Alright, I put together another build thread back in July when I first started thinking about rebuilding my HTPC. A number of things came up which caused me to have to put off the build. By the time was ready to start thinking about it again, I saw that the new clarkdales were coming out and I knew that I wanted to be able to bitstream to my Denon AVR-1909 so I decided I would wait for them to hit the market. Now they are finally here and I had the money saved, so got into research mode and eventually purchased some parts. I was going to just update the old thread with my current information (in fact I already started to), but I decided it would be easier to follow if I just put the new information into a new thread. This thread is basically meant to be repository of information for myself and possibly a guide for someone else wanting to do a similar build. Suggestions are also welcome.
Build Requirements
Immediate
1)Rack mountable
2)Front IR receiver to receive signals from harmony IR extender
3)Record/playback analog cable
4)Record/playback OTA HD
5)Stream bluray/HD DVD rips with bitstreamed audio from server
6)Stream home videos ISO files (currently SD) throughout the house and be able to burn to CD from mediacenter
Future Considerations
1)Play blurays directly w/ bitstreaming
2)Record/playback QAM HD
3)Easy access to youtube, netflix, hulu and others
4)Automated workflow for ripping and encoding DVD, HD DVD and Blu Ray
Distant Future Considerations
1)Feed music to whole-house audio system while being controlled remotely
2)Schedule recordings remotely from my WinMO phone
Current To-Do List
-Figure out aspect stretch issue
-Install hotfix for white line
-Transfer recorded TV from old HTPC
-Transfer music to Main PC
-Setup sleep mode
-Add "Exit Mediacenter" to power off command in imon software (Alt+F4)
-Figure out why 2250 QAM tuners are showing up as HDHR OTA tuners
-Backup HTPC to the server and delete the backups of the old machine
-Adjust harmony to alleviate "doubleclick"
-Install MyMovies and link to server
-Come up with ripping/converting workflow
Current Setup
HTPC
Case: Antec Fusion w/ custom rackshelf
PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX
Motherboard: ASUS P7H55D-M EVO
CPU: Intel i5-650
CPU cooler: Coolermaster Geminii
RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600
HDD: 640GB Western Digital Caviar Black
Tuner 1: HDHomerun (OTA)
Tuner 2: WinTV-HVR-2250 (QAM/Analog)
OS: Windows 7 pro
Software: My Movies for WMC
Energy (Idle): 60W (GPU on) 54W (GPU off)
Build Requirements
Immediate
1)Rack mountable
2)Front IR receiver to receive signals from harmony IR extender
3)Record/playback analog cable
4)Record/playback OTA HD
5)Stream bluray/HD DVD rips with bitstreamed audio from server
6)Stream home videos ISO files (currently SD) throughout the house and be able to burn to CD from mediacenter
Future Considerations
1)Play blurays directly w/ bitstreaming
2)Record/playback QAM HD
3)Easy access to youtube, netflix, hulu and others
4)Automated workflow for ripping and encoding DVD, HD DVD and Blu Ray
Distant Future Considerations
1)Feed music to whole-house audio system while being controlled remotely
2)Schedule recordings remotely from my WinMO phone
Current To-Do List
-Figure out aspect stretch issue
-Install hotfix for white line
-Transfer recorded TV from old HTPC
-Transfer music to Main PC
-Setup sleep mode
-Add "Exit Mediacenter" to power off command in imon software (Alt+F4)
-Figure out why 2250 QAM tuners are showing up as HDHR OTA tuners
-Backup HTPC to the server and delete the backups of the old machine
-Adjust harmony to alleviate "doubleclick"
-Install MyMovies and link to server
-Come up with ripping/converting workflow
Current Setup
HTPC
Case: Antec Fusion w/ custom rackshelf
PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX
Motherboard: ASUS P7H55D-M EVO
CPU: Intel i5-650
CPU cooler: Coolermaster Geminii
RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600
HDD: 640GB Western Digital Caviar Black
Tuner 1: HDHomerun (OTA)
Tuner 2: WinTV-HVR-2250 (QAM/Analog)
OS: Windows 7 pro
Software: My Movies for WMC
Energy (Idle): 60W (GPU on) 54W (GPU off)