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Assassin's Simple/Beginner HTPC Buying Guide - Page 293

post #8761 of 15479
12/3/11 at 1:34pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tizi View Post

Assassin, just finished another build using the G620 and MI-008 case. I used the stock heatsink on the G620 and it touches the PSU as you indicated in your tutorial, is that going to be a problem? I noticed the temps on one of the cores is about 8 dgrees C higher than the other...not sure if that is why. Have read that is fairly normal, but this is the first CPU I have that does this.

You can make it work if you want. Now you see why I pointed out out though. keep an eye on your temps and noise.
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post #8762 of 15479
12/3/11 at 1:37pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jobber8742 View Post

So I just performed my first Xbox 360 Media Center Extender test with mixed results. I hooked it up wirelessly for the test. I intend to hardwire it when it is finalized. I got it to work somewhat. The 360 sees my media, displays my media center and Media Brower, but I ran into some problems from there. First, the picture looked like garbage. Lots of pixelation. Does the 360 downsample videos to match the network connection? I'm guessing that this is why it looked like garbage. The second issue, which is more important is I did not get audio from my my HD videos. I'm guessing that it is because they have HD audio on them. The receiver hooked up to the 360 is not capable of HD audio. I want to keep HD audio because my main receiver is capable. Is there a way around this? Can I bitstream my audio on the main HTPC connection and output capatible audio for my other connection?

Edit: I should metion that the HD videos are encoded in 1080p but the TV and receiver that are hooked up to the 360 are only capable of max 1080i. Could this be causing the poor picture at all?

You are entering a world that has lots of limitations. I think the extenders aren't that good --- especially for hd. Take a look at some of the threads here at avs for more info.
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post #8763 of 15479
12/3/11 at 1:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

You are entering a world that has lots of limitations. I think the extenders aren't that good --- especially for hd. Take a look at some of the threads here at avs for more info.

I don't like the way that sounds. Luckily, probably 80-85% of my viewing will be on the main machine with the majority of the viewing from the extenders being DVR/Live TV, but I do want it to all work right. I'll do some browsing to see what I can find. Unfortunately, I can't be building multiple HTPCs right now. Yet . I Need to build a massive server big enough to house my 1000+ DVDs, 1200 Blu-Rays, & DVR recordings first and even that'll have to wait because hard drive prices.
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post #8764 of 15479
12/3/11 at 1:51pm
I started working on my older computer while ripping some movies on the new HTPC. I know the rips are good because everything plays smooth on the new system. I am having issues with the sound from the Bluray rips... When I ripped them I did them in DTS-HD only.. Which works fine with the sound going to my receiver in my home theater.

This computer I am working on I have hooked up via DVI-HDMI adapter directly to the HDMI input on the TV (video works great) Found out you cant do audio from a DVI out so I just hooked an 1/8 inch phono plug from the sound card to the standard red/white input jacks on the TV. I dont expect the TV to output DTS or anything I just want the moives to have sound..

The regular DVDs I have cataloged play fine and audio works great. Since I know I ripped the Blurays with DTS-HD only I went back and redid one and selected DTS-HD and Dolby Digital 2 channel using Make MKV. I am using LAV Filters and graph studio and this computer is setup exactly per the guides. I am using windows 7 64bit. I wanted to try this going to a regular TV with no receiver before I got to far and waisted a lot of time. Anybody have any ideas? Like I said it is the blurays only I am having the problem with.
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post #8765 of 15479
12/3/11 at 2:48pm
2 Questions:

1. I'm using one SATA HDD and partitioned 50 gb out of the 2 TB for Windows. Do I follow through the same method as adding a new hard drive to get my unallocated part back? Just click the one HDD, select the unused partition, and New Simple Wizard?

2. In WMC, my Left Front speaker will not sound when I run the test, but everything else is fine. Is something wrong with the driver maybe?

