Guide to Building a HTPC, Workstation and Server - Page 518

I ran into a similar situation with my home built system. I reinstalled and upgrading to Win 7x64. I was getting everything setup again and I decided to get the latest Realtek network driver off their site. I had everything up and running, standard def was working fine but blu-ray rips were stuttering and having problems. I was blaming DXVA, since the video wasn't playing with it. I tried all kinds of things and it just wouldn't work. I decided to download a utility to monitor the network speed, and I discovered it was pitiful. I downgraded to the windows supplied driver and all of a sudden everything was working fine again.

I was very irritated for about an hour till I figured it out. I guess I just figured it's a HTPC things aren't supposed to be easy. In fact now that I think about it I ran into a similar problem with a HP that I had been using as a HTPC and ended up replacing the built in NIC with a add in card to make it work right.

Anyway short version, check your network speed. Get a utility to monitor the speed, I like a windows gadget called network monitor. Try transferring a fairly large file and check your speeds. If it's slow see if your network driver has been recently updated. Try rolling back to the older version in device manager. If that doesn't work then try downloading the current version off the net. On my HP the NIC just crapped out, on my gigabyte board system it didn't like the driver. So my guess is it's network related.

Good luck.

The ASRock H55M/USB3 is sold out on Newegg, but the ASRock H55M/USB3 R2.0 is available. Does anyone know if this R2.0 variant will work fine with with Blu-ray ISO playback supporting bitstreaming in TMT off the i3-530?

The R2.0 seems to be a revised model, but I think it will bitstream as it's an H55 chipset.

I am now awaiting the January edition, as I believe that will be the true breakthrough in price/power/performance.

Anyway, your work is -- as always -- appreciated.

This thread is amazing. Thanks, renethx and all the others! I started to look into building an HTPC last year when the boxee box article came out on deviceguru (deviceguru.com/the-boxeebox-cookbook/). At that time I bought the Silverstone LC19 case (beautiful case!) and then I didn't have time for anything else. Now I have the itch to finish this HTPC - not sure about boxee box anymore, maybe I'll go with Media Center, but I want to start with hardware first. The main components I'm thinking of buying are:

- Gygabyte GA-H55M-USB3 or GA-H57M-USB3 motherboard
- Intel i3-540 processor
- Corsair 4GB memory CMX4GX3M2A1600C9 (2 x 2GB)
- Western Digital 1TB black caviar drive (this is a spare I already have lying around)

Main use would be as DVR (with Hauppauge HD PVR) and BD/DVD player/ripper. No gaming. So the questions I have are:

1. is the 120W power supply that comes with the Silverstone LC19 case enough (Intel says the cpu alone will draw 73W...)?

2. is there a better or more efficient set of components I should consider?

3. are there new boards, chipsets, etc, I should wait for?

4. am I better off looking for another (slim) case?

Thanks!!!

The i3-540 itself only draws slightly less than 25W at 100% load. The estimate from Intel is for estimated total system power, including a decent dedicated video card. Even though a power supply is typically only 80% efficient, 120W should be plenty adequate for the system you are planning.


Not at this time. Considering the feature-set and power of the i3/H55/H57 platform, nothing can beat it at this point.


Of course. The NBT is always right around the corner. Sandy Bridge is coming soon. So is AMD Fusion. Both are expected to make their debut in Q1 2011.


Your case definitely limits you. You can utilize a single PCIe slot on your motherboard and that's it. For your needs that slot will be dedicated to your HD PVR card. You'll also need to buy a slimline BD-ROM player for it which will run you a premium.

That said, it's damn sexy. Do you think it will meet your needs? Only you can decide that.

Thanks for your reply, micromain. Now I think I discovered another problem with my sexy case: it's only 68 mm tall and the boxed version of the i3-540 processor comes with a fan which requires a total height 81.3 mm (mechanical specs from the intel site). Is there a low profile fan that I could use instead of the one provided by intel?

I think I found what I need: Silverstone NT07-1156. It's only 36 mm high.

