Media centre pc for approx €500

PyeContinental

Need to build a neat and compact, quiet, cool and energy efficient media centre pc which will be connected to a living room TV via HDMI, although the option of an s-video or composite connection is desirable.

The system must have 2 DVB-S/S2 tuners, and 2 DVB-T/T2 tuners which can all be used independently.

A 250GB SSD is also a requirement, to keep the unit small, and prevent noise and vibrations that a HDD creates.

The SSD requirement does impact the budget, but I think enough savings can possibly be made with the CPU to keep it all within budget. I suppose the challenge of this build is to get the tuners and the SSD with enough left over to buy a good enough bare-bones system to stick them into. Can it be done?

1. What is your budget? €500 approx

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Playing and recording media files with Windows Media Center, and VLC. Possibly transcoding WTV files to H264 MKV files with Handbrake.

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Yes Win7 or Win8 (including Media Center).

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? Might create a case from some old VCR or DVD player. Can possibly donate an external 750GB or 1TB e-sata or USB HDD to the build for extra storage space.

5. Do you need a monitor? No. 1080p TV will be used.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? Wireless keyboard/trackpad can be bought separately, as can remote + IR receiver if not already in a bundle with tuner cards.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? Probably not. Would prefer cooler, quieter running, and with optimal running costs.

8. How can you pay? Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser/Paypal

9. When are you purchasing? Now, or in the near future.

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? Self build.

Given your hardware requirements and requirement for low noise+heat+small case I would definitely go the route of building a server which you can hide away and getting a small client pc which is connected to it by ethernet/fast wifi.

PyeContinental

The tuners need to be in this system, not a remote unit.
Network connectivity is a given for this system, and a file/media server could be added some other time, but that would be a separate project.
For now, let's see what can be done with the specification as given.

U_Fig

something like this you could go for

Item|Price
4GB Corsair Valueselect DDR3-1333 CL9|€27.29
Samsung SSD 840 250GB SATA 6Gb/s|€147.00
be quiet! Pure Power 350 Watt / BQT L7|€41.45
Intel Celeron Dual-Core G1610 Box , LGA1155|€37.40
MS Windows 8 64bit (SB-Version) Englisch|€85.49
Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced, Mini-ITX, ohne Netzteil|€41.36
ASRock B75M-ITX, Sockel 1155, ITX|€73.49
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€472.47

it's gonna be over budget but i didn't want to skimp out too much on the build

you'll need a silent CPU heatskink and then buy one of these tuners

http://shop.blackgold.tv/epages/BT3159.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/BT3159/Products/BGT3600

depending on how much room you have you could go mATX motherboard and case look through HWVS and you will fine a few...you could save on the mobo and you'd get more PCIe slots which means you could get 2 tv tuner cards which might work out cheper than the one i linked

Serephucus

That's actually a really nice build. Nice one, I didn't think it could be done.

I'd suggest bumping up to Win7 though, simply because it comes with Media Center already, and as far as I know, Win8 doesn't (could very easily be wrong here).

PyeContinental

Yes, good work U_Fig. This is just what I was thinking along the lines of, particularly the CPU which is cheap yet has integrated graphics which should play 1080p media files smoothly. That's also the particular SSD I had in mind.

The specification quickly shows up the compromises that you realise you need to make when you add criteria like neat and compact, in that this implies mini-ITX (or at least micro-ATX). The smaller form factor doesn't allow for many expansion cards, and so the choice of card is limited because you need to find one that has multiple tuners on the one card.

Unfortunately, nothing much appears to have changed in the area of tv-tuner hardware in the last couple of years, and the BlackGold BGT 3600 still seems to be the only one with two DVB-S2 and two DVB-T2 tuners on a single card. It also seems to be as difficult to source, and as expensive to buy as ever. I also see that people still complain of buggy drivers and poor support from the company.

Perhaps USB tuners could be used for DVB-T, but what if a m-ATX board were to be used instead to allow more than one PCIe card. What tuner options could then be suggested?

Would also be interested in any other suggestions for cases that have the same general size, shape and look of a standard VCR/DVD/BR player.

U_Fig

well you could go something like

Item|Price
ASRock B75M-GL R2.0, Sockel 1155, mATX|€53.54
Compucase 7KJCBS-FE30U, Micro-ATX, 300Watt-Netzteil|€61.00

and swap put the possibly loud PSU.. i've never seen any reviews on the case at all but it's the only matx case on HWVS that's under €100

i'll look around a few different sites for matx desktop cases and see if i find anything..likewise for tv tuner cards.

