Guide to Building a HD HTPC [Text View] - Page 69

renethx

05-13-11, 10:34 AM

dbone1026

05-13-11, 10:39 AM

renethx

05-13-11, 10:54 AM

DXVA requires EVR/EVR CP. So using madVR means you have to quit DXVA. Nevcairiel introduced LAV CUVID Decoder that supports NVIDIA GPU via CUDA Video Decoding API instead of DXVA API. This not only supports full hardware decode acceleration by VP4(or 3 or 2), but also hardware deinterlacing. It works for every SD/HD video (H.264/VC-1/MPEG-2/Xvid/Divx, progressive/interlaced) with any video renderer. It's a kind of miracle. (And LAV Splitter, VC-1 interlaced MKV plays smoothly, another miracle, and LAV Audio Decoder supporting HD audio bitstreaming including Dolby Digital PLus.)

With AMD GPU, you can use CyberLink HAM Decoder + madVR. CyberLink HAM Decoder supports full hardware decode acceleration by AMD UVD without DXVA API, but does not supports hardware deinterlacing, unfortunately. Check my today's post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=20431201#post20431201).

dbone1026

05-13-11, 11:17 AM

ilovejedd

05-13-11, 11:55 AM

I am inclined to NVIDIA right now because of LAV CUVID Decoder + madVR.
I use Shark007 because I find it easiest for supporting multiple formats and codecs (RMVB, subtitles, etc). Is it possible to use LAV CUVID + madVR with Shark007? Right now, I have NVIDIA GPU's on my builds because short of using an external player, CoreAVC with CUDA used to be the only way to get hardware acceleration with subtitles (VobSub) using WMC's internal player. Thanks!

roons

05-13-11, 12:16 PM

Hi, I'm about to purchase the guide, I do have a question now though to give me something to do until I can snag it.

I have an old computer (from 2006? 2007?) sitting around, and I want to build my first HTPC because I am sick of switching dvds in my dvd player heh

Here are the components:

Motherboard: Asus A8N-SLI-Premium Skt939 AMD64 board, 2x PCI-x16, 3x PCI, SATA RAID, IEEE1394, 2x GigaLAN, Audio, heatpipe

Video Card: Asus GeForce 7800GTX 256mb PCIx16 Video card, 2x DVI, video in/out

CPU: unsure of, think it's either of these two, have to check. no real difference though..
1) AMD Athlon64 3500+ (2.2Ghz) 64-Bit CPU, 90nm Socket939 w/AMD fan-heatsink
2) AMD Athlon64 3700+ 64-Bit CPU, 90nm 1mb Socket939 w/AMD fan-heatsink

Sound Card: Creative Audigy 2 ZS PCI sound card w/firewire port, 108dB SNR, 24-bit/96kHz

RAM: PC-3200 1024MB Corsair TwinX-XL Pro 2-2-2-5 Xtra-Low Latency 184-pin DDR SDRAM (2x 512MB sticks) 400mhz w/LEDs

HDD 1: 74gb Western Digital Raptor
HDD 2: 500gb Western Digital AAKS

PSU: Corsair HX-620

My question is, should I just start new, or is any of that usable?

Note: This is entirely to store my dvd collection on and have an easy way to watch my movies in dvd quality without having to use discs heh

joeydrunk

05-13-11, 04:26 PM

No HD audio bitstreaming in Linux.

I'm having trouble finding any recent documentation on this. I've talked to a few Linux guys and they said it was possible but didn't know anything beyond that. I found a site where some guys figured out how to do it but this was months ago and it was just in the testing phase and I can't find anything else on it. I just had linuxfest at my school where I was planning on asking about, but unfortunately I couldn't attend. Do you have any recent links you could point me towards? Thanks.

renethx

05-13-11, 06:57 PM

I'm having trouble finding any recent documentation on this. I've talked to a few Linux guys and they said it was possible but didn't know anything beyond that. I found a site where some guys figured out how to do it but this was months ago and it was just in the testing phase and I can't find anything else on it. I just had linuxfest at my school where I was planning on asking about, but unfortunately I couldn't attend. Do you have any recent links you could point me towards? Thanks.
OK, I saw this (http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/465687).

renethx

05-13-11, 07:10 PM

I use Shark007 because I find it easiest for supporting multiple formats and codecs (RMVB, subtitles, etc). Is it possible to use LAV CUVID + madVR with Shark007? Right now, I have NVIDIA GPU's on my builds because short of using an external player, CoreAVC with CUDA used to be the only way to get hardware acceleration with subtitles (VobSub) using WMC's internal player. Thanks!
Unfortunately WMC internal player does not support madVR. So the usefulness of CUVID is not great in this case. You can still use CUVID if you wish. Just add the following keys to the registry (what this means (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=16974976#post16974976)):

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DirectShow\Preferred]
"{31435641-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}"="{62D767FE-4F1B-478B-B350-8ACE9E4DB00E}"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DirectShow\Preferred]
"{34363248-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}"="{62D767FE-4F1B-478B-B350-8ACE9E4DB00E}"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DirectShow\Preferred]
"{34363268-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}"="{62D767FE-4F1B-478B-B350-8ACE9E4DB00E}"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DirectShow\Preferred]
"{31435657-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}"="{62D767FE-4F1B-478B-B350-8ACE9E4DB00E}"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DirectShow\Preferred]
"{E06D8026-DB46-11CF-B4D1-00805F6CBBEA}"="{62D767FE-4F1B-478B-B350-8ACE9E4DB00E}"

Compatibility with Shark007 codecs is not guaranteed, however.

BTW ffdshow DXVA Video Decoder (for AVC/VC-1) is another option of DXVA + subtitles in WMC internal player...?

renethx

05-13-11, 07:22 PM

roons

05-13-11, 09:33 PM

If you play only DVDs, then perhaps you don't need to upgrade anything. Try the latest NVIDIA graphics driver (270.61) + PowerDVD.

If you want to play HD videos (mainly BD movies), upgrading the graphics card may be enough, but building a new system is better (the slow, single-core CPU could be the bottleneck).

Thanks a lot. I will stick with what I've got and try that out. I will be playing only DVD movies at first but may upgrade for BD movies later

Now to figure out the ripping and installation/software setup side of things.

I will snag your guide soon too.

Thanks again.

charlievoviii

05-13-11, 09:47 PM

for some reason on my HTPC using MPC with MADVR and LUV. video is glitchy like the video card is choking. Nivida GT430

charlievoviii

05-13-11, 10:26 PM

I was wondering if the Video processing of the ASUS Xonar HDAV1.3 is better than the ATI and nVidia video cards?

Hawkson

05-14-11, 05:58 AM

The HDAV has video processing abilities?

charlievoviii

05-14-11, 06:10 AM

The HDAV has video processing abilities?

video processing and Non-downsampled 192kHz Blu-Ray audio also bit-streaming true DTS-MA and DD-HD. It's one of the best thing for HTPC on the market in my opinion.

http://www.asus.com/Multimedia/Audio_Cards/Xonar_HDAV13/

Audio specs are very superb.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r81/c-spec/canon/asushdav.jpg

Hawkson

05-14-11, 06:21 AM

charlievoviii

05-14-11, 06:24 AM

I am planning on buying a used lynx 2b and a seperate GPU.

Do you think its worth it to achieve great sound and great video processing compared to a HDAV 1.4?

What kind of video processing can the HDAV do? I'm interested in FI and MADvr.

dont' know cause the HDAV 1.4 haven't come out yet. I guess it would be the same audio processing as the HDAV1.3 except it will now have 3D processing capability which Asus already announced that.

Hawkson

05-14-11, 06:48 AM

What? When is the HDAV 1.4 coming out? I haven't heard about this.

The HDAV's video abilties, how are they for MadVR and FI?

Marboosh

05-14-11, 07:09 AM

I am inclined to NVIDIA right now because of LAV CUVID Decoder + madVR. I am using Sparkle GT 440 GDDR5 512MB (~$70, cheap!), not as quiet as Sapphire HD 5670/6670 (Arctic Cooling Accelero L7), but quiet enough for HTPC use. GTS 450, like this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125341), requires a PCI Express 6-pin power, except for this Sparkle DDR3 model (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814187142) (its performance is between GT 440 and GTS 450 GDDR5). GTX 460 1GB is more expensive and out of your budget, I guess.

If you prefer AMD, then HD 6570 is the cheapet best choice for HTPC. Sapphire HD 6670 is always good. HD 6750/6770 are rebrands of 5750/5770 with HDMI 1.4a 3D support.

Oh, I forgot to mention GTX 550 Ti, ~$130. The performance is between GTS 450 and GTX 460 756MB. Another good choice (if you don't care about PCI Express power connector).

OK, how about this one (http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-PCI-Express-Graphics-01G-P3-1366-TR/dp/B004DKWLB4/ref=pd_cp_e_1) Rene ?

Would you prefer it over anything ATI ?

I just want a card that supports Blu-rays and 1080p MKV's with HD Audio bitstreaming over HDMI. I had good luck with both ATI and NVIDIA so I have no preference I just want the best within my budget.

Thanks a lot man!

charlievoviii

05-14-11, 07:58 AM

What? When is the HDAV 1.4 coming out? I haven't heard about this.

The HDAV's video abilties, how are they for MadVR and FI?

try this www.google.com :D

charlievoviii

05-14-11, 08:06 AM

OK, how about this one (http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-PCI-Express-Graphics-01G-P3-1366-TR/dp/B004DKWLB4/ref=pd_cp_e_1) Rene ?

Would you prefer it over anything ATI ?

I just want a card that supports Blu-rays and 1080p MKV's with HD Audio bitstreaming over HDMI. I had good luck with both ATI and NVIDIA so I have no preference I just want the best within my budget.

Thanks a lot man!

Well i can tell you my personal experiences, I was in your shoes couple weeks back. I had both ATI 6670 and Nvidia GT430. I also try every settings. Nvidia picture came out way sharper and better color space than ATI did. Don't believe in HQV benchmark test crap on what you see online. U can pick up an nvidia card that would work perfectly with blu ray and audio bit- streaming for under $60 bucks. Lets just say i have the nvidia GT430 in my high-end dedicated home theater room. ;)

Even my wife noticed the differences in picture. ;)

renethx

05-14-11, 12:17 PM

for some reason on my HTPC using MPC with MADVR and LUV. video is glitchy like the video card is choking. Nivida GT430
Did you check what filters are actually used? Checking GPU usage / Video Engine usage by GPU-Z may be helpful (typically 50% / 50%).

I think nobody cared about video processing by HDAV1.3.

renethx

05-14-11, 12:51 PM

charlievoviii

05-14-11, 02:05 PM

Marboosh

05-15-11, 07:05 AM

Did you check what filters are actually used? Checking GPU usage / Video Engine usage by GPU-Z may be helpful (typically 50% / 50%).

I think nobody cared about video processing by HDAV1.3.

Alright, GT 430 it is. I just ordered one. Thanks!

Well i can tell you my personal experiences, I was in your shoes couple weeks back. I had both ATI 6670 and Nvidia GT430. I also try every settings. Nvidia picture came out way sharper and better color space than ATI did. Don't believe in HQV benchmark test crap on what you see online. U can pick up an nvidia card that would work perfectly with blu ray and audio bit- streaming for under $60 bucks. Lets just say i have the nvidia GT430 in my high-end dedicated home theater room. ;)

Even my wife noticed the differences in picture. ;)

Thanks for sharing your experience, your response has really helped me choose the right GPU. I'm joining the club now, Thanks again!

charlievoviii

05-15-11, 09:53 AM

Alright, GT 430 it is. I just ordered one. Thanks!

Thanks for sharing your experience, your response has really helped me choose the right GPU. I'm joining the club now, Thanks again!

you won't be disappointed. Are you connecting the HTPC to a TV or projector. Either way once you have everything hook up, feel free to pm me and i will help you set it up. ;)

renethx

05-15-11, 10:03 AM

AS for the HDAV1.3 i wouldnt say no one care. ;)
This is from *Official* Asus Xonar HDAV1.3 thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1065232). Every single user hated Splendid HD Video Enhancements. (OK, I didn't read every single post. :))

charlievoviii

05-15-11, 10:26 AM

This is from *Official* Asus Xonar HDAV1.3 thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1065232). Every single user hated Splendid HD Video Enhancements. (OK, I didn't read every single post. :))

thanks buddy

K-Wood

05-15-11, 12:58 PM

joeydrunk

05-15-11, 02:11 PM

It appears that the ASUS P8P67-M PRO LGA 1155 Intel P67 chipset microATX board, recommended in your guide for a high-end MicroATX system, is out of stock at Newegg. Is there another board that you'd recommend instead? Thanks.

Its the same price at microcenter and tigerdirect. It seems as if everybody only knows to try newegg, these are also good places to check.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7343084&CatId=6978
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0358071

roons

05-15-11, 02:56 PM

If you play only DVDs, then perhaps you don't need to upgrade anything. Try the latest NVIDIA graphics driver (270.61) + PowerDVD.

Last question: to connect my PC to my TV I just need cables: DVI to HDMI and... s/pdif for sound? is that right.

my video card only has dvi out.

my sound card has 1 digital out and 3 regular outs.

epete

05-15-11, 05:18 PM

I built the following in January and has been working great on my son's Desk. Very stable.

CPU: Core i3-540 3.06GHz 73W LGA1156
CPU Cooler: Stock cooler.
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-H55N-USB3 LGA1156 Intel H55 chipset Mini-ITX.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ DDR3-1600 CL9 2 x 2GB Kit.
Graphics Card: Intel HD Graphics (integrated in the chipset).
HDD: Seagate Momentus 7200.4 ST9500420AS 500GB SATA 3.0Gbps mobile 7200 RPM.
PSU: Antec FP-150-8 FlexATX 150W PSU (included in the case).
Case: Antec ISK 310-150 Mini-ITX.

I have been using a Dell Zino HD on my Samsung in the family room that has been having many problens with sluggish IR and black screen when turning on TV.

I figured it was time to swap systems and put the one I built on the TV and the Zino on my Son's desk.

The system under the TV is in a cabinet with an opening in the front and back but not the sides. It has only been in for a day and is now having some serious problems. My daughter says it shuts down at the same poing in one of teh Simpsons episodes. I have noticed the PC off which confirms this, but she could not show me the exact spot and I was unable to confiirm. I did notice it would freeze and I would have to CTRL+ALT+DEL and stop media center to get the PC working again.

My son used to watch his shows on Media Center on his desktop all the time and never had problems.

The only SW changes I made were to run the Digital Cable advisor and connect an ATI Digital Cable Wonder. It did say that it failed the HD Test which is strancge as I have also been using it to play BD's with MyMovies and PowerDVD Ultra with no problems.

Could this be a heat / cooling related issue or is this more likelt a SW issue that can be fixed with a fresh install of W7?

