Your HTPC...

Matt

Matt

Matt

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
5,661
Location
Ledbury
What setup do you have?

I have rebuilt my 4yr old MCE box to this:

- Gigabyte MA78GM
- AMD X2 5050e (energy efficient)
- Scythe Ninja
- 2gb RAM
- 160gb + 500gb Seagates
- DVB-T TV Card
- M-Audio Revolution 5.1 Soundcard
- Enermax Modu82+ 525w PSU

This system is running very quietly (only fans are 1x 120mm exhaust and the PSU fan). It is also very cool running (case cold to touch, exhaust pushing cold air). The energy consumption is down too, it now uses 75-90w.

Software wise i am running Media Portal + StreamedMP skin, which after using XP MCE i am very impressed with. The TV side isn't up to MCE standards really, but it's not at all bad.

I was running 2 TV cards but found the onboard sound of the Gigabyte to be appalling compared to the MAudio when outputting to my Cyrus amp.

mp1.jpg

mp2.jpg

mp3.jpg

mp4.jpg

mp5.jpg



Media Portal + Streamed MP Easy (very easy) install guide on AVS

TV
For logos in the guide:
- Download http://www.typetech.org/mediaportal/UKTVLogosFree.zip
- Move files to: C:\ProgramData\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal\Thumbs\TV\Logos (Vista), C:\Program Files\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal\Thumbs\TV\Logos (XP)
 
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Looks awesome. Really like those HTPC's with Media Portal. Think its -Ad- that has one that looks similar? Both look really cool though!
 
this is what i'm running:

+ gigabyte ga-g33m-ds2r motherboard
+ intel e4500 2.2ghz core 2 duo cpu
+ arctic cooling alpine 7 pro
+ ocuk 4gb ddr2 800mhz memory
+ ati radeon hd2400 graphics card
+ 160gb and 1tb samsung hard drives
+ samsung dvd-rw drive

dont have a tv card as yet, nor a blu-ray reader/writer.

at the moment it is housed in an antec tower case that i kept hold of because it has good airflow, and individual drive trays with rubber gromits. i just replaced the psu with a new antec earthwatts 380w when i upgraded the internals from the amd 2500 i was running previously.

this runs xp + mediaportal and is all controlled via an mce remote. at the moment i am just running the default skin, with no plugins.

it's currently connected [via the tv-out/audio -> scart] to a 28" crt, although i have a panasonic viera 42px80 plasma being delivered on tuesday. have got one of the official ati adaptors that should allow me to do video/audio over dvi -> hdmi via the radeon hd2400 - fingers crossed.

will get some piccies up when the new tv arrives.
 
I rebuilt mine at the start of last year -

Asus P5B Mainboard
Intel E2180 Pentium-D
2Gb RAM
160GB IDE HDD
Old Pioneer DVD-RW (IDE)
Seasonic 430W PSU
Case is a SilverStone LC17 (Black)

Avermedia A16D Hybrid Tuner (now also plus a Hauppage MyTV.t USB card)

Goes into an AOC 32" LCD, it currently uses the TV's speakers but i did have it on my Yamaha DSP-AX620 (for processing and centre/rear - the fronts were active studio monitors).

It runs very cool, uses 80w (for the PC, another 100 or so for the TV). The only fans in it are the stock Intel cooler and the PSU - which in itself is silent. The loudest thing in it is easily the HDD.

Im using Vista with Vista MediaCentre, i tried using MediaPortal again recently and i found it slow, buggy, and more complicated than is necessary to setup so i abandoned it again - VMC works without fuss - anyone can use it and doesn't stop to think that its unnecessary technology (ie no funny button combinations or crashes etc)
 
e2160 @ stock
4gb pc6400
scythe mini-ninja
ip35-pro
1x tb hdd and 2x500gb's
dvd writer
bluray rom
ati powercolor 4830
be quiet! 500w psu
silverstone lc17b
sharkoon silent eagle 1000's all round (2x80mm and 2x92mm)

im having problems with the 4830 though. im hoping its just the drivers and i wont have to send the card back but its not looking good. a shame because its very quiet and cool and amazingly fast for what it is but the system is not at all stable with the card in.
 
I went out and bought a Sony Vaio VGX-TP3Z/B. I know it's very expensive for what it is, but it was the only unit I could find that would fit into the cabinet that we have under the TV and the wife refused to buy a new cabinet.

The spec of it is

T8100
2Gb Ram
500gb hard drive
8400GT GFX
Blue Ray Drive
2* TV Tuners, don't know what model they are.

Think it's an excellent piece of kit though expensive.

Taff
 
AMD X2 4800+ (EE)
2GB DDR2 800Mhz
Abit AN52
Antec Remote Max
Thermaltake 500W PSU
LG DVD
ASUS XONAR D2
x2 SAMSUNG 500Gb
8800GT

The Case is huge, but it takes full size components (hence the 8800GT) and full size ATX motherboards.