Serephucus

An mATX board has four expansion slots, so you could easily fit four tuners there, assuming they were all at least PCIE x1. An ITX board is the only situation where you'd be limited to a single card. Even then, with an mPCIE-> PCIE x1 adapter, you could run two.

Edit: Brainfart, didn't notice U Fig's build is ITX. I'd go with mATX if you can spare the room, personally. In a lot of cases the boards are actually a bit cheaper than ITX ones, and you'll get the aforementioned tuner possibilities.

U_Fig

Serephucus wrote: »

An mATX board has four expansion slots, so you could easily fit four tuners there, assuming they were all at least PCIE x1. An ITX board is the only situation where you'd be limited to a single card. Even then, with an mPCIE-> PCIE x1 adapter, you could run two.

the board i posted had 2x PCIe and 2 PCI

i google and came across http://www.xcase.co.uk/ they have a couple of desktop matx cases that are not too expensive and seem to get good enough reviews

Serephucus

Here's something for ya:

http://www.hardwareversand.de/DDR3/59314/ASRock+H77+Pro4-M%2C+Sockel+1155%2C+mATX.article

3x PCIE x16 (will probably get cut to x4, but still more than enough bandwidth) and a PCIE x1. x1 TV tuners are a thing, right? I know nothing about them to be honest...

Cheap case to go with it. Or a more expensive one, depending on what you prefer.

PyeContinental

Thanks for the suggestions so far, guys.

U_Fig wrote: »

i google and came across http://www.xcase.co.uk/ they have a couple of desktop matx cases that are not too expensive and seem to get good enough reviews

The case here is the style of thing I had in mind, which looks like the kind of box you would find under a livingroom TV.
http://www.xcase.co.uk/Home-theatre-pc-case-p/casse-q100.htm

Serephucus wrote: »

Here's something for ya:

http://www.hardwareversand.de/DDR3/59314/ASRock+H77+Pro4-M%2C+Sockel+1155%2C+mATX.article

What features does the ASRock H77 Pro4-M have over the B75M-GL R2.0?
A HDMI connector is essential for connection to the TV, but the B75M-GL R2.0 doesn't seem to have one.

From what I can see, the TBS 6891 dual DVB-S2 tuner PCIe card and the TBS 6280 dual DVB-T2 tuner PCIe card may be the best solution for satellite and terrestrial tuners. Although they sound like a no-name brand, they have got lots of very good reviews on Amazon, and together cost about the same as the BGT3600 - the only disadvantage being that two PCIe slots are needed of course.

Serephucus

H77 is actually a more comprehensive chipset than B75. It offers SRT (SSD caching) as well as RAID options. Potentially not necessary for you, but given that an mATX board is probably a better option anyway, given the extra PCIE slots, etc.

U_Fig

I never noticed that B75M-GL R2.0 had no hdmi.. Go for the B75 Pro-3m maybe... There is not a lot of difference between the b75 chipset and h77 in HTPC application.. B75 is more of a business orienated board..It doesn't support RAID but Using an SSD raid is pretty much redundant.. Apart from that its maintly the different lanes on the motherboard like eSata is not there and a few other features. I'm using a B75 itx board in my HTPC..

Mr McBoatface

There is no need for DVB-T2 unless you can get a FreeviewHD terrestrial signal from NI or you are on the east coast and get it from the UK. Saorview, Irish terrestrial is DVB-T. The Blackgold BGT3595 is a Dual DVB-S2 and Dual DVB-T tuner, they come up on ebay(uk) alot. I got one last week for 82 delivered including parcel motel costs.

The TBS 6891 is a good card but does suffer with slow channel change with some Mediacentre software, before you buy one research you choosen mediacentre software and see if it's affected by the issue.

Another thing to consider is that currently there is very few free to air HD channels on DVB-S2 on Astra/Eutelsat 28.2 - http://en.kingofsat.net/freqs.php?&pos=28.2E&standard=All&hdtv=1&ordre=freq&filtre=Clear. A Pinnacle 7010ix Dual DVB-S, Dual DVB-T would do a good job for a fraction of the price, they can be bought on ebay Uk and delivered via parcel motel for 25 - 35 euro.

