Suggestion for sticky: HTPC cookbook

squibs

I'm looking at building a HTPC in the near future, and the array of options are dazzling. I think it would be very valuable to have a HTPC cookbook, for cheap and cheerful boxes right through to state of the art weapons. Posters get to show the fruit of their labour and the rest of us get ideas for systems. A lot of the "how to build a htpc" guides I see have components you can't get locally, and its tough for noobs to figure out an alternate but equivalent component.

I would suggest the following guidelines:

• You must post all the components required to build the system
• You should put a note as to why you selected each component.
• You must post the price for each component, and the total system price, inlcuding delivery costs for components and VAT.
• The components must be sourced within Europe (so as not to incur customs duties)
• You must be able to source all components from at most 3 suppliers.

spartacus93

But we already have a list of our specs in another thread.

8T8

I think a more practical idea would be to set out what kind of HTPC setup you want and have people make recommendations from there as the hardware landscape as you say is so varied that what might be good for one person wont be for another.

What in terms of look and physical size ?

Do you want it to do double duty as a general usage PC ?

Do you want it to play games ?

Do you want it to be upgradable ?

Aiming for a HD-DVD [or Blu-ray] system down the road.

Connectivity options to TV etc..

Just an example of some the factors you should consider then post them here and ask for any recommendations, as not all components are available from 3 or more stores some only stock one kind & prices vary over time as does hardware.

squibs

The list of specs is great for ideas, but us HTPC noobs can't tell by looking what it's gonna cost, or where to source the bits.

SouperComputer

what about "Im considering building\buying a HTPC, Need advice" sticky?

After a while it could be a good resource, when combined with the key posts and links.

spartacus93

squibs wrote:

The list of specs is great for ideas, but us HTPC noobs can't tell by looking what it's gonna cost, or where to source the bits.

OK ok, how about you start a thread asing for advice, maybe give us a vague idea of budget etc. We'll tell you what we think, and then maybe it could be edited and stuck by Souper.

zAbbo

I think you're missing the idea here lads. He means people post up specs and where they got the parts and why they choose those parts.

Basically a thread showing specs, prices and suppliers. Would have been handy, as I've spent the last 2 weeks thrawling the internet for info

I've an Opteron 144 and Zalman Cooler, 1gb Ram and a MCE Keyboard, all bought from boards so far

spartacus93

Well that's my spec and to be honest there's not much of a story behind it, i had most of the parts already as it was a desktop and just decided to put new life in to it.

I do want to help the OP but I just dont think this will be of much benefit as my specs are quite dated and he would have trouble finding them anywhere.

Amd Sempron 2200+ -> Komplett €50

768Mb Ram -> PC world - Cheap stuff, Ram is Ram IMO

2 x Internal 160Gig HDD -> Peats / PC world, at the time they were the biggest I can afford. Getting a new one soon, probably 400, at least 320Gb.

1 x External 160Gig HDD

Ati 9550 128mb with TV Out -> Bought of a friend of mine for 40 or 50. Perfect for my needs. I always found ATI easier when it comes to TV Out. A good graphics card is only really necessary for gaming.

Hauppauge PVR150 -> eBay €85. Had heard good things about it. I didn't see the benefit of having dual tuners, as I have NTL digital and I would need another Set Top Bosca

8x DVD Burner -> OEM crap drive. Cost me €120 back in the day

Belkin 802.11g card -> Bought of a friend -> €30. Essential as the MC needs to have internet access to keep the EPG up to date

Wireless Mouse, and Microsoft Remote -> Remote from eBay €45

Thermaltake Mozart Aluminium HTPC case -> Bought this because it looks nice and it can store many a hard drive, more than most HTPC cases.

Noisy PSU -> Had it, cost 30 quid in PC World. Would NOT recommend skimping on the PSU. Spend whatever, 70 quid ish. Get a silent one.

@ Squibs -> Do you have any parts already that you plan on keeping? A high spec new macine isn't at all necessary.

@ Zabbo -> 10k good luck, keep pushing yourself and you'll get there no bother

squibs

Spartacus - I think I'll go from scratch - I think I'd invest in a fairly hi-spec system, and my existing kit won't cut the mustard. TBH I'm not going to bug people with specific requests yet 'cos I don't know enough about the subject! I'm learning a lot just looking through these forums.

Smoggy

Here is mine :

IDEQ 220N (Small and Quite)
Althon 3000
512meg
PVR 150
Ati 9250 128mb with TV Out
RGB to SVid convertor
MCE Remote and receiver
80gb HDD ( could do with being larger , but only used for live TV )
CD Burner ( was going for a dvd burner , but dont have a need for it )

All the above is being used on NTL digital and is hooked onto my network to access the film / music server and played out via my 6.1 amp.

The picture quality is real good, If I was going to rate it against the original NTL feed I would give it 9/10 and as an overall system it works well. There are some issues such as the sound balance is out ( FDD Show ) and the listings keep vanashing , but with a few hours messing I can sort all this out. The only pain is that an ideal system would have 2 PVR 150's and 2 NTL Recievers, as at the moment I can only watch and record the same channel.

A nice feature would be to have the NTL analogue feed going into the PVR as well and allow you to watch the base channels off that while recording from Digital.

spartacus93

squibs wrote:

Spartacus - I think I'll go from scratch - I think I'd invest in a fairly hi-spec system, and my existing kit won't cut the mustard. TBH I'm not going to bug people with specific requests yet 'cos I don't know enough about the subject! I'm learning a lot just looking through these forums.

Ya wont be bugging anyone! Best of luck