Ace Modder's HTPC Project Log

[Ace Modder]

Hi guys.

I moved house last weekend, and to celebrate I'm building a HTPC with a decent sound system!

My new lounge looked like this 10 days ago.

As of today it looks like this.

I have removed all the horrid wood and wallpaper.

I have a plasterer booked for Monday, to completly replaster the walls.

Anyway here is a pic of the planned design etc.

Onto the HTPC now!

I'm using the following:-

YOUR BASKET
1 x Streacom ST-FC10B HTPC Aluminum Case - Black £249.98
1 x AMD A10-5800K Black Edition 3.80GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD580KWOHJBOX) £95.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD20EARX) £79.99
1 x Streacom Nano 150w HTPC Power Supply/Adapter £77.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Blu 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C10D3B1K2/16G) £71.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A85XM-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 micro ATX Motherboard £61.99
1 x Adata XPG SX900 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (ASX900S3-64GM-C) £60.98
1 x Streacom ST-IRRC Multimedia Remote and Receiver £19.99
Total : £730.31 (includes shipping : £9.50).



I have everything hardware wise apart from the case/psu and ssd.

Now onto the other hardware. I have already purchased an Onkyo TX-SR313 AV receiver. I am buying a set of Tannoy V4 2.0 Speakers and jhave already bought the Tannoy Mercury centre speaker.

I have a 40" Samsung Series 6 LED 1080p TV, a PS3 and (once built) my HTPC running on it all.

I'm yet to decide on the sub and the rear speakers for the setup.

I will update you once I have more to show

Depending on my remaining budget at the end, I may get a projector too.

 

[Ace Modder]

I think I will most likely get tannoy rears too. But they can wait till the living room is plastered and decorated.

 

[Ace Modder]

Also I do not intend to install an internal optical drive, will have a removable external drive, as i intend to add more HDD's to the HTPC as I build up my movie collection.

I have a PS3 for bluray discs.

 

[Ace Modder]

The windows are going to have cloth pull down blinds so that won't be a big issue

The hardest decision is what new TV stand to buy. I keep looking but nothing grabs me.

 

[Ace Modder]

looking good man now hurry up and finish it xD

Ready for my next house party?

 

[Ace Modder]

I don't care about the ceiling. Leaving that as it is I think.

 

[Ace Modder]

Is that a Sony Wega ? Pukkah TV mate ...... Do not change a thing

No idea, that was in the house before I moved it. It was gone once we obtained the keys etc.

 

[Ace Modder]

for stands, i have one of these and they look great and built well, can get them with just 1 shelf
http://www.theplasmacentre.com/tv-s...stands/zin421458-hyb.html?bp=99&menu=Filtered

I want something less glossy and more wooden looking. I think maybe a unit with the bottom layer with doors, maybe sliding with frosted glass. Top shelf being open.

 

[Ace Modder]

Just been to richer sounds and picked up my new Tannoy V4 fronts.

Spoke to the guy there, and got a nice deal out of him.

If anybody is concerned about them fitting inside an Impreza. Here is the proof they do fit in!

 

[Ace Modder]

Nice build going on their!

Made to measure, did you stick the kids in the boot?

I went and fetched the speakers on my lunch break, strangely I don't bring my lad to work with me lol

 

[Ace Modder]

Will you be streaming to your HTPC or will the 2TB be the whole storage?

I have loads more storage I can stream from.

My main PC has 6 TB of space, I have a synology box which currently has 2 x 1TB drives in, I will be looking to upgrade this to a 4 bay device with 4 x 3TB's (gotta check if the software supports drives over 2TB first though).

I would love to build a proper file server in my attic too, with loads of drives, a rackmount cabinet style thing that could be something for the future, not anytime soon though.

 

[Ace Modder]

I don't want a netbox type PC. I want to option to have the odd game on it. Maybe a few racing games, at medium Graphics settings the AMD onboard GPU should be fine when outpuitting to a 1080p TV. Maybe even get a racing chair later on.

 

[Ace Modder]

To be honest I think you are right. May chuck the 16GB into my mrs PC (she games) as I have a spare set of Kingston 4GB kit.

 

[Ace Modder]

Wow! Loving the look of those speakers. Can't wait to see how this evolves.

Sorry to be a bit thick - but what does the AV receiver do? I'm looking to replace the Samsung Home Theatre unit I've got but know very little about home theatre. Ideally I'd like to get a set of separates to hook up to my HTPC and projector setup, but I'm not sure what role each of the components has, and what to look for. Those speakers certainly have my attention though...

The AV receiver is basicially an amp but with video output capabilities too.

 

[Ace Modder]

That looks quite a cool remote

Anyway the plasterer has been today.

 

[Ace Modder]

It was just a skim, its a rented house. I didn't want to pay for a full replaster in a rented house. All cabling will be hidden underneath the skirting boards (getting new skirting fitted) so speaker cable will be hidden under there. Gunna use powerline adapters for networking.

 

[Ace Modder]

the cost of the room is far less than buying a house
The plasterer charged me £140
The work to remove the wooden panels/wallpaper was zero - took me 3hrs time that is all.
Decent feature wallpaper from ebay will be around £30
Backing paper for 3 none feature walls = £15-£20
Paint £15

New skirting boards (if I need them = £50)

Show me a mortage / house I can buy with a deposit of £205 or £255!

Yes admittedly I don't have the money for a house deposit, but wanting to have a nice living room with a nice entertainment system is morally and finanically wrong now is it?

I will also point out that I spent £75 on paint to repaint all the other rooms in the house including the ceilings - this is 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a dining room, hallway, stairs and landing and the kitchen. Should I have not done this either?

 

[Ace Modder]

Not much will happen for a while now. Got to wait for few weeks for the plaster to dry properly and waiting for the case/psu for the HTPC.

Speakers and TV are sat boxed still awaitng the room decorating.

 

[Ace Modder]

Yesterday I painted the ceiling with 2 layers of paint.

Strange paint... It's white, but goes on pink then dries brilliant white (so you can see what you have and have not done easily)

Also got all the glossing done. Painted the door frames, skirting boards and wiindow sill.

 

[Ace Modder]

There you go. A photo of me busy working.