Guide to Building a HD HTPC [Text View] - Page 53

Sciúrus Arcânus

03-14-10, 09:09 PM

I need a motherboard recommendation:

Background:
The main function of this machine is to transcode video. I have an unRAID server, so I don't need more than 2 hard drives in this machine. The most resource intensive game that will be played on this machine will be Minesweeper. This computer will probably be on 24/7, so energy efficient components are a plus. I would like to go with a MicroATX Mid tower case.

This is what I plan to use so far:

# CPU: Core i7 860 2.80GHz LGA1156
# Memory: Depends on which motherboard
# PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W
# Case: Rosewill R101-P-BK

These are two boards in the January recommendations:
GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD4 LGA 1156 Intel P55 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128404&Tpk=GIGABYTE%20GA-P55M-UD4)
ASRock H55M Pro LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157181&cm_re=ASRock_H55M_Pro-_-13-157-181-_-Product)

Are they still the way to go? Are there any options with onboard video that will have no trouble playing HD?

For video and audio, the integrated options are currently limited to dual-core i3/i5. So the i7 would require a discrete GPU such as Radeon 5450.

Consider a higher efficiency PSU and lower power as well so the most common draw is within its most efficient range -perhaps a Seasonic 300 rated 80 Plus Bronze. Further efficiency can be had with low-voltage RAM.

I had my eye on that case for months but only recently got it from chiefvalue for $25 shipped as it was previously either priced much higher or OOS (after promos of $20 shipped late last year). It is made by InShin (model MA 101 with this bezel) and also available with different bezels and brandings including from Enermax and Thermaltake. But this one is the most practical and aesthetically pleasing in my opine. ;)

What makes it quite unique amongst Micro-ATX cases is the combination of external bays (three 5.25" and two 3.5"), 120/90mm fan mounts, and compact depth. This last spec requires choosing the mainboard and 5.25" devices carefully to avoid conflict as anything in the bottom bay is likely to overhang the area where the bulky ATX power connector is located. They vary significantly in this regard but I purposely opted for the shorter depth GA-H55M-S2H as more memory slots and other minor features were not required.

tomandbeth

03-14-10, 09:59 PM

A few days ago I stumbled upon a discussion of how some/many of you use a home server, and that got my gears turning. But just as learning how to build my first and only HTPC..... there's a bunch to learn.

Specifically, I'm thinking of using the low end Core I3 with Gigabyte build Listed on page 401 as the starter for all this, and evidently I need to either daisy chain or otherwise build up gigabit ethernet in the house. Right now I only have the wireless router.

I'm also looking to remotely control an Observatory, but that's another thread. And another branch off a router (several computers already out there)

I've poked around AVS and went to Windows to get a grasp of the concept. Are there any breakdowns that guides others through the learning process as this thread does?

Thanks. In advance.

trginter

03-14-10, 10:40 PM

Just wondering what the general public's opinion is on this build. Typical HTPC while being able to record SDTV and QAM.

GIGABYTE GA-785GMT-USB3 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128432)
AMD Athlon II X2 240 Regor (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103688)
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231150)
Seagate Barracuda 7200 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148451)
CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008)
LITE-ON Black 4X Blu-ray Reader SATA (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106325)
Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 Media Center Kit Dual TV Tuner (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116036)
AVerMedia AVerTVHD Bravo PCTV Tuner (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815100042)

Still debating over the following cases:
Antec Black Aluminum / Steel Fusion Remote Black Micro ATX Media Center (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129054)
ZALMAN Black Aluminum / Plastic / Steel HD501 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811235022)
ZALMAN Black Aluminum / Plastic / Steel HD503 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811235023)

QBA

03-14-10, 11:27 PM

Guys thanks a lot for all the help.

The laptop you guys suggested is already here and I just got the 2 external HDhomerun TV tuners :)

Now I need a media centre extender for the basement TV. My question is, since I won't be playing games at all. Can I get away with buying an Xbox Arcade with an HDMI output ? Or would I be sacrificing performance by not buying a full 360 console as an MC extender?

trginter

03-14-10, 11:45 PM

^ There are no performance differences between the Arcade and the Pro other than the fact that one comes with a hard drive and the other doesn't.

QBA

03-14-10, 11:56 PM

thanks trginter,

So as a media extender should be the same right? It doesn't use the hard drive at all as virtual memory like windows does?

trginter

03-15-10, 12:02 AM

If I remember correctly, the Arcade has some internal memory. Not a lot, 512mb I think, but enough for you to create a "Profile" on the Xbox and let you set it up as an Extender. No hard drive is needed.

There are some pretty fun games on the Xbox though. You might want a hard drive to save all those save games ;-)

renethx

03-15-10, 12:24 AM

I am looking to build a cross between the Intel/Intel High end and Premium (LGA 1156) htpc and hoped you would look at the list below and let me know if you see any problems, or reccommend different components - I know you said you were planning on updating the list shortly??

Here in Australia we don't always get the parts you list, so if it is something that is not on one of your reccommend list, it is the closest I could find.

I was thinking of the following;

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD4 (as it has USB 3.0 and SATA 6.0Gbps)
CPU: Core i5 750 2.66GHz LGA1156
Cooler: Xigmatek CPU Cooler S1283 Dark Knight R3 + Xigmatek Crossbow I5361 for CPU Coolers w 3 HeatPipes Will this cooler work on the i5 in this motherboard?
RAM: G Skill 4G(2x2G) DDR3 1600Mhz PC12800 9-9-9-24(CL9D-4GBNQ)
Graphics Card: HIS ATI HD5750 PCI-E 2.0 1GB DDR5 700/4600 MHz
HDD: Western Digital 1.5TB Green 64MB SATAII WD15EARS
Optical: Samsung SH-B083A Blu-Ray Combo SATA
Case: Antec Sonata III MiniTower Case - Piano BlackW/500W PSU
Good, except for USB 3.0/SATA 6Gbps. You have to choose a different mb (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=Property&Subcategory=280&Description=&Type=&N=2010200280&srchInDesc=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&OEMMark=0&PropertyCodeValue=717%3A49184&PropertyCodeValue=7968%3A49719&PropertyCodeValue=8110%3A50511). Lower end mb there have a second PCI Express x16 slot that works only at 1.1 x4. Think about expansion slots you may need in future. Thanks!

saxnix

03-15-10, 01:27 AM

OK, so if I substitute in the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3, it all should be OK?

Just wanted to double check that I have the right cooler (and adaption kit), for the i5 and the Motherboard?

renethx

03-15-10, 01:36 AM

OK, so if I substitute in the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3, it all should be OK?

Just wanted to double check that I have the right cooler (and adaption kit), for the i5 and the Motherboard?
Yes. All should be fine.

saxnix

03-15-10, 02:55 AM

Thanks for your help.

gcoupe

03-15-10, 03:56 AM

dbone1026

03-15-10, 06:01 AM

tomandbeth

03-15-10, 10:06 AM

Those links should get my feet wet.

QBA

03-15-10, 10:31 AM

Hi renethx,

just to double check, so do you think that using an XBOX arcade, even tough it doesn't have a regular hard drive like the full xbox 360, will it give me the same quality results as a media center extender a full hard drive one?

Is just that I will be buying two today and I want to be 100% sure of this.

Thanks in advanced

Alex

mryerse

03-15-10, 10:52 AM

QBA

03-15-10, 11:23 AM

The thing I didn't like about using my xbox as an extender are 1) It is loud. Newer models might not be as bad but it really bothered me, and 2) The lack of supported formats was a problem. I don't want to have to convert a significant part of my library so my extender would support it. I would end up spending more time converting my library than enjoying it. Just my opinion. So I built an HTPC.

Thanks for the reply mryerse,

Being loud is a none issue to me because it will be 75 feet away from the TV in a closet somewhere on the house.

Now the second issue is the one that I need to look into it, would I have that issue of the not supported format to record and play back OTA HD shows?

Since I know it doesn't play HD content very well, I will be playing those from my HTPC laptop straight into the TV (HDMI) via media center. Is media center the one that has the issue with formats or Xbox.

I don't even have one BRay movie ripped into the hdd yet, so I guess that went the time comes I could ripped all BRay to accommodate to MC format.

freakjim

03-15-10, 02:28 PM

This will be my first HTPC build, any input is much appreciated. OTA DVR and streaming video from the web will be it's primary use.

Case - SILVERSTONE GRANDIA GD04B (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163158)
Motherboard - ASUS P7H55D-M EVO (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131625)
CPU - Intel Core i3-540 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115221)
PSU - SeaSonic S12II 380B (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151072)
CPU Cooler - Scythe Shuriken Rev. B (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185097)
RAM - 2 X 2GB DDR3 1600
HDD - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185)
Optical Drive - undetermined probably Blu-Ray with DVD write capablilities
WiFi - ASUS PCE-N13 IEEE 802.11b/g/n PCI Express Wireless Adapter (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320048)
OTA Tuner - SiliconDust HDHomeRun Dual (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815327005)
Remote - undetermined
Keyboard with built in mouse/touchpad - undetermined
Windows 7

Thanks for getting me this far and thanks in advance for any input.

mryerse

03-15-10, 03:34 PM

The xbox can play some HD formats, it's just limited in which ones it can. As I recall it likes the MP4 container. Don't recall what codecs are supported. I would think it would work well for WTV but cannot validate that myself until I get a tuner late today.

Jacob B

03-15-10, 07:13 PM

_________________
Media Storage Server
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
__________________
General Consideration
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Purpose of a Media Storage Server

The main purposes of the media storage server described here are:

Storing/archiving media files (ripped/downloaded/recorded SD & HD video contents/music, photographs etc.) in one centralized place.
Streaming media to HTPCs.
Possibly serving as a DVR with TV tuners added.
Here are some considerations in building such a system.

Component Selection

OS: The intended OS is one of
Windows Vista or 7, x86 or x64, with or without FlexRAID and/or FlexRAID-View
Windows Home Server (WHS), with or without FlexRAID (in place of Folder Duplication)
unRAID (a Linux variant with RAID 4 capability)
You can also use Linux with software RAID, OpenFiler etc. as long as your hardware components are supported.
Case: Currently NORCO RPC-4020 and NORCO RPC-4220 are the best cases for a media storage server. Both support 20 HDDs in hot-swap bays at a relatively cheap price. The latter has a backplane with five SFF-8087 connectors instead of twenty SATA connectors in the former. If you need more storage space, build another server of the same type and store them in a rack such as iStarUSA WO22AB 22U WO Open Frame Rack (http://www.istarusa.com/server_cabinet/open_frame_rack/default.aspx), ~$300:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=164632&d=1264316033

PSU: Each hard disk drive consumes as low as 5W at idle, but as much as 30W at start-up (depending on each model). So we will need a powerful PSU to start up all the drives at a time. A typical power consumption of a server consisting of twenty HDDs is
~600W at start up
~200W at seek
~150W at idle
CPU: We chose a cheap dual-core processor because archiving/streaming/recording is not CPU-intensive.
Memory: 2GB is enough for a similar reason.
Motherboard: Basic requirements are
Onboard graphics
2 PCI slots or 2 PCI Express 1.x x4 slots for storage controllers for 16 storage HDDs
6 onboard SATA ports for additional storage HDDs and the OS HDD.
A Gb LAN (that provides enough bandwidth for streaming HD contents to several HTPC simultaneously)
Proper support for power management, in particular WOL (Wake-On-LAN)
If you are going to use the server as a DVR, you may want more expansion slots. The motherboard chosen here has enough expansion slots and is reasonably cheap. You can even use a RAID controller PCIe x8 card.
HBA (host bus adapter): As the number of onboard SATA ports is not enough, we use SATA controller cards. I chose cheap non-RAID SATA controller PCI-X (compatible with PCI) or PCI Express x4 cards, that are enough for our purpose.
OS drive: You can use any drive for OS (a USB flash memory for unRAID).
Storage drives: There are several good cheap 1TB/1.5TB HDDs.
WD Caviar Green WD10EADS 1TB 5400 rpm SATA 3.0Gbps, $85.
Samsung HD103SI 1TB 5400 rpm SATA 3.0Gbps, $71.
WD Caviar Green WD15EADS 1.5TB 5400 rpm SATA 3.0Gbps, $105.
Samsung HD154UI 1.5TB 5400 rpm SATA 3.0Gbps, $110.
Backup

You will need to back up important, irreplaceable data (e.g. personal documents and family photos), perhaps off-site. Building a dedicated backup system is one method (you can use similar hardware components here). A caution to those who consider RAID5: RAID 5 is not a backup strategy, it's about uptime - if a drive fails, you can swap it for a new one to rebuild with no service interruption. You may lose the entire date in the array instantly however if multiple drives fail or if a hardware issue kills the array. FlexRAID and unRAID are better in this point: you can still get data from each non-failed drive.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=164581&d=1264311871

Renethx,
I read several places on the net that the WD10/15/20EADS 5400 RPM drives are unusable for raid. :eek:
Can you comment on this..

What about WHS use?

cheers,
Jacob

dbone1026

03-15-10, 07:22 PM

Renethx,
I read several places on the net that the WD10/15/20EADS 5400 RPM drives are unusable for raid. :eek:
Can you comment on this..

What about WHS use?

cheers,
Jacob

Cant comment on RAID but the EADS work fine with WHS (have 14 of them). The EARS I have heard have issues with WHS

Jacob B

03-15-10, 08:05 PM

dbone1026

03-15-10, 08:16 PM

1. How about stability/HDD break downs? How long have you been operating your 14 drives? Reviews on amazon talk about many break downs for the EADS.

2. Do you use your server as a HD-DVR as well (with HDTV tuner cards)?
If YES, do you record to the WHS pool, or do you have dedicated DVR drives, like one pr. tuner card (I have 3 HDTV tuner cards, IEEE 1384 connected).
I want to be sure I can record three HD channels simultanously, while timeshifting a fourth HD channel or watching a 1080P video from the server... Where would the bottleneck be?

cheers,
Jacob

I have a mix of EACS and EADS drives, so far no failures (knock on wood). The newest drive is probably around 3-4 moths old. The oldest drive is easily over a year old. I also set up my dad with an HP MediaSmart Ex495 + eSATA enclosure. Those have 9 drives with approx 4 months use and no issues so far (knock on more wood).

Although I do have my HDHomerun set up with my WHS, I do most of my recording on my desktop pc so I can cut out commercials and reencode, and then have it moved to my WHS. However, I know quite a few people who use theri WHS as a TV Tuner farm with SageTV and have no issues. The HDDs would not be the issue as much as making sure you have a sufficiently powered system

Jacob B

03-15-10, 08:27 PM

I have a mix of EACS and EADS drives, so far no failures (knock on wood). The newest drive is probably around 3-4 moths old. The oldest drive is easily over a year old. I also set up my dad with an HP MediaSmart Ex495 + eSATA enclosure. Those have 9 drives with approx 4 months use and no issues so far (knock on more wood).

Although I do have my HDHomerun set up with my WHS, I do most of my recording on my desktop pc so I can cut out commercials and reencode, and then have it moved to my WHS. However, I know quite a few people who use theri WHS as a TV Tuner farm with SageTV and have no issues. The HDDs would not be the issue as much as making sure you have a sufficiently powered system

What do you mean by "sufficiently powered system" - are you talking server in general, or server with tv-tuners needing more power than server without?

What I am afraid of is if I record to the pool, I could theoretically end up writing three HD recordings simultanously to the same drive, as well as reading a HD recording or ripped HD movie from same drive.
I am not deep into how WHS organizes the HDD use...:confused: :o

I do have an EX475 (updated with 2GB) working as multimedia server and backup, but no tuners attached (no firewire :( and probably too small CPU for multiple HDTV-card server). I run Mediaportal on multiple clients, and I need to port my TV-server from a laptop to a proper server - and really want to combine with WHS :D Then the TV server would always be on and available... :cool:

dbone1026

03-15-10, 08:34 PM

What do you mean by "sufficiently powered system" - are you talking server in general, or server with tv-tuners needing more power than server without?

What I am afraid of is if I record to the pool, I could theoretically end up writing three HD recordings simultanously to the same drive, as well as reading a HD recording or ripped HD movie from same drive.
I am not deep into how WHS organizes the HDD use...:confused: :o

I do have an EX475 (updated with 2GB) working as multimedia server and backup, but no tuners attached (no firewire :( and probably too small CPU for multiple HDTV-card server). I run Mediaportal on multiple clients, and I need to port my TV-server from a laptop to a proper server - and really want to combine with WHS :D Then the TV server would always be on and available... :cool:

Meant more from a CPU standpoint. For example, I used to have an EX470 with single core CPU. It handled doing single tasks without issue, but once you started adding multiple tasks it would choke. It also had issues handling live tv. Once I built my own WHS with a dual core I have not run into any of those same problems. I haven't messed around with Media Portal or their TV Server in a while, I only tested running SageTV on my WHS

renethx

03-16-10, 12:16 AM

Renethx,
I read several places on the net that the WD10/15/20EADS 5400 RPM drives are unusable for raid. :eek:
Can you comment on this..

What about WHS use?

cheers,
Jacob
The systems in this list don't use a hardware RAID chip. Perhaps the failure rate of a HDD connected to onboard SATA/AOC-SAT2-MV8/AOC-SASLP-MV8 under WHS is the same as that connected to onboard SATA as JBOD under Windows XP/Vista/7.

Bigpurple

03-16-10, 12:19 AM

renethx

03-16-10, 12:28 AM

Looking for Mid-Range ATX or Micro ATX System with AMD, MUST HAVE A GPU that supports HDTV out.

None of the cards you reccomend support HDTV, but my TV requires it. Do you have a modified mid range system you can recommend?

My goals: record OTA HD TV with a dual receiver card, play blu ray discs, stream movies from Netflix, Amazon, etc, Hulu.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Here (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=Property&Subcategory=48&Description=&Type=&N=2010380048&srchInDesc=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&OEMMark=0&PropertyCodeValue=696%3A9641&PropertyCodeValue=696%3A53938&PropertyCodeValue=696%3A20108&PropertyCodeValue=696%3A33099&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A42535&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A37365&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A44850&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A44046&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A44045&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A49650&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A50263&PropertyCodeValue=2328%3A14103&PropertyCodeValue=2328%3A14104&PropertyCodeValue=2328%3A14102&PropertyCodeValue=2328%3A14201&PropertyCodeValue=2328%3A14100&PropertyCodeValue=2328%3A14101). EVGA 9500 GT is a good, quiet card.

rtapia

03-16-10, 12:03 PM

HTPCat

03-16-10, 02:16 PM

Darkhog

03-16-10, 04:25 PM

Cant comment on RAID but the EADS work fine with WHS (have 14 of them). The EARS I have heard have issues with WHS

Regarding EARS drives -
0) They're fine for Vista or Win7. These OSes understand the Advanced format.
1) Don't use it as your system drive for WHS. If you do, you'll need to run an unsupported tool to fix it (didn't support WHS last I checked).
2) If you're adding the drive to your drive storage pool, make sure that you jumper pins 7-8 before formatting, per the instructions on the drive (WHS is based on WinXP).
3) If you're adding it for some other reason (backup drive), jumper pins 7-8 and make sure it has only one partition. Alternately, don't jumper the pins but create the partitions in a more recent OS (I think that should work).

If you don't do this, you'll suffer a pretty serious performance loss, because the older OS doesn't understand the new hotness of Advanced Drive Format.

The good news about Advanced Drive Format is that I think it will enable pushing past the 2 TB limit.

Regarding RAID, I've heard that Green drives aren't recommended for RAID, as the power management produces more load/unload cycles and can get over stressed in RAID. But you'd have to do more research on that point.

Darkhog

03-16-10, 05:12 PM

Now I need a media centre extender for the basement TV. My question is, since I won't be playing games at all. Can I get away with buying an Xbox Arcade with an HDMI output ? Or would I be sacrificing performance by not buying a full 360 console as an MC extender?

I recently bought an Acer Revo 3610 for my TV. Works as well as an extender, but also works for any other PC chores. Granted, it is an Atom dual core so it is a slow PC, and it can't play xbox games, but if you're looking for HDMI that will run media center, playback your DVDs, play hulu, play web content (thedailyshow.com, etc.), then it is a good option.

Check out these links -
Revo 3610 on newegg (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883103235), $330
An example Revo setup guide (http://www.pauljroberts.com/my-personal-revo-3610-set-up-that-works-well)

Comes with a subtle RF wireless keyboard and mouse too. Add a remote (I have this one (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823166095), which also allows you to do mouse actions and is less than $30) and it works pretty darn well.

jjcirafesi

03-16-10, 07:41 PM

Renethx,
I read several places on the net that the WD10/15/20EADS 5400 RPM drives are unusable for raid. :eek:
Can you comment on this..

What about WHS use?

cheers,
Jacob

I have read reports that the WD "green" drives can have problems in RAID due to error checking. Apparently, if there is a questionable spot on the disk, the "green" drives are very slow to respond and the RAID controller then drops the disk from the array.

Makaveli6103

03-16-10, 10:33 PM

Agreed, I just stick with MPC launching from Media Browser to get bitstreaming. I had too many inconsistencies with LiveTV and other when disabling MF to get bitstreaming in WMP/WMC. Anyway, I find PQ much better in MPC then WMP/WMC

How do you set up MPC to play Live TV and recorded TV in WMC?

gsr

03-16-10, 10:41 PM

I recently bought an Acer Revo 3610 for my TV. Works as well as an extender
The one major exception to this is that it is NOT a true Windows Media Center extender which means it can't do live TV from the central media center and it cannot play cablecard recordings from the central media center that are flagged as copy once. So if going with one of the ATI, Ceton (when available), or SiliconDust cablecard (when available) tuners and a cable provider that flags content as copy once, the Acer Revo is a poor choice.

dbone1026

03-17-10, 05:55 AM

How do you set up MPC to play Live TV and recorded TV in WMC?

MPC is not used for live tv/recorded TV, I just use the native WMC player. The reason why I mentioned just using MPC and avoiding codecs/hacks is because anytime you mess around with Media Foundation there is a chance something breaks in WMC (and the most common thing I see break is live tv). To get my mkv/m2ts Blu Ray rips to play properly in the WMC player I have to hack around which has caused issues with LiveTV.

