Guide to Building a HD HTPC [Text View] - Page 23

oldskool75

01-10-09, 02:13 AM

I wasn't sure whether to post this in:
- HTPC thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=940972) (this one)
- Onkyo 606 thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1026622)
- 4550 thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1074288)

:P

Just picked up the 4550, and been trying to get 5.1/7.1 LPCM to work with Dark Knight (Tried Matrix (blu-ray) and an assortment of dvd's as well)...

Hardware:
WinXP SP3, 32bit
Sapphire 4550 512mb (just picked up this card the other day for the 7.1 lpcm)
onkyo tx-sr606

Drivers:
Downloaded catalyst 8.12 (tried 8.10 as well)
Downloaded realtek audio driver 2.13
Downloaded realtek HDMI driver 2.13

OS Settings:
Control Panel -> Sound has my playback device as 'Realtek HDA HDMI Out', with speaker settings at 5.1 speakers.

BD Player settings:
PowerDVD 8 Configuration (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=14073108&postcount=1066)
-> Audio set to "6 speaker"
-> Output mode set to "No effect
On-Screen info shows:
"Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 ..."

Receiver settings:
Listening mode presets for 'DVD' (where my hdmi1 is plugged in)
Analog/PCM: PLII Movie (tried 'Direct' as well)
Dolby Digital: Dolby Digital
DTS: DTS
D.F. 2ch: PLII Movie
D.F. Mono: Full Mono
Multich PCM: Multich
192k/176.4k: Stereo (tried 'Direct' as well, but irrelevant for my setup anyway)
Dolby TrueHD: Dolby TrueHD
DTS-HD Master Audio: Master Audio
DSD: DSD

Whew..
Now the problem...
Note that I changed every AVR presetting away from 'direct', to prove a point..

I play Dark Knight (blu-ray).. and I get "Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 ..." as I stated above..

Yet, my 606 receiver only shows "DVD Direct" and 'pcm', 'hdmi', and 'direct' on the front panel..

Oddly, I can HEAR the front left and right channels, but no main vocal track (center) and nothing from my rears..

I tried this with a demo mkv h.264 file that had ac3 5.1 audio encoded. Same problem. Receiver only says "DVD Direct", pcm, hdmi, direct.. no multich..

So I guess I can rule out PowerDVD.. :)

a simple web stream also comes out as "dvd direct", but since it's a stereo feed, it works.. :P

Anyone have any idea what's going on...? :(

vblanche

01-10-09, 04:22 AM

AXP140 is obviously the best, but I am not sure if it fits the mb/case. ok, I think I will go for the AXP140, but does it fit in my case? i mean, dimensions are 145x147x70.2. from the center of the CPU socket to the case fans, there are just 7cm, so I'm afraid that it will not fit?
height available should be just under 12cm, 70.2+25(height of fan) should fit?

thanks

avhenrik

01-10-09, 08:03 AM

First, I would like to give a big hand to renethx for this great thread. I know that it has required a significant effort over a long time.

I am "designing" a HTPC and find it difficult to know what a low-end, mid and high-end HTPC can do when reading the suggestions on page 85. So, I will describe my needs and see if anyone has experiences with a similar situation.

I want to be able to watch a blu-ray disk while recording two encrypted HD satellite TV-programs simultaneously. I will need two DVB-S2 MPEG-4 cards (+ decryption module) to record two programs on two transponders. I plan to use a MB or Graphics card which will off-load the video and sound processing/passthrough. I might watch an old SD family video with lots of postprocessing instead of watcing a Blu-ray disk.

My sizing question is primarily regarding the CPU. Will I manage with a E5200 (clocked), E7400, or will I need quad core (Q6600 on sale or Q8400)? Or maybe a cheaper quad core from AMD is better for my needs.

mokura

01-10-09, 09:56 AM

For me MSI HD 4850 looks just one of the early cards that uses the reference cooler.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/HD_4850/3.html

Do you know of any sites that have done side by side comparisons?
From the website you posted:

MSI 4850:
# Very quiet in idle
# Quiet under load

RodNewstrom

01-10-09, 04:18 PM

Which controller does this case use, SiI3726 or SiI4726? If it uses SiI4726 (http://www.siliconimage.com/products/product.aspx?id=74), then the host controller (SB700 in this case) does not need to support PM.

The manual from Sans Digital says "Design based on the Silicon Image SiI3726 Port-Multiplier with SiI3132R5 PCI-Express HBA." In addition, the folks at Sans Digital responded to my pre-purchase question regarding the SB700 with a firm "No, the SB700 does not support port multipliers."

As I noted, I found it would work using the ATI AHCI Compatible RAID driver with the BIOS left non-RAID quite by accident. The Sans Digital PCIe card and software are soooo poor and Vista working so well that I'm leaving it as is!

Anyway, since I found soooo many posts saying this wouldn't work, I thought it was valuable to let folks know it is in fact working on my rig!

duff99

01-10-09, 06:50 PM

hiphemo

01-10-09, 10:09 PM

what do you guys think about the logitech dinovo mini as a combination remote + keyboard/mouse?? newegg has it for 130 shipped

renethx

01-10-09, 10:10 PM

New ZOTAC GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi brings PCI Express 2.0 x16 to a miniature 170mm x 170mm platform (January 9, 2009) (http://www.zotac.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=299&Itemid=1)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=129287&stc=1&d=1231643272

HONG KONG – Jan. 9, 2009 – ZOTAC International, a leading manufacturer of NVIDIA-based motherboards and graphics cards, kicks off day two of the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show with a early preview of the next-generation mini-ITX platform for Intel processors powered by NVIDIA’s GeForce 9300 graphics processor – the ZOTAC GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi. The new ZOTAC GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi combines the powerful GeForce 9300 graphics processor with Intel processors for an unchained high-performance platform that’s big on performance but miniature in size.

The powerful NVIDIA GeForce 9300 graphics processor that forms the heart of the ZOTAC GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi packs 16 high-speed stream processors that are configurable for DirectX 10, OpenGL 2.1 and CUDA-enabled applications. The ZOTAC GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi also features a high-performance NVIDIA PureVideo HD video processor that decodes Blu-ray high-definition video formats in hardware and enhances standard-definition content to near-high-definition quality levels.

“The ZOTAC GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi is the perfect platform for home theater PCs. Pairing power-efficient Intel processors and a PureVideo HD enabled graphics processor with a mini-ITX form factor allows the ZOTAC GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi to fit nearly anywhere without sacrificing high-definition video playback capabilities desired by home theater PC users,” said Carsten Berger, marketing director, ZOTAC Internation.

The ZOTAC GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi is engineered for high-performance applications and packs a full-length PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot, enabling compatibility with powerful ZOTAC GeForce graphics card upgrades. The mini-ITX board also features NVIDIA Hybrid SLI technology for GeForce　Boost compatibility with select GeForce 8 and 9 series graphics cards.

“Our ZOTAC GeForce 9300-ITX WiFI delivers the best of both worlds – a powerful mGPU for video processing and a full-length PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot and HybridSLI compatibility for power hungry users that want to pair a mini-ITX platform with powerful PCI Express graphics cards such as our ZOTAC GeForce GTX 200 and 9 series,” Mr. Berger added.

The ZOTAC GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi also features compatibility with DDR2-800 MHz memory, high-definition audio, SATA 3.0 Gbps and integrated 802.11b/g wireless network connectivity.

Attendees of the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show can see the ZOTAC GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi on display at the ZOTAC booth in the Sands Hall, booth #71946.

General details

• New ZOTAC GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi platform
• NVIDIA GeForce 9300 mGPU
• 16 stream processors
• Hybrid SLI compatible
• Microsoft DirectX 10 and OpenGL 2.1 compatible
• NVIDIA CUDA and PhysX ready
• NVIDIA PureVideo HD technology
• Full-length PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot
• HDMI (w/Audio), DVI (w/Audio) and VGA outputs
• HDCP compliant
• Integrated 802.11b/g WiFi
• Intel Core 2, Celeron and Pentium support – Socket LGA775
• 1333 MHz front-side bus compatible
• 2 DDR2 DIMM slots
• DDR2-667/800 compatible
• Up to 8GB of DDR2 memory
• ZOTAC Extended Warranty (visit www.zotac.com for details)

Specifications

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=129327&stc=1&d=1231680830

You can see more pictures at the product information page (http://www.zotac.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=300&Itemid=227).

oldskool75

01-11-09, 03:59 AM

I've got a 4670 w/ XP SP3 and the Onkyo 606. I was having a similar problem initially. I followed the vista advice and installed the realtek hdmi driver, and I was in the same boat you're in. Just two channel sound. It seems that for XP you just need the ATI drivers, and don't install the realtek drivers.

If you don't install the realtek drivers, what is your output device? (Control panel -> Sounds and Audio Devices -> Audio (tab).

If I don't install the realtek drivers, I never see HDMI audio, and I only have one option -- my onboard audio (which is incorrect).

If that doesn't work for you check out the 4000 series thread, it's got some good info in it. Good luck.

I tried to find this thread you're referring to but couldn't...
This was the closest I could find..
ATI HD4600 Series Information Thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1059559)

Can you provide a link please?

I found this thread:
"Realtek HD Audio issues - solved (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=12085635#post12085635)"

Is that the one?

Because.. I if I disabled the 'missing' "high definition audio bus" device, I can't install the RealTek drivers at all..

I also tried this one:
"does Realtek HDMI = ATI HDMI driver? (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=15277209)

But still not getting 5(.1) channels.. :(

I tried the ATI HDMI drivers found on 3dNews' FTP site (http://files.3dnews.org/pub/drivers/ati/8-12_xp32-64_hdmiaudio_72274.exe) and the ones that came with my Sapphire cd..

dbone1026

01-11-09, 07:19 AM

what do you guys think about the logitech dinovo mini as a combination remote + keyboard/mouse?? newegg has it for 130 shipped

I have two of these (I had a bad button on the first one I got so Logitech sent me a second for free!!!). Overall I am happy with it. Typing is similar to using a Blackberry. If you are going to do a large amount of typing on your HTPC I wouldn't recommend. I will check the web occasionally from my HTPC, but mostly I use it for viewing media, so I really like the fact that I don't have to pull out a separate keyboard everytime I want to check something online. Especially for my bedroom where I don't want a keyboard lying around th Mini does a nice job. Battery last real long as well before you need to recharge. It has an extra coolness factor when you have company over and you whip it out (still talking about the diNovo Mini :) )

nickbrown24

01-11-09, 12:34 PM

Has anyone had any experience/knowledge of this?

I thinking of powering an i7 system with it.

regards

Nick

oldskool75

01-11-09, 03:02 PM

I have two of these (I had a bad button on the first one I got so Logitech sent me a second for free!!!). Overall I am happy with it. Typing is similar to using a Blackberry. If you are going to do a large amount of typing on your HTPC I wouldn't recommend. I will check the web occasionally from my HTPC, but mostly I use it for viewing media, so I really like the fact that I don't have to pull out a separate keyboard everytime I want to check something online. Especially for my bedroom where I don't want a keyboard lying around th Mini does a nice job. Battery last real long as well before you need to recharge. It has an extra coolness factor when you have company over and you whip it out (still talking about the diNovo Mini :) )

+1

I love my dinovo mini. It's excellent and worth every penny. It lasts a long time between charges too (more than a month?).

If you configure it correctly (google 'lhid2hci.exe'), the BT adapter it comes with can be reconfigured into a full BT 2.0 adapter too.. Hooked up a wii controller to my HTPC this way and was navigating with that for a while.. Bonus cool points (well, okay, geek points :P ).

David O

01-11-09, 06:23 PM

+1

I love my dinovo mini. It's excellent and worth every penny. It lasts a long time between charges too (more than a month?).

If you configure it correctly (google 'lhid2hci.exe'), the BT adapter it comes with can be reconfigured into a full BT 2.0 adapter too.. Hooked up a wii controller to my HTPC this way and was navigating with that for a while.. Bonus cool points (well, okay, geek points :P ).

Love mine too but it also has a bad button - the down arrow, which sucks a bit when you use it as a 10' HTPC remote :rolleyes:

MurrayW

01-11-09, 09:25 PM

duff99

01-12-09, 12:56 AM

oldskool75

01-12-09, 12:57 AM

Anyone using a dinovo mini through a wall? My HTPC will be behind a wall where my TV is mounted about 10' from where I will be sitting. I'd like to find a good keyboard and mouse that will work reliably through the wall.

It *shouldn't* matter as it's not IR (line of sight)..

You might want to read up on BlueTooth 2.0 specs to see how walls interfere, but I suspect it should work just fine.

oldskool75

01-12-09, 01:03 AM

If you don't install the realtek drivers, what is your output device? (Control panel -> Sounds and Audio Devices -> Audio (tab).

If I don't install the realtek drivers, I never see HDMI audio, and I only have one option -- my onboard audio (which is incorrect).

I tried to find this thread you're referring to but couldn't...
This was the closest I could find..
ATI HD4600 Series Information Thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1059559)

Can you provide a link please?

I found this thread:
"Realtek HD Audio issues - solved (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=12085635#post12085635)"

Is that the one?

Because.. I if I disabled the 'missing' "high definition audio bus" device, I can't install the RealTek drivers at all..

I also tried this one:
"does Realtek HDMI = ATI HDMI driver? (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=15277209)

But still not getting 5(.1) channels.. :(

I tried the ATI HDMI drivers found on 3dNews' FTP site (http://files.3dnews.org/pub/drivers/ati/8-12_xp32-64_hdmiaudio_72274.exe) and the ones that came with my Sapphire cd..

I tried something ingenious.. I uninstalled everything, and then loaded the drivers from the cd supplied (Sapphire 4550 passive cooling/fanless).

Amazingly, it worked right out of the box..

This is the first time installing cd-supplied drivers > grabbing latest ones off the net directly..

Confirmed it with the following 7-channel wav file (attached). Wouldn't play in my media player, but played perfectly in VLC. :cool:

Device shows up as "ATI HD Audio rear output"..
as opposed to 'RealTek HDMI audio' or the 'ATI001' one which I also tried...

Now let's hope I can update ccc and my driver without mucking up the channels..

oldskool75

01-12-09, 01:27 AM

oldskool75, I'm not at my HTPC at the moment but, in audio devices I'm quite sure that I get some variation of ATI HDMI output. In Mediaportal I think it says rear HDMI output. Hopefully having the realtek driver installed and then removing it hasn't caused any problems. I started with a clean install before I started messing around with it. Try uninstalling the ATI drivers and then reinstalling them.

Here's the link to the thread I was talking about in my last post, another by our buddy renethx.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1029603

Good Luck.

Yeah.. i was plowing through that one as well..

It's draining going through 6 different threads on the same topic.. I can only go through about 10 pages at a time before I get flustered.. :(

I did see a post that said someone got it working right away just using their install cd.. so I went that route and it worked.. go figure..

Thanks for your replies though. You pointed me in the right direction.. :)

Yorkergizer

01-12-09, 01:31 AM

liquiddvds

01-12-09, 03:14 AM

Hi Renethx,
Well the time has come to come up with a better storage solution.First here is a link to the setup built earlier last year so you can see what I have going on now.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13164109#post13164109

I have been debating what to do so I limited myself to 3 options on how to proceed.
Option #1
2- 5 bay enclosures added to existing $450-$500 cost (without drives)
-AMS DS-2350S Aluminum Black eSATA 5 bay SATA Enclosure
-Rosewill RSV-S5 SATA 3G 3.5" HDD 5-Bay Port Multiplier/ PCIe card included
-SANS DIGITAL ST-SAN-TR5M-B 5 Bay SATA to eSATA (Port Multiplier) Enclosure
I would want to store all 10TB as one drive.I also have the 6 HDD bays in the case so max with 1TB could be 15TB storage.

Option #2
Build a dedicated windows home server.For starters would only get 4 cages and 1 card=12 HDD.Total cost $900-$1000(not including drives).Here would be my build specs using your guide---
Lian Li EX-23NB Internal HDD Kit (turns 2 x 5.25″ bay into 3 x 3.5″ bay) x 8

Supermicro AOC-SAT2-MV8 8-port SATA Controller PCI-X Card x3???
PSU: Corsair TX650W CMPSU-650TX 650W
Memory: A-DATA ADQVE1A16K DDR2-800 2 x 1GB Kit,
Microsoft Windows Home Server 32 Bit 1 Pack
CPU: Athlon 64 X2 5000+ ADO5000DOBOX 2.6GHz Socket AM2
GIGABYTE GA-MA78G-DS3HP AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
Lian-Li PC-343B Modular Aluminum Cube Case – Black up to 30 HDD :)
WD Caviar Black 1 TB Internal hard drive WD1001FALS x 12 now 24-27 total

option #3 Gut my existing HTPC and add contents to new case above and have big workstation to serve as an all in one Desktop/HTPC/Server.This would be used for recording HD broadcasts,ripping and playing Blu Ray/HD-DVD/Streaming to other PC/Xbox 360/PS3,editing and converting video and normal use (NO GAMING)The cost would vary depending on what I need to add/Upgrade.I guess you can only add so many cards to a machine so that is where I am lost.Upgrade ideas would be
case $350
PS 650 or 750W $80-$100
2xWD 150GB 10K HDD Raid0/1 OS
MOBO?