I know it's older technology but it will do a good job...... I've just bought 3 new Sapphire PI-AM3RS785G AM3 motherboards for a combine cost of 36 euro delivered on ebay here. The seller will automaticaly accept a best offer of 10 euro per board. I've previosly bought 2 from him.They are an excellent board and when paired an Cheap Athlon II or Sempron 140 you'll have the guts of a fairly good energy efficent (not atom or e350 levels) system for little money. I'm using a Athlon II 250U (25Watt TDP), another ebay purchase at about 30 euro delivered from China or the US. The athlon 250u it's not on the CPU support list but works fine. The only issue i have with the board is getting it to suspend to ram (S3 power down), but that maybe becuase I only have 2GB of PC3 10666 installed, so I use hibernate instead.

For you that board won't have sata 3 so your not going to get the full benefit of a modern SSD. On that board an SSD would not give much advantage over let say a 2.5 WD Black edition like the WD3200BEKT. I don't know enough about SSD to comment on how one would handle all the read/write cycles from timeshifting and recording TV channels, if it would affect the lifespan.

A FSP 80+ power supply would a good purchase too, they are in the main an OEM manufactour but thier PSU are very good. Some PC cases such as the Enlight 150130 include an FSP 80+ PSU and can be purchased fairly cheaply.

I would have suggested a picopsu but not sure if they have enough power on the 12v/5v rail for the TV card with all tuner running.

PyeContinental

Serephucus wrote: »

H77 is actually a more comprehensive chipset than B75. It offers SRT (SSD caching)

I have never tried SSD caching, but it might be something that works well in a media centre. I have an SSD in my own media centre which has been evolving since around 2007. I have the OS on the SSD and record to it (I then compress WTV files to H264 MKV files and move them to HDD storage. The SSD got rid of the thrashing noises from the HDD when recording two HD sources and the spinning up sounds and related pausing of the picture and sound-shredding effects while the HDD would spin up. They might seem like trivial things, but they make a significant impact on the user experience.

jobyrne30, there is the possibility of receiving Freeview HD from NI, and I always like to add future-proofing features if possible. However, T2 over DVB-T is not crucial, and can be dropped if it significantly reduces price or widens the options.

I am familiar with channels taking a while to change (could sometimes take 10 to 20 seconds perhaps, particularly when going from DVB-T to DVB-S2) when using my own media centre with two Hauppauge HVR4000 dual DVB-T/DVB-S2 PCI cards. The drivers and support from Hauppauge have not been perfect, and there has been a fair amount of trickery involved over the years to get them to work with the various HD channels, such as the move to DVB-S2, and when they change transponder or modulation methods and whatnot. I want to try to minimise that with this build, as it is not for myself. A review I've seen on Amazon has praised the TBS cards for having a quick channel change, but of course that depends on what they're comparing to.

The BGT3595 without the T2 sounds like a good alternative if it is cheaper, but I have to say that from reading the almost unanimously bad reports of the company and its lack of support has really put me off them. I remember a few years ago there was talk of whether they had gone out of business because product releases weren't happening, stock wasn't available, and people didn't seem to be able to get any response from them. Today I've read more recent reviews where it has taken weeks or months even to elicit a response to customer complaints.

The Pinnacle 7010ix is another card that's been out for a long time and I have read many good reports of it over the years. It's a card I would consider buying for myself to try it out, but it's a full height card and doesn't seem to be available new anywhere (There's only one on ebay US at the moment, and it's pot luck what condition it will be in and what happens regarding postage and customs charges).

I'm glad you mentioned AMD though, because I had wondered about whether a system based on the Fusion might be an ideal solution with its low power requirements and powerful graphics capability. Something like this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asrock-E350M1-E350-Mini-ITX-Motherboard/dp/B004KABOZG/
Although of course, we're back to the m-ITX platform.
Is there such a thing as a m-ATX Fusion board and chip?

I also wondered whether there might be an Atom + nVidia ION platform avaialble? If not as a board+chip kit, then perhaps in the form of one of those ready made bare-bones PCs such as this one:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056862121
but which would have room for at least two half-height PCIe cards?

Mr McBoatface

There are two E350 m-atx boards that I know off Asus E35M1-M and the MSI E350DM-E33.