Darkhog

03-17-10, 01:47 PM

The one major exception to this is that it is NOT a true Windows Media Center extender which means it can't do live TV from the central media center and it cannot play cablecard recordings from the central media center that are flagged as copy once. So if going with one of the ATI, Ceton (when available), or SiliconDust cablecard (when available) tuners and a cable provider that flags content as copy once, the Acer Revo is a poor choice.

Good point - I don't use this so I wouldn't see it.

I have an HDHomerun connected to an OTA HD antenna, so all my PCs have a tuner, but no cablecard.

odditory

03-17-10, 04:16 PM

And now a moment of silence for renethx's thankless and tireless work in not only keeping the OP updated with the latest components - a monumental task which requires a lot of analysis and real understanding of the way they all work together - but also all the advice he's given along the way in this thread.

Thank you, sir!

akira7799

03-17-10, 06:33 PM

Iteki

03-17-10, 06:43 PM

tomandbeth

03-17-10, 07:25 PM

You can also go to this thread here on AVS http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1071162&page=587

That's a great thread. spent hours in it.

Heh, temps me to build the 20 disk array up on page 401 but don't think I need to go that far ;-) about the third or fourth time I've considered it though, and yes I know I can add drives as time, money and such dictates.

Oh well. Looks like I blew the HDMI port in the Yamaha receiver. I get signals in but can't output to the TV monitor. gosh darn it.

tomandbeth

03-17-10, 07:28 PM

Here, here. A very strong second to odditory's post.

I see there's already a third endorsement, so call me a fanboy ;-)

kjgarrison

03-17-10, 09:17 PM

tomandbeth

03-17-10, 11:01 PM

Agreed that thanks are nice.

And appropriate.

And well deserved.

But.

Action$ $peak louder than words.

renethx actually buys many if not most or even all of these components and tests them. Then sells them at a loss. What he brings to all of us is quite unique IMO.

Disclosures: None. I don't know him or benefit from his support any more than the rest of us do. I just hope he never dries up.

Ya know, I was racking my little brain wondering today who the heck reMenthx@dit dot dot was...as paypal refunded my money today. Yeah, I need glasses...

Anyway. I don't mind pitching in

J_P_A

03-17-10, 11:16 PM

Regarding EARS drives -
0) They're fine for Vista or Win7. These OSes understand the Advanced format.
1) Don't use it as your system drive for WHS. If you do, you'll need to run an unsupported tool to fix it (didn't support WHS last I checked).
2) If you're adding the drive to your drive storage pool, make sure that you jumper pins 7-8 before formatting, per the instructions on the drive (WHS is based on WinXP).
3) If you're adding it for some other reason (backup drive), jumper pins 7-8 and make sure it has only one partition. Alternately, don't jumper the pins but create the partitions in a more recent OS (I think that should work).

If you don't do this, you'll suffer a pretty serious performance loss, because the older OS doesn't understand the new hotness of Advanced Drive Format.

The good news about Advanced Drive Format is that I think it will enable pushing past the 2 TB limit.

Regarding RAID, I've heard that Green drives aren't recommended for RAID, as the power management produces more load/unload cycles and can get over stressed in RAID. But you'd have to do more research on that point.

The WDAlign tool is available in two versions from the WD website, one of which is a bootable ISO. This allows you to install the drive, add it to your storage pool, boot to the ISO, and realign the drive to make it play nicely with WHS.

Jumpering the pins is also an "approved" method of correcting the drive, but there is some debate as to which is the preferred method. I've used the WD Align utility with no issues. On a drive that I added to the pool with no data on it (which is not a requirement) it took about 45 sec to run the utility. Drives with lots of data can take several hours.

Just something else to consider :)

renethx

03-18-10, 10:51 AM

I want to post "Recommended HTPC Systems – March 2010 Edition". Assuming you set "Number of Posts to Show Per Page" to "User Forum Default" (i.e. 30), I would like to begin it with #13081. So...

renethx

03-18-10, 10:51 AM

Reserved -4

renethx

03-18-10, 10:51 AM

Reserved -3

renethx

03-18-10, 10:52 AM

Reserved -2

renethx

03-18-10, 10:52 AM

Reserved -1

renethx

03-18-10, 10:52 AM

__________________________________________
Recommended HTPC Systems – March 2010 Edition
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Last Update on March 18, 2010

This is outdated. Go to Recommended Systems - The Latest Edition

First, a small advertisement:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=164580&d=1264311871

Table of Contents

Introduction
Organization of the Contents
Classification of HTPC Systems
1. Form Factor
2. Performance and Cost
3. CPU-Chipset-GPU Manufacturers
Component Selection
CPU
Chipset and Motherboard
Memory
Graphics and Sound Devices
My Pick of HTPC
Peripheral Components and OS
Input Device
MCE Remote
Universal Remote
Keyboard & Mouse
So what do you need?
Optical Disc Drive
BD Rewriter/BD-ROM/DVD Rewriter
DVD Rewriter
TV Tuner Card for ATSC/Cable
Digital+Analog
Digital Only
Digital Cable Tuner Card
HD Capturing
Sound Card
OS
Brackets
S/PDIF Bracket
COM (Serial) Port Bracket
LPT (Parallel) Port Bracket
Mini-ITX System
General Consideration
Standard System
Intel-Intel (iGPU)
Intel-NVIDIA (iGPU)
AMD-AMD (iGPU)
Gaming System
Intel-Intel
Intel-NVIDIA
AMD-AMD
MicroATX System
General Consideration
Low-End System
Intel-Intel
AMD-AMD (iGPU)
AMD-AMD
Mid-Range System
Intel-Intel (iGPU)
Intel-Intel
AMD-AMD
High-End System
Intel-Intel
AMD-AMD
Premium System
Intel-Intel
AMD-AMD
ATX System
General Consideration
Low-End System
Intel-Intel
AMD-AMD (iGPU)
AMD-AMD
Mid-Range System
Intel-Intel (iGPU)
Intel-Intel
AMD-AMD
AMD-NVIDIA
High-End System
Intel-Intel
AMD-AMD
AMD-NVIDIA
Premium System
Intel-Intel (LGA 1156)
Intel-Intel (LGA 1366)
AMD-AMD
AMD-NVIDIA
DAS (Direct Attached Storage)
5-Drive SATA Enclosure with Built-in Port Multiplier
8-Drive SATA Enclosure with Built-in Port Multiplier
5-Drive SATA Enclosure with Built-in Hardware RAID
8-Drive SATA Enclosure with a RAID Controller Card
Other DAS Solutions
Workstation
Media Storage Server
General Consideration
System
20 HDD Rack Mount System I
20 HDD Rack Mount System II
15 HDD Tower System
Other Tower Cases

renethx

03-18-10, 10:52 AM

__________
Introduction
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
________________________
Organization of the Contents
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Here is a brief summary of the contents.

Peripheral Components and OS: I collected common hardware components used in each system here. OS (Windows only) is also mentioned.
Recommended HTPC systems: This longest part is classified into several categories as stated below for convenience.
DAS (Direct Attached Storage): If you need more storage space, a quick solution is here.
Workstation: A system for (serious) video editing tasks.
Server: HD video files occupy lots of storage spaces. So you may need a dedicated media storage server.
_________________________
Classification of HTPC Systems
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
HTPC systems here are classified into several categories for convenience, according to the following three criteria.

1. Form Factor

A form factor specifies the physical dimensions of a system. Basically it is the motherboard form factor that defines the overall size of a system. There are dozens of standardized form factors. Among them we will be concerned with the following three most popular form factors.

Mini-ITX: 170mm x 170mm (6.7″ x 6.7″)
MicroATX: 244mm x 244mm (9.6″ x 9.6″)
ATX: 305mm x 244mm (12″ x 9.6″)
Here is a picture of a motherboard/case of each form factor, Mini-ITX, microATX, ATX, from left to right, the bottom being an AVR.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=164584&d=1264314629

(FYI the model number of each motherboard/case in the picture is:

Form Factor|Motherboard|Case|Case Size
Mini-ITX|Zotac H55ITX-A-E|Apex MI-008|W220 x H129 x D300 mm
MicroATX|GIGABYTE GA-MA785GMT-UD2H|Antec Fusion Remote|W445 x H145 x D414 mm
ATX|ASUS P7P55D-E PRO|Zalman HD503|W450 x H170 x D455 mm

The AVR is ONKYO TX-NA807, W435 x H199 x D436 mm. You may wonder why the width of the microATX case is almost the same as that of the ATX case. The reason is simple: the PSU is usually laid flat in a microATX case, while it is laid vertically in an ATX case. As a consequence, a microATX case is usually shorter in height than an ATX case.)

Because of the size, Mini-ITX provides the least expandability (0 or 1 expansion slot), usually 2 memory slots and CPU support is often limited by the cooling performance of a small Mini-ITX case. MicroATX supports up to 4 expansion slots, while ATX supports up to 7 expansion slots. Usually a Mini-ITX/microATX motherboard comes with an integrated graphics so that you may not need to use a discrete graphic card. An ATX case can usually hold more storage drives than an microATX case, and a microATX case can hold more storage drives than an Mini-ITX case.

2. Performance and Cost

Typical tasks done by a HTPC are

Playing back (or watching) media contents including:
Non-streamed media such as DVD movies, Blu-ray Disc movies, CDs.
Streamed media such as TV (terrestrial, satellite, cable, Internet) and radio.
Media files stored locally.
Creating media files from various sources, non-streaming or streaming (usually called "ripping" or "recording"), and storing them for later use.
Editing, including re-encoding, media files.
Hardware components that are important for each task is:

Playing back video: This includes video decode and various post-processing (deinterlacing, rescaling etc.). GPU is the most important for this task (unless you resort to a software playback solution such as ffdshow). A couple of GPUs integrated in motherboard are good. If you want to get the best picture quality, a good mid-range discrete GPU is recommended, however. A high-end card is good for better gaming experience of course, but it rarely improve video playback performance.
Ripping: The speed of ripping DVD/BD discs is often limited by the reading speed of the optical disc drive used.
Recording: HDTV contents are already encoded (in either MPEG-2 or H.264). So this is relatively easy for any system.
Editing and re-encoding video (except for simple cut and join): This is one of the most CPU-intensive tasks. A good quad-core processor is recommended. A trend is that GPU (stream processors) offloads CPU, and several video editing applications already support it (keywords: GPGPU, OpenCL, Microsoft DirectCompute, NVIDIA CUDA, ATI Stream).
In general better performance means costing more.

Performance and cost is the secondary category of the list.

3. CPU-Chipset-GPU Manufacturers

CPU, chipset (in motherboard; controlling various I/O devices and connecting them to CPU/memory) and GPU are the three main hardware components of a system. Intel and AMD are the main suppliers of CPU for PC. Intel and AMD are producing chipsets for its own CPUs and NVIDIA for both. Intel (integrated GPU only), AMD and NVIDIA are the top three GPU manufacturers.

CPU/chipset/GPU manufacturers is the third category of the list.
_________________
Component Selection
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
The components selected here are based on my hand-on experience and/or my extensive research. Here are general considerations in choosing components.

CPU

Below $60: Intel Celeron E3200 and E3300 are nice, cheap dual-core processors.
$60 to $150: Intel Core i3 530/540 is a nice processor with integrated graphics. AMD Athlon II X3 (triple-core) and X4 (quad-core) families are more powerful in some applications (in particular HTPC-related).
Over $150: Intel Core i5 and i7 (LGA 1156 and LGA 1366) are dominating the high-end segment.
Chipset and Motherboard

Intel produces chipsets for its own chips and AMD for its own chips. NVIDIA used to produce chipsets for both. However with the current trend that critical chipset components are incorporated into the same silicon as the processor, NVIDIA is quitting the desktop chipset business. There are still many nice NVIDIA chipset motherboards and I picked up some of them here.

Memory

DDR2 vs DDR3: DDR3 SDRAM is the latest standard and is expected to be the mainstream by Q2 2010. A couple of decision factors are:

The performance increase by going from DDR2 to DDR3 is not that big, 0%-10% depending on the application.
DDR3 modules are better reusable in future upgrade (DDR4 SDRAM is coming only in 2012).
The total cost of a DDR3 system may be higher than an equivalent DDR2 system by $10 to $30.
Capacity, timings, voltage: For normal HTPC usage, 2GB in total is plenty enough (in particular under Windows 7). CAS latency and timings are important for memory-intensive applications, in particular games. However these have little effect on the majority of HTPC-related tasks. So just ignore them. The standard operating voltage of DDR2 (resp. DDR3) SDRAM is 1.8V (resp. 1.5V). Some memory modules require higher voltage than that for better stability. Adjust the memory voltage in BIOS according to the specifications of your memory modules.

Brand: Basically the brand does not matter in performance as the standards are established by JEDEC rigorously. It's not like Intel vs. AMD in CPU. Reliability and overclockability may vary from brand to brand, however.

Graphics and Sound Devices

With the advent of Blu-ray Disc (and HD DVD), HDMI became a must to transmit video/audio signals from a player/PC to an AV receiver/display. Right now there are basically two satisfactory HDMI solutions:

ATI Radeon HD 5xxx graphics cards.
Intel Core i3/i5 Clarkdale processors (that integrate GPU).
They support almost perfect HD video playback and HD audio bitstreaming. (Clarkdale lacks proper 23.576Hz playback, however.) NVIDIA, the other major grahics card manufacturer, is a bit behind AMD and Intel in the HTPC area in that the best audio formats supported is multichannel LPCM.

For your reference, here is a summary of audio formats supported by various PC video/audio solutions.

Dolby Digital and DTS bitstreams
Every motherboard's onboard audio codec (via optical or coaxial S/PDIF connector)
Every GeForce graphics card (actually audio is supplied by the onboard audio codec via an internal cable except for 9300/9400 iGPU, 210, GT 220 and GT 240.)
Every AMD 780G/785G/790GX/880G/890GX chipset motherboard
All the solutions mentioned below
Multichannel LPCM over HDMI
Every GeForce 9300 chipset motherboard
GeForce GT 220 and GT 240 graphics card
Every Radeon HD 4xxx/5xxx graphics card
Every Intel Core i5/i3 (Clarkdale) processor
Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio/Master Audio bitstreams
Every Radeon HD 5xxx graphics card
Every Intel Core i5/i3 (Clarkdale) processor
|DD/DTS/Stereo LPCM|Multichannel LPCM|TrueHD/DTS-HD
Every mb's onboard audio codec (S/PDIF)|Y|N|N
AMD 780G/785G/790GX/880G/890GX (iGPU)|Y|N|N
Radeon HD 4xxx (dGPU)|Y|Y|N
Radeon HD 5xxx (dGPU)|Y|Y|Y
GeForce 9300/9400 mGPU (iGPU)|Y|Y|N
GeForce 210, GT 220/240 (dGPU)|Y|Y|N
All the other GeForce cards (dGPU)|Y|N|N
Intel Core i3/i5 (Clarkdale) (iGPU)|Y|Y|Y

_____________
My Pick of HTPC
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
In case you have no idea what to choose (and no time to dig), here is my pick.

MicroATX/ATX Mid-Range Intel-Intel System with ATI Graphics Card: the best video/audio playback performance, as well as good performance/low power consumption in various CPU intensive tasks.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170411&stc=1&d=1268927330

renethx

03-18-10, 10:53 AM

_________________________
Peripheral Components and OS
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

A HTPC needs peripheral components (input devices, optical drive, TV tuner, sound card etc.) to be functional besides the core components (CPU, motherboard, memory, graphics card, HDD, PSU and case). The following is a quick list of recommended peripheral components and OS. In the subsequent sections, I will give only core components.

___________
Input Device
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

MCE Remote

A MCE remote is a (usually IR) remote control and a receiver to be attached to the HTPC (internally or externally via USB) that controls Windows Media Center and other front ends/media players at a distant place. Some HTPC cases and TV tuner cards come with a MCE remote. If not, you can buy one.

GP-IR01BK Windows Vista MCE Remote Control External IR Receiver and Remote, $24.
Antec Multimedia Station Basic Internal IR Receiver and Remote, $22.
Antec Multimedia Station Elite Internal IR Receiver with VFD and Remote, $60.
Universal Remote

If you want to control all entertainment equipments at your home theater room, a universal remote is a must. Your HTPC needs to have an IR receiver (so you first need to have a MCE remote).

Logitech Harmony One Advanced Universal Remote, $179.
Logitech Harmony 700 (A stripped version of Harmony One: up to six devices, non-touch screen), $110.
Logitech Harmony 900 (Harmony One + RF capabilities), $250.
Logitech Harmony 1100 (3.5ˮ touch screen; RF capabilities), $273.
You may be able to find an older model cheap:

Logitech Harmony 880 Advanced Universal Remote, $90.
Logitech Harmony 890 Advanced Universal Remote (Harmony 880 + RF capabilities), $158.
The following is a universal remote (PC via RF + three CE devices via IR) with Gyration's MotionSense technology, eliminating the need for a mouse.
Gyration Air Music Remote GYR4101US, $60.
Gyration Air Music Remote with Compact Keyboard GYR4101CKUS, $112.
or the editions without music library LCD:

Gyration Media Center Remote GYR3101US, $86.
Gyration Media Center Remote with Compact Keyboard GYR3101CKUS, $121.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=164586&d=1264314812

Keyboard & Mouse

Adesso 2.4 GHz RF Wireless Multimedia/MCE Keyboard with Optical Trackball WKB-3200UB, $52.
Logitech diNovo Edge, $147.
Logitech diNovo Mini, $120.
So what do you need?

So what do you need (besides a keyboard and a mouse when installing software)? There is no simple answer.

If you just want to control a front end remotely, a cheap MCE remote may be enough. But you still need to a keyboard/mouse, for example, to surf the web.
Logitech Harmony is good to control lots of CE devices as well as HTPC. But you still need to a keyboard/mouse, for example, to surf the web.
If you want to use your HTPC more like a normal PC (e.g. web browsing) without using a keyboard/mouse, Gyration is a good choice. This can also control three other CE devices.
_______________
Optical Disc Drive
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

BD Rewriter/BD-ROM/DVD Rewriter

LG WH10LS30 Super Multi Blue BD & DVD Rewriter, $160.
LG UH10LS20 Super Multi Blue BD-ROM/DVD Rewriter, $105.
LITE-ON iHOS104 BD/DVD Reader, $60.
SilverStone TOB02 SST-TOB02 Slim Type BD-ROM/DVD Rewriter, $140.
DVD Rewriter

LG GH22NS50 Super Multi DVD & CD Rewriter, $24.
_________________________
TV Tuner Card for ATSC/Cable
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Digital+Analog

AVerMedia AVerTV Combo G2 PCIe x1 Card, low-profile (White Box or Media Center Upgrade Kit), $75. A dual tuner, one for analog (NTSC/cable), one for digital (ATSC/unencrypted cable).
Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 PCIe x1 Card, low-profile (White Box or MC Kit), $103. A dual hybrid tuner. Each tuner can be individually configured as either NTSC/analog cable or ATSC/unencrypted digital cable.
Digital Only

AVerMedia AVerTVHD Duet PCIe x1 Card, low-profile (White Box), $58. A dual digital tuner.
Silicondust HDHomeRun Networked Device, $131. A dual digital tuner.
Digital Cable Tuner Card

Ceton InfiniTV 4 Digital Cable Quad-Tuner PCIe x1 Card, low-profile, $399 (http://www.cetoncorp.com/buy.php). A quad digital tuner. Expected by May 31st.
Silicondust HDHomeRun CableCARD Networked Device, $249. A dual digital tuner. Expected this year.
Hauppauge?
These cards enable any PC running Windows 7 Media Center on your local network to watch or record up to four (Ceton; the max number of CableCARD tuners Windows 7 allows)/two (HDHomeRun) live cable channels at once, including premium channels. You just need:

Digital cable subscription from a US cable provider
Multi-Stream CableCARD (M-Card) available from your cable provider
A limitation on recordings is:

A content marked as Copy Freely has no DRM in your recording.
A content marked as Copy Once can be watched only on the PC where it was recorded and Media Center Extenders like the Xbox 360.
It is up to each cable provider which content is marked as Copy Freely/Copy Once.

References

The GreenButton - Ceton MOCUR Q&A (http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/t/78488.aspx?PageIndex=1)
HD Capturing

Hauppauge HD PVR model 01212 or 01219 USB Device, $199.
This device captures HD video contents, encrypted or unencrypted, via component video (i.e. analog) from a cable or satellite TV set top box in H.264 video with DD or AAC audio. Recordings are naturally DRM-free. You can watch/record one channel at a time with a HD PVR unit and a STB. You will need multiple HD PVR units and multiple STBs to watch/record multiple channels simultaneously.

