Assassin's Simple/Beginner HTPC Buying Guide - Page 501

720 is a good trade off on quality versus size versus time. To be honest I actually go into the config.ini file and set FixedResolution=True for the MKV High Quality. That way it will leave the output MKV the same resolution as the wtv file.
Edited by Wilky13 - 12/19/12 at 8:22pm

At the point, 99% of your file size reduction is really the result of removing commercials. Just wanted that to be clear

over 15000 posts

Thank you, Dropkick Murphy. I will order them today.

Thank you cheezit. I have 3 fans and will need at list one power splitter My board has only one 3 pin Chassis fan connector. It also has 2 four pin cpu fan connector ( I use only one for CPU), and Power fan connector (also 4 pin). Not sure if I should use those. Any thoughts?

Look at the motherboard's manual and see how the 4-pin connectors are set up. On my Gigabyte GA-F2A75M-D3H, the CPU fan header is a 4-pin that can be operated under PWM (4-pin) or voltage (3-pin) control. There are two chassis fan connectors, both 4-pin, but SYS_FAN1 only operates under voltage control, and SYS_FAN2 only operates under PWM control. So you can plug in a 3-pin fan to SYS_FAN2 but it will run full speed only. I bought a 3-way 3-pin fan splitter to hook up all three fans to SYS_FAN1: http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=31263

Or you can use Assassin's trick to reduce the voltage to that fan by changing the wires.

Thank you SlantNGo and LasButNotLeast. I have connected all the fans to the motherboard, it all works fine! The fans are really quiet, so I don't mind having one of them to run at full speed.

My i3 based HTPC has been running well for almost a year with an internal SSD and a single external 1.5 TB drive that is almost full. My thought is to add a new internal drive and would appreciate recommendations. The system is on 24/7 and also serves as back-up and does some file-serving to another PC on the network. My first thought was to follow Assassin's hardware recommendations but based on Newegg feedback the Samsung 2TB F4 is now made by Seagate and best avoided-- other recommendations are no linger available. It would be nice to get a 3TB drive and the 3 platter Barracuda looked promising but noise seems to be a major issue. Reliability seems to be a huge issue in general for HDDs especially since the flood. Recommendations appreciated!

Maybe this one:

Toshiba DT01ACA300

Appears to be an Hitachi disk.

Some shops in Holland offer 3 yr. warranty.

Or perhaps Western Digital Reds.

Now that NZBMatrix has closed, what should we use next? Will the Assassin guide be updated to reflect and guide us now that this option is no longer available?

There's a few others. Google is your friend.

Thanks for the reply, Sammy2, but I'm hoping Assassin will chime in and update the paid guide I am attempting to use.

I understand. Try index instead of matrix.

I'm old school, I like WD.
Green is fast enough and quiet.

I'm thinking of getting the WD 3TB WD30EZRX but the reviews on Neweggs are that this drive is not very reliable. Anybody has this drive? Thanks.

Been running 1 in a FlexRAID storage pool as the PPU and another is my primary RecordedTV drive in a Win7 HTPC. Had them since late September, no problems.

I've been getting by w/o nzbmatrix for a long time.
Edited by Sammy2 - 12/27/12 at 9:45am

I have two. About to go on my third due to RMA.

All three have had issue for me.

I would look at a RED drive (longer warranty, lower power use, faster performance) or a 3TB Seagate which is also on par but cheaper.

$135 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148844


I hate to be so negative on the GREEN line because I think they are ok for general use. But they are dated in design and it's not 2010/2011 anymore. They really don'y have a power saving advantage I see over RED or even more modern designed HDD's. That was originally the benefit two years ago but many others have caught up in this area. Noise also. I think modern HDD's are much quieter than just a couple years ago. Warranty is a disadvantage for WD GREEN too. Shrinking the warranty on green and providing a longer warranty on a RED drives just suggests to me a long term reliability disparity. If it did not save them money then why do it ? If they know the greens would last at the same failure rate and long term use- then why not hold this advantage over Hitachi or Seagate or Samsung ?