There are refurb Asus E35M1-M (No I/O shield) on ebay UK which you could have delivered to ireland via parcel motel. The I/O shield can be bought cheap enough ....it's not essential.

There is the Asus E45M1-M PRO the E450 version of the ASUS above

I bought the BGT3595 on ebay because of an old thread on boards where some regular posters reported good results on mediaportal soon after it's release to the market and the initial driver issues where fixed. You'll get a new one for 130 euro including parcel motel cost here . The advanatge of this is it puts you back into the ITX market, where there is no shortage of Fusion boards in the 75 - 85 euro bracket such as the Asrock E350M1 Mini ITX.

You'll get a 7010ix on ebay.co.uk again via parcel motel, they are always popping up ....nice to have as a backup.


There are a few alternate dual DVB-S2 cards on the market . http://www.dvbshop.net/ is a good place to buy from , they are also on ebay and deliver to Ireland. I bought this from them. It had bad feedback on avforms, again down to driver issues but I took a chance after reviewing a german thread on mediaportal forums where it got excellent reviews following driver updates. Unfortunatly I recieved a DOA one and the return process was a PITA but the replacement has being working pefect ever since (about 3 months).

A nice case if you can find them is the Silverstone GD02B. I actually have two of them too, along with two of the Artic MC001 you linked.

I must warn you about building HTPC's they become addicitive....i've the gut's of 6 builds lying in boxes at home( I've to much hardware ...the wife is going to killl me )

Regarding your case measure up before you buy!!!!!.... I once bought a lovely ANTEC case only to find it was 5cm to deep for where it was intended.

PyeContinental

Ok, seeing as if this BGT 3595 works as it should, it is a neat solution and costs less than the two separate TBS cards would, I went ahead and bought that one you linked to. That was £105.90 or approx €130 including postage, but not including parcel motel cost.

So that leaves approx €370, minus the cost of the SSD leaves about €225. I will look at those Fusion boards in greater detail over the weekend. It looks like this could be possible without exceeding the budget, if I could get the OS cheaper, which I might be able to do through work.

I have an attic full of computer parts too but I think the only useful thing I have for this would be a spare remote and IR receiver. I've some fans and other bits of cables and ports and that sort of thing that could be useful.

As for the measuring, I've found in the past with mini-ATX cases that not all DVD drives are the same depth, and some cases don't have enough room for a DVD drive to fit in when the PSU is installed, and that seems to be an issue that people have found with some of the small cases designed for HTPCs.

PyeContinental

I'm having a hard time deciding between the AMD options.

Is this the same processor as yours, jobyrne?
AMD Athlon II X2 250 3.0Ghz CPU Processor Socket AM3 - €54.36
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/121077300811

The SAPPHIRE 785G board does seem fantastic value at €16 delivered, but then with the cost of the processor, the combined cost coming to about €70 delivered, the other options start to look good too.


The Asus E35M1-M Motherboard & APU E-350 at €83.75 delivered is more modern, should be faster and more energy efficient, and has another PCIe slot, but the missing I/O shield would irritate me.


The Asrock E350M1 Mini ITX Mainboard und AMD E350 CPU/Prozessor at about €74 delivered would be a perfect solution, considering I have the tuners on one PCIe card now, but wireless network connectivity would save me having to run a cable to an awkward place, and this board would leave me with no 2nd slot for a wifi card. I suppose a USB wifi dongle might work ok, but it would be nice to have it as part of the system. Do any of these boards come with integrated wifi?

Mr McBoatface

The Athlon II 250U I have here works out at 28 euro delivered but you'll need a cooler then. The 250u have a max wattage of just 25watt, the one you linked to is 65watt.

At 24 euro delivered from the uk via parcel motel this wouldn't be a bad cpu either but again it's rated at 65 watts. In reality any 65 watt Athlon II idle's at much lower power consumption and with a efficient psu you'd could see combined idle power of 30-40 watts (excluding the power draw of the TV card)

I went the Sapphire route as I had/have a few am3 cpu's lying around. The energy saving on the modern e350 solutions v cost of a complete new system didn't justify the extra cost. But starting from scratch I may have gone the e350 route.

You can pick up an I/O shield for 12 euro delivered, but that's an extra cost and makes the new e350 itx look more attractive.

