Soldato
I get asked a lot of questions about my HTPC and its configuration so i thought i'd dedicate a thread to it rather than giving info here and there. Im hoping it will help a lot of members on this forum out.
This is extracts taken from my AVforums build thread which can be found at: http://www.avforums.com/forums/home-cinema-pcs/782874-my-htpc-journey-thus-far.html
Purpose:
To allow the family and me to surf the Internet downstairs, do normal PC tasks, and to watch divx/xvid/avi/.mkv files (mainly used for file based playback).
It all started off because I was unhappy with the PS3’s surfing ability (or lack of it) so decided I needed a PC in my living room. After much reading I changed from just needing it to surf the Internet to making it into a HTPC capable of H.264 playback.
Spec:
Antec Fusion Black HTPC Case
Intel Core2Duo E2140 1.6Ghz
Abit Fatality F-190HD
Scythe Mini Ninja CPU Cooler
Samsung SH-S203DBEBN 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter
GeiL 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C5 800MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
Samsung SpinPoint S 1Tb SATA-II
Windows XP SP3
Cost:
The cost for all the above components was just under £400. The reason it came in cheap was because majority of the hardware was 2nd hand, which I picked up on forums.
Modifications:
1. Removed the 2x 120mm fans that came with the case as I found them loud even on the low settings. Now I only have 1x 120mm fan running at 800rpm.
2. Removed the Scythe Mini Ninja fan because it was a little audible even at low settings. Added the Noctua NF-R8 80mm fan, which is plugged into Zalman Fan-mate 2, which allows me to control its settings.
3. Overclocked the E2140 to 2.8Ghz out the box with no changes to voltages apart from upping the DDR to 1.90v. I believe this is more than enough for the HTPC!
Cables tidy'ed up to aid circulation.
Zalman Fan-mate 2 control at rear of case so i can adjust CPU fan when i need to.
Noise:
This was one of my main areas, which I gave top priority. I didn’t want anything to spoil or take away from the soundtrack. Plus, I generally watch movies late at night (which can inconvenience other family members) so I don’t have the comfort of turning up the volume to drown out the HTPC noise.
Swapping out the Antec and the Scythe fans for the Noctua ones has really helped lower the dB. Both the 120mm case fan and the 80mm CPU fan are on the lowest settings.
Using rubber grommets to fix the case fan eliminated any vibrations and cleaning up the cables also eliminated any “swoosh” sounds.
The Samsung SATA HDD is virtually noise free. The only time it can be heard is if I am within one feet of the case. The rubber mounts in the case have really helped eliminate any vibrations and resonance that sometimes can be caused with other fixtures.
The HTPC is only audible if I am within a few feet of it and even then it is no more louder than the ambient noise. From my seating position (2.5metres away) i cant hear it with the TV volume set for normal listening.
To put it in perspective; it is on a par with my quiet 40Gb PS3 in terms of noise (and my PS3 is damn quiet)!
Temperatures:
As you can see from the screenshots, the load temperatures are well within the safe operating requirements. The stress test ran for 1hr16min with the CPU and RAM stressed 100%. In reality, I don’t think the HTPC will ever be put under this much stress for long periods.
Bear in mind that during this stress test the CPU fan was running at 900rpm and Case fan was running at 800rpm – both running at silent settings. Should the CPU ever get too hot I can always turn up the fan using the Zalman Fan-mate.
It idles between 35 - 40*C.
Software & Codecs:
Software that I use for H.264 material:
I tend to stay away from "codec packs" because they are mostly bloated and contain more than what is required. This can lead to conflicts and wasting system resources. I much prefer to ONLY install the codecs and software that i need because then if i do encounter any problems i know it can only be a handful of things.
Remote
Got the MS Media Centre Remote Controller.
Managed to set it up so that i would not need to use my wireless keyboard/mouse at all.
Now i can turn it On and then go relax on the sofa and control everything from the comfort of my sofa via the remote controller.
I can launch MediaPortal and play movies and use all the controls and have an "On Screen Display" and shut down the HTPC all by using the MS remote.
All done via this software: http://www.lmgestion.net/@en-us/4/22/60/article.asp
The Antec case has a built in IR reciever which is universally considered to be pants. It is recommended to use the MS IR reciever and for this you need to turn off the one in the antec case other wise you will end up with 2 actions being taken for each press on the remote.
You can now use the iMon software to control the VFD/IR Sensor in the Antec case. The latest version of the iMon software has an option to disable the IR Sensor all together."
Setting up Profiles in ATi CCC
As my TV supports 24Hz playback and so does my onboard GPU, the next step is to setup profiles in ATi CCC.
A profile @ 24Hz for HD files and a profile @ 60Hz for all other files.
Using Alt+1 and Alt+2 to switch between the two profiles depending on what im watching.
1080p HD Playback
Some of you might think that my onboard X1200 GPU and my E2140 may not be up to the job of handling 1080p material. I was too led to believe this from research but my build clearly shows that you do NOT need top end hardware to play 1080p files!
However, if you intend on playing HD material from disk then it might be a different story. My HTPC copes with file-based HD playback. With disc based play-back within PowerDVD the X1200 may not be enough and thats when a 3400 series card or above is required.
For those who fear building and configuring HTPC's, i would recommend getting a motherboard which has HDMI (v1.3) onboard and does output audio and graphics over it. These generally use Realtek drivers and in my experience are pretty robust. This keeps things nice and simple. I've heard of a few reports where DVI to HDMI connections have caused problems.
The alternative is to buy a newer range of ATi GPU's which can output audio and picture over HDMI.