I hope it's not heat as I just purchased a Ceton for it which isn't going to help. Anyone have any suggestions on what might be happening based on the HW listed above?

renethx

05-15-11, 09:18 PM

It appears that the ASUS P8P67-M PRO LGA 1155 Intel P67 chipset microATX board, recommended in your guide for a high-end MicroATX system, is out of stock at Newegg. Is there another board that you'd recommend instead? Thanks.
I recommend you to check Google Product Search (http://www.google.com/products?hl=&q=P8P67-M+PRO). There are often many sellers that sells a product cheaper than Newegg. Choose a seller with more than 10,000 good Seller ratings and you should be fine.

Another mb option is a Z68 mb, that features:

- You can use on-chip video and a discrete graphics simultaneously (P67 does not support on-chip video).
- Lucid Virtu: enables Quick Synch without using two displays (P67 disables QS; with H67+discrete graphics, you have to use two displays to use QS).
- Intel Smart Response Technology: use a small SSD as a cache of a larger, slower system drive (3.5" HDD). Well, a fast, small SSD is not that cheap yet (~$110). You'd better go with a SSD (40GB for HTPC, 80GB or more for desktop) as a boot drive.

For example,

- GIGABYTE GA-Z68MX-UD2H-B3 (two PCIe x16 slots works at x16, x0 or x8, x8)
- MSI Z68MA-ED55 (B3) (two PCIe x16 slots works at x16, x4)

renethx

05-15-11, 09:32 PM

Last question: to connect my PC to my TV I just need cables: DVI to HDMI and... s/pdif for sound? is that right.

my video card only has dvi out.

my sound card has 1 digital out and 3 regular outs.
Yes, you are right.

renethx

05-15-11, 09:56 PM

trpltongue

05-16-11, 12:25 PM

I hate to interupt the current conversation, but I was hoping you might have some feedback on a system I'm looking to build.

This is a budget build designed to do 2 things:

1) playback standard def dvd's at 1080p
2) playback fullscreen flash video at 1080p (hulu, nbc, hbo, etc)

This will be connected via spdif to my receiver, and hdmi to my 1080P 2D projector.

Will this system have the resources to get it done?

CPU: Intel i3-2100 SandyBridge
Motherboard: ASRock H67M-ITX
Memory: 2x2GB G.Skill DDR3 1333
Graphics: integrated
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 500GB SATA 6.0GB/s
Case: HEC 7k09BBA30FNRX

I don't really want to upgrade because I love my current setup, but it just can't playback fullscreen flash video at 1080p from hbogo.com or abc, nbc, etc.

Thanks!

charlievoviii

05-16-11, 12:33 PM

trpltongue

05-16-11, 02:23 PM

i dont see why you cant play fullscreen with your setup. I have a I3 370m with Intel HD integgrated graphic laptop and i can run full screen with no issues to any TV or Projector at 1080p.

Sorry for the confusion, I haven't built this setup yet. This is a setup I'm PROPOSING to build. My current setup (which is choking) is vintage 2003 with an ATI 3600 AGP card :)

Also, I can play most 1080p just fine, only problem is flash based video.

epete

05-16-11, 04:29 PM

The power consumption of the system is ~50W at video playback, ~95W at CPU/GPU intensive task (it is very hard to achieve 95W, however). Unless you tightly block the sides of the case, overheating shouldn't happen. Make sure to leave at least a couple of inches of free space at both sides of the case.

It's hard to tell what the cause is. Does the system freeze at the playback of a particular media file or randomly? Clean installing OS and drivers is a good idea.

Renethx

First of all, I love this machine and I am so glad I used your guide. The sides aren't totally blocked, but now that I have ordered a Ceton Tuner, I am going to place the unit out in the open behind the TV. That will elimiate overheating as an issue.

I also ordered an SSD so I will be doing a fresh install in a few days.

So far the problem only happened yesterday on a specific recording. My daughter says it happens at the same spot in the show each time. The machine stayed up all day today.

I think after moving the machine and giving it a fresh OS Install, that will clean it right up.

Am I going to run intio any power issues when the Ceton is installed? If it can peek at 95W, that only leaves me 55W for the Ceton card.

renethx

05-16-11, 08:54 PM

renethx

05-16-11, 08:59 PM

Am I going to run intio any power issues when the Ceton is installed? If it can peek at 95W, that only leaves me 55W for the Ceton card.
Adding the Ceton card should be no problem. The power consumption the card is much lower (~14W (http://www.cetoncorp.com/support_faq.php#faq_195)).

trpltongue

05-17-11, 07:00 AM

Hardware-wise the system is perfectly fine, supporting full hardware acceleration for Flash Player. (If there were a problem, the cause would be something else other than the hardware components of the system. :))

Thanks! Though, with some more reading I think I'm going to hold off until the 2105 is released. Hopefully the 2100 will drop in price, or I'll go ahead and pick up the 2105 for only a few bucks more.

Superman2

05-17-11, 12:18 PM

charlievoviii

05-17-11, 01:25 PM

Hi folks...

Complete newbie here, but here goes.

So i'm looking to build a HTPC that will also handle doing quality movie editing/rendering... I haven't looked thought this thread yet but I picked up the latest Maximum PC issue "How to build the perfect PC" and was going to follow their HTPC build (with a few minor adjustments).

Since this is my first time, would their build be a good option to follow? (if no one has seen the issue, nevermind).

Maximum PC is more for gaming and not what you are looking for, so wrong place to start. This more of a budget HTPC system. If you are looking for something to render video you going to to spent money.

For example my video editing PC which i watch movie once in a while.
Intel i970 6 cores "the more cores the better for video rendering"
16gig of ram
Dual GTX580 SLI "Lots of Cuda is good"

Well tell us what software will use be using for rendering and such, also what's your budget? i will try to piece together a good system for you.

Superman2

05-17-11, 02:28 PM

Maximum PC is more for gaming and not what you are looking for, so wrong place to start. This more of a budget HTPC system. If you are looking for something to render video you going to to spent money.

For example my video editing PC which i watch movie once in a while.
Intel i970 6 cores "the more cores the better for video rendering"
16gig of ram
Dual GTX580 SLI "Lots of Cuda is good"

Well tell us what software will use be using for rendering and such, also what's your budget? i will try to piece together a good system for you.

Thanks man!

I'm probably going to use premiere to edit and stuff... I'm hoping not to go over $1500 tops at the moment, and willing to take my time.

I really just want a nice htpc to hook up to my projector/avr; use as the be all home media hub, and also be able to edit all the movies I've been taking in 720p/1080p...

trpltongue

05-17-11, 03:43 PM

charlievoviii

05-17-11, 03:54 PM

Thanks man!

I'm probably going to use premiere to edit and stuff... I'm hoping not to go over $1500 tops at the moment, and willing to take my time.

I really just want a nice htpc to hook up to my projector/avr; use as the be all home media hub, and also be able to edit all the movies I've been taking in 720p/1080p...

Since you mention Adobe premiere, which that software is optimize for multicores and Cudas. I know this cause I use Adobe premiere, After Effects, etc etc. Most video editing software supports multicores and Cudas. $1500 bucks should build a decent editing computer, not great but decent and absolutely run all your media stuffs no issues. Since HTPC dont need lots of power. ;)

charlievoviii

05-17-11, 03:56 PM

Quick reality check.

On the recommended systems, will I be able to get audio out of the spdif connector? I know most people are bitstreaming audio via hdmi, but I plan on using optical audio to my receiver for my movies, and web delivered content (youtube, hulu, nbc, etc). The guide shows a big fat X for DDL or DTSI on all the recommended systems.

Does this mean that there will be no sound through the optical audio port?

Thanks!

lol. If it have optical/spdif Toslink out put than it work. Most pc or even built on soundcard have this output. If you are using a microATX motherboard, double check cause sometime they dont come with one.

trpltongue

05-17-11, 04:24 PM

lol. If it have optical/spdif Toslink out put than it work. Most pc or even built on soundcard have this output. If you are using a microATX motherboard, double check cause sometime they dont come with one.

I recall that a while back, the only way you could get system audio from the spdif connector was if you had Dolby Digital live. Normal SPDIF would output compressed dolby digital (i.e. bitstreamed from a movie), but not uncompressed multichannel (i.e. surround sound from abc.com or hulu) from the system. Windows sounds, etc. wouldn't be sent through SPDIF.

Dolby Digital Live encoded these sounds into a Dolby Digital bitstream and then the receiver would decode them.

I just want to make sure that when I hook up the SPDIF connector from the motherboard to my receiver that I will get all windows sounds, website sounds, movie bitstreams, etc.

charlievoviii

05-17-11, 04:38 PM

I recall that a while back, the only way you could get system audio from the spdif connector was if you had Dolby Digital live. Normal SPDIF would output compressed dolby digital (i.e. bitstreamed from a movie), but not uncompressed multichannel (i.e. surround sound from abc.com or hulu) from the system. Windows sounds, etc. wouldn't be sent through SPDIF.

Dolby Digital Live encoded these sounds into a Dolby Digital bitstream and then the receiver would decode them.

I just want to make sure that when I hook up the SPDIF connector from the motherboard to my receiver that I will get all windows sounds, website sounds, movie bitstreams, etc.

Optical out is digital, I have my PC optical toslink to my receiver everything work perfectly, either if it s movie or windows stuffs or internet videos. My receiver even detect a specific encoding too like DTS or Dolby digital, etc etc. So I dont know where you get the idea of of the optical/spdif wont play windows sounds except movie. ;)

trpltongue

05-17-11, 05:47 PM

charlievoviii

05-17-11, 08:08 PM

What motherboard are you using?

This post on Tom's Hardware had me confused.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/278736-28-sound-spdif

I've only ever had motherboards with DDlive so I'm not sure what to expect with a non DDL motherboard.

lol those people are noobs. They didn't set the windows sound setting correctly. Simple things and yet its so hard for some people. Also you got retards giving advices, the internet can help you or it can't give you wrong info. Anyway for my HTPC i have a old motherboard and cpu on the PC i built way back, which is Evga 680SLI and Intel e6850, OLD SCHOOL . All i did was bought a Silverstone HTPC case and 8TB worth of hard drives.

BTW "Dolby Digital Live" is more for games. You you got it all wrong on the info what it does.

trpltongue

05-17-11, 08:30 PM

lol those people are noobs. They didn't set the windows sound setting correctly. Simple things and yet its so hard for some people. Also you got retards giving advices, the internet can help you or it can't give you wrong info. Anyway for my HTPC i have a old motherboard and cpu on the PC i built way back, which is Evga 680SLI and Intel e6850, OLD SCHOOL . All i did was bought a Silverstone HTPC case and 8TB worth of hard drives.

BTW "Dolby Digital Live" is more for games. You you got it all wrong on the info what it does.

Thanks for the info! It's tough to find a straight answer on what the capabilities are.

On looking though, your motherboard does have Dolby Digital Live encoding on it though doesn't it? I have an nforce board with DDL and I just don't know what a non DDL motherboard will do.

renethx

05-17-11, 09:12 PM

DDL/DTSI is a real-time DD/DTS encoding technology. This is mainly used to get surround sounds from games via S/PDIF. (Games produce multichannel LPCM, but there is no way to send it over S/PDIF without first converting it to DD or DTS.) Actually DDL comes as a part of Dolby Home Theater (http://www.dolby.com/consumer/understand/pc/dolby-home-theater-v4.html) in GIGABYTE mbs, that supports more. I am not sure if they are really useful.

Almost every movie (BD/DVD) has DD or DTS audio track (in addition to HD audio). So you won't need DDL/DTSI.

trpltongue

05-17-11, 09:24 PM

renethx,

Thanks for clearing that up a bit. I'm still curious about online videos though? Things like hulu, hbogo.com, abc, youtube, etc. and the general windows sounds. I'm assuming that these online videos have surround sound (perhaps incorrectly) and I doubt that it's encoded in DD.

renethx

05-17-11, 10:18 PM

Perhaps audio from Internet streaming contents is either stereo or Dolby Digital (Plus?). So S/PDIF supports them fine.

charlievoviii

05-18-11, 02:42 AM

Perhaps audio from Internet streaming contents is either stereo or Dolby Digital (Plus?). So S/PDIF supports them fine.

yep, my stuff works perfectly. I use S/pdif toslink from my htpc to my receiver and never have sound issues.

charlievoviii

05-18-11, 02:48 AM

Thanks for the info! It's tough to find a straight answer on what the capabilities are.

On looking though, your motherboard does have Dolby Digital Live encoding on it though doesn't it? I have an nforce board with DDL and I just don't know what a non DDL motherboard will do.

i don't think so. Its a onboard REALtek sound chip. If you feel any better my laptop have some cheap onboard soundcard with also spdif toslink out and it works no issues. Like is said, digital is digital. So doesn't matter what you sent to your receiver, it should detect it no issues.

The only time really you need a sound card is if you want the better or best analog sound. But that is not an issues here since you are sending Digital signal "S/PDIF to a receiver, so the receiver doing the work and output to your speakers. Onboard sound chips need to use CPU cycles to process sound, but very little load is put on the CPU.

trpltongue

05-18-11, 07:08 AM

Charlievoviii and renethx,

Thanks so much for the help! I'm looking forward to watching video with no tearing and stuttering :)

charlievoviii

05-18-11, 07:35 AM

Charlievoviii and renethx,

Thanks so much for the help! I'm looking forward to watching video with no tearing and stuttering :)

Np, this is why this community is great. BTW my wife originally from Southwest Houston, TX Sugarland area. Hers family still there. I'm from Los Angeles, CA.

joeydrunk

05-18-11, 07:47 AM

yep, my stuff works perfectly. I use S/pdif toslink from my htpc to my receiver and never have sound issues.

Except for no hd audio:)

charlievoviii

05-18-11, 08:30 AM

Except for no hd audio:)

be more specific please, what do you mean by HD audio ? As far as I know the only thing you can't do is sent TrueHD or DTS-MA ;)

joeydrunk

05-18-11, 08:44 AM

be more specific please, what do you mean by HD audio ? As far as I know the only thing you can't do is sent TrueHD or DTS-MA ;)

Yes, that's what I mean.

charlievoviii

05-18-11, 09:00 AM

Yes, that's what I mean.

Well saying it can't play HD is total difference than saying it can't play TrueHD. ;)

whiteboy714

05-18-11, 09:06 AM

Well saying it can't play HD is total difference than saying it can't play TrueHD. ;)

Thats whay its called, HD audio. It also can only do 2 channel lpcm. No 5.1 when it comes to lpcm.