__________
Sound Card
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

This is purely optional. Necessary hardware for HD digital audio is provided by either the motherboard's onboard audio codec or the HDMI on a graphics card (read Introduction : Component Selection : Graphics and Sound Devices). So you don't need a sound card unless you want:

To use analog sound out from PC, and possibly use better DAC/OPAMP on a sound card than on a receiver, in conjunction with a good amplifier;
EAX 5.0 in gaming (to output via analog, S/PDIF with Dolby Digital Live/DTS Interactive or HDMI)
Here are a list of a couple of recommended sound cards if you are in the above two cases:

ASUS Xonar HDAV1.3 Deluxe PCIe x1 Card, $200. (Topnotch analog sound as well as HD audio bitstreaming with ArcSoft TotalMedia Theater.)
Auzentech Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater HD PCIe x1 Card, $227. (EAX 5.0 support by an X-Fi audio chip; HD audio bitstreaming with a retail copy of CyberLink PowerDVD 9/10 Ultra.)
In case you have a system that does not support S/PDIF and you want it, here are cheap S/PDIF solutions:

Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro USB Sound Card (S/PDIF and stereo analog), $24.
DIAMOND XtremeSound XS71 7.1/24 bit PCI Card, $25.
DIAMOND XtremeSound XS71DDL 7.1/24 bit PCI Card with Dolby Digital Live, $44. Gamers may find Dolby Digital Live useful to get surround sounds digitally.
___
OS
¯¯¯

Windows 7 (any edition). OEM should be enough.
Remarks

Vista vs. Windows 7: If you own a license of Vista, do you need Windows 7? The answer depends on your usage. Overall Windows 7 is faster, snappier and lighter. A notable improvement of Windows 7 over Vista is better TV integration in Windows Media Center. In particular, if you want to use a Digital Cable Tuner card, Windows 7 is the only choice. If you don't use TV feature of Media Center or don't use Media Center itself, then you may want to stay with Vista.
Windows 7 editions: 7 Home Premium supports full-system backup and restore unlike Vista Home Premium. You can find comparison of Windows 7 editions in this Microsoft web page (http://content.windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/compare-editions) and Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7_editions).
32 bit vs. 64 bit: Currently the main advantage of Windows 64 bit is the support for more than 4GB memory (although normal HTPC tasks never need more than 4GB memory). Media Center in Windows 64 bit is a 64-bit application and a couple of useful DirectShow filters are not available in 64 bit, however (e.g. madFlac Decoder, ReClock [a must tool for bit-perfect LPCM HD audio], CyberLink Video/SP Decoder [many people consider it as the best MPEG-2 decoder]). Unless you are sure you will take advantage of more than 4GB memory, you may want to stay with 32 bit because of this.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=164587&d=1264314812

Lower-cost components

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=164588&d=1264314812

Higher-cost components

________
Brackets
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

S/PDIF Bracket

If your motherboard does not have an S/PDIF port in the rear panel, then you can build your own coaxial S/PDIF bracket: buy

RCA COMPOSITE VIDEO 2.5' - PANEL F TO 1X3 F (http://www.frontx.com/pro/p1062_030.html), $6.30
from FRONTX (http://www.frontx.com/store/order_pb.html) and attach it to an empty PCI bracket by drilling a hole.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=164589&d=1264314845

COM (Serial) Port Bracket

If your motherboard has an internal COM connector, use
Cables To Go DB9M Serial Add-A-Port Adapter with Bracket for Intel Motherboards (http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?cat%5Fid=908&sku=28300)
LPT (Parallel) Port Bracket

If your motherboard has an internal LPT connector, use
Cables To Go DB25F Parallel Add-A-Port Adapter with Bracket (http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?cat%5Fid=908&sku=10338)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=164590&d=1264314845

renethx

03-18-10, 10:53 AM

______________
Mini-ITX System
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
__________________
General Consideration
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Mini-ITX form factor has become popular because of its small footprint. However there are several limitations. It supports at most one expansion slot. As almost every Mini-ITX has an integrated GPU (iGPU) and some of them are very good for video playback, this may not be a serious issue. A Mini-ITX case is usually very small, hence there is often a space limitation for the CPU cooler, storage drives and PSU. You have to select components carefully. If you agree with these limitations, a Mini-ITX system can be not only a good HTPC but also a gaming machine or a video encoding machine by placing a powerful discrete graphics card and/or CPU (as long as the motherboard and the case support them).

I will give a standard HTPC system with iGPU and a gaming HTPC with dGPU for each of the Intel chip-Intel chipset, the Intel chip-NVIDIA chipset, the AMD chip-AMD chipset and the AMD chip-NVIDIA chipset. Here is a feature comparison chart (needs to be updated).

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=164581&d=1264311871

renethx

03-18-10, 10:53 AM

______________
Standard System
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
I used here a budget, but well-built case. Alternative Mini-ITX cases are (LP = "low-profile", FH = "full-height")

Antec ISK 300-150 Mini-ITX, 1 x 5.25″ slim/2 x 2.5″/1 x LP slot, W222 x D328 x H96 mm, 150W, $75.
Antec ISK 310-150 Mini-ITX, 1 x 5.25″ slim/2 x 2.5″/1 x LP slot, W222 x D328 x H96 mm, 150W, $75.
Apex MI-008 Mini-ITX, 1 x 5.25″/2 x 3.5″/1 x FH slot, W220 x D300 x H129 mm, 250W, $40.
Apex MI-100BK Mini-ITX, 1 x 5.25″/2 x 3.5″/1 x FH slot, W220 x D300 x H129 mm, 250W, $50.
Mini-Box.com M350 Mini-ITX, no 5.25″/2 x 2.5″/no slot, W192 x D210 x H62 mm, $40, with Mini-Box.com picoPSU-150-XT + 102W Adapter Power Kit, $70.
SilverStone Sugo SG05 SST-SG05B Mini-ITX/Mini-DTX, 1 x 5.25″ slim/1 x 3.5″/1 x 2.5″/2 x FH slot, W222 x D276 x H176 mm, 300W, $92.
SilverStone Sugo SG06 SST-SG06B Mini-ITX/Mini-DTX, 1 x 5.25″ slim/1 x 3.5″/1 x 2.5″/2 x FH slot, W222 x D286 x H177 mm, 300W, $115.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170399&stc=1&d=1268926380

Intel-Intel (iGPU)

System

CPU: Core i3 530 2.93GHz LGA1156, $113.
CPU Cooler: Stock cooler, $0.
Motherboard: ZOTAC H55-ITX WiFi H55ITX-A-E LGA1156 Intel H55 chipset Mini-ATX, $145. An alternative is Intel DH57JG LGA1156 Intel H57 chipset Mini-ATX, $125.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-2GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 1GB Kit, $65.
Graphics Card: Intel HD Graphics (integrated in the chipset), $0.
HDD: WD Caviar Blue WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA 3.0Gbps, $65.
PSU: ATX12V 250W SFX PSU (included in the case): $0.
Case: Apex MI-008 Mini-ITX, $40.
Total Cost: $428
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170400&d=1268926372

References

AVS Forum - *Official* Zotac H55-ITX Mini-ITX HTPC Thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1228504)
AVS Forum - *Official* Intel DH57JG "Jet Geyser" Mini-ITX Motherboard Thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1234273)
Intel-NVIDIA (iGPU)

System

CPU: Pentium Dual-Core E5300 2.60GHz 2MB L2 LGA775, $64.
CPU Cooler: SilverStone NT07-775, $20.
Motherboard: ZOTAC GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi GF9300-G-E LGA775 GeForce 9300 mGPU Mini-ITX, $126.
Memory: A-DATA ADQVE1A16K DDR2-800 2 x 1GB Kit, $42.
Graphics Card: GeForce 9300 (integrated in the chipset), $0.
HDD: WD Caviar Blue WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA 3.0Gbps, $65.
PSU: ATX12V 250W SFX PSU (included in the case): $0.
Case: Apex MI-008 Mini-ITX, $40.
Total Cost: $357
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170401&d=1268926372

References

AVS Forum - *Official* Zotac GeForce 9300 Mini-ITX HTPC Motherboard Thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1111996)
[Hard]|Forum - ZOTAC GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi (http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1384187)
AMD-AMD (iGPU)

System

CPU: Athlon II X2 240e AD240EHDGQBOX 2.8GHz AM3, $77.
CPU Cooler: SilverStone NT07-AM2, $20.
Motherboard: J&W MINIX 785G-SP128MB AM2+ AMD 785G chipset Mini-ITX, $155 (http://www.mvixusa.com/store/index.php?target=products&product_id=1600#main_description).
Memory: Crucial CT2KIT12864AC800 DDR2-800 SO-DIMM 2 x 1GB Kit, $49.
Graphics Card: Radeon HD 4200 (integrated in the chipset), $0.
HDD: Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA 3.0Gbps, $65.
PSU: ATX12V 250W SFX PSU (included in the case): $0.
Case: Apex MI-008 Mini-ITX, $40.
Total Cost: $403
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170402&d=1268926399

renethx

03-18-10, 10:53 AM

_____________
Gaming System
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

The systems here are based on SilverStone SG05 Mini-DTX/Mini-ITX case (http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/p_contents.php?pno=SG05&area=usa). The case supports a 2-slot graphics card of up to 9″ length and has a 300W PSU, good enough in most cases.

Intel-Intel

System

CPU: Core i5 750 2.66GHz LGA1156, $196.
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master 風神鍛 (Geminii S) RR-CCH-PBU1-GP, $35, with Scythe Slip Stream Slim 120 mm Case Fan SY1212SL12M 1600rpm, $9 (the stock fan is too tall for the selected case).
Motherboard: DFI LANPARTY MI P55-T36 LGA1156 Intel P55 chipset Mini-ATX, $140.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 2GB Kit, $105.
Graphics Card (ATI): SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5770 GDDR5 1GB, $160.
Graphics Card (NVIDIA): XFX GS-250X-ZDFU GeForce GTS 250 DDR3 1GB, $146.
HDD: Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA 3.0Gbps, $65. You will need a 12 inch Right Angle SATA to Straight SATA Cable, $2.
PSU: ATX12V 300W SFX PSU (included in the case), $0.
Case: SilverStone Sugo SG05 SST-SG05B Mini-ITX/Mini-DTX, $92.
Total Cost: $804 for ATI, $790 for NVIDIA
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170403&stc=1&d=1268926938

Remarks

The case supports a slim type optical drive, e.g., SilverStone TOB02 SST-TOB02 Slim Type BD-ROM/DVD Rewriter, $140.
Intel-NVIDIA

System

CPU: Core 2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz 6MB L2 LGA775, $183.
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master 風神鍛 (Geminii S) RR-CCH-PBU1-GP, $35, with Scythe Slip Stream Slim 120 mm Case Fan SY1212SL12M 1600rpm, $9 (the stock fan is too tall for the selected case).
Motherboard: ZOTAC GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi GF9300-G-E LGA775 GeForce 9300 mGPU Mini-ITX, $126.
Memory: A-DATA ADQVE1B16K DDR2-800 2 x 2GB Kit, $83.
Graphics Card (ATI): SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5770 GDDR5 1GB, $160.
Graphics Card (NVIDIA): XFX GS-250X-ZDFU GeForce GTS 250 DDR3 1GB, $146.
HDD: Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA 3.0Gbps, $65. You will need a 12 inch Right Angle SATA to Straight SATA Cable, $2.
PSU: ATX12V 300W SFX PSU (included in the case), $0.
Case: SilverStone Sugo SG05 SST-SG05B Mini-ITX/Mini-DTX, $92.
Total Cost: $755 for ATI, $741 for NVIDIA
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170404&stc=1&d=1268926938

Remarks

The case supports a slim type optical drive, e.g., SilverStone TOB02 SST-TOB02 Slim Type BD-ROM/DVD Rewriter, $140.
References

[Hard]|Forum - ZOTAC GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi (http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1384187)
AMD-AMD

System

CPU: Phenom II X4 905e HD905EOCGIBOX 2.5GHz AM3, $165.
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master 風神鍛 (Geminii S) RR-CCH-PBU1-GP, $35, with Scythe Slip Stream Slim 120 mm Case Fan SY1212SL12M 1600rpm, $9 (the stock fan is too tall for the selected case).
Motherboard: J&W MINIX 785G-SP128MB AM2+ AMD 785G chipset Mini-ITX, $155 (http://www.mvixusa.com/store/index.php?target=products&product_id=1600#main_description).
Memory: OCZ OCZ2M8004GK DDR2-800 SO-DIMM 2 x 2GB Kit, $84.
Graphics Card (ATI): SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5770 GDDR5 1GB, $160.
Graphics Card (NVIDIA): XFX GS-250X-ZDFU GeForce GTS 250 DDR3 1GB, $146.
HDD: Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA 3.0Gbps, $65. You will need a 12 inch Right Angle SATA to Straight SATA Cable, $2.
PSU: ATX12V 300W SFX PSU (included in the case), $0.
Case: SilverStone Sugo SG05 SST-SG05B Mini-ITX/Mini-DTX, $92.
Total Cost: $767 for ATI, $753 for NVIDIA
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170405&stc=1&d=1268926938

Remarks

The case supports a slim type optical drive, e.g., SilverStone TOB02 SST-TOB02 Slim Type BD-ROM/DVD Rewriter, $140.

renethx

03-18-10, 10:54 AM

______________
MicroATX System
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
__________________
General Consideration
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
A microATX system is perhaps the most popular form factor in HTPC because it generally costs less and is smaller than ATX, yet has enough expansion slots of four for many people.

I will give a low-end system, a mid-range system, a high-end system and a premium system for each of Intel chip-Intel chipset and AMD chip-AMD chipset. Basic distinctions are:

Low-end system: provides reasonably good video playback performance at a low cost.
Mid-range system: provides the best video playback performance without compromise.
High-end system: should be able to handle other HTPC-related tasks such as video re-encoding and games with reasonably good performance.
Premium system: is intended to be the best (but not too expensive) overall system available today.
Here is a feature comparison chart (needs to be updated).

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=164581&d=1264311871

renethx

03-18-10, 10:54 AM

_____________
Low-End System
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
I used here a budget, but well-built low-profile case. Alternative microATX cases are

Antec NSK1480 microATX, low-profile, $95.
Antec MicroFusion Remote 350 microATX, low-profile, with LCD/IR receiver/remote, $175.
Lian Li PC-C37B MUSE microATX, low-profile, $144.
Lian Li PC-C39 microATX, low-profile, with RF receiver/remote, $180.
Moneual MonCaso312 microATX, low-profile, with IR receiver/remote, $220.
Moneual MonCaso301 microATX, low-profile, with VFD/IR receiver/remote, $300.
Antec NSK2480 microATX, $94.
Antec Fusion Remote Black microATX, with LCD/IR receiver/remote, $140.
nMEDIAPC HTPC 1000B microATX, $70.
nMEDIAPC HTPC 5000B microATX, $60.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170406&stc=1&d=1268927104

Intel-Intel

System

CPU: Celeron E3300 2.50GHz 1MB L2 LGA775, $43.
CPU Cooler: Stock cooler, $0.
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-G41MT-ES2L LGA775 Intel G41 chipset microATX, $58.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-2GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 1GB Kit, $65.
Graphics Card (ATI): PowerColor AX5450 512MK3-SH Radeon HD 5450 GDDR3 512MB, $50.
Graphics Card (NVIDIA): ECS NGT220C-512QZ-F GeForce GT 220 DDR2 512MB low-profile, $52.
HDD: Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA 3.0Gbps, $65.
PSU: 80 PLUS 350W ATX PSU (included in the case), $0
Case: Antec NSK1480 microATX, $115.
Total Cost: $396 for ATI, $398 for NVIDIA
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170407&stc=1&d=1268927104

Remarks

If you prefer DDR2-SDRAM, a recommended motherboard and memory modules are
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L LGA775 Intel G31 chipset microATX, $50.
Memory: A-DATA ADQVE1A16K DDR2-800 2 x 1GB Kit, $42.
AMD-AMD (iGPU)

System

CPU: Athlon II X2 240 ADX240OCGQBOX 2.8GHz AM3, $66.
CPU Cooler: Stock cooler, $0.
Motherboard: ASRock M3A785GMH/128M AM3 AMD 785G chipset microATX, $77.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-2GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 1GB Kit, $65.
Graphics Card: Radeon HD 4200 (integrated in the chipset), $0.
HDD: Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA 3.0Gbps, $65.
PSU: 80 PLUS 350W ATX PSU (included in the case), $0
Case: Antec NSK1480 microATX, $115.
Total Cost: $388
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170408&stc=1&d=1268927104

Remarks

If you prefer DDR2-SDRAM, a recommended motherboard and memory modules are
Motherboard: ASRock A785GMH/128M AM2+ AMD 785G chipset microATX, $65.
Memory: A-DATA ADQVE1A16K DDR2-800 2 x 1GB Kit, $42.
AMD-AMD

Radeon HD 4200 does not support multichannel LPCM/Dolby TrueHD/DTS-HD (HRA and MA) over HDMI. If you want them, you have to add a discrete graphics card. Here is an example of such a system.

System

CPU: Athlon II X2 240 ADX240OCGQBOX 2.8GHz AM3, $66.
CPU Cooler: Stock cooler, $0.
Motherboard: [GIGABYTE GA-MA78LMT-S2H AM3 AMD 760G chipset microATX, $65.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-2GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 1GB Kit, $65.
Graphics Card (ATI): PowerColor AX5450 512MK3-SH Radeon HD 5450 GDDR3 512MB, $50.
Graphics Card (NVIDIA): ECS NGT220C-512QZ-F GeForce GT 220 DDR2 512MB low-profile, $52.
HDD: Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA 3.0Gbps, $65.
PSU: 80 PLUS 350W ATX PSU (included in the case), $0
Case: Antec NSK1480 microATX, $115.
Total Cost: $426 for ATI, $428 for NVIDIA
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170409&stc=1&d=1268927104

Remarks

If you prefer DDR2-SDRAM, a recommended motherboard and memory modules are
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA78LM-S2H AM3 AMD 760G chipset microATX, $59.
Memory: A-DATA ADQVE1A16K DDR2-800 2 x 1GB Kit, $42.

renethx

03-18-10, 10:54 AM

_______________
Mid-Range System
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Intel-Intel (iGPU)

System

CPU: Core i3 530 2.93GHz LGA1156, $113.
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master 風神鍛 (Geminii S) RR-CCH-PBU1-GP, $35.
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-H55M-UD2H LGA1156 Intel H55 chipset microATX, $92. An alternative is ASUS P7H55-M PRO LGA1156 Intel H55 chipset microATX, $110. If you want USB 3.0, go with GIGABYTE GA-H57M-USB3 LGA1156 Intel H57 chipset microATX, $120, or ASUS P7H55D-M EVO LGA1156 Intel H55 chipset microATX, $125.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 2GB Kit, $105.
Graphics Card: Intel HD Graphics (integrated in the chipset), $0.
HDD: Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA 3.0Gbps, $65.
PSU: Corsair VX450W CMPSU-450VX 450W, $65. An alternative is Enermax ECO80+ 400W EES400AWT, $61.
Case: Antec Fusion Remote Black microATX, with LCD/IR receiver/remote, $140.
Total Cost: $615
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170410&stc=1&d=1268927330

Remarks

Installing the Intel MEI (Management Engine Interface) Driver (http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProdId=3143&DwnldID=18532&lang=eng) is essential to get HD audio bitstreaming via iGPU. Here is a summary of HD audio bitstreaming capability with various players:

|MEI Driver installed|MEI Driver NOT installed
TotalMedia Theatre 3 Platinum|Yes|No
TotalMedia Theatre 3 Platinum with ReClock|Yes|Yes
PowerDVD 9/10 Ultra|Yes|No
WinDVD 2010 Pro|Yes|Yes
ffdshow Audio Decoder|Yes|Yes

You should avoid ASRock and BIOSTAR H55 motherboards for HD audio bitstreaming via iGPU with TotalMedia Theatre 3 Platinum and PowerDVD 9/10 Ultra as you cannot install the Intel MEI Driver in these motherboards for some reason.
Intel-Intel

System

CPU: Core i3 530 2.93GHz LGA1156, $113.
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master 風神鍛 (Geminii S) RR-CCH-PBU1-GP, $35.
Motherboard: ASRock H55M Pro LGA1156 Intel H55 chipset microATX, $90. If you want USB 3.0, go with GIGABYTE GA-H57M-USB3 LGA1156 Intel H57 chipset microATX, $120, or ASUS P7H55D-M EVO LGA1156 Intel H55 chipset microATX, $125.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 2GB Kit, $105.
Graphics Card (ATI): Sapphire HD 5670 512GB GDDR5, $90. An alternative is HIS H567Q512 Radeon HD 5670 GDDR5 512MB, $95.
Graphics Card (NVIDIA): ASUS ENGT240/DI/512MD5/A GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 512MB, $100.
HDD: Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA 3.0Gbps, $65.
PSU: Corsair VX450W CMPSU-450VX 450W, $65. An alternative is Enermax ECO80+ 400W EES400AWT, $61.
Case: Antec Fusion Remote Black microATX, with LCD/IR receiver/remote, $140.
Total Cost: $703 for ATI, $713 for NVIDIA
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170411&stc=1&d=1268927330

AMD-AMD

System

CPU: Athlon II X4 630 ADX630WFGIBOX 2.8GHz AM3, $100.
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master 風神鍛 (Geminii S) RR-CCH-PBU1-GP, $35.
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA785GMT-UD2H AM3 AMD 785G chipset microATX, $80. If you want USB 3.0, choose GIGABYTE GA-785GMT-USB3 AM3 AMD 785G chipset microATX, $95, or the upcoming GIGABYTE GA-880GMA-UD2H AM3 AMD 880G chipset microATX (also supports SATA 6.0Gbps).
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 2GB Kit, $105.
Graphics Card (ATI): Sapphire HD 5670 512GB GDDR5, $90. An alternative is HIS H567Q512 Radeon HD 5670 GDDR5 512MB, $95.
Graphics Card (NVIDIA): ASUS ENGT240/DI/512MD5/A GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 512MB, $100.
HDD: Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA 3.0Gbps, $65.
PSU: Corsair VX450W CMPSU-450VX 450W, $65. An alternative is Enermax ECO80+ 400W EES400AWT, $61.
Case: Antec Fusion Remote Black microATX, with LCD/IR receiver/remote, $140.
Total Cost: $680 for ATI, $690 for NVIDIA
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170412&stc=1&d=1268927330

Remarks

If you prefer DDR2-SDRAM, a recommended motherboard and memory modules are
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM2+ AMD 785G chipset microATX, $80.
Memory: A-DATA ADQVE1B16K DDR2-800 2 x 2GB Kit, $83.

renethx

03-18-10, 10:54 AM

______________
High-End System
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Intel-Intel

System

CPU: Core i5 750 2.66GHz LGA1156, $196.
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master 風神鍛 (Geminii S) RR-CCH-PBU1-GP, $35.
Motherboard: ASRock H55M Pro LGA1156 Intel H55 chipset microATX, $90. If you want USB 3.0, go with GIGABYTE GA-H57M-USB3 LGA1156 Intel H57 chipset microATX, $120, or ASUS P7H55D-M EVO LGA1156 Intel H55 chipset microATX, $125.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 2GB Kit, $105.
Graphics Card (ATI): SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5770 GDDR5 1GB, $160.
Graphics Card (NVIDIA): XFX GS-250X-ZDFU GeForce GTS 250 DDR3 1GB, $146.
HDD: Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA 3.0Gbps, $65.
PSU: Corsair VX550W CMPSU-550VX 550W, $80. An alternative is Enermax ECO80+ 500W EES500AWT, $71.
Case: Antec Fusion Remote Black microATX, with LCD/IR receiver/remote, $140.
Total Cost: $871 for ATI, $857 for NVIDIA
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170413&stc=1&d=1268927495

