Assassin's Simple/Beginner HTPC Buying Guide - Page 425

I can't seem to find in the guides this problem.. I added a 3rd hhd , outta a build that I was breaking down it's a raid formatted HHD , my new build is not a raid array , I have SSd as the OS drive ,then a 1TB HHD & now want to add the 640 gb HHD as well but the system will not show it in my computer ,It is on the device manager & is running I feel it turn on when I boot .. My question is how do I get this to show up & be able to use the 3rd HHD ?? I looked but I couldn't find the info ...I used to know how but it's been 5 years since the last build senior moment I guess

that's the problem the 3rd HHD will not show in my computer

I can't reformat if I can't get the PC to show the 3rd HHD in "my computer "

no raid .. the old system had a raid

called a "volume 0 " the RAID 1 if I remember right ..the one where all the drives work as one drive

comes up in the bios a RAID 1 ? Asus rampage formula 775 socket is the old mobo it was a 2 drive RAID array that is all ready is tore down . trying to use one of those 2 drives in my new build as a 3rd drive
new system will only show the 3rd drive as "Volume0" in the device manger & will not let access it , the 3rd drive (outta the old RAID array) will not show up in my computer .

OK I got it done lucky I was tearing down 2 PC's with Raid array's
so I used the last PC to kill the Raid arrays
I cancelled the Raid array\\s in bios,then used a W7 install disk to start a OS start & @ the part where you can reformat the drives I let the OS start-up do that & delete the partions as well ,, did that with 5 drives by doing that I can put the drives into the new system & it see's them & lets me do a complete reformat as well .... anyway Thanx for being there

I found anything too much higher than 120 seconds caused the main title tracks not to be detected on some DVDs.

Hello

First time looking into a HTPC. First off I am very thankful everyone on here that provides info/tips/advice, it all has been very helpful and have made be want to attempt to build one.

Here is what I have put together (almost all of the items are from this guide):

-ASUS SATA 6 Gb/s DisplayPort Intel Z68 Micro ATX DDR3 2200 Intel LGA 1155 Motherboards P8Z68-M Pro
-Intel Core i3-2100 Processor 3.1GHz 3 MB Cache Socket LGA1155
-G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB 2GBx2
-Antec EarthWatts EA-380D Green 380 Watt 80 PLUS BRONZE Power Supply
-SilverStone Front Panel and SECC Body Micro ATX HTPC Computer Case GD04B
-Lite-On 12x Internal Optical Blu-Ray BD DVD CD-R Writer Burner
-Crucial 64 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s
-Seagate Barracuda 7200 3 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb/s
-Western Digital Caviar Green 2 TB
-TP-Link TL-WN951N 300Mbps Wireless N PCI Adapter


I do have one question but cant seem to find the answer. I want 2 internal HD and 1 SSD as well as a Blu Ray Drive. Will all four of these items fit in the case that I have on my list??


Thanks

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...3158&Tpk=GD04B

Looks like that would be a yes . Your selected amount of drives and types will be fine .

I would consider your build a well thought out build and looks as though you have been reading the "guides" . That is a VERY smart move !

Make sure you pony up for the paid portion of the guides as they are nearly a requirement for getting through the htpc set up portion of the project

Would love to see some pics of the build !

Again ... nice work

BTW .... I almost missed the most important part, WELCOME TO THE FORUM

Might want to consider a wireless keyboard and remote. Looks great, otherwise.
Have fun!

NewEgg has the ASUS P8Z68-V LX LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS on sale for $94 right now EGGSAVER.

http://www.newegg.com/Special/ShellS...1-_-04262012_3

Not sure if you needed something specific on the M-PRO Z68 board or not??

I have one of these boards and it's a pretty solid and higher end board for that price. I run a 2500k CPU on it.

Also- Why a 2TB and 3TB? Just get two 3TB's? That struck me funny.
You can get the Samsung and the Seagate 2TB now for $89-109. The green WD is more expensive and slower. I have RMA more WD drives than others in recent past as well. 5 this year so far. Starting to go against WD myself personally. But I do own both 2TB and 3TB WD greens. They are good if your looking for a (slow) quiet drive. But since you have a 3TB Seagate (those are very fast!) also in the case that negates the quiet cool angle people usually play for the WD greens. So I would just get a cheaper Samsung or Seagate - or another 3TB.

