HTPC build advice

netman

I'm looking to build a HTPC and I have pretty much all the components covered except for the platform. I'm thinking of getting either GeForce 6150 and AMD Socket 939, or Intel 950GMA and Socket 479 (Intel Core Solo/Duo).

I'd like a motherboard with onboard graphics capable of HDTV (720p), DVI output and SPDIF out. So far I've browsed through dozen of motherboards, a few come close to meeting the criteria, but for some strange reason none of them include the SPDIF output. Instead, they offer a connector on the motherboard itself, and an optional bracket that has the SPDIF connector which I can't find anywhere in (or around) Ireland.

I found the ASUS SPDIF bracket in the States, the cost of shipping alone would be more than just buying a dedicated sound card that has SPDIF on it.

Anyone know (or built) one of these HTPCs?

I'm looking for a completely silent (fanless) system, with WiFi (looks like PCI or USB is my only choice here) and capable of HDTV playback. Must support Windows 2005 MCE.

I decided to go for mCubed HFX mini case, with the assorted Borg coolers, a slim DVDRW and Samsung spinpoint drives in the HFX enclosure.

8T8

I'd rule out the GMA950 straight away as it is pretty basic, the nForce/GF6150 is a much better solution as you get NVIDIA's excellent DVD decoder which is IMO a must for watching movies (Or ATI's Avivo as well) it's also an MCE certified DVD decoder. You can also enable AMD's Cool & Quiet feature for silent running if you go with the Athlon 64.

The 6150 also offers WMV HD acceleration and H.264 acceleration (720p no problem at all) though the H.264 stuff can be better taken care of with a good decoder like CoreAVC (which is getting GPU support soon anyway so that makes it even better).

As for DVI I'm not sure which nForce 430 + GeForce 6150 boards have DVI out, I know my Gigabyte doesnt but MSI's K8NGM2-FID version lists an onboard DVI out & can be seen here.

Unforunately I've no idea where to acquire the motherboard header SPDIF cable maybe someone else knows but a sound card with SPDIF may be the way to go if not.

Edit: I've just read that MSI are shipping the SPDIF bracket in the revised box of the K8NGM2-FID so that would be the one that seems to fit the bill the most of course there is the gamble you end up with an earlier one without the cable. A thread dedciated to the K8NGM2-FID at Anandtech has a lot of good info on it including the info on the SPDIF bracket and how to build one if you dont get one. They also suggesting contacting the local MSI in this case MSI UK I would think and they might send you one if you dont get it or cant fine one.

Netgear make some alright WiFi USB adapters I have the 54Mbps one and it works fine. They even ship some velcro with it so you can stick onto the back of something where you can hide it out of sight.

netman

Hey thanks for a great reply!

When I saw the link you posted I just realised - I have an unused FrontX from my DFI motherboard, and it's got a S/PDIF port on it! I could just cannibalise that to use in the HTPC setup

Don't know why I didn't think of it myself hehe.

I was leaning towards the Intel 950GMA until I read your post.
Geforce 6150 is definitely cheaper, and Athlon64s are cheaper than Intel Cores so it makes financial sense too.

So you have the Gigabyte version of the GeForce 6150?
How is that working out for you, are you using it for the desktop PC or as a HTPC setup?

8T8

Its in a HTPC running MCE 2005 connected via the VGA input on my Samsung LCD [720p] HDTV.

Works just fine as a board, minor grumbles are;
no nice boot splash screen you only get the bios post
no SPDIF cable

Other that I don't have anything else to complain about with it, it's actually a good board for those with a component or VGA connection to their TV as Gigabyte throw in a component out adapter.

I have mine inside a Silverstone SG01 case which allows it to be upgraded at any time, also allows full height graphics cards. It houses the DVD writer TV/Radio tuner plus 2 hard drives, one for general usage recording TV and watching XviD Tv shows ;-). The other holds all my DVD's accessible via the My Movies plug-in for MCE which is a fantastic little piece of software.

With Cool & Quiet running the CPU fan never spins up while watching any of the above that is unless the room temperature is raised quite a bit through something like central heating or a fireplace etc, even then the TV sound tends to drown out the fan in that scenario anyway. I have the system next to a couch in the corner of the room with the cables run across the room to the back of TV.

SouperComputer

I pretty much echo what 8T8 said. Go for S939, maximum bang for buck and not too bad on the thermals. USB wifi is always a good plan as you can position it in an ideal spot. Otherwise you have to get an antenna for your PCI card which can be costly

As far as SPDIF goes, TBH, grab even an Audigy 1 off ebay and thow it in. There is an audible difference with a 24bit card, even through SPDIF.

