Need SOUND Advice on Single Core HTPC system:
Hi, I was hoping a few of you guys would like to comment on the following Single core HTPC system we kind of threw together with older parts and some spare change used for some ebay purchases. When I say Old, I don’t mean that old as I can still remember the good old Dos days clearly and I’m really not that quick to throw PC parts away.
To get straight to the point, we are going to combine all the pc skills we already have and hopefully draw off a few of the more understanding and challenging out there, so that our modest single core system will play Blurays smoothly without incident. From what I have been reading of late, many seem to think we will need much more than what we have…I like to think it’s amazing what a well few chosen parts can do with the right tweaks and software and @ this stage remain confident.
So far this is what we have put together:
PC CASE-Silverstone LC16M Black
SPEAKERS…2.1 logitech (for now)
LCD/TV 47inch Toshiba 1920X1080i (not p) connected Via
DVI/HDMI (Monster Cable 800 series)imported from the US…only $50:00 compared to Harvey Norman’s $200:00 for the 400series %^&$ That!!!!!!
GRAPHICS Nvidia7600GT 512MB AGP running latest Nvidia XP WQH driver.
2X1Gig Corsar (single channel)DDR 400 Ram
CPU…P4 3.2Prescott…….Antec Heatpipe heatsink & fan - Idle temps 42degrees Celsius.
Standard IDE 250GB HDD (As Primary OS) Running XP Ultimate!
3X500GBSATA & 300GB IDE + 200GB IDE drives making up our meagre collection of files.
The MOTHERBOARD is an MSI but with an on-board vga (Disabled)
POWERSUPPLY is a Thermatalke 400Watt with a 12v/17amp Rail.
Oh YEA…8inch Touch Screen is on way from Hong Kong $200:00
There is much to consider amongst the list so far, & it was not all picked to fit the list as it reads. We shall simply make do and adjust as we can. Firstly the power can be improved later, but were fairly conscious of that, and the 12volt rail is only 1amp short of the recommended stats for the Graphics card, and Hdds won’t all be running at the same time. We may opt for a faster HDD for the Primary and further free up system resources with the inclusion of a recommended sound card…perhaps Azentech. I think I will even ditch the motherboard for something without onboard vga and more thought given to speed and cooling.
What this system can do at the moment is what has really surprised us. The WOW factor has really been there as soon as we hooked up the Huge 47inch Via the DVI/HDMI…We had no idea what we were missing out on when it came to Hi-Rez backgrounds. We did have to mess around with the Nvidia settings to resize our desktop to fit perfectly after selecting 1920X1080 which resulted in a very slight reduction in rez to fit perfectly…for Gamming we simply config the files to match so that we keep everything in the viewable area…this has been a learning curve that we are fast learning…I am not that happy about the letter box effect dropping when viewing movies. My wife feels this is a side effect after going from analogue to digital, something to do with resolutions and so forth…I’m still not that convinced, but both classic & windows media player of full screening most content witch some in the deluxe range…anyways…I will research that later as well.
The good news is that most of the 1920X1080p content I have downloaded thus far…H264 or whateva + Show case clips play effortlessly…unlike what many people have claimed might be the case for a single core unit. We have located a SONY BLURAY that boasts it will run of a P4 3.2…That will be our next purchase and testing ground…
I was wondering what some of you could recommend in the way of sound with Bluray in mind? Sound card & speakers and so forth. Does the sound from the Bluray player go straight through the SATA cable then into the soundcard???? Would I get the equivalent HD sound from say an Azantech Prelude running via a coaxe connection into some z5500 Logitech’s, as one would expect in a Harvey/Norman demo room?
I guess that is a bit unfair…anyways just some food for thought I guess. I have no idea how to think when it comes to sound is all. I am actually happy with the progress so far…Tottaly blown away with the Video at present and how shes all performing…I do have a quad beast, but I really don’t think I need it in the loungeroom just yet
Any thought at all would be greatly appreciated…cheers…now to join and post.
Later. WHAT SHOULD WE CONSIDER FOR SOUND????
