First HTPC

[silent bob]

I decided to build a HTPC ( well another folding machine desquised as a HTPC ) to go into the bedroom to hook up to new 1080 LCD

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/ocsilentbob/P4230001-1.jpg

all I gotta say about the proc is 2 x SMP goodness

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/ocsilentbob/P4230004-1.jpg

I went Zalman because Thermaright quit making the XP90c thus making me a Zalman 9700 fanboy ( all copper), so I did the case aswell ( Aluminum )

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/ocsilentbob/P4230005-1.jpg

Came across 3 500 gig SataII hd's in the classifieds , and since I bought the LG HD/Blu-Ray player , got plenty of room ( for now)

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/ocsilentbob/P4230003-1.jpg


I will have more pics coming , but my camera went to Tulip Festival in Pella Iowa, and will be back Sunday.

upcoming pics to include :

LG Blu-Ray/HD player with Zalman DVD aluminum cover installed

Went with SeaSonic M12II SS-430 PSU since no vid card installed and just putting a mild OC on it I feel the 430 is ample

I have 4 1gb Mushkin waiting to install after all wiring is routed and zip stripped

Now OS is my question , is Vista OK now , what SP are they on?

How is the PCI-E x1 slot cards from Hauppauge ?

I just love the way Sata cables clean everything up ! IDE's are just sooooo unsexy , after you go all sata :drool:


more pics soon

[satandole666]

Nice setup.

I think Vista is on SP1. I don't have it installed yet but Media Center works perfect anyway. The only issue I have had with Vista yet is a bad driver from a 3rd party company (on my HTPC, that is).

And I don't know about the Hauppage x1 cards, but my AverMedia x1 Combo card is working perfectly. I'd recommend it 100% and it is completely compatible with Vista Media Center.

Have fun, I love my HTPC. Let's hope you can keep it quiet with that quad under the hood.

[resoluteK]

vista is on sp1

But I suggest spending some time researching the media software you'll want to run. I've found that many streamlined media applications are best in xp. This is why my htpc is my only machine still running xp.

[silent bob]

I usually wait til SP2 before switching everything over

I am planning on using Media Center , just wondering if I should stick with XP or go to Vista Media Center

[Xenocide]

Mythbuntu

[xsuperbgx]

Can folding be set up easily in mythbuntu?

[silent bob]

not yet ready for ubuntu , not smart enuff yet

[Jon]

If you plan on using the built-in media center software, then my vote is for Vista, by far. I like them both, but Vista has a much more to offer.

Otherwise, MeediOS, MediaPortal and GB-PVR are all free and will run on top of either. There's also Sage, BeyondTV, J River and several others for a fee.

[aja]

That is one of my favourite motherboards right now, good choice!

[silent bob]

My question is Vista soo much better than XP media to warrent the purchase of Vista or only minor improvements ?
I have a copy of XP Media here now , but if Vista is far superior( I know its not Linux so no OS slams please) then I may wait to load , nm , Chimp Challenge starts in a few hours

aja , does it OC well? are you running a vid card or onboard HDMI?

[Jon]

My question is Vista soo much better than XP media to warrent the purchase of Vista or only minor improvements ?
I have a copy of XP Media here now , but if Vista is far superior( I know its not Linux so no OS slams please) then I may wait to load , nm , Chimp Challenge starts in a few hours

To me it's worth it simply for the interface improvements and the available plugins. XP MCE just isn't developed for any more and there is nothing to look forward to.

Otherwise, if you decide to stay with XP, make sure you include an analog tuner (if planning digital). XP MCE won't work with digital only...an analog tuner is required for TV recording/playback. Vista does not require an analog tuner.

[aja]

aja , does it OC well? are you running a vid card or onboard HDMI?

Sorry, maybe I should have been more specific. I do not actually own this board - I wish I did!

I meant that this is one of my favourite choices should the need arise to create a HTPC or a mATX gamer.

It is packed with features, making it good for upgrades.

As for overclocking, I have no idea :(

Sorry for the misunderstanding

[Wicked Klown]

Nice choice on stuff Steve, can't wait to see it all put together. Also vista is a damn nice OS for HTPCs. I have my logitech set up to start VMC to watch rips and dvds. Might want to take a look at MyMovies as well for hi-def movies.

[silent bob]

Here are the pics , sorry it took so long .

http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/8851/p7080005tg5.th.jpg (http://img374.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p7080005tg5.jpg)

Got rid of 2 500's and replaced with 2 x 1TB
http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/7933/p7080004zu5.th.jpg (http://img374.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p7080004zu5.jpg)

I love modular
http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/5716/p7080003di3.th.jpg (http://img374.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p7080003di3.jpg)

all the Sata cables are now black with right angle ends
http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/6788/p7080002bg0.th.jpg (http://img374.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p7080002bg0.jpg)

I also found sata power connectors and that mod will be coming after the Antec 900 major case mod

[Wicked Klown]

Nice looking set up bro, you got this hooked up to the TV in the basement. IS you q6600 OCed and if so whats your temps.