Superman2

05-18-11, 09:54 AM

renethx

05-18-11, 09:57 AM

I haven't seen the issue.

stl drifter

05-18-11, 10:36 AM

Do anybody what are the differences between the h61 and h67 motherboards ?

renethx

05-18-11, 11:06 AM

Comparison. (http://www.anandtech.com/show/4241/h67-a-triumvirate-of-tantalizing-technology)

lilalotus

05-18-11, 12:20 PM

What is the problem with my new built,Asrock H61 M and i3-2100 using PowerDVD 9.When playing Blu ray disc physical or ISO,it playing fine with VC1 but with MPEG 4 it just shows green or grey on screen,sound is OK.Anybody help is appriciated.Thanks

renethx

05-18-11, 12:23 PM

Have you installed Intel Management Engine Interface (MEI) driver? You can find it in the installation CD-ROM.

lilalotus

05-18-11, 01:29 PM

Yes I did and i try to reinstall but it do not help.Bitstream work perfectly.It is beyond me now, any other suggestions? I am with Win7 64.

joeydrunk

05-18-11, 01:52 PM

Hey Rene, did you ever use a btx mobo for htpc? I don't know why they didn't catch on but it seems like it would be a perfect form factor for htpc use to keep cool and quiet.

sevendustweb

05-18-11, 05:39 PM

renethx

05-18-11, 08:09 PM

Yes I did and i try to reinstall but it do not help.Bitstream work perfectly.It is beyond me now, any other suggestions? I am with Win7 64.
Does this happen only with PowerDVD? For example, try MPC HomeCinema (with AnyDVD HD).

renethx

05-18-11, 08:11 PM

Hey Rene, did you ever use a btx mobo for htpc? I don't know why they didn't catch on but it seems like it would be a perfect form factor for htpc use to keep cool and quiet.
BTX is a dead form factor. It was designed for power-hungry Pentium 4 processors. Even Intel hasn't released BTX mb since Core processor.

renethx

05-18-11, 08:22 PM

Hello:

I was reading the most recent updates to the guide and noticed that there has been a shift away from using the SUPERMICRO AOC-SAT2-MV8 64-bit PCI-X133MHz SATA Controller Card in a server.

I will admit, I feel tech-savvy, but I have no idea what is going on with port multiplying. Is there a better option than the SuperMicro cards?

Please educate me.

Thanks!
Simply PM is not cost-effective and its performance is not good. A 5-port PM is $74 (normal one [$62] + a PCIe x1 PM-aware card [$24/2 = $12])-$90 (hardware PM). For 15 HDDs, 3 x $72 = $222 or 3 x $90 = $270. You can buy 2 x AOC-SASLP-MV8 PCIe x4 card for $210.

joeydrunk

05-18-11, 08:35 PM

BTX is a dead form factor. It was designed for power-hungry Pentium 4 processors. Even Intel hasn't released BTX mb since Core processor.

Im well aware its dead, that's why I asked if you ever used one in the past. I was just curious if you had ever used one to build a htpc. They were still going heavy as of 2009.Like I said I'm surprised they didn't catch on because their positioning of components on the mobo were optimal inflow and low.heat wich is perfect for htpc use.

renethx

05-18-11, 08:40 PM

joeydrunk

05-18-11, 08:48 PM

No, I have never used P4 for HTPC.

Dead = *Zero* BTX mb for the current processors (or even for the 1st Gen Core processors) and rare BTX cases available today. Building a BTX PC today does not make sense.

Lol. I know they are dead. Past=*long time ago*. I know they don't make them now or havent for awhile and I know they don't make them for current processors. I also know it dosn't make sense building one for a pc today. That's why I asked you if you had made one in the past. I was curious to see if you had and what you thought about the form factor when you did.

joeydrunk

05-18-11, 08:55 PM

I was doing some research for my class and come across these old mobos. It struck me odd they never caught on and dwindled out so quick. It also struck me they would be perfect for a htpc. I thought I would pick your brain about them because you seem to know a but about this stuff and have been doing it for some time. I thought you might have been making htpc while the btx were being made and possibly used one in a build. I asked to gain some knowledge from someone who I thought there being a good chance that you had used one, that's all.

renethx

05-18-11, 08:56 PM

Intel engineers must have made a great effort to cope with massive heat from P4. :D

joeydrunk

05-18-11, 08:57 PM

Intel engineers must have made a great effort to cope with massive heat from P4. :D

Lol, Yeah I know huh. That form factor would be much more viable today.

lilalotus

05-18-11, 11:07 PM

I have try everything that i could think of,even reinstall OS.With PowerDVD 9,if i use the lastest pach 3901,it refuse to play saying error "there is a disc with an unsupported format in drive...". So, only the patch before ,2528 ,can play MPEG 2 ,VC1 except MPEG 4 AVC which display green or gray screen while bitstream audio fine.
I also tried playing with MPC-HC using either ffdshow or Microsoft audio decoder but all failed.
I try using my 5670 card everything work perfectly.So,i don't know .ASRock H61 and i3-2100 should be enough for my HTPC that i want to be,less heat and noise.Anything wrong with the board or CPU? Any suggestion ,please.

renethx

05-18-11, 11:30 PM

ASRock H61M/U3S3 + Core i3-2100 supports H.264 playback just fine with the latest Intel graphics driver + Microsoft DTV-DVD Video Decoder/CyberLink Video Decoder/ArcSoft Video Decoder. I tested numerously. Make sure to install:

- Clean install Windows 7 SP1 with all patches
- The latest Intel drivers (Graphics Driver, Chipset Device Software, Management Engine Interface [MEI] Driver, Rapid Storage Technology Driver)
- directx_Jun2010_redist (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=3b170b25-abab-4bc3-ae91-50ceb6d8fa8d)
- vc2005redist_x86 (may not be necessary)
- vc2008redist_x86 (may not be necessary)
- vcredist_x86 (necessary to use MPC HomeCinema)
- Media Player Classic HomeCinema (x86), 1.5.2.3114, MSVC2010 , BE Mod, With installer (http://www.xvidvideo.ru/media-player-classic-home-cinema-x86-x64/media-player-classic-homecinema-x86-x64-1-5-2-3114.html)
- Add Microsoft DTV-DVD Video Decoder in View menu > Options > External Filters and set it to "Prefer"

and play a H.264 file (for a BD movie, File > Open DVD; AnyDVD HD must be running). If the problem persists, then your CPU or mb may be defective.

BTW does the problem occur with all H.264 movies?

epete

05-19-11, 09:39 AM

CPU: Core i3-540 3.06GHz 73W LGA1156
CPU Cooler: Stock cooler.
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-H55N-USB3 LGA1156 Intel H55 chipset Mini-ITX.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ DDR3-1600 CL9 2 x 2GB Kit.
Graphics Card: Intel HD Graphics (integrated in the chipset).
HDD: Seagate Momentus 7200.4 ST9500420AS 500GB SATA 3.0Gbps mobile 7200 RPM.
PSU: Antec FP-150-8 FlexATX 150W PSU (included in the case).
Case: Antec ISK 310-150 Mini-ITX.

OK I think my shut down problem is heat related. There really isn't much room on either side of the PC. I will mocve it behind the TV in the open to see if that resolves the shut down issue.

I purchased an SSD and connected it into the SATA prot that the origional HDD was on and moved the HDD over to the second SATA port. It still boots on the HDD and the SDD is not recognized. I looked at the BIOS to see if there is a place to enable teh SATA ports to see if that was the issue but everything looks enabled. The Gigabyte manual does not say much on HDD connections sio I assume it should autamatically find this.

Uh oh, Ceton Card CableCARD Slot is too high and not enough clearance to insert the CableCard due to the hinge that holds the tuner card in place. Should I try and cut the hing off or look for a new case? Also the RF Connector is too close to the edge and I cannot connect the dongle. That could be fixed by filing the rear of the case a slight bit.

Suggestions??

renethx

05-19-11, 09:59 AM

joeydrunk

05-19-11, 10:04 AM

renethx

05-19-11, 10:22 AM

IDE is the legacy interface for parallel ATA devices (supports serial ATA too). In general SSD runs faster in AHCI mode than IDE mode. AHCI vs IDE for SandForce SF-1200 controller is here (http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=505&Itemid=38&limit=1&limitstart=10).

epete

05-19-11, 11:56 AM

If you are going to clean install Windows in the new SSD, you shouldn't attach the original HDD until installation finishes. Did you set the SATA port to AHCI? A successful example (http://experts.windows.com/frms/windows_entertainment_and_connected_home/f/115/p/92633/479057.aspx#479057).

I didn't have AHCI enabled. I just enabled and upon reboot, the W7 Install saw the SDD so I proceeded without removing the HDD. Hopefully that won't cause any Problems.

Thanks for the link to the person who installed a Ceton with the same cofig that I have. I will work that after I finish teh W7 Install.

---
Update - I added my comments to how I was able to install the Ceton in the Antec ISK 310-150 case on the green button thread you referred me to. It is now installed and fuctioning. (that is until CableVision realizes the CableCARD is not paired).

H8nXTC

05-19-11, 02:58 PM

Posted this in another thread, but since Rene has it recommended in his guide I'll post it here too. Micro Center has the Cooler Master Vortex Plus on sale for $19.99.

charlievoviii

05-20-11, 08:26 AM

Have you installed Intel Management Engine Interface (MEI) driver? You can find it in the installation CD-ROM.
+1 you can also download it online;)

joeydrunk

05-20-11, 10:11 AM

What do you think is the best idea for a direct connect storage device that holds 10-20 hdd's? Probably closer to 15 since I want it in my AV gear rack. It would have to be as quiet as possible since it would be in my living room though. I would definitly spend as much as needed on that aspect to try and achieve those results. I also have 1 SATA port in my mobo left and one pci slot I believe(not sure wich size, id have to check) Also have external USB 3.0 and firewire. Any other info you need from me let me know.

renethx

05-20-11, 11:44 AM

dbone1026

05-20-11, 12:11 PM

If you mb has a PCIe 2.0 x4 (or higher) slot, you can use RocketRAID 644 (http://www.highpoint-tech.com/USA_new/series_rr600.htm) + 4 x PM (up to 20 HDDs). A PCIe 1.0 version is RocketRAID 2314.

Keep in mind joeydrunk, this route will require you to have 4 enclosures hanging off your PC (so add in 4 power adapters plus sufficient space). Also, your definition of "silent" may vary as you would have 15-20 hdds spinning, as well as fans to help keep cool. My WHS holds 16 HDDs and although I have swapped out some of the case fans to help with the noise it is definitely not something I would want in a tv viewing room (I keep mine in my office)

renethx

05-20-11, 12:27 PM

I keep in mind a 15-20 bay 4U case (such as Norco RPC-450B) with 3-4 PMs (http://www.addonics.com/products/pm/) and a PSU (modded as in the front page) and no mb. :) If you use "hardware" PM, any SATA/eSATA ports (PM-aware or not) are enough. Addonics is selling a similar case as shown here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14239742#DAS), but it is pricey.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=127321&d=1229843353

joeydrunk

05-20-11, 12:53 PM

Keep in mind joeydrunk, this route will require you to have 4 enclosures hanging off your PC (so add in 4 power adapters plus sufficient space). Also, your definition of "silent" may vary as you would have 15-20 hdds spinning, as well as fans to help keep cool. My WHS holds 16 HDDs and although I have swapped out some of the case fans to help with the noise it is definitely not something I would want in a tv viewing room (I keep mine in my office)

Thanks, yeah Ive thought about all that. I have 8 hdds right now in my htpc case and its near silent. So I think between a good case, quiet fans and hdds I should be fine. If not il have to figure out something else.

joeydrunk

05-20-11, 12:55 PM

I keep in mind a 15-20 bay 4U case (such as Norco RPC-450B) with 3-4 PMs (http://www.addonics.com/products/pm/) and a PSU (modded as in the front page) and no mb. :) If you use "hardware" PM, any SATA/eSATA ports (PM-aware or not) are enough. Addonics is selling a similar case as shown here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14239742#DAS), but it is pricey.

What do you know about acustical materials inside the case to reduce the noise, padding and such?

jplee3

05-20-11, 03:56 PM

Hey guys,

I have a pretty powerful desktop setup that I don't utilize to the potential and am wanting to convert it to an HTPC setup. I'm not quite sure yet if this is going to be a 24x7 machine or not but...

Here are the specs:

Case: Antec Sonata II
CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 630
Mobo: Asus M4A785TD-M (mATX)
RAM: 4gb DDR3
Media: LG DVD Burner
HD: 1x 250gb
Other: 3ware 9650se in RAID5 w/ 4x 500gb drives (1tb of storage)

I want to ditch the case and obviously the RAID array (maybe keep one or two HDs... or all for future use) and dump everything else into a nice HTPC case and swap it out with the Dell Zino that I currently use.

My only concerns would be power consumption and heat. I measured this thing idles at around 60-70 watts currently. The Zino uses no more than 50watts idling. The only reason I'd leave it on 24x7 is because I've been running a VM VPN server on the Zino. I may have to reconsider where I place my VPN though if I change the HTPC setup. The other option is to get down to a CPU with lower TDP. The 630 is rated at 95watts...

Obviously, power consumption will be a result of my main components, but heat and airflow is the next consideration and would be directly affected by the case I invest in.

I've seen a lot of good things about the Antec NSK2480 and Fusion. Those seem to be at a decent price range, although it seems the prices on the NSK2480 have almost doubled since 2007-2008. I guess there's a huge demand for these and little supply or something? I've also looked at the nMedia 5000b and Silverstone GD05B.

It would be nice to have a little LCD display with IR so I can use a remote. But I am willing to temporarily forgo this and add on later. Which is why the NSK2480 appeals the most (2x 5.25" bays so I could add a VFD or LCD later on) in addition to the efficient airflow factor.

Any suggestions or advice though?

lilalotus

05-20-11, 04:04 PM

ASRock H61M + i3-2100 work perfectly now after i follow your instructions to re install everything. My powerdvd 9 will not play mpeg 4 files until the lastest suggested update patch 4501 that i never see it before. Thank you very much for verifying the board and cpu alive .All of that work perfectly outside WMC.When playing disc ,real or ISO , inside wmc with/without MB i got error"There is a disc with an supported format in drive..." I try looking everywhere to fix that but none so far.I install TMT 5 (Trial version) to test .It works perfectly in or ouside WMC.I again put in my 5670 card using latest amd driver playing ISO from MB , i got the same error mesage above , until back to patch 2528 , Powerdvd 9 works corectly.I just want to report back after i got your help . Many thanks.

marswill

05-20-11, 05:54 PM

What do you know about acustical materials inside the case to reduce the noise, padding and such?

I'm using the following: AcoustiPack Ultimate PC Soundproofing Kit (APU)
Which can be found here:
http://www.quietpcusa.com/AcoustiPack-ULTIMATE-PC-Soundproofing-Kit--P439C4.aspx?gclid=CKv71cPP96gCFQUGbAodbR0sUQ

It seems to be quit effective in reducing noise.

joeydrunk

05-20-11, 06:00 PM

I'm using the following: AcoustiPack Ultimate PC Soundproofing Kit (APU)
Which can be found here:
http://www.quietpcusa.com/AcoustiPack-ULTIMATE-PC-Soundproofing-Kit--P439C4.aspx?gclid=CKv71cPP96gCFQUGbAodbR0sUQ

It seems to be quit effective in reducing noise.