Hi, I was hoping a few of you guys would like to comment on the following Single core HTPC system we kind of threw together with older parts and some spare change used for some ebay purchases. When I say Old, I don’t mean that old as I can still remember the good old Dos days clearly and I’m really not that quick to throw PC parts away.
To get straight to the point, we are going to combine all the pc skills we already have and hopefully draw off a few of the more understanding and challenging out there, so that our modest single core system will play Blurays smoothly without incident. From what I have been reading of late, many seem to think we will need much more than what we have…I like to think it’s amazing what a well few chosen parts can do with the right tweaks and software and @ this stage remain confident.
So far this is what we have put together:
PC CASE-Silverstone LC16M Black
SPEAKERS…2.1 logitech (for now)
LCD/TV 47inch Toshiba 1920X1080i (not p) connected Via
DVI/HDMI (Monster Cable 800 series)imported from the US…only $50:00 compared to Harvey Norman’s $200:00 for the 400series %^&$ That!!!!!!
GRAPHICS Nvidia7600GT 512MB AGP running latest Nvidia XP WQH driver.
2X1Gig Corsar (single channel)DDR 400 Ram
CPU…P4 3.2Prescott…….Antec Heatpipe heatsink & fan - Idle temps 42degrees Celsius.
Standard IDE 250GB HDD (As Primary OS) Running XP Ultimate!
3X500GBSATA & 300GB IDE + 200GB IDE drives making up our meagre collection of files.
The MOTHERBOARD is an MSI but with an on-board vga (Disabled)
POWERSUPPLY is a Thermatalke 400Watt with a 12v/17amp Rail.
Oh YEA…8inch Touch Screen is on way from Hong Kong $200:00
There is much to consider amongst the list so far, & it was not all picked to fit the list as it reads. We shall simply make do and adjust as we can. Firstly the power can be improved later, but were fairly conscious of that, and the 12volt rail is only 1amp short of the recommended stats for the Graphics card, and Hdds won’t all be running at the same time. We may opt for a faster HDD for the Primary and further free up system resources with the inclusion of a recommended sound card…perhaps Azentech. I think I will even ditch the motherboard for something without onboard vga and more thought given to speed and cooling.
What this system can do at the moment is what has really surprised us. The WOW factor has really been there as soon as we hooked up the Huge 47inch Via the DVI/HDMI…We had no idea what we were missing out on when it came to Hi-Rez backgrounds. We did have to mess around with the Nvidia settings to resize our desktop to fit perfectly after selecting 1920X1080 which resulted in a very slight reduction in rez to fit perfectly…for Gamming we simply config the files to match so that we keep everything in the viewable area…this has been a learning curve that we are fast learning…I am not that happy about the letter box effect dropping when viewing movies. My wife feels this is a side effect after going from analogue to digital, something to do with resolutions and so forth…I’m still not that convinced, but both classic & windows media player of full screening most content witch some in the deluxe range…anyways…I will research that later as well.
The good news is that most of the 1920X1080p content I have downloaded thus far…H264 or whateva + Show case clips play effortlessly…unlike what many people have claimed might be the case for a single core unit. We have located a SONY BLURAY that boasts it will run of a P4 3.2…That will be our next purchase and testing ground…
I was wondering what some of you could recommend in the way of sound with Bluray in mind? Sound card & speakers and so forth. Does the sound from the Bluray player go straight through the SATA cable then into the soundcard???? Would I get the equivalent HD sound from say an Azantech Prelude running via a coaxe connection into some z5500 Logitech’s, as one would expect in a Harvey/Norman demo room?
I guess that is a bit unfair…anyways just some food for thought I guess. I have no idea how to think when it comes to sound is all. I am actually happy with the progress so far…Tottaly blown away with the Video at present and how shes all performing…I do have a quad beast, but I really don’t think I need it in the loungeroom just yet
Any thought at all would be greatly appreciated…cheers…now to join and post.
Later. WHAT SHOULD WE CONSIDER FOR SOUND????
