Project: Tandem 1.0 HTPC Worklog*PIX*

[Xylon]

It will consist of two PCs (hence the Tandem name) working together for a complete HTPC setup.

I chose the Lian-Li PC-343B and the Antec P180S for the enclosures. Parts should be arriving in the next couple of days. Pix will posted as work progresses.

[Xylon]

Part 1: Lian-Li modular case



Lian-Li case just arrived. I'm suprised that the case is very light. I can lift it with one finger. I will open it tomorrow.

[greeniguana00]

I would like to know more specifics on what you plan on doing. Is it just server-client? What hardware will you use for the two computers and what software will you be using?

I am very interested to see how this turns out.

[Xylon]

Originally Posted by greeniguana00

I would like to know more specifics on what you plan on doing. Is it just server-client? What hardware will you use for the two computers and what software will you be using?

I am very interested to see how this turns out.

The P180 will be the capping and editing machine. It will have the R5000 mod and MyHD. The Lian-Li is the online archiving machine. This where I will put HDTV files that I watch/use the most. Both will be connected to each other through gigabit lan and to XBOX 360 for playback. I will still use the MyHD for serious movie watching. To this day no hardware based .TS playback can approach the level of PQ of this card.

The P180 will have the Intel Conroe chip for h.264 playback and HD DVD. It should be fast enough to play the files under 50% cpu usage.

The parts has been ordered and finalized. I'm just waiting for everything to show up. I intend to finish this project in 2 weeks (I hope) depending how busy I am right now with the holiday.

[Xylon]

Thats it. Thats all i get from the case. If you need more accessories for this case you have to buy them separately.



18 external bays.



Side by side with Antec P180.

[Xylon]

4 SATA Backplanes = 20 drive bays



One controller for now. I want to see how it performs.




The rest of the parts are coming before the weekend.

[Xylon]

The most I spent on a power supply, $200.00.

[Xylon]

No need for that extra power supply connector. This card don't need any.

[bbboza]

so what happened there? Waiting on some update as this looks pretty cool...

[Xylon]

Originally Posted by bbboza

so what happened there? Waiting on some update as this looks pretty cool...

Holidays kept me busy.

[Xylon]

The Intel Pentium D 805 is the lowerst priced dual core chip out there and also the most overclockable. This chip will go in the Lian-Li server. Pairing it with the ASUS mb the O/C potential should be at least 30%.



The SATA controller will go to the Antec P180 client HTPC.



Its 3:00 in the afternoon. I woke up late to start the project and I have to go somewhere, this is the best I can do.

[Xylon]

Wire management is going to be tricky.

[Xylon]

The Zalman 9500 and 9700 side by side.

[trueimage]

Originally Posted by Xylon

I will still use the MyHD for serious movie watching. To this day no hardware based .TS playback can approach the level of PQ of this card.

Can you expand on this? I've never looked into this card at all, what stuff is it used for? I wont be capping stuff so what else is it good for?

The setup looks promising so far.

[Xylon]

Originally Posted by trueimage

Can you expand on this? I've never looked into this card at all, what stuff is it used for? I wont be capping stuff so what else is it good for?

The setup looks promising so far.

Raw, untouched, unmolested, uncensored and uncut .ts stream playback. Not to mention less than 5% cpu utilization.

[vddobrev]

I do not understand exactly why you need 2 machines. I read and re-read your posts, but it seems to me that 1 C2D based machine can do everthing. Can you please separate the functions of each and outline the benefits.
P.S. Hardforum.com seems to be down, so I cannot read that thread.

[Xylon]

Originally Posted by vddobrev

I do not understand exactly why you need 2 machines. I read and re-read your posts, but it seems to me that 1 C2D based machine can do everthing. Can you please separate the functions of each and outline the benefits.
P.S. Hardforum.com seems to be down, so I cannot read that thread.

All I can say for now the one distinct difference between the HTPCs are storage. The Lian-Li will have the bulk of my recordings (the ones I use the most) online and ready to play. The Antec will do the recordings from satellite and OTA. It will also be used to prepare and edit .ts files ready to be archived and transferred to Lian-Li. And the Antec is the one thats going to stay in my HT living room. This Antec is excellent as silent case for HT.

I definetely need two machines working in tandem because the Antec can't hold hard drives as much as the Lian-Li. I'm tired of offloading hard drives when they get filled up and I also don't want to dig thru my hard drive collection to find one movie I want to watch. With the Lian-Li, it can reduce the hassle of doing all this.

We are getting ahead of ourselves, I will post my observations and along the way explain my choices.

[Xylon]

Sleeved cables but not modular. No big deal for these project.