PyeContinental

Funnily enough, the model code for that 250u CPU, AD250USCK23GQ isn't on the compatibility list for the Sapphire motherboard, but I suppose it mustn't be a comprehensive list. The board is such a good price, and I think I would have gone for that for sure, were it not for the relatively high cost of a CPU to go with it. I remember seeing prices in the past on ebay for procesors such as new and used Intel 1st gen Conroe dual core processors that were several years old but were such a significant proportion of the cost of new Sandy and Ivy Bridge processors that I could not understand why anyone would buy them and why prices all over ebay seemed to be so strong for them. Anyway...

Yeah, right now the E350 mITX board is looking the best. The mATX version there is out because I would have to have the I/O shield, or it would always look unfinished, and although a tenner is not much, for what it is I would feel like I'd been conned out of it for that.

If you look at these nettop devices though such as the one linked before, or Acer Revo, or Zotac Zbox, and what they give you - case and usb ports front and back, card readers, and integrated wifi, as well as an external DC powersupply which makes the whole thing so much neater, I am hesitating before committing to the E350 self build. It leaves me looking for a quality case and a quality PSU, and a USB wifi adaptor. I'm also pretty sure I have a 4GB PC12800 SODIMM that I bought a while ago that I never used, if I got something that uses the smaller form factor.

I have been looking at cases and haven't seen anything that pops out yet and looks as stylish and well built, and with as many ports as the pre-made nettops. Are there any nettops that have a PCIe expansion slot, or are there any boards and cases that have a direct DC connection with an external ac/dc adaptor?

U_Fig

Just one thing when thinking about the motherboard.. If you are going to be using an SSD as you suggested make sure you get a motherboard with sata 6GB connections otherwise you'll bottleneck the SSD to sata 2 speeds

Also look at pico PSU it's a DC PSU with external Brick with no fan so it'll be silent
Then just get a case

Mr McBoatface

The Jonsbo S1 looks nice and has the HI-Fi look about it, it's m-atx so gives you extra options. The Jonsbo V3+ is another interesting case. The seller on ebay "it_tech_uk" delivers to Ireland but NI & parcel motel would be cheaper by about 10-12 euro (assuming the packages is within their size limits)

Other than Shuttle barebones I don't know of any pre-built solution with the ability to add a pci-e card. Regarding the wifi and sodimm, the Zotac Fusion350-A-E is passive itx board and has built-in wifi and takes ddr3 sodimm ram. Zotac have several such boards including the newer D2550ITXS-A-E. I wouldn't be a fan of the pre-built solutions like the Shuttle barebones as they limit upgrade options in the future.

Anyway I'm away for a few days and the wife has banned the internet ...best of luck with your build.

PyeContinental

Thanks again guys.

Yes, sorry U_Fig, you had mentioned the Pico PSU before and I had forgotten to look it up. I had presumed it must be a small PSU but in fact, it is just the kind of thing I had been looking for - an ac/dc adaptor brick on the outside which keeps the heat and space requirements of a PSU out of the chassis of the system itself. I will almost definitely go with this, and will do a bit of research into it to see if I can be confident that it will indeed be able to provide enough power for the tuner card. If anyone has ever used one with a satellite tuner card, please let me know!

As for cases, thanks again for that suggestion, jobyrne30. It certainly does fit the bill in that it looks like a hifi component, but it is very bare at the front, and has no USB ports at all there, and there doesn't even seem to be a segment to break off to add in a panel for this.

Going with the Pico PSU, I will need to make sure I get a case without a part of the chassis that caters for a normal PSU, otherwise I will need to make a plate to blank it off, and it may not look very neat. I presume I will need to drill a small hole in the case to mount the DC jack, which should be no problem. Any other cutting of metal to mount USB panels at the front will be experimental and I may not get perfect results. I will continue to look for a perfect case, but if anyone has any more suggestions I'd be glad to see them.

As I've had so much help so far, I think it might be useful for others if I post up pics of the construction of the final build and anything I learn along the way, so I will try to make the time to do that.

PyeContinental

I was all set to go with the Asrock E350M1 Mini ITX board, but realised that it has USB2 ports only.
There is an update to the board that has two USB3 ports and all solid capacitors, called the E350M1-USB3, but it doesn't seem to be available anywhere. Is anyone able to find the E350M1-USB3 board for sale within Europe?

