Building media center(htpc)

cooks

Was thinking of building a media center to replace my main pc. I am just at the planning stage. Any advice on which components to use and which are the best. Im not sure if i should wait for vista to come out in jan 07 or just build it now.
Components i was thinking about using (open to any suggestions and opinions)

Processor: Probably go with a dual core intel
Motherboard: abit aw8-max
RAM: 2Gb
HDD:was going to use a 36gb raptor as boot disk and 300gb as storage
Graphics card: maybe ATI all-in wonder PCI-Express
Case: antec P180
PSU: Antec NeoHE 430
Monitor: Acer 20" widescreen
dual -layer dvd rewriter
Speakers: 5.1 system with cordless surround sound speakers
Tuner card: Hauppauge wintv-hvr-100 hybrid
Windows MCE 2005 and remote
Cordless mouse and keyboard

any advice would be greatly appreciated, cheers

8T8

The hardware makes little difference in relation to Vista as it comes with it's own version of MCE built in to the Vista Home Premium Edition and everything in you're spec is compatible.

If you wait till later in the year you will certainly have more CPU upgrade options as Intels Core line will be appearing on the desktop and AMD is moving to a new socket called AM2 in a few months. Also ATI are bringing out a new TV Tuner the 650 Pro not sure whats new with it though.

If you want to build it now I would go dual core but it doesn't make too much of a difference whether it is Intel or AMD for MCE, however games wise AMD would be the better choice if that matters to you.

One question why do you need the ATI all-in wonder when you already have a Hauppauge TV Tuner on the list ?

SouperComputer

No point in waiting for vista, rest assured there will be a painful period where the public tests it!

What features specifically do you intend to use it for?

Do you plan playing games on it? If not.....................

The 36Gb is a mistake. Generally you want a HTPC to be a quiet as possible and Raptor's are not conducive to that. HD wise, aim to get a samsung spinpoint or a seagate.

2Gb RAM is too much, 1Gb is plenty for now, even with bloated MCE. When the time comes and it is needed, an extra 1GB will be cheaper.

Bear in mind that you can easily run a HTPC from a computer that is around 1.6Ghz (or eqiv), or even less. The only exception is if you plan viewing HDTV content, in which case you should be aiming for 2.8Ghz or so. Dual core is nice, but will be mostly wasted unless you will be spending a lot of time trancoding or ripping on the machine. The PVR function is not CPU intensive as the PVR card has its own dedicated MPEG2 encoder. Also, AMD's current offereings run cooler and offer more performance for less money than intel. IE it ticks all the boxes for use in a HTPC.

Soundwise, pickup an original Audigy from ebay, cheap as chips and well worth the money even if you are using SPDIF.

Avoid going the ATI route for graphics. MythTv is one of the best software solutions available, but it runs on linux and so driver support is non-existant.
However, it could come in handy if you have the other TV card working as your PVR and you wanted to use the AIW for perhaps converting those Video 8's to DVD.

Personally, I would avoid using USB based capture devices if you can. Stick with the most common gear, and you are less likely to run into problems. The PVR 150 and 500 (Dual tuner version of 150) from hauppage are a good way to go.

HTH

[edit] oh, and vote for the forum in my sig![/edit]

8T8

If I was going to build a dual use system (main PC & MCE) this is what I'd go for (I have a very similar system to this).

Silverstone Sugo SG01 (also available in silver) - uses standard parts no custom stuff so when something better comes along you can replace whatever you want.

MSI mATX nForce 430 motherboard with HD 7.1 Audio + Integrated graphics, PCI-E slot for graphics card, ethernet etc. You can use NVIDIA's very good Purevideo DVD decoder with the onboard graphics if you've no plans for gaming.

Athlon 64 X2 3800+

Corsair value 1GB DDR400 kit

Tagan Easycon 430w PSU - very quiet and modular which I strongly recommend otherwise the cables will make everything a mess inside it.

BenQ 1650 DVD writer

Western Digital Caviar SE16 400GB - one of the fastest 7200RPM drives you can get and not noisy either (I have 2 inside the case I linked to).

TV Tuner your choice but you can use any card including full height ones with that case. Same goes for graphics cards as the case can use standard components you can fit any graphics card you want though watch out for the dual slot ones if you plan to make use of the expansion slots.

Note that with the Sugo case you are limited to CPU coolers that are the same height as the official Intel/AMD one's with the PSU sitting right on top over it. But turning on AMD’s Cool & Quiet makes a huge difference as the CPU cooler will only spin up in games or really CPU intensive tasks, general playback of DVD’s, MPEG4-ASP (think XviD's) or even streaming over the LAN doesn’t make it get any louder under MCE 2005 which is what I'm running with.

If you were gaming and wanted something with a bit of power but not go into the high end and remain single slot also the ATI X1800GTO would be a good fit. Top of the mid range you would be able to run most games at the displays native resolution though with no AA or AF for the very graphically demanding titles, plus you would get ATI's Avivo DVD decoder which is a small bit better than NVIDIA's.