Tips on building an HTPC?

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idea

Golden Member
Apr 15, 2001
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I dunno, I seem to have gotten the HTPC bug. I had way too much free time this weekend. You know how it is? This is my first venture into Home Theater. I currently have a $200 stereo and an old TV in my room.

I've searched and read a few things, but I have some questions. The video card. What am I looking for to make sure it has the right outputs to keep me up to current technology for a while? Last box I built, AGP was the best thing out there, but now there's a few new PCI type slots. I can also look for a mobo with onboard video, that may be the best solution for me.

The TV card. I don't have an HDTV right now, but I plan to. Is there a TV card that can handle my regular TV and my future HDTV?

The HTPC will be handling:
Playing of MP3s (from a network fileserver)
Storing and playing DVD/DIVX files
Playing DVD discs
Recording and archiving TV shows
Surround sound
NO games, just video
And as always... it should do all that Cool and Silent.

Things I'm leaning towards:
Case: Antec Fusion (PSU, VFD, volume control knob, 2x 120mm fans) $160
Mobo: MSI K8NGM2-FID (onboard A/V, MicroATX) $85
CPU: AMD Venice 3000+ (upgradeable) $66
RAM: 2x512mb PC3200 (pulled from another machine) $0
HDDs: Two 320gb's (pulled from another machine) $0
OS: Microsoft Windows Media Center 2005
Heatsink/Fan: ?? (low profile, and QUIET. can I get something fanless?)
TV Card: ??
 
I

idea

Golden Member
Apr 15, 2001
1,100
0
0
Oh why thank you sir. I will have a look.

Can anyone gimme a quick rundown on how this thing is actually hooked up to my TV and cable box? Can you type out a diagram?

I know I have an old cable box without high tech ports, but my cable TV provider allows me to exchange it for a higher model for free. What inputs am I looking for? I should be getting an HDTV around Christmas time
 
I

idea

Golden Member
Apr 15, 2001
1,100
0
0
Wow, that is one BAD ASS board.

939 supports Athlon64/FX/X2
SATAII RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5
7.1 audio
10/100/1000 nic
GeForce6150 with VGA/DVI out
PCI 16, PCI 1, and two regular PCI ports.

Its got everything!
 
L

Lord Banshee

Golden Member
Sep 8, 2004
1,495
0
0
About the MSI FID board linked above..

It seems to be back ordered every website i goto. You can find the AM2 one no problem but the s939 is becoming an issue. Newegg says it will be in on the 11th, but a couple days ago it said the 4th so i am not sure if they are just adding days to the ETA .

But i plan on building me a HTPC soon (as soon as this i can buy this board that is).

But i getting
Antec nsk2400
MSI FID 939 board.
Zalman 7000Cu CPU Heatsink(already have)
939 1.8Ghz A64 (good for 2.4Ghz no voltage increase, i already own)
512MB RAM, need another 512MB of ram.
160GB + 80GB drive (already own, this is good enough for me now)
DVD-RW drive (plan on buying a panasonic).
I'll be using WinXP Pro as i have on more unUsed copy. Depending on how many free version of Win Vista i get from school i might upgrade it to vista next year :).
Yate Loon 120mm fan to replace Antec Tri-Speed one.
*Thinking about buying a seasonic 330Watts to replace antec PSU also)

I am not going to record TV..(yet) But this is how my setup will be hooked up.

Computer -> S-Video -> TV
Computer -> Optical -> Audio receiver

But i guess if you have a Tuner card it would go something like this

CableBox -> Coaxial -> Tuner Card (Computer)
Computer -> DVI/VGA/S-Video/Component/ Coaxial -> TV
Computer -> Analog/Digital Coaxial/Optical ) -> TV Input Audio or Receiver
 
I

idea

Golden Member
Apr 15, 2001
1,100
0
0
Thanks for the wiring layout ! Why won't you be using a TV card? Got a TiVo already?

Where you will be buying the NSK2400 from? I saw some deals a few months ago but they seem to have gone UP in price, if thats possible...
 
Raduque

Raduque

Lifer
Aug 22, 2004
13,140
138
106
They can, tom, but you need a vidcard with HDMI-out. Very few of them exist now.