There are other options like a Biostar, a Gigabyte and a Sapphire Tech one, but the Asrock seems to be more common and get better reviews and appears to have a better layout. Funnily enough, there actually doesn't seem to be all that many mini-ITX boards to choose from and it's seeming that I may have to widen my search back to mini-ATX boards now.

The Biostar is about a fiver dearer. It appears to fit the bill, but I'm not sure that it has a great brand reputation. Anyone got any opinion on it?

The Sapphire seems to have a HDMI port and 2 USB3 ports as well, but is about 90 euro. Also not fully confident of this brand.

The Gigabyte seems to have all that's needed too, but it's much dearer. They are a brand with a good reputation but have still made plenty of boards with bugs and faults.

Anyone got any experience or opinions of these boards?

PyeContinental

UPDATE

After much searching, it seems that (strangely) the Asrock E350 board with USB3 ports has been discontinued, so in the end I went with the non-USB3 version - simply down to cost. Anything that did have USB 3 ports was going to need a drop-in CPU, and would be about twice the price.

These are all the components bought, and their prices at the time. Annoyingly, the price of the SSD fell by about €10, a day after purchase.
Prices do vary, and in future, the SSD should make up a smaller percentage of the overall cost of this machine.


From HardwareVersand.de
ASRock E350M1, with integrated AMD E-350 APU, Mini-ITX motherboard €66.14
4GB G.Skill RipJaws PC3-8500U CL7 memory module €27.37
Chieftec FI-01B, 200W TFX, Mini-ITX case €47.60
Samsung 250GB 840 SATA 6Gb/s SSD €148.00
(Hardwareversand UPS postage cost €18.99)


From Amazon.co.uk
TP-Link TL-WN722N 150Mbps High Gain Wireless USB Adapter €12.07
Keysonic ACK-540RF Wireless Mini Keyboard with Built in Touchpad €38.64
Amazon total - £43.04 - €51.98 approx

From ebay
BlackGold BGT 3595 QUAD Tuner DVB-T x2 & DVB-S2 x2 PCI-E FreeView & FreeSat HD €130 (incl postage cost)


Hauppauge Media Center Remote Control Kit - €39.35 (€35.85 + €3.50 parcel motel cost) (also on Amazon)


Total hardware cost excluding OS: €529.43
I also used an internal USB header cable which I had already, and a couple of USB extender cables, for which you could add roughly €10 to be comprehensive about the total hardware cost.

So, it seems that a media centre pc, including the cost of the Windows OS, cannot be built at today's prices for approximately €500. Right now on Amazon, Windows 8 Pro costs €125, and you must still pay about another €10 for the Media Center add-on. Windows 7 Home Premium, which includes Media Center, costs about €83.
I will be able to buy Windows 8 Pro through work at a significant discount, but this does not change the fact that the OS (if one chooses Windows) makes up a large part of the total cost, and crucially, brings the all-in price to well over €600 to anyone choosing to follow this example.

Some people might argue that a wireless keyboard, or even a keyboard, are not necessary. Perhaps other people might think that a keyboard alone would be enough, and that an infra-red remote is unnecessary. I think that a remote is essential to transform a PC from a computer to a living-room entertainment device, and makes its acceptance as such far easier for the rest of the family.

Some other people might not consider a tv-tuner to be an obligatory component in a media centre. As far as I'm concerned, this is the defining difference between a PC and a media centre.

In my next post, assembling the components ...

Laviski

This is great thread for those wishing to have a custom media center instead the norm. Kudos to OP! Hope you enjoy your new media center.

PyeContinental

This is the case chosen - the Chieftec FI-01B, 200W TFX, Mini-ITX case at a cost of €47.60


I spent a very long time researching cases, and the frustrating conclusion that I came to was that there are very few cases which are designed for a mini-ITX board that cater for an expansion slot. There are many lovely looking cases out there - especially some made from aluminium and some with lovely LCD panels on the front, but without even a half-height slot at the back, they are just a mini-pc case.

Frustratingly, there was a greater range of VCR or hifi-separates shaped cases designed to fit a micro-ATX board, and contrary to what you might expect, there seemed to be more of these larger sized cases that were designed for use with a Pico-PSU. There definitely seems to be a gap in the market for an affordable mini-ITX case that allows room for a half-height expansion slot and a Pico-PSU.