AMD-AMD

System

CPU: Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition HDZ955FBGIBOX 3.2GHz AM3, $165.
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master 風神鍛 (Geminii S) RR-CCH-PBU1-GP, $35.
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA785GMT-UD2H AM3 AMD 785G chipset microATX, $80. If you want USB 3.0, choose GIGABYTE GA-785GMT-USB3 AM3 AMD 785G chipset microATX, $95, or the upcoming GIGABYTE GA-880GMA-UD2H AM3 AMD 880G chipset microATX (also supports SATA 6.0Gbps).
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 2GB Kit, $105.
Graphics Card (ATI): SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5770 GDDR5 1GB, $160.
Graphics Card (NVIDIA): XFX GS-250X-ZDFU GeForce GTS 250 DDR3 1GB, $146.
HDD: Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA 3.0Gbps, $65.
PSU: Corsair VX550W CMPSU-550VX 550W, $80. An alternative is Enermax ECO80+ 500W EES500AWT, $71.
Case: Antec Fusion Remote Black microATX, with LCD/IR receiver/remote, $140.
Total Cost: $830 for ATI, $816 for NVIDIA
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170414&stc=1&d=1268927496

Remarks

If you prefer DDR2-SDRAM, a recommended motherboard and memory modules are
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM2+ AMD 785G chipset microATX, $80.
Memory: A-DATA ADQVE1B16K DDR2-800 2 x 2GB Kit, $83.

renethx

03-18-10, 10:54 AM

______________
Premium System
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Intel-Intel

System

CPU: Core i7 860 2.80GHz LGA1156, $284. A cheaper alternative is Core i5 750 2.66GHz LGA1156, $196.
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master 風神鍛 (Geminii S) RR-CCH-PBU1-GP, $35.
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD4 LGA1156 Intel P55 chipset microATX, $140.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 2GB Kit, $105.
Graphics Card (ATI): Radeon HD 5850 GDDR5 1GB, $300; two of this card for CrossFireX, $600. An alternative is Radeon HD 5870 GDDR5 1GB, $400.
Graphics Card (NVIDIA): GeForce GTX 275 DDR3 896MB, $255; two of this card for SLI, $510. An alternative is GeForce GTX 285, $320 or GeForce GTX 295, $525.
HDD: Intel X25-M SSDSA2MH080G2R5 80GB SATA 3.0Gbps SSD, $240.
PSU: Enermax MODU82+ II 625W EMD625AWT II, $121. An alternative is Seasonic M12D 850W, $185.
Case: LUXA2 LM200 Touch microATX, with 7” touch screen/IR receiver/remote, $510. If you don't need or don't like a touch screen, choose LUXA2 LM200 microATX, with VFD/IR receiver/remote, $320.
Total Cost: $1735 for non-CrossFireX, $2035 for CrossFireX; $1690 for non-SLI, $1945 for SLI.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170415&stc=1&d=1268927691
AMD-AMD

System

CPU: Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition HDZ965FBGIBOX 3.4GHz AM3, $185.
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master 風神鍛 (Geminii S) RR-CCH-PBU1-GP, $35.
Motherboard: DFI LANPARTY JR 790GX-M3H5 AM3 AMD 790GX chipset microATX, $135.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 2GB Kit, $105.
Graphics Card (ATI): Radeon HD 5850 GDDR5 1GB, $300; two of this card for CrossFireX, $600. An alternative is Radeon HD 5870 GDDR5 1GB, $400.
HDD: Intel X25-M SSDSA2MH080G2R5 80GB SATA 3.0Gbps SSD, $240.
PSU: Enermax MODU82+ II 625W EMD625AWT II, $121. An alternative is Seasonic M12D 850W, $185.
Case: LUXA2 LM200 Touch microATX, with 7” touch screen/IR receiver/remote, $510. If you don't need or don't like a touch screen, choose LUXA2 LM200 microATX, with VFD/IR receiver/remote, $320.
Total Cost: $1631 for non-CrossFireX, $1931 for CrossFireX.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170416&stc=1&d=1268927691

renethx

03-18-10, 10:55 AM

__________
ATX System
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
__________________
General Consideration
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

The ATX form factor supports up to seven expansion slots (vs. four in microATX) and a larger ATX case can usually hold more storage drives. Moreover motherboard manufacturers tend to implement better CPU power circuitry and cooling solution for MOSFET/chipset in ATX motherboards than microATX motherboards.

I will give a low-end system, a mid-range system, a high-end system and a premium system for each of Intel chip-Intel chipset, AMD chip-AMD chipset and AMD chip-NVIDIA chipset. Basic distinctions are:

Low-end system: provides reasonably good video playback performance at a low cost.
Mid-range system: provides the best video playback performance without compromise.
High-end system: should be able to handle other HTPC-related tasks such as video re-encoding and games with reasonably good performance.
Premium system: is intended to be the best (but not too expensive) overall system available today.
As the expandability is an distinguishing feature of the ATX form factor, I set the following criteria: the motherboard should have

Low-end:
1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 for a 2-slot graphics card
3 x PCIe x1 for HBA, a sound card and a TV tuner
Mid-range and high-end:
1 x PCIe 2.0 x8 for a 2-slot graphics card
1 x PCIe x8 for HBA
2 x PCIe x1 for a sound card and a TV tuner
Premium system:
2 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (or x8) for dual 2-slot graphics
1 x PCIe x1 and 1 x PCIe x4 for a sound card/TV tuner/HBA
But a few systems do not meet this criteria (simply because there is no good motherboard). In addition, fully usable 6 SATA ports (I mean not blocked by a large graphics card) is a norm.

Here is a feature comparison chart (needs to be updated).

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=164581&d=1264311871

renethx

03-18-10, 10:55 AM

______________
Low-End System
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
The case selected here is just one example. Here are a list of well-built ATX cases. All SilverStone cases except for LC16M and GD01 can hold a graphics card of any length by removing a HDD cage.

Without LCD/VFD/IR receiver/remote:

SilverStone Lascala LC10-E SST-LC10B-E ATX, $109.
SilverStone Lascala LC13-E SST-LC13B-E ATX, $120.
SilverStone Lascala LC17 SST-LC17B ATX, $120.
SilverStone Lascala LC20 SST-LC20B ATX, $129.
SilverStone Lascala GD01 SST-GD01B-R ATX, with card reader, $135.
nMEDIAPC HTPC 2000B ATX, with card reader, $92.
nMEDIAPC HTPC 6000B ATX, with card reader, $80.
With LCD/VFD/IR receiver/remote:

SilverStone Lascala LC10-MX SST-LC10B-MX ATX, with LCD/IR receiver/remote, $179.
SilverStone Lascala LC16M-R SST-LC16B-MR ATX, with VFD/IR receiver/remote & card reader, $236.
SilverStone Lascala LC20M SST-LC20B-M ATX, with VFD/IR receiver/remote, $179.
SilverStone Lascala GD01MX SST-GD01B-MXR ATX, with LCD/IR receiver/remote & card reader, $236.
Thermaltake DH101 VF7001BNS ATX, with LCD/IR receiver/remote, $198.
Thermaltake DH202 VJ80011N2Z ATX, with LCD/IR receiver/remote & card reader, $240.
Intel-Intel

System

CPU: Celeron E3300 2.50GHz 1MB L2 LGA775, $43.
CPU Cooler: Stock cooler, $0.
Motherboard: ASRock P43DE3 LGA775 DDR3 Intel P43 chipset ATX, $75. An alternative is GIGABYTE GA-EP43T-UD3L LGA775 Intel P43 chipset ATX, $86.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-2GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 1GB Kit, $65.
Graphics Card (ATI): PowerColor AX5450 512MK3-SH Radeon HD 5450 GDDR3 512MB, $50.
Graphics Card (NVIDIA): ECS NGT220C-512QZ-F GeForce GT 220 DDR2 512MB low-profile, $52.
HDD: Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA 3.0Gbps, $65.
PSU: Corsair VX450W CMPSU-450VX 450W, $65. An alternative is Enermax ECO80+ 400W EES400AWT, $61.
Case: SilverStone Lascala LC10-E SST-LC10B-E ATX, $109.
Total Cost: $472 for ATI, $474 for NVIDIA
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170421&stc=1&d=1268929534

Remarks

If you prefer DDR2-SDRAM, a recommended motherboard and memory modules are
Motherboard: ASRock P43DE LGA775 Intel P43 chipset ATX, $68. An alternative is GIGABYTE GA-EP43-UD3L LGA775 Intel P43 chipset ATX, $66.
Memory: A-DATA ADQVE1A16K DDR2-800 2 x 1GB Kit, $42.
AMD-AMD (iGPU)

System

CPU: Athlon II X2 240 ADX240OCGQBOX 2.8GHz AM3, $66.
CPU Cooler: Stock cooler, $0.
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA785GT-UD3H AM3 AMD 785G chipset ATX, $85.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-2GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 1GB Kit, $65.
Graphics Card: Radeon HD 4200 (integrated in the chipset), $0.
HDD: Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA 3.0Gbps, $65.
PSU: Corsair VX450W CMPSU-450VX 450W, $65. An alternative is Enermax ECO80+ 400W EES400AWT, $61.
Case: SilverStone Lascala LC10-E SST-LC10B-E ATX, $109.
Total Cost: $455
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170422&stc=1&d=1268929534

Remarks

If you prefer DDR2-SDRAM, a recommended motherboard and memory modules are
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA785G-UD3H AM2+ AMD 785G chipset ATX, $85.
Memory: A-DATA ADQVE1A16K DDR2-800 2 x 1GB Kit, $42.
AMD-AMD

Radeon HD 4200 does not support multichannel LPCM/Dolby TrueHD/DTS-HD (HRA and MA) over HDMI. If you want them, you have to add a discrete graphics card. Here is an example of such a system.

System

CPU: Athlon II X2 240 ADX240OCGQBOX 2.8GHz AM3, $66.
CPU Cooler: Stock cooler, $0.
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 chipset ATX, $82.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-2GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 1GB Kit, $65.
Graphics Card (ATI): PowerColor AX5450 512MK3-SH Radeon HD 5450 GDDR3 512MB, $50.
Graphics Card (NVIDIA): ECS NGT220C-512QZ-F GeForce GT 220 DDR2 512MB low-profile, $52.
HDD: Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA 3.0Gbps, $65.
PSU: Corsair VX450W CMPSU-450VX 450W, $65. An alternative is Enermax ECO80+ 400W EES400AWT, $61.
Case: SilverStone Lascala LC10-E SST-LC10B-E ATX, $109.
Total Cost: $502 for ATI, $504 for NVIDIA
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170423&stc=1&d=1268929534

Remarks

If you prefer DDR2-SDRAM, a recommended motherboard and memory modules are
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA770-UD3 AM2+ AMD 770 chipset ATX, $75.
Memory: A-DATA ADQVE1A16K DDR2-800 2 x 1GB Kit, $42.

renethx

03-18-10, 10:55 AM

_______________
Mid-Range System
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Intel-Intel (iGPU)

System

CPU: Core i3 530 2.93GHz LGA1156, $113.
CPU Cooler: Xigmatek NEPARTAK S983F, $30. If you cannot find it, choose Xigmatek NEPARTAK S983, $30, along with Xigmatek Crossbow ACK-I5361, $9.
Motherboard: MSI H55-GD65 LGA1156 Intel H55 chipset ATX, $135. If you want USB 3.0, choose GIGABYTE GA-H55-USB3 LGA1156 Intel H55 chipset ATX, $140 (then you will lose a PCI Express x4 slot).
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 2GB Kit, $105.
Graphics Card: Intel HD Graphics (integrated in the chipset), $0.
HDD: Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA 3.0Gbps, $65.
PSU: Corsair VX550W CMPSU-550VX 550W, $80. An alternative is Enermax ECO80+ 500W EES500AWT, $71.
Case: Antec Fusion Remote Max ATX, with LCD/IR receiver/remote, $174.
Total Cost: $702
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170424&stc=1&d=1268929759

Intel-Intel

System

CPU: Core i3 530 2.93GHz LGA1156, $113.
CPU Cooler: Xigmatek NEPARTAK S983F, $30. If you cannot find it, choose Xigmatek NEPARTAK S983, $30, along with Xigmatek Crossbow ACK-I5361, $9.
Motherboard: ASRock P55 Extreme LGA1156 Intel P55 chipset ATX, $140.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 2GB Kit, $105.
Graphics Card (ATI): Sapphire HD 5670 512GB GDDR5, $90. An alternative is HIS H567Q512 Radeon HD 5670 GDDR5 512MB, $95.
Graphics Card (NVIDIA): ASUS ENGT240/DI/512MD5/A GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 512MB, $100.
HDD: Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA 3.0Gbps, $65.
PSU: Corsair VX550W CMPSU-550VX 550W, $80. An alternative is Enermax ECO80+ 500W EES500AWT, $71.
Case: Antec Fusion Remote Max ATX, with LCD/IR receiver/remote, $174.
Total Cost: $797 for ATI, $807 for NVIDIA
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170425&stc=1&d=1268929759

AMD-AMD

System

CPU: Athlon II X4 630 ADX630WFGIBOX 2.8GHz AM3, $100.
CPU Cooler: Xigmatek NEPARTAK S983, $30.
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-890GPA-UD3H AM3 AMD 890GX chipset ATX, $121.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 2GB Kit, $105.
Graphics Card (ATI): Sapphire HD 5670 512GB GDDR5, $90. An alternative is HIS H567Q512 Radeon HD 5670 GDDR5 512MB, $95.
Graphics Card (NVIDIA): ASUS ENGT240/DI/512MD5/A GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 512MB, $100.
HDD: Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA 3.0Gbps, $65.
PSU: Corsair VX550W CMPSU-550VX 550W, $80. An alternative is Enermax ECO80+ 500W EES500AWT, $71.
Case: Antec Fusion Remote Max ATX, with LCD/IR receiver/remote, $174.
Total Cost: $765 for ATI, $775 for NVIDIA.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170426&stc=1&d=1268929759

AMD-NVIDIA

System

CPU: Athlon II X4 630 ADX630WFGIBOX 2.8GHz AM3, $100.
CPU Cooler: Xigmatek NEPARTAK S983, $30.
Motherboard: MSI NF750-G55 AM3 nForce 750a SLI MCP ATX, $94.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 2GB Kit, $105.
Graphics Card (ATI): Sapphire HD 5670 512GB GDDR5, $90. An alternative is HIS H567Q512 Radeon HD 5670 GDDR5 512MB, $95.
Graphics Card (NVIDIA): ASUS ENGT240/DI/512MD5/A GeForce GT 240 GDDR5 512MB, $100.
HDD: Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA 3.0Gbps, $65.
PSU: Corsair VX550W CMPSU-550VX 550W, $80. An alternative is Enermax ECO80+ 500W EES500AWT, $71.
Case: Antec Fusion Remote Max ATX, with LCD/IR receiver/remote, $174.
Total Cost: $738 for ATI, $748 for NVIDIA.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170427&stc=1&d=1268929759

Remarks

nForce 750a SLI is an SLI x8 version of the GeForce 8200 mGPU (so it supports multichannel PCM over HDMI).

renethx

03-18-10, 10:55 AM

______________
High-End System
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Intel-Intel

System

CPU: Core i5 750 2.66GHz LGA1156, $196.
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS9500A LED, $47, with Zalman ZM-CS5B Clip Kit for Socket 1156/775, $3 (necessary to attach the cooler to the LGA1156 socket).
Motherboard: ASRock P55 Extreme LGA1156 Intel P55 chipset ATX, $140.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 2GB Kit, $105.
Graphics Card (ATI): SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5770 GDDR5 1GB, $160.
Graphics Card (NVIDIA): XFX GS-250X-ZDFU GeForce GTS 250 DDR3 1GB, $146.
HDD: Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA 3.0Gbps, $65.
PSU: Enermax MODU82+ II 625W EMD625AWT II, $121. A cheaper alternative is Corsair TX650W CMPSU-650TX 650W, $90, or Enermax ECO80+ 620W EES620AWT, $91.
Case: Zalman HD503 ATX, with LCD/IR receiver/remote, $222.
Total Cost: $1059 for ATI, $1045 for NVIDIA
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170428&stc=1&d=1268930124

AMD-AMD

System

CPU: Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition HDZ955FBGIBOX 3.2GHz AM3, $165.
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS9500A LED, $47.
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-890GPA-UD3H AM3 AMD 890GX chipset ATX, $121.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 2GB Kit, $105.
Graphics Card (ATI): SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5770 GDDR5 1GB, $160.
Graphics Card (NVIDIA): XFX GS-250X-ZDFU GeForce GTS 250 DDR3 1GB, $146.
HDD: Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA 3.0Gbps, $65.
PSU: Enermax MODU82+ II 625W EMD625AWT II, $121. A cheaper alternative is Corsair TX650W CMPSU-650TX 650W, $90, or Enermax ECO80+ 620W EES620AWT, $91.
Case: Zalman HD503 ATX, with LCD/IR receiver/remote, $222.
Total Cost: $1006 for ATI, $992 for NVIDIA
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170429&stc=1&d=1268930124

AMD-NVIDIA

System

CPU: Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition HDZ955FBGIBOX 3.2GHz AM3, $165.
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS9500A LED, $47.
Motherboard: MSI NF750-G55 AM3 nForce 750a SLI MCP ATX, $94.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 2GB Kit, $105.
Graphics Card (ATI): SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5770 GDDR5 1GB, $160.
Graphics Card (NVIDIA): XFX GS-250X-ZDFU GeForce GTS 250 DDR3 1GB, $146.
HDD: Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA 3.0Gbps, $65.
PSU: Enermax MODU82+ II 625W EMD625AWT II, $121. A cheaper alternative is Corsair TX650W CMPSU-650TX 650W, $90, or Enermax ECO80+ 620W EES620AWT, $91.
Case: Zalman HD503 ATX, with LCD/IR receiver/remote, $222.
Total Cost: $979 for ATI, $965 for NVIDIA
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170430&stc=1&d=1268930124

Remarks

nForce 750a SLI is an SLI x8 version of the GeForce 8200 mGPU (so it supports multichannel PCM over HDMI).

renethx

03-18-10, 10:55 AM

______________
Premium System
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Intel-Intel (LGA 1156)

System

CPU: Core i7 860 2.80GHz LGA1156, $284.
CPU Cooler: Xigmatek Dark Knight-S1283V, $45, with Xigmatek Crossbow ACK-I5361, $9 (necessary to attach the cooler to the LGA1156 socket).
Motherboard: ASUS P7P55D-E PRO LGA1156 Intel P55 chipset ATX, $185. An alternative is GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD4P LGA1156 Intel P55 chipset ATX, $180. Both support USB 3.0 and SATA 6.0Gbps.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 2GB Kit, $105.
Graphics Card (ATI): Radeon HD 5850 GDDR5 1GB, $300; two of this card for CrossFireX, $600. An alternative is Radeon HD 5870 GDDR5 1GB, $400.
Graphics Card (NVIDIA): GeForce GTX 275 DDR3 896MB, $255; two of this card for SLI, $510. An alternative is GeForce GTX 285, $320 or GeForce GTX 295, $525.
HDD: Intel X25-M SSDSA2MH080G2R5 80GB SATA 3.0Gbps SSD, $240.
PSU: Seasonic M12D 850W, $185. An alternative is Antec Signature 850 850W, $205.
Case: Thermaltake DH104 VH4001BNS ATX, with 7” touch screen/IR receiver/remote, $499. If you don't need or don't like a touch screen, choose Thermaltake DH103 VH3001BNS ATX, with LCD/IR receiver/remote, $245 or SilverStone Crown CW02 SST-CW02S-MXR ATX, with LCD/IR receiver/remote, $359.
Total Cost: $1852 for non-CrossFireX, $2152 for CrossFireX; $1807 for non-SLI, $2062 for SLI.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170431&stc=1&d=1268930295

Intel-Intel (LGA 1366)

System

CPU: Core i7 930 2.80GHz LGA1366, $294.
CPU Cooler: Xigmatek Dark Knight-S1283V, $45.
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA1366 Intel X58 chipsets ATX, $210, that supports USB 3.0 and SATA 6.0Gbps in full bandwidth.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 2GB Kit, $105.
Graphics Card (ATI): Radeon HD 5850 GDDR5 1GB, $300; two of this card for CrossFireX, $600. An alternative is Radeon HD 5870 GDDR5 1GB, $400.
Graphics Card (NVIDIA): GeForce GTX 275 DDR3 896MB, $255; two of this card for SLI, $510. An alternative is GeForce GTX 285, $320 or GeForce GTX 295, $525.
HDD: Intel X25-M SSDSA2MH080G2R5 80GB SATA 3.0Gbps SSD, $240.
PSU: Seasonic M12D 850W, $185. An alternative is Antec Signature 850 850W, $205.
Case: Thermaltake DH104 VH4001BNS ATX, with 7” touch screen/IR receiver/remote, $499. If you don't need or don't like a touch screen, choose Thermaltake DH103 VH3001BNS ATX, with LCD/IR receiver/remote, $245 or SilverStone Crown CW02 SST-CW02S-MXR ATX, with LCD/IR receiver/remote, $359.
Total Cost: $1938 for non-CrossFireX, $2238 for CrossFireX; $1893 for non-SLI, $2148 for SLI.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170432&stc=1&d=1268930295

AMD-AMD

System

CPU: Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition HDZ965FBGMBOX 3.4GHz AM3, $185.
CPU Cooler: Xigmatek Dark Knight-S1283V, $45, with Enzotech Type-X AM2 Retention Modules, $2, and four nuts (necessary to attach the cooler in the correct orientation).
Motherboard: GIGABYTE 790FXTA-UD5 AM3 AMD 790FX chipset ATX, $184, that supports USB 3.0 and SATA 6.0Gbps in full bandwidth.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 2GB Kit, $105.
Graphics Card: Radeon HD 5850 GDDR5 1GB, $300; two of this card for CrossFireX, $600. An alternative is Radeon HD 5870 GDDR5 1GB, $400.
HDD: Intel X25-M SSDSA2MH080G2R5 80GB SATA 3.0Gbps SSD, $246.
PSU: Seasonic M12D 850W, $185. An alternative is Antec Signature 850 850W, $205.
Case: Thermaltake DH104 VH4001BNS ATX, with 7” touch screen/IR receiver/remote, $499. If you don't need or don't like a touch screen, choose Thermaltake DH103 VH3001BNS ATX, with LCD/IR receiver/remote, $245 or SilverStone Crown CW02 SST-CW02S-MXR ATX, with LCD/IR receiver/remote, $359.
Total Cost: $1745 for non-CrossFireX, $2045 for CrossFireX.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170433&stc=1&d=1268930295

AMD-NVIDIA

System

CPU: Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition HDZ965FBGMBOX 3.4GHz AM3, $185.
CPU Cooler: Xigmatek Dark Knight-S1283V, $45, with Enzotech Type-X AM2 Retention Modules, $2, and four nuts (necessary to attach the cooler in the correct orientation).
Motherboard: MSI NF980-G65 AM3 nForce 980a SLI MCP ATX, $155.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 2GB Kit, $105.
Graphics Card: GeForce GTX 275 DDR3 896MB, $255; two of this card for SLI, $510. An alternative is GeForce GTX 285, $320 or GeForce GTX 295, $525.
HDD: Intel X25-M SSDSA2MH080G2R5 80GB SATA 3.0Gbps SSD, $240.
PSU: Seasonic M12D 850W, $185. An alternative is Antec Signature 850 850W, $205.
Case: Thermaltake DH104 VH4001BNS ATX, with 7” touch screen/IR receiver/remote, $499. If you don't need or don't like a touch screen, choose Thermaltake DH103 VH3001BNS ATX, with LCD/IR receiver/remote, $245 or SilverStone Crown CW02 SST-CW02S-MXR ATX, with LCD/IR receiver/remote, $359.
Total Cost: $1671 for non-SLI, $1926 for SLI.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170434&stc=1&d=1268930295

Remarks

nForce 980a SLI (rebadged nForce 780a SLI) is nForce 750a SLI + nForce 200 (a PCI Express switch for SLI x16).

renethx

03-18-10, 10:56 AM

_________________________
DAS (Direct Attached Storage)
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

If you need more storage space than the one provided by the motherboard and the case, the quickest solution is attach an external HDD enclosure. Possible interfaces are USB 2.0 (60MB/s), IEEE 1394a (50MB/s), PCI (133MB/s), PCI Express x1 (250MB/s), all of which are good enough for home use. If you need lots of drives, you may want to consider a dedicated file server (see Media Storage Server). If you need higher I/O throughput, e.g. for video editing, there are many SATA RAID controller cards with PCI Express x4 (1.0GB/s) or x8 (2.0GB/s) interface. Here are a couple of examples.