One more thing- You could go 8GB DDR3 for $10 more if you look for the 15% deal NewEgg runs- It should cost you $30-$40 for the Same 1600mhz RIPJAWZ in an 8GB kit. Worth the extra IMO.

And- Last-
2100 i3 is a very nice CPU but for the price you can get a lower wattage version i3 for quiet cool operation, reduced energy- and even get HD3000 level graphics. 2100T, i3 2105 or 2120t

That all said- I think you did a good job building your HTPC and I see no reason to not pull the trigger as is if you decided you want to do it.

I am just playing devil's advocate for you

You did well. All those choices are solid choices and no doubt the end result should be as desired.

Awesome looking build. I would however recommend going wired Ethernet to the mobo if at all possible. Save money not buying a wireless adapter and better connectivity.

^^^^ what he said, especially the better CPU. The couple of bucks difference to get a better integrated graphics processor (As in the I3-2105, for example) is a slam dunk.

Are these (i3) processors going to drop in price soon with the release of Ivy Bridge? Has anyone seen any change recently?
And, probably most importantly, would there be much of a difference between the recommended i3s and my current G530?

the lower end i3's of the Ivy bridge flavor aren't due out for awhile , so not to look much $ movement down till then on them i3 sandy b's
I just got a 2105 speedy thing that cool CPU has lots of features ... $134 amazon & the egg , that's going in the office rig ... I'm rebuilding all my 4 PC's in the house .
Me want me some Ivy
looks like this weekend for the i7's Ivy's .. look to see the i7 , i5 Sandy Brig=dge's drop in price next week ..
, I know TOTAL overkill with a Ivy i7 , but I'm a overkill guy
... L O L it's only money Right ! .... Not that I recommend that everyone do I as do..PLZ be responsible............
& No I'm not saying mine is bigger than yours either @ anyone .. I just like going with the top CPU's .............Trust me I know that is not the Wise thing to do .. I can't help myself

I'm off to read the paid guides on setting up the software......Damn wish they were around when I was doing my 775 socket builds a few years back...
Assassin You've done Great Work on them Guides Good Buddy !!!
, I will continue to support you anyway I can ...

Two weeks of shenanigans with ASRock motherboards but I've finally put together my first htpc.

Apex MI-008 mini-itx case w/250 watt power supply
Intel BOXDH67CFB3 LGA 1155 H67 HDMI SATA 6GB/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX motherboard
Intel Pentium G620 sandy bridge 2.6ghz
G.Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333
Crucial 64GB SATA III SSD
Samsung F4 2TB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Silverstone NTO7-1156 90mm cpu cooler
Scythe 120mm case fan
TP-Link TL-WN722N USB 2.0 Wireless Adapter (unable to hard wire)
IOGEAR wireless keyboard w/laser trackball and scroll wheel GKM561R
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
Assassin HTPC Guides and Tutorials
Will add remote at some point

Nothing sweeter than hearing that post sound that's been evading you for a few weeks. And building a mini-itx for the first time was quite an experience.

My main reason for building the htpc was to have a better experience with my media than streaming wireless to the xbox 360 was providing. I've only made it through the first two Assassin guides (wmc and mb setup) and holy @#$^* does this thing rock. I can see a server in my future.

Awesome guides Assassin, can't wait to get through the rest of them!

Bought the Assassin and Renethx guides and came up with the following for my HTPC and storage:

NAS/DAS/Server
Case: Antec Twelve Hundred V3
HDD Cages x4: NORCO SS-500 5 Bay
PSU: PC Power and Cooling Silencer Mk II 750W
CPU: Xeon E3-1225 3.1GHz 4C/4T 95W LGA 1155 / Intel HD Graphics P3000
Motherboard: Supermicro X9SCM-F MBD-X9SCM-F-O LGA 1155 Intel C204 chipset microATX with IPMI
Memory: Kingston ValueRAM KVR1333D3E9SK2/8G DDR3-1333 ECC CL9 2 x 4GB Kit
HBA x2: Supermicro AOC-SAS2LP-MV8 8-port SAS/SATA 6.0Gb/s Controller PCI Express 2.0 x8 Card
Cable x4: 0.5m SFF-8087 to Four SATA Forward Breakout Cable (3ware CBL-SFF8087OCF-05M)