Also, what's the most used way to rip DVDS for Media Browser?
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post #8766 of 15479
12/3/11 at 3:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ashmanarion View Post

2 Questions:

1. I'm using one SATA HDD and partitioned 50 gb out of the 2 TB for Windows. Do I follow through the same method as adding a new hard drive to get my unallocated part back? Just click the one HDD, select the unused partition, and New Simple Wizard?

2. In WMC, my Left Front speaker will not sound when I run the test, but everything else is fine. Is something wrong with the driver maybe?

Also, what's the most used way to rip DVDS for Media Browser?

I had the same thing happening when I was testing my speakers the front left did not seem to work or it was quieter than the other speakers. It plays everything fine though. I am wondering if it is something with the test levels or something in the test speaker setup.

I'm using winx dvd platinum. I paid for it but it is very simple for copying, 3 steps and your ripping, make mkv works very good for blurays

I just did the sound test again and both front speakers sound the same so you may have another issue. I had some codec problems etc that may have been causing it originally
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post #8767 of 15479
12/3/11 at 4:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cali Sal View Post


-G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
-Cooler Master BladeMaster 120mm PWM High Air Flow Silent Case Fan
-ASRock H67M-ITX Socket 1155/ Intel H67/ SATA3&USB3.0/ A&V&GbE/ Mini-ITX Motherboard
-Intel Core i3-2100T Processor 2.50 GHz 3 MB Cache Socket LGA1155
-APEX MI-008 Tower Black P4 Chassis with 250W Itx Psu+sata Power Supply
-Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (Full) System Builder DVD 1 Pack
-Samsung Spinpoint F4EG 2 TB SATA2 5400rpm 32 MB Hard Drive HD204UI/Z4
-Crucial 64 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s
-Samsung Blu-Ray Combo Internal 12XReadable and DVD-Writable Drive
-Rosewill RNX-N250PC IEEE 802.11b/g, IEEE 802.11n Draft PCI Draft N 2T2R Wireless Adapter Up to 300Mbps
!

Hi Assassin, I made a couple of changes to this build and finished w/ assembly. I have a couple of questions I was hoping you could help out with.

1. I couldn't for the life of me get the Rosewill Wireless Adapter to fit and come to find out (or so Fry's told me) that this will not work with this mobo, is this correct? Is my only option a USB adapter? The mobo manual says it's a PCIe slot but Fry's said it's for Video cards only. This adapter is PCI only.

2. The fan that came with the CPU is super loud . Is this normal and is there a way to slow it down or shut it the hell up (hahaha)? Can cable management play a part in the noise of the fan? I still need to clean that up, but even with the case open, the fan seems real loud.

Thanks!
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post #8768 of 15479
12/3/11 at 4:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dpnaylor View Post

I started working on my older computer while ripping some movies on the new HTPC. I know the rips are good because everything plays smooth on the new system. I am having issues with the sound from the Bluray rips... When I ripped them I did them in DTS-HD only.. Which works fine with the sound going to my receiver in my home theater.

This computer I am working on I have hooked up via DVI-HDMI adapter directly to the HDMI input on the TV (video works great) Found out you cant do audio from a DVI out so I just hooked an 1/8 inch phono plug from the sound card to the standard red/white input jacks on the TV. I dont expect the TV to output DTS or anything I just want the moives to have sound..

The regular DVDs I have cataloged play fine and audio works great. Since I know I ripped the Blurays with DTS-HD only I went back and redid one and selected DTS-HD and Dolby Digital 2 channel using Make MKV. I am using LAV Filters and graph studio and this computer is setup exactly per the guides. I am using windows 7 64bit. I wanted to try this going to a regular TV with no receiver before I got to far and waisted a lot of time. Anybody have any ideas? Like I said it is the blurays only I am having the problem with.


In this case you need the TMT trick or something to decode the sound at the PC and pass the core DTS to your tv as PCM. You will also have to set the default sound output to be analog two channel. lav bitstreaming should not be checked.
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post #8769 of 15479
12/3/11 at 4:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ashmanarion View Post

2 Questions:

1. I'm using one SATA HDD and partitioned 50 gb out of the 2 TB for Windows. Do I follow through the same method as adding a new hard drive to get my unallocated part back? Just click the one HDD, select the unused partition, and New Simple Wizard?