5-Drive SATA Enclosure with Built-in Port Multiplier

Rosewill RSV-S5 5-drive SATA Port Multiplier Enclosure, $200.
SANS DIGITAL TowerRAID TR5M-B 5-drive SATA Port Multiplier Enclosure, $200.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170441&stc=1&d=1268931807

Each of them has a Silicon Image SiI3726 (http://www.siliconimage.com/products/product.aspx?id=26) 5-port SATA II port multiplier and is bundled with a 2-port SATA PCIe x1 host bus adapter based on Silicon Image SiI3132 (http://www.siliconimage.com/products/product.aspx?id=32) supporting port multiplier (FIS-based). You can attach up to two enclosures (10 drives) to one card. Supports RAID 0, 1, 10, 5 in software mode as well as JBOD. Note that SiI3726 needs to be connected to a PM aware SATA port. In general you'd better use the bundled host bus adapter to avoid compatibility issues.

8-Drive SATA Enclosure with Built-in Port Multiplier

Rosewill RSV-S8 8-Drive SATA Port Multiplier Enclosure, $300.
SANS DIGITAL TowerRAID TR8M-B 8-drive SATA Port Multiplier Enclosure, $300.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170442&stc=1&d=1268931807

Each of them has two Silicon Image SiI3726 (http://www.siliconimage.com/products/product.aspx?id=26) 5-port SATA II port multipliers and is bundled with a 2-port SATA PCIe x1 host bus adapter based on Silicon Image SiI3132 (http://www.siliconimage.com/products/product.aspx?id=32).

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170443&stc=1&d=1268931807

5-Drive SATA Enclosure with Built-in RAID Port Multiplier

AMS VENUS T5 DS-2350J, $220.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170444&stc=1&d=1268931807

The case has a JMicron JMB393 (http://www.jmicron.com/Product_JMB393.htm) 5-port SATA II port multiplier with RAID function, that supports non-PM aware host. So you can connect it to any eSATA port of your system with decent performance in hardware-accelerated RAID mode.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170445&stc=1&d=1268931807

FYI, Sans Digital claims that when connected to a SATA 6Gbps port, you can expect in RAID 5

180MB/s in write
200MB/s in read
8-Drive SATA Enclosure with a RAID Controller Card

SANS DIGITAL TowerRAID TR8X-B 8-drive SAS/SATA to SFF-8088 Enclosure, $415.
HighPoint RocketRAID 2322 8-port SATA RAID Controller PCI Express x8 Card, $250.
Total Cost: $665.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170446&stc=1&d=1268931983

RocketRAID 2322 uses the same SATA (PCI-X) controller as Supermicro AOC-SAT2-MV8 mentioned in "Media Storage Server" (Marvell 88SX6081). However it lacks a hardware RAID processor. For better performance you should choose a RAID controller card with a hardware RAID processor engine such as

HighPoint RocketRAID 4322 8-port SAS/SATA RAID Controller PCI Express x8 Card with IOP348 Processor, $450.
Areca ARC-1222x 8-port SAS/SATA RAID Controller PCI Express x8 Card with IOP348 Processor, $480.
Adaptec RAID 3085 8-port SAS/SATA RAID Controller PCI Express x8 Card, $595.
Adaptec RAID 5085 8-port SAS/SATA RAID Controller PCI Express x8 Card, $760.
Other DAS Solutions

Please check:

Newegg.com > Servers > Server RAID Systems (http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=509&name=Server-RAID-Systems)

renethx

03-18-10, 10:56 AM

__________
Workstation
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Workstation here is a PC intended for various HTPC-related tasks other than video/audio playback. The CPU and the motherboard chosen here are good enough for the most demanding tasks and future upgrades (4 cores/8 threads, supporting PCI Express 2.0 x16, x16 / x16, x8, x8 / x8, x8, x8, x8 links). The selection of other components depends on the tasks you are going to do. The system below is a consumer-grade high-performance video editing machine.

System

CPU: Core i7 860 2.80GHz LGA1156, $284.
CPU Cooler: Xigmatek Dark Knight-S1283V, $45, with Xigmatek Crossbow ACK-I5361, $9 (necessary to attach the cooler to the LGA1156 socket).
Motherboard: ASUS P7P55 WS SuperComputer LGA1156 Intel P55 and nForce 200 chipsets ATX, $229.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 2GB Kit, $105.
Graphics Card: GeForce GTX 260 GDDR3 896MB, $180.
HBA: Adaptec RAID 51645 20-port SAS/SATA RAID Controller PCI Express x8 Card, $1,040.
HDD: Intel X25-M SSDSA2MH080G2R5 80GB SATA 3.0Gbps SSD, $240.
PSU: Seasonic M12D 850W, $185. An alternative is Antec Signature 850 850W, $205.
Case: Chenbro SR109 EATX/ATX, $284.
HDD Cage (optional): Chenbro 84H210910-010 5-in-3 Hotswap HDD Cage, $99. The case supports up to 15 HDDs (besides the OS drive) with three cages.
Total Cost: $2601 (optional HDD cages and drives for data storage are not included)
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170447&stc=1&d=1268932141

Remarks

You can even use:
CPU: Core i7 930 2.80GHz LGA1366, $294.
Motherboard: ASUS P6T6 WS Revolution LGA1366 Intel X58 and nForce 200 chipsets ATX, $323 (supporting PCI Express 2.0 x16, x16, x16 / x16, x16, x8, x8 / x16, x8, x8, x8, x8 links), or ASUS P6T7 WS SuperComputer LGA1366 Intel X58 and dual nForce 200 chipsets ATX, $400 (supporting PCI Express 2.0 x16, x16, x16, x16 / x16, x16, x16, x8, x8 / x16, x16, x8, x8, x8, x8 / x16, x8, x8, x8, x8, x8, x8 links).
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ DDR3-1600 3 x 2GB Kit, $165.
if your applications can utilize that expandability.

renethx

03-18-10, 10:56 AM

_________________
Media Storage Server
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
__________________
General Consideration
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Purpose of a Media Storage Server

The main purposes of the media storage server described here are:

Storing/archiving media files (ripped/downloaded/recorded SD & HD video contents/music, photographs etc.) in one centralized place.
Streaming media to HTPCs.
Possibly serving as a DVR with TV tuners added.
Here are some considerations in building such a system.

Component Selection

OS: The intended OS is one of
Windows Vista or 7, x86 or x64, with or without FlexRAID and/or FlexRAID-View
Windows Home Server (WHS), with or without FlexRAID (in place of Folder Duplication)
unRAID (a Linux variant with RAID 4 capability)
You can also use Linux with software RAID, OpenFiler etc. as long as your hardware components are supported.
Case: Currently NORCO RPC-4020 and NORCO RPC-4220 are the best cases for a media storage server. Both support 20 HDDs in hot-swap bays at a relatively cheap price. The latter has a backplane with 5 SFF-8087 connectors instead of 20 SATA connectors in the former. If you need more storage space, build another server of the same type and store them in a rack such as iStarUSA WO22AB 22U WO Open Frame Rack (http://www.istarusa.com/server_cabinet/open_frame_rack/default.aspx), ~$300:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170448&stc=1&d=1268932234

PSU: Each hard disk drive consumes as low as 5W at idle, but as much as 30W at start-up (depending on each model). So we will need a powerful PSU to start up all the drives at a time. A typical power consumption of a server consisting of twenty HDDs is
~600W at start up
~200W at seek
~150W at idle
CPU: We chose a cheap dual-core processor because archiving/streaming/recording is not CPU-intensive.
Memory: 2GB is enough for a similar reason.
Motherboard: Basic requirements are
Onboard graphics
2 PCI slots or 2 PCI Express 1.x x4 slots for storage controllers for 16 storage HDDs
6 onboard SATA ports for additional storage HDDs and the OS HDD.
A Gb LAN (that provides enough bandwidth for streaming HD contents to several HTPC simultaneously)
Proper support for power management, in particular WOL (Wake-On-LAN)
If you are going to use the server as a DVR, you may want more expansion slots. The motherboard chosen here has enough expansion slots and is reasonably cheap. You can even use a RAID controller PCIe x8 card.
HBA (host bus adapter): As the number of onboard SATA ports is not enough, we use SATA controller cards. I chose cheap non-RAID SATA controller PCI-X (compatible with PCI) or PCI Express x4 cards, that are enough for our purpose.
OS drive: You can use any drive for OS (a USB flash memory for unRAID).
Storage drives: 2TB HDD is the standard drive for large data such as HD videos. Here are a couple of good 2TB SATA 3Gbps HDDs.
HITACHI Deskstar 7K2000 HDS722020ALA330 2TB 7200 rpm 32MB SATA 3.0Gbps, $140.
Samsung EcoGreen F3 HD203WI 2TB 5400 rpm 32MB SATA 3.0Gbps, $160.
WD Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB 5400 rpm 64MB SATA 3.0Gbps, $165. If you are going use it under WHS, please read Forum Focus: Western Digital Advanced Format Drives and Windows Home Server (http://www.wegotserved.com/2010/01/31/forum-focus-western-digital-advanced-format-drives-and-windows-home-server/).
Backup

You will need to back up important, irreplaceable data (e.g. personal documents and family photos), perhaps off-site. Building a dedicated backup system is one method (you can use similar hardware components here). A caution to those who consider RAID5: RAID 5 is not a backup strategy, it's about uptime - if a drive fails, you can swap it for a new one to rebuild with no service interruption. You may lose the entire date in the array instantly however if multiple drives fail or if a hardware issue kills the array. FlexRAID and unRAID are better in this point: you can still get data from each non-failed drive.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=164581&d=1264311871

renethx

03-18-10, 10:56 AM

______
System
¯¯¯¯¯¯

20 HDD Rack Mount System I

The first system uses NORCO RPC-4020 case (20 SATA connectors in the backplane) and two 8-port SATA controller PCI-X cards.

System

Case: NORCO RPC-4020 4U EATX/ATX (20 x SATA/SAS drive bay), $280.
PSU: Corsair TX750W CMPSU-750TX 750W, $110.
CPU: Athlon II X2 240 ADX240OCGQBOX 2.8GHz AM3, $66.
CPU Cooler: Stock Cooler, $0.
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA785GT-UD3H AM3 AMD 785G chipset ATX, $85.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-2GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 1GB Kit, $65.
Graphics: Radeon HD 4200 (integrated in the chipset), $0.
HBA: Supermicro AOC-SAT2-MV8 8-port SATA Controller PCI-X Card, $96.
HBA: Supermicro AOC-SAT2-MV8 8-port SATA Controller PCI-X Card, $96.
OS HDD: Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA 3.0Gbps, $65.
Total Cost: $863 (storage drives are not included)
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170449&stc=1&d=1268932405

Remarks

Supermicro AOC-SAT2-MV8 is a PCI-X card. However it works fine with a PCI slot and the performance is good enough for WHS or unRAID (this is natural considering the bandwidth of PCI is 133MB/s, higher than most single disks).
You may need two Right (Left?)-Angle SATA cables so that one of the Supermicro cards does not interfere with the onboard SATA ports, such as:

StarTech SATA18LA1 18 inch Left Angle Serial ATA Cable (http://www.startech.com/Product/ItemDetail.aspx?productid=SATA18LA1&c=US)
20 HDD Rack Mount System II

The second system uses NORCO RPC-4220 case (five SFF-8087 connectors in the backplane) and two 8-port SATA controller PCI Express x4 cards.

System

Case: NORCO RPC-4220 4U EATX/ATX (20 x SATA/SAS drive bay), $300.
PSU: Corsair TX750W CMPSU-750TX 750W, $110.
CPU: Athlon II X2 240 ADX240OCGQBOX 2.8GHz AM3, $66.
CPU Cooler: Stock Cooler, $0.
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA785GT-UD3H AM3 AMD 785G chipset ATX, $85.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-2GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 1GB Kit, $65.
Graphics: Radeon HD 4200 (integrated in the chipset), $0.
HBA: Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8 8-port SATA Controller PCI Express x4 Card, $100.
HBA: Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8 8-port SATA Controller PCI Express x4 Card, $100.
Cable: 0.5m SFF-8087 to Four SATA Reverse Breakout Cable (e.g. 3ware CBL-SFF8087OCR-05M or Norco C-SFF8087-4S), $11.
Cable: 0.5m SFF-8087 to SFF-8087 Cable (e.g. 3ware CBL-SFF8087-05M or Norco C-SFF8087-D), $11.
Cable: 0.5m SFF-8087 to SFF-8087 Cable (e.g. 3ware CBL-SFF8087-05M or Norco C-SFF8087-D), $11.
Cable: 0.5m SFF-8087 to SFF-8087 Cable (e.g. 3ware CBL-SFF8087-05M or Norco C-SFF8087-D), $11.
Cable: 0.5m SFF-8087 to SFF-8087 Cable (e.g. 3ware CBL-SFF8087-05M or Norco C-SFF8087-D), $11.
OS HDD: WD Scorpio Black WD3200BEKT 320GB SATA 3.0Gbps mobile 7200 RPM, $74.
Total Cost: $955 (storage drives are not included)
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170450&stc=1&d=1268932405
Remarks

Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8 is a PCI Express x4 card so that there should be enough bandwidth even if you go with software RAID.
15 HDD Tower System

In case you prefer or have to use a tower case, here is a 15 HDD tower system.

System

Case: Cooler Master Centurion 590 RC-590-KKN1-GP ATX (9 x 5.25” bay), $48.
HDD Cage: Athena Power BP-SATA3051B 5-in-3 backplane, $102.
HDD Cage: Athena Power BP-SATA3051B 5-in-3 backplane, $102.
HDD Cage: Athena Power BP-SATA3051B 5-in-3 backplane, $102.
PSU: Corsair TX650W CMPSU-650TX 650W, $90.
CPU: Athlon II X2 240 ADX240OCGQBOX 2.8GHz AM3, $66.
CPU Cooler: Stock Cooler, $0.
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA785GT-UD3H AM3 AMD 785G chipset ATX, $85.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-2GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 1GB Kit, $65.
Graphics: Radeon HD 4200 (integrated in the chipset), $0.
HBA: MonoPrice 2530 2-port SATA RAID Controller PCI Express x1 Card, $14.
HBA: MonoPrice 2530 2-port SATA RAID Controller PCI Express x1 Card, $14.
HBA: MonoPrice 2530 2-port SATA RAID Controller PCI Express x1 Card, $14.
HBA: MonoPrice 2530 2-port SATA RAID Controller PCI Express x1 Card, $14.
HBA: MonoPrice 2530 2-port SATA RAID Controller PCI Express x1 Card, $14.
OS HDD: WD Caviar Blue WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA 3.0Gbps, $65.
Total Cost: $795 (storage drives are not included)
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170451&stc=1&d=1268932405

Other Tower Cases

A couple of other tower cases suitable for a server are:

15 HDDs in Hot Swap Bays, $581
Chenbro SR109 EATX/ATX, $284.
Chenbro 84H210910-010 5-in-3 Hotswap HDD Cage, $99.
Chenbro 84H210910-010 5-in-3 Hotswap HDD Cage, $99.
Chenbro 84H210910-010 5-in-3 Hotswap HDD Cage, $99.
15 HDDs in Hot Swap Bays, $354
Cooler Master Centurion 590 RC-590-KKN1-GP ATX (9 x 5.25” bay), $48.
Athena Power BP-SATA3051B 5-in-3 backplane, $102.
Athena Power BP-SATA3051B 5-in-3 backplane, $102.
Athena Power BP-SATA3051B 5-in-3 backplane, $102.
18 HDDs in Non-Hot Swap Bays, $283
Antec Twelve Hundred ATX (12 x 5.25” bay), $145.
Lian Li EX-23NB Internal HDD Kit, $23.
Lian Li EX-23NB Internal HDD Kit, $23.
Lian Li EX-23NB Internal HDD Kit, $23.
Lian Li EX-23NB Internal HDD Kit, $23.
Lian Li EX-23NB Internal HDD Kit, $23.
Lian Li EX-23NB Internal HDD Kit, $23.
20 HDDs in Hot Swap Bays, $553
Antec Twelve Hundred ATX (12 x 5.25” bay), $145.
Athena Power BP-SATA3051B 5-in-3 backplane, $102.
Athena Power BP-SATA3051B 5-in-3 backplane, $102.
Athena Power BP-SATA3051B 5-in-3 backplane, $102.
Athena Power BP-SATA3051B 5-in-3 backplane, $102.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=170452&stc=1&d=1268932405

You can use any combination of the following HBAs:

Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8 8-port SATA Controller PCI Express x4 Card, $100.
Supermicro AOC-SAT2-MV8 8-port SATA Controller PCI-X Card, $96.
PROMISE SATA300 TX4 4-port SATA Controller PCI Card, $58.
MonoPrice 2530 2-port SATA RAID Controller PCI Express x1 Card, $14.

renethx

03-18-10, 10:56 AM

Reserved 21

renethx

03-18-10, 10:56 AM

Reserved 22

renethx

03-18-10, 10:57 AM

Reserved 23

renethx

03-18-10, 10:57 AM

Reserved 24

renethx

03-18-10, 10:57 AM

Reserved 25

renethx

03-18-10, 10:57 AM

Reserved 26

renethx

03-18-10, 10:58 AM

Reserved 27

renethx

03-18-10, 10:58 AM

Reserved 28

renethx

03-18-10, 10:58 AM

Reserved 29

renethx

03-18-10, 10:58 AM

Reserved 30. The end of the reserved posts.

dbone1026

03-18-10, 12:34 PM

Once again Renethx excellent job. Hopefully people who use this understand the amount of time and effort that goes into keeping this guide updated and supports you via donation.

EmDub

03-18-10, 12:46 PM

dbone1026

03-18-10, 12:57 PM

What is your recommendation for a quiet 2.5" hard drive? You mention cases that only hold 2.5" devices (i.e., Antec ISK 300-150), but don't give a drive recommendation. Just curious what sort of drive I should be looking at.

Michael

I went with this one in my Antec case:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136280&cm_re=2.5_7200_hard_drive-_-22-136-280-_-Product

I originally had a WD 2.5" 5400RPM drive but I found it was too sluggish to be the O/S drive.

bonaccord

03-18-10, 01:38 PM

Your pricing is way off for the a majority of buyers, (EU, Canada) and how does the Moneual MonCaso 312 fit into a budget build.

MurrayW

03-18-10, 01:56 PM

Your pricing is way off for the a majority of buyers, (EU, Canada) and how does the Moneual MonCaso 312 fit into a budget build.Prices are a snapshot in time and should be used as a rough guideline. Do you expect renethx to include prices for all 100+ countries in the world? If you know that computer prices in your country are generally xx percent different than the US, just multiply by this percentage to get a rough estimate, then when you are ready to buy, go to specific stores and price the components. Or maybe you should start your own thread with Canadian and EU prices. But then you would probably have someone from India or China complaining that you don't have the pricing for the majority of people.:rolleyes:

scientest

03-18-10, 02:06 PM

Your pricing is way off for the a majority of buyers, (EU, Canada) and how does the Moneual MonCaso 312 fit into a budget build.

Given AVS is a US site how do you figure that US buyers aren't the majority of buyers here?

bonaccord

03-18-10, 02:10 PM

Also do you just pick these parts out of a hat ? Because the latest CPU, Motherboard combo from any vendor supports most of these features.

MurrayW

03-18-10, 02:36 PM

Also do you just pick these parts out of a hat ? Because the latest CPU, Motherboard combo from any vendor supports most of these features.Wow, 2 posts and you have already discovered renethx's secret!

drealit

03-18-10, 02:44 PM

I'm sorry bonaccord but you're coming across as very hostile. If you don't agree with, need help or want to give help with any of this, then why are you here?

I went with this one in my Antec case:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136280&cm_re=2.5_7200_hard_drive-_-22-136-280-_-Product

I originally had a WD 2.5" 5400RPM drive but I found it was too sluggish to be the O/S drive.