Here's a webpage listing low-profile fans for various socket types. There are a few listed that fit Socket 1156.

http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l3/g48/...CPU-Page1.html

Silverstone makes the NT07-1156 cpu cooler that fits.
See these LC19-build threads:
Which components for a Silverstone LC19 case?
HTPC using Silverstone LC19 case

awesome thread

Hi,

I have an HTPC that I use the motherboards optical out for sound. The problem is my Onkyo 608 receiver (7.2) only receives 2.0 sound from the pc. I tried playing files through VLC, Media player classic and windows media player and all have the same problem.

Is there something that I am missing because its a shame to have a HTPC made for running 1080p files without proper sound.

Thanks in advance I appreciate all the help!

I have an ASRock H55M Pro motherboard with an HD 5670 graphics card. I want to have at least 3 tuners with WMC. I currently have an HDHomeRun and an ATI PCI tuner card. I am going to sell my HDHomeRun because I cannot get it to work properly. Right know my graphics card is cover a PCI express slot and the other has my graphics card. It there a motherboard that will allow me to fit a graphics card and two tuners?

Did you make sure to go to sound setting and configure it to 5.1 audio?

I only saw 2.0 under the sound settings in windows.

Make sure you install the drivers for your sound first.

after installing the motherboard website specific drivers I got some videos to play on all speakers but oddly enough most the 1080p videos still only work on front speakers only

Not to mention that the audio lag now is really bad. It takes almost a second for the audio to come through!

You could move the graphics card to the 4X PCIe slot and you'll have two open PCIe slots for tuner cards. Assuming you don't game on your system, and the PCI slot isn't in use, it won't make a difference. If you do game it will only make a minor difference.

If you absolutely want another motherboard with 2 PCIe slots available for tuner cards something like this should work.

Yea, I do not do any gaming so I will try this. Moving to the other PCIe slot will not affect the drivers or my cpu recognizing it, will it?

The drivers will likely be reinstalled and it will probably do so with default settings. Your system should have no problem recognizing it though.

hi,

1st let me say that this thread is AWESOME and very timely.

I would like to be able to stream BR rips from a remote NAS device to this system over a CAT 6 GigE connection. I will be leaning towards the high end / premium system, and if at all possible want the quietest, smallest, and lowest power set up possible.

System will be used for BR playback ONLY, and i needs to support 720p, 1080i/p, and all the 5.1 & 7.1 codecs (or i can pass it through bitstream as my amp will do all that for me).

so, looking at the build list for premium micro-atx, here is what I'm thinking:

Suggested Premium Micro-ATX system / Intel (LGA 1366)

* Core i7-930 2.80GHz LGA1366, $294.
* Cooler Master 風神鍛 (Geminii S) RR-CCH-PBU1-GP, $28.
* Motherboard: ASUS Rampage III GENE LGA1366 Intel X58 chipsets microATX, $235.
* Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ DDR3-1600 3 x 2GB Kit, $160.
* Graphics Card (ATI): Sapphire HD 5850 GDDR5 1GB 100282-3SR, $300; two of this card for CrossFireX, $600.
* HDD: Intel X25-M SSDSA2MH080G2R5 80GB SATA 3.0Gbps SSD, $220. A better alternative is OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTX100G 100GB SATA 3.0Gbps SSD, $325.
* PSU: Enermax MODU87+ 700W EMG700AWT, $181.
* Case: LUXA2 LM200 Touch microATX, with 7” touch screen/IR receiver/remote, $510. If you don't need or don't like a touch screen, choose LUXA2 LM200 microATX, with VFD/IR receiver/remote, $320.
* Total Cost: $1918 for non-CrossFireX, $2218 for CrossFireX; $1938 for non-SLI, $2258 for SLI.

---

Changes i'd like to make:

single gpu unless reason to go dual
change proc from 930 to 950 since 930 not avail anymore
change memory from 3x2 to 2x4 (if possible)
use 2x32GB 2.5" SSD's i already own
change case from a massive receiver style to something much smaller and sleeker

any suggestions on the last 3, and can i also downgrade the PS if i go this way?