2. In WMC, my Left Front speaker will not sound when I run the test, but everything else is fine. Is something wrong with the driver maybe?

Also, what's the most used way to rip DVDS for Media Browser?

1) what are you trying to get back? The rest of the drive should be visible and manageable if you right click computer and select manage..

2)same here but works fine in normal play

MakeMkv or dvdFab work great for both formats(dvd or blu) especially if your planning to use the mkv container. DvdFab can do almost any format including iso. A lot of people like anydvd for ISO..
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post #8770 of 15479
12/3/11 at 6:10pm
Do you guys have any preferences when it comes to RAM?

I'm looking for inexpensive DDR3 1600 2x2GB and I found these two on Newegg for basically the same price, after a rebate on one.

What do you think?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145339

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820104223
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post #8771 of 15479
12/3/11 at 7:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mariob33 View Post

1) what are you trying to get back? The rest of the drive should be visible and manageable if you right click computer and select manage..

2)same here but works fine in normal play

MakeMkv or dvdFab work great for both formats(dvd or blu) especially if your planning to use the mkv container. DvdFab can do almost any format including iso. A lot of people like anydvd for ISO..

1. I'm trying to get the rest of the 2tb drive since I've partitioned 50gb of it for Windows. I'm only seeing the 50gb partition in Explorer for the local drive. I'm guessing I can just go into the drive management, right click the unallocated part of the HDD and go through the simple wizard to create the rest of the partition? Sorry, never partitioned before(I know, stupid of me.)
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post #8772 of 15479
12/3/11 at 8:01pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ashmanarion View Post

1. I'm trying to get the rest of the 2tb drive since I've partitioned 50gb of it for Windows. I'm only seeing the 50gb partition in Explorer for the local drive. I'm guessing I can just go into the drive management, right click the unallocated part of the HDD and go through the simple wizard to create the rest of the partition? Sorry, never partitioned before(I know, stupid of me.)

Yes, this is what you do. Do you use my guides? If so I show you how this is done illustrated step by step. Otherwise you can google it.
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post #8773 of 15479
12/3/11 at 8:02pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by pman555 View Post

Do you guys have any preferences when it comes to RAM?

I'm looking for inexpensive DDR3 1600 2x2GB and I found these two on Newegg for basically the same price, after a rebate on one.

What do you think?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145339

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820104223

I'd probably go with the Kingston without the rebate headache personally. Both are very good sticks of RAM.
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post #8774 of 15479
12/3/11 at 8:03pm
assassin, yea, I use the guide and that's where I saw that it kind of had to work that way. I just wanted to make sure. I need to rip some dvds and blu-rays so I can continue through the guides. I guess DVD Fab and MakeMKV will be my choices.
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post #8775 of 15479
12/3/11 at 8:05pm
Also, on boot I'm getting a loading screen before Windows that says Looking for operating system...........

One time it asked me which OS to choose(I only have W7 installed). What's up with this?
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post #8776 of 15479
12/3/11 at 8:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post


I'd probably go with the Kingston without the rebate headache personally. Both are very good sticks of RAM.

I've read a few places that Corsair is better than Kingston. Is that not true in your opinion?
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post #8777 of 15479
12/3/11 at 8:08pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ashmanarion View Post

Also, on boot I'm getting a loading screen before Windows that says Looking for operating system...........

One time it asked me which OS to choose(I only have W7 installed). What's up with this?

After you install Windows and it asks you to boot from disc DO NOT boot from disc. After Window is installed I usually move the DVD/Bluray drive to 2nd in order and let the SSD/HardDrive boot first that has the Windows installation on it. You make this change in bios.
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post #8778 of 15479
12/3/11 at 8:09pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by pman555 View Post

I've read a few places that Corsair is better than Kingston. Is that not true in your opinion?