I actually use a 80GB Seagate 2.5" 5400RPM drive that was on deal at newegg not too far back for $20. With the vast improvemnts with sleep in Vista and Windows 7 I haven't been affected by the slow drive speeds. If I were shutting down every night and booting up from cold start each time I could see it becoming an issue... but if the user is putting their HTPC to sleep regularly then there shouldn't be a need to worry about that.

For some background, I use MediaPortal 1.1 RC as my frontend and all my media is served up from an unRaid server.

dbone1026

03-18-10, 02:51 PM

I'm sorry bonaccord but you're coming across as very hostile. If you don't agree with, need help or want to give help with any of this, then why are you here?

I actually use a 80GB Seagate 2.5" 5400RPM drive that was on deal at newegg not too far back for $20. With the vast improvemnts with sleep in Vista and Windows 7 I haven't been affected by the slow drive speeds. If I were shutting down every night and booting up from cold start each time I could see it becoming an issue... but if the user is putting their HTPC to sleep regularly then there shouldn't be a need to worry about that.

For some background, I use MediaPortal 1.1 RC as my frontend and all my media is served up from an unRaid server.

The sluggishness I noticed was not during playback but just navigating around in WMC, etc... Wans't a big issue but being used to how my other HTPCs performed with 7200RPM drives it was noticeable to me.

drealit

03-18-10, 02:58 PM

The sluggishness I noticed was not during playback but just navigating around in WMC, etc... Wans't a big issue but being used to how my other HTPCs performed with 7200RPM drives it was noticeable to me.

That's interesting. I actually switched from a 3.5 in. WD 500GB GP drive down to the 2.5 in. 80GB... within Win7/MediaPortal the only noticeable difference was during windows boot up and MePo boot up. The actual pulling up of content (cover art/fan art etc.) is still covered locally on the hard drive but there wasn't any significant decrease in speed after the drive switch. The interface seems to react in almost the exact same way (I don't think it's in my head either). I'm wondering if WMC is coded in a way where the interface is actually affected by something like the harddrive.

J_P_A

03-18-10, 02:59 PM

dbone1026

03-18-10, 03:00 PM

dbone1026

03-18-10, 03:03 PM

That's interesting. I actually switched from a 3.5 in. WD 500GB GP drive down to the 2.5 in. 80GB... within Win7/MediaPortal the only noticeable difference was during windows boot up and MePo boot up. The actual pulling up of content (cover art/fan art etc.) is still covered locally on the hard drive but there wasn't any significant decrease in speed after the drive switch. The interface seems to react in almost the exact same way (I don't think it's in my head either). I'm wondering if WMC is coded in a way where the interface is actually affected by something like the harddrive.

You switched though from a 5400RPM to a 5400RPM it sounds like (the WD GP Drive being a 5400RPM).? I am using Media Browser, and with the 5400RPM drive I would just notice slight stuttering when navigating through covers, etc... that I did not get with my other HTPCs which have 7200RPM drives. I would have the 7200RPM drive set up later today in place of the 5400RPM drive, so that should give me a good indication about whether or not the drive was the bottleneck.

scientest

03-18-10, 03:08 PM

Also do you just pick these parts out of a hat ? Because the latest CPU, Motherboard combo from any vendor supports most of these features.

Did you read what Renethx has written? He picked these parts out because he, or someone he trusts, has tested them out and proven that all the features work as advertised and are reliable. This is no small matter, some large percentage of the posts in the HTPC forums here on AVS are from people using some new board or accessory and they cannot get something or other to work correctly....

drealit

03-18-10, 03:12 PM

Any suggestions on a reputable place to pick up one or two of these:

Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8

renethx suggests using these in the media server builds (among others). I checked at Newegg and Amazon, but no luck there. I'm always a little hesitant to order parts from just any 'ol supplier that Google turns up.

Thanks,

Don't forget to pick up the necessary cables also. Several people who were excited about this card over at the unRaid forums overlooked the fact that they need to dish out extra for the required cables :D.

You switched though from a 5400RPM to a 5400RPM it sounds like (the WD GP Drive being a 5400RPM).? I am using Media Browser, and with the 5400RPM drive I would just notice slight stuttering when navigating through covers, etc... that I did not get with my other HTPCs which have 7200RPM drives. I would have the 7200RPM drive set up later today in place of the 5400RPM drive, so that should give me a good indication about whether or not the drive was the bottleneck.

The GP should still have been a significant amount quicker than the crusty old 80GB I bought (it was actually only SATA I)... I certainly noticed the difference in boot times. I hope you're right though and that drive was in fact your bottle neck otherwise I really feel for you when you can't seem to iron out an annoying issue like that haha ;).

HTPCat

03-18-10, 04:41 PM

HTPCat

03-18-10, 04:51 PM

The WDAlign tool is available in two versions from the WD website, one of which is a bootable ISO. This allows you to install the drive, add it to your storage pool, boot to the ISO, and realign the drive to make it play nicely with WHS.

Jumpering the pins is also an "approved" method of correcting the drive, but there is some debate as to which is the preferred method. I've used the WD Align utility with no issues. On a drive that I added to the pool with no data on it (which is not a requirement) it took about 45 sec to run the utility. Drives with lots of data can take several hours.

Just something else to consider :)

What exactly is the problem with the EARS drive in WHS? I currently have 15 HDD's in my WHS stoarge pool with one being a WD15EARS 1.5TB - I did not do anything to the drive other than add it to the sorage pool. Is there something I should be looking for? Does this problem always occur, sometimes, randomly :confused:

drealit

03-18-10, 05:03 PM

[quote=drealit;18335511]Don't forget to pick up the necessary cables also. Several people who were excited about this card over at the unRaid forums overlooked the fact that they need to dish out extra for the required cables :D.

I bought 2 of these cards in January from buy.com and they came with 8 SATA cables per card for a total of 16 just enough :cool:.

I think you're referring to the AOC-SAT-MV8 (PCI-X with 8x SATA ports) not the AOC-SASLP-MV8 (PCI-E and has 2 SAS connectors on each card and you need 2 breakout cables each [converts to 4 SATA per cable - 8 SATA total]).

HTPCat

03-18-10, 05:29 PM

The WDAlign tool is available in two versions from the WD website, one of which is a bootable ISO. This allows you to install the drive, add it to your storage pool, boot to the ISO, and realign the drive to make it play nicely with WHS.

Jumpering the pins is also an "approved" method of correcting the drive, but there is some debate as to which is the preferred method. I've used the WD Align utility with no issues. On a drive that I added to the pool with no data on it (which is not a requirement) it took about 45 sec to run the utility. Drives with lots of data can take several hours.

Just something else to consider :)

[quote=HTPCat;18336124]

I think you're referring to the AOC-SAT-MV8 (PCI-X with 8x SATA ports) not the AOC-SASLP-MV8 (PCI-E and has 2 SAS connectors on each card and you need 2 breakout cables each [converts to 4 SATA per cable - 8 SATA total]).

Your correct - my Bad :cool:

Rocka2

03-18-10, 05:57 PM

I am so glad you changed the recommendation for video card on the workstation. I was having such a difficult time finding GTX 275 and I was considering GTX 285, but it was really expensive and I remember you telling me that video card was really not that important for video editing and I hope that is the correct recommendation in the listing of GTX 260 instead of GTX 275 on the workstation (video editing). Thank you very much renethx, since I follow your recommendations so closely I believe this video card will be much easier to find. I am really grateful.

StuBeck

03-18-10, 07:13 PM

J_P_A

03-18-10, 07:19 PM

What exactly is the problem with the EARS drive in WHS? I currently have 15 HDD's in my WHS stoarge pool with one being a WD15EARS 1.5TB - I did not do anything to the drive other than add it to the sorage pool. Is there something I should be looking for? Does this problem always occur, sometimes, randomly :confused:

The new WD Green (EARS) drives use 4kB sectors as opposed to the good 'ol standard 512b sectors. Here's a link (http://anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3691) to a good article if you're interested. I don't pretend to understand all the nuances of drive design (or much about hard drives at all for that matter), but suffice it to say that if your OS doesn't know how to deal with these new drives, performance suffers (write speeds in particular IIRC). The change will let WD transition to larger drives (> 2Tb).

To fix things, WD has an alignment utility, or you add the jumpers, for older OS's that will restore performance to levels that you paid for.

You're not going to lose any data or anything like that, it's just a performance issue.

I purchased mine from provantage.com

http://www.provantage.com/supermicro-aoc-saslp-mv8~7SUP918N.htm

Those cards take nearly a month for them to get in stock. I wonder if they're that popular, or if they're that unpopular :confused:

dbone1026

03-18-10, 07:51 PM

Those cards take nearly a month for them to get in stock. I wonder if they're that popular, or if they're that unpopular :confused:

Those cards are very popular for large array media server builds

star_man

03-18-10, 08:12 PM

J_P_A

03-18-10, 09:19 PM

Those cards are very popular for large array media server builds

:D

Well, I guess that's a good thing. If nothing else that would suggest they're reliable. Fortunately I don't need them tomorrow.

Did it take that long when you ordered them, or is this a new development?

Thanks for the link!

tomandbeth

03-18-10, 09:34 PM

What parts can be purchased that can be connected via USB? I think these can be but not sure.

HDD
Bluray Drive
HDTV tuner
graphics card

I've spent too much money on internal cards to have the bus go obsolete and would rather buy USB.

Is there really only one SSD to choose from?

Is anyone using a fanless system? I want super quiet, low power system.

I'm no expert, but :

I was surprised at how quite a I5 650 Clarkdale with stock fan was in the Fusion Case without a GPU. I did eventually add a 5670 card and that brought it too a whisper at 2 feet. The system runs under 40 C if Speedfan is correct.
These are pretty much built from the Page 401 recs.

I'm also running an Antec 500W PSU in it, which is overkill. An incredibly quite PSU though.

Bear in mind, I'm a newbi and this is my first build. What is "quite" to me may not be to you, but my wife is happy...and THAT my friend, is what was important.

Also note that MOBOs can be had that support the USB 3.0 and SATA 6 GBS

whiteboy714

03-18-10, 10:06 PM

Would all the low end systems be able to play 1080P content fine? What about HD encoding? I might buy a system to replace my dual core atom + wdtv live system but don't want to fall backwards in the system department.
Yes any system he recommends should do 1080p fine. As far as HD encoding that relies on the cpu. So if you go low end it will take a lot longer then with a high end quad core.

Tim Travis

03-18-10, 10:36 PM

I am taking the plunge and building my first HTPC. Pretty much following the mid Intel with ATI build. They only thing I cant decide on is the tv tuner.

I want a dual tuner that will eventually replace Directv. So only OTA HD channels. I can't decide between the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 and the HDHomerun.

I don"t really care about the network features, I just want dual tuners that get good signal and it just works. Will be running Win 7 WMC. I keep hearing good and bad things about both.

Tim

mryerse

03-19-10, 12:14 AM

I ended up returning the Avermedia a188. Got an hdhomerun and it works much better. Just my experience, I know the A188 has worked well for others.

renethx

03-19-10, 12:46 AM

Would all the low end systems be able to play 1080P content fine? What about HD encoding? I might buy a system to replace my dual core atom + wdtv live system but don't want to fall backwards in the system department.
Every system in my recommendation supports 1080p video playback fine, and HD encoding too (a faster, quad core processor will finish an encoding job quicker than a slower dual-core processor).

renethx

03-19-10, 01:07 AM

What parts can be purchased that can be connected via USB? I think these can be but not sure.

HDD
Bluray Drive
HDTV tuner
graphics card

I've spent too much money on internal cards to have the bus go obsolete and would rather buy USB.

Is there really only one SSD to choose from?
There are HDD, Bluray drive, HDTV tuner devices with USB interface. Which bus technology are you referring to? SATA 1.5Gbps/3.0Gbps, PCI Express 1.x/2.x are fast enough for many purposes, at least much faster than USB 2.0.

Obviously there are many SDDs to choose (and Intel X25-M is [one of] the best in performance/price). Sounds like a question similar to bonaccord's (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=18335072#post18335072)... Remember that my recommendations are just sample systems, mainly for those who have no idea what to choose or no time to investigate, like many other "Buyer's Guides".

FguerraG

03-19-10, 05:19 AM

Hi , I've built a mid range MiniATX AMD/AMD acording to Renethx specs (Thanks!)
using Gigabyte's GA-MA785GMT-UD2H (rev. 1.1) Mobo

I have updated uninstalled an reinstalled HD audio drivers

and even tho I have dolby 5.1 selected in both the sound and realtek menu I still can't get the computer to change the max number of channels , when I press the configure tab I only get stereo

Now , the receiver detects dolby and dts but I'm not sure if I'm getting the right signal

here are some pics

hope you can help

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn178/fguerrag/Sound1.jpg

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn178/fguerrag/Sound2.jpg

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn178/fguerrag/Sound3.jpg

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn178/fguerrag/Sound4.jpg

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn178/fguerrag/Sound5.jpg

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn178/fguerrag/Sound6.jpg

renethx

03-19-10, 05:24 AM

@FguerraG

Channel count in Windows sound control panel is related to LPCM (2 is the max number that HD 4200 HDMI supports). DD/DTS bitstreams will not be affected by this.

FguerraG

03-19-10, 05:41 AM

Thanks man!

this was driving me nuts!

soulsedition

03-19-10, 06:16 AM

So- I've finally jumped in after over a year of lurking and ordered all of the parts for the intel-intel gaming mini-itx PC. I've included the parts list below for reference. I'll be using the SilverStone TOB02 SST-TOB02 for BD playback, and windows 7 ultimate as my OS. It'll be a few more days before i get all of the packages, but i'd like to pre-game by downloading any useful software. I'll be putting everything directly through my television via HDMI, until i can get ahold of a decent receiver/speaker set-up.

In closing, what software would you recommend for a new HTPC?

* CPU: Core i5 750 2.66GHz LGA1156, $196.
* Motherboard: ZOTAC H55-ITX WiFi H55ITX-A-E LGA1156 Intel H55 chipset Mini-ATX
* Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 2GB
* Graphics Card (ATI): SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5770 GDDR5 1GB, $159.
* Graphics Card (NVIDIA): XFX GS-250X-ZDFU GeForce GTS 250 DDR3 1GB
* HDD: Western Digital WD6400AAKS 640GB SATA 3.0Gbps
* PSU: ATX12V 300W SFX PSU
* Case: SilverStone Sugo SG05 SST-SG05B

dbone1026

03-19-10, 06:32 AM

ScoHo

03-19-10, 09:45 AM

- Use TMT for BD Playback
- If you plan on ripping to your HTPC get either AnyDVD or DVDFab
- Front End you can use WMC (w/ Media Browser or MyMovies), Media Portal, etc...
- MPC HC is a great player for standalone files
- Latest FFDSHow Beta for audio
Or just install XBMC and be done with it. :D

dbone1026

03-19-10, 09:48 AM

Or just install XBMC and be done with it. :D

Yeah, wasn't sure if the OP wanted live tv/dvr which is why I didn't mention XBMC

Lintoc

03-19-10, 12:11 PM

I am building an HTPC with the J&W MiniX 780G-SP128MB motherboard. Using these components:
AMD Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHz Socket AM3 65W ,
Crucial 2GB (2 x 1GB) 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
APEX MI-100BK Mini-ITX Case 250W Power Supply
SILVERSTONE NT07-AM2 80mm CPU Cooler
(Per Renethx January specs - Donation is due!)

When I put this together and powered up, I got no POST beep and no response on any monitors (DVI/HDMI/analog, DVI detect jumper auto or manual). The inner clear plastic packaging was damaged when I unpacked the mobo, with one pin bent on a USB connector. My worry is that the board was damaged in shipping. I am preparing to return it. But before I do that -

Do you see any compatibility problems in these components listed above? I see AMD Athlon II X2 Regor's listed for this board on the J&W website, but not this specific one.

renethx

03-19-10, 01:44 PM

@Lintoc

I don't see any compatibility issue. Athlon II X2 240 was on the CPU Support List (I don't know why it is not there now). In fact it works fine with the mb (confirmed).

Lintoc

03-19-10, 02:01 PM

Thanks - Will confirm CPU is good on another AM2 board, then proceed with RMA the DOA motherboard.

I guess it's worth the step up to 785G now it's available in US - J&W is a reliable enough company to get your nod, so I guess I chalk it up to bad luck w/ USPS shipping.

star_man

03-19-10, 02:40 PM

Which bus technology are you referring to?

Any bus that is now obsolete is what I'm referring to. PCI, AGP, etc. I don't want to plunk down $$ for a PCIe graphics card that becomes obsolete due to the PCIe going away. I don't really wanna start a discussion on this either. Let's say I'm a cheapskate and once I buy a PC I get my $$ worth out of it and that usually translates into me keeping it for a long time. So I weigh my costs and if upgrading a MOBO that went bad makes sense it's nice not to have to buy a new graphics card.

Remember that my recommendations are just sample systems, mainly for those who have no idea what to choose or no time to investigate, like many other "Buyer's Guides".

Yes, understood, appreciate what you've put together here. My reqs. are out of the scope of this but still find this useful. Thanks for putting this together, nicely done.

StuBeck

03-19-10, 02:53 PM

Every system in my recommendation supports 1080p video playback fine, and HD encoding too (a faster, quad core processor will finish an encoding job quicker than a slower dual-core processor).

How well does a slower system handle DVR HD encoding? I would assume slower would mean you lose data correct?

renethx

03-19-10, 03:21 PM

How well does a slower system handle DVR HD encoding? I would assume slower would mean you lose data correct?
Perhaps you mean recording HDTV programs (OTA or cable TV). Then you don't need encoding; the contents are already encoded in MPEG-2/AC3 formats (or H.264 in DVB). The CPU usage at recording HDTV programs is extremely low (a few percent with a dual core processor, say 2.5GHz). It's not like analog SD recording.

renethx

03-19-10, 03:32 PM

Any bus that is now obsolete is what I'm referring to. PCI, AGP, etc. I don't want to plunk down $$ for a PCIe graphics card that becomes obsolete due to the PCIe going away. I don't really wanna start a discussion on this either. Let's say I'm a cheapskate and once I buy a PC I get my $$ worth out of it and that usually translates into me keeping it for a long time. So I weigh my costs and if upgrading a MOBO that went bad makes sense it's nice not to have to buy a new graphics card.
Perhaps the essence of the issue is not an obsolete bus technology. For example, video playback technology has developed to the extent that even ATI X1xxx PCI Express graphics card (*only* 5 years old) is almost totally out of date for HTPC use, and AMD even quit driver support for these cards some time ago. By the time the PCI Express standards be obsolete, your PCI Express graphics card would be only useful as an antique.

BTW PCI Express, as well as SATA, won't go away any time soon.

- PCI Express 1.0: 2004
- PCI Express 2.0: 2007
- PCI Express 3.0: 2010 (soon)

These specifications are backward/forward compatible. E.g. a PCIe 1.0 device (almost every current PCIe device except for graphics is 1.0) can be used with a future PCIe 3.0 mb safely and vice versa.

- SATA 1.0: 2003
- SATA 2.0: 2005?
- SATA 3.0: 2009

Again these are backward/forward compatible. So the compatibility of these specifications is no different from that of

- USB 1.0: 1996
- USB 2.0: 2000
- USB 3.0: 2008

drealit

03-19-10, 04:13 PM

^^^
Well played sir.

Lintoc

03-19-10, 05:22 PM

I built renethx's J&W MINIX 780G-SP128MB $361 build. I got it altogether. On start up it beeps once ,no post, just goes to flashing curser. I reset the the bios with the jumper, beep twice i think, it then started up into bios. So i thought battery, battery checks OK at 3 v. any help. I just got it from Amazon should i RMA it? This is my 4th PC build so i am not a complete noob, but close. Also thank you renethx !
Did you ever resolve this issue? I'm building on the same mobo, and I don;t even get a beep or single cursor - no beep, no display wakeup. Did you RMA that board to Amazon with success? I think mine had damaged inner packing - probably DOA board.
If you replaced it, what did you get instead?

gcoupe

03-19-10, 05:37 PM

Renethx, I notice that in your March 2010 guide, you are mentioning the GIGABYTE GA-H57M-USB3 mobo. Is there some reason why you've picked this over the H55M version?

If I wanted to build an HTPC that would work in conjunction with a media server, then would the H55M mobo be an acceptable choice? I don't want to have lots of storage in the HTPC itself, and RAID is not applicable...

Thanks.

renethx

03-19-10, 06:01 PM

jimjimmyjones85

03-19-10, 10:53 PM

I just put together my first HTPC... (my first PC as a whole).

I used the following:

Antec Fusion 350 case
Intel Core i5-650 Processor (4M Cach, 3.2 Ghz)
Intel Desktop Board DH55TC
4GB RAM

I am trying to use the HDMI out to my receiver (Onkyo 805) and passing it along to my projector.

Everything seemed fine, but the left hand side of the screen is cut off. How do I fix this?

Would you recommend any additional parts ?
Do I need a sound card to get 5.1 sound?
DI need a video card?

This will strictly be for movies.... no gaming.

Any help is appreciated...

Makaveli6103

03-19-10, 11:10 PM

I ended up returning the Avermedia a188. Got an hdhomerun and it works much better. Just my experience, I know the A188 has worked well for others.

I did the same thing and am really glad. HDHomeRun works much better.

MrMcCrackin

03-20-10, 12:01 PM

dbone1026

03-20-10, 12:52 PM

lets say i wanted to stream BluRay from my HTPC to my HD TV in the other room.

is one of those HD media players enough to do it - which one?

is the wireless G network fast enough - or will i need to upgrade to N?

Yes, most of the current media players (PCH, Dune, Xtreamer, etc...) will play back without issue. You will at minimum need to upgrade to wireless N but even with that you may have a lot of difficulties playing back. Wired is always the best option.

MrMcCrackin

03-20-10, 05:36 PM

thanks dbone!

looks like PCH or Dune with the swapable HD's is the way to go and forget about streaming at the moment

eSATA support would be nice also - so what about WD and ASUS offerings?

jimjimmyjones85

03-20-10, 06:50 PM

Hello anyone lend a hand

dbone1026

03-20-10, 06:57 PM

Hello anyone lend a hand

Do you adjust the screen settings with the Intel tool, it sounds like you just have an overscan issue, which is the same thing I had with my core i5

amkesler26

03-21-10, 03:08 AM

Renethx,

Thanks for the awsome information and continued support for all us. I have followed your postings for a month now trying to decide which system and components to build, and what software to latter install. I want to pull the trigger on your recomended intel I3 530 system but would like to know which MOBO and other components you recomend.

