Using old parts for media PC

jaysus

jaysus

jaysus

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Now I've pretty much finished upgrading my PC I'm planning on using the old parts as the guts for a media PC. The plan at this stage is to run XP 32bit on the existing HDD (74GB WD Raptor) and get a second HDD - 1 or 2TB - to burn all my DVD's on to. I'm also looking to get some sort of Blu-Ray drive.
The mobo is an Asus M2N4 SLi:
http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=Tiqsh7TlDIG7JbO3
The CPU is an Athlon X2 3200/3400, something like that and theres 4GB of branded DDR2 RAM in there. The GPU is provisionally looking to be my existing 9500GT, and if practical I'll be transferring over my Corsair CX 400W PSU.
Oh, and the TV it'll be connected to is a Panasonic TXP42G10.

Now I start to get a bit confused. As I understand it the first hurdle is going to be the motherboard - if I want a case that will be smaller than midi tower I think I'm going to have to look at a new motherboard?

Which leads on to the case. I guess I want an HTPC case of some description, although it had crossed my mind that I could alternatively use a small normal case and use my HTC Desire and wireless software to control it. Is that an option or should I just look at an HTPC case specifically for the job?
Something like this:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=ca-060-an&tool=3

then theres the connection question. the tv doesn't have a dvi in slot from what i can see, so something like this would do for the picture:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=cb-018-ok
but how would i get sound across as well? tv connection stuff goes over my head.
full tv spec's here:
http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_...ecification/6269268/index.html?trackInfo=true

Cheers in advance for any help anyone can offer.
 
jaysus said:
Now I've pretty much finished upgrading my PC I'm planning on using the old parts as the guts for a media PC. The plan at this stage is to run XP 32bit on the existing HDD (74GB WD Raptor) and get a second HDD - 1 or 2TB - to burn all my DVD's on to. I'm also looking to get some sort of Blu-Ray drive.
Click to expand...
Isn't the Raptor quite loud? I've never has one. Personally I would suggest a 2.5" drive for the OS as they are considerably quieter and you can get second hand 60GB ones very cheaply.

Now I start to get a bit confused. As I understand it the first hurdle is going to be the motherboard - if I want a case that will be smaller than midi tower I think I'm going to have to look at a new motherboard?

Which leads on to the case. I guess I want an HTPC case of some description, although it had crossed my mind that I could alternatively use a small normal case and use my HTC Desire and wireless software to control it. Is that an option or should I just look at an HTPC case specifically for the job?
Click to expand...
That's up to you. If you have somewhere where you can hide the case and are on a budget then you could avoid an HTPC case. Most remotes will come with a USB IR detector, so providing the PC is still relatively near you can still use a remote control.

I assuem you're planning on running XBMC. I think you can use your HTC Desire as a remote, but personally I prefer to have an IR remote as well.

Then theres the connection question. The TV doesn't have a DVI in slot from what I can see, so something like this would do for the picture:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CB-018-OK
but how would I get sound across as well? TV connection stuff goes over my head.
Click to expand...
Ideally you want HDMI, but will the 9500 output sound over HDMI? If not then it gets a bit more difficult.
 
if you have the connectors on the tv/sound card you can hook them up for sound.

how about an ssd for the hard drive, being as you'll have another drive for storage you can use a smallish ssd.
 
Starts to get pricey when you mention SSD's, even a small one. I've just spent a fair amount on the main PC so I'd rather keep costs down.

TBH my old PC was always noisy so I couldn't say if the Raptor is especially so. But its a fair point - I will want a quiet HDD. Theres no actual need for a second HDD, I was just planning on using it because it was there.

The 9500GT doesn't have an HDMI output only DVI outputs. I've not got a sound card. This side of things (i.e how I'm going to get sound across) is somewhat beyond me. What do I need instead to work around that?
 
Hi,

If you are looking to play 1080p and maybe 720p content then the X2 3400 will struggle.

I tried with a AMD X2 3800 and it struggled badly and was't really watchable with constant sync issues, and for about £20 I got a X2 5000 which plays all 1080p content I have chucked at it flawlessly under Media Player, VLC, Media Play Classic and KMPlayer (MPC is my default player).

I tried to knock up a system as cheaply as possible and have AMD x2 5000, 2GB ram, ATI 4350 (using HDMI output with sound over 10m HDMI lead to TV) 80gb HHD for O/S and 1TB F3 Samsung drive for all media storage.

Hooked up to my LG 42" TV everything looks great and have had no issues.

