Some HTPC/Media centre questions

[irbow]

Hi,

I'm new to this forum and hope I'm okay posting this here as I would like a smaller sized case.

Until now have been using a PS3 as a media centre but it's not what I want. My requirements haven't been met by any consumer devices and at last HTPC's seem to be getting there. One of my main requirements is HD freeview and I had been thinking about a Humax HDR-Fox T2, although this is good it's not flexible. Now that Blackgold have bought out their BGT3620 card I can have this as well as blu ray, DVD, SVCD and lots of codecs in an HTPC.

I'm also into audio and have a stereo system using a SET amp and would want to send the HTPC audio output to a 192kHz Asyncronous USB DAC as well as over HDMI for watching movies or just TV. Because audio would be important to me I have looked at cases with built in touch screens but have also found a 10" touch screen 16:9 aspect - Lilliput FA1011-NP/C/T - 10.1" HDMI which would be better and should be okay as a screen for things like internet radio and music playback as I don't want to be using my plasma as a monitor, I have also found some DAB digital radio cards which allow recording and would be a nice touch.

In view of my intentions I would like to ask a few questions:

Would the Blackgold card give me PVR features on par with commercial products.

Would something along the lines of intel core i5-2400 processor and Asus p8h67-m pro motherboard be suitable (no graphics card needed)

If I buy a monitor like the Lilliput FA1011 which is touch screen, does anybody know if it would work or am I better off with a passive screen and a remote (probably will come with case)

Is it wise to build a fanless system ?use a lower power CPU.

I have always been a Mac user but for an HTPC it's going to have to be a PC (no Blu Ray support or PCI cards - unless it's a Mac Pro). I am wondering whether to go with Windows 7 or a Linux distro ?Kubuntu which would mean none of that ant-virus software to update and cause me hassle. Would my HTPC ideas work if it was Linux or would remotes, PCI cards etc not function correctly.

If anybody has any suggestions they would be appreciated.

Iain

 

[Ben Cole]

PVR features on par with commercial products? Based on my experience I doubt it.

Fanless systems? Again, only based on my experience but anything that is really worth using in a flexible system needs to shift the heat somehow. If you think about it most commercial products like DVRs(sky plus) etc have fans.

 

[irbow]

Thanks for the reply,

As the blackgold card has only just come out I don't suppose many have experience with it and I don't know anyone using pvr functionality within a media PC build so I have no 1st hand experience what it's like but if it would fall short in a detrimental way over a commercial box then I would probably be better off with the Humax. As for fanless I put the ? because I didn't think that was likely in a small enclosure, my PS3 uses a fan which is a bit intrusive (you notice when you shut it down).

Iain

 

[SGWills]

i would not go fanless only because there are ways around the noise of the fans, i would go for some low Db fans then possible 3v them if your looking for silence, however i got fractal design 92mm fans in my case and they do not cause that much noise.

 

[Ben Cole]

Regarding noise I have a couple of PCs built for media purposes.

One is in a small Wesena enclosure with an external power brick and fanless board inside.

There is a stock intel cooler on the i3-540 and one exhaust fan.

IMHO it's quiet enough.

 

[munz]

Sandybridge has issues with 24fps playback, a lot of people are going for AMd (x2/x3) or Zacate APU (cpu+gpu+mobo all in one's) builds for this reason.

discussed here aswell http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18283395

Im going to wait for the new offering from AMD or go for athlonx2/x3 build myself.

the i5 might be overkill for htpc? if its just for medai playback/web browsing but fine if you are planning to game on it aswell.

The minimum specs i've read about involve a core 2 duo + hd5450 as Nvidia cards (possibly not newer ones?) have some issues when being used in htpc.

Althought with i5 you''ll be ok with integrated graphics.

You dont really mention a budget so going for fanless and silence will increase price, you can get passively cooled graphics but a fanless power supply will be more expensive.

Generally if you have only 1 fan and its a certain noise level, you can try to add 2nd fan, reduce rpm's and reduce noise levels, if that makes sense.

This is my build im mulling over currently:
Amd athlon x3
Asus 760G
4gb corsair Ram
2tb HD
HD6450
Windows 7 OEM
Case+ PSU (totally undecided)

Around £300 excluding case + PSU

Think I've decided on x3 over x2 because I read some people noticing the cpu during playback get to 70%-75% so the extra core might give me some more headroom and price difference is under tenner.

 

[Legion]

OP,we're a small userbase of regular posters here on the ocuk sff forums.
Htpc's have only recently (in comparitive terms) started being discussed here.

Have you or do you read AVforums?
It's a lively forum with a huge userbase with a lot of information already at hand.

We can guide you no problem with hardware,but for specific cards like the Black gold there are a lot of people posting there with direct experience of living with it.
Your Linux questions would also be answered a lot faster there.
I don't think I'm wrong in assuming you're after a more "unusual" setup than what we tend to discuss here.

 

[irbow]

Okay thanks.

I'll give the AVforums a try and if I get any good info I will post it back here. I guess the big problem with these things is they are so multifaceted and depend on user preferences. For me the big fundamentals are pvr performance and operating system so I will come back once I find out because I will need advice on hardware/build.

Oh and my budget would be whatever it takes to get something that would last for years to come, I was thinking in terms of £500/600 but that would depend on the case etc.

Iain