The fan on the PSU pushes are out the left side of the case directly and is contained within its own compartment. There is a 140mm and a 120mm fan situation to the rear and the right of the CPU. They are practically silent on low yet still pull sufficient air out of the case for the exhaust air to be cold.

I put them on medium when I start gaming. The 8800GT has enough room to cool itself and the airflow by the two exhaust fans pull air from the front, and underneath the case (washable filters).

Almost totally silent operation when watching movies/media (makes less noise than my PS3). Still quiet when gaming (thinking of changing the 8800gt cooler as that is now the loudest component).

Running via HDMI cable to the 42 inch Samsung TV and optical output via the Asus XONAR to the Cambridge Audio Receiver. Picture quality is great, sound quality is great, cool and quiet. At the expensive of a few inches in extra height for the case I can also game on it too.

(Wireless XBOX controllers... The XBOX controller has to be THE best controller in the world, far superior than the PS3 controller)

Also thinking of throwing out the mobo and getting an intel C2Duo in there with an X38 chipset so I can CF two 4850's (two 4870's would be overkill on a 1080 TV)

May go for a Blu-Ray multi drive when they fall below £40...
 
I've been using a HTPC for nearly 3 years now.

Basically current one

AMD X2 3800+
2gb OCZ ram
4 HDDs ~ 1 TB
Radeon 2600 pro

Dont use blueray (have ps3) or TV tuners, its easier just to switch to the TV input tbqfh.

Mainly use mine for watching downloaded material.

sid

edit/ forgot to say its running vista mce
 
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P35C-DS3R
Q6600
Freezer pro
4g Ram
1 320 + 2 250 HDD's
LG Blu-ray combo
ASUS 3650
Corsair 520 PSU
Compro E700 Dual tuner
Vista MCE with Movies and weather plug-in
DSPAX 761
42 PZ80
 
Thermaltake DH 101
Enermax 350w psu
Msi K8n neo2 plat
A64 3200+ !!
1gb ocz platinum
80gb main drive, 500gb storage, 1000gb music 500gb external and addin anothing soon.
Nv 6800gt
Hauppauge nova t500
Augidy se.
Vista ultimate.
 
Silverstone LC17 case,
Gigabyte 780G mobo,
2GB Ram,
4850e CPU,
80 (Windows), 250 (Apps) & 500GB (Music & Movies) hd's,
LG GGC-H20L Blu-Ray Reader & HD-DVD ROM,
'N' Wireless,
Vista 32bit Ultimate Media Center.
 
E2140 @ Stock
Inno3D SL7N73PVM-HDMI
2GB PC6400 OCZ
Antec Minuet 350
Samsung Spinpoint 500GB (Soon to add a 1TB aswell!)
Windows XP

Have MediaPortal & Monochrome skin installed but haven't got hold of SP3 yet so I can't actually run it :o.

Even with the onboard 7100 via HDMI and a 2140 @ stock it's more than capable of playing H.264.
 
What programs do you lot use to rip your HD/Blu-Ray movies?
I'm going to be using AnyDVD-HD but wondered if there were any other good ones out there?
 
I have edited my first post with a link to the Media Portal + Streamed MP guide on AVS Forums. This makes it all so easy and removes all the confusion :)

My reasons for going with Media Portal are just that it's so easy to use, and looks really good. I couldn't be bothered with a setup where i can't just use the remote, and where if someone else needs to use it, it's not really obvious how it works.

I really am amazed how much difference using a sound card makes on my setup. I always had the MAudio card on the HTPC, but when i upgraded i got an matx board that only had enough slots for the TV cards. So i tried onboard sound, and it was BAD, so i have gone to one TV card + the MAudio! This is only really an issue if you aren't using the digital output though.

I might just end up get a USB DVB-T card so i am back up to 2. They seem to be £25 each.


If any of you have any interesting front ends, could you post a couple of screenshots?
 
Ah excellent, thanks :)

It isn't a major thing but it makes it look so much cooler for some reason. I had to rename the BBC 1 + 2 + red button files, and made my own 4music, but I got all the icons for the channels I have now.

I shamelessly copied the skin you have too, StreamedMP is cool.

Haven't really used the TVSeries and MovingPictures yet, as I only last week started using MediaPortal. Only things I have recorded so far are the Top Gear and Jonathan Creek specials.
 
E6600 at stock, msi crappy via chipset motherboard, samsung 320gb SATA, pioneer dvr-111, 2 x 1gb, antec silver fusion case, wi dows xp mce, radeon 3870 xt.

works ok, haven't played much, but we use it for general internet and our lad plays games!

Oh and we have ZERO tv coverage except Sky so don't record stuff on it, though I may invest in a sat pci card....

Ohh and it's my MIDI sequencer to, connected to my keyboard setup, doh forgot all about that!!!
 
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I have had a HTPC running MCE2005 for a few years now, but i haven't really used it much as watching live tv on it is a pain(how do you get cable working with it?)..use it for watching the odd movie on here and there:

opty 146at stock
2gb ram
200gb hd
hiper htpc case:
25st.jpg

same as that, but black..
 
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