My 52"XBR2 is on the other side of the room so would I then run cables to TV/Receiver/Cable/Lan 25-30FT??.The only issue I see with this now is I run Dual 20" monitors on desktop which I could replace I guess.I do have a new extra 8500GT card that I did not use FYI.

I tried to be as detailed as possible and I understand that ultimately it will be my choice,I am just trying to get opinions and clarification.Thanks again for your time and expertise.Mike

renethx

01-12-09, 03:25 AM

ok, I think I will go for the AXP140, but does it fit in my case? i mean, dimensions are 145x147x70.2. from the center of the CPU socket to the case fans, there are just 7cm, so I'm afraid that it will not fit?
height available should be just under 12cm, 70.2+25(height of fan) should fit?
AXP-140 won't fit the case. The distance from the center of the CPU to the case fan is about 63mm.

renethx

01-12-09, 03:54 AM

I want to be able to watch a blu-ray disk while recording two encrypted HD satellite TV-programs simultaneously. I will need two DVB-S2 MPEG-4 cards (+ decryption module) to record two programs on two transponders. I plan to use a MB or Graphics card which will off-load the video and sound processing/passthrough. I might watch an old SD family video with lots of postprocessing instead of watcing a Blu-ray disk.

My sizing question is primarily regarding the CPU. Will I manage with a E5200 (clocked), E7400, or will I need quad core (Q6600 on sale or Q8400)? Or maybe a cheaper quad core from AMD is better for my needs.
I think any system in my recommendations can do the tasks. None of playing back BD movies and recording TV programs is CPU intensive. E7xxx/E8xxx is a good choice for HTPC. For SD playback, an AMD discrete graphics card (HD 4550 or higher) performas better than any other solution.

vblanche

01-12-09, 04:00 AM

AXP-140 won't fit the case. The distance from the center of the CPU to the case fan is about 63mm. thanks for info. so, I will get a new case then...sonataIII maybe?

LJwelr

01-12-09, 04:12 AM

dbone1026

01-12-09, 05:09 AM

Anyone using a dinovo mini through a wall? My HTPC will be behind a wall where my TV is mounted about 10' from where I will be sitting. I'd like to find a good keyboard and mouse that will work reliably through the wall.

My HTPC is in a cabinet and I have no problems using the diNovo over 30 ft away with the cabinet door closed.

rotelmania

01-12-09, 08:29 AM

rotelmania

01-12-09, 08:29 AM

renethx

01-12-09, 09:15 AM

Do you know of any sites that have done side by side comparisons?
From the website you posted:

MSI 4850:
# Very quiet in idle
# Quiet under load
No. I don't own the MSI card either. So don't mind my personal opinion. At the initial release of HD 4850, all the cards are of the same design, with the reference cooler. Look at one of them, Sapphire HD 4850 (http://www.tweaktown.com/popImg.php?img=saph485_08l.JPG). This is exactly identical with the MSI card. Even the part number on the sticker on the side of the cooler is identical. So it is very perplexing why the MSI card is quieter than the other reference design cards. HD 4850 consumes as much as 110W at 3D peak. I don't believe that the one-slot reference cooler does a good job in cooling the 110W chip with only a small amount of sound pressure. And emitting 110W heat inside the case surely affects other components badly. The HIS card uses Arctic Cooling's Silencer cooler that is reasonably quiet and exhausts all the heat outside the case effectively. The quietness is not everything for a gaming card.

renethx

01-12-09, 09:20 AM

The manual from Sans Digital says "Design based on the Silicon Image SiI3726 Port-Multiplier with SiI3132R5 PCI-Express HBA."
Then the support of SB700 for PM is a pleasant surprise. :)

renethx

01-12-09, 09:39 AM

Hi folks,

I only need to buy a motherboard, and then I can go to the building phase of my HTPC build. I am very impatient to get started :)

I'm looking at two Gigabyte motherboards with the ALC889A chipset (GA-73PVM-S2H (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128072) and GA-E7AUM-DS2H (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128363)). I want to hook up to my "receiver" (HTIB) through SPDIF -- it has DTS and DD decoding.

I'm confused about the DD/DTS encoding support. The E7AUM specificies (http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ClassValue=Motherboard&ProductID=2946&ProductName=GA-E7AUM-DS2H) support for Dolby Home Theater and DTS Connect, whereas the 73PVM does not (http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2691), even though they have the same chipset.

Does this mean:
a. that sources (e.g. bluray) with DD/DTS will pass straight through on both motherboards, but 2ch sources or games will only be 'upmixed' if I have the E7AUM?
b. that I won't get DD/DTS from my HTPC to my receiver if I have the 73PVM?
c. Or will they be the same, audio output through SPDIF wise?

Or does everything get done in software anyways (PowerDVD, TMT)?

I'm very confused. Please help.

Thanks!
E7AUM supports only Dolby Home Theater.

S/PDIF supports 2 ch LPCM and DD/DTS. So if you use S/PDIF, Dolby Home Theater/DTS Connect, or precisely speaking, Dolby Digital Live/DTS Interactive (a realtime DD/DTS encoder), is useful if the sound signals are multichannel LPCM (e.g. games and BD movies with a Dolby TrueHD track but without a DD track); they are encoded into DD or DTS and sent over S/PDIF so that you will get surround sounds instead of stereo sounds.

But PowerDVD and TMT have a built-in DD and/or DTS realtime encoder so that you don't have to use Dolby Digital Live/DTS Interactive. Unless you are a gamer, these features are not important.

dbone1026

01-12-09, 10:20 AM

For anyone using an x64 system, what codecs are you using? I have 2 HTPCs both running on Vista x64 and I keep running into issues with video playback on certain programs such as XBMC, VMC, etc.. (using the same programs on my x32 desktop I have no issues). It may simply be that some of the programs are not optimized for x64 like they are x32. For my x32 system I use K Lite Codec. For my x64 systems I use K Lite Codec (x32 and x64 packs). My HTPCs are are follows:

Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H Mobo
AMD Athlon 4850e CPU
Vista Ultimate x64
ASUS Radeon 4670
GSkill 4GB (2x2GB) 240 DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Memory

I am also running with the most updated drivers from the manufacturers.

Files I have issues with on the x64 systems are 1080p mkvs (although I have no problems playing these files in MPC on the same system and no issues with any program on my x32 system)

renethx

01-12-09, 10:48 AM

Hi renethx,

Are there any graphics cards that allow internal processing of the HD audio codecs and output them through a 7.1 analog audio output to the receiver? I don't have an HDMI plug on my receiver, just DVI.
No. You have to buy a good sound card (see the Peripheral Components and OS section at page 85) or use the onboard S/PDIF.

renethx

01-12-09, 10:53 AM

Hi renethx, I was just wandering how is the enermax that you recommended for the high end system compare to seasonic? Is enermax quieter than sesonic? how is the performance? Is enermax better than sesonic?
Seasonic manufactures a broad range of PSUs. Do you have a specific model in mind? For rigorous comparison of several good PSUs, check SPCR (http://www.silentpcreview.com/article699-page1.html).

renethx

01-12-09, 10:58 AM

Hi Renethx,
Well the time has come to come up with a better storage solution.
I prefer the second option. Perhaps you will get useful opinions by posting it at Guide To Building A Media Storage Server (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1071162).

MurrayW

01-12-09, 12:03 PM

My HTPC is in a cabinet and I have no problems using the diNovo over 30 ft away with the cabinet door closed.Thanks for the feedback.

renethx

01-12-09, 12:05 PM

Including

- GA-MA770T-UD3P (AMD 770 )
- GA-MA790X-UD4P (AMD 790X supporting CF x8)
- GA-MA790FXT-UD5P (AMD 790FX supporting CF x16)

"T" indicates DDR3 memory.

TechConnect Magazine (http://www.tcmagazine.com/comments.php?id=23926&catid=2)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=129458&stc=1&d=1231779551

GIGABYTE GA-MA790FXT-UD5P

hifiaudio2

01-12-09, 12:08 PM

I am trying to decide on my case. From an expansion standpoint, the Antec NSK1480 will fit my needs, but I am concerned about the fan noise since they are small. Is it silent?

renethx

01-12-09, 12:10 PM

ASUS is releasing at least eight AM3 motherboards, called M4 series.

TechConnect Magazine (http://www.tcmagazine.com/comments.php?id=23875&catid=2)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=129459&stc=1&d=1231780172

ASUS M4A79 Deluxe

Ric_Margiotta

01-12-09, 12:11 PM

Renethx, in your low end AMD/AMD recommendation, you list the GA-MA78GM-S2HP motherboard. Looking at UK suppliers, I can only find the GA-MA78GM-DS2H available - do you know if there are any particular features I'm missing out on by purchasing the DS2H version?

Many thanks.

Yorkergizer

01-12-09, 12:20 PM

E7AUM supports only Dolby Home Theater.

S/PDIF supports 2 ch LPCM and DD/DTS. So if you use S/PDIF, Dolby Home Theater/DTS Connect, or precisely speaking, Dolby Digital Live/DTS Interactive (a realtime DD/DTS encoder), is useful if the sound signals are multichannel LPCM (e.g. games and BD movies with a Dolby TrueHD track but without a DD track); they are encoded into DD or DTS and sent over S/PDIF so that you will get surround sounds instead of stereo sounds.

But PowerDVD and TMT have a built-in DD and/or DTS realtime encoder so that you don't have to use Dolby Digital Live/DTS Interactive. Unless you are a gamer, these features are not important.

Great, thanks renethx! That makes sense. You saved me some $$$ there. I'll put some of that towards express shipping :D

E7AUM supports only Dolby Home Theater.
Based on what I've read in these forums, I trust your knowledge over marketing claims. Is Gigabyte misleading customers by advertising DTS Connect support on their website page for this board? (http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ClassValue=Motherboard&ProductID=2946&ProductName=GA-E7AUM-DS2H)

renethx

01-12-09, 12:21 PM

do you know if there are any particular features I'm missing out on by purchasing the DS2H version?
No, they are basically identical, except that: DS2H/DS2H supports Dolby Home Theatere while S2H/S2HP supports DTS Connect. IMO they are not much different. DS2H/DS2HP is better in that it uses all solid capacitors.

Ric_Margiotta

01-12-09, 12:26 PM

No, they are basically identical, except that: DS2H/DS2H supports Dolby Home Theatere while S2H/S2HP supports DTS Connect. IMO they are not much different. DS2H/DS2HP is better in that it uses all solid capacitors.

That's great, thank you.

renethx

01-12-09, 12:27 PM

Is Gigabyte misleading customers by advertising DTS Connect support on their website page for this board? (http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ClassValue=Motherboard&ProductID=2946&ProductName=GA-E7AUM-DS2H)
The information on the page is wrong. (The manual is correct.) There were a bunch of GIGABYTE mbs with ALC889A supporting DTS Connect. Perhaps the web designer forgot to delete that part of the ALC889A description when he copied and pasted it.

BTW if you are going with GA-73PVM-S2H, don't forget to add a good graphics card such as GeForce 9500 GT.

archon810

01-12-09, 03:03 PM

I'd like to share my build (http://beerpla.net/2008/11/08/building-the-perfect-htpc-media-pc-capable-of-playing-1080p-h264/) of a 1080P HD-capable HTPC. Cheap and powerful.

svnakhare

01-12-09, 03:21 PM

Joseph Clark

01-12-09, 03:32 PM

I'd like to share my build (http://beerpla.net/2008/11/08/building-the-perfect-htpc-media-pc-capable-of-playing-1080p-h264/) of a 1080P HD-capable HTPC. Cheap and powerful.

Thanks for sharing. I'm sure it will inspire others and provide a start for a shopping list. :)

stlcity

01-12-09, 03:32 PM

I have a question: I have my HTPC connected tru HDMI from ASUS M3N78-VM AM2+/AM2 780G MB thru Onkyo 605 to Sony KDS 60 inch 2020(SXRD). THe monitor resolution is set at 1080p. But when I boot up the computer the images dont look sharp or even close to 1080p-ish. I have not tried playing BR yet but the Windows XP screen looks very fuzzy. I thought that since the board supports resolution of 1080p and the connection is thru HDMI I should get razor sharp images like BR?? :confused: Am i missing something?? Thanks.

archon810

01-12-09, 05:06 PM

Axel

01-12-09, 05:23 PM

Joseph Clark

01-12-09, 05:29 PM

I've never able to get anything crispy through HDMI or DVI on my TV. I ended up using the analog monitor cable (15 min) and everything is crisp now. See the post right above.

It sounds as though something is amiss in your configuration somewhere. I've had lots of component, VGA, DVI, HDMI configurations in the past and the digital connections have always provided a better picture than the analog ones.

nickbrown24

01-12-09, 06:14 PM

Hi

Could this power supply support i7? I can't find the 625W supply in stock, any other options?

Regards

Nick

jgillispie

01-12-09, 06:17 PM

I had a question about the mid-range motherboard selection. I see you have a Gigabyte selected for the AMD/AMD config, is it because of the ALC889A SB? I would prefer not to get a Gigabyte motherboard...are there any other options that you would recommend?

I saw an ECS board that had good specs (ECS A790GXM-A) but only an ALC888S SB. I would prefer not to lose sound quality as I want to put this together to be a Blu-ray player along with the media sharing capability and video capture.

Not sure if this matters but the AVR it would be going thru is an Onkyo TX-SR606.

strangedaze39

01-12-09, 06:34 PM

Wow, just typed out a HUGE essay like test and results post but hit the shortcut back button and lost it all. So here is the skinny.

Current Set-Up:
Mobo: OEM Compaq (i hate oem parts but it was free for testing)
CPU: AMD 64 x2 3200 Toledo
Ram: DDR 400mhz
GFX Card: 6600GT
HD: 40GB IDE OS drive, 1TB sata Samsung Spinpoint F1 media drive.

OS Testing:
-Windows XP extremely stripped down, K-Lite Codec Pack, Media Player Classic: Plays 720p great along with AC3 audio. 1080p fails horribly audio and video offset 2 seconds. Video laggy. Windows w/ XMBC- Same as Media Player Classic except sound has problems.

-LinuxMCE: Extreme headache, I suspect it's my OEM motherboard that caused the problems along with my "linux noob" skills. I'll get back when I am able to test HD content.

So I have one question and a few different ideas floating around. My question is whats my biggest hardware problem for playing 1080p content well?

My ideas:
Cheaper Idea: Keep the AMD 64 x2 and grab a new motherboard that's far more updated, and upgrade my memory from 1GB DDR 400 to 2GB DDR2 800. I would like to go this way if it will handle my 1080p files. Total: $75

More full proof idea: Buy a P35 Mobo, 2GB DDR2 800 memory, and a E2400 Intel. Possibly add a 8600GT but I think my 6600 will handle fine regardless of it's ancient status. Total:$150

-SD
Please excuse my horrible grammar and spelling.

yycguy

01-12-09, 06:36 PM

Hi Renethx,
I have one quick question, what are your thoughts about ATI cards specifically either the HIS 4850 or the SAPPHIRE Radeon 4670 1GB, any suggestions on which card to go with? I have the Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2HP board and AMD Phenom X4 9950 Black Edition CPU
Thank you
Joel

Donny Bahama

01-12-09, 06:58 PM

My original HTPC used an Asus P4PE with a 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 CPU and an ATI 9500 graphics card.

If I was to add a Blu-Ray drive and the necessary software, would this hardware play Blu-Ray discs? If there would be problems, how would they manifest?

dbone1026

01-12-09, 07:36 PM

My Antec Fusion case had a bad PSU (came with the case, PSU crapped out after a couple of days). NewEgg insisted that I return the entire case and not just the PSU. So I pulled out all the components and shipped back the case. Just got the replacement case today. Put all the components back in, hit the power button and nothing :eek: . I can confirm that the PSU at least works as the LCD screen does light up. I unplugged the Power SW switch, put it back in, nothing. I tried putting it in the other direction and nothing. I fear either the Power Switch itself is bad or the mobo is busted. I will retest all the wiring tomorrow. If only Newegg had just accepted sending back the PSU and not the entire case...

strangedaze39

01-12-09, 08:38 PM

@yycguy.

If you plan on doing current gaming (so I'm talking COD4 or 5, crysis.... not emulators, WoW, or Counter strike graphic quality games) The 4670 is a very much worthy upgrade. But honestly if your not against spending the $40 more or against nvidia for any reason the 9800GT would be the best choice for gaming. If you don't like nvidia then I must suggest the 4800 series for gaming. They are more $ but quite a big step above the 4600 series.