I am looking to cancel my dish network TV as I just really watch the network stations I can get OTA for free in HD. I do want to send video out to two TV's like I can on my dish DVR as well as play blue rays and output to a new receiver and speaker package (I need to invest in these as well). Can you provide me with you recomended hardware and software to do this? I know I will need to invest in a extender of some kind wondering as well what you recomend on the second TV. I do not have a WHS but maybe a year or two from now I will invest in one. I would like to also rip all my HD DVD's to my harddrive in a RAID configuration.

Final question is anythign coming out soon worth waiting for? Budget is ~$1000

I will be making a donation to your efforts when I finally pull the trigger....

jimjimmyjones85

03-21-10, 12:11 PM

Do you adjust the screen settings with the Intel tool, it sounds like you just have an overscan issue, which is the same thing I had with my core i5

No I have not donw anything like that.

How exactly do I do that?

When I. Look at the image via my projector the left side is cut off and o cannot see the icons or start button at all. Is this condusive of the issue you mentioned?

Any help is needed and appreciated.

Thanks.

Jjj

Aka The Noob :(

dbone1026

03-21-10, 08:09 PM

No I have not donw anything like that.

How exactly do I do that?

When I. Look at the image via my projector the left side is cut off and o cannot see the icons or start button at all. Is this condusive of the issue you mentioned?

Any help is needed and appreciated.

Thanks.

Jjj

Aka The Noob :(

In your taskbar you should see an icon for the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD. Click on it and go to Graphics Properties. You should see an option for scaling, change it to Customize Aspect Ration, and then change the Horizontal/Vertical scaling to meet your need. Hopefully that should do the trick. Usually I have an underscan issue, this is the first build where I actually had an overscan issue

renethx

03-21-10, 10:58 PM

amkesler26

03-22-10, 12:40 AM

renethx

03-22-10, 12:52 AM

Thanks. I am sorry for the confusion, I only have blue rays. Also what is the difference between your I3 530 MOBO recomendations? Do you still recomend the ASRock or have you switched to the ASUS boards?
The latest recommendations here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=18333748#post18333748). H55 mb comparison (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=18341445#post18341445).

Makaveli6103

03-22-10, 01:02 AM

The latest recommendations here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=18333748#post18333748). H55 mb comparison (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=18341445#post18341445).

I have the asrock h55m pro with core i3. If i get a 5670 video card for bitstreaming, the intel mei driver doesn't matter anymore right?

renethx

03-22-10, 01:16 AM

I have the asrock h55m pro with core i3. If i get a 5670 video card for bitstreaming, the intel mei driver doesn't matter anymore right?
Intel MEI affects only the performance of iGPU. ASRock + HD 5670 is perfectly fine (and I used this combination in my latest recommendation of the discrete graphics version).

Davinleeds

03-22-10, 08:46 AM

renethx,

I got the "This computer does not meet the minimum requirements to install the software"

when I tried to update the Intel driver with a 5450 installed. I had to remove the 5450

to update. Gonna try an nvidia like rica.

shebdabe

03-22-10, 09:23 AM

renethx,

I already asked this in the ASUS P7H55-M Pro thread, but maybe you have an idea to solve my problem. I have bought the Asus P7H55-M Pro board with Core i3-530. I installed everything (Player, Codecs etc.) using my Monitor via DVI. Then i hooked the machine up to my AVR via HDMI and it doesn't even start booting anymore. If I unplug the HDMI cable from my HTPC the system boots up windows. If I then reconnect the cable I get the picture from my HTPC. Of course I don't want to unplug the HDMi cable everytime I boot up the system. Any ideas?

Edit:
If I switch express gate on, I can see the "Loading Express Gate..." but after that the screen goes black and the machine stops responding. I can't even get to the BIOS...

renethx

03-22-10, 09:57 AM

shebdabe

03-22-10, 10:08 AM

To clarify:

DVI -> monitor: boot fine

HDMI -> TV: no boot

DVI -> monitor & HDMI -> TV: ?

1. Yes

2. Yes

3. No option (only the AVR and Beamer in the same room as the HTPC)

But I will of course try this when I get home.

renethx

03-22-10, 10:15 AM

HDMI -> TV: no boot

looks strange. I installed OS with ASUS P7H55D-M EVO using HDMI -> TV, no issue. You could try: DVI -> a DVI-to-HDMI adpater -> TV (audio works fine).

Duszolap

03-22-10, 10:17 AM

I have Radeon 5850, plan to buy Antec Fusion Remote Black case and i5 processor.
Could somebody recommend me motherboard which:
- is good for overclocking
- has pci-e placement that will allow to FIT radeon without any problems?
Thanks in advance!

jimjimmyjones85

03-22-10, 10:24 AM

In your taskbar you should see an icon for the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD. Click on it and go to Graphics Properties. You should see an option for scaling, change it to Customize Aspect Ration, and then change the Horizontal/Vertical scaling to meet your need. Hopefully that should do the trick. Usually I have an underscan issue, this is the first build where I actually had an overscan issue

Ok, I will have to try this... I was barely able to see the bottom of the screen so I hope I can even see that icon :(

dbone1026

03-22-10, 10:34 AM

Ok, I will have to try this... I was barely able to see the bottom of the screen so I hope I can even see that icon :(

Yeah, I had to click the toolbar and drag it up to make it huge just so I could see at first

renethx

03-22-10, 10:42 AM

I have Radeon 5850, plan to buy Antec Fusion Remote Black case and i5 processor.
5850 does not fit Antec Fusion Remote Black. 5770 is the highest card for Fusion Remote. Check SilverStone GD04, GD05.

Duszolap

03-22-10, 11:13 AM

5850 does not fit Antec Fusion Remote Black. 5770 is the highest card for Fusion Remote. Check SilverStone GD04, GD05.
Thank you so much! As I can't check this case manually (not available in nearby stores so have to buy by internet) this information is very important. BTW those Silverstone cases are micro-atx as far I can see - do you think if overclocking with such set will be possible at all?

renethx

03-22-10, 11:40 AM

Thank you so much! As I can't check this case manually (not available in nearby stores so have to buy by internet) this information is very important. BTW those Silverstone cases are micro-atx as far I can see - do you think if overclocking with such set will be possible at all?
Are you going to overclock i5-750? The max height of a CPU cooler in GD04/GD05 is ~70mm (e.g. Big Shuriken). You may want go with a better cooler (e.g. Geminii S) and an ATX case such as Antec Fusion Remote Max (remove one of the drive cages), SilverStone LC10-E (remove one of the drive cages), Zalman HD501/HD503 (the PCI Express slot must be in the topmost; this post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=17860309#post17860309)).

jimjimmyjones85

03-22-10, 11:54 AM

Yeah, I had to click the toolbar and drag it up to make it huge just so I could see at first

Thanks so much dbone, I really appreciate this help. I am gonna try this tonight for sure. I hope it works.

Do you use a projector ?

Also, do you think give the i5 board, is there need for a dedicated video card (all I will be doing is DVD movies nothing more (from a hard drive)).

dbone1026

03-22-10, 01:29 PM

Thanks so much dbone, I really appreciate this help. I am gonna try this tonight for sure. I hope it works.

Do you use a projector ?

Also, do you think give the i5 board, is there need for a dedicated video card (all I will be doing is DVD movies nothing more (from a hard drive)).

No projector, just HTPC -> Onkyo 906 -> Panny Plasma TV

You should be fine without a discrete GPU. The main issue with the clarkdale is lack of support for 23.976 which doesn't matter for you since you are just playing back DVD movies and not Blu Rays, and even if you were playing Blu Rays you may not have an interest in 23.976 anyhow)

shebdabe

03-22-10, 01:29 PM

HDMI -> TV: no boot

looks strange. I installed OS with ASUS P7H55D-M EVO using HDMI -> TV, no issue. You could try: DVI -> a DVI-to-HDMI adpater -> TV (audio works fine).

It seems to work now. Everything loads up just fine. I don't know. Maybe sometimes you just have to sleep and the next day everything is working...
Now I have to get HD-Audio working :-) But this shouldn't be a problem as TMT3 already shows Dolby TrueHD pass-throungh for Matrix Revolutions Blu-Ray. Just the receiver keeps being quiet. Will install the Intel MEI driver now.

jimjimmyjones85

03-22-10, 02:20 PM

dbone1026

03-22-10, 02:29 PM

Ummm, help me here D.

23.976 :confused:

Sorry, 23.976 fps (frames per second) which Blu Rays are set at. Let's just say if you need to ask what it is you will not be using and don't have to worry about. :)

jimjimmyjones85

03-22-10, 02:59 PM

Sorry, 23.976 fps (frames per second) which Blu Rays are set at. Let's just say if you need to ask what it is you will not be using and don't have to worry about. :)

LoL. Ahhh you mean like 1080p/24 as opposed to 1080p/60 FPS :D

Another questions, as a back-up I was thinking of putting in an HD-DVD ROM drive... are there any even out there any more ?

If not, is it possible to put a drive from a Toshiba HD-A3 into a HTPC for this function?

dbone1026

03-22-10, 03:01 PM

LoL. Ahhh you mean like 1080p/24 as opposed to 1080p/60 FPS :D

Another questions, as a back-up I was thinking of putting in an HD-DVD ROM drive... are there any even out there any more ?

If not, is it possible to put a drive from a Toshiba HD-A3 into a HTPC for this function?

Not sure, I have an LG Blu Ray/HD DVD combo drive, although I know it has been discontinued. You can also possibly get one of the Xbox360 HDDVD USB Drives, I have one and you can connect to your PC as well.

lance_60031

03-22-10, 03:12 PM

jimjimmyjones85

03-22-10, 03:17 PM

I was look ing at the LG combo drive... About $169 used. But I hate used items for stuff like this..

I do have an X-box HDDVD, do I need specific drivers or something ?

dbone1026

03-22-10, 03:24 PM

I was look ing at the LG combo drive... About $169 used. But I hate used items for stuff like this..

I do have an X-box HDDVD, do I need specific drivers or something ?

When I plugged my Xbox HDDVD into my PC it was automatically recognized and ready to use. I enevr did test if I could play back an HDDVD though as that would require separate software (PDVD, TMT), and to be honest, I am not even sure if they support HDDVD anymore

jimjimmyjones85

03-22-10, 03:36 PM

Well let me get my picture issue corrected then I can worry about that stuff. LOL.

processedmeat

03-22-10, 03:38 PM

FYI, I just ordered this case from chiefvalue.com (same company as newegg) for $89.99 but free shipping.

Would this be a fairly good build - its a combo from Newegg that would help me since I am challenged about the compatibility:

1. Antec M FusionRemote 350:$89.99
2. ASUS M4A785-M:$79.99
3. AMD HDZ720WFK3DGI:$104.99
4. G.SKILL F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ:$52.99
5. G.SKILL F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ:$52.99
6. Seagate ST31000528AS:$89.99
7. LG ELECTRONICS CH08LS10:$99.99

Would be looking to display some vids from the PC onto a 65 panny plasma.

Hogweed75

03-22-10, 04:36 PM

I was look ing at the LG combo drive... About $169 used. But I hate used items for stuff like this..

I do have an X-box HDDVD, do I need specific drivers or something ?

I remembered looking at this a long time ago so I looked in my favorites and manges to find the links. The second link gives step-by-step instructions on how to take an Xbox drive out of the case and use it with a PC.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=147
http://uneasysilence.com/archive/2006/11/8303/

I still have a Samsung BD-UP5000 HD-DVD/Blu-ray player that gets the high def audio from HD-DVD's although if there was an easy (non-costly) way, I would love to convert them to a BD file and keep them on my server.

renethx

03-22-10, 04:52 PM

Would this be a fairly good build - its a combo from Newegg that would help me since I am challenged about the compatibility:

1. Antec M FusionRemote 350:$89.99
2. ASUS M4A785-M:$79.99
3. AMD HDZ720WFK3DGI:$104.99
4. G.SKILL F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ:$52.99
5. G.SKILL F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ:$52.99
6. Seagate ST31000528AS:$89.99
7. LG ELECTRONICS CH08LS10:$99.99

Would be looking to display some vids from the PC onto a 65 panny plasma.
I don't see a compatibility issue. But,

- Unless you play games with a discrete card (L3 cache helps in gaming), Athlon II X4 630 is of better value (quad-core [X3 720 could be tuned into quad, though], consumes ~15W less power [L3 cache consumes some power]). If you don't need much processing power, go with Athlon II X3 or X2.

- Check A-DATA ADQVE1B16K DDR2-800 2 x 2GB kit, ~$90 (cheaper).

saxnix

03-22-10, 05:46 PM

OK, so if I substitute in the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3, it all should be OK?

I went ahead with this build and all is good. I wanted to check if the PCIEx4 on this board can be used as a PCIEx1? I am looking at getting a 2nd one built for my main htpc and I need to be able to put 2, PCIEx1 tuner cards in it but it only has the one PCIEx1 slot.

Greg

Cytotech

03-22-10, 10:29 PM

Stupid question, but this is the first I've heard of this... Why does the i3 IGP not output 1080p/24 from blu-rays?? Is this something they could add in the future?? That seems like SOME oversight!

renethx

03-23-10, 12:55 AM

I went ahead with this build and all is good. I wanted to check if the PCIEx4 on this board can be used as a PCIEx1? I am looking at getting a 2nd one built for my main htpc and I need to be able to put 2, PCIEx1 tuner cards in it but it only has the one PCIEx1 slot.
PCIe x4 supports PCIe x1, x2, x4 devices with no problem.

renethx

03-23-10, 12:57 AM

Why does the i3 IGP not output 1080p/24 from blu-rays?? Is this something they could add in the future?? That seems like SOME oversight!
Nobody knows the answer (except for Intel engineers).

saxnix

03-23-10, 01:01 AM

PCIe x4 supports PCIe x1, x2, x4 devices with no problem.
Thanks.

mudwiggle

03-23-10, 07:37 AM

Hi Renethx (or anyone),

Can you recommend a good low profile AGP card or full height PCI video (not PCI-E) card for HTPC?... yes, it's an old (spare) computer!

Cheers.

jimjimmyjones85

03-23-10, 09:41 AM

Yeah, I had to click the toolbar and drag it up to make it huge just so I could see at first

Hey D. Guess what, it was not in the toolbar :(

But ! I did some mad clicking and finally found it (I actually pinned it just in case). :D

Well I had to take the scale down to like 50 on vertical and horizontal in order to see the entire screen !!!! It was nuts. But it finally got to here I needed it.

Only thing is... it appears to be a little blurry. Maybe it was just me... Any ideas ?

I remembered looking at this a long time ago so I looked in my favorites and manges to find the links. The second link gives step-by-step instructions on how to take an Xbox drive out of the case and use it with a PC.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=147
http://uneasysilence.com/archive/2006/11/8303/

I still have a Samsung BD-UP5000 HD-DVD/Blu-ray player that gets the high def audio from HD-DVD's although if there was an easy (non-costly) way, I would love to convert them to a BD file and keep them on my server.

Hog:

Thanks for that. Not sure I am good enough to pull that off, but I will take a look. Would there be a driver issue ?

Why couldn't you burn the HD in your system to burn it to your server ?

In the end that would be ideal for me as well. Though I have two Toshiba models plus one spare for parts, I would like to have it in my HTPC.

I wish there was a way to get one of these drives into the HTPC.

kevinqian

03-23-10, 11:41 PM

Looks like the AMD 880G chipset will finally support 7.1ch LPCM:

http://techpowerup.com/118254/AMD_880G_Chipset_Detailed.html

Jacob B

03-24-10, 07:33 AM

Hi All
I am updating my current TV-server setup which is
- MediaPortal TV-server and client in office on a HP laptop (NW8440) with core2duo 2.0 GHz, running Win XP SP3 (32bit), 3 FireDTV DVB-C tuners are connected to the laptop. All 3 timeshift to OS HDD and record to external USB2 HDD.
- MP client in living room Asrock ION 330HT-BD.
- Media server for long term storage of recorded TV, as well as DVD, music and photos is a HP Mediasmartserver EX475 (1.6 GHz single core, "GB ram) running WHS.
- Gigabit network connects everything.

I plan on building a new Media/TV server running WHS, based on the Tower system here:http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=940972&page=437#Media Storage Server: System: 15 HDD Tower System
I will use an older Antec TWR and start out with 6 HDD which the MOBO has SATA connections for. This will cost me 296$ (incl. OS HDD) + storage drives. I can expand as desired later.

Now, I am in doubt as to how many dedicated drives I need for the 3 HDTV tuners...
Requirements:
I need to be able to record 3 HD channels simultaneously, while either
- watching (timeshifting) a HDTV channel or streaming a recorded HDTV program on 2-3 clients,
- or streaming a HD movie (from recorded TV or Blu-ray rip) to 1-2 clients while timeshifting a HDTV CH to another client.

I tested how MP TV server uses the cards. One card can actually record two channels (on same freq.) while timeshifting live TV of one of the channels. As it is, this is a very realistic scenario with the TV channels I have and normally watch.

Worst case, this scenario will require 3 HDTV streams being recorded to the same harddisc (saving to HDD), while streaming 1-3 recordings from same harddisc (reading from HDD), all the same time.

So I need to figure out how to minimize the bottleneck.

Should I have:
1) one HDD pr. tunercard, and timeshift and record to same HDD (three HDD in total, maybe 500 GB a piece)?
- this will give a worst case scenario, as the example above will 3 x read and 3 x write to same HDD.
2) one HDD for recordings from tunercard 1, one HDD for timeshifting from tunercard 1 (maybe a SSD?), and one HDD for recording AND timeshifting for card 2 and 3.
- this will use 2 HDD for the load from the example above.
3) tuner 1 to record to pool (tuner 1 is always the first one used, and therefor also the one with most recordings to read/stream), and timeshift to dedicated HDD from tuner 1 (maybe a SSD?). Tuner 2 and 3 can share a dedicated HDD for recording, and share a dedicated HDD for timeshifting.
- this will spread the load from streaming (reading) and recording (saving) from tuner 1 out to the pool, while timeshifting
(live TV) is optimized. If Tuner 2 is recording and timeshifting at the same time, it will use two HDD fot these tasks.
When tuner three comes in play (seldom, but it happens), it will share with tuner 2...

Thoughts:
- Solution 3) differs from 2) in using the pool rather than a dedicated HDD for recording from tuner 1. If the load is high, as in example above, won't this be better than a dedicated HDD?
- However, if I stream a blu-ray rip from the pool at the same time, the load on the pool in solution 3) is suddenly a lot higher, which might influence recording..? This would not matter in solution 2.

OK, shoot away, both theoretical anwers and answers based by experience are welcomed :D

Cheers,
Jacob

Tim Travis

03-24-10, 10:50 AM

Hogweed75

03-24-10, 02:31 PM

I am building my first HTPC. I bought the HD Homerun and it sad it has a IR receiver built in. I have a Harmony 880 that I plan to control Win 7 media center. Will this built in IR receiver do the same thing as if I bought a receiver and media center remote separately?

Tim

I'm not sure where you saw the IR Receiver on the HD Homerun but I do have an HD Homerun on my network and it works beautifully! I love how these work on the home network and it doesn't add heat or take up space in your HTPC. It does require software but there arn't drivers to mess with and is one less obstical to mess with in the HTPC.

The HD Homerun is controlled inside Windows Media Center. Not by IR to the actual HD Homerun unit. You load the software on to you HTPC's and use a typical WMC IR remote control (if your HTPC is so equipped) to control all functions of watching and recording TV. So you are controlling your local HTPC which then controls the HD Homerun tuners via your home netork. This way any unused tuner on the HD Homerun can be used by another HTPC in some other part of the house.

TV can be setup to record on any HTPC and saved on any drive. The recordings can be shared accross your network in Windows Media Center and watched on any HTPC. I record most everything to my main downstairs HTPC and setup my other computers and Xbox up to see the shared recording files. My wife watches a lot of her programs of the Xbox upstairs. I can even watch TV show and live TV on my laptop. With high-def programs it usually looks smoother when connected to a network cable though but some things can be watched via wireless.

Tim Travis

03-24-10, 03:45 PM

On the amazon website it listed an IR receiver was on the HDhomerun. So if it does not, then I need to buy a IR receiver so my remote will control media center, correct?

Tim

dbone1026

03-24-10, 03:59 PM

On the amazon website it listed an IR receiver was on the HDhomerun. So if it does not, then I need to buy a IR receiver so my remote will control media center, correct?

Tim

Here is the IR Receiver I use:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16880121001&cm_re=avs_gear-_-80-121-001-_-Product

mryerse

03-24-10, 05:03 PM

Don't think you need to use the IR receiver in hdhomerun (don't even know what it's for). I use WMC and use a WMC remote to control WMC, not the HDHOMERUN IR.

Hogweed75

03-24-10, 05:34 PM

Don't think you need to use the IR receiver in hdhomerun (don't even know what it's for). I use WMC and use a WMC remote to control WMC, not the HDHOMERUN IR.

Exactly! But if he doesn't have a remote/IR receiver already on his HTPC to control media center then the remote that dbone1026 sugested is perfect and cheap. Once you have it setup you can always use a better or different remote like a Logitech Harmony or whatever.

redass

03-24-10, 05:44 PM

Hi Renethx (or anyone),

Can you recommend a good low profile AGP card or full height PCI video (not PCI-E) card for HTPC?... yes, it's an old (spare) computer!

Cheers.

I use a passive-cooled ATI 3650 AGP card with my p4 2.8 system. It'll playback bluray and HDDVD's and doesn't add to the noise. I'd recommend something similar for an older HTPC. My combo won't playback HD sources smoothly on windows 7, but works fine on XP w/ TMT3 and powerDVD ultra 7

kopkiwi

03-24-10, 08:57 PM

Dam this is doing my head in.

