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Show Your HTPC Setup

865K views 1K replies 449 participants last post by  Charles R 
#1 ·
#103 ·
Very impressive setups here, I just received a bunch of parts myself to build an HTPC, still have to get a few more things and Ill be ready to start...but first I had a question. I have an Antec Nine Hundred mid-ATX tower case, I saw a few setups on here where people had their machines on the carpet, does this not increase the chance of the system being compromised by static discharge? and one more thing...


xzener can you go into depth a little more on how you modded your 360 HD-DVD drive to fit in your case? I tried searching for a write up but didn't come up with much. I would love to integrate one into my system as oppose to having it reside externally.
 
#104 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mfs976 /forum/post/12402311


Very impressive setups here, I just received a bunch of parts myself to build an HTPC, still have to get a few more things and Ill be ready to start...but first I had a question. I have an Antec Nine Hundred mid-ATX tower case, I saw a few setups on here where people had their machines on the carpet, does this not increase the chance of the system being compromised by static discharge? and one more thing...


xzener can you go into depth a little more on how you modded your 360 HD-DVD drive to fit in your case? I tried searching for a write up but didn't come up with much. I would love to integrate one into my system as oppose to having it reside externally.

As long as your system is plugged into a grounded outlet, you will not have any problems with your computer being placed on carpet. When you touch the power button/outside of case, any charge is immediately sent to ground. FYI, it would be a different story if you opened up your case and directly touched a sensitive item (CPU, RAM, etc). :p
 
#106 ·
I can post an update to my setup (from page 1).... Here are quite a few pictures.


The computer was pretty quiet, but I thought the Yate Loon fans could be more quiet. To slow them down a bit, I bought a 5.25" Zalman fan controller and I like it a lot. This has made the system much more quiet for those quiet movie scenes. Just above the fan controller, I also added my own air intake with filter. The top fan didn't seem to do much in my setup, so I also removed it.


I have also replaced my 8800GTS SC (640MB) with and 8800GT SSC (512MB) to aid in hi-def material. The stock cooler was absolutely horrible. It looked cool and only took up one slot, but it did not cool well (60C idle) and was loud over 35% fan speed. I end up installing and Accelero S1 with some custom made RAM/voltage reg sinks. This dropped the idle down to 39-41C and when the the front and rear case fan is turned all the way up, it won't crack 45C when I'm pushing it (front door open or closed)(with fan turned down as low as I can, the card can reach 55C when it's being pushed)... Best of all, I run the cooler passively (aside from the case fan blowing across it).


Finally, I have added an LG HD DVD/Bly-Ray player and Hauppauge HVR-1600 analog and digital TV tuner (two tuners) which I have also been happy with. Other small things include soft mounted fans, sealing up some of the holes in the case/chambers and cleaning up the wiring.


Anyway, here are some pictures.
















I have so many spare parts laying around, I thougth I should actually use them and make another HTPC for my bedroom. My better half gave me the okay to get another case and do it. Hopefully, it'll handle HD DVD and Blu-Ray when I get an HDTV for the bedroom.


I really like the look of this case... I don't think many that come over will realize it is a computer. I'll likely post pics and specs when it is done.






On a side project, I added some (silent) cooling for my Xbox 360. I can keep the door closed so I don't have to hear the loud Xbox and keep it cool. I still have to do this to the otherside for my receiver. I currently have Panaflo 120mm fans in there turned down, but I am replacing with Yate Loon and will undervolt them.





I guess I posted lots of pictures.... Fun stuff.
 
#107 ·
here's my modest setup prior to finishing it off. its a 1950's radio that i bought off of ebay. my better half didn't want anymore electronics looking pieces, so i came up with this.


no, it can't play HD, but it does play DVD's, MP3's, streaming radio & provides a slideshow when entertaining.


it has a 1.5ghz via c7, 1gb ram, 60gb toshiba hd, linksys wifi, toshiba dvd player & pcchips mobo (7.5" x 9.5").


 
#109 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by gts007 /forum/post/12469952


something tells me i wouldnt get much props for posting a pic of a computer tower acting as a speaker stand.




Go ahead after all page three has a pic with a tower acting as a stand. This is so others can see what you are running and such. Doesn't really matter what it looks like as long as you are happy with it.
 
#110 ·
Just got mine setup, heres a few pics...(it will be closer to the wall once i get a usb extension for the keyboard)

Comments, suggestions welcome.


Also just got done routing the ethernet cable to it and I'm currently playing with my network, would it be a better option to just use file sharing and map my media drive/folders directly to my HTPC from my other pc and have Media center look in that shared directory?(this is what I'm doing now) or use actual "Media sharing" I can only get Media player to work this way not Media Center...