Coupled with a keysonic wireless keyboard, I am sitting on sofa typing this now :)

Diddy
 
Okay, new CPU added to the shopping list.

The sound is the thing I can't suss out. I'm sure it must be doable, I just don't understand much about different connection types.
 
If you are planning on running XBMC under linux, then it's wise to stick to Nvidia GPUs in order to utilize hardware GPU offloading via VDPAU. That way your CPU does not need to be very quick at all, depending on whether you are going to use it for other duties too.
 
I agree with Beefy, you can get a 2nd hand 4350 for £20 and, this saves all the hassle of extra audio leads and configuration.

The ATI driver automatically detects HDMI output and outputs audio over the HDMI.

Also these graphics cards are passively cooled, so nice and silent.

I did try my origianal media pc with a 9800GTX I had borrowed from a friend and the fan in it was anoying, thats why I chose to go the route of cpu upgrade and passively cooled ATI 4350, as it gave me the silence I wanted and hassle free HDMI output.

Diddy
 
You shouldn't need a CPU upgrade. On Windows both AMD and Nvidia support accelerated video decoding and XBMC supports it for Nvidia cards on Linux.
 
Cool, shopping list gets a little longer but still looks reasonably cheap.

So far I've got this:

Antec Fusion Remote HTPC Case - Silver [0761345-08760-5]
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-060-AN

Gigabyte GA-M68M-S2P GeForce 7025 (Socket AM3/AM2+) DDR2 microATX Motherboard [GA-M68M-S2P]
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-241-GI

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4350 512MB DDR2 PCI-E Graphics Card Low Profile
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-243-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1.5TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM 1yr Warranty (ST31500341AS) [ST31500341AS]
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-232-SE&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=1279

LG CH10LS20 10x BluRay-ROM / 16x DVD±RW Drive - Black (Retail) [CH10LS20]
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CD-109-LG&groupid=701&catid=10&subcat=314

Plus a more powerful CPU from somewhere else.

How does that sound?
 
Another question springs to mind - software. Where do I begin? I currently have access to a copy of 32-bit XP Pro and I have Win 7 Home Premium Retail on the main PC (I guess I'd have to buy another copy if I wanted that on the HTPC, which frankly I'm not keen to do.)

So where does that leave me? All I really want is to be able to do some web browsing on there if need be and be able to easily burn movies to the HDD and easily use them again.
 
jaysus said:
Another question springs to mind - software. Where do I begin? I currently have access to a copy of 32-bit XP Pro and I have Win 7 Home Premium Retail on the main PC (I guess I'd have to buy another copy if I wanted that on the HTPC, which frankly I'm not keen to do.)

So where does that leave me? All I really want is to be able to do some web browsing on there if need be and be able to easily burn movies to the HDD and easily use them again.
Click to expand...

Bump. Any ideas on the software side?
 
It depends, there is whole range of options and my recommendation would vary depending on what features you want and what is important to you:

If you need Live TV / DVR etc.:
Win7 Media Center - improved over Vista apparently, simple to set-up. Fairly inflexible
MediaPortal - Requires a fair bit of setting up, but is extremely flexible. I use this and with the ForTheRecord, MovingPictures and TV Series plugins installed it's pretty awesome. Other than the config the main downside is a slightly clunky UI (not bad, just not as slick as XBMC). Windows only, 7 recommended but can run on XP.
Myth TV - Linux based TV server. Never tried, I imagine it's not going to be easy to set up. Isn't really a complete HTPC set-up (?), just a TV server. Not sure about XBMC integration.

No TV:
XBMC - This is by far the most popular choice since it's relatively easy to set-up, has most of the features people want and is pretty slick. I found it slightly inflexible after using Mediaportal personally, but maybe that was just a lack of knowledge. Runs on Windows or Linux (an Nvidia card is needed for Linux video decoding though).
MediaPortal - Still an option, but without the TV requirement not so attractive.
 
I don't need live TV etc, all I was looking for really is a way to easily burn DVD's/Blu-ray to HDD then a reasonably pleasant interface for watching them later.
 
Quick question to help jaysus as I am not a HTPC buff but I know my board has the integrated HD4200 graphics as well as a HDMI output so my question is for those that have experience would the onboard cope? From reviews I have seem lots of people say that they play movies just fine but I take all that with a grain of salt.

The board I have is a cracking little board for the price(in my sig) but any 785G with the HD4200 I would think should work and be pretty fature rich for your needs. keep in mind either way you can also sell that 9500 to help cover costs.
 
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