HTPC
CPU: Sandy Bridge LGA1155 (3D) Intel i3-2125
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 z68
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL
PSU: PC Power and Cooling Silencer MKIII 400 watt Modular
SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 120GB (flexible on this as far as price- Samsung, Crucial are other choices)
Case: LIAN LI Black Aluminum PC-C37B Micro ATX
Optical Drive: LITE-ON Blu-ray Combo Model ihes112-04
Remote: Harmony One

I am coming from a Synology NAS with 2tbx4 in Raid 5. I've had it for less than a year and filled it up faster than I thought which is why I want to transition to the above. I intend to use XBMC for the movies, photos, and music from my storage and would like some input on some questions I have for this set up:

1) unRaid or Flexraid for the server. I was pretty much set to go with unRaid as it was my previous understanding that Flexraid only offered a snapshot system, whereas unRaid was real time. But, now I believe they both have this option, so I am not sure which to go with. It seems like both would fit my needs. I know there are a bunch of Flexraid vs. unRaid threads, but I am really just trying to make sure there isn't something I am overlooking in one vs the other for my needs.

2) Remote access- Synology has all those easy to use secure remote access features and apps to let you stream music and access files. From the guides, it seems either Remote Potato or Plex is an option for my builds. At a minimum I would like to stream music and be able to download files, or at maximum be able to transcode from the server to my phone or laptop. I see that both can do this, but can they really transcode full Bluray MKV's to an Android phone with decent quality? If so, is it better to do this from the server or the HTPC? Are the specs on my build enough for this?

3) 3D - I know the above is able to playback 3D, but I have been trying to find confirmation about 3D MVC files in a MKV container. It is my understanding that PowerDVD 12 is needed for this. If so, I figure it would be easiest to just have PowerDVD launch for all of my media playback, or should I set it just for the 3D MVC MKV type of file and let XBMC handle the rest?

Any input on my specs is appreciated and I've read a ton of info lately so I am trying to make sure I have a better understanding of what is possible here without getting mixed up.

Thank you everyone for the advice and comments. Will look into the paid guides as this would be my first attempt and building a compter.

To tell you the truth, I am not sure why I picked a 3tb and a 2tb (def should go for the 3tb x 2)

I am keeping an eye on the prices to try and catch the best deals.

If I end up building this HTPC, there will certainly be pictures.


Thanks Again

Just heads up if your going back and forth between 3tb and 2tb.

Newegg has the 2.5tb green on special for 119$ today. It's a refurb.

here's a few deals one a i3 2120
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-i3-2120-...YVBTAYXQB43KFR

& here's a 3TB HHD
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o02_s00_i01

Just bought a 3TB seagate. The better one than staples, for $129 at costco. No rebates and no ********.

Love it.

I'm late to the party but do you have a link for that?

And the Mushkin 120GB SSD (Sata II) for $99 shipped just went live 1 PM 27 April.
This is at Newegg, BTW

If they do, it won't be much of a drop. For example, the I3-530 was within $20 of the going price when the I3-21xx hit the shelves.

As for the G530 and the I3-2105, there's a bit of performance gain (2.8 VS 3.1 GHz) as well as a different grapfics core, I believe.

My H61 board didn't have a HDMI port but the PQ using VGA with the G520was fairly good on a 60 inch 1080P monitor while I built the system. I didn't test it with movies and such, and it's now in a rack with a 1280 x 1024 monitor (which is what I built it for). My brief impression was that it would be good for a HTPC under ~40 inches.

Actually, it's doing quite fine with a 57 inch RPCRT. I don't think the graphics engine makes that much of a difference (actually, Assassin doesn't, which is much more important), and I don't "need" an improvement in performance, at least not enough to re-buy a cpu.
Thanks for the feedback.
Michael