HTPC

borich_planner

borich_planner

borich_planner

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Popcorn hour C200 with 1tb hard drive is 350ish, now for that same price could I build a HTCPC? which has hdmi output, the option of working via a remote, running something like xbmc and being near silent?

Borich
 
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Yep you can. I built a gaming PC for a friend last year with a 22" monitor for about £450.

Software wise, you might be best running windows and using media centre maybe?
 
Yeah, Win 7 and it's media center are the easiest to setup and use, and look great whilst being perfectly functional for most needs.

Look for:

AMD low power CPU (try get AM3 if possible in price range, AM2/AM2+ has bandwidth issues with graphics I've found)
785G chipset motherboard
1TB WD green HDD (quiet, low power, large space for TV, movies etc)
2GB+ of whatever RAM you like as long as it works with the motherboard
Mobo will have integrated gfx, usually good enough for anything but games. If you must have external gfx, Radeon HD4350.
Case/PSU up to you. I've got an Antec Fusion Micro, it's ace.
Blu-ray drive optional. May also need software, e.g. powerdvd.
Get a microsoft MCE remote if poss, one of the best for HTPCs, OR get a logitech harmony for all your kit. Depending on the case, you may need to buy an IR reciever with the harmony. My case (above) has an inbuilt one.

Should be set, not sure what that comes to in total, if I had time I'd spec you up properly.
 
I've just ordered parts for the following HTPC:
Athlon II 240e
MSI AM2+ 785g mobo (trying to save money here by using old DDR2 I have - I hope it won't be a false economy!)
Silverstone GD04 case
Silverstone Strider 350W PSU
PEAK Dual Tuner Card (£40, again maybe a false economy. We'll see)
750gb WD Green
Blu-ray driver (A bargain at £50)
Mini-wireless keyboard inc. trackpad

All that came to about £400 before p&p, I was amazed what you could get for the money with a little care and shopping around. I need to add a remote though.

I'm also trying to avoid having to by a Win7 license as it's a large chunk of change for a £400 system. Since I'm using BR it has to be Windows but I've got a spare XP license so I'll try MediaPortal and other options first. Being a programmer I don't mind having to do a bit of modification/fiddling.

So a £400 HTPC system is a bargain compared to the pre-built ones as long as you don'tmind (or enjoy!) the setting up. Especially as you have upgrade potential.
 
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I could use Windows 7 with media centre, I take it that would have the option of a fancy shell which allows the user to browse media and bring up information on that show/film or I could go down the linux route of XBMC.

Borich

Edit: the following case looks very nice and comes with a remote

CA-108-AN_200.jpg
 
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There are 2 downsides to linux XMBC though:
1- No Blu-Ray playback
2- I believe it is possible to link XBMC to MythTv to add PVR functionality, but I would bet that it's not very simple.

Personally I don't much like the look of the Antec fusion, but that's a matter of taste. Silverstone and (to a lesser extent) ThermalTake make some nice HTPC cases.
 
alexhull24 said:
Yeah, Win 7 and it's media center are the easiest to setup and use, and look great whilst being perfectly functional for most needs.

Look for:

AMD low power CPU (try get AM3 if possible in price range, AM2/AM2+ has bandwidth issues with graphics I've found)
785G chipset motherboard
1TB WD green HDD (quiet, low power, large space for TV, movies etc)
2GB+ of whatever RAM you like as long as it works with the motherboard
Mobo will have integrated gfx, usually good enough for anything but games. If you must have external gfx, Radeon HD4350.
Case/PSU up to you. I've got an Antec Fusion Micro, it's ace.
Blu-ray drive optional. May also need software, e.g. powerdvd.
Get a microsoft MCE remote if poss, one of the best for HTPCs, OR get a logitech harmony for all your kit. Depending on the case, you may need to buy an IR reciever with the harmony. My case (above) has an inbuilt one.

Should be set, not sure what that comes to in total, if I had time I'd spec you up properly.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hijack your thread but looking at getting a Harmony One soon and have been searching the deepest, darkest corners of the internet to try and answer my question but can't really get a straight answer.

Do you know whether any old ir receiever > usb will work with the harmony one or will I need to get an MCE remote aswell?

Any advice will be much appreciated!
 
borich_planner said:
as I will be connecting it up to my onkyo amp will it be best to use hdmi outputfrom the pc
Click to expand...

Just check that the onkyo amp will accept audio from the hdmi. My one wont and I have to use a optical cable and hdmi to the amp.

friddela said:
Do you know whether any old ir receiever > usb will work with the harmony one or will I need to get an MCE remote aswell?

Any advice will be much appreciated!
Click to expand...

I would also like to know as I am planning to build a HTPC soon. :D
 
If your receiver works with an MCE remote, it will work with a Harmony remote programmed as an MCE remote, does that answer your question?

EDIT - I see you're saying it's a random USB receiver. If you know the model, it'll probably work with the harmony. If not, you can program it with the remote you have - it can learn commands.
 
How silent are these HTPC set ups? I know the less powerful PCs these days are pretty quiet but if you're playing a 1080p file with HD audio will the fans go crazy?
 
Can I suggest getting a decent sound card if you have a decent surround setup. Although you'll be using HDMI, the typical sound doesn't sound that brilliant with on board cards.
 
Clipsey said:
Can I suggest getting a decent sound card if you have a decent surround setup. Although you'll be using HDMI, the typical sound doesn't sound that brilliant with on board cards.
Click to expand...

If the audio is going over HDMI it makes no difference at all... Even if there's a limitation to the HDMI output as some solutions have (ie not full resolution) it's not going to make a difference either.
 
Baboonanza said:
There are 2 downsides to linux XMBC though:
1- No Blu-Ray playback
2- I believe it is possible to link XBMC to MythTv to add PVR functionality, but I would bet that it's not very simple.
Click to expand...
1 - Blur-Ray playback is possible - http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?t=67420

2 - Xbmc Live comes preinstalled with tvheadend, allowing watching and pausing of live tv. Granted you have to schedule recordings via the web gui, but it works really well. Also, the latest PVR testing svn branch has this all properly built into the XBMC gui via VDR:

 
^^^^ That looks awesome. I'm getting fed up with W7's often flakey media centre, but I need the PVR functions so have stuck with it. When live TV and PVR functionality are properly integrated into XBMC I'll be making the switch.
 
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