Basic specs:


Antec Nine Hundred

XFX nForce 680i SLI mobo

XFX GeForce 8800 GTX

Q6600 @ 2.4 GHz

4GB Corsair 800MHz DDR2

360 HD-DVD drive soon


 
#111 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wicked Klown /forum/post/12470062


Go ahead after all page three has a pic with a tower acting as a stand. This is so others can see what you are running and such. Doesn't really matter what it looks like as long as you are happy with it.

oh. OOPS, those are my pics. I totally forgot I posted them in this thread! LOL
 
#113 ·
IT'S Christmas



Lounge/sitting room. Used for Watching TV, Films and Karaoke


Case - Cheap one thats fits and looks ok

M/B - MSI P965 Neo (upto 8 ch Ac 97)

Graphics - FX 7600 PCI Express

Ram - 1 gig DDR11 800

O/S - Vista Home Premium

TV - 37" LCD Toshiba Regza

Cable - Virgin V+ HD

Cable Modem - Scientific Atlanta (20 meg)

AV Amp - Cheap Fidek Ac3 + through base (amplification only)

Wireless - Belkin 54g

Connections - Computer via DVI to HDMI. Cable via HDMI to HDMI

Sterreo Speakers - (below bottom corners of Tv) 2x3.5" 8 ome multi range Bosse (open box with plenty of padding)

Centre speakers - (centre below TV) 2x2" 4 ome in series mid to high range (open box with plenty of padding)

Rear speakers - (floor mounted) 2x3" 4 ome Closed box no pabbing


Sound - Excellant

HD from HDD - Excellant

HD from Cable - Good

Karaoke - Good fun (Mp3+g) (microphone connected via Av Amp)


Limitations/Problems


No optical on AV Amp


Regza TV has fixed resolution so over scan in windows, meadia Centre fix's this for films (so why can't this be done within windows? i.e. a boarder)


No HDDVD or Blueray Rom (too expensive in the UK, I will wait) although plenty of 1080 films on the internet


Everthing "R"A"T"T"L"E"S" and "V"I"B"R"A"T"E"S" if I stoke it up


What do you think?


 
#114 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mfs976 /forum/post/12402311


Very impressive setups here, I just received a bunch of parts myself to build an HTPC, still have to get a few more things and Ill be ready to start...but first I had a question. I have an Antec Nine Hundred mid-ATX tower case, I saw a few setups on here where people had their machines on the carpet, does this not increase the chance of the system being compromised by static discharge? and one more thing...


xzener can you go into depth a little more on how you modded your 360 HD-DVD drive to fit in your case? I tried searching for a write up but didn't come up with much. I would love to integrate one into my system as oppose to having it reside externally.

Sorry for the delay. I found a site that explains how to take it apart. Go here... http://uneasysilence.com/archive/2006/11/8303/ I then had to take an old cd drives case and cut it and attach in a way that my HDDVD drive would be able to screw into a PC case.


I then was able to slide it into the case (after cutting off a couple metal tabs from the drive) and screw it into place. I picked a Silverstone HTPC case from newegg, http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowIm...+Computer+Case

As you can see, a piece of metal attaches to the front of the drive, hiding the fact that it is an Xbox 360 HDDVD drive.


Now as far as the way its all hooked up, well nothing is different, still jooks up via USB and has its own power brick. The USB, and power cord come out the back of the case and plug in.


I use Cyberlink Power DVD Ultra to play my movies. They look just as good on my HTPC as they did on the 360.


I'm happy with my mod, all accept for my drunk a$$ loosing the eject botton circuitry of the drive. I could have easily modded into the PC case, and have it be fully functional. But no, my drunk a$$ misplaced it. Oh well, I can still eject the drive through the OS.


Good luck
 
#115 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by ND23 /forum/post/12346146


Thank you. No, it's a plain ol' 17" Sony LCD, circa 2001. Maybe I'll replace it with a nice-size widescreen LCD soon (Christmas deal, perhaps?). I don't always like to fire up the projector when it's just me down there... I'm content to watch on the LCD in front of my face.


ND

Great room. What is the size and also what is the throw distance for the PJ?


Thanks
 
#116 ·
I got the okay to build a second HTPC for a differnet room, so I picked up an Antec NSK2480 today. I'm actually using a lot of left over parts from other builds and such. All I had to really buy is a case (actually have nice Kingwin, but wanted an actual HTPC case), motherboard, and processor. I'll be using a left over HIS X1650XT (AGP), Kingston DDR 434 HyperX RAM (1GB), two SATA I HDD's, and a DVD drive.


The motherboard is a Gigabyte .... somethings, and I just ordered an E4500, and a Scythe Ninja Mini. I also have an extra copy of XP MCE 2005 I'll be using. When I find a good deal on 2x1GB DDR, I'll run Vista. For now, this will be on a standard TV, so videos are just about all it will be used for.
 
