HTPC for my family

twitchee2 · Jan 12, 2007

My family get getting a new TV to replace our 15 yr old 27incher with a relatives newer 37in tv . I would like yo build us a HTPC to go along with it. I'm not too familiar with this kind of stuff so i would like to know what you would suggest. I already have HDD and ram, and I'm going to build a case out of wood (fun mod project). There is no real budget, but something cheap that will do a good job.

Ok so far heres the setup I have.

Pioneer DVR-111D http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827129001
Fortron 350w http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104936
AMD64 3200+ s939 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103535
ASUS A8R-MX/SI http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131049
Hauppauge WINTV-PVR-150 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815116625
xp home http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16832116169
256mb muskin DDR400 Ram I ALREADY OWN- thats why I'm opting for 939, and 939 is cheaper then am2
80gb WD already have

I still need a tuner suggestions thats the only thing i don't really know about, but i am open for suggestions for the entire build. Thanks

Drew@PSU · Jan 13, 2007

1. The Hauppauge you have in there isn't a bad one if you are doing basic recording. My friends tricked out system uses the higher Hauppauge cards and it works quite well.

2. You might want to spring for Media Center Edition, it plays nicer with the tuner cards.

3. Depending on how much TV you watch, you may want to consider a bigger HDD.

batboy · Jan 13, 2007

You're gonna need lots more RAM.

Bios24 · Jan 13, 2007

That's a good DVR for 1 person....but not for a family. Some helpful hints:

Tuners- Each tuner you have can either record one show, or display one show live. (not both) So if you had 2 you can watch live tv, and record a show. or- record 2 shows. I'd get at least 2...and plan on getting a 3rd one soon after. The PVR-150 is good, but check out the PVR-500. It's basically 2 PVR-150's in one.

Ram- XP will run better with 512mb...with Media Center you may even want 1gb.

Hard drive(s): Your 80gb will shrink very fast. After the OS you're looking at around 60gb of storage. I'd estimate 1gb for every hour of recording, so that would make about 30 hours. That sounds like a lot, but it's really not. 80gb is ok for the OS, but I'd pick up a 200-320gb for storage.

Front-end: Have you thought about what software you are going to use? MythTV is a good choice, along with many free/pay PVR programs for windows including Media Center. This may make a difference in which remote or hardware you choose.

Also- Newegg doesn't have the best prices for the PVR-150. If you need a remote this one from Directron is better. It has an MCE remote which is more compatible with different front-end software. They also have stand-alone PVR-150's.

LandShark · Jan 13, 2007

as others have pointed out, tuner card(s) and HDD space is what you'll need to address the most.

since it's for family, you definitely need "at least" a dual tuner format so your family will be able to watch one channel while recording another channel at the same time. if not, everyone else will be forced to watch the same channel that is being recorded!

trust me, I'm betting you/your family will fill up that 80GB (more like 60GB actually) in a couple months! especially if they are into any TV Series! get at least a 250-320GB HDD (they could have for less than $90) to start with.

also, if budget allow, try to get at least 512MB ram if not 1GB too.

also, how are you planning to output the sound? are you connecting the sound to a stereo system/receiver? if so, via what? analog? digital (optical/coax)?

and besides for PVR function, is the HTPC going to be use for anything else?? watch DVDs? play game at all?

fabulouscoops · Jan 13, 2007

Nobody caught that you have no video card.
The motherboard has on-board video but you need TV out unless the TV is also a monitor with the proper inputs. I think a 7300GT with silent pipe cooling would be a good choice.
Also, that is a micro ATX board and only has 2 PCI slots. You will need one for the tuner (maybe two if you get 2xPVR-150 but a PVR-500 has two tuners so maybe one slot afterall.) And one for a sound card. If you want to add a WiFi card or a third tuner you are out of luck.
I would look for something with at least three PCI slots.

As others have said. At the least a 200 GB HDD and 512 to 1024 of RAM.

You will probably want to store digital photos and maybe watch slide shows on this so a large HDD will not go to waste.

nd4spdbh2 · Jan 13, 2007

And also if you plan on gettin some good DVD play back off that system above (gfx really doesnt matter but a 7300gt would do) your gonna need more of a processor... (although it really depends on what you use to play it back).... i say you just go with the crap you have laying around ur house! and make a lil DVR, with a AIW 8500dv that i have given you three times... :beer:

Dermen · Jan 13, 2007

fabulouscoops said:
Nobody caught that you have no video card.
The motherboard has on-board video but you need TV out unless the TV is also a monitor with the proper inputs. I think a 7300GT with silent pipe cooling would be a good choice.
Also, that is a micro ATX board and only has 2 PCI slots. You will need one for the tuner (maybe two if you get 2xPVR-150 but a PVR-500 has two tuners so maybe one slot afterall.) And one for a sound card. If you want to add a WiFi card or a third tuner you are out of luck.
I would look for something with at least three PCI slots.

If you want integrated graphics to save money/space the DFI RS482 Infinity uses the same chipset as the Asus but has Composite/Svidoe/Component out for your TV. It still only has 2 PCI slots, which means you should definitely look at a Dual tuner like the Nvidia DualTV or the Hauppauge PVR-500. As for a sound card it is not necessary, at least not for right now. Use the onboard and see what you think, you can always add a sound card later.

Also you didn't mention if you have analog or digital cable/satellite. If you have digital cable/satellite you will need one of those set top boxes for each tuner and a way for the computer to change the channel on the boxes.

Bios24 · Jan 13, 2007

nd4spdbh2 said:
And also if you plan on gettin some good DVD play back off that system above (gfx really doesnt matter but a 7300gt would do) your gonna need more of a processor... (although it really depends on what you use to play it back)....