Awesome, thanks. What do you have in your system that you use this for? Also how far away from it are you. Did you add it from the beggining or after the fact, so you could tell a before and after difference? It's pretty effective, huh?

marswill

05-20-11, 08:51 PM

renethx

05-20-11, 09:01 PM

whiteboy714

05-20-11, 10:45 PM

marswill

05-21-11, 12:10 AM

It's not a bad deal if you get the CPU for free like I did. :-)

renethx

05-21-11, 12:45 AM

because I would like to incorporate Pentium (low-end Sandy Bridge) processors released on May 22 in the May issue rather than in the June issue. I am sorry for the delay.

whiteboy714

05-21-11, 12:09 PM

Rene do you know if there is an official release date for bulldozer or is it still just rumors.

renethx

05-21-11, 01:08 PM

Basically this slide (http://vr-zone.com/articles/report-amd-to-announce-a-series-fx-series-in-june/12037.html) is the source of various information found in the Internet.

whiteboy714

05-21-11, 02:38 PM

thanks

weaseltoff

05-21-11, 04:44 PM

ilovejedd

05-21-11, 05:51 PM

I'm looking to build a mini-ITX based HTPC that can do console emulation (2D & 3D) in addition to the normal video/audio playback type stuff. Besides emulation, I'm probably not going to be playing PC games on it.

Which of the mini-ITX builds do you recommend for this?

Would I need a discrete graphics card or would a Sandy Bridge be enough?

Can I use the Antec ISK 310-150? I really like this case and would like to use that if possible, but I'm not sure if it provides enough space and power for the equipment I would need.
I recommend getting a discrete graphics card. Heck, even integrated graphics would probably be fine for older emulators as long as it's not Intel. Intel has pretty poor OpenGL support and Direct3D and software GPU plug-ins for PSX emulators look like crap under Windows 7 (they changed the rendering somehow so filtering doesn't work properly).

The Antec ISK 310-150 can work fine. I have an Intel DH57JG+i5-650+GT 430 inside the same case and it works pretty awesome for ePSXe. Unfortunately, PCSX2 has higher requirements. The GT 430 can barely do native in some games so if you're wanting PCSX2 emulation, I suggest going for the Mid-Range Intel Gaming Mini-ITX System (with Sugo SG-05 and GTX 460). Just swap the H57+i3-540 for H67+i3-2100.

weaseltoff

05-21-11, 07:07 PM

I recommend getting a discrete graphics card. Heck, even integrated graphics would probably be fine for older emulators as long as it's not Intel. Intel has pretty poor OpenGL support and Direct3D and software GPU plug-ins for PSX emulators look like crap under Windows 7 (they changed the rendering somehow so filtering doesn't work properly).

The Antec ISK 310-150 can work fine. I have an Intel DH57JG+i5-650+GT 430 inside the same case and it works pretty awesome for ePSXe. Unfortunately, PCSX2 has higher requirements. The GT 430 can barely do native in some games so if you're wanting PCSX2 emulation, I suggest going for the Mid-Range Intel Gaming Mini-ITX System (with Sugo SG-05 and GTX 460). Just swap the H57+i3-540 for H67+i3-2100.

Can you do 1080P full quality PSX and N64 emulation on your system? It sounds like you're saying that Sandy Bridge IG should be sufficient for pre-PS2/Xbox/Dreamcast emulation but that a discrete GPU is needed for last gen console emulation?

Does anyone know if there is a more powerful than the GT 430 low profile graphics card (ATI or Nvidia) that will fit into the ISK 310-150? Or is a regular height/length card and a bigger case to hold it (like SG05) the only next logical step?

joeydrunk

05-21-11, 10:18 PM

jplee3

05-21-11, 10:44 PM

Yes, NSK2480 is a good choice, in particular because of good airflow and two 5.25" bays.

By going with a "e" processor, you could reduce power consumption at idle by 10-15W. If you can wait, Llano is available in July. The performance is more or less the same as the current X4 processor, but it integrates a Radon HD 5xxx GPU and the power consumption should be significantly lower (32 nm process + better design). Of course Intel Sandy Bridge is another choice.

Wow, that's crazy. I'm assuming Llano would require a proprietary motherboard? I haven't read up much on Sandy Bridge but that also sounds enticing in terms of combining CPUs/GPUs. I'm so behind on the times... :(

I wish the NSK2480 was the price it was a couple years ago...

renethx

05-21-11, 10:55 PM

I mean sell your mb (Socket AM3) and buy a new one (Socket FM1). :)

jplee3

05-22-11, 01:27 AM

I mean sell your mb (Socket AM3) and buy a new one (Socket FM1). :)

Any ideas on what the price point will be? I'm also trying to keep a relatively low budget in mind :)

renethx

05-22-11, 01:35 AM

Llano APU's price:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=212541&stc=1&d=1305944777

The mb price should be normal ($50-$200).

epete

05-22-11, 07:36 PM

Thanks for the recent support. Just updated my 4 month subscription to support this thread.

joeydrunk

05-22-11, 11:28 PM

Rene, I'm hoping you can help me. I've started a thread for XBMC and WMC/Mediabrowser plugins, related htpc apps and links to websites that contain guides and tutorials for the above. I would be greatly appreciative if you could post any you yourself know and help by spreading the word around your thread and the community. Thank-you. Your help is appreciated always.http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1336631

I guess that's a no, huh?

Anyway, if anyone's interested there is already a ton of great, useful tools, apps, links and plugins. Thanks to RayL JR and his old sticky "killer apps for your htpc" it is now merged with my new thread. I will expand and modernize it. Some apps are dead and abandoned but a lot still work and I will eventually remove, organize, and add new ones to make it a complete, organized, thorough list for everyone. Feel free to add any of your htpc apps, plugins, addons and the like. With everybody's help we can make this into a sticky again!

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1336691

efotonik

05-23-11, 07:48 AM

I have the following HTPC:
Silverstone CW02B-MXR Case
Asus P6X58D Premium MotherBoard
Intel i7 975 CPU
Zalman CNPS9500A LED Copper CPU Cooler
Patriot PVT36G1333LLK 6GB DDR3 1333MH memory
Sapphire Radeon HD 5850 Graphics
Ceton InfiniTV4 QAM/ATSC Tuner Card
Western Digital WD15EVDS 1.5TB DVR HDD
LG WH10LS30 Blu-ray Writer
Seasonic X750 750 Watt, 90% efficiency PSU
Nexus DF1209SL-3 90mm Fan, 2 each
Coolink SWiF2-120P 120mm PWM Fan

I tried the system without the sound control and noticed a significant improvement with the addition of the AcoustiPack Ultimate PC Soundproofing Kit

How did you find the CW02 case? I'm been trying to decide if it is worth the added cost compared to some of its more cost-effective brethren. Exterior looks aside; was the build inside easy/intuitive? Ample space for everything? Good cable routing?
Ultimately - Are you pleased with the purchase for more than just aesthetics?

$1000 cpu in an htpc. lol nice. Not that I think its worth any where near that but its still funny none the less.

I see where you're coming from under the "normal" idea of a HTPC. I'm going to end up in the $800-ish range for mine I think.
It's pulling dbl-duty though; main computer for all household activities, HTPC, photo-editor, some gaming, etc. It's a jack-of-all-trades box but since I live in a condo I'd rather do that then have a second system around, you know? :cool:

marswill

05-23-11, 08:40 AM

whiteboy714

05-23-11, 08:47 AM

How did you find the CW02 case? I'm been trying to decide if it is worth the added cost compared to some of its more cost-effective brethren. Exterior looks aside; was the build inside easy/intuitive? Ample space for everything? Good cable routing?
Ultimately - Are you pleased with the purchase for more than just aesthetics?

I see where you're coming from under the "normal" idea of a HTPC. I'm going to end up in the $800-ish range for mine I think.
It's pulling dbl-duty though; main computer for all household activities, HTPC, photo-editor, some gaming, etc. It's a jack-of-all-trades box but since I live in a condo I'd rather do that then have a second system around, you know? :cool:
No I totally understand, I did that for a long time. I think I was more laughing at that "extreme" chip, that is only a quad but going for 1k. Intel is funny with the pricing on these chips.

ncarty97

05-23-11, 08:54 AM

Any ETA on the May update? If I'm going to pay for it, I'd rather not pay for the April one and then see the May one come out the next day! And I need to make a purchase this week for some upgrades. Thanks!

renethx

05-23-11, 09:43 AM

I guess that's a no, huh?
I am sorry for my indifference. :) Honestly I don't know what you want to do. For me the ex-sticky is terribly outdated and not so well organized. If you want to start a "NEW Free killer apps for your HTPC" thread, then I recommend you to

- check each utility and make sure it works under Windows 7.
- add new utilities.
- classify utilities in a more usable way (the classification in the ex-sticky is too crude).
- don't forget to use BBCode (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/misc.php?do=bbcode) systematically. In particular avoid writing URL directly.
- add a table of contents (far much easier to navigate with TOC; use [JUMPTO] and [ANAME]).

Yeah, it's time consuming, but that's the destiny of a sticky. :)

renethx

05-23-11, 09:48 AM

joeydrunk

05-23-11, 09:51 AM

I am sorry for my indifference. :) Honestly I don't know what you want to do. For me the ex-sticky is terribly outdated and not so well organized. If you want to start a "NEW Free killer apps for your HTPC" thread, then I recommend you to

- check each utility and make sure it works under Windows 7.
- add new utilities.
- classify utilities in a more usable way (the classification in the ex-sticky is too crude).
- don't forget to use BBCode (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/misc.php?do=bbcode) systematically. In particular avoid writing URL directly.
- add a table of contents (far much easier to navigate with TOC).

Yeah, it's time consuming, but that's the destiny of a sticky. :)

Yes im already in the process of all that, Ive been in contact with the moderator and original thread starter. I plan on organizing, deleting old links, apps and such and I'm going to go thru each entry and update it. I have the entire original list emailed from the thread starter. I'm going to expand on it greatly and add a link to every conceivable app, add-on, script, plugin, etc.

I was just hoping you might want to contribute to the thread yourself and help spread the word. A lot of people in here look to you for council and advice. It's going to take a community interest to get this built into a sticky. When this is fine I believe it will be the single best place to go period to get information in and directed to all htpc/media center software.

efotonik

05-23-11, 10:26 AM

I really like the CW02 case. It has a lot of room for almost anything you might want to install now or in the future. It also has excellent cooling and it's built like a battle ship. Nothing cheap about it. I also chose it as I wanted a full size case that wasn't too wide so that it would match my other equipment. Depth wasn't a problem.

Yeah, I would never have purchased the i7 975 at the going rate for the HTPC but when it's given to you, you build a system around it. My main computer has an i7 980X which was also given to me.

Thanks for the feedback on the CW02....don't see too many of them and for the price I want to make sure it's offering what I'm looking for :D
Sent you a PM too.

No I totally understand, I did that for a long time. I think I was more laughing at that "extreme" chip, that is only a quad but going for 1k. Intel is funny with the pricing on these chips.

Ha, missed that. I thought you were talking total price but I see now :o

ncarty97

05-23-11, 12:10 PM

Around 25. I will announce it here.

Thanks!

NightowlKY

05-23-11, 03:56 PM

There's no reason to wait for an Intel Z68 chipset m/b, right? I really don't plan on o/c and that seems to be the main benefit.

renethx

05-23-11, 09:39 PM

There are three benefits:

- OC + IGP
- Intel Smart Response Technology (add a small SSD as a cache and improve system responsiveness). Well, a small SSD good for this purpose is still ~$100. Not so good right now.
- Lucid Virtu (you can use Quick Sync without connecting a display to IGP when you use a discrete graphics)

A Z68 mb is not terribly expensive (a low as $115, ASRock Z68 Pro3-M). So if you are going to buy a H67 mb > $100, Z68 can be an option. If you don't want to spend more than $100, H61/H67 is the only choice.

rogo

05-24-11, 12:44 AM

Llano APU's price:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=212541&stc=1&d=1305944777

The mb price should be normal ($50-$200).

So the A6-3450 is $20 cheaper than the P model, uses 35w less and has identical specs otherwise? Very confusing as that seems like the perfect choice of chip.

ilovejedd

05-24-11, 12:51 AM

So the A6-3450 is $20 cheaper than the P model, uses 35w less and has identical specs otherwise? Very confusing as that seems like the perfect choice of chip.
It's quite possible the P version may be akin to Black Edition processors. There are also rumors that P versions can reach higher Turbo frequencies.

renethx

05-24-11, 06:29 AM

Summary

IGP of Pentium SNB Processor is called Intel HD Graphics. This is identical with Intel HD Graphics 2000 of Core i3/i5/i7 except for the three points mentioned below. In particular, it supports:

- HD audio bitstreaming
- AVC, VC-1, MPEG-2 and MVC (BR 3D codec) full hardware decode acceleration
- Almost all video post-processing tasks of Intel Clear Video Technology (see below what are missing)

However it does not support:

- HDMI 1.4a 3D video format (Frame Packing)
- Quick Sync
- A couple of Intel Clear Video Technology features: "Total Color Correction", "Skin Tone Correction", "Adaptive Contrast Enhancement".

If you don't mind these features, Pentium SNB processors, in particular G840 and G620, are highly recommended. Personally I don't see a reason to choose Core i3 over Pentium for pure 2D video playback.

As for stereoscopic 3D, it supports Side by Side, Top and Bottom, Checkerboard, and Interleaved 3D formats via CyberLink PowerDVD and ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre. So if your 3D display does not support Frame Packing, Pentium SNB is a good choice. However 2D-3D conversion require some CPU power and perhaps you will be more comfortable with Core i3.

Test Configuration and Results

Pentium G840 2.8GHz + ASRock H61M/U3S3 + DDR3-1333 2 x 2GB.

****************

TrueHD/DTS-HD MA/DD+/DTS-HD HRA bistreaming: All supported (under PowerDVD 10/11, TMT 3/5, ffdshow Audio Decoder [no DD+], LAV Audio Decoder).

AVC, VC-1, MPEG-2 hardware decode acceleration: All supported. If you don't use DXVA, the processor is still fast enough (25-45% CPU usage).

1080p60 AVC Video Playback: Just perfect. Basketball clip (http://www.mediafire.com/?ik1dymmmmkg) with LAV Splitter + Microsoft DTV/DVD Video Decoder + EVR Custom Presenter:

- Drawn: 4941 frames
- Dropped: 2 frames (occurred only at start up)

HD Deinterlacing: Better than AMD's Motion Adaptive. The lines in the orange tubnails of the ticker are jaggy in Cheese Slices (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1157287) with Microsoft DTV-DVD Video Decoder + EVR CP:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=212801&stc=1&d=1306220328

Other Intel Clear Video Technology features: See yourself (all sliders are perfectly functional; what else should I check?):

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=212797&stc=1&d=1306220328

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=212798&stc=1&d=1306220328

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=212799&stc=1&d=1306220328

BR 3D (MVC decode acceleration) under PowerDVD 11: Supported (CPU usage is ~20% when HA is on, ~80% when HA is off).

