Whats the minimum spec for HTPC these days?

[DJMK4]

As above really, i want to achieve the following:

Media storage
Media streaming
DVD Player
Recordable freeview

all this will be set-up as a HTPC with MCE and a remote.

What sort of spec hardware can i get away with? i dont want to spend loads but what will do the job.

Ta

 

[NoobieOCer]

i would have thought that kinda stuff only take like 2ghz C2D 1gb-2gb ram and intergrated graphics. but may be a gpu if using high res

 

[DJMK4]

will a high end p4 be any good?, ram is not issue i can sort that, as with graphics card

 

[oli collett]

will a high end p4 be any good?

for silence/heat.. i wouldn't have thought so

 

[DJMK4]

So its not good using a pentium chip?

 

[Valo]

So its not good using a pentium chip?

Intel chips are excellent for HTPC use, just maybe not P4's as they run quite hot when compaired to a Core2Duo for instance.

I would look at:

Intel Core2Duo
2GB RAM
Motherboard with Integrated Graphics - Abit Fatal1ty F-I90HD or simular will handle strandard DVD /Divx playback perfectly
Windows Vista Home Premium x86 - 32Bit
Hauppauge TV Card - Nova-T 500 would be perfect

I use a setup like this and it's great.

 

[DJMK4]

Intel chips are excellent for HTPC use, just maybe not P4's as they run quite hot when compaired to a Core2Duo for instance.

I would look at:

Intel Core2Duo
2GB RAM
Motherboard with Integrated Graphics - Abit Fatal1ty F-I90HD or simular will handle strandard DVD /Divx playback perfectly
Windows Vista Home Premium x86 - 32Bit
Hauppauge TV Card - Nova-T 500 would be perfect

I use a setup like this and it's great.

So onboard graphics will be ok for that usage?

RE: OS, I want something that acts as a media centre primeraly, is this possible with vista? i.e start up the machine and it boots into a media menu.

That tv card above, is it dual tunable? IE record one channel whilst watching another? pause/rewind live tv etc?

 

[thefishdude]

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=mb-115-gi&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=807

this mobo is micro atx amd but it has the new 780g chipset wich for its party trick has built in hd decoding so you can get hd play back using a very low power cpu. details can be read here hd play with an old semperon cpu lol http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/amd-780g-hdtv-blu-ray,review-30420.html

 

[DJMK4]

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=mb-115-gi&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=807

this mobo is micro atx amd but it has the new 780g chipset wich for its party trick has built in hd decoding so you can get hd play back using a very low power cpu. details can be read here hd play with an old semperon cpu lol http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/amd-780g-hdtv-blu-ray,review-30420.html

Wow, excellent piece of info, thanks mate, i think I will be going down this route

 

[DuWolfy]

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Socket AM2 2.3GHz 65W 1MB L2 Cache
Maxtor 500GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache
OCZ 2GB (1x2GB) 800MHz/PC2-6400 Memory Platinum Performance CL5 (5-4-4-18)
Corsair VX450WUK 450W PSU
Zalman CNPS7500-ALCU LED Socket 478, 775, AM2, 754, 939 & 940 CPU Cooler
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H socket AM2 motherboard
Thermaltake MozartSX case


Ended up .... £400 no probs playing 1080p/BR/HD etc

Wish i bought the 650w with detachable leads ><

 

[DJMK4]

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Socket AM2 2.3GHz 65W 1MB L2 Cache
Maxtor 500GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache
OCZ 2GB (1x2GB) 800MHz/PC2-6400 Memory Platinum Performance CL5 (5-4-4-18)
Corsair VX450WUK 450W PSU
Zalman CNPS7500-ALCU LED Socket 478, 775, AM2, 754, 939 & 940 CPU Cooler
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H socket AM2 motherboard
Thermaltake MozartSX case


Ended up .... £400 no probs playing 1080p/BR/HD etc

Wish i bought the 650w with detachable leads ><

Nice looking set-up you got there mate! just a quick one, how long does it take to boot into MCE? can you use it to browse the net etc aswell?

 

[errata]

You dont mention needing hd decoding or transcoding a lot of data so a decent pentium chip and onboard graphics can be made to work quite succesfully in a decent quiet case with passive cpu cooling and say a single dual freeview card or 2 single freeview cards.

Pentium HD decoding is possible with add in graphics cards assisting or with some pentium dual cores but its more marginal than with core 2 duos cpu's.

Dont overspecify a media centre, memory, a graphics card and cpu thats more or faster than needed will just consume power and make more noise.

Regarding booting, the usually state for a media centre pc is standby, xpmce and vista can boot from standby quite quickly 5-20s and the media interface can be set be the default.

Core 2 cpus are obviously easier to source these days and run cooler and faster than most pentiums. Nothing wrong with ATI as the motherbaord/cpu/graphics tend to be cheaper or better specifed at the same perfromacne/price points (unless you do a lot of trancoding of media where intel have a signficant advantage).

 

[DuWolfy]

Nice looking set-up you got there mate! just a quick one, how long does it take to boot into MCE? can you use it to browse the net etc aswell?

Cold Boot 24 secs , Yeah i browse the net via the remote .. when recieve email it appears in the front LCD display.
Mainly use it for watching High Def Movies or weekly episodes or just blasting some tunes out during the day.
because the case is 9cm high i specifically picked the mobo to have onboard graphics, this was perfect for me as had HD support. If needed the case had a riser card included that allows you install 2 full size PCI cards via the PCI-E slot but dont need as it plays BlueRay/HD 720p/1080i/1080p with no fuss