Building a Media Centre PC

bigtom71

Hi there,

I plan on selling the 2 PCs I have (one I've been using as a HTPC of sorts) and building something myself. At the moment, I have a standard HP P4 tower in the room where the washing machine is kept. I have a 32" LCD screen in the sitting and a HDMI to DVI cable and an audio cable going from that to the other room with the PC. I also have a Keysonic wireless (RF) keyboard which I find great.

What I hope to do is have a PC (it can be a tower design as it is hidden away in another room), that will keep me happy for couple of years and can be upgraded later on as needed. I will be using it for the Internet and watching movies. I would also like to get a 7.1 card and connect surround sound speakers to it (flush wall mounting - can they be got without needing an amp?), and get a TV card. I have so many questions at the mo' - like can I connect a satellite dish directly to a TV card or do I connect the set top box to it? Stupid questions I'm sure.

I have a copy of Media Center knocking around (Vista) which I will try out. I could then get a remote for it (but it would obviously have to be RF rather than IR). I might try some games on the PC but nothing major.

This is all a bit disjointed, but so am I at the moment.:)
I dont want to spend a fortune - E500 - E600 or thereabouts.

Any thoughts anybody?
Tom..

MAJJ

Hi Tom,

I have a tower HTPC set up like you are intending. Although I bought it as is
and I don't use it too often. You had a couple of questions which i will try to help with, the build I'll leave to others.

I have mine in a room behind the wall where my LCD TV is, I have it connected to the TV via HDMI and a SPDIF digital coax cable is connected to my AMP from the onboard sound on the PC.At the moment I control the HTPC with a RF remote that came with it.


Do you need an amp? I use one, but I'm pretty sure you can use speakers such as Logitech sells as they have an amp built into the massive sub woofer. Although I don't know if they sell this as a 7.1 system. You'll need a big room for 7.1 re: speaker positioning.


I use Vista Home premium with Media Centre myself and it's fine for me. The RF remote that came with the machine worked out of the box and controls Media Center very well. One option I have taken is I've bought a Harmony 885 remote to control a number of devices. As I want it to control the HTPC also, I will eventually be getting a USB receiver and using a USB extension cable, placing it in line of site in my front room.


A satellite card I've seen recommended on these forums is FloppyDTV S2, but if you are simply using a free sat rather than SKY then I think you simply need to feed the cable to the card. There is more in this post -
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055409871

Hope that starts things off for you.
Majj

bigtom71

Hi Majj,

Are you implying that you're planning on selling your htpc? If so, I'd be interested to hear the spec.
I like the idea of an amp and I have plenty of room for one beside the HTPC, if I could pick one up relatiely cheaply. I hear what you're saying about 7.1. I just figured that all of the motherboards and cards seem to have it. The room is very small (10ft. x 8 ft.) but suits my needs perfectly with the TV at one end and the couch at the other (so a 32" screen does the job nicely, although sometimes I wonder if I should've bought a projector for a 72" screen!!). 7.1 definitely wwouldn't work here and the speakers will have to be flush, which I don't think can be got for a PC (after more scouring the Net). So, yes I'll have to get an amp. At most I'll have 5.1 or maybe two rear speakers (which are beside the pc anyway) and the TV speakers in the short term.

I like the Harmony remote you have, but it ain't cheap! Maybe something for me to get down the line. The FloppyDTV S2 card looks great, but I am wondering if it will work with RTE when they go digital terestrial (I want to future proof it as much as possible). I have Smart Telecom's IPTV at the moment on free trial but don't intend on keeping it, but rather I will be getting a dish put up on the the roof (it's easy to do on a bungalow.:))

Anywways, I'm getting a better idea of what I want and need and this would be a Mobo, RAM and CPU that will be able to cater for HD and, maybe, Bluray, without breaking the bank; ability to watch AVIs, listen to music, etc (Vista Media Center should do all of that) and browse the Internet. I don't know if I can get a PC that will be beefy enough to cover HD for the money I was thinking, but maybe I can add bits as I go.

Any idea what kind of an amp would do me? And what spec CPU, RAM I'd need?