All I want is something that has a really nice/sexy UI, can play all my music and downloaded TV Shows (blu-ray not required, prefer the phyiscal copies)

None of the media players take my fancy, all ugly, loud and just aren't eye catching. Then I thought hm why not try an HTPC, but to build one, even the most simple of ones that just does plays my flac music collection (with cover art) and downloaded shows would cost a small fortune in NZ.

Nothing worth having comes easy does it?

mudwiggle

03-24-10, 08:58 PM

I use a passive-cooled ATI 3650 AGP card with my p4 2.8 system. It'll playback bluray and HDDVD's and doesn't add to the noise. I'd recommend something similar for an older HTPC. My combo won't playback HD sources smoothly on windows 7, but works fine on XP w/ TMT3 and powerDVD ultra 7
What do you think is the limiting factor for the lack of smooth playback?

kevinqian

03-24-10, 09:15 PM

What do you think is the limiting factor for the lack of smooth playback?
I have a P4 3.0ghz, 2gb ram, ATI 2600 Pro AGP, Win 7 Pro. Everything plays fine. 1080p, 1080i. Everything you throw at it. Once you have the right graphics card, videos are a cake walk.

mudwiggle

03-24-10, 09:39 PM

I have a P4 3.0ghz, 2gb ram, ATI 2600 Pro AGP, Win 7 Pro. Everything plays fine. 1080p, 1080i. Everything you throw at it. Once you have the right graphics card, videos are a cake walk.
Unfortunately, I can only fit either a low profile AGP card or a full height PCI card, no PCI-E slots available.

any suggestions for this scenario?

grittree

03-24-10, 10:43 PM

Now, I am in doubt as to how many dedicated drives I need for the 3 HDTV tuners...

One HDTV stream ~ 19Mbps. One HDD ~ 80MBps=640Mbps.

640 / 19 ~= 36 simultaneous HD streams. Or approximately a small part of one drive.

kevinqian

03-24-10, 10:47 PM

Unfortunately, I can only fit either a low profile AGP card or a full height PCI card, no PCI-E slots available.

any suggestions for this scenario?
if you can fit a full height PCI card why can't you fit a full height AGP? They are situated next to each other on the mobo.

mudwiggle

03-24-10, 11:20 PM

if you can fit a full height PCI card why can't you fit a full height AGP? They are situated next to each other on the mobo.
No they aren't! the PC is a HP D530, it's a low profile case with a PCI riser card that allows full height PCI cards to sit parallel to the mobo.....

kevinqian

03-24-10, 11:54 PM

That sucks. Time to throw in the towel? I don't know of any low profile AGP cards that can handle HD video decoding. classic PCI? forget it.

renethx

03-25-10, 01:14 AM

Hi Renethx (or anyone),

Can you recommend a good low profile AGP card or full height PCI video (not PCI-E) card for HTPC?... yes, it's an old (spare) computer!

Cheers.
There are several GeForce 8400 GS PCI cards (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=Property&Subcategory=48&Description=&Type=&N=2010380048&srchInDesc=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&OEMMark=0&PropertyCodeValue=696%3A9642&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A29423). 8400 GS is good for most HD contents with full hardware decode acceleration.

mudwiggle

03-25-10, 02:04 AM

There are several GeForce 8400 GS PCI cards (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=Property&Subcategory=48&Description=&Type=&N=2010380048&srchInDesc=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&OEMMark=0&PropertyCodeValue=696%3A9642&PropertyCodeValue=679%3A29423). 8400 GS is good for most HD contents with full hardware decode acceleration.
Hi Everyone,

I appreciate you're help...

Renethx, which would you choose; the GeForce8400GS PCI card or a HD 4350 AGP http://www.hisdigital.com/un/product2-444.shtml ??

I've never had a nVidia card, so don't know how they compare. Also, I've heard that the nVidia cards have less problems (read more flexible) handling DXVA operations.

Cheers, and thanks again.

QBA

03-25-10, 04:13 AM

Here is my build:

http://www.mediasmartserver.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=5045

Using the Norco 4220 seems to be case of choice these days.

Back again :)

Hi Damian,

I think I'm going to go for it and I'm going to build a server just like yours :)

I saw that you posted those pics in august 2009, any changes or update I should consider to your hardware list?

Thanks a lot

Alex

QBA

03-25-10, 08:07 AM

dbone1026

03-25-10, 08:16 AM

Sorry I posted too soon,

I was looking at the parts and I'm not sure I need that fast of a CPU, Mother board and type of memory when I already have my HTPC.

I just want a server, no an HTPC/SERVER, that is what you have right?

If I want just a server I could get away with just the box, the TBs hard drivers and an slower Mother board and CPU right?

My build is purely a server, does not do HTPC related duties. I am just running a middle of the road dual core CPU, nothing fancy. I think I got 4GB of RAM (which since running x32 I obviously don't utilize fully). You could easily get away with 2GB.

QBA

03-25-10, 08:59 AM

dbone1026

03-25-10, 10:16 AM

oh ok thanks dbone1026,

Can I get away by using a cheaper ram? I was looking at the price and those are like 100 bucks up here in Canada.

Are these sata enclosures close enough to the ones you got? or yours cost more because it has better specs?

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816212010

Whatever sata cage you get you just want to make sure it fits in the case you choose. Also, the cage you linked to looks like it has 4 bays, the ones I used had 5 bays.

You should be able to get 2GB DDR2 RAM for much cheaper then 100

jimjimmyjones85

03-25-10, 11:01 AM

No projector, just HTPC -> Onkyo 906 -> Panny Plasma TV

You should be fine without a discrete GPU. The main issue with the clarkdale is lack of support for 23.976 which doesn't matter for you since you are just playing back DVD movies and not Blu Rays, and even if you were playing Blu Rays you may not have an interest in 23.976 anyhow)

Ok, since I am trying to find a usable HD-DVD drive to put into my HTPC, will I now have to worry about 1080p/24 ?

If so what do I need to do ?

If anyone has a lead on a usable HD-DVD drive, please touch base with me.

dbone1026

03-25-10, 11:11 AM

Ok, since I am trying to find a usable HD-DVD drive to put into my HTPC, will I now have to worry about 1080p/24 ?

If so what do I need to do ?

If anyone has a lead on a usable HD-DVD drive, please touch base with me.

The whole 24p thing only matters if you are trying to get 24p throughout all your devices (i.e. are you trying to have your projector output 24p)? I honestly have never messed around with, I keep my display (tv) set to I guess whatever the default is (59fps?), and don't have any issues with playback of hd content

Stettin

03-25-10, 12:11 PM

Hi, I've been lurking on this thread for while now trying to figure out what I should do for my HTPC.

I currently have a DVD/RW (IDE) and DVD-ROM/BluRay-ROM (SATA) drive, USB QAM tuner (Hauppauge 950q), 1.5TB HD (SATA), 250GB HD (IDE) and 1GB DDR2 memory I could re-use. Going with an SATA-only/DDR3 would make my memory, 250GB HD, and IDE DVD unusable. DVD burning is not a super big deal, since I have 2-3 other burners in the house.

Money is a bit tight right now, since I just spent $900 on my TV. I probably should have waited until I could have afforded both that and my HTPC but I got impatient. I'm willing to hold off on my HTPC case until I move because the tower my old parts are in right now is in a spot out of the way. Also, I don't have an HDMI receiver. I have an older Yamaha 5.1 Dolby Digital that takes optical/coaxial in for digital audio. I won't be upgrading that in the near future. I'm fine with 5.1 sound for now.

I also have both an RF ATI Remote Wonder II and a tivo LiquidPC IR remote/blaster (hoping I can learn the codes on my harmony 880), and logitech bluetooth kb (wii) for input control.

I want to go with a Core-i3/iGPU combo, probably the GIGABYTE GA-H55M-UD2H (~$100) [Has 1xPATA for my IDE drive/DVD burner, so that is a bonus], Core i3 530 2.93GHz LGA1156 (~$120), G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-2GBNQ (~$65). That puts me right around $285. How important is it to get the 3rd party CPU fan? I'd like to get the retail chip/fan combo for the longer warranty, and saving $35 on the fan would help out.

Is there a problem sending HDMI video to the TV and Digital Optical audio to my receiver separately?

I see in the guide that a lot of the DDR3 builds recommend 2x1GB kits. Shouldn't you get 3x1GB for DDR3? or is that not needed?

I am assuming I can mount a MicroATX board in my ATX case, is this wrong?

renethx

03-25-10, 12:24 PM

How important is it to get the 3rd party CPU fan? I'd like to get the retail chip/fan combo for the longer warranty, and saving $35 on the fan would help out.

Is there a problem sending HDMI video to the TV and Digital Optical audio to my receiver separately?

I see in the guide that a lot of the DDR3 builds recommend 2x1GB kits. Shouldn't you get 3x1GB for DDR3? or is that not needed?

I am assuming I can mount a MicroATX board in my ATX case, is this wrong?
The stock cooler is enough.

No.

Core i3 supports dual channel memory, so 2 sticks is enough (one for channel 1, the other for channel 2). (DDR"3" does not mean triple channel.)

Usually an ATX case supports ATX and microATX motherboard.

jimjimmyjones85

03-25-10, 12:39 PM

QBA

03-25-10, 02:45 PM

dbone1026

03-25-10, 02:51 PM

Sorry about so many questions Damian,

The motherboard on your server has a built in ethernet card that is gigabit compatible. Why would you buy a "Gigabit Ct Desktop Adapter" ethernet card?

I'm just trying to see where I could cut some cost and still have the same performance.

thanks

An additional NIC is definitely not needed. Intel has been known to have better/more reliable NICs then realtek (the onboard NIC). No reason why you can't just stick with the onboard, and if you ever have problems down the road add a separate card.

Lintoc

03-25-10, 09:55 PM

Hi - following up previous DOA 780G J&W miniITX board. Now I have the 785G version. Using these components:
AMD Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHz Socket AM3 65W ,
Crucial 2GB (2 x 1GB) 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
APEX MI-100BK Mini-ITX Case 250W Power Supply
SILVERSTONE NT07-AM2 80mm CPU Cooler

Problem: The board/video processor makes high pitched squealing/static noises when the video screen is actively shifting color/screen content. This is not fans, not the HDD, not the HSF, not PSU (have isolated/ swapped all).
Anyone have this issue with this board? Other boards? Is it a build-quality issue? for $155, I should be able to use it in living room without thinking there's a squirrel in my AV cabinet!

I'll be calling Mvix in the AM, but hoping for insight from this quality board as well. Thanks!

warpdrive

03-25-10, 10:20 PM

I'm think of building the midrange mATX Intel iGPU system and the parts selection looks solid...it's nice to have so many recommendations for configurations ready to go, except the only thing is that I can't find the Cooler Master (Geminii S) RR-CCH-PBU1-GP at any of our local computer stores, or even Canadian online shops. Is there an alternative that would be similar?

thanks

renethx

03-25-10, 10:49 PM

Kasper-pA-

03-26-10, 01:50 PM

Has anyone found a fanless (or a nice VERY silent fan) heatsink for a ati 5570? the stock one is a bit loud.... not bad, but i'd rather silent ;)

checked around, nothing stands out as being for the 55xx series (low profile)

cheers!

Kasp

tomandbeth

03-26-10, 10:21 PM

and where can I get them? I would need at least 2X2 pin, 1X3 pin and 1X4 pin or a 20 pin connector

I'm looking to drop a Gigabit H55M-UD2H MOBO into an old ATX case and with a bit of surgery to the front panel lights and switch connectors I can get this to work. I will have >4 hard drives, and 2 optical drives. That's why I like this particular dinosaur case- plus can't beat the cost- free.

One other question. It seems this MOBO needs minimum of 450-500 watt PSU? or at least that is the Recs up on page 437 for Micro ATX boards (intel) running Clarkdale processors.

kjgarrison

03-27-10, 12:58 AM

No projector, just HTPC -> Onkyo 906 -> Panny Plasma TV

You should be fine without a discrete GPU. The main issue with the clarkdale is lack of support for 23.976 which doesn't matter for you since you are just playing back DVD movies and not Blu Rays, and even if you were playing Blu Rays you may not have an interest in 23.976 anyhow)

And if, as is true for me, you just like things to be as perfect as possible and do have a "interest in 23.976", is there an alternative that does what the clarkdale does and gets 23.976 right?

renethx

03-27-10, 01:25 AM

renethx

03-27-10, 01:26 AM

is there an alternative that does what the clarkdale does and gets 23.976 right?
Radeon HD 5xxx.

renethx

03-27-10, 12:53 PM

Haali Media Splitter v1.10.120.15 (http://haali.su/mkv/) is available.

However, if you want HD audio bistreaming, you'd better stick to:

- MPC - Matroska Source for MKV
- MPC - Mpeg Source (Gabest) for M2TS

dbone1026

03-27-10, 01:40 PM

@ Renethx,

Maybe you have some thoughts on this. Two of my HTPCs have the 5670. When I was using the ATI 8.69RC1 CCC I had no issues with playback in MPC of my sons mkv/mp4 (all recorded tv that I encoded to h264).. When I updated CCC to 10.2 (and tested with 10.3) I get very blocky playback in MPC (only affected these shows, not my blu ray or DVD rips). Any ideas what could be causing this?

You can see a screenshot below, I have asked on the 5xxx thread but noone was sure the problem.

http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/2897/capturemr.jpg

Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom
File size : 209 MiB
Duration : 21mn 23s
Overall bit rate : 1 366 Kbps

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Baseline@L3.0
Format settings, CABAC : No
Format settings, ReFrames : 6 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 21mn 23s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 1 228 Kbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 540 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Resolution : 8 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.105
Stream size : 188 MiB (90%)

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format version : Version 4
Format profile : LC
Format settings, SBR : No
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 21mn 23s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 132.3 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Stream size : 20.3 MiB (10%)

tomandbeth

03-27-10, 02:30 PM

Are you looking for connectors like these (http://www.action-electronics.com/molex.htm)?

The max power consumption of a Clarkdale system (iGPU) with one HDD is < 100W. Add 8W for another HDD.

Yep. That's them. Thanks!!!! Picked up a variety of them with the pins.

And thanks on the PSU question. I had seen the power consumption level you mention here on one of these threads but...this olde farte get's confused easily now.:o Anyway, when I went to find it I couldn't.

kjgarrison

03-27-10, 04:42 PM

The whole 24p thing only matters if you are trying to get 24p throughout all your devices (i.e. are you trying to have your projector output 24p)? I honestly have never messed around with, I keep my display (tv) set to I guess whatever the default is (59fps?), and don't have any issues with playback of hd content

And if, as is true for me, you just like things to be as perfect as possible and do have a "interest in 23.976", is there an alternative that does what the clarkdale does and gets 23.976 right?

Radeon HD 5xxx.

Thanks guys.

OK then, to clarify for a noob, the Clarkdale 23.976/24.000 "issue" only applies to when you are using the Clarkdale's onboard (if that's the correct term) graphics. When using a Clarkdale CPU with a Radeon HD 5xxx there is nothing about the Clarkdale that prevents perfect BR playback.

(and ... even if you do use the Clarkdale's GPU there might not be a noticeable difference)

Is this correctly stated?

kevinqian

03-27-10, 06:10 PM

Thanks guys.

OK then, to clarify for a noob, the Clarkdale 23.976/24.000 "issue" only applies to when you are using the Clarkdale's onboard (if that's the correct term) graphics. When using a Clarkdale CPU with a Radeon HD 5xxx there is nothing about the Clarkdale that prevents perfect BR playback.

(and ... even if you do use the Clarkdale's GPU there might not be a noticeable difference)

Is this correctly stated?
affirmative. Using the 5450 disables the integrated Clarkdale gpu.

Davinleeds

03-27-10, 06:39 PM

I had both running.

renethx

03-28-10, 01:50 AM

It depends on each motherboard if you can use both iGPU and dGPU simultaneously. (ASUS: no, GIGABYTE: yes.)

fivestarplus

03-28-10, 01:55 AM

I want to be specific, and I will try to keep this short and simple too.

I am new to building HTPCs. I started to build my first HTPC before finding this forum. I have some questions about my configuration. I am building both a HTPC and a WHS machine. First time for a WHS build also. I was going back and forth about building 1 or 2 machines. I decided to build 2. The reasoning behind this is that I was concerned about all of the network traffic to just one machine. All of my network components have been upgraded to gigabyte speed and wireless-N. All of my PC’s use Windows 7 except for the WHS machine. I am not a gamer, nor do I have any game consoles (i.e.; XBOX, PS3).

My main purpose of the HTPC build is to eliminate my Dish Network DVR and have one less bill per month. But, I can’t live without a DVR. So, the HTPC will also have to record and playback HDTV, and be easy to use. I am currently unemployed, so I need to spend wisely.

I am only concerned about 1 TV for now. I will add 2 or 3 more, later. My primary TV is a Mitsubishi 65” RPTV model WS-65903 (no HDMI inputs). It is HDTV ready (no internal ATSC tuner). On the digital side, it only has RGB-HV and VGA inputs and the signal must be 1080i. I also have a Denon AVR-2807, but I am confined to using component ports for digital signals (Dish Network DVR, stand alone Blu-ray player).

So, here is what I have.

The WHS machine was built with spare parts (except for 1.5TB drive) and consists of these items.

CPU – Intel Core 2 Duo 6300 1.86GHz
CPU Cooler – Intel OEM
MB – EVGA 122-CK-NF68
Memory – Corsair CM2X1024-6400C4D DDR2-800 (2 x 1GB kit)
GPU – nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB DDR3 (from previous build)
HDD OS – Hitachi HTS722080K9SA00 80GB SATA 1.5Gbps 7200RPM NCQ 15MB Cache
HDD Data – Western Digital Caviar Green WD15EADS-00R6B0 1.5TB SATA 3.0Gbps NCQ 32MB Cache
Optical – Lite-On BD DH-401S
PSU – Rosewell WIN-550PS RT550-135-SL Turbo Series 550W
LAN – Dual NVIDIA nForce 1000Mbps Ethernet. I may “team” these, but for now I have both ports connected to a gigabyte switch.
Software – Windows Home Server PP3 with MyMovies 3 plugin.

The HTPC machine contains these items.

CPU – AMD 4850e 2.5GHz 25W
CPU Cooler – Cooler Master Gemini II S RR-CCH-PBU1-GP
MB – MSI Media Diva Live 5.1 (onboard HD3200) AM2+/AM2 AMD 780M HDMI MicroATX
Memory – A-Data DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) ADQVE1B16 ( 2 x 2GB kit)
GPU – Sapphire 100296 HDMI Radeon HD4670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready
HDD OS – Imation M-Class 27510 2.5” 64GB SATA II MLC SSD
HDD Data – Western Digital Caviar Green WD15EADS-00R6B0 1.5TB SATA 3.0Gbps NCQ 32MB Cache (entire drive reserved for recording TV programs)
Optical – Lite-On 4x Blu-ray reader SATA model iHOS104-06
PSU – Corsair CMPSU-450VX 450W ATX12V V2.2 80 Plus Certified Active PFC
Audio – Intersil D2Audio DAE-3 MS-4140 Sound Card 5ch Power Amplifier plus Realtek ALC888 (on board)
TV Tuner – two Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 Dual TV Tuner / Encoder 1229 PCI-Express x1 (one for OTA, one for basic (not digital) cable which I get for free with cable internet service).
Case – Antec Fusion Remote Black microATX with LCD/IR receiver/remote.
Software – Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
PowerDVD 8 Ultra – (came with Hauppauge Win-TV)

Other software available includes;
AnyDVD HD
Virtual Clone Drive
VLC media player

If there are some other forums that would help me get answers, please let me know.

My questions are;

1. Is the MSI Media Diva Live 5.1 motherboard a viable solution for my situation? I chose it because I like the idea of eliminating all other boxes (i.e.; Denon AVR-2807, stand alone DVD players, etc.) and it has component output. This motherboard has HD3200 onboard. If I install the HD4670, I have to remove the fan from the video card. I also have a HD5670 video card that I can use. I have read in this forum that the HD5670 runs cooler than the HD4670. The component output only works with the HD3200 onboard video chip. If I install a video card, then the component output gets disabled. I can’t find much information about this motherboard. If I need to abandon this motherboard, then I will build the March 2010 mid level Intel/Intel microATX recommendation. I would only need to buy a motherboard, CPU and memory.

2. Should I worry about no fan on the video card? It doesn’t get hot now, but I still have the case open and I have not used it for an extended period of time.

3. I will use either Windows Media Center or SageTV. I’m leading towards Windows Media Center for now, since it is included with Windows 7. I will only use SageTV if I run into problems. Comments?

4. What other software might I need?

5. Is there a configuration manual for a HTPC build? Things like how to best configure the software, what Windows features can I disable, etc.

6. What is the best format to store movies and audio CDs? I’m learning towards ISO files for BD DVDs, VIDEO_TS for SD DVDs and FLAC for audio CDs. I would like to keep the highest quality possible, within reason of course. I don’t know what formats are available and the reason to use them.

Please keep your replies simple because I don’t know a lot about audio and video terminology and acronyms.

I am ready to build my collection once I get my answers.

Thank you in advance for your replies.

kevinqian

03-28-10, 01:55 PM

Renethx,

You said the ATI 780/785G is able to do MA deinterlacing correct? It seems like I can't select the different options in CCC. Either I check the Enforce Smooth video box and I get Adaptive, or I uncheck it and it goes to VA with lots of stuttering. The deinterlacing slider doesn't seem to do anything. I can put it on Weave, and it will still play back video at the respective default settings. I have tried CCC 9.11 and 10.3. Both have the same bug.

renethx

03-28-10, 02:33 PM

rockstar1630

03-28-10, 02:43 PM

How good is this laptop for HTPC application? Will it bitstream all HD codecs? Can I have a reference grade picture out of it to my TV/Projector?

Following are the specs:

* Intel Core i7-720QM Processor1.6GHz w/ turbo boost up to 2.8GHz
* 4GB of DDR3 1066MHz SDRAM, 2 slots, 8GB Max
* 320GB Hard Drive (7200 RPM); Super Multi Optical Disk Drive; Wi-Fi 802.11 bgn
* 16-Inch HD LED LCD Display; 2.0MP Webcam; Bluetooth; HDMI Port; ATI 5730 Graphics Engine with 1 GB DDR3 Dedicated VRAM
* Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit) Operating System

mazspeed

03-28-10, 03:20 PM