Opinions wanted on possible HTPC/media centre build

[JonnyBoy]

Hi all. I'm considering building myself an HTPC to replace my VCR, crap freeview box and ageing DVD player. I've never done anything with HTPCs/media centres before though, so any advice is very welcome!

I want it be capable of viewing and recording digital TV, playing/recording DVDs, timeshifting digital TV and playing DiVX/XVid videos, all in glorious surround sound and with HDTV capability - although I haven't yet bought an HD television set so it'll be used with a normal TV (via VGA-to-SCART adapter cable) or a normal TFT monitor until I buy an HDTV.

I also hope to be able to do all of the above from a single remote control. It appears that the "Media Lab" remote control & VFD display included with the Thermaltake case should enable me to do this under Windows XP rather than Media Centre Edition, but I may be wrong.

The spec below is what I've compiled so far (www.microdirect.co.uk), as far as I can tell it should be able to do all I require but I may have missed a trick - in which case, please point me in the right direction.

CASE
ThermalTake Bach Media Lab case black VB8001BNS c/w remote control, xfans USB2 +Firewire +audio +NO PSU

PSU
450W Quiet P4/AMD PFC PSU 12cm fan RetaiL

PROCESSOR
Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 2.13GHz 1066FSB LGA775 2MB cache Retail inc.Fan (3yr Manufacturers Warranty)

MOTHERBOARD
Asrock ConRoe945G-DVI skt775 motherboard i945G 1066FSB PCI-E x16 DDR2 SATA2 Giga LAN 8 ch. HD audio micro ATX +DVI VGA (Dual core & Conroe compatible)

MEMORY
Corsair® Value Select 1Gb DDR2 PC5400 Kit (2 x 512MB) (VS1GBKIT667D2)

HARD DRIVE
250 GB Seagate Barracuda SATA2 7200rpm 16MB cache oem (Manufacturer's 5yr Warranty)

OPTICAL DRIVE
Sony AW-G170AB2 Dual Layer Black 18x DVD+/-RW 12X RAM oem

GRAPHICS
Gigabyte GF 7300GT Turbo 256MB DDR2, PCI-E, DVI, HDTV Out, Retail with Silent Heat Pipe

TV TUNER
Pinnacle PCTV Hybrid Pro PCI Card DVB-T & Analogue TV tuner +FM radio +remote Mpeg 1 and Div-X Media centre compatible

I also intend to connect it to the internet via a USB wireless dongle, but only when 'net access is necessary - in normal use it will be left offline to keep it virus-free, and my main PC will take care of normal web duties.

Any advice/opinions gratefully recieved!

Cheers,
Jonny

 

[Jai]

can you get a soundcard that'll do 6.1/dts etc etc with all the gubbins for soundfield set ups? if so, def a must, nothing like soft footsteps in the rain from the rear speakers to scare the crap out of the mrs.....

 

[JonnyBoy]

can you get a soundcard that'll do 6.1/dts etc etc with all the gubbins for soundfield set ups? if so, def a must, nothing like soft footsteps in the rain from the rear speakers to scare the crap out of the mrs.....

I haven't looked into sound cards as I assumed that the 7.1 sound on the mobo will be able to take care of this - is that how these things work?

What's DTS by the way? I'm not all that clued-up on the home theatre stuff!

Cheers!

 

[Jai]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Theater_System

put simply, jesus that was close!!!! as you are caught in the middle of a navy seal massacre in the rock.....

 

[JonnyBoy]

I've had a look into it and the sound chip on the mobo does support DTS Connect.
http://www.dts.com/consumer/pc/dtsconnect.php
and
http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/productsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=24&PFid=28&Level=5&Conn=4&ProdID=135

 

[soap_dodger]

Looks like a pretty good system, on a budget, if you can, pop a bit more RAM in
it and possibly get a 512Mb Graphics card, but a decent one.

Jamie

 

[JonnyBoy]

Looks like a pretty good system, on a budget, if you can, pop a bit more RAM in
it and possibly get a 512Mb Graphics card, but a decent one.

Jamie

Do you think I'd be better off putting a single 1gb memory module in, leaving room for another 1gb when funds allow?

 

[Si]

Cause DDR2 works in pairs

If budget isn't tight, go for 2GB ram. 500GB Hard drives aren't that expensive either, so I'd get the extra storage. Rest of the spec is pretty respectable.

 

[soap_dodger]

Do you think I'd be better off putting a single 1gb memory module in, leaving room for another 1gb when funds allow?

You can do if you want, just depends if you willing to pay a little more.

 

[Liam]

If you go for onboard sound you merely make it a pc with a tv tuner not a true HTPC plus you spec no speakers.

Foret the pinaccle and get this instead

http://www.nebula-electronics.com/products/products.asp?class=DigiTV

lIAM

 

[chaos]

Jonny, chuck a good PSU in there (sounds like you've specced an OEM jobbie there), and use an online calculator to check that the PSU is beefy enough to run it.

And I would go for the extra RAM if you can afford it

 

[JonnyBoy]

Cheers for the responses everyone!

If you go for onboard sound you merely make it a pc with a tv tuner not a true HTPC plus you spec no speakers.

Foret the pinaccle and get this instead

http://www.nebula-electronics.com/products/products.asp?class=DigiTV

lIAM

That costs nearly ninety quid!!! No doubt it's the bog's dollocks but it's way too expensive.

Also, since the onboard sound is 7.1 channel, would an additional sound card be worth the extra expense? I'm trying to keep costs as low as possible, and in any case the sound card can be added later if the onboard turns out to be pants

Surround sound isn't too much of a priority at the moment anyway - hence no plans as yet to buy surround speakers. Most important is that it plays DVDs and records digital TV to hard disk and DVD - allowing me to junk my existing DVD player, VCR and freeview box. Surround would be nice but I'm quite happy with stereo sound through my hi-fi

As for RAM, I can't really stretch to 2gb at the mo, so for the time being I'll go for a single 1gb stick and add another one (same brand and of the same spec and timings, so that dual channel works) when I've got some spare beer tokens

I'll look into the PSU, any recommendations - particular brand etc? I looked at a Thermaltake one but it was £30 which seemed a lot for a PSU.

 

[chaos]

I'll look into the PSU, any recommendations - particular brand etc? I looked at a Thermaltake one but it was £30 which seemed a lot for a PSU.

Actually Jonny, 30 quid is pretty cheap - IME you get what you pay for with PSUs (which is why I need a new one ) Anything from a good brand, e.g. Antec, CoolerMaster, Tagan, Thermaltake, Hiper, Seasonic etc would be fine as long as they have enough power.

Have a look here - http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine to figure out how much power you'd need - I had a quick go, and I reckon that a 550 - 600W PSU should be ample enough - but that was making too many assumptions on cooling fans, etc.

 

[arc]

with regards to the sound.. retain the onboard sound if you must - but set it to ouput an nice AC3 digital stream - and buy a proper standalone AV Amp / decoder to handle the sound. I've had one for years now, and no PC setup can rival its sound.

 

[Hellcat]

I've ran a home built media centre for some time. The idea of the system was good however there were some problems.

XP Media Centre Edition is brilliant. Very user friendly.

The problem is PC's arnt designed well for the job. Take a look at this Acer Aspire Idea 500... You just can't fit all this in a standard PC without serious heat build up. Then you have to start adding fans and soon you have a big noisey box in the corner.

I'd have a PC based media centre again - but I'd get a pre-built system like the Acer.

 

[Liam]

The secret to the HTPC is very efficient but quiet fans and well designed solutions for heat removal but this costs.

Have a looksie on hear for ideas

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/HTPC_Shop.html

Liam