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The Perfect Media Center PC Spec?

derekphonic · 2005-11-30 01:58:11

I'm currently trying to build a Windows Media Center PC to replace the mess underneath my TV in the sitting room. The main issues are that it be: 1 - reasonably quiet 2 - dual tuner 3 - hifi-ish rather than computer-ish looking 4 - good quality picture 5 - fairly future-proof Thanks to help from friends, and some of the…

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30-11-2005 2:58am

#1

derekphonic

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I'm currently trying to build a Windows Media Center PC to replace the mess underneath my TV in the sitting room. The main issues are that it be:

1 - reasonably quiet
2 - dual tuner
3 - hifi-ish rather than computer-ish looking
4 - good quality picture
5 - fairly future-proof

Thanks to help from friends, and some of the other threads on Boards, here's what I've come up with.

Silverstone - SST LC-17 Case (cos it's BIG, reasonable, but still ok looking)
Silverstone - SST-ST30-NF PSU
Abit KN8-SLI Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Processor w/fan
Sapphire Radeon X700PRO 256MB GDDR3 graphics card
Hauppauge! WinTV-PVR-500MCE Tuner
LG GSA-4167RBB DVD±RW burner
Black OEMMCE Remote control for Microsoft Windows XP Media Center 2005
2 X Samsung SpinPoint P120S 200GB SATA2
TwinMOS PC3200 DDR-DIMM 1024MB Dual Pack Kit
Windows XP Media Center Edition

Am I even close? Am I forgetting anything? I know a fair bit about computers - I'm not afraid to fit PCI cards or RAM or a hard drive, but I've never built one before. Is there even one piece of advice you'd give me (other than "don't do it!!!")

Finally, I'm trying to order from Komplett and X-Case in the UK. Any reports about them? Any other suggestions?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

DP:)

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#2 30-11-2005 3:11am
plonk

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You seem to have everything covered. Just take it slowly when building it dont rush it and it will be a piece of cake. Ive had no problems with komplett. So good luck

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#3 30-11-2005 7:12pm
gline

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seems a nice reasonable spec.

U sure that the gfx is gonna be future-proofed enough? Play many games?

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#4 01-12-2005 12:53am
Derek Doom

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If you want one built for you, Look at evesham - they seem to be leading the way for horizontal "hi-fi" like media centre pc's - http://www.evesham.com/mce2005/systems.asp?p=27604&r=173

Allthough dell are shipping most of their consumer desktops with
media centre now at reasonable enough prices-

These HP media centre PC's look sweet - but I cant find a reseller:

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ie/en/ho/WF05a/35123-35527-39847-39847-39847-12153098.html

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#5 01-12-2005 12:38pm
FrankGrimes

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If you're using the PC for Media Center only and no games that gfx card is more than enough. I'm not sure on what SLI is (maybe someone else can clarify?) but I'm pretty sure its something specialised to do with gaming and so maybe your motherboard doesnt need it and you could get a cheaper one with the same set of features that you'll use. That said, it does seem to be passively cooled so that's a big plus as you'll have no noisy north and south bridge fans, though if I was you I'd defo want to get confirmation that the SLI bit doesnt make it incompatible with the other components.

Theres a good thread here with details of how to get your PC very quiet. It recommends these gigabyte gfx cards. Game playing didnt rank in your top 5 priorities so I'm guessing this primarily an MCE PC. The fanless Gigabyte 6600GT is roughly the same price as the ATI XPRO 700 and will offer more than enough performance for your needs (both cards will), but the Gigabyte brings you closer to silence.

As you've gone for a fanless PSU, I reckon if you follow the advice in that thread and replace the case fan (if you find it is noisy during operation) and get some passive cooling for your CPU you then have a fanless system at a decent price - then the noise level is all down to how noisy those Samsung SpinPoint HDs will be.

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#6 03-12-2005 3:17am
derekphonic

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Thanks for the advice everyone.

The machine will not really be used for gaming, so a superfast graphics card is not a priority.

I checked out the Evesham PCs and the HPs; tempting, but I thought I'd try to build one on my own just to see if I could to it, and to get the exact spec I wanted. There's also the Hush PCs which look amazing, but are really expensive, and quietpc.com make one with a Pentium M chip to keep the whole thing cool and small - looks really nice, but I wanted something with a bit more poke than a Pentium M, just in case!

I will definitely check out the Gigabyte. Down the line, I'll might replace the case fan, but for now, I'll just get up-and-running! Finally, I might eventually try to get those Silentdrive pockets to slip over the Hard Drives to keep them quiet. I'll see how bothersome the noise is.

Anyway, thanks everyone.

DP

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#7 03-12-2005 9:45am
masteroftherealm

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Dude their spinpoints, they are scarily silent nice choice

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#8 03-12-2005 10:00am
Bard

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Derek Doom wrote:

These HP media centre PC's look sweet - but I cant find a reseller:

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ie/en/ho/WF05a/35123-35527-39847-39847-39847-12153098.html

The hp M7000 Media Center PC range? Harvey Norman have them in stock (in Dundalk anyway).