[Neuromancer]

I decided to build a HTPC ( well another folding machine desquised as a HTPC ) to go into the bedroom to hook up to new 1080 LCD

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/ocsilentbob/P4230001-1.jpg

all I gotta say about the proc is 2 x SMP goodness

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/ocsilentbob/P4230004-1.jpg

I went Zalman because Thermaright quit making the XP90c thus making me a Zalman 9700 fanboy ( all copper), so I did the case aswell ( Aluminum )

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/ocsilentbob/P4230005-1.jpg

Came across 3 500 gig SataII hd's in the classifieds , and since I bought the LG HD/Blu-Ray player , got plenty of room ( for now)

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll99/ocsilentbob/P4230003-1.jpg


I will have more pics coming , but my camera went to Tulip Festival in Pella Iowa, and will be back Sunday.

upcoming pics to include :

LG Blu-Ray/HD player with Zalman DVD aluminum cover installed

Went with SeaSonic M12II SS-430 PSU since no vid card installed and just putting a mild OC on it I feel the 430 is ample

I have 4 1gb Mushkin waiting to install after all wiring is routed and zip stripped

Now OS is my question , is Vista OK now , what SP are they on?

How is the PCI-E x1 slot cards from Hauppauge ?

I just love the way Sata cables clean everything up ! IDE's are just sooooo unsexy , after you go all sata :drool:


more pics soon


Vista is recommended for Media center. If you are using another front end then I suppose it does not matter.


I recently got HW acceleration going with not a snap iof trouble

Installed Vista sp1 and all drivers

Installed TV pack 2008

Installed powerplay update (not sure what it is recommended with TV pack)

Installed the two updates (If you google either of the above two items they will show up)

Went to sourceforge and DLed the standalone filters for MPC-HC

Registered them manually


Played a movie. Wanted to check so install riva tuner to check GPU laod and such and logged it

(also ran a test with subtitles which breaks HW acceleration)

Casino Royale 8GB 720p movie.

HW Acelleration on

3-5% CPU usage, 3% GPU usage and running in 3d clcok mode (thinking about disabling 3d clock speed BTW, I think I can afford jumping to 5% GPU load ;))

Running subtitl;es (breaks HW accel)

25% CPU usage


With a nice cool and quiet GPU this is the differnce between a fan kicking up a notch or not.


Also if you are ripping BDROMs 1.5TB is not going to be enough a straight rip is going to be over 20GB and a reencode (I assume that is what the quad is for) will hit about 8GB to retain quality.

Hauppage cards are great, but may have problems with 4GB or more of ram many people have solved it bysetting their ram to 3.2GB.

Taht was 1600/1800 series though. Might be a common problem among all brands never looked though.

[silent bob]

Wick ,it is hooked up to the TV in the basement and yes it is OC'd (where are we,oh yeah Overclockers.com) its at 3.2 , idle 29-34 full load 48-52.

The biggest problem I have is the tv is not hd so ...

The TV I bought for it went upstairs after our tv died up there .

I will eventually put it up there , but I cant adjust the screen size to fit on the tv , so it kinda sucks atm .

Oh the speakers I got from you are what I use for sound while playing movies .

Neur0 , I did go vista media after what Jon said about no more updates with xp media , and that xp doesnt do hd .

I did put the Haup 1800 in , but really didnt play with that yet as the boy came home from college and has been on the couch for a friggen MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GO HOME ALREADY !!!!!!!!!!!!! ( back to college ) He IS leaving today tho WOOHOO!!!!!!!!

I have 2 TB for storage , and yes I was busting them down to @ 8gig . Gotta play with a front end yet , I think its gunna be Meedia Portal.

I am going to check out the programs you said .

and I bought teh nMEDIAPC (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823202004) keyboard and that is truely awesome , I just wish they made an erganomic version of that ( split keyboard)

alot of this is on hold because of the massive mods going on with the 900 case . but that is another thread not yet created .

Thanks guys , without this place I think I would be a shmuck who gets their computers from BB

[Wicked Klown]

Nice temps, my q6600 @ 2.7 with an Si-120 is 34idle and 50c load.

[silent bob]

I still say all copper is beter than that aluminum stuff anyday or whatever material is used OTHER than all copper .
Right now its the Zalman 9700 , I am not paying that price for Thermalright , and besides its too late , I emailed Thermalright and they told me they had no all copper hsf atm . so I went Zalman and bought 4 of them just so I wouldnt be caught wanting all copper again and they disappear like the XP90C .