Idea: big fans make less noise and move more air. Get a case that can take the biggest fans. Also, cable management is key, to keep airflow good. The NSK2400 looks awesome, but it only takes mATX boards, which may limit you, if you want to do dual analog and dual HDTV. Other problem with the NSK2400 is it only has 4 drive bays - 2 HD and 2 optical, which could be pretty limiting ex: in my HTPC I have a DVDRW, and 3 IDE HDs; I have another 3 bays if I want to add in some SATA drives for more storage. But man, does it look nice.

If you're going to be handling HD video (x264 mostly) look at upgrading your CPU or purchasing CoreAVC.

For Media Center, you need a hardware TV card. Hauppage PVR150/500 (depending on if you want dual tuners), NV DualTune if you can find it, or ATIs Theater550Pro are 3 of the top capture cards. And, unless you're going to be doing HD video, the 6150 on the MSI mobo will be more then plenty for SD video, divx and MCE, even at HD resolutions using the Component video. But with your old TV, you'll probably be using S-video.

For wiring:
Video: S-video out to TV
audio: digital (coax connector, should come with your mobo) coax to audio reciever
tv input: either cablebox S-video/RCA audio into tuner card OR coaxial cable line directly into tuner card
 
Fullmetal Chocobo

Fullmetal Chocobo

Moderator<br>Distributed Computing
Moderator
May 13, 2003
13,704
7
81
I put one of these hd enclosures in the HTPC I built for my supervisor, and he loves them. Put another one on this other machine, and he can swap them out and store shows seperately, etc. Very nice addition for a HTPC.
 
L

Lord Banshee

Golden Member
Sep 8, 2004
1,495
0
0
Sorry i didn't mean i will not get a TV-Tuner.. i just have yet to decided what i want. The PVR-150 looks to be the best for me.

But i got some question about it.
1) The one with the remote, do i need MCE to use it?
2) The one without the remote do i need MCE?

I was planning on using either a freeware PVR software or BeyondTV ro SageTV.
 
C

CSMR

Golden Member
Apr 24, 2004
1,376
2
81
Originally posted by: idea
I dunno, I seem to have gotten the HTPC bug. I had way too much free time this weekend. You know how it is? This is my first venture into Home Theater. I currently have a $200 stereo and an old TV in my room.

I've searched and read a few things, but I have some questions. The video card. What am I looking for to make sure it has the right outputs to keep me up to current technology for a while? Last box I built, AGP was the best thing out there, but now there's a few new PCI type slots. I can also look for a mobo with onboard video, that may be the best solution for me.

The TV card. I don't have an HDTV right now, but I plan to. Is there a TV card that can handle my regular TV and my future HDTV?

The HTPC will be handling:
Playing of MP3s (from a network fileserver)
Storing and playing DVD/DIVX files
Playing DVD discs
Recording and archiving TV shows
Surround sound
NO games, just video
And as always... it should do all that Cool and Silent.

Things I'm leaning towards:
Case: Antec Fusion (PSU, VFD, volume control knob, 2x 120mm fans) $160
Mobo: MSI K8NGM2-FID (onboard A/V, MicroATX) $85
CPU: AMD Venice 3000+ (upgradeable) $66
RAM: 2x512mb PC3200 (pulled from another machine) $0
HDDs: Two 320gb's (pulled from another machine) $0
OS: Microsoft Windows Media Center 2005
Heatsink/Fan: ?? (low profile, and QUIET. can I get something fanless?)
TV Card: ??
Click to expand...
Go to SPCR dor advice.
 
Raduque

Raduque

Lifer
Aug 22, 2004
13,140
138
106
Originally posted by: Lord Banshee
Sorry i didn't mean i will not get a TV-Tuner.. i just have yet to decided what i want. The PVR-150 looks to be the best for me.

But i got some question about it.
1) The one with the remote, do i need MCE to use it?
2) The one without the remote do i need MCE?

I was planning on using either a freeware PVR software or BeyondTV ro SageTV.
Click to expand...

1)No
2)No

You can use any remote you want, as long as it can control whatever front-end you choose.
 
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