Guide for HTPC

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Soldato
Joined
7 Nov 2006
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Location
Stockton on Tees
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!
insideofcaseae7.jpg



insideofcase2cd0.jpg


Cables tidy'ed up to aid circulation.

zalmanfanmatepr1.jpg


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:
35234636kq4.png



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)
Other software available:
  • 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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MediaPortal

"MediaPortal turns your PC / TV into a very advanced MediaCenter / HTPC. Our software allows you to listen to your favorite music & radio, watch and store your videos and DVDs, view, schedule and record live TV as a digital video recorder and much much more. You get MediaPortal as Open Source software. This means you can help in developing MediaPortal or tweak it for your own needs with lots of innovating plugins from our great community."

Can be found here: http://www.team-mediaportal.com/
Install and configuration guide here: http://www.projecthtpc.co.uk/SoftwareCont08.html

TVSeries Plugin for MediaPortal

Can be found here: http://www.team-mediaportal.com/files/Download/Plugins/VideoorMovies/MP-TVSeriesplugin/

Instruction here: http://castle-grounds.co.uk/htpc/software_tv.htm

Looks like this:
mp2heroeshf4.jpg


mp2lostwb0.jpg


mpmytvcr9.jpg


Monochrome Skin

Probably the best looking skin! Looks like this:

80930849xj7.png


82664458qq2.png


PS. I changed the backdrop image to something i like
 
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CbyrDisplay Plugin for MediaPortal

CbyrDisplay is a plugin for MediaPortal which shows on the LCD when mediaportal is loading up, shows the folder which is selected, shows the film that is selected, shows the film playing together with the time elapsed / total length.

Info and download here: http://forum.team-mediaportal.com/support-119/cybrdisplay-external-status-plugin-34521/


Winamp Remote Control

If you want to control winamp via the MS remote controller then put this file: http://forums.winamp.com/attachment.php?postid=2192326
into your winamp plugins directory and enjoy


Playing ISO/IMG files in MediaPortal

.iso & .img files can also be played within MediaPortal. Tools that you will require are:
  • Daemon Tools
Follow the guide at: http://www.projecthtpc.co.uk/SoftwareCont08.html for detailed instructions.


Upscaling DVD's

"Here's yet another function that can be performed by your HTPC. Upscaling all your standard DVD's to HD resolution to further improve picture quality. I should mention that this can be done via other software, including an excellent package called TheaterTek. However, as we're doing this as cheap as possible, we will be doing this with MediaPortal. It's also nice to have all your functions seamlessly performed within the same application. It's also good to know that using ffdshow, you can get better picture quality than top-end upscaling DVD players!"

All though there is a few ways of achieving this the best and cheapest is by using ffdshow. Follow the guide at http://www.projecthtpc.co.uk/software3.html for instructions on how to configure ffdshow for upscaling.


Upscaling DivX/XviD

YES, this is possible. You can upscale lower quality files aswell!

Follow the guide here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=922773

Utilities:

Graph Edit

GraphEdit is a visual tool for building and testing filter graphs. It is provided as an executable with the DirectX SDK. With GraphEdit, you can quickly build and test filter graphs to see if they function as you expect. You can even view a filter graph created by an application running in another process.
http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/downloads/showsoftware_graphedit_141.html



Media Info

MediaInfo supplies technical and tag information about a video or audio file.
It is free software



http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en
 
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Thanks for this, shall come in handy when im setting up my htpc for my projector setup in the new year.

I seen your setup on AVforums, and was wondering what skin and setup you used to show your tv like that, so cheers for the links aswell!

Oh and a question about MediaPortal, does it sort your tv shows once their downloaded/recorded, or do they have to go in their seperate folders?
 
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Looks cool, but I have to ask what use CoreAVC really is, If you have PowerDVD then you should have the cyberlink H264 decoder which is miles better than CoreAVC (has GPU acceleration for a start), good for disc and satellite based streams, and if you're watching just HD files I've watched 1080p x264 files decoded with ffdshow on my A64 3700+ single core and it's no where near 100% cpu.
 
Very useful thread, thanks.

I'd have to ask yourself (and anyone else who has a HTPC), is it really worth it?

