My HTPC Thread

[SiM]

This is the post you have all been waiting for. It is finally done!
Well a couple of things are not working properly including windows and spdif...
I tried to nlite Windows but I didn't do a good job so I will just reinstall the full thing...
I foolishly bought a mobo that did not have spdif built in, it does have a 3 pin spdif output on the mobo and I had a couple of PCI bracket adapters lying around but I have got it working yet...

Objectives:
Play HD-DVDs
Stream ripped HD video off NAS (NAS has not been built yet)
Have a nice mediaportal front end

OK first the spec and cost analysis (most are bought used from forums so don't expect to find them for these prices in scan):

Antec NSK 2480 case - £45
Intel E2200 - £36
Scythe Mini Ninja Cooler - £28 new
2GB Geil 4-4-4-12 DDR2 - £25
Gigabyte GA-945GCM S2L mATX mobo - £25
Xpertvision HD 2600 Pro - £20 (I bought this for £37 new a year ago, but I estimate its worth £20 now)
40GB Hard drive - spare lying around (I actually got it free)
Keyboard Keysonic wireless RF - £28 new (HAS CRAP RANGE!!)
HDMI cable - £4
Media Remote - £18 new
Xbox HD-DVD drive - £13 new (amazon.de)

Total: £242

Pictures:

How it looks closed, haven't put it on the shelf yet as I am still making changes.


How it looks inside, birds eye view. This is some of my best cable management ever (see other thread for proof )


Passive mini ninja.... well its really next to two 120mm fans. I get 30 idle in the bios, have not looked at any other temps yet


POS keyboard. I need to decide whether to send it back under the DSR as the range is terrible, although I might be able to extend range enough with a USB extension cable...


Testing:
So far only tested Bourne Identity HD-DVD which played back flawlessly without GPU acceleration. I need to get GPU acceleration working too
Managed to overclock CPU to 2.36ghz without changing any other settings/voltages... It might go higher, but stability is more important for this build, it does everything it needs to do at stock anyway.

To do:
Reinstall windows
setup the remote - I really haven't got a clue. I need to figure out how to get it to turn on the damn PC
Mod HD-DVD drive into internal
Get it online! (and on network, got switch and cables on their way from scan)
Get a HDMI compatible amp (although that might not be in the near future so need to sort out spdif)

[staffsMike]

Looks very nice to

I'd be messing with the cables for hours I'm sure but sounds like it's working pretty well

[Fornowagain]

Have a look for a BTC 9019URF keyboard, I've been through a few of them on my HTPC over the years. Range is excellent and you get a nice joystick/mouse, not bad for around £20.

[SiM]

I am not sure how to improve the cabling. There is no mobo tray... Any suggestions Mike, aka the King of cable organisation

[staffsMike]

I don't know the case very well but where there is a will there is a way lol

What is the PSU like? Nice and quiet?

This guy cheated a bit with a new PSU but it looks nice

[SiM]

Have a look for a BTC 9019URF keyboard, I've been through a few of them on my HTPC over the years. Range is excellent and you get a nice joystick/mouse, not bad for around £20.

Just checked my 7 days DSR was up yesterday
I only got home on sunday, the box arrived on the 2nd... looks like I am stuck with this keyboard... but your keyboard looks nice... I will get that if I smash this one in after getting irritated with it for keep dropping connection

[SiM]

I don't know the case very well but where there is a will there is a way lol

What is the PSU like? Nice and quiet?

The whole thing is quite. Both fans are on low and I haven't even noticed the sound of the PSU! Once sitting down and the PC is on the shelf, I'm sure it will be inaudible.

One complaint is that the front does feel cheap - its plastic... Maybe I should have gone for the metal fronted fusion instead...

[staffsMike]

£50 difference though, I think I'd go the NSK route, and probably will be soon.

Does it look like plastic in the flesh? Maybe you could spray it?

[SiM]

This guy cheated a bit with a new PSU but it looks nice

*snip*

I saw that a few days ago. The problem is that I am using PSU and fans that came with it, so its not modular and the fans have cables coming out in the most awkward angles (see the cable running over the ninja)... I am not too bothered though, it might looker nicer on camera, but in this case I doubt it will help to improve temps. This won't be over heating anyway, this case has a good ventilation system

[SiM]

£50 difference though, I think I'd go the NSK route, and probably will be soon.

Does it look like plastic in the flesh? Maybe you could spray it?

Its not worth the hassle spraying... I need to work on other projects (C2D system and NAS) soon, going in for a knee op on thursday, won't be able to do anything with hardware after as I will be disabled for a couple of weeks! Want to get hardware sorted, software/OS can get done after Thursday... Plus I still need to unpack all my stuff (just got back from uni)

[staffsMike]

going in for a knee op on thursday, won't be able to do anything with hardware after as I will be disabled for a couple of weeks!

Have you been getting yourself in awkward positions? haha

Hope if goes well for you mate, sounds a bit painful.

[SiM]

Have you been getting yourself in awkward positions? haha

Hope if goes well for you mate, sounds a bit painful.

omg, some innuendo from staffsMike.
Cheers, will be painful, but at least I can start recovery... been walking (or limping) around without an right ACL since feb 07!!

[staffsMike]

Welllll you bring out the best (worst) in me lol

[JimNastics]

You're right about that Keysonic keyboard, it's hunk of ****e... I'm on the lookout for a decent replacement. Here's the HTPC I recently built:

Antec NSK2480 MATX Desktop Case Black & Silver - With 380W EarthWatts PSU - £62.90
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H motherboard (integrated GPU and audio) - £54.51
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4050e, AM2, Dual Core, 2.1GHz, 1MB Cache, 45W, Retail - £42.05
2GB (2x1GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-12 - £28.79
Samsung SpinPoint HD501LJ 500GB SATAII Hard Drive 16MB Cache - OEM - £45.00
LG GGC-H20L Lightscribe SATA 16xDVD±R, +RWx8/-RW x6 Also READS Blu-Ray/HD Discs - £76.38
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium -SP1- 32-bit - £58.30
KeySonic 2.4Ghz Wireless Compact Keyboard with Integrated TouchPad - £27.50
Scythe Mini Ninja Heatpipe CPU Cooler S478/LAG775, AMD S754/939/940/AM2 - £27.60
Hauppauge WinTV-NOVA-HD-S2 - £64.95

Overall HTPC total = £429.68

Works an absolute treat! Plays Blu-Ray and HD-DVD through my 42" plasma with 5.1 DTS over SPDIF flawlessly. I can also pickup BBC HD and ITV HD with that Nova HD S2, Euro 2008 in HD looks great. I'm in the process of setting up Vista Media Centre now, need to get round to ripping all my DVDs! Also going to see how easy it is to rip my HD-DVD / Blu-Ray, although I fear I may need an extra hard drive for that...

[FifthFreedom]

I was gonna build me one of those.

But then I seriously thought it wouldn't be worth it because with this new DisplayPort fiber optics's standard it means video output from PC's can go 10s of meters in the least.

Now, I've just got to buy a TV/Monitor with Display Port and drop a cable down through the ceiling from my PC upstairs.

But yeah HTPC's are pretty bad ass. Still would be cooler if there were slot loading HD-DVD drives though..

BTW out of interest why HD-DVD? Didn't they loose the war a month ago? Or are you planning on burning your own from another source?

[staffsMike]

I think the interest in HD-DVD's is people like play are selling them off for£5 and if you have a player, why not? Obviously I wouldn't buy too many as replacement player will be very hard to come by but a few select films you want to watch in HD right now isn't bad for a fiver a pop.