Tom...

bigtom71

The following I found on Komplett, but I don't know if I am getting the best options related to each other, and for what I need:

LG DVD±RW burner, GH22LP20, 22x, LightScribe, SecureDisc, Black and white €29.00
Samsung SpinPoint F1 500GB SATA2, 16MB 7200RPM €55.01
Antec Three Hundred Black 140mm Fan (Without PSU) €50.00
AXP Powersupply ATX 630W Retail SLI, SATA, Dimension mm(163x150x85) 20+4 €50.00
Gigabyte GA-P35-S3G, P35, Socket-775, ATX, GbLAN, 5xPCI, DDR2, PCI-Ex16 €77.50
Corsair TWIN2X 6400 DDR2, 4096MB CL5, Kit w/two matched CM2X2048-6400 Dimm's €63.00
Gainward GeForce 9800GT 512MB GDDR3, PCI-Express 2.0, 2xDVI/HDCP €123.50
Intel Core 2 Duo E4700 2,60 GHz Socket 775, 2MB, Boxed w/Fan €119.00

The total is €567.01 at the moment, without a TV card, which might be the FloppyDTV S2, you recommended Majj.

Has anyone any thoughts on my spec above? Is it overkill or not enough, or just plain crap?

Thanks,
Tom...

MAJJ

Hi Tom,

Nope that wasn't a sale pitch and it's 2 years old. In my set up I have the amp under the TV 32" too and the room is a little bit bigger but as the TV is in the corner, couldn't really get much bigger. Not sure about locating your new amp with the HTPC in with the washing machine!

What to you mean about the speakers being flush, got any links? I suspect it will really limit your options and maybe quality too.

Just checked that card, can't say for sure but that card supports MPEG4 so it may do the job. Check in this forum for more detail http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=56

or maybe if mediacente.ie is reading he may confirm.


On the topic of HD playback have a look at this
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055417869

As you will see I have a vague idea about all this stuff, hope some of it helps and other pitch in to confirm.

Cheers,
Majj

bigtom71

Hi Majj,
No worries about the washing machine room. It is perfect for my needs - dry (not damp) although a little warm sometimes when I am running all the PCs, modems, etc. I have set up a small 12v fan running off one of my PCs to extract the hot air and it seems to do the job nicely.

As for flush speakers, have a look at these: http://www.bose.ie/IE/en/home-entertainment/stereo-speakers/virtually-invisible-speakers/191/index.jsp

Bose - nice, but pricey. They will obviously need an amp, so yes, I am sold on the idea of getting an amp, although I may have to wait a few months before shelling out cash for it.

Thanks for the links, they're a great help.
Hopefully, someone on the list can offer some help on getting hardware for my HTPC.

Tom...

bigtom71

I checked out Hardwareversand and came up with the attached (I can't figure out how to copy and paste a screenshot onto the reply!).

I plan on getting a FloppyDTV S2 card with this as well.
Can anyone recommend improvements for me? I think the PSU is a little pricey but I want one that is not too noisy, although I know crap all about the different models. Motherboard again, cost a lot but was the cheapest half decent Gigabyte one I could find. E5200 dual core - is that the best option price wise?

Please help, somebody.
Tom...

dd02

I have just ordered the config below from Komplett. I have Samsung F1 1GB already and a Terratec Cinergy DTV-S2 card. HDMI and Sound are already on the Motherboard and the case contains a 380W PSU and sidefans, I am hopping that this will be a quiet config. I think that any Daul Core procerssor will perform as a HTPC without problems, you need to keep the heat down to keep the fans quiet so only go for the PSU you need... 500-500w will drive a big PC. While I have perormed PC upgrades this is my first build from scratch... Bluray (€109) and Vista HP (€98)are included in the price!!