Another frustration I found during my research of various sites such as Amazon, ebay, Dabs, Scan, and Hardwareversand, was that there were generally only postage-stamp sized pictures of these cases, often from only one angle, and rarely from the rear. Descriptive details were often thin, and it was usually hard to determine vital information such as expansion slot availability and what type of PSU (internal or external) the case is designed for.

I spent far too long examining various options. I could have overspent wildly, but as this is being built to a budget, I kept a level head and went for this case, deciding that if it turned out to be really terrible that it could be upgraded at a later stage. At least it came with a 200W PSU which would finally get this build going.

PyeContinental

Laviski wrote: »

This is great thread for those wishing to have a custom media center instead the norm. Kudos to OP! Hope you enjoy your new media center.

Thanks. I really appreciate that, and it's given me the enthusiasm for carrying on and hopefully making this a complete start to finish thread.

This media centre is actually for my brother, and I'll do a bit of comparison with my own media centre at the end.

PyeContinental

Ok, here's what you see when you open the case. Plenty of wires and not just an empty shell. You even get a standard "kettle" power cord with european plug and HardwareVersand actually included a euro to UK plug adapter. It was nice of them, but I wouldn't use it though. Luckily I have loads of spare power cables.







The included 200W power supply has 24 pin main power block connector, with a detachable 4 block section so that you can easily fit it to motherboards which have a 20-pin connector. There is a 4 pin CPU power connector (not needed for this motherboard) and it also has two sata power connectors, and two older "Molex" type power connectors.

Oh and a little white box was also inside, containing a comprehensive collection of any screws that you might need for mounting the motherboard and disk drives.

PyeContinental

Ok, now on to assembling the components in the case.

First I just trial-fitted the board to see its orientation and how it would look and to see if there would be any snags, such as certain components fouling off any part of the chassis. I also wanted to see where I could drill a hole so that I could mount the USB WiFi stick internally but have the aerial on the outside of the case.



I had given this aspect of the build some forethought, and knew that I would have one or two spare of these USB header to PCI brackets that give you two extra USB ports at the cost of an expansion slot. Anyone who has bought a desktop motherboard before has likely received one with the motherboard.



I had a look for mini-ITX boards with built in wifi, like a laptop or netbook. The only ones that I could find were extremely expensive (twice or three times the price). Doing it this way gives you just as good wifi, more flexibility in positioning of the aerial, and for roughly €12 it's a lot more cost effective. It's just as neat looking, if not more so, I think.

Two screws remove the USB socket housing from the blanking plate, and cutting very carefully with a blade removed the USB ports from the socket housing.



I then decided where I wanted to place the aerial and made sure the USB stick would not interfere with any motherboard component or cooling fan on the inside. I drilled a hole in the case. It was roughly 6.5 to 7mm diameter I think, but it doesn't matter if you're not completely accurate. There is a bit of lee-way here.

Important note: I removed the motherboard and all other removable items from the chassis before drilling the hole in the chassis. I also made sure that all swarf was thoroughly cleaned from the chassis before putting anything back into the case. You obviously do not want any metal sprinklings over any electronic components, especially the board or PSU.





Ok, I think I'll have to make that the last installment for today and try to get back to this thread again tomorrow. Thanks for reading so far.

PyeContinental

Now on to the TV tuner card.
This is the BlackGold BGT3595.

It has two satellite tuner inputs capable of receiving both DVB-S and DVB-S2 transmissions, and a single DVB-T input which splits the aerial input internally to the two digital terrestrial tuners. As Irish digital terrestrial broadcasts use the DVB-T standard signal transmissions with MPEG-4 encoding, this tuner will work with Saorview. The satellite tuners will be used for all the free "Freesat" UK channels on the Eutelsat and Astra satellites.

The BGT3595 is an older card and has been superseded by the BGT3600.
Here is their current list of tuner card products.
The cards look aesthetically appealing, have very impressive specifications, and are available with more tuners than any other on a single card, and all on a half-height expansion card (with a full height bracket if needed).

There have always been a few problems with BlackGold products, however. The problems are availability (they are always difficult to source) and support. The company is notorious for a lack of regular driver updates and for taking a very long time to respond to customer support enquiries. These are issues that a lot of people have been willing to put up with though for tv-tuner hardware that could be a perfect solution to their needs, if the hardware works as expected.

Next, fitting the tv-tuner card ...