Another piece of advice, grab a copy of acronis true image. It allows you to make incremental disk images. MCE has a habit of throwing its toys out of the pram, espcially the EPG. With all the software and plugins to play with, you will be installing all kinds to stuff to get the most out of your system, further adding to the changes of things going funny.

Oh, and vote for the forum below

8T8 wrote:

no nice boot splash screen you only get the bios post

You should be able to flash the "user area" of the BIOS with a logo of your choice. Its a few years since ive done it though.

conzy

Since we are on the subject of HTPCs

I have an old Dell that I want to turn into a HTPC because its free and quiet;)

2.66ghz P4
512mb ram
40gb HDD
............

And I bought a 250gb Hitachi Deskstar T7K250, for storage.

Now I need a PVR card that will allow me to record Analogue TV, and record TV and Camcorders through composite.

Can you recommend an ideal card?

The dell has XP pro installed, and MCE isnt in my budget, SO the card must have a decent Software bundle;)

Oh, and the Dell only has a D-sub VGA connector, And i need to connect it to a TV that has composite/scart/s-video in.

How will i manage this? Should i just throw an FX5200 with TV-out in it?

spartacus93

I have a Hauppauge PVR150, got it for around €85 all-in, off eBay. Great card, great quality.

You will require a graphics card with TV Out. FX5200 should be fine, I have a 9550 I think.

MCE is a fantastic piece of software, I would highly recommend it. Bundled software will never come close to it. There is however some freeware alternatives around the net, cant think of any at the minute.

Them specs are fine for a media centre. I only have a Sempron 2200+ with 768 megs of RAM and things run perfectly.

8T8

SouperComputer I had forgotten about that feature I checked Gigabytes website and they do have something on the site for custom boot logos but I dont think I'll risk as it doesnt look to have been updated in a long time or mention what motherboards work with it.

conzymaher I'd defintely try and go with MCE or borrow a disk of someone and at least try it as a demo for a few days which is how I got hooked. As spartacus93 says a lot of the third party stuff simply isnt as good and you'll end up paying money for some of the few that might be worth it like Snapstream.

If your TV has an s-video input then any graphics card with an s-video out will do.

SouperComputer

8T8 wrote:

SouperComputer I had forgotten about that feature I checked Gigabytes website and they do have something on the site for custom boot logos but I dont think I'll risk as it doesnt look to have been updated in a long time or mention what motherboards work with it.

If you really hate the POST screen, you could order a second BIOS chip and just replace it if things go a bit nuts during the flash for the user area.

Conzy, TBH you need to different capture cards if you want the best results. The PVR 500 is a dual tuner card, perfect for TV use. However its not ideal for video capture as you cannot capture raw frames, it has to be MPEG2. This is okay for some, but personally I have an older, seperate "framegrabber" card for digitising analog video. This way I have full control over the quality and I am starting from a pure source.

Graphics card wise, a passive cooled FX5200 is a good choice. The TV out will also work with linux which is a bonus.

As for software, I wouldn't say MCE is great, it is still very immature IMO. Its great when it works is probably more accurate! That said, its probably the best windows based all-rounder.

Alternatives are:

MythTV (linux only, but IMO the best)
GBPVR
Media Portal

Media portal is decent, but sluggish and resource intensive.

TBH ive had my hands full with MCE and MythTV and havent tried GBPVR in full anger. But I have seen of it looks good.

Checkout: http://www.byopvr.com/

conzy

Thanks lads.

I wouldnt need super quality video capture, just a way of getting video of an old camera.

I cannot afford MCE, and I cant learn Linux:o

It wont be a proper HTPC, I just want it to be a VCR:)

I would prefer to use windows, as I will be networking it to other PCs so that every PC can watch the recorded TV, and maybe I will use it as a file server also.

So I need a bog standard PVR card, nothing fancy;)

P.s Can the composite input on the card be used to record the composite outputs of Sky digital / Digital TV?

conzy

What about this PVR350

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=117285

And it officially supported by GBPVR

http://www.gbpvr.com/index.html

spartacus93

conzymaher wrote:

P.s Can the composite input on the card be used to record the composite outputs of Sky digital / Digital TV?

Yep. My NTL set top box is connected by the yellow red and white connections into my TV Card.

spartacus93

conzymaher wrote:

What about this PVR350

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=117285

And it officially supported by GBPVR

http://www.gbpvr.com/index.html

PVR150 is a good bit cheaper and does the job perfectly.

SouperComputer

Dont understand why you would go for a 350!!! As the others have said, go for the PVR150, and perhaps "acquire" MCE.