HTPC built, post-mortem inside

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DOOOO

[Howard Alan Treesong]

RAM is coming from my old computer, before you point out I forgot it

[Smooth Groove]

You might want to check out the new HTPC cases first.  They should be coming out pretty soon. 

http://www.vr-zone.com/articles/Computex_2008%3A_Cooling_and_Chassis/5831.html

[Raban]

Where the hell is GPU?

[Oblivion]

Sorry, but if you already built a PC, why would you need to buy it?

[Mupepe]

The Mupepe option also means yes!

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Where the hell is GPU?

I'm not gonna game with it! silly. this is a media server and HD-file player for my projector

[Vizzys]

You might want to check out the new HTPC cases first.  They should be coming out pretty soon. 

http://www.vr-zone.com/articles/Computex_2008%3A_Cooling_and_Chassis/5831.html

man that silverstone crown case is awesome

[Slo]

Where the hell is GPU?

I'm not gonna game with it! silly. this is a media server and HD-file player for my projector

You still need a GPU to output video. Does that motherboard have onboard video? If not, then you'll at least need to get a cheap one.

Edit: it looks like that motherboard does have onboard video.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Where the hell is GPU?

I'm not gonna game with it! silly. this is a media server and HD-file player for my projector

You still need a GPU to output video. Does that motherboard have onboard video? If not, then you'll at least need to get a cheap one.

Edit: it looks like that motherboard does have onboard video.

my plan is to use the onboard video for 720p for the next few months, then upgrade with a cheap GPU once I move to 1080p

[Oblivion]

Sorry, but if you already built a PC, why would you need to buy it?

What is it with people and ignoring me? It was a serious question!

[huckleberry]

Fuck Silverstone cases....they sure are pretty but a couple of years ago I sliced my hand open on a Silverstone HTPC case.  The next day I did the same goddam thing on a different part of the case.  Silverstone fucking hates me.  

[Rman]

Sorry, but if you already built a PC, why would you need to buy it?

What is it with people and ignoring me? It was a serious question!

It looks like Patel may have added the parts to an online shopping cart but hasn't pulled the trigger, me thinks.

[MrSingh]

Dude, get the WD GP (low heat/low power/low noise) HDDs!

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Dude, get the WD GP (low heat/low power/low noise) HDDs!

done. (and thanks for the heads up) keeping heat/power/noise as low as possible has been a primary concern in developing this box. that's another reason I'm going with on-board GPU for now.

[Oblivion]

Sorry, but if you already built a PC, why would you need to buy it?

What is it with people and ignoring me? It was a serious question!

It looks like Patel may have added the parts to an online shopping cart but hasn't pulled the trigger, me thinks.

Oh, I see. That makes sense. Thanks!

[Rman]

LOL @ the poll results.  I voted yes, Patel.  How else is the are you going to stimulate the economy?

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Okay, so here's what I got:



DVI-out and SPDIF optical out on the board. I'll probably upgrade with a standalone soundcard and videocard in a few months, but I'll see how happy I am with the on-board performance, first.

[Smooth Groove]

On-board sound is always garbage.  Get an OEM X-Fi.  It's only about $50. 

[MrSingh]

Or this one: http://www.anandtech.com/tradeshows/showdoc.aspx?i=3324

[Howard Alan Treesong]

that's a bit rich for my blood!

I know the sound will probably be garbage, but I'm gonna focus on the on-board stuff and getting my software the way I like it before I add a sound card or video card solution. sound cards in particular I want to research

[Raban]

Probably want a better processor for breathing room when you upgrade the GPU for 1080p later.

At least a Core 2 Duo

[crimsondynamics]

If you already have a PC with a dvd burner, I'd save those few bucks from your HTPC rig.

You can always burn whatever files with your other rig and watch movies or whatever it is you plan to do with your HTPC (burn dvds?  ) during the process.

Just a thought.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

honestly, a DVD burner is $25 and a DVD drive is $19

so I just got the burner, though I doubt I'll ever burn anything with it

I'm also going to turn this box into an emulation POWERHOUSE

it's gonna be awwwwesome

[Smooth Groove]

Patel, you should just buy an arcade cabinet if you want to play emulated classic games.  My friend has one and it's awesome. 

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I hardly have room in my apartment for a cabinet (well, maybe an Astro City...if I decide I never want to open the drawers on one side of my kitchen again)

[Howard Alan Treesong]

bump

got the parts yesterday, everything went great

started at 7; had the machine built by 9; had Vista and all updates/drivers/codecs installed by 11.

the machine is whisper quiet - the loudest component by far is the hard drive. if I stream media off my PC in another room, it's quieter than my ceiling fan (seriously)

Things I learned from this experience:

- I had some issues with the DVI/HDMI out and had to use my VGA out at first. For some reason, Windows Vista would not detect the HDMI input of my projector. I was able to get my projector to show up as a display through the advanced settings of the Nvidia Control Panel. Now that it's set up, it works fine.
- On-board audio sucks. Buy a $50 soundcard. Sure, the motherboard does 5.1, but it's completely unamplified, and it's super fucking quiet.
- On-board video, on the other hand, seems totally sufficient for anything I throw at it, HD-wise.
- I love my Silverstone case, but I kind of wish I had gone with a micro-ATX case instead of an ATX case.
- If you're building a HTPC, go with Vista. It has much better/modern display support, for both hardware and resolutions. Also, the Vista Media Center is astoundingly better than the XP one.
- The Netflix streaming plugin for Vista Media Center is FUCKING AMAZING. In fact, the author was just hired by Netflix to head their UI skunk works for next-gen Netflix experiences. Get it at http://www.anpark.com/Software.aspx

[DJ_Tet]

Sounds great, there's a lot of good info in this thread.

Are you doing dvr stuff with your HTPC or purely file-serving? 

It sounds like your machine is quieter than the 360, that's exactly the kind of results I'm looking for.  Thanks for writing this all up

[Smooth Groove]

Patel
building your own PC

Much respect to Patel.  I didn't think a Japafag was capable of building his own PC. 

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Sounds great, there's a lot of good info in this thread.

Are you doing dvr stuff with your HTPC or purely file-serving? 

It sounds like your machine is quieter than the 360, that's exactly the kind of results I'm looking for.  Thanks for writing this all up

I don't have cable (ha) so I'm not doing any DVR stuff. When doing research on HTPC forums, though, people seem pretty happy using Vista MCE as a DVR - many feel the channel guide and recording experience is even better than TiVO.

Streaming Netflix is, frankly, insanely awesome.

The soundcard issue isn't that big a deal - I just have to turn my receiver up a few more notches. It's unfortunate that I couldn't find a good Micro ATX case for less than $300 ... I might check out the new Silverstone line this fall and swap things over. An ATX case is awfully big in the living room - even a sleeky designed HTPC one.

SG: I've been building my own computers since I was 12, thank you v. much!

[Mupepe]

Patel

Awesome, man.