/B0061308MA


HTPC1.jpg


HTPC2.jpg


HTPC3.jpg


HTPC4.jpg


HTPC5.jpg


HTPC6.jpg
 
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mmntech

Lifer
Sep 20, 2007
17,504
12
0
I'm running a Zotac Zbox Nano, which is a mini bare bones PC.
-AMD E-350 APU 1.6ghz
-Radeon HD 6310 (integrated)
-4GB DDR3-1066
-160gb internal HDD, 160gb external HDD
-OS is XBMCbuntu 11 Eden

Has built in WiFi, USB 3.0 support, memory card reader, and vesa mount. I have it mounted to the back of my TV out of the way.

I have been debating putting Windows on it. While XBMCbuntu does mostly everything, there's no Linux support for iTunes (for video rentals) and Netflix.
 

WT

Diamond Member
Sep 21, 2000
4,818
59
91
My HTPC:

Hardware
AMD X4 830 @ 2.8
MSI 7411 Diva 5.1 AM2+ mATX (discrete 5.1 100w/ch. amp card)
4GB Crucial DDR2-800
Hauppauge HVR 1800 PCIe
Radeon HD3200 (integrated w/ 128mb sideport memory)
Seagate 1.5TB SATA 7200rpm HD
Corsair VX450w PSU
Scythe Big Shuriken 2 rev.b HSF
Ultra Micro Fly SFF case

Input hardware
Logitech K400 keyboard w/ trackpad
Microsoft Media Center remote

Software
Windows Vista 32 - I use VMC for all viewing
AnyDVD
DVDShrink
Imgburn

Plan is to move the Seagate 1.5TB to my WHS and use a Kingston V100+ 96GB SSD as my boot drive, then add a 3TB Seagate drive as the storage drive to replace the 1.5. The HTPC is hooked up to a 42" Panasonic plasma - does a nice job and didn't cost a lot.
 

nextJin

Golden Member
Apr 16, 2009
1,848
0
0
Hardware
Core i3 550
Intel DH55PJ
4GB Corsair PC1066
Asus GT 440
Intel 120GB X25-M (Boot Drive; Posters, Backdrops, etc.)
4 x 3TB WD AV-GP drives
Centon infiniTV 4
Silverstone GD06B
Silverstone 430W w/Short PSU Sleeves
Gig Ethernet directly to Router.

Software
WMC w MyChannelLogos2
XMBC Eden w/Aeon MQ4 (Configured to use MPC-HC w/madVR + reclock)
SickBeard
Couchpotato

USENET integration with 2 Servers, 6 Search Providers, FiOS HD Package (no Premium Movie Channels) 75/35 Internet.

Input
Microsoft WMC Remote

I have yet to move to a central server setup in the basement, then setting up multiple cheap HTPC boxes around the house. Everything is still co-located in the same box.
 
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