Now remember what I typed above is really only relevant if you will be doing current gaming. If you plan on doing zero gaming or just emulators/WoW style games. There is absolutely no reason you need anything more then the 4650.

Hope that helps, don't get to wrapped up in names and "it's gotta be the best"(not saying that you are).... 1080p will be sticking around for a while, and 1080i for HDTV broadcast even longer. So if your hardware can play 1080p well and do what you want then your set IMO.

I was going to post links but it said no go since I don't have 3 post. Anyways check out TomsHardware dot com charts section. Good charts to use are Sum of all FPS for graphics, and 3DMark Vantage.

yycguy

01-12-09, 09:41 PM

@yycguy.

If you plan on doing current gaming (so I'm talking COD4 or 5, crysis.... not emulators, WoW, or Counter strike graphic quality games) The 4670 is a very much worthy upgrade.

strangedaze39 thanks for the help. As for gaming not really sure if I will game on the Big screen or not, probably not but if I say wanted to I would like the ability to if you know what I mean. The reason I am going the ATI route is from past experience and what I mean is I built a HTPC a year ago and went Nvidea 8600 and had picture tearing when playing dvd's.....I also had overscan which I couldn't figure out how to fix, so others on this site suggested ATI was less prone to those problems???? hope it works anyway.

I am thinking??? maybe I should just spend the extra money and get the 4850 and be done with it? or am I waisting money?
Joel

dreamstate

01-12-09, 09:56 PM

Regarding the build with the Antec Fusion Remote 430. The case comes with a 430w PSU, why is there another power supply included in the build list, noise issues with the stock unit?

Yorkergizer

01-12-09, 10:09 PM

BTW if you are going with GA-73PVM-S2H, don't forget to add a good graphics card such as GeForce 9500 GT.

I got a good deal on a sapphire 4830 a couple of months ago, so hopefully I'm good to go. Next Christmas I'll get a proper receiver to go with the system. Thanks again for all your input/output!

rotelmania

01-12-09, 10:25 PM

Seasonic manufactures a broad range of PSUs. Do you have a specific model in mind? For rigorous comparison of several good PSUs, check SPCR (http://www.silentpcreview.com/article699-page1.html).

I am thinking of getting this:SeaSonic S12 II SS-500GB 500W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply. How is that compare to the enermax that you recommended?

thanks

rotelmania

01-12-09, 10:36 PM

I am thinking of getting this:SeaSonic S12 II SS-500GB 500W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply. How is that compare to the enermax that you recommended?

thanks
I also looked at this: SeaSonic M12II SS-500GM 500W ATX12V 2.2 /EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

what do you think?

briguy1969

01-12-09, 10:59 PM

duff99

01-12-09, 11:03 PM

Well this will be my first shot at building a PC of any kind .......

This started as a simple NAS building excercise and then came add-ons like ability to rip BRs/HDDVDs, regular desktop use and later use it as a full HTPC. :p

Right now I have a Popcornhour A-110 that streams my existing HDDVD rips and am now looking for this HTPC to be able to just act a NAS for the A-110 (for now) and to have integrated ripping ability. Going forward I would like to use this as a regular HTPC with TrueHD bit-streaming to my Onkyo SR875, but that will be after the proper audio cards become more main stream (and cheaper :)). So with these things in mind I am looking to build the HTPC with:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33GHz 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775, $189 (as the HTPC will be always-on, this CPU will be better at power saving than the Q6600)
CPU Cooler: ZEROtherm BTF90, $45
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P Intel P45 chipset ATX, $105
Memory: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400), $40
Graphics Card: XFX PVT95GYDQ3 GeForce 9500 GT 512MB, $60 (hold-over card till better cards come down in price)
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB, $65
PSU: PC Power & Cooling S61EPS 610W, $70
Case: SILVERSTONE Black Aluminum / Steel LC10B-E ATX, $90 (has 7 internal 3.5" bays and a 5.25" bay for ODD)
ODD: LG Combo Blu-ray/HD DVD-ROM GGC-H20LK, $109 (to create copies of HD DVD/BR, not meant for playback)

Total Cost: $773

OS: Windows Vista 64-bit

NAS HDD: 6 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31000333AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB, $600
OR
4 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB 7200 RPM 32MB, $520 (only if the firmware issue has been resolved) :rolleyes:

Is this a good configuration for my needs or would you guys suggest something else/bigger/smaller? And is it worth trying to overclock the Q8200 with this configuration or am I just getting ahead of myself with this first build? ;)

I built a similar system with the same processor and slightly higher motherboard. It's my main PC and casual watching HTPC. I also built my father a system with the same motherboard but a lower end processor. They both worked great. As far as overclocking, gigabyte boards come with a really simple tuning utility, ETA6. I've got my 8200 running at 3.0 ghz with no effort, just click a button and your good to go.

That said the A-110 can handle full bit-rate rips so you wont need to do any encoding. The Q8200 is overkill for HTPC if you don't need to do encoding. The E5200 in my dad's system at stock speed played back 1080p blu-ray rips with no video card help easily. I also managed to overclock it to 3ghz using the same software as on the Q8200. It's a $100 cheaper and runs cooler than the Q8200. It just depends on what you want to do with your system.

renethx

01-13-09, 01:45 AM

Hi

Could this power supply support i7? I can't find the 625W supply in stock, any other options?

Regards

Nick
It depends on what components do you use. If you build the ATX premium system at page 85 with a single graphics card, 525W is enough. If you are going to use two graphics cards, then >600W is recommended (a single HD 4670 consumes 160W at peak 3D). For example,

- CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W

renethx

01-13-09, 02:02 AM

renethx

01-13-09, 02:17 AM

My ideas:
Cheaper Idea: Keep the AMD 64 x2 and grab a new motherboard that's far more updated, and upgrade my memory from 1GB DDR 400 to 2GB DDR2 800. I would like to go this way if it will handle my 1080p files. Total: $75

More full proof idea: Buy a P35 Mobo, 2GB DDR2 800 memory, and a E2400 Intel. Possibly add a 8600GT but I think my 6600 will handle fine regardless of it's ancient status. Total:$150
The point is where decoding is done. CPU (2.0GHz [BTW there is no Athlon X2 3200+ Toledo; 3800+ is the lowest Toledo]) is too weak for this purpose. Perhaps the OEM mb does not support OC. There is no way to upgrade CPU because of the discontinued Socket 939. GPU (6600 GT) lacks hardware decoder. Even if you buy a new graphics card, not every 1080p file works with the hardware decoder so that CPU may still have to do decoding. So perhaps you'd better build a new system.

renethx

01-13-09, 02:19 AM

renethx

01-13-09, 02:21 AM

renethx

01-13-09, 02:29 AM

Regarding the build with the Antec Fusion Remote 430. The case comes with a 430w PSU, why is there another power supply included in the build list, noise issues with the stock unit?
"Fusion (Black) 430" is an older model that comes with a 430W PSU as the model name "430" indicates. The new model is "Fusion Remote" that comes with a remote, but no PSU.

renethx

01-13-09, 02:30 AM

I am thinking of getting this:SeaSonic S12 II SS-500GB 500W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply. How is that compare to the enermax that you recommended?
Please check the SPCR (http://www.silentpcreview.com/article699-page1.html) articles.

|Quality|Noise
Enermax Modu82+|7+|9-
Seasonic S12 II|7+|8

renethx

01-13-09, 02:37 AM

1. Based on what I've seen in the forums, if I want to go with onboard video on the ASUS board, am I better off getting the Phenom 8450 or will the Athlon 5200 do?

2. I'm assuming I'd need to add a cooler. Any Idea if any of the recommended CPU Coolers will fit better in that Minuet case?
1. PQ is noticeably better with Phenom (or Athlon X2 7750).
2. Try the stock cooler. If you control the fan speed, it's not bad.

renethx

01-13-09, 03:18 AM

Expreview (January 13th, 2009) (http://en.expreview.com/2009/01/13/western-digital-to-launch-2tb-hard-drive-this-week.html)

Last December, the etailer Czech Computer (https://www.czechcomputer.cz/product.jsp?artno=61626&tree_CR=1&ppath=Pevn?+disky/Desktop+disky/SATA+II/++7200/750GB+a+v?ce/2TB) ever reveiled Western Digital’s 2TB hard drive (Model: WD20EADS). Now, we finally get some exact information about this large-capacity drive.

Coming from Western Digital’s Caviar Green Series, this hard drive features 32MB cache and 8.9ms seek time, running at 7200RPM or 5400RPM. It’s expected to have employed four single-platter 500GB disks.

The retail price of Caviar Green is unknown yet, but Fudzilla (http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11393&Itemid=1) predicts that it will be ranging between €160 and €180 (around $214 to $241).

davewarby

01-13-09, 05:22 AM

I have read the posts from page 85 onwards and would like to say hello and thank you for all the information provided.

I will rebuild my HTPC and I am considering the following:-

Asus P5QC with the ATI 4670 video card, however I would like to ask if the following 2 motherboards have any advantage re picture quality which is my overriding concern.

GA-E7AUM-DS2H, GA-MA790GX-4S4H one of these would be paired with the above graphics card.

Is it a case that the latter 2 motherboards are more designed to work without a discrete card and the P5Q series would be a better choice (less is more so to speak).

Thanks hope that clear.

dreamstate

01-13-09, 07:46 AM

"Fusion (Black) 430" is an older model that comes with a 430W PSU as the model name "430" indicates. The new model is "Fusion Remote" that comes with a remote, but no PSU.

Ah, thanks for the info. I was hoping that I didn't waste my money on a PSU.

renethx

01-13-09, 09:14 AM

vblanche

01-13-09, 09:28 AM

Hello,

maybe one last question: can I change the fan on the Scythe Shuriken for more silent one? 120mm? 92mm?

thanks

renethx

01-13-09, 11:12 AM

Hello,

maybe one last question: can I change the fan on the Scythe Shuriken for more silent one? 120mm? 92mm?

thanks
120mm fan is not supported. 92mm is supported.

mokura

01-13-09, 12:16 PM

stlcity

01-13-09, 12:30 PM

Is your display a native 1080x1920?
Can you verify what resolution/timing your display actually sees?
Do you have any overscan/underscan/other processing engaged?
____
Axel

The display is native 1080p. How would I verify the resolution the display sees?
Should I expect crisp images with the setup I have???

jgillispie

01-13-09, 12:30 PM

ALC889A with Dolby Home Theater is good for S/PDIF users, in particular, for S/PDIF gamers. As you use TX-SR606, you won't use ALC889A at all.

- BIOSTAR TA790GX A2+
- BIOSTAR TA790GX3 A2+
- MSI DKA790GX Platinum

Thanks for the help! I appreciate you taking the time to answer. I'm sure the info was on the forums here but I was getting more confused the more I read.

renethx

01-13-09, 12:33 PM

Hi renethx...

I can't find the HIS H485QT512P anywhere (i'm in Canada)... but I have found the H485QS512P instead. I can't really find a site which describes the difference, except the H485QT512P seems to be 20$ more expensive in the US.

any ideas?

also, does the HIS you recommended take 2 slots?

Thanks!
"T" is a factory-overclocked "tubo" version. "S" is a "standard" clock version. Core/Mem: 650/1000 vs. 625/993. Either version is OK (you can overclock "S" easily if you are willing to do so from AMD OverDrive in CCC). They occupy two slots.

stlcity

01-13-09, 12:39 PM

Ok, I've read through this entire thread. Thanks to Renethx and everyone for the ideas.

The system I'm looking at building is the follows: (keep in mind I'm in Canada so the pricing's a bit higher)

Asus M3A78-EM $99.00
AMD Phenom X3 8450 $135 OR
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200 $85.00
2x1GB Kingston KVR800D2N5 $35.00
WD6400AAKS $85.00
LG GH22NS30 SATA $29.00
Microsoft Vista Home Premium OEM $139
Antec Life Style Minuet 350 $119.00

I'm looking into the Intel MBs, but every one here in Canada seems to still be around 165.00, so once I add a CPU it'll get fairly expensive.

My HTPC will be used for playing 720p video onto a Viewsonic 32" TV as well as other SD movies and TV shows. I'd like to Future proof for playing 1080p content and maybe add a Bluray player later (I do have a 1080p tv in another room). I also intend to use the PC as a General computer and for Printing and Editing of Photos. No Gaming or 3d applications will be run on this machine.

Bearing that in Mind:

1. Based on what I've seen in the forums, if I want to go with onboard video on the ASUS board, am I better off getting the Phenom 8450 or will the Athlon 5200 do?

2. I'm assuming I'd need to add a cooler. Any Idea if any of the recommended CPU Coolers will fit better in that Minuet case?

I'd appreciate any other suggestions as well.

I have my build using the same board. it is good for 1080p video as I recently learnt. Be aware that the chipset is 780G. It doesn't support HD audio at all. It supports non-HD audio over HDMI (the same as SPDIF, so just DD/DTS), and 2-channel LPCM (again, like SPDIF). If u want to go the IGP way, then to get multichannel LPCM get one of the ASUS boards that has the nVidia 8200/8300 chipset in it. One of these in the US costs about 10$ more than the board u r hoping to get. it is previewed well in this thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1055454

That is if u want to future proof ur system. If u keep the MB then u will have to get one of the ATI Radeon 45/46/48 series cards to get better audio.

Axel

01-13-09, 12:55 PM

The display is native 1080p. How would I verify the resolution the display sees?
...

Some displays have some sort of info screen to show what resolution/timing they are being fed.
My suggestions were to verify you are sending/receiving an unaltered and 'correct' signal from your HTPC/display.
Example: I had an earlier 720p display (1280x720). Feeding it with 1280x768 - one of the standards - instead of x720 resulted in a fuzzy image.

Also timing can be crucial: I have noticed a slight PQ loss between outputting 24p vs. 60Hz @ 1080p from my HTPC (ATI 4650).

____
Axel

svnakhare

01-13-09, 01:30 PM

I built a similar system with the same processor and slightly higher motherboard. It's my main PC and casual watching HTPC. I also built my father a system with the same motherboard but a lower end processor. They both worked great. As far as overclocking, gigabyte boards come with a really simple tuning utility, ETA6. I've got my 8200 running at 3.0 ghz with no effort, just click a button and your good to go.

That said the A-110 can handle full bit-rate rips so you wont need to do any encoding. The Q8200 is overkill for HTPC if you don't need to do encoding. The E5200 in my dad's system at stock speed played back 1080p blu-ray rips with no video card help easily. I also managed to overclock it to 3ghz using the same software as on the Q8200. It's a $100 cheaper and runs cooler than the Q8200. It just depends on what you want to do with your system.

Thanks for your inputs.... my primary concern is to spend less time on ripping HDVD/BRs and I think the Q8200 will help that cause....Right now I am able to rip a 16GB HDDVD from my laptop within around 45-60 mins... and my laptop has a simple Core 2 Duo T7200 @ 2.00 GHz... So I hope the Q8200 will do a better job.

Btw, what Mobo are you using for your Q8200? Is it from the Gigabyte series or something else?

stlcity

01-13-09, 02:11 PM

Some displays have some sort of info screen to show what resolution/timing they are being fed.
My suggestions were to verify you are sending/receiving an unaltered and 'correct' signal from your HTPC/display.
Example: I had an earlier 720p display (1280x720). Feeding it with 1280x768 - one of the standards - instead of x720 resulted in a fuzzy image.

Also timing can be crucial: I have noticed a slight PQ loss between outputting 24p vs. 60Hz @ 1080p from my HTPC (ATI 4650).

____
Axel

Thanks for the reply. My problem is that for some strange reason the 2020A manual says "DO NOT connect a PC to the TV using HDMI". :confused: it recomends using RGB as the PC input. At the back of the manual, it mentions that the resolution supported from a PC through RGB is xxxx X 768. The problem with connecting through RGB is that the image looks like a box with black bars on all sides of the image....

As far as timing goes it does not accept 24Hz only 60....

strangedaze39

01-13-09, 05:50 PM

@yycguy: Go for the 4650, you won't regret it. It's also almost a $100 cheaper then the 4850

Also you mentioned the 8600GT you owned a year ago had tearing issues with playback. I suspect that's the drivers and software's fault %100. So don't be turned off by nvidia, they are superb video card makers. Anyways thats a topic for a different thread I suspect. Don't want to start a tech holy war :-P

Go for that 4650.

Question for everyone:
Low watt build: Gigabyte GA-MA74GM-S2, AMD x2 5000 2.5ghz, 300watt Seasonic 80% efficent, 2GB DDR2 800mhz, with a 8600GT or 8500GT?.
or
Low watt but slightly higher then the AMD build. Intel build: DFI Lanparty BloodIron, C2D E2200 OC'd to 2.66ghz, 2GB DDR2 800mhz, and 8600GT or 8500GT?.

