HTPC build for cheap using current parts

I would like to make an HTPC to do the following things:
-control everything with a remote control.
-play divx movies/tv shows from the harddrive as well as stream across the network.
-play music
-watch/record cable tv similar to Tivo (I have a cable box for hbo etc. if that matters)

This is what my home theater has:
-plain jane crt tv with coax/composit/s-video in (will likely upgrade to an hd tv within a year)
-5.1 low end surround system (no plans to upgrade... sounds good enough for me)
-dvd player
-cable through a cable box.

This is what I have for the PC:
-7900gt with dvi/vga, s-video, rgb, and composite out
-3300 athlon 64 (single core)
-1 gig ddr400
-vista ultimate 32bit
-windows xp pro
-dvd-r drive
-400 gig hd
-pci wirless g card
-matx mobo with onboard sound, 2 pci, 1 pcie 16x, 1 pcie 1x slots.
-450 watt psu and case.

I would like to spend as little as possible and use as much of my current stuff as I can. If possible I would also like to future proof for when I upgrade to an HD tv. Image quality is not all that important to me though. Regular DVDs look good enough for me and I wont be getting an HD DVD or blu ray player anytime soon. I also do not own any consoles and would not want to game on my HTPC (thats what my desktop is for).

For what I want to do, would it work to run vista and just buy a tv tuner card and media center remote and connect to my TV though my video card's s-video connector? How would that work with the cable box or with a new hd tv? If thats all I have to do, what tv card should I get (and what software should I run?, the simpler the better).

I'd greatly appreciate any advice since all the different stuff related to HTPCs is kinda overwhelming and I think a lot of it is geared toward stuff I dont really plan on doing.

Does your mobo have ethernet ports? It might be a problem streaming some higher bitrate video files through wireless. You might want to think about a gigabit LAN card if no LAN on mobo.

It looks like you would need a TV tuner card. I am not sure if they will work for pay channels like HBO etc. I know the HD capture cards will ONLY wrk on the free channels, and will not even work in conjunction with your set top cable box at all. I am not sure about standard def cards, though. You will need some sort of TV card if you want to "tivo".

With only 1 GB RAM I would stay away from Vista and stick with XP Pro. Alot of TV cards will come with some remote for you that will work with XP.

jimmsch said:

Does your mobo have ethernet ports? It might be a problem streaming some higher bitrate video files through wireless. You might want to think about a gigabit LAN card if no LAN on mobo.

It looks like you would need a TV tuner card. I am not sure if they will work for pay channels like HBO etc. I know the HD capture cards will ONLY wrk on the free channels, and will not even work in conjunction with your set top cable box at all. I am not sure about standard def cards, though. You will need some sort of TV card if you want to "tivo".

With only 1 GB RAM I would stay away from Vista and stick with XP Pro. Alot of TV cards will come with some remote for you that will work with XP.

Click to expand...

Yeah it has on board 100mbit ethernet. I only have 1 gig ram (2 x 512mb) and the mother board only has 2 slots. I would have to buy 2x1gig sticks of ddr400 which is like 100 bux. I cant justify that for an old system when ddr2 is so cheap. I could get a cheap duel core amd processor, mobo, and 2 gigs ddr2 for not too much more.

My main concern is that I dont want it to be too complicated. If its going to give me trouble with the cable box I dont know if it is worth it. My roommate watches a lot of movie channels and if I had to put the pc on some kind of splitter I dont think it would get used all that much.

Well, none of your hardware is up to the challenge of Hi-Def. So your options are to either piece together a good HTPC for standard def, or wait and go all out for HD.

The use-what-you-have plan would require that all you purchase is a tuner card. You would use XP Pro for your OS, and an application such as GBPVR (which I highly recommend) to handle your HTPC functionality. GBPVR is free and will definitely work with a cable box assuming you purchase a tuner that can control the box (it can transmit IR signals).

Based on your stated needs and satisfaction with regular DVD quality, this is probably the best route. I would avoid using Vista because like jimmsch said your 1gb of memory will likely be an issue.

Personally, my HTPC is really similar to what I'm suggesting for you. My wife and I use it all the time. We record shows for us and our daughter, we can use it to stream movies and music over a network all through the house, etc. And it all works via a remote control (and using the MediaMVP client we can even control it from other rooms).

The only thing is, I've got a 42" plasma and we're starting to really get into HD. I got an HD-DVD player for x-mas. So now I'm looking at building a whole new HTPC, and it isn't cheap because of the system requirements... I'm probably more of a videophile than most, but IMO once you get an HDTV and some HD content, you start to desire watching everything at that quality.

The TV is not going to cut it. You will need an HDTV.
You will also need a TV/Tuner card that comes with a remote.
You can look at the ATI All-In-Wonder graphics cards or PCI variants.
You will also need 5.1 sound in the PC and a way to hook it up to you surround receiver.
I got lucky because the MOBO I use has a 5.1 coaxial output.
The rest of it looks good except use XP.

Thanks for the advice.

So all I should have to do for hardware is buy one of these and I will be good to go?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116631
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815100014
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116015
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116010

Which one would you recommend?

The last one (HVR-1600).

Yeah i just bought a hvr 1600 myself. Sounds good but drivers wont work with my winxp home edition