HDMI 1.4a 3D video format (i.e. Frame Packing): Not supported. All the other 3D video formats (except for 720p 120Hz alternate frame sequencing format) are supported fine.

2D -> 3D conversion under PowerDVD 11: No problem:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=212796&stc=1&d=1306219848

The performance of Pentium SNB is better than Core 2 Duo, CPU usage of E8400 3.0GHz in this task is ~80%!

How about G620 2.6GHz? Take a look at the post 2D to 3D conversion by G620 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=20480311#post20480311). If you are interested in this task, perhaps you will be more comfortable with G840 or higher. Personally I would choose Core i3-2100 for 2D-3D conversion.

joeydrunk

05-24-11, 07:05 AM

My first impression: Pentium, in particular G620 2.6GHz and G620T 2.2GHz (the latter is not fast enough for 2D-3D conversion), is good enough for pure video playback. I see no reason to choose a pricey Core i3 any longer. Highly recommended. :)

Test configuration: Pentium G840 2.8GHz + ASRock H61M/U3S3 + DDR3-1333 2 x 2GB.

****************

TrueHD/DTS-HD MA/DD+/DTS-HD HRA bistreaming: All supported (under PowerDVD 11, TMT5, ffdshow Audio Decoder [no DD+], LAV Audio Decoder).

AVC, VC-1, MPEG-2 hardware decode acceleration: All supported. If you don't use DXVA, the processor is still fast enough (25-45% CPU usage).

HD Deinterlacing: Better than AMD's Motion Adaptive. Cheese Slices with Microsoft DTV-DVD Video Decoder + EVR CP:

Other Intel Clear Video Technology features: See yourself (what else should I check?):

BR 3D (MVC decode acceleration) under PowerDVD 11: Supported (CPU usage is ~20% when HA is on, ~80% when HA is off).

HDMI 1.4a 3D video format (i.e. Frame Packing): ? I will test later (the display used supports only Checkerboard).

2D -> 3D conversion under PowerDVD 11: No problem:

Note that the processor is G840 2.8GHz. You will see slightly higher CPU usage with G620 2.6GHz. G620T 2.2GHz is clearly too slow. The performance of Pentium SNB is much better than Core 2 Duo; CPU usage of E8400 3.0GHz in this task is ~90%!

How is the overlcloking availability on these?

renethx

05-24-11, 07:10 AM

Overclocking is not supported (and not necessary in the DXVA video playback).

joeydrunk

05-24-11, 07:16 AM

Overclocking is not supported (and not necessary in the DXVA video playback).

I thought if it was supported it would make the G620T look a little more attractive. Of course its not necessary but would probably help with transcoding, 2d>3d, or other CPU intensive htpc activities.

trpltongue

05-24-11, 07:55 AM

whiteboy714

05-24-11, 08:58 AM

I thought if it was supported it would make the G620T look a little more attractive. Of course its not necessary but would probably help with transcoding, 2d>3d, or other CPU intensive htpc activities.

This is why I still prefer my i3-560 over the new i3's. Can do 4ghz if need be on low volts.

@Rene thanks for the info. Looks like a pretty nice chip and impressive comparison to the E8x00 chip.

joeydrunk

05-24-11, 09:05 AM

This is why I still prefer my i3-560 over the new i3's. Can do 4ghz if need be on low volts.

@Rene thanks for the info. Looks like a pretty nice chip and impressive comparison to the E8x00 chip.

Can you not overclock any of the new I3 sandybridges? Do you have a clarkkdale?

whiteboy714

05-24-11, 09:18 AM

Can you not overclock any of the new I3 sandybridges? Do you have a clarkkdale?

I have a clarkdale. They are said to be coming out with an i3 "K" model. Those are the only ones you can overclock. You can adjust the bclk up to maybe 107. Which isn't much. So you can get a small oc.

renethx

05-24-11, 10:03 AM

renethx,

How tall is the new 620 heatsink compared to the 2100? I'm looking to use the Apex MI-008 case and it's a very tight fit for the 2100. If the 620 is the same height, I'll have to order the 620T instead (I'd prefer to use the 620 if possible).

Thanks!
G840's cooler is the same as 2100's, i.e. 46mm tall. Perhaps G620's is also the same as 2100's, and G620T's is the same as 2100T's (30mm tall).

trpltongue

05-24-11, 10:20 AM

G840's cooler is the same as 2100's, i.e. 46mm tall. Perhaps G620's is also the same as 2100's, and G620T's is the same as 2100T's (30mm tall).

Thanks! I also spoke with Intel's online tech support chat who couldn't 100% verify, but said he was 99% sure that they used the same heatsink / fan on the pentiums as the i3 series.

wickchucker

05-24-11, 12:14 PM

renethx

05-24-11, 12:29 PM

I have a Asus ASUS P8H61-I mini-itx motherboard and I need to get an adapter to send digital audio out to my AVR that does not handle HDMI audio. Is this (http://frontx.com/cpx106_2.html) the correct adapter to buy from frontx? I looked at the Asus manual and it said the head on the motherboard is a 4-1 pin, but the cable from frontx is 3-1 pin.
This adapter is intended to be used with a FRONTX CASING (http://frontx.com/cpx088.html) in an empty 5.25" drive bay. Perhaps you will want this adapter (http://www.frontx.com/pro/p1062_030.html) instead. I am not sure how to attach it in the rear of the case. If you don't use the expansion slot, then you can attach it to an empty slot cover. Otherwise, you can attach it to an empty area of the I/O shield.

Re-arrange the two wires (detach-attach the wire from/to the connector is easy) so that the white wire is connected to SPDIFOUT and the black wire to GND of the SPDIF_OUT connector of the mb. You can also buy HEADER CONNECTOR 1 X 2 (http://www.frontx.com/cpx075_8.html).

podopple

05-24-11, 07:04 PM

Can't believe I've been checking 2-3 times a day for the next buyers guide update. Just shows how useful this information is. Thanks renethx, will be patiently waiting :D

renethx

05-24-11, 09:46 PM

All older LGA775 systems are finally replaced by Sandy Bridge. 15 bay servers will use also Sandy Bridge + Intel Gb LAN. Please be patient. :)

hlkc

05-24-11, 10:10 PM

All older LGA775 systems are finally replaced by Sandy Bridge. 15 bay servers will use also Sandy Bridge + Intel Gb LAN. Please be patient. :)

renethx,

May I ask which CPU are you thinking to use in your server? 2100T 35W? What about MB? Thank you.

CarpeD1em500

05-25-11, 09:35 PM

renethx,

May I ask which CPU are you thinking to use in your server? 2100T 35W? What about MB? Thank you.

Also very curious about this and the mobo recco. I have 6 new 2TB drives in the mail, am about to pick up a server rack from a guy on CL, and only need to pull the trigger on the case (thinking this: NORCO (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811219030&cm_re=norco-_-11-219-030-_-Product)), CPU, RAM and Mobo and its GOOGLE-PLEX time!

Woot! so cool. a freaking server. oh man i love it.

ncarty97

05-27-11, 02:14 PM

Guess the 25th didn't work out! Will you be working on it this weekend or enjoying the holiday? Thanks!

renethx

05-28-11, 01:55 AM

Including both Z68 chipset and Pentium processors (the latter launched just a couple of days ago) at the same time, then re-defining budget and low-end systems (suddenly even a $250 budget system can be a nice 2D/3D HD video playback machine [this will happen again in July or August]), then finally being able to cheaper, cooler 15 (or up to 24)-bay server systems with Pentium processor + Intel Gb LAN, then a bunch of new generation SSDs were launched from OCZ, Crucial, Corsair (and Intel), then updating the price of all components ... all came at the same time, and are to be arranged in a harmonious way in a 80-page guide, and Nevcairiel is constantly updating his programs that could affect the best hardware components selection ...

I apologize for the huge delay. I will release the May issue by the end of May and may release an update later. I will send the May issue to everybody who bought the April issue on May 20 or later, and thanks for your patience and contribution.

roons

05-28-11, 12:44 PM

So while I'm waiting for the May edition to come out for my purchase.. can anyone help me setting up my old computer in the meantime? :)

Here is my build:

Motherboard: Asus A8N-SLI-Premium Skt939 AMD64 board, 2x PCI-x16, 3x PCI, SATA RAID, IEEE1394, 2x GigaLAN, Audio
Video Card: Asus GeForce 7800GTX 256mb PCIx16 Video card, 2x DVI, video in/out
CPU: AMD Athlon64 3700+ 64-Bit CPU, 90nm 1mb Socket939
Sound Card: Creative Audigy 2 ZS PCI sound card w/firewire port, 108dB SNR, 24-bit/96kHz
RAM: PC-3200 1024MB Corsair 2-2-2-5
HDD 1: 74gb Western Digital Raptor
HDD 2: 500gb Western Digital AAKS
PSU: Corsair HX-620

I bought a DVI -> HDMI cable and a s/pdif cable thanks to rene's advice.

I am going to wipe the machine and install Win7 64bit on it, but after that, I want to know what setup I have to do on the software side of things before I move it to the tv?

To set it up I have to plug it in to my main computers peripherals, so I want to get it all done before I move it to the loungeroom. And I will need a remote to be able to use it, I am guessing? If so I'll order one now... for use with my new build too..

Is there a guide somewhere?

HTPCat

05-28-11, 06:15 PM

I am noticing sparkles on my desktop - something like little white pixels that show up various places very quickly and appear to sparkle or twinkle probably because they just flash briefly. I can only see them if I am up close to the 63" Samsung Plasma - perhaps 1 to 2 feet away. I have never noticed this before and it doesn't show up on the TV monitor except when the source is the HTPC. I am using an ATI 5570 with Win7 x64 inside of Moneual 320 case. Could this be a video card issue? Anyone ever see anything like this?

Davinleeds

05-28-11, 06:46 PM

It was an hdmi cable issue for me - sparkles.

HTPCat

05-28-11, 06:56 PM

It was an hdmi cable issue for me - sparkles.
That's interesting I just switched out HDMI cables yesterday on my entire system - replaced 5 HDMI cables with Blue Jeans cables. I have been playing with it a little more and when I started a movie it stopped doing it and when I went back to my desktop I don't see them anymore, but they will surely come back if it is my HDMI cable.

epete

05-28-11, 07:31 PM

I built the following in January and has been working great on my son's Desk. Very stable.

CPU: Core i3-540 3.06GHz 73W LGA1156
CPU Cooler: Stock cooler.
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-H55N-USB3 LGA1156 Intel H55 chipset Mini-ITX.
Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ DDR3-1600 CL9 2 x 2GB Kit.
Graphics Card: Intel HD Graphics (integrated in the chipset).
HDD: Seagate Momentus 7200.4 ST9500420AS 500GB SATA 3.0Gbps mobile 7200 RPM.
PSU: Antec FP-150-8 FlexATX 150W PSU (included in the case).
Case: Antec ISK 310-150 Mini-ITX.

I reported a week or so ago that this system that was operating normally since it was built in January 2011 on my Son's desk. After moving it to the Family Room as a Media Center PC, it was shutting down about once or twice a day. It was in a cabinet with little room for ventalation.

It was in this config for a week while I was waiting for my SSD and Ceton updage to come in. I installed a fresh copy of W7 Ultimate 64 on the SSD and installed teh Ceton Card. I also remoced the PC from the cabinet location and simply placed it behind the TV in the open. It is using the stand that came with the case such that the fan is below blowing upward. The Ceton card is at the top.

The ssytem was operating for 7 days uninterrupted, but when I woke this morning the system was off and when I turned it on I got the Windows had an abnormal shutdown screen.

We did not have any power inturruptions. I can tell because the clock on the Microwave will flash any time power goes out.

Also note that when I installed teh SSD and Ceton card, I used a can of compressed gas to clean the fans and heat sink on the processor. I also re-tied the cables to allow as much airflow as possible.

My question is what tools are available to help me troubleshoot this? Are there log files that might tell me why the system shut down? Is there software that will log tempurature measurements and is there a specific tempurature that I should expect the system to shut down?

Now that I have the Ceton Card, I would like to depend on this system to make a good portion of teh families recordings, but cannot do that if it is going to shut down.

renethx

05-29-11, 12:14 AM

I am going to wipe the machine and install Win7 64bit on it, but after that, I want to know what setup I have to do on the software side of things before I move it to the tv?

To set it up I have to plug it in to my main computers peripherals, so I want to get it all done before I move it to the loungeroom. And I will need a remote to be able to use it, I am guessing? If so I'll order one now... for use with my new build too..

Is there a guide somewhere?
Software side is beyond the scope of this guide right now, but here are some hints.

- Front end: Windows Media Center (WMC; built in all editions of Windows 7 [except for Home Basic and Starter]) comes first to my mind.
- Movie organizer: The one built in WMC is weak. A third-party plug-in is recommended. For example, Media Brower (free) or My Movies (a kind of free).
- Media Format: Did you decide in which format to rip DVD? With DVD folder, WMC can play it with full control. If you choose MKV, then you'd better use an external player such as MPC HomeCinema (because WMC internal player does not support subtitles/chaper/audio/subtitle selection for media files).

The sticky thread Windows 7 Media Center : Setup Guide, Knowledge Base & Support (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1250607) treats setting up WMC with Media Browser.

renethx

05-29-11, 01:24 AM

My question is what tools are available to help me troubleshoot this? Are there log files that might tell me why the system shut down? Is there software that will log tempurature measurements and is there a specific tempurature that I should expect the system to shut down?
It is hard to tell what the cause is. Any component can be the cause, PSU, RAM, motherboard, CPU etc. Adding a good surge protector/UPS is one idea, but if the cause is something unrelated to power, it won't help.

The system shutdowns automatically when CPU temperature reaches a certain number (depending on each mb?, ~80°C?), but unless you do a CPU intensive task and the CPU fan stops working unexpectedly, it's usually hard to reach such a high temperature.

I am sorry that I don't have a good idea. You may get good advices by starting a new thread.

roons

05-29-11, 08:18 AM

- Media Format: Did you decide in which format to rip DVD? With DVD folder, WMC can play it with full control. If you choose MKV, then you'd better use an external player such as MPC HomeCinema (because WMC internal player does not support subtitles/chaper/audio/subtitle selection for media files).

Decided to go with straight up .ISO with no compression. No extras no anything (so far), just movies. I will check out the guide, thanks.

epete

05-29-11, 08:20 AM

It is hard to tell what the cause is. Any component can be the cause, PSU, RAM, motherboard, CPU etc. Adding a good surge protector/UPS is one idea, but if the cause is something unrelated to power, it won't help.

The system shutdowns automatically when CPU temperature reaches a certain number (depending on each mb?, ~80°C?), but unless you do a CPU intensive task and the CPU fan stops working unexpectedly, it's usually hard to reach such a high temperature.

