HTPC help/tips?

fritzelly

Looking at building my own htpc to serve as a media center and for satellite and dtt broadcasts to replace the three boxes that currently sit under the tv.
Was looking for a satellite combo that would do everything I wanted and the nearest one was the Azbox Premium+ coming in about €400.
So could I build an htpc for the same price or similar?
What do I need to look out for when building this?
What are the kinda minimum requirements for hd streaming of sat/dtt signals.
Needs to play avi/mkv & music etc, record satellite and watch terrestrial or vice versa, record satellite and terrestrial at the same time - while not watching anything.
What sort of software is the best for this - not everyone in the house is technically minded so anything other than pressing a few buttons to play a film or change channels will be too complicated.
Should I run it on linux or windows?

Thanks for any help.

edanto

Heya,

I'm afraid I'm not going to be any help to you, but I'd really like to copy what you're planning and build it in my own house!

I've only just started researching this, and I'm amazed at the incredible number of threads on boards about this. A lot of reading to do.

Any links you might recommend to me to get started, please? Have you found any other threads here where people have described building something similar to what you're planning?

desaparecidos

You can built a HTPC with 1TB space for about €500.

You might be tempted to go with a very slimline case or even a Mini-ITX form factor but these will restrict you and make it very difficult and expensive to get the parts and achieve what you want. I'd suggest a Micro ATX Cube Case.

Here are the main components of my HTPC:
Athlon II X2 235e (45w)
2GB RAM
HD5450 (minimum graphics card you will need for proper 1080i processing)
500GB SAMSUNG HM500JI 2.5inch HDD in a silencing bay.
350w PSU
Technotrend DVB-S2 PCI card
Terratec DVB-T PCI card
Windows 7 32bit (don't go 64bit for a HTPC, waste of time and effort)
Windows 7 Media Center for TV viewing (easy to use, pause, rewind, record, series link etc)
XBMC for movie library and other cool stuff.

I have my CPU under volted using PhenomMsrTweaker. Reduces heat output and electricity consumption (you can knock 20watts off total consumption with the proper settings)

I have three 120mm Xilence fans in the case. One at the front to take air in, one mounted over the CPU cooler and one in the PSU enclosure. All fans are down volted to run ~50% their normal speed. The CPU fan is controlled by SpeedFan and will spin up if the CPU gets too hot. With these three fans and the hard drive in a silence bay, it's as silent as I can possibly get the thing.

I have an Emprex 3009URF III remote control which works on 2.4GHz wireless. Media Center 7 understands all of the button presses but I use EventGhost to map button presses to other apps like XBMC.

EventGhost is brilliant software. I can turn the arrow keys on the remote into mouse movements via EventGhost which is handy.

One other thing I have is a mini bluetooth keyboard. It's about the size of a wallet but is handy when search for content, like you tube videos or performing a text search on the EPG.

edanto

That's really descriptive thanks!

C'mere this is probably about the most stupid question I could ask, but with the set up you have above, does that replace the need for a Ferguson HD Ariva Combo Box or is a combo box like that an input for the HTPC, and you control it with the emprex remote control?

I've been researching which satellite box to buy for the past few days and I've only just discovered that HTPCs exist and am fairly overwhelmed with all the things to read about!

desaparecidos

No need for a Set Top Box.

The DVB-T card picks up Digital Terrestrial via an aerial

The DVB-S2 card picks up FTA sat via a dish.

You can get a single PCI card which has dual DVB-T and dual DVB-S2 tuners. Blackgold is the brand I think. With the 4 independent tuners you can do any combination of watch and record / record and record simultaneously.

fritzelly

Well I have my parts ordered - should be here Monday.
All told cost about €230 - this is real budget build
If you want to know what I bought I'll let you know or wait til I have it built and working
Think for the price its far more bang for the buck than €170 on one of the combo jobs that doesn't give you a 10th of the features you'll get with an HTPC build

Mad Benny

fritzelly wrote: »

Well I have my parts ordered - should be here Monday.
All told cost about €230 - this is real budget build
If you want to know what I bought I'll let you know or wait til I have it built and working
Think for the price its far more bang for the buck than €170 on one of the combo jobs that doesn't give you a 10th of the features you'll get with an HTPC build

Good stuff fritzelly. Please post the links to the items you bought.

fritzelly

Processor: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/200938
Motherboard: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/191131
Ram: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/169490
Case: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143893 - May update this in the future when I can get an LCD one sub €100

DVB-T USB dongle off Ebay for €20.00 - guy even delivered it personally the same day and it works perfect with a cheap aerial hanging off the curtain rail :rolleyes:
I already have a 1TB HDD I'm taking out of the desktop
Next month will buy an LG Blu-Ray drive to pop in it.

Got the motherboard today and just waiting with anticipation for the rest.
Havent decided on a satellite card yet, S2 seem very expensive

fritzelly

If anyone is interested - its now all set up and works great.

slave1

XBMC for movie library and other cool stuff.

+1, I've 19TB of storage which I would be lost on controlling without XBMC.

I'd also recommend Lidl's Targa HTPC remote keyboard with trackpad, I've had v. expensive remote keyboards in the past and the Targa easily outperforms, nothing more frustrating that a keyboard losing it's signal.

deadduck

fritzelly wrote: »

If anyone is interested - its now all set up and works great.

Let us know what Sat card/dongle you go for, be nice to hear what the whole build cost. Well done, seems a great setup for not a lot of cash.

kaisersose77

slave1 wrote: »

+1, I've 19TB of storage which I would be lost on controlling without XBMC.

Ye you cant beat xbmc for managing media, 23tb here but every file is duplicated

fritzelly

deadduck wrote: »

Let us know what Sat card/dongle you go for, be nice to hear what the whole build cost. Well done, seems a great setup for not a lot of cash.

I got a Pinnacle 7010ix of Ebay.de for €30 delivered.