Any thoughts? The benefit to the Intel build will be more flexibility with OS and software testing. The AMD would be a windows only machine.

heaphus

01-13-09, 08:38 PM

Go for Sapphire HD 4550. PowerColor does not come with a component cable and you have to buy it.

If you don't know what to choose, just build the mATX low-end AMD/AMD system at page 85. If you want passive cooling for CPU, NSK2480 (or Fusion Remote)+Scythe Ninja Mini is recommended.

Thanks. Just to make sure, it is still possible to set custom resolutions/timings when using component out on 4xxx series, correct? I used to do this with my old 9700 Pro, but you know what they say about assuming.

mokura

01-13-09, 09:07 PM

Finally pulled the trigger :) Thanks renethx for all your invaluable support!!!
Here is my system:

Antec Fusion Remote Max
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Dual Core Processor
Corsair HX520W CMPSU-520HX
Gigabyte EP45-UD3P ATX LGA775
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro LGA775
Kingston ValueRAM 4GB 2X2GB
LG GH22NS30 Black DVD+RW
Western Digital Caviar SE16 640GB x 2
HIS Radeon HD 4850 ICEQ4 Turbo 512MB

Would love to hear your comments!!!
Thanks again!

briguy1969

01-13-09, 09:34 PM

I have my build using the same board. it is good for 1080p video as I recently learnt. Be aware that the chipset is 780G. It doesn't support HD audio at all. It supports non-HD audio over HDMI (the same as SPDIF, so just DD/DTS), and 2-channel LPCM (again, like SPDIF). If u want to go the IGP way, then to get multichannel LPCM get one of the ASUS boards that has the nVidia 8200/8300 chipset in it. One of these in the US costs about 10$ more than the board u r hoping to get. it is previewed well in this thread:

That is if u want to future proof ur system. If u keep the MB then u will have to get one of the ATI Radeon 45/46/48 series cards to get better audio.

I think the Video is more important to me than the Audio. When you say it supports Non HD Audio, I can still get Dolby Digital/DTS in 5.1 over HDMI, is that correct? I think by the time my home Audio System is ready for 7.1 Audio, I'll get a new computer :) I suppose if I really needed it I could just pop in a ATI 45 series card if I ended up with 7.1 equipment at home.

Are my assumptions correct?

I can get the M3N78-VM with the 8200 chipset for $95 or the Gigabyte
GAMA78SM-S2H for $89, but I think looking at Renethx's chart, I'll get better HD Video and SD Video with IGP with the M3A78EM plus Phenom.

Any further thoughts/comments are much appreciated.

duff99

01-13-09, 10:59 PM

Thanks for your inputs.... my primary concern is to spend less time on ripping HDVD/BRs and I think the Q8200 will help that cause....Right now I am able to rip a 16GB HDDVD from my laptop within around 45-60 mins... and my laptop has a simple Core 2 Duo T7200 @ 2.00 GHz... So I hope the Q8200 will do a better job.

Btw, what Mobo are you using for your Q8200? Is it from the Gigabyte series or something else?

I'm using the Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R with my Q8200. Ripping speed has very little if anything to do with the processor. It's all about the drives. A blu-ray drive can only read the data so fast. The hard drive in your desktop should be considerably faster than your laptop drive though. For the record my new system doesn't rip BR's significantly faster than my old athalon 3800+. Processor matters for encoding not ripping.

I'm not trying to tell you not to go with the quad. I understand the allure. With the easy overclocking I've got the equivilant of a $500 processor for under $200. It's that I saw you mentioned running cooler in your original post. For a dedicated HTPC the quad is overkill and is going to run much hotter than a dual-core. So it's going to need more cooling, fans, and therefore more noise. If your not doing encoding you won't notice the difference even if you use it for more than just HTPC. Just something to keep in mind.
Good luck.

lrstevens421

01-13-09, 11:08 PM

Finally, LPCM. It apparently was a EDID issue with the Denon 3808. Switching the HDMI inputs from 2 to 4 and DVD input to DVR solved the problem even though both inputs have the same exact settings. It seems that the DVR input recognizes the 4670 as outputting HDMI and the DVD input recognizes it as DVI. Problem Solved!!!

lrstevens421

01-13-09, 11:47 PM

Now that I've gotten HDMI audio to work I've noticed something weird with PowerDVD 8 Ultra. Ever since registering my copy I haven't been able to get any sound, my copy is legit, it was downloaded directly from Cyberlink. I decided to uninstall and reinstall, upon uninstalling I noticed my desktop icons grew larger after Cyberlink was erased. I restarted the machine and again they remained large. I reinstalled PowerDVD which fixed the audio issue but now I'm afraid to register it and my desktop icons shrunk again in size :confused:. Tell me it's not just me. Who says this HTPC stuff is easy.

GoodToGo1

01-14-09, 03:07 AM

Any word on bit streaming PC audio cards from CES? I would buy the Asus card but it seems not all issues are ironed out. Auzentech card is still not released and god only knows if we will see another delay.

davewarby

01-14-09, 06:55 AM

Unfortunately GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P is not available locally for me the choices are:-

GA-MA790GX-4S4H, GA-E7AUM-DS2H would still need to add the ATI 4670 for best PQ.

or either of these with the ATI 4670

Asus P5QC or GA-EP45-DS3R. is the latter the closest to your original suggestion and the one to chose. I will probably go for the E7300 Pentium CPU if so.

Thanks again.

renethx

01-14-09, 07:49 AM

davewarby

01-14-09, 08:24 AM

Audio is not important I have a Creative Xi Fi Platinum sound card which I will use.

renethx

01-14-09, 08:51 AM

Audio is not important I have a Creative Xi Fi Platinum sound card which I will use.
Then GA-EP45-DS3R+HD 4670 is perhaps the best combination in terms of PQ, expandability and features.

davewarby

01-14-09, 08:56 AM

Thank you very much you have been very helpful, much appreciated.

Cheers

SebR

01-14-09, 11:12 AM

Hey!

I'm kinda new to this site. Great forum and thread, it's been helping me a lot choosing components to my new HTPC.

So moving on, heres the list of what my HTPC should be capable of:
- Buttery 24p (So no ATI-card right?)
- Buttery 1080p playback (From both Blu-Ray and Matroska files)
- Bitstream of HD audio (When it's available...)
- Quick bootup
- Silent

Anyway, here's my list:

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-E7AUM-DS2H (nVidia 9400 chipset)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500
Cooler: Noctua NH-U12
Blu-Ray: LG GGW-H20L
Systemdisc: OCZ SSD Vertex 60 GB
Mediadisc : Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1 TB
Chassis: Antec Fusion Remote Max

The idea is to purchase either Asus Xonas, or Auzentechs Homethreatre HD soundcard to get bitstream HD audio. It depends on which of they will become the best alternative in the future.

But beside the sound-issue, I got some questions:

- Will this be a powerful enough setup to play any 1080p-content?
- Do you have any suggestions for what memory I should buy? 4GB+
- Will the cooler fit the chassis? (Probably height issue?)

Thanks!

renethx

01-14-09, 12:07 PM

- Will this be a powerful enough setup to play any 1080p-content?
- Do you have any suggestions for what memory I should buy? 4GB+
- Will the cooler fit the chassis? (Probably height issue?)

Thanks!
- Yes.
- Check page 85
- I think the cooler fits the case (barely).

SebR

01-14-09, 12:34 PM

- Yes.
- Check page 85
- I think the cooler fits the case (barely).
Okey, thanks a lot!

A-DATA is not to be found/sold in my country, but I guess these will do just fine:

OCZ Gold XTC 4096 MB DDR2 PC6400 (800 MHz)

Does anyone here got Antec Fusion Remote Max, and can tell me how much space (height) there is between motherboard and top of the cassis? It probably fits as renethx pointed out, but I just need to be 100% sure.

DCDeac

01-14-09, 01:01 PM

Just wanted to add a serious thank you to this thread. Built the low end Intel/NVIDIA HTPC and it worked out great. Dirt cheap, blu rays look phenomenal, everything working like a champ in Windows 7 including clear QAM HD recording. Plenty of power, super quiet, looks sharp and didn't take long.

Very appreciative of the effort put into this thread.

chvybeatsford

01-14-09, 06:24 PM

Ok Guys quick question. Been reading but man its alot to read.

All i want is HD playback in 720p and blue ray drive read only.

Will this work.

______________
Mini-ITX System
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

System

CPU: Pentium Dual-Core E5200 2.50GHz Socket 775, $84.
CPU Cooler: Stock cooler, $0.
Motherboard: Intel DG45FC (BOXDG45FC) Intel G45 chipset mini-ITX, $100. An (perhaps better) alternative is the upcoming ZOTAC GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi GeForce 9300 and nForce 730i chipset mini-ITX (the release date is unknown).
Memory: A-DATA ADQVE1A16K DDR2-800 2 x 1GB Kit, $25.
Graphics Card: GMA X4500HD (integrated in the motherboard chipset), $0.
HDD: Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA, $70.
PSU: ATX12V 250W SFX PSU (included in the case): $0.
Case: Apex MI-008, $50. An alternative is Apex MI-100, $46 and Apex MI-100BK, $50.
Total Cost: $329

Or better with the low end MICRO.

Thanks and srry for asking but 187 pages is alot/.

boblopes

01-14-09, 07:23 PM

I've been reading this thread, Tom's Hardware and been bothering coworkers and decided on the following:

Antec 900 case
Corsair 750TX psu
Intel Q6600 cpu
Gigabyte GA-EP45 mobo
Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 1GB GPU
OCZ 2 x2gb ddr2 platinum RAM
Seagate 750gb SATA 3.0 hda

$842 from New Egg before a bunch of rebates...

My primary purpose of this system is the home PC. I would like to be able to stream audio to my pre/pro, but does not have hdmi 1.3. I'm not much of a gamer, but would like to play on a rare occasion (seems very rare). I was hoping to use my old copy of XP pro from my dead dell. Is Vista required? I was hoping xp would serve me well until next gen OS comes out or Vista stabilizes. If I go with Vista, should I get 64bit for the quad?

Next steps would be possible tuner - do I need a decoder card from verizon to dvr subscription channels?

I have a buffalo external dual drive for now for data protection, but looking to mirror some drives internally later. Is it better to get a separate disk controller or have mobo control it?

Looking to install Xigmatek HDT-S1283 heat sink - do you know if it will fit with that extra gigabyte labeled shields in the periphery of the cpu?

I was wondering if it would be wise to pick up a second 4850 card from sapphire so I have a matched pair - don't know if that's important.

Down the road I was thinking of adding a a micro-atx system to my HT where I could potentially use this machine as the library and stream or send over ahead of time any media I wanted to move over...

On a side note, does the ASUS Xonar D2X have good audio out? It kinda upsets me that pretty much all output from ipods is analog - that's why I want to stream audio from my office to the the HT in the living room...

Thanks for this thread it is awesome...

walterg74

01-14-09, 07:51 PM

boblopes

01-14-09, 10:09 PM

After so much reading, and bugging so many people like you say :D, why did you finally decide on that setup? Seems like overkill to me.. specially if you don't game... :cool:

Work with people that build sick machines for work and pleasure, need to learn about quad's - work in IT but don't really deal with servers, plus that's our standard at work - never built a pc before - probably will keep it till it dies, want to try to future proof it for little money (i7 too high) - old dell replaced drive couple of times & psu - had for several years don't believe in whole system mfs build quality. Just did serious upgrade to audio gear Parasound setup with Mirage speakers for xmas, then pc died. Wanted to make sure this had somewhat of an upgrade path and stay in the low 800 for a machine. Had this debate at work - got the really sick machine builder to the minimalist who boots linux off his thumb drive...

Sorry for the ramble, still debating, but feel ok about purchase...

Spring2188

01-14-09, 10:31 PM

Hi guys long time reader and first time poster. I've read this thread for months now and used a combination of the recommended componants for my HTPC. Heres what I got.

Case
SILVERSTONE Black Aluminum / Steel LC10B-E ATX Media Center / HTPC Case

Mobo
GIGABYTE GA-MA790GP-DS4H AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard

CPU
AMD Phenom 8750 Toliman 2.4GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Triple-Core Black Edition

Graphics Card
HIS Hightech H467QT512P Radeon HD 4670 IceQ Turbo 512MB

Optical drive
LITE-ON Black 6X Blu-Ray DVD ROM & 16X DVD±R DVD Burner SATA

Ram
CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

Tuner Card
AVerMedia AVerTV Combo PCIe ATSC/NTSC/QAM TV Tuner Card (White Box)

Power Supply
ENERMAX MODU82+ EMD625AWT 625W ATX12V Ver.2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular

CPU cooler
ZEROtherm BTF90 92mm Silent UFO CPU Cooler

Hard drives (Seven will fit in the case, seven is how many i got)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (bare drive) - OEM

Remote
Logitech Harmony 880 Universal Infrared Advanced Remote Control

Hard drive controller card
Koutech IO-PSA420 32-bit PCI SATA II Controller Card

OS
Windows Vista home premier

That's my list of goods. Everything is at my house right now and the HTPC is nearly complete. I have a few questions though...

1) There is a firmware update for these harddrives not really sure how to update them, can someone explain a simple way to do this.
2) When I set up my hard drives, should I use JBOD, I wouldn't mind striping them but that's too high risk of failure for me and too much info to risk losing.
3) I primarily will be using this to store my DVD and blue ray collection on. Will the video library software (say windows media player) list all my movies in alphabetical order even though they are located on different drives?
4) I will also want to use this as a dvr unit and believe I have all the right hardware to do so.
5) Anything else I should do before I fire this beast up?

I appreciate any and all replies, this thread has been an OUTSTANDING source of information for me. Thanks all

mkdiehl

01-14-09, 11:50 PM

Hi,
Would some of you more experienced HTPC builders comment on the build below? Based on the motherboard listed, I assume that the ATI 3200 card is sufficient instead of a 4600 series? I am mostly concerned about getting great sound to my Denon Receiver. I don't have a lot of experience with HTPC's and have done a lot of reading on this forum, but am far from confident in making this decision (thanks).

Ace LMS250 CableCard Media Center

LMS250 Digital Media Center Case / 500W Power Supply
AMD Maui AM2+ Home Theater Platform
D2Audio DAE-3 Home Theater 7.1 Channel Pre-Amp
AMD 2.3Ghz Phenom X3 8600B Tri-Core CPU
4GB DDR2-800 DIMM Memory (2048x2)
Seagate 1TB 7200 rpm SATA-II Pipeline Hard Drive
LG Blu-Ray Reader / DVD-RW Optical Drive
ArcSoft TotalMedia Software
Internal Cable Card TV Tuner
ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics / Component, HDMI, VGA, 1080P
52x1 Multi Flash Card Reader
Logitech Cordless Keyboard and Optical Scroll Mouse
Microsoft Vista Home Premium
3 Year Parts and Labor Warranty

$1392.00

Thanks in advance,
matt

renethx

01-15-09, 12:52 AM

All i want is HD playback in 720p and blue ray drive read only.

Will this work.
Yes.

renethx

01-15-09, 01:00 AM

renethx

01-15-09, 02:14 AM

http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq146/renethx/IntelCPUPriceList2009-01-18.png

roostaar

01-15-09, 06:17 AM

Hi All

Just wanted to say thanks to renethx for this thread.

I needed to upgrade my HTPC to stream 1080p .mkvs to my Pannasonic 37" LZD800 LCD.

I had an old PIV and Radeon 9600 which just wasn't up to it.

I opted for the Low End Intel Nvidia setup and am more than happy with the results. Here's what I got...

MSI P7NGM-Digital
Pentium Dual-Core E5200
2GB RAM (Crucial)
250GB Seagate Barracuda (ebuyer)

I used my current case 'Aplus Black Media Center Case ATX/MATX With Brushed Aluminium Front Panel - No PSU' (available form ebuyer)
and QuietPC 350W PSU which I have run 24/7 for over 6 years now!

My total cost was about £220. Unbelievable!!! About the same as a Popcorn Hour!

I can seriously recommend this budget case from ebuyer.
It's big (ATX & 2x 5.25" bays) but it's very well made, great expansion space/ventilation and looks fantastic. Glossy black with brushed ally face and tons of port options.

1080p .mkvs stream faultlessly using ffdshow and Vista MCE using about 50% CPU load.

I'm using a DVI -> HDMI cable (I bought this for my old HTPC) and it even does both the video AND audio to my TV. I couldn'y believe this when I saw/heard it! I tried a normal HDMI cable too and the performance was identical, so I may as well stick with it.

Finally a question. This HTPC basically worked straight out-of-the-box.

But, is there any tweaking I should do to to optimise video/audio? I see that some people are streaming 1080p with as little as 5% CPU load. Do I need to configure my settings/codecs at all?

