Build a MCE PC - help me fill in the blanks!

[dangel]

Howdy - i've decided to build a Media Centre 2005 (WinXP) PC after seeing one in action last weekend..

Here's what i've got so far:

- MSI nForce 4 MS-7125 Std (skt939) PCI-E Motherboard (25 quid new)
- 512mb of DDR RAM (freebie)
- 64MB PCI-E NVIDIA NVS280 VGA (ULGA) (had this lying around might need to change?) (freebie)
- Athlon 64 3700+ (25 quid new)
- 550Watt el-cheapo PSU (18 quid new) [yes it will probably burn down my house]

Here's what I think I need:

- A case - i'd like a HTPC style case but i don't want to spend buttloads on it (look at my other costs!). I don't need fancy-pants displays but I would like a box to fix the motherboard and sit under the telly on my (large) AV rack. Quiet would be a good thing..
- TV tuners - this is the one confusing me (a lot). I want to be able to record at least 2 channels from freeview (digital). I don't think I need MPEG encoding therefore? I'd like the cards to work with Vista MC too if possible. Can I have more than 2 channel recording? Dual tuner card or two single tuner cards?
- A MCE remote/reciever (suggestions?).

And now to throw a real spanner into the works - I have a SD TV, it's a CRT and it only has RGB Scart or component input.. I do plan to get a new telly (HD LCD) later on though. I can imagine it's really good fun trying to get the telly bit setup with my current set..

Any help appreciated - i've never built a MCE PC before

[dangel]

Oh yes - I forgot - i've got a Yamaha AV amp - can I feed surround into that is some useful way? Do I need a soundcard that does optical/coax digital out (and encodes?)? Or will I get Pro logic via stereo as per usual?

[doddsy]

Case - can't think of ant htpc style cases that are cheap, the akasa zen is a good budget case though.

TV Tuners - something like the terratec cinergy card would do. It takes a freeview signal and splits it in 2 allowing you to watch 1 channel and record another.

MCE Receiver - you don't really get better than the microsoft one. It's ~£20 from scan and comes with receiver.


What outputs does your gfx card have?

[dangel]

Case - zen looks alright actually - seems darn good for the money and I could always sling it behind the TV anyway.. Nice.

I want to be able to record 2 channels whist watching a pre-recorded show.

I do like the MS remote.. well laid out.

Gfx - here's the problem -it's got a single high density connector with an adaptor cable that splits it into 2 x vga. This isn't going to be useful so I probably need a new VGA card..

Should I worry about auto-sleep/wake for the PC (sleep when idle, wake when needing to record) etc?

[doddsy]

I want to be able to record 2 channels whist watching a pre-recorded show.

I'd imagine you'd be able to do that. The card has two separate tuners on it.

Gfx - here's the problem -it's got a single high density connector with an adaptor cable that splits it into 2 x vga. This isn't going to be useful so I probably need a new VGA card..

Yeah I'd say so tbh, if you only have an SD TV though all you need is something cheap with a tv out. Shouldn't be too hard to find, I'm sure someone will have one lying around that they could give you.

Should I worry about auto-sleep/wake for the PC (sleep when idle, wake when needing to record) etc?

Not too sure tbh, my media centre used to wake up from suspend to record things. I can't remember configuring anything for it though.

[dangel]

Cool - many thanks for that!

Not really sure how i'll handle output to my SDTV (widescreen) yet - it has RGB Scart, component and possibly S-Video inputs. It'll be interesting to see if I can get anything near useful Picture Quality with it. My XBOX (running XBMC) works very well tho (via Scart).. Life would be easier if I could sort a HDTV out!

I think this TV card looks the biz:

Hauppauge WinTV Nova-T 500 Dual digital DVB-T PCI TV Tuner card (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...uct_uid=113946)

[mallett]

I want to be able to record 2 channels whist watching a pre-recorded show.

I do like the MS remote.. well laid out. The Hauppauge Win TV Nova-T 500 MCE has dual tuners and comes with the Ms remote. Ive used it in both MCE 2005 and Vista MC with no problems, comes at £65 on scan but its worth it.

Gfx - here's the problem -it's got a single high density connector with an adaptor cable that splits it into 2 x vga. This isn't going to be useful so I probably need a new VGA card.. Id say so, as most cards output to HDTV over the S-video port for when you upgrade but realy nothing special is needed

Should I worry about auto-sleep/wake for the PC (sleep when idle, wake when needing to record) etc? Not sure

hope it all goes well, i think ill be doing something similar in the near future

[mallett]

Cool - many thanks for that!

Not really sure how i'll handle output to my SDTV (widescreen) yet - it has RGB Scart, component and possibly S-Video inputs. It'll be interesting to see if I can get anything near useful Picture Quality with it. My XBOX (running XBMC) works very well tho (via Scart).. Life would be easier if I could sort a HDTV out!

I think this TV card looks the biz:

Hauppauge WinTV Nova-T 500 Dual digital DVB-T PCI TV Tuner card (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...uct_uid=113946)

ha! thats what i get for not reloading the page before i reply

[doddsy]

Yeah that card looks pretty good.

[Martin87]

I've been looking at these for a HTPC im thinking of building so ill b interested to no what people think and opinions from any1 that owns one?

Hauppauge WinTV Nova-T 500 Dual digital DVB-T PCI TV Tuner card (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...uct_uid=113946)

[dangel]

What's really throwing me atm is which darn video card to get - althought my panasonic PD50 telly supports component I don't think it likes >480p..

Apparently it has 833lines believe it or not.. Still, i'm not sure which video card to get which has component out to try it with..

[shaithis]

Component will give you a picture far superior to any of the other input modes that TV supports.

I believe ATI have the biggest choice of cards that support component.

[dangel]

Yeah - I thought pretty much the same thing (on quality) - any suggestions for cards???

(thanks!)

[doddsy]

Well I had my htpc connected from s-video to scart and it looked pretty good. The main thing that let mine down was the composite connection that I used from my sky box to my tv card.

I'd honestly say pretty much any card with a tv out would do you just now. Then you could upgrade to one with an hdmi port when you get a hdtv.

[mallett]

...you could upgrade to one with an hdmi port when you get a hdtv.

iv been looking for something with a hdmi port on it to little success, the only that ive seen is a 7300GT with dvi/hdmi/s-video. although this would do the job i was thinking there must be something else out there atm...

[dangel]

I came across this - http://www.mediapc.tv/?gclid=CKnf4tORyosCFRMOZwodkBtVAw - hdmi equipped card if that's any good to you


This also looks rather interesting (and is well regarded) - http://www.crescendo-systems.com/transcoder.html (the TCP2200) which does look as though it will convert any VGA signal into component without stuffing it up.. Could be an answer to my own problem.