The idea of being able to flick through your movie library and select the movie you want seems like a great idea and I have ripped my collection before only to have lost it (due to changing my mind about what I wanted to do).

I don't know, sometimes the compatibility issues, complications with audio output, lesser standard of quality (in comparison to direct from disc) and general fiddling seem to heavily weigh down the effort it requires to get something as good as you have set up there.
 
Slogan said:
Very useful thread, thanks.

I'd have to ask yourself (and anyone else who has a HTPC), is it really worth it?

The idea of being able to flick through your movie library and select the movie you want seems like a great idea and I have ripped my collection before only to have lost it (due to changing my mind about what I wanted to do).

I don't know, sometimes the compatibility issues, complications with audio output, lesser standard of quality (in comparison to direct from disc) and general fiddling seem to heavily weigh down the effort it requires to get something as good as you have set up there.
Click to expand...

Yes it is really worth it. It provides a nice focal point where all media can be accessed quickly and easily with minimum fuss.

Yes, you run into compatibility issues, software and hardware etc but it does not take long to iron them out. There is a wealth of information on HTPC on the internet and there are many forums where members can help out.

Once you have it all hooked up it is a joy. It is not complicating to use either. It is even easier than browsing for the files on a normal computer using folders etc.

My Remote allows me to fire MediaPortal using the Green Start button and then i just browse the two directories (Bluray & DivX) and then just select a film i want to watch. Even my noob family members can use it with ease!

I suppose it becomes a little more complex if you want Surround Sound HD DTS Master Audio etc but i use a simple 2.1 speaker setup so i don't have that. Nor do i have any GPU issues as my motherboard has onboard 1080p GPU with HDMI so its just a simple HDMI cable from HTPC to TV :)
Its simple if you just want file-based playback.

Don't also forget that a HTPC can be more than that. My family uses it to surf aswell, use program and take advantage of that 50" screen.
Plus its a nice point for my music collection aswell. I have it all stored on the shared drives so its accessible from the HTPC. I use winamp to play the files which is controlled also by the MS remote. It doubles up as a hi-fi aswell :)

If your willing to put in the time and effort then the possibilities are endless
 
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bam0 said:
Looks cool, but I have to ask what use CoreAVC really is, If you have PowerDVD then you should have the cyberlink H264 decoder which is miles better than CoreAVC (has GPU acceleration for a start), good for disc and satellite based streams, and if you're watching just HD files I've watched 1080p x264 files decoded with ffdshow on my A64 3700+ single core and it's no where near 100% cpu.
Click to expand...

I use CoreAVC as my HD files are all file based. I suppose if you wanted then you could also configure ffdshow to do it (which i believe it does a good job).
Its only the recent cards which have GPU acceleration.
For disc based HD playback PowerDVD is the best.
 
Mediaportal+Monochrome+MP TV Series

Man after my own heart.




@Bapland: The TV Series plugin scans any folders you tell it to and then parses the filenames to figure out what they are. As long as the filenames are regular, you should be fine.
 
HEADRAT said:
So if you're using the onboard GFX (ATI RX700) why are you using Core AVC Pro?

Have they added GPU support to AVC Pro yet?

HEADRAT
Click to expand...

Im using the X1200 onboard GPU (not RX700) and the chip does not have GPU Accelertion and thus im using CoreAVC to decode my H.264 files.

Plus the onboard GPU is not that powerful so CoreAVC takes the stress out of it by letting the CPU decode the files. CoreAVC is the middle man (just like AC3 is the middle man from the audio in the file to the output)
 
looks very nice indeed, great post. ive been looking for something like this and there are a number of options out there. one of which is meedio and with a number of addon's it can look just as good.

theres also my movies 2 for vista media centre.

once i get my htpc up and running ill give media portal a go :)
 
i'd be lost without MediaPortal, plays all my TV/Movies(SD+HD)/Radio + Lossless Music with a sweet interface and it's all seamless through my Logitech 1000 remote ....ppl who aren't technically minded are literally blown away when they see it in action.

if you have the budget, forget media boxes and go with a full blown htpc running media portal or similar - far superior.

good write up photoshop.
 
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