At the moment, I only have a stereo Hi-Fi for cinema sound. If I play a movie with a 5.1/7.1 audio file, does the on board sound just mix it to a stereo output? It seems to sound fine with everything I have played so far!

I'm looking at getting the Yamaha DSP-AX763. Will I need to configure the onboard sound to get 5.1/7.1 sound through HDMI? Or will I need to get a dedicated sound card?

Many thanks guys and a great thread.

renethx

01-15-09, 07:29 AM

But, is there any tweaking I should do to to optimise video/audio? I see that some people are streaming 1080p with as little as 5% CPU load. Do I need to configure my settings/codecs at all?

At the moment, I only have a stereo Hi-Fi for cinema sound. If I play a movie with a 5.1/7.1 audio file, does the on board sound just mix it to a stereo output? It seems to sound fine with everything I have played so far!

I'm looking at getting the Yamaha DSP-AX763. Will I need to configure the onboard sound to get 5.1/7.1 sound through HDMI? Or will I need to get a dedicated sound card?

Many thanks guys and a great thread.
ffdshow does not support HA. You can use MPC-HC with the built-in video decoder for this purpose.

If you can hear voices clearly, then audio is downmixed to stereo.

The oboard HDMI (and DVI with a DVI-HDMI adapter) supports 5.1/7.1 ch. LPCM, DD, DTS. You don't need a sound card unless you want Dolby TrueHD/DTS-HD Master Audio bitstreaming. You need to configure the Sound dialog box and the player audio settings correctly to get multichannel audio.

mkdiehl

01-15-09, 10:30 AM

Apart from CableCard ... you will waste most functions of your Denon receiver by going with analog. HD 4670 is better than HD 3200 in PQ. Does the receiver support HDMI or S/PDIF only? In either case I recommend HD 4670+HDMI or S/PDIF instead of spending money on Maui (HD 3200+analog sound).

renethx,
Thanks for the reply. I am new to this so bear with me. As I mentioned, sound is my first priority. I was under the impression that the Maui board was very good with sound and would output it through HDMI. I guess I was fooled by its description of:
AMD Maui AM2+ Home Theater Platform
D2Audio DAE-3 Home Theater 7.1 Channel Pre-Amp

Why would a "home theater 7.1 platform" not send that through HDMI?

Is this platform the same story?
Intel DG45ID Home Theater Platform with Dolby Home Theater Certified 7.1 Audio

I have the Denon 4806, so yes it has the ability for HDMI. If neither of the above can do 7.1 audio through HDMI correctly, I will follow your suggestion and ask the manufacturure to delete the Maui and instead provide a 4670 with HDMI.

Thanks for the help and keeping me from making a bad decision. It is hard to find people (that you can speak to in person) that can assist with these questions. Your help is greatly appreciated. (we should start a fund for you for consulting....).

Matt

renethx

01-15-09, 11:16 AM

renethx,
Thanks for the reply. I am new to this so bear with me. As I mentioned, sound is my first priority. I was under the impression that the Maui board was very good with sound and would output it through HDMI. I guess I was fooled by its description of:
AMD Maui AM2+ Home Theater Platform
D2Audio DAE-3 Home Theater 7.1 Channel Pre-Amp

Why would a "home theater 7.1 platform" not send that through HDMI?

Is this platform the same story?
Intel DG45ID Home Theater Platform with Dolby Home Theater Certified 7.1 Audio

I have the Denon 4806, so yes it has the ability for HDMI. If neither of the above can do 7.1 audio through HDMI correctly, I will follow your suggestion and ask the manufacturure to delete the Maui and instead provide a 4670 with HDMI.
Maui "home theater 7.1 platform" simply means 7.1 analog. D2Audio DAE-3 is just an analog sound card (built in the mb). If you want to use HDMI with Denon 4806, it's perfectly useless.

DG45ID's "Dolby Home Theater" works only with onboard audio codec (analog and S/PDIF). It has nothing to do with HDMI audio.

Precisely speaking, Maui's onboard video supports HDMI audio, but limited to stereo LPCM, DD and DTS. DG45ID's onboard video supports HDMI audio: 7.1 LPCM, DD and DTS. But onboard video is inferior to a good discrete video card such as HD 4670 in PQ. You'd better choose HD 4670 (HDMI audio controller supporting 7.1 LPCM is built-in) or HD 4670+HDMI sound card such as ASUS Xonar HDAV1.3, Auzentech X-Fi HomeTheater HD (supporting Dolby TrueHD/DTS-HD Master Audio bitstreams). (But these sound cards are still incomplete [Xonar] or not released yet [X-Fi HomeTheater].)

chvybeatsford

01-15-09, 12:57 PM

Thanks

DCDeac

01-15-09, 12:59 PM

theddy

01-15-09, 06:43 PM

Joseph Clark

01-15-09, 07:32 PM

here are the specs

OS: windows vista premium 64-bit
Processor: intel core i7 920
RAM: 3gb ddr3
Video: ATI Radeon HD 4850

the monitor that i'm using right now is a samsung syncmaster t240hd but i also want to connect it to my 46" xbr in my family room where my home theater is. i want to keep the cpu and the monitor in the office.
also need help on buying a good performing pc speaker.

sorry for being a noob :confused: but really need help and would like to thank you in advance
:)

I have a similar HTPC (Vista Ultimate 64/Core i7/4850). You'll love the combination. I have a computer monitor in one room and a projector in a dedicated home theater room. I use an Octava 3x2 Cross Switch. On rare occasions, I get a BSOD when switching, but I think it's related to the odd combination of 2 different displays/2 different HTPCs/2 different HDMI receivers and the Octava switch. It's rare, but annoying.

Nice thing about the Octava is that is comes with an infrared remote. Codes for it exist in the Harmony remote database.

If the Octava matrix switchers had existed when I bought, I'd have looked at the 4x4 matrix switch. I can't vouch for it for sure, since I haven't had any direct experience with it, but if it's like the 3x2 cross switch, it's a good product.

Here's the Octava link. (http://www.octavainc.com/)

lrstevens421

01-15-09, 08:18 PM

jason.williams14

01-16-09, 12:02 AM

renethx

01-16-09, 02:09 AM

I've been reading this thread, ...
XP Pro should be fine. Just add a front end.

Mirror means RAID 1? ICH10R supports it. But storing data in an external drive is safer.

HDT-S1283 fits GA-EP45-UD3P/UD3R fine.

If you play games rarely, you could go with HD 4670 and save electric bill (-40W at idle).

Do you need an analog sound card? Can't you use S/PDIF from the onboard audio codec?

renethx

01-16-09, 03:24 AM

Renethx, does Nvidia have any new HTPC friendly video cards on the horizon? I'm just wondering if they're going to be producing video cards with true HDMI audio.

Also, you have listed that the HD 4670 supports 1080p24, what is necessary for this?
NVIDIA is working on HDMI audio on their discrete cards, but I don't know if it's on the horizon.

Basically you need to set the refresh rate to 24 Hz in CCC. If you are lucky, you will get perfect 24p (like me). Otherwise you will have to do some tweaks. A common tool is ReClock.

renethx

01-16-09, 03:36 AM

Awesome information in this thread. Major kudos to the OP of this thread. This has helped me tremendously.

Being as I am going to build my first HTPC and media server, just wanted to run by a few quick questions here.

First, my HTPC will be going into a slot in my built in where my TV and receiver sit. Unfortunately, I dont have a lot of room height wise. I measured and have just around 6.5 inches to work with. It looks like my best bet is to go with the Antec fusion remote black. Cool with me.

Few questions:

How important is the CPU and GPU in the actual HTPC? How much of a difference does memory make?

The media server: sounds like it doesnt need to be a beast, but can be built relatively cheap. Correct?

Storage: anyone have a formula for calculating how much storage you need?
DAS is intriguing. But what about the use of a NAS? I am thinking about cooling and such and if i have a DAS in my den, how much heat and power that will draw.
Thanks,

Jason
Clearly CPU and GPU are necessary. Sometimes CPU does video decoding so dual-core > 2.0GHz is a safer choice. GPU is the single most important component in HTPC. It does video decoding and post-processing. Video playback is not memory intensive (in particular for a discrete video card that has its own video memory).

Required storage space depends on what you store (obviously). DVD < 10GB, BD > 20GB. If you use WHS or unRAID, you can build a server cheap. You can even use spare CPU, memory, mb and start with a couple of HDDs, and exand them later. Roughly 10W per HDD.

roostaar

01-16-09, 04:21 AM

Funny, not only did I build basically this same htpc, but I also had a DVI->HDMI cable lying around and used it. For a minute I thought there was some tiny internal speaker making noise at boot time, then I figured out it was my TV from the HDMI port. I didn't even know that was possible, I figured DVI out meant no sound...

Hey! The same HTPC... Great minds and all that! You have DVI->HDMI cables lying around!? LOL.

I was blown away with the audio over DVI->HDMI, a right treat. I noticed that you need to have the correct Default VGA setting as 'Internal' in BIOS for this to work and then select Nvidia HDMI audio in sound settings in Vista for this to work. Mine defaulted to this anyway.

roostaar

01-16-09, 04:25 AM

ffdshow does not support HA. You can use MPC-HC with the built-in video decoder for this purpose.

If you can hear voices clearly, then audio is downmixed to stereo.

What is 'HA'? Sorry for noobness.

The oboard HDMI (and DVI with a DVI-HDMI adapter) supports 5.1/7.1 ch. LPCM, DD, DTS. You don't need a sound card unless you want Dolby TrueHD/DTS-HD Master Audio bitstreaming. You need to configure the Sound dialog box and the player audio settings correctly to get multichannel audio.

Will .mkvs with Dolby TrueHD/DTS-HD Master Audio still play on a stereo/5.1/7.1 system though? Where can I learn more about bitstreaming??

Many thanks again

renethx

01-16-09, 04:34 AM

What is 'HA'? Sorry for noobness.

Will .mkvs with Dolby TrueHD/DTS-HD Master Audio still play on a stereo/5.1/7.1 system though? Where can I learn more about bitstreaming??

Many thanks again
HA is hardware acceleration.

Yes. ffdshow Audio Decoder decodes TrueHD (downsampled to 16bit though), and plays the core DTS of DTS-HD MA.

Bitstreaming TrueHD and DTS-HD MA is supported only by ASUS Xonar HDAV1.3 (and Auzentech X-Fi HomeTheater HD, released soon). Check the official thread of each card.

a2gtinut

01-16-09, 11:37 AM

renethx

01-16-09, 11:52 AM

my system is going to be
Gigabyte GA-E7AUM-DS2H
Intel E7300
LG BD-rom drive
WD3200BJKT - WD Scorpio Black Series 320G drives - Raid1.
Seasonic S12II-330W
nMedia 1000 case
Initially wanted to use standard 3.5 drives but they are power hungry.
I may not use RAID 1 but use external drive for back up.
what do you all think?
Good.

BTW

WD6400AAKS (http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=394)

Power Dissipation
- Read/Write 8.3 Watts
- Idle 7.7 Watts

WD3200BJKT (http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=477)

Power Dissipation
- Read/Write 2.50 Watts
- Idle 0.85 Watts

Surely 3.5" drive is power hungry compared with 2.5", but unless you are going to attach 20 drives to a 330W PSU, you don't have to worry about the difference.

sir

01-16-09, 06:59 PM

Hi everyone,

Is Asus P5GD1 still an acceptable MB for a HTPC?
If yes what video card will be a good solution?

If not it can be used for a NAS setup?

Thanks.

renethx

01-16-09, 07:53 PM

Hi everyone,

Is Asus P5GD1 still an acceptable MB for a HTPC?
If yes what video card will be a good solution?

If not it can be used for a NAS setup?

Thanks.
Acceptable, but not recommended because it supports only single-core processors. Radeon HD 4550 or higher for HDMI audio, GeForce 9500 GT or higher for S/PDIF.

sir

01-16-09, 08:23 PM

Acceptable, but not recommended because it supports only single-core processors. Radeon HD 4550 or higher for HDMI audio, GeForce 9500 GT or higher for S/PDIF.

It will be OK for a NAS/file server?

What MB+CPU+video card you will recommend to buy for a dedicated HTPC (no gaming involve just video HD+SD and music)?

Thanks

jtm311

01-16-09, 08:51 PM

renethx

01-16-09, 09:39 PM

It will be OK for a NAS/file server?

What MB+CPU+video card you will recommend to buy for a dedicated HTPC (no gaming involve just video HD+SD and music)?

Thanks
Yes.

Check low-end systems at page 85.

renethx

01-17-09, 04:10 AM

HKEPC Hardware (http://www.hkepc.com/2268)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=131310&stc=1&d=1232984531

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=131311&stc=1&d=1232984531

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=131312&stc=1&d=1232984531

jtm311

01-17-09, 12:02 PM

So I had to back up and change directions. After renethx's point about sound, I am going to purchase the Denon 4803 so I can get 7.1 sound. With this in mind I would like to build my HTPC on this. Also hook to my 52" TV

What I would use the HTPC for are the following:

built-in wireless on the MRB (surf and dowload movies)
Burn, play DVD and Blue Ray
Use this as a backup for all my photos
hold a few thousand MP3 files and of course play them
play some games

My budget is $1800. or less
Could anyone help with a high end HTPC layout.

Thanks guys. sorry for all the question.
John

OK I think I have it correct. What do you think?
Do I need the sound card for 7.1 with this motherboard?

Qty. Product Description Savings Total Price
1 Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569Q9550 Item #: N82E16819115041 $294.99

1 Rosewill RCR-102 52-in-1 USB 2.0 Card Reader Item #: N82E16820223073 $11.99

1 ASUS EN9800GTX+ DK/HTDI/512M GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card Item #: N82E16814121284 $189.99

1 SILVERSTONE Black Aluminum front panel, 0.8 mm SECC body GD01B-MXR ATX Media Center / HTPC Case Item #: N82E16811163076 $239.99

1 HITACHI Deskstar 7K1000 HDS721010KLA330 (0A35155) 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Item #: N82E16822145167 $109.99

1 CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5DHX Item #: N82E16820145176 $90.00

1 ASUS Xonar D2X 7.1 Channels PCI Express Interface Sound Card Item #: N82E16829132005 199.99

1 Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 Upgrade Item #: N82E16832116474 $185.99

1 Intel BOXDP35DPM LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard Item #: N82E16813121314 $104.99

1 ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler Item #: N82E16835186134 $36.99

1 Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000 Item #: N82E16823109012 $115.99

1 LITE-ON Black 4X Blu-ray Burner SATA Model DH-4B1S-08 Item #: N82E16827248014 $229.99

renethx

01-17-09, 12:56 PM

OK I think I have it correct. What do you think?
- Do you need a card reader? Check the specs of the built-in card reader first.

- GeForce 9800 GTX+ (10.5" long) does not fit GD01B. Some gaming cards that fit the case are GeForce 9800 GT (9"), Radeon HD 4850 (9.25"), HD 4870 (9.45"). If you want to use 9800 GTX+ or higher, you have to use SilverStone CW02 or Antec Fusion Remote Max.

- There are lots of better mbs in the same price range. For example, GA-EP45-UD3P.

- ASUS Xonar D2X is a wrong sound card (its' analog only). If you want TrueHD/DTS-HD MA bitstreams, ASUS Xonar HDAV1.3 or Auzentech X-Fi HomeTheater HD is the card you want. You'd better wait until Auzentech releases the card. Otherwise a Radeon HD 4xxx card is enough (multichannel LPCM).

superhero6

01-17-09, 02:07 PM

I posted this question in my own thread when I should have posted here. My questions and ideas for a Media/HTPC are here in my original post.
Please let me know your thoughts and suggestions. Thanks.

I have been reading and lurking and trying to gather up as much information as I can get before building a Media/HTPC. The main purpose of the machine will be to play DVD/BD/HD-DVD rips stored on my WHS machine. I have been ripping and re-encoding for my XBOX 360 for a couple of years now, but I'm tired of tying up my machine for days at a time doing encoding. I would like to just rip to an .iso and playback. I would like to be able to handle 1080p content with HD Audio. My current AVR doesn't support HDMI so I would like to run the audio into the 7.1 analog inputs. I have some spare hardware left over from different PC's I have built that I would like to use if it fits the bill.

I have:

Motherboard: EVGA nForce 680i 122-CK-NF68
CPU: Pentium D 925 3.0Ghz
Memory: 4GB Patriot 4x1GB PDC22G6400LLK
Sound Card: Auzentech HDA X-Mystique 7.1
Hard Drive:Western Digital 250GB WD2500AAKS

Was thinking of buying:
(cant post links as this is my first post but I found this hardware on newegg)

Case: SILVERSTONE LC10-BM Looked nice and comes with remote and a the needed ATX power power adapter to do remote power up.

DVD/BR Drive: Sony BR-5100S Cheap and black.

Power Supply: CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX

Video Card: EVGA 512-P3-N954-TR GeForce 9500 GT 512MB

CPU Cooler: Any Ideas?