I am sorry that I don't have a good idea. You may get good advices by starting a new thread.

ok, thanks. The reason i suspect temp is due to the fact that it went down daily when inside the cabinet and now has only gone down once in 9 days outside the cabinet. I will try starting a new thread if it goes down again. Maybe it was simply a power glitch as you suggested.

tomandbeth

05-29-11, 08:37 AM

ok, thanks. The reason i suspect temp is due to the fact that it went down daily when inside the cabinet and now has only gone down once in 9 days outside the cabinet. I will try starting a new thread if it goes down again. Maybe it was simply a power glitch as you suggested.

Youdon't mention if you have Speedfan on your system

http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

This is a free/donate software that will monitor your system temp (you have to set up a log if you want Historical data) and will help to set your fans to their proper speed.

Some older MB don't report fan speed so if this doesn't work out for you, very little lost.

epete

05-29-11, 02:05 PM

Youdon't mention if you have Speedfan on your system

http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

This is a free/donate software that will monitor your system temp (you have to set up a log if you want Historical data) and will help to set your fans to their proper speed.

Some older MB don't report fan speed so if this doesn't work out for you, very little lost.

Thanks tomandbeth. I do not have this and it sounds like this may be what I am looking for. I will give this a try.

epete

05-30-11, 01:51 PM

Thanks tomandbeth. I do not have this and it sounds like this may be what I am looking for. I will give this a try.

System went down again last night. I have not installed speedfan yet and will give that a try. When looking at the Gigabyte Installation Guide, it says to apply a thin coat of heat sink paste. I don't see this described in my Intel Core i3 Installation instructions and don't recall doing this.

I am also monitoring two other threads of similar issues. One describes purchasing a new fan. I know I am getting a little ahead of myself as I have not done the root cause analysis to confirm this is the problem. But just wondering what speck I should be looking for if I wanted to replace the fan and maybe even the heat sink. Also, should I be purchasing some heat sink paste?

Terry_hk

05-30-11, 04:35 PM

Overclocking is not supported (and not necessary in the DXVA video playback).

Hi! I want to ask a question, does Pentium G840 support "Quantization Range"?

I think you can find "Quantization Range" in the driver, Display--->Monitor/TV Settings--->"Quantization Range"

Thank you!

tomandbeth

05-30-11, 05:38 PM

System went down again last night. I have not installed speedfan yet and will give that a try. When looking at the Gigabyte Installation Guide, it says to apply a thin coat of heat sink paste. I don't see this described in my Intel Core i3 Installation instructions and don't recall doing this.

I am also monitoring two other threads of similar issues. One describes purchasing a new fan. I know I am getting a little ahead of myself as I have not done the root cause analysis to confirm this is the problem. But just wondering what speck I should be looking for if I wanted to replace the fan and maybe even the heat sink. Also, should I be purchasing some heat sink paste?

Before purchasing anything, I'd do the basics first:

Pull the cover off. Is the fan spinning? If it is<
Does the CPU feel extremely hot to the touch? If so, pull the fan off FOLLOWING THE DIRECTIONS THAT CAME WITHE THE CPU
Is there any paste on the CPU? Too MUCH paste is bad too. FOLLOW THE CPU DIRECTIONS on how much.

If you have gone this far, and there is still a proble, I'd be looking to see if there is room for a second fan which will blow hot air out of the case.

The new CPUs run very cool, generally. When you have a problem, systematically verify you put everything to gether right. The fact it worked OK on your Son's desk and now there's a problem indicates, to me anyway, that heat is building up where the "puter is. You need to examine WHY

With all due respects, hold your wallet closed until you look at what you have now. You don't need to throw money ar a problem without checking the obvious first.

CarpeD1em500

05-31-11, 02:04 PM

renethx

05-31-11, 02:32 PM

Hi! I want to ask a question, does Pentium G840 support "Quantization Range"?

I think you can find "Quantization Range" in the driver, Display--->Monitor/TV Settings--->"Quantization Range"

Thank you!
Yes, Pentium supports it (Default, Limited and Full). Missing features are:

- A certain Intel Clear Video Technology features (Total Color Correction, Skin Tone Correction, Adaptive Contrast Enhancement) (I have never used them with Core i3, however)
- Quick Sync
- HDMI 1.4a 3D video (i.e. Frame Packing).

renethx

05-31-11, 03:05 PM

I'm looking at building a media server and need to figure out the CPU and Mobo to use. The case is going to be the Norco 450B, starting with 6 2TB Hitachi drives and 1 500GB WD (OS) drive.

I live near a Microcenter and feel like one of these bundles might be my best option. But..which one? :)

http://www.microcenter.com/specials/promotions/AMDbundlePROMO.html

Also - is there a resource here on building RAIDs and SATA controller cards and all that? This hardware guide is great but I'm still a bit confused on the whole "building the array" deal. Thanks!
Among them Phenom II X4 840 + GIGABYTE GA-MA78LMT-S2, $98, is good (the lowest power consumption). If you go with Intel, you could save 25W power at idle (of course the initial cost is much higher, $170 for CPU + mb).

Traditional RAID (such as 5) is not so good for a media storage server. UnRAID (based on Slackware) is simple and gives good fault tolerance. Under Windows, FlexRAID, SnapRAID.

epete

05-31-11, 04:51 PM

Before purchasing anything, I'd do the basics first:

Pull the cover off. Is the fan spinning? If it is<
Does the CPU feel extremely hot to the touch? If so, pull the fan off FOLLOWING THE DIRECTIONS THAT CAME WITHE THE CPU
Is there any paste on the CPU? Too MUCH paste is bad too. FOLLOW THE CPU DIRECTIONS on how much.

If you have gone this far, and there is still a proble, I'd be looking to see if there is room for a second fan which will blow hot air out of the case.

The new CPUs run very cool, generally. When you have a problem, systematically verify you put everything to gether right. The fact it worked OK on your Son's desk and now there's a problem indicates, to me anyway, that heat is building up where the "puter is. You need to examine WHY

With all due respects, hold your wallet closed until you look at what you have now. You don't need to throw money ar a problem without checking the obvious first.

Moving to a new thread...
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1338539

CarpeD1em500

05-31-11, 06:22 PM

Among them Phenom II X4 840 + GIGABYTE GA-MA78LMT-S2, $98, is good (the lowest power consumption). If you go with Intel, you could save 25W power at idle (of course the initial cost is much higher, $170 for CPU + mb).

Traditional RAID (such as 5) is not so good for a media storage server. UnRAID (based on Slackware) is simple and gives good fault tolerance. Under Windows, FlexRAID, SnapRAID.

Thanks - is there any reason I should consider moving up to an i3 2100 for this type of build? All I'm looking to do is store media, access it from 1-4 PCs (never more than 2 at a time), and have access to the server from the Internet. Should all be possible and within reason for the Phenom II X4, right? I don't want to skimp on $80 and regret it later, but if I'll never regret it, hey, $80 is another drive and a half :)

renethx

05-31-11, 10:49 PM

The main reason to choose Intel is lower power consumption; but it's completely up to you what 25W power saving means. (You won't need Core i3, Pentium G620T 35W should be enough.) Another reason would be Intel Pro Gb LAN (found only in Intel-brand motherboards), which is (slightly) faster than Realtek one.

JDz

06-01-11, 12:52 PM

Update on the May issue?

renethx

06-01-11, 01:04 PM

I will upload it soon. I still need to compile it.

AndyRowan1

06-01-11, 03:38 PM

Thanks for your past listings.
Using one, last November I built an HTPC which works fine.
But I think I need to upgrade the MB.

the box contains amongst other things:-
ASUS P7P55D-E PRO motherboard
Core i5 2.66 Ghz LGA1156 processor
Sapphire Radeon HD 5750 graphics processor PCIe x16
4 @ SATA 2TB drives in a raid0 set
1 @ SATA 60GB SATA SSD boot drive
1 @ SATA 1.5TB SATA user & scratch drive
1 @ SATA Bluray burner

The raid array is connected to the Intel RST ports.
The other 3 SATA connections are to Marvel & Jmicron controllers.

As the content of the RAID array increased I decided to upgrade by backup method.
It had passed the point where a hot backup of the whole box took more than 24 hours and leaned on the CPU.

An Intel 10GBaseT (PCIe x8) was added and connected to a Windows 7 box used as a backup server.
That caused the graphics processor to drop to PCIE x8, but that did not seem to be a problem.

Files & folders from the HTPC can be copied to the backup box using Windows Explorer at about 375 MB/s.
However, to allow for a full system restore, it is best to use backup software like "Acronis Backup & Restore 10 Advanced Workstation" which can perform disk and partition backups.
To get the best speed & least down/impacted time I opted to take cold backups.
That is to boot from a linux based thumb drive prepared by Acronis.

The problem is that Linux drivers to the Intel RST controller don't seem to exist.

So I think I need a new motherboard.
One with PCIe slots that work at x16 and x8 along with onboard raid that linux supports might work.
Or perhaps one with PCIe slots working at x16 and 2 @ x8 along with a hardware x8 raid card.

Any suggestion which does not have me buying all of MB , processor, memory and hardware raid card would be best.

svtfast

06-02-11, 02:56 PM

Traditional RAID (such as 5) is not so good for a media storage server.

Why would you say this?

trpltongue

06-03-11, 07:11 AM

Read / Write times for RAID 5 are not very good compared to other alternatives. However, it's nice to have RAID 5 when 1 of your hard drives goes out :) Well worth the slightly lower write times IMO. If you don't have 5+ clients connecting at once, a RAID 5 will be able to serve up your media with no problem. I've got a RAID 5 setup running on an old C2DUO E4300 and I can reliably serve at least 3 clients with 1080p bluray mkv. I say at least, because that's all the clients I have in the house and I've had no problem serving all 3 of them simultaneously (over 100mbit lan).

CountryBumkin

06-03-11, 08:02 AM

Read / Write times for RAID 5 are not very good compared to other alternatives.

What alternatives are you referring to? Some other RAID format?

Is it true that a "hardware" RAID solution is better than a software solution because if your OS drive fails (the one running the RAID software), you would lose your data. Or can you recover by just reinstalling the software (say on a new OS drive) and reconfiguring it to the original settings?

trpltongue

06-03-11, 09:20 AM

What alternatives are you referring to? Some other RAID format?

Is it true that a "hardware" RAID solution is better than a software solution because if your OS drive fails (the one running the RAID software), you would lose your data. Or can you recover by just reinstalling the software (say on a new OS drive) and reconfiguring it to the original settings?

Yes, other raid types are faster (raid 0 for example), but rather than get this thread too off course, there are many good threads on raid arrays and alternatives, discussing pros / cons. One of them is here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1071162&highlight=raid

renethx

06-03-11, 02:32 PM

renethx

06-03-11, 03:09 PM

What's Pentium?

This is a low-end family of the Intel Sandy Bridge processor ("Celeron" Sandy Bridge will also come soon) including G620T, G620, G840 and soon G850, all 2 core, 2 thread processors with integrated graphics called "Intel HD Graphics". Well, this is almost identical with "Intel HD Graphics" of the 1st gen Core i3 processor (Clarkdale). In particular it supports:

- HD audio bitstreaming
- AVC, VC-1, MPEG-2 and MVC (BR 3D codec) full hardware decode acceleration
- All video post-processing tasks of Intel Clear Video Technology implemented in the 1st gen Core i3.

Precisely speaking, MVC decode was not supported by the 1st gen Core i3, so this is new. The following new features added to the 2nd gen Core processor (i.e. Core i3/i5/i7 Sandy Bridge) are not supported:

- HDMI 1.4a 3D video format (Frame Packing)
- Quick Sync
- "Total Color Correction", "Skin Tone Correction", "Adaptive Contrast Enhancement" (personally I don't care much about these features).

If you are not interested in stereoscopic 3D with a HDMI 1.4a 3D display or Quick Sync, a Pentium processor, in particular G620 2.6GHz (fast enough for 2D HD video playback in non-DXVA and cheap), is an excellent choice.

As for stereoscopic 3D, Pentium supports the following 3D formats just fine:

- Checkerboard (supported by older Mitsubishi/Samsung 3D ready DLP displays, as well as the latest Samsung and LG 3D displays)
- Side by Side (Half)
- Top and Bottom
- Interleaved

as these formats are within HDMI 1.3 specifications.

T Version: 35W TDP

- Pentium G620: 2.6GHz, 65W
- Pentium G620T: 2.2GHz, 35W

So at first G620T seems to be a good choice for HTPC (lower power consumption -> lower noise, lower electric bill). Unfortunately this turned out not correct. AC power draw from the wall (measured with Kill-A-Watt) of the system consisting of

- Pentium (and Core i3) processor
- ASRock H61 mb
- 2 x 2GB DDR3-1333 (G6xx supports up to DDR3-1066, while G8xx supports up to DDR3-1333; not important for video playback, however)
- 1 x 3.5" HDD (WD20EARS)
- Enermax MODU82+ 525W PSU; not so efficient at lower power output despite "80 PLUS" (well, 80% efficiency is guaranteed at 20% = 105W DC output), but this doesn't matter to compare two processors.

|G620|G620 @2.2GHz|G620T
Idle|39W|39W|39W
BD playback by PDVD11 (DXVA)|43W|44W|43W
DVD playback by PDVD11 (TrueTheater HD)|47W|47W|47W
x264 HD Benchmark 2nd Pass|60W|56W|58W
Prime95|64W|58W|61W
FurMark|54W|54W|55W
Prim95+FurMark|76W|71W|71W

So basically G620T is not a cherry-picked die with lower leakage current, but just a lower-clocked version with lower running voltage. Even I can obtain a G620T from G620 by simply limiting the max multiplier to 22! A possible advantage of G620T is that it comes with a CPU cooler of height ~30mm (the same one as Core i3-2100T), that fits some SFF cases nicely (a disadvantage of this cooler is that it's pretty noisy at load; I would rather choose the normal G620 and this cooler (http://www.gelidsolutions.com/products/index.php?lid=2&cid=12&id=61) if I need a good low-profile cooler, well worth the money). Otherwise I don't see a reason to choose G620T over G620.