This is extracts taken from my AVforums build thread which can be found at: http://www.avforums.com/forums/home-cinema-pcs/782874-my-htpc-journey-thus-far.html
Purpose:
To allow the family and me to surf the Internet downstairs, do normal PC tasks, and to watch divx/xvid/avi/.mkv files (mainly used for file based playback).
It all started off because I was unhappy with the PS3’s surfing ability (or lack of it) so decided I needed a PC in my living room. After much reading I changed from just needing it to surf the Internet to making it into a HTPC capable of H.264 playback.
Spec:
Antec Fusion Black HTPC Case
Intel Core2Duo E2140 1.6Ghz
Abit Fatality F-190HD
Scythe Mini Ninja CPU Cooler
Samsung SH-S203DBEBN 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter
GeiL 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C5 800MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
Samsung SpinPoint S 1Tb SATA-II
Windows XP SP3
Cost:
The cost for all the above components was just under £400. The reason it came in cheap was because majority of the hardware was 2nd hand, which I picked up on forums.
Modifications:
1. Removed the 2x 120mm fans that came with the case as I found them loud even on the low settings. Now I only have 1x 120mm fan running at 800rpm.
2. Removed the Scythe Mini Ninja fan because it was a little audible even at low settings. Added the Noctua NF-R8 80mm fan, which is plugged into Zalman Fan-mate 2, which allows me to control its settings.
3. Overclocked the E2140 to 2.8Ghz out the box with no changes to voltages apart from upping the DDR to 1.90v. I believe this is more than enough for the HTPC!
Cables tidy'ed up to aid circulation.
Zalman Fan-mate 2 control at rear of case so i can adjust CPU fan when i need to.
Noise:
This was one of my main areas, which I gave top priority. I didn’t want anything to spoil or take away from the soundtrack. Plus, I generally watch movies late at night (which can inconvenience other family members) so I don’t have the comfort of turning up the volume to drown out the HTPC noise.
Swapping out the Antec and the Scythe fans for the Noctua ones has really helped lower the dB. Both the 120mm case fan and the 80mm CPU fan are on the lowest settings.
Using rubber grommets to fix the case fan eliminated any vibrations and cleaning up the cables also eliminated any “swoosh” sounds.
The Samsung SATA HDD is virtually noise free. The only time it can be heard is if I am within one feet of the case. The rubber mounts in the case have really helped eliminate any vibrations and resonance that sometimes can be caused with other fixtures.
The HTPC is only audible if I am within a few feet of it and even then it is no more louder than the ambient noise. From my seating position (2.5metres away) i cant hear it with the TV volume set for normal listening.
To put it in perspective; it is on a par with my quiet 40Gb PS3 in terms of noise (and my PS3 is damn quiet)!
Temperatures:
As you can see from the screenshots, the load temperatures are well within the safe operating requirements. The stress test ran for 1hr16min with the CPU and RAM stressed 100%. In reality, I don’t think the HTPC will ever be put under this much stress for long periods.
Bear in mind that during this stress test the CPU fan was running at 900rpm and Case fan was running at 800rpm – both running at silent settings. Should the CPU ever get too hot I can always turn up the fan using the Zalman Fan-mate.
It idles between 35 - 40*C.
Software & Codecs:
Software that I use for H.264 material:
- Windows Media Player Classic (free)
- CoreAVC 1.8 Professional (not free)
- ffdshow (free)
- AC3Filter (free)
- DivX Codec (free)
- XviD Codec (free)
- WMP 11 (free)
- KM Player (free)
- Zoom Player (free)
- VLC Media Player (free)
I tend to stay away from "codec packs" because they are mostly bloated and contain more than what is required. This can lead to conflicts and wasting system resources. I much prefer to ONLY install the codecs and software that i need because then if i do encounter any problems i know it can only be a handful of things.
Remote
Got the MS Media Centre Remote Controller.
Managed to set it up so that i would not need to use my wireless keyboard/mouse at all.
Now i can turn it On and then go relax on the sofa and control everything from the comfort of my sofa via the remote controller.
I can launch MediaPortal and play movies and use all the controls and have an "On Screen Display" and shut down the HTPC all by using the MS remote.
All done via this software: http://www.lmgestion.net/@en-us/4/22/60/article.asp
The Antec case has a built in IR reciever which is universally considered to be pants. It is recommended to use the MS IR reciever and for this you need to turn off the one in the antec case other wise you will end up with 2 actions being taken for each press on the remote.
You can now use the iMon software to control the VFD/IR Sensor in the Antec case. The latest version of the iMon software has an option to disable the IR Sensor all together."
Setting up Profiles in ATi CCC
As my TV supports 24Hz playback and so does my onboard GPU, the next step is to setup profiles in ATi CCC.
A profile @ 24Hz for HD files and a profile @ 60Hz for all other files.
Using Alt+1 and Alt+2 to switch between the two profiles depending on what im watching.
1080p HD Playback
Some of you might think that my onboard X1200 GPU and my E2140 may not be up to the job of handling 1080p material. I was too led to believe this from research but my build clearly shows that you do NOT need top end hardware to play 1080p files!
However, if you intend on playing HD material from disk then it might be a different story. My HTPC copes with file-based HD playback. With disc based play-back within PowerDVD the X1200 may not be enough and thats when a 3400 series card or above is required.
For those who fear building and configuring HTPC's, i would recommend getting a motherboard which has HDMI (v1.3) onboard and does output audio and graphics over it. These generally use Realtek drivers and in my experience are pretty robust. This keeps things nice and simple. I've heard of a few reports where DVI to HDMI connections have caused problems.
The alternative is to buy a newer range of ATi GPU's which can output audio and picture over HDMI.
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