First Attempt at a HTPC - All Advice Welcome!

That Guy

That Guy

That Guy

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Joined
31 Jan 2010
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283
Location
UK
Firstly I have never built a HTPC but have built many standard builds.

I currently have an old Topup TV Freeview Recorder that is on its last legs so thought this would be a good time to build something.

I will probably be using Windows 7 until Windows 10 gets released. The build does not need to be anything special, my TV is currently only 720p. As long as the build can handle 1080p it should be fine.

I will be using the HTPC for:

- Catchup TV
- Recording Freeview
- YouTube
- AirPlaying from iOS Devices

Features Required:

- AirPlay (if this can be done to a Windows machine)
- Fanless Heatsink
- Small HTPC Case
- Dual Tuner Freeview Card
- IR Sensor (will probably use a harmony remote)

I'm guessing Plex is the best software to go with? For CPU I'm guessing i3?

Any help, suggestions and hardware recommendations appreciated!
 
just thought i would share with you the specs of my htpc

am1 athlon 5350 with stock heatsink, more than powerful enough for what i have used it for [onboard graphics] 1080p 60fps steam home streaming. stock fan is so quiet even under full load i can hear more noise from the HDD.

im using a silverstone ML03 case, although its quite wide its low profile which i really like. with a pair of 'modified' Arctic F8 Pro PWM Case Fans exhausting, i say modified, i clipped abit of the plastic 'grill' to clear some capacitors on the motherboard as it is wider than 25mm my case supports.

im using a tbs 6280 DVB-T2 tv tuner card can't fault it, great signal, minimal heat, speedy channel switching [using mediaportal 1.10] does everything i want from it, although stock remote is awful.

using an xonar DX 7.1 low profile card for audio. [left over from old build]

pair of gskill eco 2x2gb sticks of ram. 1600mhz tight timings and 1.35v, what more could you ask for

2tb WD green for recording onto
500gb laptop drive for programs.

for what i paid i am more than happy, it uses about 24w from the wall on the desktop with about 30w usage whilst recording/1080p playback and havent seen it go over 35w doing steam inhome streaming


what would i change? i would have gotten a single 4gb stick incase i ever need 8 in the future. i would have gone for a SFF psu [but i had a corsair cx 430 in my loft so i used that] i would have gone for an SSD to boot, although it spends most of the day sleeping im not sure i would see much benefit.



i would not suggest going fanless even with a huge heatsink yes your cpu will be quite cool, but with no airflow over the vrm's / motherboard / HDD's they are all going to suffer. i use two casefans in my above pc and it keeps everything very cool [pwm controlled at about 35% 99% of the time they are inaudible and knocks about 8c off idle temps with 20c off load.


edit: and to answer your question yes it will do 1080p youtube video, onboard struggles a tad at youtube 1080p 60fps with the odd stutter, but has had no issues with steam stream at 1080p 60fps no stutter, youtube issue maybe? :x
 
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Try using mobile mouse to control it using your phone/tablet.
Not sure how a harmony remote would be any use?

I'd go i3 personally if I was building it for myself.

An ssd would make it nice and quiet.
 
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I run the Media Centre software included in Windows (best I've found for live TV).

I run an AM1 board with a 5350 and it plays everything fine and records HD freeview now problem. Stock heatsink is basically silent.

I've got a TBS dual freeview HD tuner, not sure you can buy it any more, but does the job, although it took a bit of setup to get it working right (codecs mainly).

I use a media centre remote and keyboard (IR) with a USB receiver. A little clunky but works well (good battery life on the remotes, the receive has a long cable if you want to hide your box away.

I have a big box as I have 5 HDDs hanging off the thing, but I do like the look of the Streamcom boxes, and some included an IR receiver.
 
I have two HTPCs currently. Both are in Antec cases to utilise the Veris remote control features (ie power on from cold using remote) via my Harmony remote.

One has a G620 in it and the other a G3220. Both have 4GB of RAM in them and are running W7. I use both Media Centre and Plex. They both boot directly into WMC with Plex available as an option. The G620 machine has a dual DVB-S2 tuner card in it for Freesat and the other has access to the recordings via the network.

One I built about 4 years ago and hasn't missed a beat, the other is about 2 years old and also gives me no issues.

Both have small SSDs as boot drives to give fast loads and instant returns from sleep. The G620 unit also has a 1TB drive in it for Freesat Recordings.

The G620 is in a Remote Fusion Max case (as I got it cheap) and has a Thermalright SI-128 fanless heatsink in it with a 120mm and a 140mm on the rear and side rear of the case as extracts meaning you cannot hear it from half a metre away but I have never seen the CPU over 50c and usually sits between 35-40c during normal use.

The other is in an Antec Fusion Veris (again managed to get it cheap) and uses the stock 1150 heatsink and can only have 80mm fans so annoyingly is just audible (not an issue when watching something at volume, but just noticeable if watching quietly at 3am in the morning :)).
 
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