HTPC Help Needed!

Hey guys, I am planning to build a HTPC for my new Samsung LCD. I have never built a HTPC before and while I have done some research, I would like some parts and software suggestions.

Firstly, I will be using Windows Vista on this HTPC, which HDTV tuner card will work the best at a decent price? I need it to be able to record HD/SD programming from my digital cable box.

I will only be using this HTPC mainly to view 1080p content and maybe play some other media (mp3s, jpgs, etc) and perhaps light gaming (Warcraft III). WIth that said is a single core CPU like the Celeron 4x0 enough? I figure since this isn't for intense CAD work or gaming, the 8500GT/8600GT I plan on getting would be more than enough as the video card is the one that does most of the work when playing HD content? If I am mistakened here, please tell me. Also, how important is RAM here? Is 2GB required or can I skimp a bit here?

Lastly, what are some good HTPC programs? Is Vista's Media Center good for organizing the movies/music/photos?

Thanks for the help.




EDIT: Are Blu-Ray burners like the one I linked to below a good deal? Or are blu-ray burners generally not worth it right now?
http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.pro...PK&JRSource=DealTime.datafeed.PIO+BDC2202B5PK

you're not going to be able to record the HD from your cable box via a tuner. None exist. Only thing you can do is QAM/OTA

Thanks for the reply. As I understand it, some tuners support QAM, such as this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815260005

If anyone can point me in the right direction for this matter it would be great. Links would help a bunch.

Thank you LandShark! Exactly the kind of guide I need, I don't know why I can't find these myself.

Well, it seems like the Hauppauge HVR-1600 looks like a good option. It says it has support for QAM and Vista and all that good stuff. So with this tuner I should be good to go right? As in able to use it to record live HD and SD programming from my digital cable box?

Sorry I am just really new to this HTPC world and would love to get things right the first time around. Also, any hardware recommendations would be nice. Would like to keep things under $500 or so.

ancalime said:

Thank you LandShark! Exactly the kind of guide I need, I don't know why I can't find these myself.

Well, it seems like the Hauppauge HVR-1600 looks like a good option. It says it has support for QAM and Vista and all that good stuff. So with this tuner I should be good to go right? As in able to use it to record live HD and SD programming from my digital cable box?

Sorry I am just really new to this HTPC world and would love to get things right the first time around. Also, any hardware recommendations would be nice. Would like to keep things under $500 or so.

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It's a good card, I have it.

You're a little confused I think though, QAM and HD from your cable box are 2 different things. You're not going to be able to pick up hd from the box. With QAM, it's luck of the draw with what your cable provider sends out, and how strong of a signal you get. QAM is just sent out over the cable, you don't use your box at all for it. You're likely to get the local channels in HD via QAM, but things like discovery HD, espn HD ect, you will not.

Mr. Roboto said:

It's a good card, I have it.

You're a little confused I think though, QAM and HD from your cable box are 2 different things. You're not going to be able to pick up hd from the box. With QAM, it's luck of the draw with what your cable provider sends out, and how strong of a signal you get. QAM is just sent out over the cable, you don't use your box at all for it. You're likely to get the local channels in HD via QAM, but things like discovery HD, espn HD ect, you will not.

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I am definitely confused haha, I know absolutely nada pertaining to htpc, HD cable, TVs, etc.
So am I suppose to connect the cable line to the tuner and hope that the channels I want are sent out via QAM? Channels like the discovery HD and ESPN HD are actually pretty important to me. Is there not a way for a HTPC to be able to record these channels that aren't sent via QAM? I was hoping my HTPC recording abilites would be similar as that of the DVR solution that Cablevision offers (so I can avoid the monthly cost and have an excuse for building a htpc).

ancalime said:

I am definitely confused haha, I know absolutely nada pertaining to htpc, HD cable, TVs, etc.
So am I suppose to connect the cable line to the tuner and hope that the channels I want are sent out via QAM? Channels like the discovery HD and ESPN HD are actually pretty important to me. Is there not a way for a HTPC to be able to record these channels that aren't sent via QAM? I was hoping my HTPC recording abilites would be similar as that of the DVR solution that Cablevision offers (so I can avoid the monthly cost and have an excuse for building a htpc).

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Your only option for recording those are to spend alot of money for a prebuilt HTPC that has a cableCARD tuner in it.

Just out of curiosity, what kind of cable box do you have? Does it have a firewire port on it?

Mr. Roboto said:

Your only option for recording those are to spend alot of money for a prebuilt HTPC that has a cableCARD tuner in it.

Just out of curiosity, what kind of cable box do you have? Does it have a firewire port on it?

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That is unfortunate to hear about the expensive prebuilts. The cablecards are only available to large OEM companies?
How do I find out what channels will be available through QAM. Is there like a QAM programming listing or something or is what I am asking nonsense?

And I have the 4250HD. I can't take a look at it now but a Google search revealed it does have firewire.



EDIT: And I still need some hardware recommendations if anyone can help me with that. I have seen many builds but most of them have dual core CPUs. I was hoping if I could get by with only a single core conroe. The most multitasking I will do is perhaps running some P2P while recording and watching. Is that too much for a single core?

ancalime said:

That is unfortunate to hear about the expensive prebuilts. The cablecards are only available to large OEM companies?
How do I find out what channels will be available through QAM. Is there like a QAM programming listing or something or is what I am asking nonsense?

And I have the 4250HD. I can't take a look at it now but a Google search revealed it does have firewire.



EDIT: And I still need some hardware recommendations if anyone can help me with that. I have seen many builds but most of them have dual core CPUs. I was hoping if I could get by with only a single core conroe. The most multitasking I will do is perhaps running some P2P while recording and watching. Is that too much for a single core?

Click to expand...

Keep googling then, there's a chance you can cap the HD streams via firewire with some programs. I can do it with my Motorola box from Comcast.

and yeah, cablecard isn't available to the general public yet.

For the videocard, i recommend getting the hd2600pro, i believe the 2600XT may come with some additional features, but i think the 2600pro is more than enough already. I say go with the ATI card, because it has more support i believe.

Also keep in mind that while those cards state support for QAM and Vista, that QAM is not going to work inside Vista Media Center. You will have to use included, or third-party, software to tune in QAM stations.

Mr. Roboto said:

Keep googling then, there's a chance you can cap the HD streams via firewire with some programs. I can do it with my Motorola box from Comcast.

and yeah, cablecard isn't available to the general public yet.

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I searched around and found a thread on AVS where someone said it was impossible to get any good recording via firewire with my cable box. That is unfortunate..

White_Pawn said:

For the videocard, i recommend getting the hd2600pro, i believe the 2600XT may come with some additional features, but i think the 2600pro is more than enough already. I say go with the ATI card, because it has more support i believe.

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Is the HD2600PRO really needed? The 8500GT is significantly cheaper (about $30 less) and I would opt for that. Are the Nvidia drivers that bad?

Jon said:

Also keep in mind that while those cards state support for QAM and Vista, that QAM is not going to work inside Vista Media Center. You will have to use included, or third-party, software to tune in QAM stations.

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Hm, what freeware would you recommend than? I searched for programs that would do QAM and found BeyondTV, but I don't think that is free.

GB-PVR does it with the HVR1600 (not sure about other tuners). Other free utilities I've seen just use a plugin that interacts with whatever software comes with the card for tuning it in, so it's not native.