For HTPC? Eh. Honestly you won't notice a bit of difference. Now if you are gaming or running some serious applications then maybe.
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post #8779 of 15479
12/3/11 at 8:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post


For HTPC? Eh. Honestly you won't notice a bit of difference. Now if you are gaming or running some serious applications then maybe.

So for a regular computer you'd go with Corsair?
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post #8780 of 15479
12/3/11 at 8:19pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by pman555 View Post

So for a regular computer you'd go with Corsair?

I'd go with G.Skill.
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post #8781 of 15479
12/3/11 at 8:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post


I'd go with G.Skill.

Well I meant out of Kingston and Corsair :-)
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post #8782 of 15479
12/3/11 at 8:37pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by pman555 View Post

Well I meant out of Kingston and Corsair :-)

I would probably go Corsair if the price were the same.
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post #8783 of 15479
12/3/11 at 10:23pm
Got the HTPC setup and going well. Thanks assassin!
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post #8784 of 15479
12/4/11 at 5:49am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jobber8742 View Post

We have a two year old here who loves to climb, pull, and push everything. I'm a little concerned about the shelf I'm going to put the HTPC on as he can reach the power button. When the case came in in the mail yesterday, all he wanted to do was push the only button on it, the power button. I may have to devise something else.

The wife seems to be on board with the build as it will make things cleaner and hopefully easier to access. I bought the guides and have been testing them out on another computer while I wait for all my parts to get in. She seems to like the look and feel so far. I'm at a loss about Amazon Prime integration though. It seems like it's impossible right now, which seems pretty dumb to me.

I have a lot of archived old wrestling recordings that I'd love to find artwork for for mediabrowser. Anybody have any experience with videos like this?

I just thought of an option for you. once you are in windows go to the power settings and you can change what happens when you push the power button. You could set it to "do nothing"
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post #8785 of 15479
12/4/11 at 6:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin View Post

I just thought of an option for you. once you are in windows go to the power settings and you can change what happens when you push the power button. You could set it to "do nothing"

Hmmm, good thinking. I think I'll give that a try.

Another question. How hard was it to set up your Harmony One Remote? I'll be using it to control mine as well. I'm looking for an IR receiver right now. I was hoping Amazon had something that would work well that would ship with Prime so I can get it in two days instead of waiting, but I don't see anything there. Looks like I might have to go the eBay route and wait for one.

Edit: I may buy this one: Azend Group MediaGate GP-IR01BK or this one: CE Compass Remote
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post #8786 of 15479
12/4/11 at 7:01am
For some Blu-rays, like UP, how do you know which of the 4 main titles to rip in MakeMKV? They're all the same really.
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post #8787 of 15479
12/4/11 at 7:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ashmanarion View Post

For some Blu-rays, like UP, how do you know which of the 4 main titles to rip in MakeMKV? They're all the same really.

I'd use another program like DVDFab to see which title is which. You can probably tell which title is which in MakeMKV after reviewing the title numbers elsewhere. Maybe someone else has a better idea to tell. I've been using MakeMKV to rip for the past few days and it certainly the best program available. I've used many others over the years. The one biggest flaw with MakeMKV though is that you can't tell which title is which.
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post #8788 of 15479
12/4/11 at 8:18am
Looking at WMC remotes now.
Do you guys know if there is any difference between these two remotes other than the fact that they have different receivers?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16880101008

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16880101007
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post #8789 of 15479
12/4/11 at 11:40am
I have a 2 Harmony 880s and 1 Harmony 890. I'm looking for an IR receiver for my HTPCs. I saw in the OP that the "hp media center ir receiver" is the one recommended. Is there another IR receiver that is recommended to use? Most the ones on ebay are $15+ which ends up coming out to be the same price as the Win7 XP MCE Remote with IR receiver. Would this work for my remotes?
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post #8790 of 15479
12/4/11 at 1:04pm
Just ordered my first items for my first HTPC build!

Ordered:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371029
and
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16880101008

I'll probably order my case soon because there's a $30 discount on it that I need to take advantage of.
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