Guide to Building a HTPC, Workstation and Server - Page 420

Thanks renethx.

I was wondering if anybody has any experience with any of the following cases?

1. nMEDIAPC Black Aluminum / Acrylic / Steel HTPC 5000B Micro ATX Media Center
2. nMEDIAPC Black Aluminum panel & Steel HTPC 1000B Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case


Also, renethx, I was wondering what your preferred media center software is? XBMC looks beautiful, so I was thinking of installing that on my future HTPC (will be Windows 7 based), but from what I understand, it doesn't fully support Blu-ray playback yet?

I've recently built the mid-range mATX amd system, and I had a question about the case fans in the Antec Fusion Remote case. Each fan has a toggle for its speed (H, M, L), and I've had them set on low. However, I've had a few system crashes, so I am running Prime95 to stress the system. In this case, the CPU temp skyrockets, but if I bump the case fans to high, it runs around 55C (slightly high, but ok, right?).

- Is there any way to control the speed of the case fans programmatically?
- Also, is there a tutorial for Speedfan? I swear I've seen one here, but I cant find it again.

Thanks for all the help.

I have the 1000B case and recommend it, though can't compare it to the 5000B that I've never seen. The 1000B was easy to work with as a first-time system builder. Everything fit in nicely though one of the HDD slots was a bit tight (I just used a different slot; I'll never fill this thing). Could have been user error.

Anyway I recommend the case and can say to my eye it looks nice. The LEDs (power/HD) are bright enough but not too bright.

For software I use W7MC supplemented by Media Browser. I rip DVD/BD to MKV files using MakeMKV, though occasionally for forced subtitle movies I use the original ISO I make with AnyDVDHD (mounted via VirtualCloneDrive) and play them with PowerDVD 7.3 which came with the BD drive. It all fits together pretty seamlessly.

Marc

There are displays that allow 24P input, but I'm not aware of any that display at 24P.

This is a repost, but I don't think I saw a reply...

What's the recommended path for someone who used and enjoyed Win 7 RC on their HTPC?

I'm getting the pop-up now that my machine will start shutting down every 2 hours starting in about 2 weeks.

I'm really interested in the mini gaming system (intel-intel) posted here. Does anyone know the status of the motherboard?
It's the ZOTAC H55-ITX WiFi H55ITX-A-E.

Has anyone built either of the other configurations (intel-nvidia, nvidia-nvidia) of this build yet? How is that case?
I got a Dell Zino at Christmas time and couldn't be happier for a htpc, my friends and I are getting excited about the prospect of cramming a nice gaming system into such a small package.

I took notes on how I got everything just the way I wanted it, then created an image of the system the way it was (just in case I botched something up). Did a custom install of Win7 upgrade and re-setup everything the way I had it on RC. Went pretty smooth.

I'm looking into putting together an HTPC. One thing I'm seeing is that USB 3.0 is on the horizon but I don't see any cases offering a USB 3.0 port. Are USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports physically the same size, that all you have to do is connect the USB 3.0 from the motherboard to the port on the front of the case and you're good to go? Or is there a difference and cases with USB 3.0 ports in front are just not out yet?
Thanks
Jim

The zotac is available at Amazon (looks like 11-14 days shipping). Also another site had it in stock (cannot remember the name but someone ordered and got it this past friday)

Hi can someone answer this question?

So I'm interested in getting the ati 5450 for my htpc to do bitstreaming. Currently I have asus p5q pro motherboard with ati 4850 installed. I was just wondering if I could add the ati 5450 to the current setup in crossfire configuration. If so, how would that work out for gaming and bitstreaming? Thanks

So I can add 5450, connect the crossfire bridge cable, enable crossfirex in CCC and I will be able to bitstream Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA even though HDMI connection to receiver is still from 4850? Also there will be a slight increase in gaming performance right?

Thanks so much for answering so many of my questions.

+1 I did the same. Don't mess with "in-place" or upgrade installations. Not worth the potential hassle.

Renethx, when do you think the ATI HD 5XXX series with move into an integrated GPU platform?

I had placed a preorder for it on Amazon about 2 weeks ago. I got a message this weekend saying it would ship between March 5th to 9th.

Same here.

Here is the company I found online that actually had in stock:

http://www.tonermeister.com/H55ITX-A-E-89608.htm

I did not know much about so I avoided, but someone else from AVS (I think LawGuy) did order from them and got the Mobo last Friday.

This is Addesso wireless keyboard is certainly convenient but frustrating also. The reset button on the bottom is in a very bad place. It's easy to bump, forcing you to get up and re-establish the connection all too often. I wish some place had the Hauppage HD PVR 1212 in stock.

Are you all getting the Zotac mb because of the built in wireless?
I am considering the DFI LANParty MI P55-T36 I see at newegg instead of the Zotac since I plan to use a stand alone video card with it and don't need the wifi.
Any reason this is a bad idea?

The Zotac is a mini-itx mobo (first one to hit the market) for the core i3/i5. I have no need for the wireless, just want the mini-itx part

Me too for my HTPC. I am also going to make a 2nd PC to mount on the back of a monitor in the kitchen and the wireless will come in handy for that one.

# LG CH08LS10 Super Multi Blue BD-ROM/DVD Rewriter, $104.
# LITE-ON iHOS104 BD/DVD Reader, $60.

Is there any advantage to the BD playback on the LG over the LITE-ON? I have no need for another DVD burner. I already have 3. It would be nice to have a combo, but for $40, I'd rather put that to other HTPC parts.

The LG performs poorly as a DVD reader/burner. Rips on it take longer than any of my other drives and it writes slowly too. BD ripping takes about the same as my other LG drive which I think is 4x; not sure how they call this an 8x drive. If I were doing it over again I would buy the LITE-ON.

I got this keyboard and love it! It's true, it's too easy to bump the reset button. Also, you have to hit a key, like the Shift key after 2 minutes when the keyboard goes to sleep to wake it up... moving the track ball won't wake it up, which is counterintuitive.

I've seen several suggestions to place a thin washer around the wireless resync button to make it harder to hit accidentally. I haven't bothered yet having gotten used to not picking up the keyboard in a certain way, but that should work well enough.

Okay, thanks for the replies.

Unfortunately, I didn't take notes. On the plus side, I did make fairly heavy use of this thread so a search should go a long way

I don't have spare disk space to make a backup or a system image. And I also figure since it only contains rips of DVDs I own or recorded TV shows, there isn't THAT much to loose.

Can someone confirm though... if I do a "clean install", is it possible to do that without formatting the disk, so that the OS itself gets a clean install but my medial library stays in place on the disk? That would save a lot of time if I don't have to re-rip all my DVDs.

The DFI board is a mini-itx board, socket LGA 1156.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...20MI%20P55-T36

It looks like both are mini-itx socket LGA 1156 boards, the Zotac has integrated video and wifi, the DFI does not.
The DFI is a P55, and the Zotac is a H55, not sure what else I am missing. It looks to me like both would work for a core i5.