A newer/better RED drive uses less power than a Green Drive. It performs better too. And- It has a longer warranty. It might be -$15 more expensive on average street prices daily but if catch a deal they are often the same prices. RED does not have the intellipark feature for headparking- and it is recommended for 24/7 use. I just don't see much value in GREEN drives today. I think many storage solutions today are based off servers and NAS boxes- for which RED and others make much more sense over a green drive IMO. But- Green holds a nice niche as a solid choice for in PC basic storage. So inside a HTPC or a simple desktop it makes sense. That was always it's original intended purpose. The consumer habits and applications have changed since then and that is why you see RED's and more appropriate drives recommended for RAID, NAS BOXES and servers.

Originally GREEN were available for a great price- and they were on a good trend of HDD's to be more efficient, cooler, quiter. Today they have lost much advantage in cool/quiet/energy since competition has improved in these areas. Greens are also not seen for great prices anymore. A great deal is the only reason I would see for buying a green drive today. If it's cheaper it's probably a solid move to snatch one and use it. If it's not cheaper- I would look for a cheaper drive or a better drive model for the same price.

Seagate 3TB's are the cheaper alternative. They are pretty solid performers, not terrible in energy/noise/heat and have a decent track record. It's a more modern HDD design. Pretty much any 3TB drive is the more modern design FYI. Smaller drives you would need to research more.

Green is not that bad- but there is some suspect reliability issues that may or may not be significant or true. I've personally had bad luck but I am open to the idea I might just be a personal experience that is not indicative of the general population.

I'd buy a green for less $- but I'd buy a RED or a Seagate for the same $$$.


Here is a good comparision:



http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/hdd-charts-2012/-26-Power-Requirement-at-Idle,2917.html











Here is more comparision:
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/hdd-charts-2012/compare,2917.html?prod%5B5654%5D=on&prod%5B5605%5D=on&prod%5B5348%5D=on&prod%5B5359%5D=on&prod%5B5358%5D=on&prod%5B5360%5D=on&prod%5B5327%5D=on


Bottom line is buy what you get a good deal on. If Green is a good deal I would not "not" recommend it. But I would have a hard time recommending a GREEN drive at the same price or greater. If it's a NAS box, or a 24/7 use server that's going to run a lot of parity or validation you might look for a drive with better endurance and longevity and specifically recommended for that purpose by the MFG. Inside a HTPC a green drive is a good choice.

I am at a point where I need to start transcoding my recordings, and I was curious about how long it takes on average for HD half hour and hour shows. I didn't know if the guide covered it or not. I am looking to build a new PC dedicated to do it while also game on the side so I am trying to figure out how much of a benefit I would see going to the i3770K.

In my case these will be TiVo recordings so still raw Mpeg2 and I am just looking to encoding them into 720p MKVs comparable with what you can find released out in torrents. I just want to save space while also having it still look good on my 60" plasma.

Can you please share with me what you are using. If you want, you can PM me...

This is my first HTPC build. I'm looking for more wireless options like the ones listed in the Hardware Guide.

"B/G/N network - Rosewill PCI-Express" --discontinued.

"B/G network only - Rosewill PCI" --doesn't say if Windows 8 64 is supported.

"B/G/N network - Rosewill PCI" --discontinued.

Other wireless adapters I've looked at support Win7, but Windows 8 64? I don't know.
I won't be streaming high bitrates. My ISP's Netopia router only supports 802.11b/g anyway, no n.
Also I want Bluetooth for my BT mouse and keyboard that I use with my current laptop HTPC.
I know about the WiFi & Bluetooth PCIe combo from Gigabyte. Windows 8 support? I don't know.
I also know about the ASUS motherboards with WiFi, but I've already installed an ASRock H77M.
Antennas would be okay on back of Silverstone GD05b, I prefer PCI or PCIe; USB dongles only if I must.

Any suggestions? TIA

Fair enough. I might just have crappy luck, would not surprise me.

I have had bad luck with the 1.5tb green drives but my 1t b and 2tb have been fine. I just rma'd a 1.5 this week.

I've had quite a few of the 1.5TB green drives. I did RMA one of them. At one time, 1.5 TB was the best $/GB. Now, it might be 2TB. I have a mixture of 1 TB (only one), 1.5 TB (three) and 2 TB (two) drives in my unraid server. The 1TB only because drives got so expensive for a while. I also have two 3TB drives as backup plus drives in each of my three computers.

Assassin, Sent you a PM

Thanks