CPU is fine. I use a P4 [email protected] and it plays DVD's perfectly fine. Outputs through an ATI 9600XT. Heck I use to have a P1@233mhz that had a decoder card that played DVD's. ah...good memories. :santa:

nd4spdbh2 · Jan 13, 2007

Bios24 said:
CPU is fine. I use a P4 [email protected] and it plays DVD's perfectly fine. Outputs through an ATI 9600XT. Heck I use to have a P1@233mhz that had a decoder card that played DVD's. ah...good memories.

yes but i know twitchie.. hes a good friend of mine and we go to school together, and hes seen me use my HTPC with FFdshow and im taxing the crap out of my P4 2.8C... but its all depending on the tv hes gettin today on how big ffdshow is gonna need to scale up the dvd..

twitchee2 · Jan 13, 2007

WOWOWOWOW i need to learn about these a bit more. I thought i would need some more cpu power, but i do have a my old sony viao mobo that has been around the block a few times and ill put a 2.4 back in it (nd4spd can have his 2.0 back for my 2.4). We have digital cable, only one box though. I like the idea of 2 tuner cards, the board i have has 3 pci slots + agp. I now have a 9800 AIW to use. I will obviously be getting more hdd space along with at least 512 ram.

With the PVR-500, do i need two separate boxes or do i just need one box and the i can watch a game/show and record something at the same time?

BTW the tv we just got is a sony 36in tube tv so not really high res.

nd4spdbh2 · Jan 13, 2007

twitchee2 said:
WOWOWOWOW i need to learn about these a bit more. I thought i would need some more cpu power, but i do have a my old sony viao mobo that has been around the block a few times and ill put a 2.4 back in it (nd4spd can have his 2.0 back for my 2.4). We have digital cable, only one box though. I like the idea of 2 tuner cards, the board i have has 3 pci slots + agp. I now have a 9800 AIW to use. I will obviously be getting more hdd space along with at least 512 ram.

With the PVR-500, do i need two separate boxes or do i just need one box and the i can watch a game/show and record something at the same time?

BTW the tv we just got is a sony 36in tube tv so not really high res.

OOOO UR FUNNY... you really think ima give you that 2.4b along with my AIW 9800 AHAHHAHAHAH :beer:

you will be lucky to get the AIW 8500dv i have

fabulouscoops · Jan 13, 2007

If you watch/record premium channels that need a cable box, then you need two cable boxes. If you just have standard cable out of the coax port in the wall then you just need a splitter. It is possible to put a splitter before the cable box and run it to one tuner card and run the other tuner to the cable box. Then you would be able to watch premium channels but only record standard channels or vice versa.

Theoretically, you can use an ATI AIW card for everything because it has a tuner built in but don't mix it with a hauppauge card. In other words, don't use the tuner in the AIW. Just use the video port and the TV out port and skip the TV in. Saave that for the stand alone tuner card(s).

twitchee2 · Jan 14, 2007

well, now that i think about it, we only watch the standard channels becuase the tv that was plugged directly into the cable had everything we wanted. so I dont think i would need extra boxed for more cards.

Would it be worth it to get MCE over XPpro?

nd4spdbh2 · Jan 15, 2007

twitchee2 said:
well, now that i think about it, we only watch the standard channels becuase the tv that was plugged directly into the cable had everything we wanted. so I dont think i would need extra boxed for more cards.

Would it be worth it to get MCE over XPpro?

nooo... not when you can get a cra.... i mean free version of xp pro from me :beer:

twitchee2 · Jan 15, 2007

nd4spdbh2 said:
nooo... not when you can get a cra.... i mean free version of xp pro from me

Dermen · Jan 15, 2007

I personally would look at the Nvidia DualTV instead of the WinTV-PVR 500. It has better image quality and the PVR-500 has had some quality issues recently.

Also those three WinTV-PVR 150s have slight differences.
The first one you linked has no FM tuner and no Remote
The second one you linked has an FM tuner and no Remote
The third one you linked has no FM tuner and comes with a Remote

nd4spdbh2 · Jan 15, 2007

twitchee2 said:
I wasnt looking for your opinion thanks.

Well so far the plan is to build htpc with the stuff i have right now see how i like it then go from there.

Im still very confused on the tuner wise, but here was what I was thinking.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827129001
Pioneer DVR-111D $31
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136007
DFI RS482 INFINITY $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103535
a64 3200 s939 $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129014
Antec NSK2400 100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145440
Corsair value select 1gb $91
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130052
eVGA 256-P2-N443-LX GeForce 7300GT $70

Then I'm looking at one of these 4 tuners (me thinking the 500 is the best option)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16815116633
WinTV-PVR-150 274 55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16815116620
WinTV-PVR-150 MCE 68
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16815116625
WINTV-PVR-150 88
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815116628
WinTV-PVR 500 MCE 140

Any imput is great. thanks goys.

dude use the parts you have laying around... cus they will work JUST FINE... its not like your going to be outputting to a HDTV... ur going to a regular 480i tube tv... and all that you have will do that just fine...

P4 2.0A
AIW 8500dv
256mb of ram
80gb hd
some sony board... done

twitchee2 · Jan 15, 2007

nd4spdbh2 said:
dude use the parts you have laying around... cus they will work JUST FINE... its not like your going to be outputting to a HDTV... ur going to a regular 480i tube tv... and all that you have will do that just fine...

P4 2.0A
AIW 8500dv
256mb of ram
80gb hd
some sony board... done

thats what im going to do, then when/if we want a more powerful htpc then thats what im planning for.

nd4spdbh2 · Jan 15, 2007

*cough* skrew amd get C2D E4300 / E6300 *cough*

HTPC for my family

Registered

Member

Senior Moment

Member

Super Shark Moderator

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Registered

Member

Member

Registered

Member

Registered

Member

Member

Registered

Member

Similar threads