Media Centre Spec- Help please

oafc0000 · 30 Jan 2006 at 12:08

Hi Everyone

Can you guys check out the following specification and let me know if I am likely to have any problems!

My plan is to use Media Portal rather than Microsoft Media Center Edition, but im not opposed to actually using MCE if people think I should.

I need it to do the following:

1, Record Freeview TV and watch a different channel at the same time.
2, Support HDTV going forward (What garphics card do I need for HDTV and what graphics card do i need for non-HDTV)

CPU : Intel Pentium 4 630 "LGA775 Prescott" 3.0GHz (800FSB) with HT Technology - Retail (CP-094-IN)
Memory: Corsair 1GB DDR2 Value Select PC4200 Dual Channel Kit (2x512MB) (VS1GBKIT533D2) (MY-066-CS)
Motherboard : MSI 915P Combo2-F (LGA775) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-038-MS)
Sound Card : On board
Grpahics Card : Dont know
Remote Control : Microsoft Windows XP Media Centre 2005 Remote Controller (SW-009-MS)
DVD Writer : Any resonably priced DVD writer
Hard Drive : Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 10 NCQ 80GB 6V080E0 SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-095-MD)
Wireless Keyboard/Mouse : Any resonably priced combination
Case : Any nice looking case which allows full sized ATX boards.
TV Card : Terratec Cinergy 2400i DT PCI-E Dual Digital Freeview TV Tuner

Am I missing anything? Will this system be powerful enough?

Thanks for all your help

james.miller · 30 Jan 2006 at 12:14

I'd be changing that cpu and board for an a64/opteron setup. Far easier to cool, especially if your using a HTPC case with limited airflow.

Matt · 30 Jan 2006 at 12:22

80gb? That won't last long at all...

It's a few gb for an hours TV!

oafc0000 · 30 Jan 2006 at 12:30

My sky+ box has 80gb disk in it and that usally works out to be enough for me. But you do have a point. Will up it to a 120GB or 160gb. I am trying to keep it cheap as possable though

Also, im not good with AMD setups. Anyone want to recommend a CPU/Motherboard/Memory combincation which will be fast enough for HDTV. Cheers

oafc0000 · 30 Jan 2006 at 13:14

How about.....

CPU : AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice 90nm (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3200BPBOX) (CP-118-AM)
Memory : Corsair 1GB DDR Value Select PC3200 CAS3.0 Kit (2x512MB) (VS1GBKIT400C3) (MY-061-CS)
Motherboard : Asus A8N-VM CSM Micro ATX (Socket 939) PCI Express Motherboard (MB-119-AS)

Is this still good enough for HDTV?

Flibster · 30 Jan 2006 at 13:16

My HTPC currently has *checks* 600gb in it - 3x200gb drives

Need to edit some of the stuff down as it's getting full - but works out at ~2gb/hr through my WinTV PVR USB2 at an average bitrate of around 5mbit.

Simon/~Flibster

Matt · 30 Jan 2006 at 13:32

My media box has ~570gb in it now

Though i only use about ~120gb for TV, and this stores roughly 100 shows.

IamMed · 30 Jan 2006 at 13:47

if you will be recording in HDTV later on you will defineatly need a bigger harddrive

Matt · 30 Jan 2006 at 13:50

I'm sure he's not talking about receiving HDTV with it, but playing HD content...

oafc0000 · 30 Jan 2006 at 13:50

I want to be able to do almost everything with it, or at least make sure its upgradable to do everything with it.

I imagine I will want to view and record HDTV going forward. Is my spec good enough? Besides the hard drive Space?

What graphics card do i need? is my CPU/Memory good enough?

Cheers

Matt · 30 Jan 2006 at 13:57

Ignore the recording HDTV thing, as it's not going to happen in the UK for a bit. Graphics card really doesn't have to be that special if your not playing games. But what screen are you outputting too? LCD? CRT?

Personally i'd use MCE to

(and i have been doing so for over a year now!)

HDD's are cheap at the moment, and the best value seems to be 250gb one's, so get at least one of those.

oafc0000 · 30 Jan 2006 at 14:04

I will be outputting to a 32" CRT for the moment. Within 6-12 months I will have replaced this with a 42"+ LCD or Plasma.

Im getting rid of SKY so i need to sort the media centre first.

Wont be playing games on it. Got another system for that.

Bomag · 30 Jan 2006 at 21:01

I would go with the A8N VM CSM as previously suggested - the 6150 integrated G/C will easily do upscaling to HD with the pureview codec.

You will never have enough hard disk space I have 2TB in the HTPC and a server, however, I would get two HD one for the OS and one for the recorded TV - with dual tuners it will be hard to avoid dropout if you don't.

Also you should be aware that the 2400i has some real problems at present working in MCE as it does not like the 167khz offset on UK DVB-T output. This is particularly so with the ITV muxes which have lower fault tolerance. The card seams to work OK with other software and there is some beta drivers which may help, but be prepared for some grief!

oafc0000 · 30 Jan 2006 at 22:26

Thanks for the warning....

Any suggestions on a good compatable Dual Freeview Tuner?

Bomag · 31 Jan 2006 at 00:42

There is the fusion which has one tuner accessed through the PCI bus and one via USB. Its from Oz and is £30 more than the Terratec.

Ive updated the drivers for my 2400i and no glitches apparent while recording Alien 4 and Inspector Wexford on the weakest Mux2 (ITV2/ITV3). I've set it to record a whole load of daytime TV tommorow so heres hoping.