[thepicman]

Originally Posted by Xylon

The P180 will be the capping and editing machine. It will have the R5000 mod and MyHD. The Lian-Li is the online archiving machine. This where I will put HDTV files that I watch/use the most. Both will be connected to each other through gigabit lan and to XBOX 360 for playback. I will still use the MyHD for serious movie watching. To this day no hardware based .TS playback can approach the level of PQ of this card.

The P180 will have the Intel Conroe chip for h.264 playback and HD DVD. It should be fast enough to play the files under 50% cpu usage.

The parts has been ordered and finalized. I'm just waiting for everything to show up. I intend to finish this project in 2 weeks (I hope) depending how busy I am right now with the holiday.

Ok, I'll bite. How are you going to use a MDP130 with a dual core chip? DVD playback and network streaming are disabled. Also, R5000 mod on what? A Dishnetwork receiver connected to the machine?

Just Curious

TPM

[vddobrev]

The pictures of the cards you took are great, but you are asking for trouble puting them directly on that wooden surface. You should atleast use anti-static bag underneath.
I still don't understand why you with need two machines? If the primary function of the second being storage, this can easily be built in the first PC. There are boards with 8 (and probably more) sata connectors. In addition, you can use external drive eSata enclosures.

[Xylon]

Originally Posted by thepicman

Ok, I'll bite. How are you going to use a MDP130 with a dual core chip? DVD playback and network streaming are disabled. Also, R5000 mod on what? A Dishnetwork receiver connected to the machine?

Just Curious

TPM

Its true MyHD can't play networked files on dual core chips. Thats why I have Vantec EZ swap SATA hard drive racks installed on all of my HTPC machines. If I want to do some serious movie watching I will just transfer the drives with movie I want to see. Now if I want to watch some HD TV show from past season I can just stream it thru XBOX 360. Tv shows for me doesn't require MyHD playback. I also dont use MyHD for DVD playback. Not ever. I use TheaterTek for that if needed. My primary DVD playback right now is the HD-A1.

A Dish R5000 modded STB for this setup installed on the Antec P180.

I will NEVER disable the second core of my cpu just to play streaming .ts files especially when this machine will also be used for h.264 playback and HD DVD.

I will try my best to show everything step by step until completion.

[Xylon]

Originally Posted by vddobrev

The pictures of the cards you took are great, but you are asking for trouble puting them directly on that wooden surface. You should atleast use anti-static bag underneath.
I still don't understand why you with need two machines? If the primary function of the second being storage, this can easily be built in the first PC. There are boards with 8 (and probably more) sata connectors. In addition, you can use external drive eSata enclosures.

Not enough storage space for hard drives on Antec P180. I want as much hard drives online possible with flexiblity of shutting them down when needed. Lian-Li fits the bill.

[Xylon]

Filter goes under the PW.

[Xylon]

[Xylon]

[Xylon]

Cooling fans installed.

[Xylon]

PSU side.





Motherboard side.

All the wirings are just preliminary. I have to boot the machine and make sure the SATA cables go where they are suppose to go.

[kapone]

Very nice. I'm doing something similar, but with rackmount cases instead of this one. I even decided to split the "storage server" into multiple enclosures with one enclosure housing the MOBO, CPU RAID card etc, and stackable enclosures with eSATA port multipliers for hard drives. Each rack mountable enclosure will hold 10 drives.

[Xylon]

Originally Posted by kapone

Very nice. I'm doing something similar, but with rackmount cases instead of this one. I even decided to split the "storage server" into multiple enclosures with one enclosure housing the MOBO, CPU RAID card etc, and stackable enclosures with eSATA port multipliers for hard drives. Each rack mountable enclosure will hold 10 drives.

I tought about that project but its just too complicated and expensive. I decided to go smaller and modular.

[kapone]

Originally Posted by Xylon

I tought about that project but its just too complicated and expensive. I decided to go smaller and modular.

Your setup looks pretty good as well. I chose not to get the hot swappable drive bays, since I don't see a benefit for home usage. If I have to bring down the array because a drive failed, I'm ok with that. (But that's me. Doesn't mean everybody is the same). The rack cases are fairly cheap and they are solid. $80 ($45 + $35 shipping) shipped and if you buy in quantity, they give you a discount. I ordered 5 for $300. I don't need all 5 right now, but the fact that they all look the same, and I'm fairly certain that down the road I WILL need them, sooner than later, it made sense to buy 5 now.

That saved me some money. I guess the cost of your swappable drive bays is my cost for the eSata port multipliers, although you'll probably need them if you go beyond 8 drives.

Which brings up a good question. How many drives do you intend to have? I see that you bought an 8 channel controller, but bought drive enclosures for 20 drives? How do you intend to connect 20 drives?