#118 ·
Finally got around to updating my Home Theatre. I wont go into all the old items I replaced (everything but the DVD Jukebox), I'm just glad that Ebay and Craig's List allowed me to recoop a lot of my costs.



Side View:



The Components:



So what's in the PC (which btw is at the lower right in the above Picture)...


HTPC Parts:

Gigabyte GA-MA69GM-S2H Motherboard (great thread from the [H]ard http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1216020 and more from AVS Forums http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=924348

AMD X2 4600+ (Overclocked to 2.65GHz) cooled with a Mini-Ninja

Radeon HD2600XT (using the HDMI output for Video and 5.1 Sound)

2 GIgs of DDR2 memory

20X SATA DVD Writable Drive

2 Seagate 500Gig Drives (Movie Storage)

1 Seagate 350Gig Drive (Vista 32bit OS)

D-Link Wireless N network card

IMON VFD IR Receiver w/remote

Silverstone Case


The Rest of the Stuff:

Toshiba 65" (65HM167) DLP TV (has 3 HDMI connectors)

Sony STR-DG810 Receiver - Top Left

Sony 400 Disc DVD Jukebox (CX995V) - Top Right

Dish VIP622 HD-DVR - Lower Middle

HSU Ventriloquist VT12 Speakers with STF-2 Subwoofer. http://hsuresearch.com/

300 Watt Amp used to drive the speakers below - Lower Left

Aura BaseShaker Pro's (4 of them in the couch, for that extra realism during explosions, earthquakes and stuff)






I hate having a ton of remotes:



So I got one to Rule them All...



Wow, need to clean off the fingerprints on this sucker. For everyone not aware what this remote is, its a Pronto TSU9400 (new remote, been out since Nov). I had the old black and white Pronto TSU3000 and had to retire it, as it couldn't do the things I wanted it to do. If your into programmable remotes, visit Remote Central, its a great site. http://www.remotecentral.com/index.html


Here's some shots of the HTPC in action:



Gotta plug My Movies add-on for Media Center. http://www.mymovies.dk/home.aspx



One more gaget for your Home Theatre:



It's a Lutron Maestro IR Dimmer. It allows for scenes, so you can set it to dim the lights to a specific setting, all with the touch of a single button. Very cool, and it cost a whole $20 at Home Depot and took about 15 minutes to install.



My advice to anyone who like's my setup (or any of the other setups you see here or come across), is to do your homework on the parts, and make sure they do what you need them to do. Also, don't worry about spending the big bucks on everything at once. Take your time and do it right the first time, and you wont have a lot of headaches getting things to play nice with each other.


Oh, and don't ever think you are done...hehehe, couple of items on my Xmas list...


HSU MBM-12 Mid-Bass Module http://hsuresearch.com/products/mbm-12.html


Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse Combo (I really like the MS Wireless Entertainment Desktop 8000 http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mo...s.aspx?pid=080
 
#120 ·
Here is one of mine. I have 2 HT's in my house. These don't show the best pics of my PC but you can see it there.





HTPC 1 -

Asus P5KC Motherboard

Intel Dual Core 6600

MSI 8500GT

2 Gig DDR2 Memory

160 gig Segate HD

Fusion 5 tuner card

Thermaltake Case


HTPC 2 (not pictured)

Identical to #1 except no TV tuner and it has a Eagle Tech Case


Rest of the system for HTPC 1

Optima HD70 Projector

106" screen

Pioneer VSX-1017 Reciever

Zenith DVD

JBL Rear sides

JBL Rear backs

SVS 16-46 PCi Subwoofer

Thearter Research front and center


Rest of the system for HTPC 2

Mitsubishi 65" 1080p DLP

Pioneer VSX-1016 Reciever

Toshiba A3 HD-DVD player

Yamaha Fronts (with 15" side firing subs)

Yamaha Center

Yamaha powered Sub

Kenwood bipolar rears

Kenwood amp (for 15" subs)

HTPC (for HDDVD, BluRay, DVD library)

Paramax Line conditioner

Wii
 
#122 ·
Here's an update of mine...check it out. I re-did the cable management because I wasn't satisfied with the initial result as you can see from my previous post.. as well as adding a 360 HDDVD drive that pretty much set itself up. This thing has brought some additional life to my once semi-boring living room, its great when people come over we can browse youtube, listen to all my music, view pics over my network, watch hddvd and I can play games..does anyone know if the theres a way to get the 360HDDVD remote to work with the drive through the HTPC?? or should I invest in a Media Center remote? Thanks.




 
#125 ·
LOL, fixed the post, was a typo. I wish it was running at 4.65GHz...


Default in the Bios was 12x200=2400

I set it to 12x220=2640


So you caught me, it isn't set to 2.65Ghz, it is only 2.64Ghz.



Best part is, it runs at around 32-34c during movie playback. Perhaps you didn't get the low power CPU (mine is the 45w version).
 
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