I saw exactly the same relation between Core i3-2100 3.1GHz 65W and Core i3-2100T 2.5GHz 35W. Under the same configuration as above,

|2100|2100 @2.5GHz|2100T
Idle|39W|39W|38W
BD playback by PDVD11 (DXVA)|44W|44W|43W
DVD playback by PDVD11 (TrueTheater HD)|56W|55W|56W
x264 HD Benchmark 2nd Pass|72W|63W|64W
Prime95|74W|64W|65W
FurMark|55W|55W|54W
Prime95+FurMark|88W|77W|72W

There is almost zero difference between the two at idle and video playback. I also tried to underclock 2100 by limiting the multiplier to 25. I got another 2100T instantly (except for Prime95+FurMark). :) Silent PC Review's article (http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1202-page1.html) confirms this:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=213863&stc=1&d=1307212108

x264 HD Benchmark 2nd Pass

Processor|Frame/second|Power|Energy/frame
Pentium G620T|9.37 fps|60W|6.40 Joule/frame (= 60W/9.37fps)
Pentium G620|11.13 fps|58W|5.21 Joule/frame
Pentium G840|11.93 fps|64W|5.36 Joule/frame
Core i3-2100T|13.24 fps|64W|4.83 Joule/frame
Core i3-2100|16.30 fps|72W|4.42 Joule/frame

In general an "energy-efficient" processor consumes more energy to finish the task (of course nobody would choose a energy-efficient processor to do CPU intensive tasks).

BTW

- Athlon II X2 255: 9.71 fps
- Athlon II X3 450: 13.46 fps
- Phenom II X4 840: 20.51 fps

But these processors consumes much more energy.

jrolmstd

06-03-11, 03:48 PM

My HTPC has developed problem. System reports the video card is not plugged in and the only way to correct it seems to be to reboot the PC. Recent development (possibly when I updated to the latest video drivers).

I have uninstalled and reinstalled the current full catalyst package but it has not corrected the problem.

Suggestions?

Thanks

Video/Driver Details:

ATI Radeon HD 5670

Driver Packaging Version 8.85-110419a-118907C-ATI
Catalyst Version 11.5
Provider ATI Technologies Inc.
2D Driver Version 8.01.01.1152
Direct3D Version 7.14.10.0833
OpenGL Version 6.14.10.10750
Catalyst Control Center Version 2011.0419.2218.38209

dbone1026

06-03-11, 03:50 PM

May issue is available for download now. I apologize for the delay. Pentium processor (CPU + GPU < $100) was released on May 22 and this is an excellent choice for 2D HD video playback. :)

Release Notes

- All LGA 775 systems were replaced by LGA 1155 systems finally.
- Intel Z68 chipset motherboards are used in place of P67 in many systems.
- Standard Mini-ITX and Budget/Low-End microATX/ATX systems were completely re-organized reflecting the recent release of Pentium Sandy Bridge processor.
- 15-bay server systmes are now using Pentium processor and an Intel-brand motherboard (one reason for that is Intel Gb LAN).
- 20-24 bay server systems have more processor/motherboard options.

Samples (Full Edition on the left, Abridged Edition on the right):

http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq146/renethx/Cover_120x155_Buyers_Guide_HTPC_11-5.jpg (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=213806&stc=1&d=1307126517) http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq146/renethx/Cover_120x155_Buyers_Guide_HTPC_11-5_Abridged.jpg (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=213807&stc=1&d=1307126517)

Samples look great. Really hope enough donators participate to keep your guide alive and worth while for all the effort

dah328

06-03-11, 04:51 PM

I see that the Intel Core i3-2105 (w/Intel HD Graphics 3000) is available for about $18 more than the i3-2100 (Intel HD Graphics 2000). Is there any advantage at all to the higher-power GPU if 2D HD video playback is the only thing I do? $18 seems a small price to pay for even a little bit of future-proofing, but if the only advantage is for the 3D stuff, it would probably be wasted on me.

BTW, I found your HTPC guide very helpful and I appreciate that you made the May edition available to late buyers of your April guide.

renethx

06-03-11, 05:10 PM

My HTPC has developed problem. System reports the video card is not plugged in and the only way to correct it seems to be to reboot the PC. Recent development (possibly when I updated to the latest video drivers).

I have uninstalled and reinstalled the current full catalyst package but it has not corrected the problem.

Suggestions?
More information will be helpful. Motherboard model? How do you see the system report the video card is not plugged in? For me this seems to be a hardware problem (either the graphics card or the motherboard). I would replace the graphics card by another and see if the problem occurs. Test the graphics card in another system is a good idea. Clean install OS is also a good idea, that could eliminate software issues.

renethx

06-03-11, 05:15 PM

I see that the Intel Core i3-2105 (w/Intel HD Graphics 3000) is available for about $18 more than the i3-2100 (Intel HD Graphics 2000). Is there any advantage at all to the higher-power GPU if 2D HD video playback is the only thing I do? $18 seems a small price to pay for even a little bit of future-proofing, but if the only advantage is for the 3D stuff, it would probably be wasted on me.
There is no advantage of 3000 over 2000 in video playback. 3000 improves gaming performance. That's it. For 2D HD video playback (with hardware acceleration or not), even Pentium is enough.

JayTalbott

06-03-11, 05:20 PM

I just paid for and downloaded the May release, and I've got a question.

In the MicroATX Systems Features Comparison chart, you indicate that when using the i3-2100 w/ the Intel HD Graphics 2000, the 23.976 refresh rate is "partially supported". Can you elaborate on that? What about it is or is not supported?

I assume this is in reference to being able to play Blu-rays at 24p frame rate. Is that correct?

Thanks!

Jay

renethx

06-03-11, 05:29 PM

JayTalbott

06-03-11, 06:05 PM

Intel HD Graphics supports 24.000Hz refresh rate, but does not support 23.976 Hz, that is incomplete because most BD movies are 23.976 fps and if you play a BD movie of 23.976 fps at 24.000Hz desktop refresh rate, there will be a frame repeated every ~42 seconds. But not everybody cares about/notices it.

Thanks for the clarification. I can probably live with that.

Assuming I don't really care about gaming, is there any other real advantage for an HTPC of going with a separate video card vs. just using the Intel HD Graphics built into the CPU?

renethx

06-03-11, 06:22 PM

There are several real advantages of a discrete graphics card over IGP. This is mainly related to recent software developments that effectively use "stream processors" of GPU (notably madVR video renderer and SmoothVideo Project (SVP)). Roughly speaking a better gaming card is also better for video playback (to some extent). But these are somewhat advanced topics. You can add a discrete card at any time later.

jrolmstd

06-03-11, 07:00 PM

More information will be helpful. Motherboard model? How do you see the system report the video card is not plugged in? For me this seems to be a hardware problem (either the graphics card or the motherboard). I would replace the graphics card by another and see if the problem occurs. Test the graphics card in another system is a good idea. Clean install OS is also a good idea, that could eliminate software issues.

MB ASROCK H55M PRO (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157181)

To clarify, the system reports the video card is not plugged in under the control panel.sound. Specifically, the AMD HDMI Output is reported as not being plugged in but the video feed works fine. I have a desktop but the audio has defaulted back to the MB Audio HDMI out option. Since the AMD HDMI output is on the video card, I assumed the system was telling me the video card was not plugged in but the only problem I am having is with the audio...

The video card is plugged in. I can get it to work by rebooting the pc remotely without touching the hardware....

renethx

06-03-11, 07:41 PM

RADEN305

06-04-11, 11:12 AM

I have a question regarding the Media Storage Servers. I'd like to build the 24-Bay Rackmount Server. Do I need to buy any of the HBAs now if I only have 4 HDDs? I'd like to be able to just buy what I need now and expand later when I need more space. Is this possible?

Thanks for the great guide.

renethx

06-04-11, 11:18 AM

lfox

06-04-11, 11:43 AM

Rene,

Does the abridged edition include the "my pick" build?

renethx

06-04-11, 11:52 AM

Rene,

Does the abridged edition include the "my pick" build?
Yes. The abridge edition does not include High-End/Premium systems and Server II, otherwise it is the same as the full edition.

tomandbeth

06-04-11, 12:16 PM

Seems that your revisesd system allowed me to download easily today

Tom

jrolmstd

06-04-11, 01:57 PM

So it's not graphics (= black screen) but HDMI audio device that disappears, right? I think quite a few people reported this issue (with not only Radeon but also Intel HD Graphics), e.g. when woken up from sleep. For example, ATI HDMI Output sound driver = "Not Plugged In" after Reboot (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1234612). Disable the device, then enable it will fix it, but too cumbersome. A workaround here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=18302069#post18302069).

Right, just the audio giving me issues.

Just donated again and downloaded the latest guide (painless process).

What I have going does not pass the WF test at all. Going to replace video card with a Sapphire 100326L recommended in the guide. Hopefully it will resolve the issue once and for all.

As always, thanks for he feedback.

podopple

06-05-11, 08:48 AM

Thanks for the highly anticipated updated buyers guide. I have one general question about the microATX mid-range Intel system motherboard choices. I would like to add this http://www.digitalnow.com.au/product_pages/Quad.html tuner card and wondering am I better to go with your alternative suggestion as the MB layout provides a second PCIe x1 away from the PCIe x16 slot in case I wanted to add a video card later on which may get in the way?

renethx

06-05-11, 11:04 AM

mobilebyrd

06-05-11, 03:20 PM

Thank you so much for the guide. It is proving immensely helpful.

podopple

06-05-11, 05:02 PM

The third (x4) or fourth (x8) slots can be used for a PCIe x1 device (as well as a graphics card; x4 has enough bandwidth for video playback), unless you are going to use a PCI device ...
Thank you Sir!

jbcain

06-07-11, 10:22 AM

curious... i acquired a 2 post rack mount setup (great lakes). will a 20bay norca 4u setup work ok with this system or is 4 post recommended?

renethx

06-07-11, 11:29 AM

Maybe OK. (http://www.google.com/products?hl=&q=%222+post%22+%22conversion+kit%22)

hapaboy

06-07-11, 05:52 PM

tomandbeth

06-07-11, 10:27 PM

Looking at the 11.5 full list for Intel Mid Range System and would like a short and concise reason to go with a SSD based on the following:

Basic specs:

Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Pro3-M LGA 1155
Memory: G.SKILL 4 gig Kit? Price of RAM dropping - might go for th 8 gig kit.
Graphics Card (AMD): I have an older 5670 which works fine. Always have liked it, but could pony up for a 66xx if need be.
I'll be running a Sandy Bridge, either I3-2120 or I5-2500
nMEDIAPC HTPC 5000B, with card reader

Reading around I see a SSD gives me "FAST" boots and other stuff. And yet to a non gamer, HTPC primary use - in 2D...a SSD just doesn't seem to be worth the added cost. To this olde farte it gives me the same advantage as the import cars that run the "coffee can" muffler to get that added 5 HP on a 120HP 4 banger- whoop de doo. Now, using the car analogy, if the SSD gives me a super charged, billet crank, 6 cylinder BANG then OK, state your reasons.

The case will hold 4 standard 3.5 inch drives. I COULD use the 5.25 inch slot for LCD Fan Controller, streaming any BR or DVD from a shared network drive after initial Operating System Installation. Easy to find one of these controllers with a 2.5 inch HD holder too.

I understand this begs the question of why bother with the Z68 MOBO, but to me it offers a bridge to do more than the 1155/1156 based MOBOs with the H67/P67....and I burned up an old 775 based system :eek:

RealNate

06-07-11, 11:18 PM

I've been thinking about building a centralized WHS to store all my media that i'm collecting, and eventually rip/store all my dvds so that i don't have to put in a disc to watch a movie anymore, and also build an HTPC to stream all that media to. It's been a big relief to find this thread, thanks Rene for your hard work.

Anyway, i have a question that's not fully addressed in the guide you DL after donating, happy to do that btw. I more have a list of questions:

1. Using a BD player on the htpc. You listed BD drives, which is great, but you never put them in any build, not even a recommended build. Installing them isn't my issue, it's utilizing them like a true BD-player. If i installed a BD drive in my htpc, would i be able to simply play the content (video and audio) through an hdmi cable? If i installed a discrete graphics card would i still just use the hdmi out on the card and have audio also go through the DGC's hdmi out?

2. I have dish network cable service at home, will any tv tuner allow me to connect my dish network to and record the signal? How would one accomplish this?

3. With respect to the WHS, i'm not to the point that i need a 10-20 bay server, i plan on just using a normal case and basic components and start with a 2TB hdd. That aside, you did mention of using your server as a dvr, provided it has tv tuners, could you maybe layout a build on how to accomplish this as well?

4. Also on the general streaming from WHS - router - htpc, can my htpc simply use a wireless card and access and stream media from the WHS attached to router, even HD media (1080p BD rips)?

As you might tell, i am by no means a networking professional, so my questions and concerns might seem very obvious, but this is new territory for me regarless, so please excuse my ignorance.

renethx

06-08-11, 12:50 AM

Hi All,

Hopefully this is a simple question that someone can answer. I have a main HTPC setup in a Zalman HD160XT and I have run out of space to add additional hard drives in this case. I have a Zalman HD135 laying around and I would like to use this case to store additional drives to "link" or "daisy chain" to the main HTPC. I'd like to inteconnect the cases with a single connector - is this even possible? In addition, how might I power the additional drives in the secondary case? I am using a Gigabyte GA-P55-UD3R motherboard. Is there anyway to accomplish this? TIA
Yes, you can do this. Just add a PSU and a bunch of HDDs in the HD135 case and connect HDDs to the main chassis.

PSU mod: Read the article Power Up an ATX PSU without a Motherboard (http://www.gideontech.com/content/articles/196/1)), or use 20-pin Power Supply Jump Start Connector (http://www.frozencpu.com/products/3223/psu-173/FrozenCPU_20-pin_Power_Supply_Jump_Start_Connector.html?tl=g11c28) (in this case you turn on/off the enclosure by the PSU switch).

Controller for HDDs in the second chassis: Use 5-Port (or 5x1) Port Multiplier (http://www.addonics.com/products/pm/) (to be placed in the second chassis) and connect it to one of the eSATA port of the mb by an eSATA cable. Or you can use AOC-SASLP-MV8 8-port SAS/SATA controller card. But in this case you will need two SFF-8088 or SFF-8470 (Infiniband) cables to connect the two chassis. Cables and brackets (http://www.pc-pitstop.com/sas_cables_adapters/) will be more expensive than the controller itself.

renethx

06-08-11, 01:00 AM

Looking at the 11.5 full list for Intel Mid Range System and would like a short and concise reason to go with a SSD based on the following:
Yes, you can go with a normal HDD, say 2TB with a 80GB partition for OS, without sacrificing the major functions of HTPC, and save $60. This component selection is more or less a matter of budget.

renethx

06-08-11, 01:24 AM

Anyway, i have a question that's not fully addressed in the guide you DL after donating, happy to do that btw. I more have a list of questions:
1. Install a BD drive, a graphics card (or use IGP of CPU/motherboard) and connect the HDMI port of the graphics card to your display/receiver as you do with a standalone BD player. You install OS, drivers for various hardware, then a software BD player (e.g. PowerDVD, TotalMedia Theatre). You can play BDs.

2/3. Right now there is no PC tuner card for (US) satellite service.