Do you think the older Auzentech card would be ok for analog? Should I just use the on board sound? or get a different card. I'm assuming that the conversion of the HD audio happens on the PC so I can get real 7.1 out? Is this correct?

So I was thinking of using Vista x64 Home Premium and Arcsoft TMT along with MPC-HC. I already use AnyDVD-HD so I would continue to use it.

Please let me know what suggestions and wisdom you guys and gals have.

Thank You.

;)

audionewer

01-17-09, 02:08 PM

does anyone knows any sites that show the benchmark for encoding 1080p on current cpu?

Joseph Clark

01-17-09, 02:22 PM

OK I think I have it correct. What do you think?
Do I need the sound card for 7.1 with this motherboard?

Qty. Product Description Savings Total Price
1 Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569Q9550 Item #: N82E16819115041 $294.99

1 Rosewill RCR-102 52-in-1 USB 2.0 Card Reader Item #: N82E16820223073 $11.99

1 ASUS EN9800GTX+ DK/HTDI/512M GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card Item #: N82E16814121284 $189.99

1 SILVERSTONE Black Aluminum front panel, 0.8 mm SECC body GD01B-MXR ATX Media Center / HTPC Case Item #: N82E16811163076 $239.99

1 HITACHI Deskstar 7K1000 HDS721010KLA330 (0A35155) 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Item #: N82E16822145167 $109.99

1 CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5DHX Item #: N82E16820145176 $90.00

1 ASUS Xonar D2X 7.1 Channels PCI Express Interface Sound Card Item #: N82E16829132005 199.99

1 Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 Upgrade Item #: N82E16832116474 $185.99

1 Intel BOXDP35DPM LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard Item #: N82E16813121314 $104.99

1 ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler Item #: N82E16835186134 $36.99

1 Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000 Item #: N82E16823109012 $115.99

1 LITE-ON Black 4X Blu-ray Burner SATA Model DH-4B1S-08 Item #: N82E16827248014 $229.99

May I offer an alternative to your list? You might want to think about the new i7 Gateway computer, which has most of what you want, for less money:

Gateway FX6800 Computer (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9081325&type=product&id=1218017465909) - $1,250

Unless you have to be able to burn Blu-ray, you could go with the LG Blu-ray reader, which is a lot less:

LG Blu-ray/HD DVD reader/DVD and CD Burner (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136133) - $120

Although the drive in this system is only 750GB, you could easily add a couple of these Seagate 1.5TB drives:

Seagate 1.5TB Drives - just plug them in the front (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148337) - 2x $130

Wireless USB Adapter (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833314032) - $60

Vista Ultimate Upgrade - Best Buy frequently offers this upgrade for $99, if you install it yourself.

All this comes out to about $1,800 and you have a better CPU, about the same amount of memory, and a lot more storage. The system comes with a Radeon 4850 video card - great for Blu-ray playback and configured for 7.1 sound via HDMI right out of the box.

I recently upgraded to this system. I got it on a weekend when Best Buy was offering the $99 Vista Ultimate upgrade, which I installed myself. I plugged in 2 SATA hard drives for video editing, added an LG USB Blu-ray drive and an extra 6GB of RAM. It's the best machine I have for HTPC use (Blu-ray playback and audio are amazing), video editing, and general computing. I have no need for wireless, and I think a lot of people could get by without the Vista Ultimate upgrade, although I like having a couple of the Ultimate features, and it was worth the price.

I know this thread concentrates on building your own PC, and I've done that many, many times, but this system is very close to being the perfect high end HTPC if you add a Blu-ray drive. Throw in PowerDVD and a Media Center Remote and you're ready to rock. And it felt good, for a change, not having to build my own (and not having to troubleshoot little problems).

jtm311

01-17-09, 02:34 PM

[QUOTE=Joseph Clark;15580605]May I offer an alternative to your list? You might want to think about the new i7 Gateway computer, which has most of what you want, for less money:

Gateway FX6800 Computer (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9081325&type=product&id=1218017465909) - $1,250

Joe thanks I will look into that of course I would have to change case also.

Will not really fit in my setup.

John

xgwang

01-17-09, 03:51 PM

I built a low-end microATX, but bought this motherboad by mistake, GA-EG45M-DS2H (instead of GA-E7AUM-DS2H),
which uses Intel G45 graphics chip. When it played video in full screen mode, screen started flashing. I am using Windows XP pro.

I used the Gigabyte driver coming with the mb. Would a new driver solve this problem?

Should I go with a separate graphics card if the driver cannot solve the problem? I want a quiet one. Two were mentioned on p.85
1) HIS H467QT512P Radeon HD 4670
2) ASUS EN9500GT TOP/DI/512M
Which would fit into the small case: Antec NSK1480.
I know Geforce chip has a good linux support, ATI chip does not. Has this changed?

Thanks.

rmmeli

01-17-09, 05:05 PM

I have VMC 64 bit, MyMovies, PowerDVD and AnyDVD installed. I ripped a BD to mkv and want to play it in VMC. Can someone suggest what the minimum codecs I need in VMC to get it to work? When I try and play it in VMC via the My Movies plugin) I get an error saying that Media Center cannot play the file.

Thanks.

shazo

01-17-09, 05:51 PM

So this is my first time building one of thies. What do you guys think?

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=5912249

renethx

01-17-09, 08:47 PM

I posted this question in my own thread when I should have posted here. My questions and ideas for a Media/HTPC are here in my original post.
Please let me know your thoughts and suggestions.
I don't think you need X-Mystique 7.1. S/PDIF from the onboard audio should be enough, although it is limited to 5.1. I would sell Pentium D and buy Pentium Dual-Core E5xxx (performs much better; consumes less power [by < -30W at idle?]).

renethx

01-17-09, 08:50 PM

renethx

01-17-09, 08:54 PM

renethx

01-17-09, 09:08 PM

So this is my first time building one of thies. What do you guys think?

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=5912249
I recommend the ATX mid-range Intel/Intel system at page 85 instead for the following components:

- CPU: Core 2 Duo runs much cooler
- mb
- PSU: FSP is a waste of money
- OS: OEM is enough
- Seagate 1.5TB: read this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1102039).

walterg74

01-17-09, 09:21 PM

Check this post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=15307558#post15307558).

renethx, do you have a good site (or post even) where I could learn about codecsm programs, order when stuff is called, what is executed and when (and when it's not) , etc?

Thanx! :D

renethx

01-17-09, 09:41 PM

renethx, do you have a good site (or post even) where I could learn about codecsm programs, order when stuff is called, what is executed and when (and when it's not) , etc?
General discussion on codecs is

msdn: DirectShow (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd375454(VS.85).aspx)

walterg74

01-17-09, 10:41 PM

General discussion on codecs is

msdn: DirectShow (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd375454(VS.85).aspx)

Thanks, I'll look into it with more depth, but at first sight, isn't that more developer related and also only about directshow? (maybe I know so little, that that is the basic and I don't know..)

And what about something more oriented as to what to touch/open/set in windows/your programs to activate/deactivate stuff as you wish? :confused:

renethx

01-17-09, 10:52 PM

Thanks, I'll look into it with more depth, but at first sight, isn't that more developer related and also only about directshow? (maybe I know so little, that that is the basic and I don't know..)

And what about something more oriented as to what to touch/open/set in windows/your programs to activate/deactivate stuff as you wish? :confused:
I think your question is too vague. If you have a particular player/codec in mind, you should read its documentation.

rlminton

01-17-09, 10:54 PM

I have a nvidia 7800gtx video card, would using this card be better for HiDef playback than a motherboard like the asus m3n78 pro with the 8300 on board?

renethx

01-17-09, 11:15 PM

I have a nvidia 7800gtx video card, would using this card be better for HiDef playback than a motherboard like the asus m3n78 pro with the 8300 on board?
No. The latest IGP is better.

hybridcj

01-17-09, 11:34 PM

So in reading all millions of posts I've come to the conclusion that my specs won't really cut it for a full fledged htpc with bdp and support for hdaudio. Further, I don't really want to spend all of the money on building a new system. Unless i'm told otherwise given my pc specs, I'm going the upgrade route below. If you think adding a capable video card and a blu-ray drive will work, let me know.

So what I want to do: put my dvd library on my pc, music on my pc, record hd and sd broadcasts on my pc; all of which will be streamed through xbox as a MCE.

My specs:
Motherboard: MSI 7093
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 x2 4800+ Socket 939 (Toledo)
RAM: 2.5G PC3200
GPU: ATI X700pro (won't work if connected to tv, i know)
HDD: currently ide 500gb WD. upgrading to 7200rpm 750gb WD SATA.
OS: XP Pro

planning on installing a avertv card to capture video

If i upgrade to Vista home premium and connect wireless through my home network, will that be sufficient to rip dvd, capture tv and stream to the xbox? Am I going to spend hours ripping before this is worth my effort? Can my setup handle capturing hd broadcasts?

One other thing: I've gotten better speed using an access point as an access bridge to my wireless router. Further, I get some stuttering with the dual core with a few different wireless cards so this tends to be a better setup. Will my xbox be able to see my PC if connected through a wireless bridge to my wireless router? router is a wrt54g.

I want to set up an htpc as a tower but I don't really have the space to do that in my current house, nor do i want to spend the cash on something if my needs will change in the near future. to upgrade and set up my pc as merely a media server, it will cost me $200, much less than the htpc i would like to set up.

Also, if I rip dvd and capture hd broadcasts, will they maintain 5.1 audio when streaming through my xbox?

Sorry for all of the questions, I've read through a lot here and I know what I eventually want, this is just to hold me over.

walterg74

01-17-09, 11:42 PM

I think your question is too vague. If you have a particular player/codec in mind, you should read its documentation.

Hmm... maybe you're right and I'm not explaining well what I want to know...

I know you told me a while back that some programs dan't call certain things, etc. etc... What I want to find is info on say I startup a certain program (for example windvd, or vmc, etc.) does that call a certain codec/software? (like ffdshow) can I override that and just use the hardware accelaration of my discrete card? what's the flow of information/sequence of processes that happens when you playback a file? Did you get me know, or did I complicate it more? :D

renethx

01-17-09, 11:53 PM

Hmm... maybe you're right and I'm not explaining well what I want to know...

I know you told me a while back that some programs dan't call certain things, etc. etc... What I want to find is info on say I startup a certain program (for example windvd, or vmc, etc.) does that call a certain codec/software? (like ffdshow) can I override that and just use the hardware accelaration of my discrete card? what's the flow of information/sequence of processes that happens when you playback a file? Did you get me know, or did I complicate it more? :D
Usually there is no room for changing codecs with a commercial player.

renethx

01-17-09, 11:53 PM

shazo

01-17-09, 11:58 PM

hybridcj

01-17-09, 11:59 PM

Wireless is not enough for streaming HD contents.

impressive speed on the reply - thank you. I can wire it to the router - that isn't the biggest deal and it will make the cable easier to run into the computer as well. biggest concern is that my computer can do what i need it to. by upgrading the software and putting the card in am i putting a band aid on a broken arm or could this theoretically work and hold me over for a bit?

xgwang

01-18-09, 12:03 AM

None of the cards you mentioned fits NSK1480. Return GA-EG45M-DS2H and buy GA-E7AUM-DS2H. Or buy Radeon HD 4550 (Sapphire or ASUS).

Thanks renethx for your quick reply.
Too much hassle to return the mb.
I checked the Sapphire card. It is a low-profile card. I have to use the low-profile bracket for the small case. This means that I would only have one DVI, would not be able to use dual monitor/TV.

I would also try on the driver side to make the G45 chip work better.

renethx

01-18-09, 12:30 AM

biggest concern is that my computer can do what i need it to. by upgrading the software and putting the card in am i putting a band aid on a broken arm or could this theoretically work and hold me over for a bit?
Basically if you upgrade graphics, your system is fine. Do you need to upgrade to Vista? Isn't XP+a front end enough?

renethx

01-18-09, 12:44 AM

I will check that out. What brand of HDD would you suggest to get? I plan on dumping all my HD, BD and SD DVDs on it so I'm going to need a lot of room. The card in that build what does it use for the HD out? I don't see an HDMI port on it. Also do all the cards out put at 1080p that say HD?
WD10EADS for storage. WD20EADS (2TB) is rumored to be released soon. The BIOSTAR card should be good. The card in my recommendation comes with a DVI-HDMI adapter (a normal way in most of the current graphics cards). 1080p has been supported for a long time. Main features of the latest cards are hardware acceleration for HD video decoding and good post-processing (called ATI Avivo HD, NVIDIA PureVideo HD technology).

hybridcj

01-18-09, 01:48 AM

Basically if you upgrade graphics, your system is fine. Do you need to upgrade to Vista? Isn't XP+a front end enough?

No media center in xp pro. I thought the only way to get that is to upgrade to vista home premium unless i'm mistaken.

renethx

01-18-09, 02:05 AM

No media center in xp pro. I thought the only way to get that is to upgrade to vista home premium unless i'm mistaken.
For example, MediaPotal (http://www.team-mediaportal.com/). There is a sticky thread for this.

jtm311

01-18-09, 08:04 AM

- Do you need a card reader? Check the specs of the built-in card reader first.

- GeForce 9800 GTX+ (10.5" long) does not fit GD01B. Some gaming cards that fit the case are GeForce 9800 GT (9"), Radeon HD 4850 (9.25"), HD 4870 (9.45"). If you want to use 9800 GTX+ or higher, you have to use SilverStone CW02 or Antec Fusion Remote Max.

- There are lots of better mbs in the same price range. For example, GA-EP45-UD3P.

- ASUS Xonar D2X is a wrong sound card (its' analog only). If you want TrueHD/DTS-HD MA bitstreams, ASUS Xonar HDAV1.3 or Auzentech X-Fi HomeTheater HD is the card you want. You'd better wait until Auzentech releases the card. Otherwise a Radeon HD 4xxx card is enough (multichannel LPCM).

Renethx thanks I will do my home work on the MRD may setup to a i7.
I have read the reveiws on the Xonar HDAV1.3 not to good, or maybe people are having a problem setting them up?

I will also look into the Gateway
soultion not to puchase maybe to take their parts list because the case would not work from the 6800 fx.

Lastly I like the spec on the 4870 card :) good call.

Clint1079

01-18-09, 08:12 AM

Over the last two weeks I've been tinkering with the Mini-ITX system Renethx spec'd out. It's preformed beautifully and I appreciate how Renethx doesn't overkill the specs, it's got plenty of power to get the job done but doesn't kill your wallet.

My HTPC is the Intel ITX DG45FC, with a 1.5TB Seagate, 4GB DDR, Lite-On Bluray Drive. It's a very tight squeeze inside the case, Apex MI-008, but with some zip ties it's possible to clean everything up and get by without right angle sata or power cables. The overall size is so small, I love it.

For anyone thinking of building the same there are some details you should be aware of. These are things I've encountered so far...

-- If you are playing BluRay or HD DVD only the Vista Video Drivers for the Intel DG45FC support it. I first went Vista and it worked, didn't like it compared to XP, so switched and then found when I loaded PowerDVD it complained about the drivers. I plan to contact Intel, but maybe someone else here can speak to this, is this common amongst video drivers for XP? I'd guess no for ATI and Nvidia cards.

-- HEAT, I haven't put the cover on the case on yet, but can tell it'd going to be a challenge to keep the cpu fan from spinning up constantly.

-- AHCI, The bios allows three drive modes, IDE, AHCI and RAID.... Using IDE means the easiest support and no drivers required during install of either Vista or XP. Supposedly AHCI includes some new features to improve performance, but setting that mode requires a driver disk you have to load (F6!) during install. What's tricky is there are no drivers for the AHCI mode from Intel, so don't waste your time setting it. There are though drivers for the RAID mode which includes AHCI, so use RAID mode even if you don't plan on using RAID for your drives.

-- HDMI Audio, This seems like a common problem amongst all HTPC's using HDMI Audio for sound. For whatever reason the OS will lose the audio connection with the TV, saying it's not connected. For example when the machine boots the Windows Startup sound will play, but a minute later, no audio will work. I have to turn off and on my TV to get it to resync and that seems to fix it as long as the audio stream remains active to the TV. If anyone knows a fix for this I'd love to hear it.

renethx

01-18-09, 08:39 AM

I have read the reveiws on the Xonar HDAV1.3 not to good, or maybe people are having a problem setting them up?
If you want to add an HDMI sound card, you'd better wait for the Auzentech card and the upcoming revision of Xonar or its slim version.

d60pdp

01-18-09, 08:42 AM

-- HDMI Audio, This seems like a common problem amongst all HTPC's using HDMI Audio for sound. For whatever reason the OS will lose the audio connection with the TV, saying it's not connected. For example when the machine boots the Windows Startup sound will play, but a minute later, no audio will work. I have to turn off and on my TV to get it to resync and that seems to fix it as long as the audio stream remains active to the TV. If anyone knows a fix for this I'd love to hear it.