341813 Akasa AK-925 REVO Thermodynamic CPU Cooler 775/939/AM2, SilentFlux
349824 AMD Phenom 8450 Triple-Core 2,1 GHz Boxe 3,5MB Cache, Socket AM2+
342784 Antec NSK2480 Desktop Case, Micro ATX, with 380W Powersupply (80PLUS)
338074 Corsair TWIN2X 6400 DDR2, 4096MB CL5, Kit w/two matched CM2X2048-6400 Dimm's
338300 Electronic Precision Tool-Kit (10-Piece)
346010 Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H, AMD 780G+SB700, HDMI, Socket-AM2+, m-ATX, PCI-Ex(2.0)x16
347330 LG DVD±RW-burner, GGC-H20L, Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Reader
350140 Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Eng SP1 OEM DVD 32bit

cost €597 incl VAT.

dd

zt-OctaviaN

For an intel based machine you will require min 3.0Ghz CPU e.g. Intel E8600 for smooth 1080P file playback - Im not saying you cant on a 2.2 or 2.5 but for 2 reasons, give it some head room and also it also depends if a graphics car you buy will support PureVideo HD or Avivo HD looks them up on Nvidia and atis website they basically take the load from the CPU when decoding h.264.

You could also look into XBMC and run it on a windows PC it was designed to run on the original XBOX with only 700Mhz and 64 megs of ram so its extrememly efficient smooth and total skinnable lookup Aeon skin etc its amazing!

Ive just configured a cart online to cost €338 inc Vat and del from Dabs.ie for said dual core 2Gb Ram and an Asus Mobo with onboard GFX card that has HDMI out, cube case with PSU!!!

Nick

bigtom71

zt-OctaviaN, could you give me details of the spec you ordered from Dabs? I'd be interested to see it. I just ordered a setup from Komplett but I can easily cancel and go for something else (another couple of days and it'll be too late!). XBMC looks interesting, but I think I will stick with Vista Media Center. By getting a cube case, did you have to go with an MATX mobo or were you able to go full size. I am not well up on motherboards and my small bit of knowledge limited me to an Asus ATX board: Asus P5QL PRO, P43, Socket-775, DDR2 at €81.50. I wouldn't mind having a small cube/HTPC box but I also want to ensure that there is plenty of room for expansion and cooling as well. I already have a GFX card - a radeon HD3650 - which will do what you said nicely.

dd02: nice setup you have, especially the case which I like.

zt-OctaviaN

Ok ill go off and get the spec...its gone atm but ill be back in a minute with list in fact Ill try link it to a public wishlist....
brb

The Radeon HD3650 is super! the rig below include onboard as I dont already have a spare card or anything.
The small cube below comes with adequate PSU for the onbaord just find out how much power that card draws at full tilt!
The Cube case I have chosen has a large 120MM fan at the back which pull the air out.
I recently put together a gaming rig but havent got funds for this project at the moment.


This guys does alot of reviews very handy when putting together machines! This link is a review for the case.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAvdOd_VBnQ


Ok...Now I havent included a hard drive nor an optical drive I have a HDD to throw in my storage is an ICY Boc 2 drive NAS so I dont require an Optical drive as I use a PS3 for Bluray, so there you have a well equiped little unit with plenty of grunt in the CPU deparmtment for 1080p and onboard 7100 with HDMI (hdcp)out, 2 gigs which were cheap!

Now options are as follows:
If you want gaming add a decent gaming card!
Maybe 2 Gigs more??? if your running Vista it may improve vista Media centre performance!?
Both will undoubtadly increase the price somewhat.
Im sure youve been reading the forums and a 3.0Ghz system is plenty for 1080p MKV playback I have read tests on avforums of this CPU performing about 60% at about 25Mb! thats a heavty mkv bitrate most youll see are about 15 for 1080p

The price of the case has increased buy about 20 quid??

Antec Black MATX CUBE 350W PSU
quicklinx:4V4GWS | Mfr#:NSK1380-UK
€112.05

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.00GHz 6M Cache S775 1333MHZ
quicklinx:4YCZWS | Mfr#:BX80570E8400
€162.68

Gigabyte S775 nForce 630I MATX DDR2 Audio Lan VGA
quicklinx: 4SH8WS Mfr#: GA-73PVM-S2H
€61.01

Crucial 2GBKIT (1GBX2) 240PIN DDR2 PC2-6400 NON ECC
quicklinx:4Q88WS | Mfr#:CT2KIT12864AA80
€18.09

delivery
(8.397kg) €14.71
total (inc VAT) €368.64

Nick