Nice setup, derekphonic... how much is it costing you to put all that together?

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#9 03-12-2005 10:12am
SouperComputer

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if you plan using this as a media centre, id drop the ATI for an Nvidia for two reasons.

1. Better support for custom\wide res's
2. Better linux support when you get bored\tired\fedup with MCE and go to myth TV

thats my 2c

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#10 03-12-2005 10:54am
HungryJoey

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masteroftherealm wrote:

Dude their spinpoints, they are scarily silent nice choice

NO they are not, I have used a few in PC's ( Spinpoints ) and they are as noisey as F**K compared to my Hitachi Deskstar or Maxtor. They make so much loading noises, Like back in the day when we were all using Quantom Fireball 1GB Drives

Hj

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#11 03-12-2005 4:55pm
derekphonic

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SouperComputer wrote:

if you plan using this as a media centre, id drop the ATI for an Nvidia for two reasons.

1. Better support for custom\wide res's
2. Better linux support when you get bored\tired\fedup with MCE and go to myth TV

thats my 2c

Thanks for the advice. I'll check out the Nvidia. I hope I don't have to move over to Linux.

I was originally exploring the idea of building a media centre around a Macintosh - Macs are my main thing - but right now, the software (stuff like EyeTV) is nowhere as good as MCE. It looks clunky and stuck on. I don't get how Apple are so slow to jump in to this area. The New iMac G5 has this thing called Front Row which looks amazing and is a cool way to browse your media (DVDs, Music, Photos, Movies etc.) but NO TV SUPPORT! Duh!

I've heard great things about MythTV, but know nothing about Linux, so I think I'm gonna try my best to get it all to work on Windows. By the time I get p**sed off with MCE, Apple will probably have released the rumoured/wished for iHome that's been the subject of many an April Fool. Then I'd just buy a Mac.

DP

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#12 03-12-2005 8:18pm
SouperComputer

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yea, rumour has it that Apple are working on something media-related.

MCE is not bad at all, its just typically M$ in that its their way or the highway!

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#13 03-12-2005 9:01pm
derekphonic

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Bard wrote:

Nice setup, derekphonic... how much is it costing you to put all that together?

Just ordered!

I'm getting everything except the LC17 and the PSU from http://www.komplett.ie. The rest is coming from http://www.xcase.co.uk. Altogether, everything is costing me around 1500 euros including delivery. I think it's good value, considering I get exactly what I want rather than paying thru the nose for a Lightscribe DVD-R or whatever that I don't need etc.

I went for a 250 gig and a 200 gig drive for a bit of comfort space, and I got a Nvidia card (thanks for the advice everyone!). I also put in a wireless card to avoid cabling it up unless I have to.

I'll let everyone know how I get on when the stuff arrives.

DP

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#14 04-12-2005 3:43am
masteroftherealm

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HungryJoey wrote:

NO they are not, I have used a few in PC's ( Spinpoints ) and they are as noisey as F**K compared to my Hitachi Deskstar or Maxtor. They make so much loading noises, Like back in the day when we were all using Quantom Fireball 1GB Drives

Hj

Em the new sata2 spinpoint drives yeah?????????
20DB at idle and 23at seek??
I have maxtors and WD's and neither are even in the same galaxy as this baby when it comes to silence?? I think u got dud drives man

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#15 15-12-2005 4:21pm
derekphonic

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derekphonic wrote:

Just ordered!

I'll let everyone know how I get on when the stuff arrives.

DP

Everything has now arrived, though it looks like I ordered the wrong colour case from X-Case :rolleyes: (anyone want to buy a silver LC17?). The Komplett order went swimmingly, and the remote, which wasn't supposed to come into stock until the 23rd December arrived on the 13th! Had some initial issues with X-Case - I was overcharged - but it was all sorted out, and they are sending me an ex-demo black LC17 for a good price.

The Silver LC17 looks great. I'm going to hang onto it here, rather than sending it back. If you know anyone who might want to buy one (new & boxed!) let me know.

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#16 02-01-2006 4:12pm
derekphonic

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Finally, it's built and working. This building a Media Center PC business isn't straightforward, but it's worth it. Just a few observations worth noting.

1 - Once you put that Nvidia graphics card in you've no room to use the other PCI slot with that motherboard, so I had to forget about the wireless card. No biggie, but I hope Komplett do returns!

2 - X-Case were a bit flakey in my experience. The overcharge issue is still not fully sorted out (but then again, it is Christmas time, so I'll give them a bit of time to make it right), and there was an issue with the second case they sent me which still needs to be sorted. I'll reserve final judgement until later.

3 - The LC-17 is big, but reasonably elegant. It looks great in the living room.

4 - It's quiet, but not silent. I'll see how I get on, but I may end up swapping out the last few fans down the line. The Spinpoints are proving just fine.

5 - I love that I forget it's a computer when I'm watching TV!