Maybe HDMIOn (http://thydzik.com/hdmiOn/hdmiOn.exe)?

Clint1079

01-18-09, 09:21 AM

Maybe HDMIOn (http://thydzik.com/hdmiOn/hdmiOn.exe)?

thanks I'll try it!

Uziel

01-18-09, 10:00 AM

I am building a Home Media Server that houses all of our photos, music, etc. I also want it to send media through TVersity over the network (wirelessly) to the XBOX360 and my HDTV in another room. I was trying to go low cost and low power. Since I'll be streaming through TVersity, GPU offloading isn't used at all, it will be ALL CPU.

Any opinions on what I have thus far?
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=7805294

I wanted to get a few opinions or suggestions on better hardware for same or better prices.

jtm311

01-18-09, 10:17 AM

If you want to add an HDMI sound card, you'd better wait for the Auzentech card and the upcoming revision of Xonar or its slim version.

renethx

This is the card you are reffering to? X-Fi™ Forte 7.1 Low Profile PCI Express Sound Card

John

rmmeli

01-18-09, 11:09 AM

Check this post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=15307558#post15307558).
Thanks renethx. I actually got it to work after reading the posts you pointed me to. I need to check it all over to make sure but it is now working instead of just getting a VMC error message!

renethx

01-18-09, 11:13 AM

renethx

This is the card you are reffering to? X-Fi™ Forte 7.1 Low Profile PCI Express Sound Card

John
No, X-Fi HomeTheater HD.

idaho_mark

01-18-09, 12:19 PM

renethx - If you could suggest something for me I'd appreciate it (or anyone else with this problem).

I'm getting a lot of stuttering with Arcsoft TMTsince a couple of versions ago on MPEG-4/AVC encoded Blu-ray discs when played via my LG GGC-H20L drive. However, they play fine when I rip my discs to folder with AnyDVD-HD and play from the folder. I've checked the dma settings and don't know if I've missed something else. I know some of these movies have played properly before (months ago) from the disc, so that's why I'm not sure if I should upgrade or not - hence the request for an opinion here.

I currently have:

AMD X2 5200+ at 2.6Ghz
GA-M57SLI-S4 with 2GB Corsair DDR2 800
LG GGC-H20L combo drive - no firmware updates
ECS N9600GT-512MX video card, 181.20 diver (prior versions worked the same)
Windows MCE2005
Avast v. 4.8-1296 (haven't tried removing this yet)

I've tried overclocking the cpu to 2.8Ghz - about as far as it will reliably go for me with this motherboard - no help.

I noticed under drivers for the LG drive that there is an old one from Cyberlink when I had PDVD installed - is that a potential problem?

I have Haali, MKV Splitter, MadFlac and ffdshow installed for use with MPC-HC - can they conflict at all with TMT?

Any potential problems with some TweakUI settings?

I was thinking I could see if a clean format and reinstall would solve things, but was hoping someone here could give some suggestions first.

Many thanks to all!

renethx

01-19-09, 02:08 AM

renethx - If you could suggest something for me I'd appreciate it (or anyone else with this problem).
Did you try this?: Uninstall TMT and NVIDIA graphics driver. Reinstall them.

asifnyc

01-19-09, 02:39 AM

looking for feedback on my proposed htpc parts list. I looked for a noob "will all these parts work together?" thread but didn't see anything like that. my apologies if there is a more appropriate thread to post in... I am looking to build my first htpc (actually my first pc build of any kind). I have an HD tv, a tivo (series 1), xbox 360, cheap HTIB receiver (which I'm planning on upgrading soon). Ideally I would like to phase out the tivo and use the htpc as a pvr. I also want to download movies/tv shows and rip my existing dvd collection (a very small collection). I do not intend to watch any physical media (dvd, hd dvd, blu-ray) so I'm planning to install a simple read only dvd player that will get hardly any use except for installing the os. and I would like to try using my HD tv as my primary computer display for surfing the net. there will be no pc game playing involved... with that in mind, here's what I've come up with.

ASUS M3N78-EM AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8300 HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard $89.99

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600 Brisbane 2.9GHz Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Processor Model ADO5600DOBOX $69.00

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ $39.99

Nexus NX-4090 Quiet Power Supply 400w $89.95

AVerMedia AVerTV Combo PCIe ATSC/NTSC/QAM TV Tuner Card (White Box)w/L-P Bracket 7 95522 96058 0 PCI-Express x1 Interface $89.99

TOSHIBA MK8052GSX(HDD2H05) 80GB 5400 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Notebook Hard Drive $31.27
*for a boot/os drive

Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EADS 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive $109.99

SILVERSTONE Black Aluminum / Steel Grandia GD02B Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case $169.99
*this case is only 14"+ inches deep which is a requirement to fit in my cabinet and is what pushed me into the micro ATX arena.

any comments/observations appreciated. thanks!

renethx

01-19-09, 03:18 AM

any comments/observations appreciated. thanks!
Looks fine. :)

dmce

01-19-09, 08:09 AM

renethx

01-19-09, 08:40 AM

I have a quick question on sound output. If i have my HTPC (Gigabyte 9400 board) connected to my AVR via HDMI and SPDIF, do i have to manually switch if say i move from watching a BLURAY to a XVID/AC3 AVI?

If so how do people handle this. Some kind of hotkey? Does this work in say MediaPortal?

I suppose the same applies to frame rate for movies. My screen does 24, 50 and 60Hz, so i would need to manually switch it?
Use only HDMI (so you don't have to switch sound playback device). HDMI supports all the audio formats S/PDIF supports.

Switching between 24Hz, 50Hz and 60Hz: read this post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=15201728#post15201728).

dmce

01-19-09, 08:44 AM

Use only HDMI (so you don't have to switch sound playback device). HDMI supports all the audio formats S/PDIF supports.

Thanks mate. The codecs/filters used still dont matter if its all through HDMI. i.e. if AC3Filter is in play it will still go via HDMI? Just want to get my head round this.

idaho_mark

01-19-09, 09:06 AM

renethx - I uninstalled the nvidia driver before switching to the latest, and have uninstalled/reinstalled TMT numerous times (per Arcsoft's recommended method of removing files, directories and registry entries) when trying out various versions. I'm seeing others having similar problems now though with the MPEG-4 discs, so I'm not sure what to think. I was mainly wondering if my hardware was up to snuff.

Very odd. I may just reformat and reinstall everything. Its been a while since I've done that, and with adding various codec programs and such, who knows what could have been done to the whole system.

Thanks -

renethx

01-19-09, 09:24 AM

Thanks mate. The codecs/filters used still dont matter if its all through HDMI. i.e. if AC3Filter is in play it will still go via HDMI? Just want to get my head round this.
For what purpose do you use AC3Filter? I recommend to remove it. Its main role in HTPC is encoding multichannel LPCM into AC3 (DD), that you should never do.

dmce

01-19-09, 09:30 AM

For what purpose do you use AC3Filter? I recommend to remove it.

Im just setting up my HTPC and playing about with filters/codecs etc. If i have an AVI which has an AC3 audio track then it needs to be decoded somehow. AC3Filter could be used here i guess or i could go with ffdshow. I dont specifically know which filters/codecs are "best" at this stage.

Going back to the original query i guess other codecs/filters could be substitued for ac3filter, so a better question may be; does HDMI output audio for all audio filters/codecs?

renethx

01-19-09, 09:33 AM

renethx

01-19-09, 09:39 AM

Im just setting up my HTPC and playing about with filters/codecs etc. If i have an AVI which has an AC3 audio track then it needs to be decoded somehow. AC3Filter could be used here i guess or i could go with ffdshow. I dont specifically know which filters/codecs are "best" at this stage.

Going back to the original query i guess other codecs/filters could be substitued for ac3filter, so a better question may be; does HDMI output audio for all audio filters/codecs?
NVIDIA HDMI supports multichannel LPCM, DD, DTS. If a movie file contains a DD or DTS audio track and you want to use it, then use the "pass-through" mode in your audio filter. Your AVR will decode it. All the other audio format must be decoded into LPCM, but I don't know if there is an audio format that can't be decoded to LPCM (such an audio format would be completely useless in PC). (Of course DD/DTS can be decoded in PC if you like.)

dmce

01-19-09, 09:43 AM

NVIDIA HDMI supports multichannel LPCM, DD, DTS. If a movie file contains a DD or DTS audio track and you want to use it, then use the "pass-through" mode in your audio filter. Your AVR will decode it. All the other audio format must be decoded into LPCM, but I don't know if there is an audio format that can't be decoded to LPCM (such an audio format would be completely useless in PC).

Thanks for the help. I need to do a bit more reading on this subject i guess. This would also apply to decoding MP3 tracks from AVIs and FLAC for my music (although i have squeezebox) into LPCM as well.

In the case of a AC3 soundtrack, would you still stand by not using AC3Filter?

renethx

01-19-09, 09:52 AM

In the case of a AC3 soundtrack, would you still stand by not using AC3Filter?
AC3Filter does not work with HDMI properly AFAIK. You'd better remove it.

dmce

01-19-09, 09:59 AM

AC3Filter does not work with HDMI properly AFAIK. You'd better remove it.

I guess i best remove that then :), i will go read up on codecs/filters

idaho_mark

01-19-09, 10:58 AM

I do have a spare drive so I'll try installing MCE2005 and TMT with the nvidia video driver and see what happens with just those running. I use driver sweeper too after removing the video driver, so in theory there should be no remnants left. Maybe an older version of the nvidia driver worked better? I'll post the results in a day or so.

Thanks again!

Ric_Margiotta

01-19-09, 11:37 AM

Hi Renethx,
I know that you've previously published the power usage of your recommended builds, but I wasn't able to find them looking back through the thread. Could you please let me know the power usage of your low end AMD/AMD build?

The reason I ask is that I'd really like to build my HTPC using the Silverstone LC19 case (http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/p_contents.php?pno=lc19&area=), which uses a 120W fanless power supply. I'm planning to build the low end AMD/AMD build with a 4550 card, but without a BD/DVD drive or any TV card. Do you think this would be feasible using this case and power supply?

Many thanks for your help.

renethx

01-19-09, 12:01 PM

zayd

01-19-09, 12:02 PM

HIS and PowerColor are very quiet. PowerColor does not come with a DVI-HDMI adapter. Sapphire, ASUS and GIGABYTE are not so quiet.

Good to know... thanks. The case I'm looking at comes with a 380W PSU. Is this sufficient for this card or should I replace with a 430/450W?

Thanks!

zayd

renethx

01-19-09, 12:06 PM

Good to know... thanks. The case I'm looking at comes with a 380W PSU. Is this sufficient for this card or should I replace with a 430/450W?

Thanks!

zayd
380W is enough. The max power consumption of the mATX mid-range Intel/Intel system at page 85 (usually at startup, CPU intensive tasks and gaming) is < 150W.

Ric_Margiotta

01-19-09, 12:09 PM

If you don't use an optical drive, the maximum power consumption of the system is:

- Startup (and encoding): ~103W
- Video playback: ~80W.

It might be cutting it a little fine on startup, but I won't be doing any encoding or anything else particularly processor-intensive, just playback. Thanks for the info - I'll give it a try with the case.

--Ric

soarertt

01-19-09, 12:20 PM

I've used a power meter on a recent build for a friend.

P5N-D
E8400
4GB DDR2 G.Skill
1TB HDD
Nvidia 9800GT
AverTV Combo Card
blah blah all the normal stuff

Never went over 250w in extreme usage tests (watching HD OTA TV in VMC, Playing non DXVA encoded 1080p .mkv, other apps all running at once). That had a earthwatts 380w 80 plus in it.

Normal use? maybe 100ish.

djordan

01-19-09, 01:04 PM

This is encouraging:
Should I try using my existing Antec Sonata case w/ 380w PSU?

I'm leaning towards the ATX AMD/AMD midrange system.
On top of what's spec'd by renethx, I'm probably adding:
1 Optical blu-ray
2 more hard drives
1 MyHD tuner/hw card
1 Soundcard

How do you do power testing? I have a radio shack multitester, but I'm guessing you don't test the AC line going into the PSU.

renethx

01-19-09, 01:19 PM

wmbjr

01-19-09, 01:32 PM

I have a quick question about the low end ATX systems. I noticed they all have discrete video cards and do not rely on the IGP. Is the discrete card (i.e. 4550) really necessary or would the IGP with one of the 790GX boards be sufficient?

Also, if using the 790GX board would the Athlon X2 7750 be sufficient for a processor?

Finally, I would love a dual tuner such as the HVR 2250 or am I better off going with the Avermedia AverTV combo and just using the one tuner for now until I can get a second AverTV? Just looking for people's experience before I spend the money.

asifnyc

01-19-09, 01:35 PM

thank you!

renethx

01-19-09, 02:11 PM

wmbjr

01-19-09, 02:39 PM

Renethx, thanks for the info. I actually was looking at a possible 9300 system and failed to realize it used the IGP. I have no need for 7.1 as I am just feeding HDMI into my television without any other sound system. I think my options right now are

Intel 5200 with Asus ASUS P5N7A-VM motherboard or

AMD 7750 Kuma with BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX

I will not be going with a discrete card for either. From what you are saying, I will be better off going with the Intel system over the AMD system, correct?

djordan

01-19-09, 03:11 PM

Yep, 380W is enough.

I am using Kill-A-Watt (AC input to PSU). Actually 380W PSU (85% efficiency, for example) = 447W in AC input.

Egg is selling that for 18 clams - seems like a pretty cool device. Is the .85 multiplier fairly reliable as far as PSU units go?

dmce

01-19-09, 03:15 PM

AC3Filter does not work with HDMI properly AFAIK. You'd better remove it.

Hi mate, do you have a source for this info. Would like to read a bit more on this

djordan

01-19-09, 03:19 PM

My head in gear now...trying to get this together for Superbowl :)

A bunch of us MyHD diehards at the "MyHD on Vista" thread are hashing out XP v. Vista for present-day HTPC. (Relevant for us, because the MyHD drivers and app work fine in XP, but uncertainty for some in Vista.)
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=15591542#post15591542

renethx is quoted as an authority so you can freely weigh in if you want.

soarertt

01-19-09, 03:27 PM

Egg is selling that for 18 clams - seems like a pretty cool device. Is the .85 multiplier fairly reliable as far as PSU units go?

On a standard PSU? No. The standard multiplier for a regular PSU is .5 to .6

80plus PSU's are rated at 80% .8
80plus bronze = 82% .82
80plus silver = 85% .85
80plus gold = 87% .87

If your PSU is not rated one of those, it's less then 80% efficient.. more like 50% to 60% or .5 to .6

Putting in a standard 80plus PSU in your pc will dramatically cool it down. You're not loosing 50% to heat. A 380w 80% is putting out around 80w's of heat at full load, even less at idle or light use, because they throttle down. A standard run of the mill 500w power supply is pumping out nearly 250w of heat!!!

It's also important to size the PSU to the PC's usage. Too much wattage, and it will be way out of efficient range and pump out tons of heat

djordan

01-19-09, 04:04 PM

Your on the money with that soarett:

Sure enough...Antec does have an efficiency rating for the Truepower 380 - about 68%
http://www.antec.com/specs/true380_spe.html

Another cool thing I see now is their PSU calculator:
http://www.antec.outervision.com/
I'll try to set up the ATX AMD/AMD midrange system and see what it calculates

rotelmania

01-19-09, 10:29 PM

What would be the best tv tuner card? I want to be able to record one channel and watch another channel. I also want to be able to record 2 tv shows at one time. Can anyone recommend?

thanks

renethx

01-20-09, 02:05 AM

Egg is selling that for 18 clams - seems like a pretty cool device. Is the .85 multiplier fairly reliable as far as PSU units go?
Reliable for some 80PLUS PSUs.

BTW Sonata comes with True380s. Its efficiency is pretty bad, 68% at 150W (AC input 220W; you will waste as much as 70W). Here (http://www.silentpcreview.com/article61-page2.html).

renethx

01-20-09, 02:07 AM

Hi mate, do you have a source for this info. Would like to read a bit more on this
Actually the only source is me. :) I tested AC3Filter with HDMI audio.

renethx

01-20-09, 02:11 AM

What would be the best tv tuner card? I want to be able to record one channel and watch another channel. I also want to be able to record 2 tv shows at one time. Can anyone recommend?

thanks
For two ATSC channels, HDHomeRun.

mifronte

01-20-09, 02:46 AM

I recommend the ATX mid-range Intel/Intel system at page 85 instead for the following components:

- CPU: Core 2 Duo runs much cooler
- mb
- PSU: FSP is a waste of money
- OS: OEM is enough
- Seagate 1.5TB: read this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1102039).

