HTPC Build - Advice?

Agent0range

Agent0range

Agent0range

Associate
Joined
17 Feb 2007
Posts
818
Location
Redditch, UK
Hi guys,

I'm looking to have a play around and build a HTPC for my living room. I have a DivX Connected box at the moment but its codec support is limited and the DivX software crashes during watching films on my PC which means watching anything over 1 hour is usually interrupted.

To remedy the situation, I'm thinking of building a simple HTPC to play back the variety of media I have on my NAS box. This includes a mix of MP4's, MKV's, and DivX AVI's with various audio codecs on them. Some of the parts I've salvaged from my previous Windows Home Server that died on me, so the shopping basket doesn't include everything.

Parts I already have:

Pentium Conroe E2160
2Gb PC6400 Kingston RAM
Logitech Wireless Keyboard



I plan on installing probably either Windows XP and XBMC or Windows Vista Home Premium - haven't quite decided yet. The basic function of this PC will be to play back media stored on the NAS box, surf the net, check email and probably watch a little Youtube or film trailers. If I do put Vista Home Premium on, I'll obviously make sure I've got more RAM in there. 2 I would have thought would be sufficient for XP/XBMC though.

I haven't included a Blu-Ray drive at the moment, because I don't have any and it will be a while before I start getting some Blu-Ray discs I think. I'd like to add a Blu-Ray slimline drive later when its appropriate.

Any thoughts, suggestions or changes are welcome.

Thanks in advance
 
Hmmmm decent suggestion. I'll still get audio out from the Zotac 9300 board though right? The OcUK description does mention HDMI (w/audio). But would there be any discernible difference between 'audio' and 'HD audio'?

Had a play around with XBMC on my Vista desktop PC too - installed the Aeon skin and absolutely love it! Certainly the software for me!
 
The audio quality depends on what you are sending the audio through. A basic speaker setup and the quality wont be noticeable really it will be however if you have a high end setup. Spec looks good imo
 
Pop on over to AVforums. They have a very good HTPC section and there is information on just about everything.


I went with the AMD 780 MB + 5050e processor + WD green drives. A fantastic combination for a very good price. Plays everything I have thrown at it.
 
If you can hide the HTPC in a cupboard / rack then you don't have to worry about appearance or the noise it kicks out

This will save you money for use on a better spec, and you can have a massive case with better expandability :)

I'd go with a nVidia card as I've heard the drivers are better. That's what the folks on AVF say..
 
XBMC does not use any hardware decoding on windows (only Linux). So if using XBMC get a good CPU, as it the CPU that does all the work.
Media centre will use hardware decoding, but does not look as nice as XBMC with Aeon skin. Just my 2p, as when I was building my HTPC no one mentioned this.
You can make make Media centre look a bit better using the plugin "media browser"
 
Hmmmm so it might be worth getting a processor with a little more grunt than my E2160 - overclocking it in such a small case might be a bit risky. Grrrr extra cost :(

I might just build it with the E2160 and see how it fares I think, then drop a new processor in if it clearly can't handle the larger .mkv's.

As for the audio, at least to begin with it will just be using whatever onboard speakers my new TV will have so standard audio should suffice I would guess until I can afford a proper amp setup later.
 
dont bother, i use an e2160 at stock in my htpc with a hd4830 and its perfectly capable :) i dont see the point in going with xmbc if it means buying faster hardware.
 
I've got a e2160, it's a great clocker at low volts. Easily gets 2.7 with minimum effort on retail cooling and doesn't really break a sweat with most HTPC duties. I'm using win7 media center though.
 
likewise my E2200 runs blu-ray and mkv seamlessly stock.

and regarding noise, passive cpu cooling is the way forward with large low rpm case fans. near slient (my HDs make more noise)
 
james.miller said:
dont bother, i use an e2160 at stock in my htpc with a hd4830 and its perfectly capable :) i dont see the point in going with xmbc if it means buying faster hardware.
Click to expand...

Because XBMC is the doggs nuttZ. Best interface bar NONE imho.

Anyways as already stated you need good amount of clock cycles if you want the best media player ie XBMC to play every 1080 HD perfectly without any dropped frames. A Core2Duo clocked to 3Ghz is enough and works perfect on my XBMC HD player.
btw my mobo, cpu and memory cost about £200 for this which is the same price as the popcorn hour, it looks better, performs better and is far far more upgradeable and customizable !!
 
Last edited:
I must be missing something, the E2200 in my HTPC plays high-def content without breaking a sweat in XBMC, I'm sure the workload is being passed on to the graphics card thus rendering having an uber-processor pointless.

Edit: oh yes you're right, XBMC doesn't support off-loading to GPUs in Windows. Still, the system has no problems.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom