To build a htpc or not?

413x

413x

413x

Caporegime
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I have recently bought a 46gt30 panny 3d plasma tv. At present this is connected up to my main pc as a third monitor, this is now causing me some annoyance as it is in another room, i have to shift windows about on monitors i cannot see.

This is kind of annoying as if i load a game i have to set the tv as primary, and switch it back when im done.
I also watch tv using the pcs tuner card, so i have to move the media centre window across too. This is also true of films on my hard drives etc.

I did wonder about duplicating my main display, but that is 1440p and the tv is 1080p, i also dont know if it puts extra strain on the gpu? (that is a question)

Now i do need the tv connected to the main pc as i can play f1 in 3d and crysis etc , so duplicating the display would then solve the problem. I use a g700 mouse, an xbox controllerand wireless keyboard for playing on the tv, the range easily reaches

I would still have the issue of the media side of things, which is where a htpc would help, i also already have a logitech mx air mouse which i would probably use with the htpc and remove it from the main pc. I would also need to remove the hard drives from the main pc with all the media on to the htpc i would also need another win 7 disk and tuner card


So, in summation, is the htpc the correct route? Its the pricey route.
Is there a better way to have the plasma as a third screen? Ie better window management/duplicate desktop. Or are there other options i can consider?


Tv must connect to pc for games in some way via hdmi
Tv and pc must be able to display freeview tv
Would be nice if both had access to blu ray mkvs on hdd but the tv must have this
 
I will still definitly want the tv connected to the plasma for demanding games so i dont think the media pc needs to be gaming, played crysis on it pretty good,

Not sure how much i would need to spend, i have enough hard drive space, would want it quiet too,havent a clue.
 
al4x said:
Did you consider anytjing else? Like something wireless and streaming? Or is that just not worth it?
Click to expand...

I did yes, but I like the flexibility of a full-blown HTPC. It set me back around £200 in total but I got a used HP business computer for free which helped :P
 
If building the htpc i would probably scrounge some used items feom the MM and maybe make a step into ssd for the OS? I really have no clue about them.

Guess i would need
Small ssd
Case
Cpu/mb/ram
Ati gpu
Psu
Can take the blu ray drive from the main pc and hard drives
 
I would, I love my HTPC :)

Doesn't even need to be fantastic, I get on fantastic with what is in my sig!

Anything and a good wee media based graphics card is great, my 5450 plays all I throw at it with no problem, is passively cooled and the wee system as a whole is fair quiet.

I guess things might change if you were to consider encoding etc on it :)

I want a Blu Ray drive for mine next!
 
My HTPC spec:

Base unit is a HP DX2250, free.
Processor: AMD Athlon X2 3.00GHz (Bought from the MM for about £15 to upgrade the single core athlon)
Memory: 2GB Corsair XMS2 (Also from the MM for around £15)
Hard drive: 2TB Samsung F4 (Bought new for £55 before prices shot up)
Graphics: ATI HD 6450 512mb Fanless (Bought new for £25)
TV Tuner: Blackgold BGT3620 twin freeview HD tuner (Bought new for £120, well worth it!)


A few weeks of messing around with WMC and XBMC, it's running like a dream, all my DVDs ripped to it, and have loads of TV shows on there, it's awesome :)
 
Good stuff guys, guess this is the way to go, in that case i guess i need a case! No pun intended.
In my situation i need a lot of hdd space, probably room for 4 hard drives ill start a new thread now i have decided on doing it.


Yes id like the black gold tuner twin tuner as well, when eventually we get hd.
 
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