Hello, I have been lurking for months trying to learn about building a HTPC and media storage server. I constantly see reference to page 85, but to me, page 85 does not have the recommended systems. When I click on the the second URL in your signature, it takes me to page 43, which does have the Jan. 16 2009 updated recommendations.

So what gives? I am already :confused: enough trying to understand all these hardware.

Edit: Never mind, I just figured out that I am displaying 60 postings per page and therefore the page count will not correspond with your settings. Maybe it is better to reference post number?

renethx

01-20-09, 03:19 AM

Hello, I have been lurking for months trying to learn about building a HTPC and media storage server. I constantly see reference to page 85, but to me, page 85 does not have the recommended systems. When I click on the the second URL in your signature, it takes me to page 43, which does have the Jan. 16 2009 updated recommendations.

So what gives? I am already :confused: enough trying to understand all these hardware.

Edit: Never mind, I just figured out that I am displaying 60 postings per page and therefore the page count will not correspond with your settings. Maybe it is better to reference post number?
There is no effective way to point to page 85 (in case of 30 postings per page). Maybe post #2521 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14239742#post14239742)? But I can't remember the four-digit number 2521. :)

dmce

01-20-09, 03:47 AM

Actually the only source is me. :) I tested AC3Filter with HDMI audio.

Given what youve contributed to the HTPC scene on here, i would say thats a good source :)

archibael

01-20-09, 04:12 AM

I seldom disagree with renethx, but in this case I have to: AC3Filter worked better than fine with my old Intel-based HDMI audio-- it was, in fact, the only way to get DTS bitstreaming working without stuttering. In this, it beat the MPC audio decoder and Cyberlink's, and the standard one from MediaPortal as well.

ellexesse

01-20-09, 10:13 AM

Can anyone help? This is the first time I have built any kind of computer so my knowledge levels are somewhat low! I got all my parts together to build the HTPC and then could not fit the BTF90 CPU Cooler in my case due to a bar running just above where it needs to go. How would I go about deciding which cooler to have instead of the BTF90 Zerotherm? I tried to work out dimensions but don't know where I should be measuring in the case.

SILVERSTONE Black Aluminum front panel, 1.0mm SECC body LC03B-V ATX Media Center / HTPC

How do I decide which cooler to go for?

Thanks in advance
Elle

soarertt

01-20-09, 10:27 AM

Just use the stock one that came with the processor. Don't listen to the script kiddies, the OEM fan/heatsinks just fine

rmmeli

01-20-09, 10:40 AM

I must be missing something but I am having a hard time defining my htpc to control Vista Media Center to my Harmony 880. I have the Antec Fusion Remote Max. Anyone done this already and can tell me the steps to do this. I can define the device but when I get an activity set up, none of the buttons are defined. I would have assumed that they would have been set up as a media center remote.

soarertt

01-20-09, 11:03 AM

correct. Choose computer?, microsoft, media center edition for the device

dbone1026

01-20-09, 11:09 AM

Just curious, thought this would be a good place to ask, what media center software are you using with your HTPC, are you sticking with Windows Media Center or trying other players (SageTV, Meedios, MediaPortal, XBMC, Boxee, GB-PVR, etc...). I have been testing each one of these but haven't come to a conclusion yet.

shiram

01-20-09, 12:34 PM

hi here are my htpc specs and other equipment

GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2HP, as of now running my audio and video
yamaha 6130 receiver
samsung 40inch lcd
i picked the cpu, ram from the mid range/high end amd/amd template, respectively

the htpc is connected to the receiver with a toslink cable, and an hdmi runs to the monitor for video

my problem being that the receiver is not passtrough, and getting a xonar or all those hd audio card is too expensive for me right now
my system will eventually play bluray as well

should i invest in a vid card?? the guide recommends a his hd radeon 4670...
but would i be ok with something less powerful?
i've been looking and this card ( ASUS EAH4550/DI/512MD3 Radeon HD 4550) seems alright to me, even has an hdmi port on it
what would the his 4670 do over this one??

as of now im just playing dvd's and picture looks fine, and audio is alright but i sometimes get weird distortion like if some sound should play on a speaker but doesnt
all i want is to make sure i get a great picture with good audio, as of now my speakers arent top notch, im hoping to get a fluance set down the line though

should i use different cables for my audio? should i get a vid card, and if so would the asus one be good enough??
i'm kinda disapointed in the receiver right now, limited inputs and the pass trought thing are annoying, but im stuck with it

im new at all this, and though i love to learn this stuff, it is highly complicated with all the audio codecs and formats, and hdcp and all...
hopefully i painted a clear enough picture, and i thank you for any help you can provide me, and a big thanx for renethx for all the work put into this

Rico66

01-20-09, 01:08 PM

For two ATSC channels, HDHomeRun.

Why do you recommend the HDHR for strictly ATSC? Not to take anything away from HDHR, it's a great product, but if it's just about dual ATSC (and you don't want to use external tuners, or the networking capabilities of the hdhr), then there are other options.
The Hauppauge 2250 is a dual tuner and rougly $30 cheaper. And if slots don't matter, then 2 tuner cards might be even cheaper (a couple of days ago I picked up a pretty much new OEM Avermedia 780 for $50 on ebay), which works great.

soarertt

01-20-09, 01:43 PM

Vista Media Center... does 90% of what I need. I use MPC for .mkv's

renethx

01-20-09, 01:47 PM

Why do you recommend the HDHR for strictly ATSC?
What do you mean by "for strictly ATSC"? Is there any usage of HDHomeRun other than for ATSC? HDHomeRun is easier to use with VMC, 8VSB or QAM.

renethx

01-20-09, 02:14 PM

Rico66

01-20-09, 02:37 PM

What do you mean by "for strictly ATSC"? Is there any usage of HDHomeRun other than for ATSC? HDHomeRun is easier to use with VMC, 8VSB or QAM.

Typically people refer to ATSC tuners in the sense of OTA (broadcast DTV, 8VSB), compared to QAM tuners (for unencrypted digital cable TV).

The HD Homerun shines as QAM tuner, but for ATSC/OTA there are less pricy options.

dbone1026

01-20-09, 02:45 PM

Vista Media Center... does 90% of what I need. I use MPC for .mkv's

Why aren't you using Vista Media Center for mkvs, I have no issues

soarertt

01-20-09, 02:58 PM

As far as I know, it doesn't do DXVA

dbone1026

01-20-09, 03:07 PM

As far as I know, it doesn't do DXVA

Have you noticed a considerable quality difference using MPC vs VMC (I have played my mkvs on both and have not seen)

shiram

01-20-09, 03:07 PM

If picture is fine for you, then you don't need a discrete graphics card (obviously :)).

S/PDIF is the best option for your receiver. Not sure about the cause of audio distortion. Try coaxial cable too, and various audio decoders.

im trying to prepare for when i play blurays on this rig
i'm also trying to work out the best way to get the sound out of the pc... i keep reading about video cards being used to transfert audio, so thats why i enquired
so would a vid card help out passing the audio signal to the receiver?
is the igp enough for blurays?

rmmeli

01-20-09, 03:12 PM

As far as I know, it doesn't do DXVA
Look at renethx's answer to my question. It may help.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=15583144#post15583144

Dalat

01-20-09, 03:28 PM

Hi,

I want a HTPC to play back BD movies that are in iso format, mounted by VCD. I also want Dolby TrueHD and DTS-MA. Which system should I build? And which of the 2 sound card is better for my purpose?

Thank you!

audionewer

01-20-09, 03:30 PM

i am wondering what makes the encoding fast?

cpu
ram
hard drive

or combination of it.

AHD

01-20-09, 05:42 PM

Hi, i just finished building my HTPC, but i encountered a problem. Whenever i hook the htpc to my 6 year old Sony DLP (via dvi cable)an image come on for about 2 minutes and the screen starts flickering and turns off. I was wondering how i could fix this problem.

i have a GA-MA78GM-S2H motherboard by the way.
thank you

Heckler

01-20-09, 08:07 PM

Because I'm a tinkerer and that the only way SWMBO was going to let me do a HTPC was if it included CableCARD tuners, I am starting with a HP d5000t (http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/prodinfoCategory?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&product=3750363&lang=en) with the following factory configuration:

- Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 for digital cable tuner (32-bit)
- Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Quad processor Q9300 (2.5GHz)
- 3GB DDR2-800MHz dual channel SDRAM (2x1024,2x512)
- 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9500GS, DVI-I, VGA, HDMI
- 500GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive
- LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive
- ATI TV Wonder external digital cable tuner + internal TV tuner
- Integrated 7.1 channel sound w/ front audio ports

Now, for the upgrades that I have already procured:
- OrigenAE S16V (http://www.origenae.co.kr/en/htpc_s16v.htm) Black HTPC case
- Intel Core 2 Quad processor Q9550 (I had this left over from another build)
- LG GGW-H20LK Blu-Ray Burner/HD DVD Rom/DVD+-RW Drive
- Three additional ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable OCUR Tuners

And for my questions:
I'm gathering from this thread that for Blu-Ray/1080p, I'd be better served to replace the 9500GS with a 9500GT or greater or a 4670. Given that I would prefer to have a card that has adapter-free HDMI output with passive/silent cooling that only takes one slot, I'm looking at:
1) Since I've not found anything higher than a 9500GT with an adapter-free HDMI port and this one is passively cooled (have I missed other options?):

MSI N95GT-MD512Z GeForce 9500 GT 512MB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127386)

2) One of the following with a Zalman VNF100 (same as HSI used on their iSilence 4670 below) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118029):

ASUS EAH4670/DI/512M/A Radeon HD 4670 512MB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121274)
BIOSTAR VA4673NH51 Radeon HD 4670 512MB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814141081)
GIGABYTE GV-R467D3-512I Radeon HD 4670 512MB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125244)
3) Or, the only passively-cooled 4670 I've found (but requires adapters):

HIS Hightech H467P1GP Radeon HD 4670 1GB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161266)

This decision requires considering the following:
1) At last check, the ATI cards/drivers were having issues with CableCARD content more so than the nVidia cards/drivers...
2) The HTPC will be connected via HDMI to Pioneer Kuro Elite screen that supports 24p, which I'm told also suggests nVidia, but the toslink optical output of the Kuro only provides 2-channel stereo for HDCP protected content, so two-channel audio on HDMI to the Kuro is fine, but 7.1 (from the on-board Realtek ALC888S since a 4670 will not have non-HDMI 7.1 output) will be routed via the provided coaxial s/pdif to a B&K Components HT receiver that does NOT support HDMI (I'm inquiring of B&K about upgrading it to do HDMI switching now that they have newer products that do).

The HP (ASUS) motherboard
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf-JAVA/Doc/images/c01357077.jpg

had a ASUS screw-type CPU cooler similar to this one on it that has a retention bracket attached with adhesive to the bottom side of the board that I've only gently tried to pry-off and remove (with limited success because I've not been willing torque the board or use any tools that might damage the traces):
http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/productimage/35-101-013-04.jpg

So, I'm looking for (ideally passive) coolers that will fit in the ~134mm of vertical space between the surface of the processor and the case lid and are screw-type fastening that can re-use this ASUS retention plate so that I don't have to pry it off. So far, some options might include:
- ZeroTHERM BTF95 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835887001)
- NoctuA NH-U9 (http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=17&lng=en)

Lastly, I'm thinking of using four drives:
- One smaller 250/500GB for the system, but I haven't chosen a make model, recommendations accepted), I could use the one that come with the d5000t, but there may be quieter options...??
- Three WD 1TB Green Power WD10EADS drives in RAID 5 for recordings/data (haven't bough these yet as I'm hoping the rumored impending release of the WD20EADS will drive the prices down).

Thanks in advance!

pwlyons

01-20-09, 08:50 PM

Renethex,
Thank you for being there with this massively useful thread. I went with the config outlined on page 182 #5433. Two things, The DAS runs extremely loud and hot. Any ideas to cool things down and silence it some?
The more important problem I am having is with the HIS Hightech H485QT512P Radeon HD 4850 and the SPDIF/TOSLINK for audio. There isn't any sound emerging? Any ideas on that one?

hybridcj

01-20-09, 09:54 PM

I tried upgrading components instead of rebuilding an entire pc and utilized components that, should I need to upgrade all later, are good for using in a new htpc.

Processor: amx x2 4800 socket 939
memory 2.5gb

installed pci tuner card and all was fine, still need to figure out how to get clear Qam but that is a different discussion.

next i upgraded my graphics from an x700 pro card to HIS 4670. after upgrading my processor is constantly at 50% load, even when doing nothing. is this normal? before the upgrade the processor would drop to zero at rest. not sure if the widget is accurate or not but that is what i'm using. could this be related to all of the ati software installed or is it just going to operate like this from now on?

Figured out the issue with a little searching. also of note is that my GPU was at 99% utilization... Went into device manager and disabled High Definition Audio Controller under system devices. instantly cpu dropped to 0 and gpu to 0. anyone able to shed some light on what this may be? hopefully this doesn't prevent audio over hdmi once i'm all set up.

idaho_mark

01-21-09, 12:05 AM

An update - fixed the MPEG-4/AVC Blu-ray stuttering in TMT when playing from disc on my amd x2 5200+ htpc by updating the LG GGC-H20L firmware to version 1.03. I was wondering why AnyDVD-HD was taking so long to rip some of my discs - and got to looking more at the drive itself, since TMT plays from folder with no problems.

Anyway - I thought I'd post this in case it could help someone else.

Thanks again renethx!

s44

01-21-09, 01:04 AM

Egg is selling that for 18 clams - seems like a pretty cool device. Is the .85 multiplier fairly reliable as far as PSU units go?
Kill-A-Watt doesn't seem to give correct readings on active PFC units (which are basically all the 80%+ efficient ones out there). The multiplier you should use for these is probably ~1.

renethx

01-21-09, 02:05 AM

Typically people refer to ATSC tuners in the sense of OTA (broadcast DTV, 8VSB), compared to QAM tuners (for unencrypted digital cable TV).

The HD Homerun shines as QAM tuner, but for ATSC/OTA there are less pricy options.
I see. Needless to say ATSC is ATSC whatever the modulation method is, 8VSB (OTA) or QAM (cable).

BTW I used the term "ATSC" in contrast to "NTSC".

renethx

01-21-09, 02:10 AM

im trying to prepare for when i play blurays on this rig
i'm also trying to work out the best way to get the sound out of the pc... i keep reading about video cards being used to transfert audio, so thats why i enquired
so would a vid card help out passing the audio signal to the receiver?
is the igp enough for blurays?
Radeon HD 4xxx supports HDMI audio. But your receiver does not support this. Your best option is S/PDIF.

Tabalt

01-21-09, 02:12 AM

I have been looking around on these forums trying to figure out exactly what type of HTPC I should go for. I don't really know the difference between any of the low end setups, but I believe that's the range I want to start at. I have been told that I could probably get all I want with stand alone units and my laptop for cheaper but I think it would be fun and more rewarding to build another machine even if it's a bit more.

I plan to use this for playing Blu-rays, HD-DVDs, and DVDs. I would also like to use Hulu, YouTube, Netflix (not HD of course), and the like. I might load an emulator on it as well. I don't foresee playing any other games on it though and other internet use would be light. It probably won't be used for playing music as I don't have any external sound system and my desktop currently has good enough speakers for that so my audio requirements are fairly simple.

I don't plan to rip any discs at all in case that requires a more powerful machine.

I have read that PC DVD players upconvert DVDs. I don't really understand what that means besides it's better quality but would the LG GGC-H20L be able to do that?

I have Time Warner Cable (San Diego) and I read that if the cable box has a firewire out you can use that in place of a tuner card. Is it possible to get rid of the cable box all together if I opt for the tuner card? It would be nice to combine as much hardware into a single unit. If not though, do I still need a tuner card? I guess I'm confused by what is provided by a cable box versus a tuner card. For instance, do I need my cable box to receive the channels provided by cable?

If I kept the cable box, I'm not sure if it's all that worth it to try and setup some kind of DVR on the PC. We don't really store shows for all that long; but, if it's easier to use than a standard cable box DVR, I might be interested.

The TV I have right now is the 1080p Toshiba 40RV525U. It has 3 HDMI, component, and VGA. I'm not sure what the audio is (besides the HDMI). TigerDirect has a picture of the input panel but this is my first post so I can't link anything yet. =( Does this TV pose any difficulties with respect to hardware choice?

With all this in mind, is there any recommendation between any of the low end machines? I am just as likely to choose which ever is currently cheapest as any other one. I do want to leave room for a GPU though if it turns out I need more power. Power consumption is important too, so if there are any optimization that would reduce power, I would be interested in that For instance, does a laptop hard drive make a big difference in power use? One other thing that would be important is USB ports. I need at least four besides any others that might be used by peripherals like remote and keyboard/mouse.

With respect to software, is there anything else besides an OS and PowerDVD Ultra?

Thank you in advance and I appreciate all the work on this thread so far. I'm really excited to get to work on this!