Looking to build a HTPC (1st timer)

[Rangler]

Hi and thanks for reading this thread.

I've built and oc'd many pc's in my time but recently the wifes been after getting a DVD burner for recording tv programs on Freeview etc.
I allready have a small home network setup so thought rather than spend 130 squid on just a "TV DVD Burner" why not make a HTPC box.

Looking to spend about £300 on case, mobo and DVB PCI tuner.
Ram and CPU's is off no object i can get hold of pretty much anything apart from the latest quad core cpu's which in my eyes is very overkill for a HTPC.

Im thinking maybe an amd am2 cpu as i've heard they run cool and cheap and 2GB ram and a decent PCI DVB tuner card with remote control.

I'd like it to play pretty much everything i throw at it and future proof it for a plasma HDTV which we're hoping to get by X-mas so im assuming I'd need a dedicated gfx card for that side of things.??

Also would people reccommend Windows MCE.? Is it easy to use ? please bare in mind its got to be wife proof
Is it easy to schedule program recordings etc.??

Thanks for any info / guidance..

 

[Supercow]

Hi Mate

Add me to MSN , more than happy to help you re: HTPC advise - just add me to MSN (in trust)

ps: my wife is "better than me" at the HTPC by now - so in short, they get the hang of it very quickly

 

[martinturner]

I used to run MCE2005, but recently upgraded to Vista MC. Wife is happy using both. There is a dedicated Philips remote control which is a 4 in 1 which was designed to use on Media Center PC's. I have it controlling the TV, STB, AMP and PC all in one. Looks really nice compared to the Microsoft one and is very responsive. Go for it! Best thing I ever put together tbh. I store all my TV series in the My Videos section and use a plugin called My Movies which I store all my films in. Have all my photos and mp3's at a touch of a button too. Highly recommended!

I only have a low spec machine, but does the job perfectly. Its a Sempron 2800 with 1GB of Ram and a relatively average video card. Can playback hi-def mkv files too. Have a Hauppauge dual tuner so I can record to hard disc. You will need a higher spec cpu/mb if you want to record Hi-Def TV, but if you just want to do the same as me, its very cheap to get it together. Have a look at the Antec, Zalman or Silverstone cases ... very nice looking cases.

 

[edgedemon]

My Spec and software

Im running my HTPC with an athlon 64 x2 3800, 2Gb RAM ASUS socket 939 motherboard and an a radeon X1950 gfx. I have two TV cards and can watch HI Def as well.
I started with MCE, but as one of my cards was a PVR500 with dual inputs I had to dump MCE as it would not let me configure the inputs from different sources, whatever the first input source was, MCE then insists that the second input has to be the same as the first.
I use media portal as my HTPC software its very very good, has a MCE feel to it and is completely free.
http://www.team-mediaportal.com/

Need to go through the forums for the wiki to follow the set up guides, but it I can not recommend it enough..

Martin