OK, not sure I follow. All you want is BR Playback. Also, you mention you want small/quiet/low power. So why then are you looking at a high end / premium system? Going with a low to mid range HTPC is all you need, possibly a core i3 and you can add on a dGPU such as the 5670 if needed.

Forgive the snark, but I'd suggest you buy a $600 high-end blu-ray player and save $1300-1600. ...if that's all you need the system to do, that is overkill on steroids.

** edit **
looks like Damian beat me to it, more or less.

If you're only playing BR rips from a NAS, you don't need the premium-level CPU, GPU, RAM, and Disk that you listed. You're not gaming, right?
The i7-930 and i7-950 dissipate up to 125W and 130W respectively. That does not correlate to your wish for a low-power, low-heat system.
You could get by with the i3-540 and save $130. If you really want an i7, get the 870.
Use a cheaper, recommended Socket 1156 motherboard.
4GB of memory is more than enough.
You don't need SLI.
Use your 2X 32GB SSDs.

honestly, i am thinking about this from a PC POV (i.e.more is better), perhaps as you suggest i need to rethink that.

so you are thinking this one:

Mid-Range System / Intel
* CPU: Core i3 530 2.93GHz LGA1156, $113.
* CPU Cooler: Stock cooler, $0.
* Motherboard: ASRock H55M Pro LGA1156 Intel H55 chipset microATX, $95.
* Memory: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ DDR3-1600 2 x 2GB Kit, $106.
* Graphics Card (ATI): Sapphire HD 5670 GDDR5 512MB 100287L, $90. An alternative is HIS H567Q512 Radeon HD 5670 GDDR5 512MB, $95.
* Graphics Card (NVIDIA): EVGA 01G-P3-1235 GeForce GT 240 DDR3 1GB, $100.
* HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB ST3500418AS SATA 3.0Gbps 7200 RPM, $42.
* PSU: Corsair VX450W CMPSU-450VX 450W, $65. An alternative is Enermax ECO80+ II 400W EES400AWT II, $57.
* Case: Antec Fusion Remote Black microATX, with LCD/IR receiver/remote, $140.
* Total Cost: $651 for ATI, $661 for NVIDIA

--

If so, then similar questions:

1. any reason why i can't drop out the HDD's as above and use my SSD's?
2. more memory is always better, can i do 2x4GB sticks on this?
3. if answer is yes to q2, then is there any major downside to running a 64bit OS that will address the memory properly?
4.do you think i need dual gpu's?
5. is there a different case that might not have the bright LED's like that one? several folks on NE sound like that is the only downside.

Thnx!

nope, no gaming. i have PS3 and xbox for that..

i think you just answered my questions from other post, sorry.

no worries on the snark, this is all new territory to me.

i already have 2 of those, this will be used to STREAM my content from a different location, and neither the ps3 or xbox will do that today.

I would recommend just starting out with the core i3 and if you want add on the 5670 (although the core i3 GPU will support bitstreaming HD Audio as well, the NVidia 240 does not support bitstreaming HD Audio which is something you mentioned you were interested in).

1) Yes, you can replace the HDD with an SSD
2) 2GB memory is more then adequate for what you want to do. 8GB is surely overkill
3) The only issue with x64 is some of the filter/codec support is still a little bit immature, you just need to make sure you install the correct components, but no reason why you couldn't use x64.
4) Absolutely no reason for dual GPU

Just as an FYI, I have two HTPCs. The first is a micro-atx dual core AMD build with a 5670 GPU and 2GB RAM. The second is a mini-ITX core i5 build with 2GB RAM (no separate dGPU). Both play back all my HD/BluRay content streaming from my WHS without issue

sweet, thanks for all the help.

several other questions, once i get the hw (which i will likely order today once i lock on the config) I'm loading Win 7 on it, right? if so, is there a list of additional SW packages somewhere that you can point me to that i need to run?

also, do you recommend that i order anything else to round this out (cpu paste, SATA cables, etc.) or is all that included in the parts listed in the build?