4. In general you'd better avoid wireless. Wired Gb LAN is recommended.

joeydrunk

06-08-11, 06:23 AM

d60pdp

06-08-11, 09:56 AM

jbcain

06-08-11, 10:23 AM

Maybe OK. (http://www.google.com/products?hl=&q=%222+post%22+%22conversion+kit%22)

from the looks of it i think i'd rather set the server on a flat bootom V rack platform. thanks for looking those up. i wasnt having much luck

stevennorton45

06-08-11, 12:37 PM

this is what I'm talking about!

smaybee

06-08-11, 12:50 PM

2/3. Right now there is no PC tuner card for (US) satellite service.

There are other solutions however. I use an Hauppauge HDPVR very successfully to record from my DirecTV satellite receiver on to my HTPC. It can be used with standalone software that comes with the unit and there are native and 3rd party software drivers to allow it to be used with Windows 7 Media Center. There is a similar product from Aver Media called HDDVR as well.

renethx

06-08-11, 03:05 PM

@renethx
Are you still considering an HTPC related (PC/Server/Tuner/...) software/setting-up guide?
Yes, of course. :) But it seems the project has never started. :o I am thinking about starting a more casual thread, like "Video playback guide" and gradually add contents.

Carisma

06-08-11, 09:12 PM

I was wondering if the people that were affected by the Intel issue with their motherboards would still get the May 2011 issue like you said earlier in the thread?

elpasa

06-09-11, 05:15 AM

Jasminelm

06-09-11, 06:57 AM

Which information provided by you Such is a great and very interesting..I got so excited to read it,Because I have gained so much information....Thanks again to provide this good type of information....

renethx

06-09-11, 07:28 AM

Hi Renethx, I had a setup of yours that worked really well:

- M3A78
- Phenom X3 8750
- Scythe NINJA MINI
- Antec Fusion Remote Black
- PSU Corsair VX450W

A thunderstorm blew away PSU and MB (and possibly - I don't know yet - CPU and RAM) so I bought your excellent guide (name Augusto), but I have two questions:

- would you suggest a MB to replace the M3A78 (not available any more)?
- is there a chance that any of the cpu in the guide will work fanless (as I used to do with the phenom-scythe)?

Thanks
Assuming CPU and RAM are also damaged, if you want to go cheap with integrated GPU, Pentium G620 + H61 chipset mb is recommended (budget Intel systems). CPU/IGP is powerful enough for every SD/HD videos. You can use NINJA MINI for passively cooling for any Intel Sandy Bridge 65W processor with this 1366/1156/1155 mounting clips (http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=25132).

If you are sure CPU and RAM are ok, then ASUS M4A785-M (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131595) is equivalent to GeForce 8200/8300 IGP.

jbcain

06-09-11, 09:00 AM

anyone using Rosewill RSV-R4000 for a server case?

JDz

06-09-11, 01:54 PM

renethx

06-09-11, 02:17 PM

Hi Rene,
I am building a computer based of your pick for a htpc. I have a couple of questions though.....

1 trying to decide what CPU to purchase. How big of a difference is the i5 compared to the i3? Main thing I will be doing is bd's and some light gaming possible later. I have purchased the gts 450 for this.

2. The other question I have is how much better do you like the antec case compared to possibly a silverstone gdb05? Will the silverstone have plenty of room for the gts 450? Or, is the antec
fusion a must have in your opinion?

Thanks.
1. For video playback, there is no difference (CPU usage of Core i3 is < 20%). As for gaming, this review (http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i3-2120-2100_5.html#sect0) may be helpful.

2. GD04/GD05/GD06 supports longer expansion cards, up to 11 in, while CPU cooler height is limited to 70mm (the stock cooler is OK, the best third-party cooler is Scythe Big Shuriken). On the other hand, Antec case supports expansion cards up to 9 in (well, 10 in, but the PCI Express power connector has be taken into account), while you can use CPU cooler of height up to ~120mm, so you can use a better third-party cooler. Moreover Antec case comes with an internal IR receiver (though not everybody likes it). The length of GTS 450 is 8.25 in, so it fits either case fine.

Another important difference is the case depth. GD03/04/06 325mm - 340mm, Antec 420mm.

hapaboy

06-09-11, 06:25 PM

Yes, you can do this. Just add a PSU and a bunch of HDDs in the HD135 case and connect HDDs to the main chassis.

PSU mod: Read the article Power Up an ATX PSU without a Motherboard (http://www.gideontech.com/content/articles/196/1)), or use 20-pin Power Supply Jump Start Connector (http://www.frozencpu.com/products/3223/psu-173/FrozenCPU_20-pin_Power_Supply_Jump_Start_Connector.html?tl=g11c28) (in this case you turn on/off the enclosure by the PSU switch).

Controller for HDDs in the second chassis: Use 5-Port (or 5x1) Port Multiplier (http://www.addonics.com/products/pm/) (to be placed in the second chassis) and connect it to one of the eSATA port of the mb by an eSATA cable. Or you can use AOC-SASLP-MV8 8-port SAS/SATA controller card. But in this case you will need two SFF-8088 or SFF-8470 (Infiniband) cables to connect the two chassis. Cables and brackets (http://www.pc-pitstop.com/sas_cables_adapters/) will be more expensive than the controller itself.

Thanks Rene for the thorough response. Your help is greatly appreciated!

whiteboy714

06-09-11, 06:28 PM

1. For video playback, there is no difference (CPU usage of Core i3 is < 20%). As for gaming, this review (http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i3-2120-2100_5.html#sect0) may be helpful.

2. GD04/GD05/GD06 supports longer expansion cards, up to 11 in, while CPU cooler height is limited to 70mm (the stock cooler is OK, the best third-party cooler is Scythe Big Shuriken). On the other hand, Antec case supports expansion cards up to 9 in (well, 10 in, but the PCI Express power connector has be taken into account), while you can use CPU cooler of height up to ~120mm, so you can use a better third-party cooler. Moreover Antec case comes with an internal IR receiver (though not everybody likes it). The length of GTS 450 is 8.25 in, so it fits either case fine.

Another important difference is the case depth. GD03/04/06 325mm - 340mm, Antec 420mm.

Also not everyone needs an optical drive in their htpc. I took mine out of my GDO5 and it gave me much more room.

mat1983

06-09-11, 06:54 PM

Sorry for disturbing.

I am a subscriber of your guides.

I am mounting an HTPC but i don´t know if the power suply of an ANTEC 310-150

is enough for a SAPHIRE HD 6570 DDR3 2GB

i also got a i3 2100, 4 GB ddr 3, and the board is a gigabyte H67.

Please help will this power suply supports this graphic card?

thanks a lot

JDz

06-09-11, 11:47 PM

renethx

06-10-11, 01:18 AM

mat1983

06-10-11, 06:12 AM

The 150W PSU is enough for Core i3-2100 + HD 6570. The max DC draw of your system is ~100W, well below the rated 150W.

Mine 6570 is the 2GB version. That wouldn´t make any difference compare to tha 1GB?

many thanks

renethx

06-10-11, 06:28 AM

Mine 6570 is the 2GB version. That wouldn´t make any difference compare to tha 1GB?

many thanks
Maybe 1-2 W difference?

d3coy3d

06-10-11, 09:26 AM

Since I stream all blu-rays with LPCM, how can I tell that this is being sent to my receiver? Is there a program I check on the HTPC to show what audio quality is being played?

drhankz

06-10-11, 09:33 AM

Since I stream all blu-rays with LPCM, how can I tell that this is being sent to my receiver? Is there a program I check on the HTPC to show what audio quality is being played?

Almost Every AVR [Receiver] has a DISPLAY button that will tell you what it is receiving

renethx

06-10-11, 09:41 AM

Since I stream all blu-rays with LPCM, how can I tell that this is being sent to my receiver? Is there a program I check on the HTPC to show what audio quality is being played?
One way to make sure your audio stream is sent to the audio device driver/hardware as it should be is use WASAPI exclusive mode. ReClock audio renderer supports the selection between WASAPI shared mode (normal mode) and WASAPI exclusive mode.

Search my posts in the forum with keyword "ReClock" if you are interested.

d3coy3d

06-10-11, 09:43 AM

Almost Every AVR [Receiver] has a DISPLAY button that will tell you what it is receiving

Thanks I'll give this a try, also reading through the guide above, you might want to update the audio/video card section stating the nvidia geforce 200 and 9 sereis can do LPCM 8 channel 192hz via HDMI.

renethx

06-10-11, 10:04 AM

Isn't this chart (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=940972&page=523#Introduction:%20Component%20Selection:%20Graphics%2 0and%20Sound%20Devices) enough? All multichannel LPCM solutions there support up to 8 channel 192kHz 24bit.

Windows Audio Engine resamples every audio stream to whatever sample rate/bit depth you selected in audio control panel. That's one reason to use WASAPI exclusive mode.

HTPCat

06-10-11, 11:24 AM

My current HTPC is Win7x64/i3-530/intel BOXDH55TC mobo/Sapphire ATI HD5570 gpu (CCC 11.5b). With 5570 HDMI out > Denon Video Processor 602 HDMI > Denon AVR4310 HDMI > Samsung PN63B590 Plasma TV the HTPC hibernates and wakes without issue. I am attempting to remove the Video Processor from the system, but when I do the HTPC wakes from hibernation without sound - the AMD HDMI out playback device shows as unplugged and the only way that I have found to get sound back is to reboot the HTPC. Is this just a bug with ATI/AMD catalyst drivers (I don't have this issue with other HTPC using Nvidia 9600) or is there a setting in the BIOS perhaps that I am missing?

Steve Goff

06-10-11, 12:13 PM

I have abandoned for now my decision to replace my AMD video card for a NVidia card, which seemed to me the best way to use MadVR. I was going to use LAV splitter, LAV Audio, and LAV CUVID along woith MadVR to get the best video and bitstreamed lossless audio. But I have numerous 88.2 kHz and 176.4 kHz audio files, mostly in FLAC form, and many with multiple channels requiring HDMI output. I understand that NVidia cards do not support 88.2 kHz and 176.4 kHz audio, though there are some specs showing that some do. So I'm back to using my ADM/ATI cards, and would like to know the best video decoder (commercial or otherwise) to work with MadVR. It would be preferable to use hardware acceleration, though I understand that might not work. I could buy either TMT5 or PowerDVD11 to get the best decoder, though I don't want to use the whole package. For now I've settled on J. River Media Center 16 for music and movies.

renethx

06-10-11, 12:26 PM

d3coy3d

06-10-11, 12:32 PM

renethx

06-10-11, 12:36 PM

Steve Goff

06-10-11, 02:40 PM

None of NVIDIA cards supports 88.2/76.4kHz.

I suggested CyberLink Video Decoder with HAM enabled (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=20551059#post20551059). But if you have a decent dual core processor, this is somewhat pointless. How to use it outside PDVD11 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=20550270#post20550270). Another decoder is ffdshow Video Decoder.
I have an i3-530 with an HD 5450. Is it possible that the HD 5450 is the problem? I can replace it with an HD 5570 (which I already own) or some other quiet graphics board. MadVR playback is not nearly as smooth as EVR in J. River MC16 or MPC HC.

I could get something like a quiet or silent HD 6670, if that would be adequate.

Tony_Montana

06-10-11, 05:30 PM

Try to adjust the brightness (black levels). Win7/Vista has the required tests built in.

Take a look at your TV's menu setting and see if there is a setting for Gamma. The correct value for NTSC (US,Japan) is 2.2 not sure abut PAL (Europe/Asia)

Using 4:4:4 or full RGB makes the problem worse if you have a limited RGB or YUV 4:2:2 input on your TV.

MadVR is not the best place to make these adjustments if you want other players that use another renderer (EVR,VMC etc) to work such as WMC.

i did some adjustmenets in catalyst ,gamma/brightness/contrast and it seems that we have done some improvements

tomandbeth

06-10-11, 09:55 PM

I almost sent my RAM kit back until I read, again, the manual of the Asrock MB listed in the mid level intel Micro guide.

BTW, what the heck is up with the audio driver? This is across several boards/Gpus/CPUs.

tomandbeth

06-10-11, 10:10 PM

I'm running an Intel I5-2500 with the Asrock Z68 Pro3-m board and 8 gig RAM kit (Egg had em on sale for 70 bucks!). Don't need a GPU with this combo - I'm not a gamer who needs bleeding edge. This puppy kicks BUTT! Later I can switch the CPU for the 3000 video engine but for now it's on a 42 incher in the office...looks good to me. Total system cost under $500. Audio and Video are on the CPU chip and MOBO.

The system runs at ambient +10 degrees at low tasks and maybe another 10 for CPU usage over 75% ,with the stock cooler. Might drop after the thermal paste has had more than 10-15 hours of use.

READ the manual, even if you feel you know what you're doing :eek:

Rene, Thanks again for your guide!

renethx

06-11-11, 02:23 AM

I have an i3-530 with an HD 5450. Is it possible that the HD 5450 is the problem? I can replace it with an HD 5570 (which I already own) or some other quiet graphics board. MadVR playback is not nearly as smooth as EVR in J. River MC16 or MPC HC.

I could get something like a quiet or silent HD 6670, if that would be adequate.
Try HD 5570. PQ is device-independent, the only requirement is sufficient stream processors.

jrolmstd

06-11-11, 11:35 AM

Originally Posted by HTPCat http://images.avsforum.com/avs-images/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=20551540#post20551540)
My current HTPC is Win7x64/i3-530/intel BOXDH55TC mobo/Sapphire ATI HD5570 gpu (CCC 11.5b). With 5570 HDMI out > Denon Video Processor 602 HDMI > Denon AVR4310 HDMI > Samsung PN63B590 Plasma TV the HTPC hibernates and wakes without issue. I am attempting to remove the Video Processor from the system, but when I do the HTPC wakes from hibernation without sound - the AMD HDMI out playback device shows as unplugged and the only way that I have found to get sound back is to reboot the HTPC. Is this just a bug with ATI/AMD catalyst drivers (I don't have this issue with other HTPC using Nvidia 9600) or is there a setting in the BIOS perhaps that I am missing?

A workaround is mentioned in the thread ATI HDMI Output sound driver = "Not Plugged In" after Reboot (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1234612).

Same issue I am having with the same vid card. Installing a new Sapphire 6670 card today in hopes of it resolving the issue

CarpeD1em500

06-11-11, 02:10 PM

Thanks - is there any reason I should consider moving up to an i3 2100 for this type of build? All I'm looking to do is store media, access it from 1-4 PCs (never more than 2 at a time), and have access to the server from the Internet. Should all be possible and within reason for the Phenom II X4, right? I don't want to skimp on $80 and regret it later, but if I'll never regret it, hey, $80 is another drive and a half :)

The main reason to choose Intel is lower power consumption; but it's completely up to you what 25W power saving means. (You won't need Core i3, Pentium G620T 35W should be enough.) Another reason would be Intel Pro Gb LAN (found only in Intel-brand motherboards), which is (slightly) faster than Realtek one.

Rene - Fry's is having an $80 sale on the i3 2100 tomorrow, so I'm thinking of going this direction. Is there a specific mobo you'd recommend to pair with that? What are the key things you look for in a server mobo?