6 - Don't forget, you'll need to have a VGA (or DVI?) monitor and a (PS2) keyboard and (any) mouse for setting it all up. You'll also need an internet connection early on to get the windows updates, most notably .NET Framework 1.1, and MCE Rollup 2. You'll also need to get NVIDIA's PureVideo Decoder (http://www.nvidia.com/object/dvd_decoder.html) or an equivalent to get the video card talking to Media Center.

7 - Thanks for all the help, especially to Frank Grimes who gave me a hand putting the thing together. I would have been lost without him!

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#17 02-01-2006 4:15pm
gline

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got any pics of the finished product?

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#18 02-01-2006 8:32pm
kaisersose77

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How much would it cost to built a htpc that would be good for gaming aswell as media?

I have a modded xbox for playing all my media files, and a dreambox sat receiver for recording tv etc, but for some reason i'd like to build a htpc to put under the tv! , would it be over 1000 euros for anything decent?

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#19 09-01-2006 7:10pm
derekphonic

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kaisersose77 wrote:

How much would it cost to built a htpc that would be good for gaming aswell as media?

I don't know much about gaming but I ended up getting a pretty fast graphics card which should handle it. My machine cost about 1500 euros in the end. but I could have done it cheaper by leaving out a few bits and not going for silent components. 1000 euros seems a small bit on the low side to me, but I'm not really fully qualified to answer.

Here are the pics people were looking for. As you can see, there's a cover missing from the DVD slot, and I still have to remove some pretty sticky sticker from the front of the machine; these are the issues I have with X-Case, which are still not resolved. Still, I reckon it looks cool, and it's not computery looking.

DP

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#20 09-01-2006 7:31pm
Wertz

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masteroftherealm wrote:

Em the new sata2 spinpoint drives yeah?????????
20DB at idle and 23at seek??
I have maxtors and WD's and neither are even in the same galaxy as this baby when it comes to silence?? I think u got dud drives man

The guy may not have slient running switched on in his system BIOS options.

To the OP, I was about to suggest a fanless VGA card, since that's where I find a lot of the noise came from on my media PC...so I ripped the stock fan off of an old fx5200, stuck a reclaimed heatsink on to the chip with arctic paste and you wouldn't even know the PC is running now...

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#21 09-01-2006 7:42pm
steveland?

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That's a sweet setup ya got going there... once I sort out my money situation I'll be building one of these... but on the very, very cheap

(second hand, not bothered with quietness... just so long as it's not sounding like a jet plane)

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#22 19-01-2006 5:03pm
derekphonic

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Steveland & Co,

I'm selling a couple of things I didn't use in this build on Ebay, so here's a chance to pick up some new stuff fairly cheap. I'd prefer to sell locally, and I'm based in Dublin City Centre, so if you're interested and you're in Dublin, here's an opportunity to avoid P&P charges. The stuff is completely unused, and in the case of the wireless card, shrink wrapped.

Here are the items I'm selling:

Silverstone SST LC-17 Silver HTPC Computer Case (http://cgi.ebay.ie/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6841476371&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1)

SMC EZ Connect Wireless G PCI Card 108 Mbps 802.11g (http://cgi.ebay.ie/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6841469228&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1)

Interested?

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#23 19-01-2006 5:12pm
WizZard

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I'll give you €50 for the case.

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#24 19-01-2006 5:18pm
ShiverinEskimo

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I've a sata2 spinpoint and it is super quiet.

Seems even more quiet now that I have a raptor installed :rolleyes: - the noise is worth the speed though.

WizZard - are you for real about buying that case? I must have counted about 5 cases in your gaff on Monday!

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#25 20-01-2006 3:10am
derekphonic

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WizZard wrote:

I'll give you €50 for the case.

Hey WizZard,

You might get it for that if you bid - that's the starting price and I've no idea how high it will go, but it may be not much higher than that. I'm leaving it to Ebay now. Bids end on Sunday week.

Cheers,

DP

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#26 20-01-2006 12:52pm
heller

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DP, was that setup 1500 euro *not* counting a monitor?

I didn't see a monitor mentioned.

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#27 20-01-2006 5:12pm
derekphonic

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heller wrote:

DP, was that setup 1500 euro *not* counting a monitor?

I didn't see a monitor mentioned.

Yup - you can see the exact spec at http://www.komplett.ie/k/shoplist.asp?mode=receive&si=302906&su=7B1D1608-FFAF-44BC-A3F2-FB98F24EE31F, minus the CPU and the case. You can see how it all adds up, with 2 hard drives, and I probably went a bit mad with the graphics card.

DP

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#28 25-01-2006 11:17pm
derekphonic

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WizZard wrote:

I'll give you €50 for the case.

Sorry. I'm not supposed to sell stuff here without going thru the shop, and I'm not supposed to give links to Ebay either, so I guess you can just go to Ebay! I won't be entertaining offers on the stuff I'm selling here (I could get banned!).

Thanks!

DP

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