My HTPC project, parts and config

[petsa]

Hi!

Since I've almost finished my second HTPC I thought I'd share what parts I've used and how I configured it.

Here is the parts list:

- Chassi, Antec Fusion (v1) with VFD. Comes with a 430W PSU
- MoBo, Abit Fatal1ty F-I90HD. mATX with DDR2, integrated optical out, HDMI, and support for LGA775
- CPU, Intel C2D E6600, 2.4GHz
- RAM, Corsair TWIN2X 6400, DDR2, 2GB
- HDD, 2x Samsung 500GB, 1x Maxtor 300 GB (boot)
- Chassi fans, replaced Antec's TriCooler with 2x Noctua S12-1200
- CPU cooling, Scythe Mini Ninja
- CPU fan, replaced the boxed fan with Noctua R8
- Keyboard&mouse, Logitech diNovo Bluetooth
- Sound, Logitech Z-5500
- Remote, MCE with blaster
- TVcard, Terratec 2400i for DVB-T
- TV, Video7 32" with DVI. Has a 1366x768 resolution.

Software

- MP 0.2.3.0 RC2 with latest SVN
- TV3E 0.2.3.0 with latest SVN
- MCE replacement driver for remote
- Video codec, ffdshow
- h263 codec, ffdshow
- Audio codec, AC3filter with passthrough for AC97 etc
- Skin, Project Mayhem III
- EPG, webepg from the Swedish server dagenstv.com
- LCDSmartie to drive the VFD
- MP Web Interface (MWI), to schedule recordings from remote. Still in beta but works pretty well already.

It has taken a bit of work but right now the system is both stable and easy to use. I'm quite proud of a system that is very quiet and has a high WAF ;-)

The main problem was with the TV-card I used to have, Twinhan 3040. Because I want the systems to go into S3 standby the card f****d up after each resume. After a lot of reading on this forum and elsewhere I realized this had to do with the card being USB-based (even if it plugs into a PCI slot). Some of them can not properly handle S3 standby. The Terratec card is PCIE based and has worked flawless since I installed it.

I have not done a lot of tweaking to the system but I used to use PowerDVD codecs. Had some issues and works much better with ffdshow.

The CPU cooler from Scythe has been a really nice piece of cooler. It fits so nicely in the Fusion and keeps the CPU very cool. The Noctua fans are quiet as a whisper (use the LNA mode) so the PC is barely audible from 1m away. The CPU fan runs at full speed but is still very quite.

I use the MCE replacement driver and plugin to handle inputs from the remote. The blasters that comes with the receiver I use to turn on/off TV and sound system. So cool to have only one remote to control all this ;-)

The diNovo is thin as a leaf and with Bluetooth I can use it from the sofa without any problems. Had previously the version without Bluetooth and had some issues when the distance to the receiver became to long.

I am considering to buy a Asus 8600GT Silent to get more power for HDTV decoding but already now with the E6600 I get stutterfree h264 decoding. The other issue with the intergrated ATI X1250 graphics is that there is some flaw in the driver that causes it to use a lot of CPU cycles when in BasicHome.

The only remaining issue I have is that WOL (Wake-On-Lan) does not work with the MoBo. This has been reported to Abit but nothing done so far. Ideally I would like to enable this to be able to access MWI also when the computer is in standby. I travel a bit so it would be cool to login, schedule some recordings, and then the HTPC goes back to S3 again.

That's it! Took a while to get all bits'n pieces together but once it is there it works nicely. If you have any questions, please send me a PM or reply to this thread.

/Peter

[frekje]

Very nice Peter!

I am building a HTPC with almost the exakt same setup as you. I will however use a Technotrend DVB-C 1500 for Comhem as a TV-card. Access will be arranged via the Pheonix smartcard-reader (www.adteknik.se).

I planned to use a Silverstone cooler, but you convinced me to go with the Ninja, it looks pretty sweet.

Cheers, frekje

[petsa]

Hi frekje,

Good luck! Will you use another gfx card than the integrated? I'm thinking about this card but I'm not sure if it fits in the case:

http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?f...30&cat2_no=137

The heatpipes may be an issue...

/Peter

[frekje]

The gfx looks good there Peter. I will try out the integrated one before getting something else. My Samsung LCD cant run full hd so we'll see if its good enough.

Let me know if you get that new card. I'll post more info once I have started building the system.

[SweMart]

Nice setup! Got any pictures?

[Lotsofjazz]

Hi Petsa,


As you can see, I have a very similar setup as you have, same mobo, same CPU, same Ninja cooler, same case!.. only more Gb DDR (4) and I have not tweaked the fusion case (yet!) and I have only one 500Gb HDD, also I do not have the TVcard yet installed (I allready put in my system description, because I will build it in in a few days).

But from the start I have installed Mediaportal, I have problems using mediaportal when scrolling using the filmstrip view.. The graphics freezes after scrolling to the second picture or so, sometimes even after not scrolling at all, it freezes and even some graphic elements disapear from the screen. But listening to the sound it still responds to the remote/mouse inputs.. In the blind I can start a movie, but then I do hear sound, but the screen remains at the frozen mediaportal screen. To resolve this, I have to use ctrl-alt-del and end the mediaportal task.. then the computer resumes to normal operation

I have checked the error log of Mediaportal, and it shows that DirectX element Direct3D is causing errors.

I wonder, since you have a very similar system, if you have (had) the same experience. and if you resolved it, what was your solution?..Also if you do NOT have this experience, which driver do you use with the ATI Xpress1250, right now I have the lates and greatest downloaded and installed from the AMD website (7.12).

Your help is much appreciated, Thanks in advance!

Lotsofjazz

[Paranoid Delusion]

Before petsa answers, see if simplemp skin works, there are ATI driver issues after the feb 2007 release.

[petsa]

Hi Lotsofjazz,

Nice to hear you have almost the same config

I had some issues with skins, e.g. XFace, but as far as I can remember PMIII worked OK. Since I wrote the post above I have added a Asus 8600 GT 512MB Silent gfx card so now also Xface works OK. I never bothered to play around with the drivers for ATI as so many people had problems with them...

/Peter

[Lotsofjazz]

Originally Posted by petsa

Hi Lotsofjazz,

Nice to hear you have almost the same config

I had some issues with skins, e.g. XFace, but as far as I can remember PMIII worked OK. Since I wrote the post above I have added a Asus 8600 GT 512MB Silent gfx card so now also Xface works OK. I never bothered to play around with the drivers for ATI as so many people had problems with them...

/Peter

Ok I will try the Project Mahem III skin, I also found that thread about ATI drivers not working, the last driver that seems to work is 7.2.. With the Monochrome skin I have only problems with the filmstrip view, all others work fine, so not using filmstrip is also a way to get around it. I am not planning to install another graphics card, because i use the HDMI out to view Movies and TV and graphics cards that have this tend to be a little expensive, or use DVI out. Beside Mediaportal there are some other open source media center softwares out there that I could give a try. Maybe in the future I will buy another graphics card, first thing next is to get the digital cable TV working with floppyDTV.

Thanks anyways!

Lots

[Baltic Johan]

Hello Petsa,

I´m in the lucky situation that I have to replace my 15 year old TV.

My idea is to do a complete TV/home movie make-over. I have some budget for it but wants to get most out of the money.
I´ve been looking at LCD:s but have now tuned in to the BenQ W9000 projector. So far I´ve also been looking at traditionell home movie gear, like receivers, dvd-players etc. But now the idea to have everything in "one box" combined with my home network, internet, PC-games etc is growing in my mind - and one obvious question is: will I get more for the money with HTPC then a traditionell 7.1 solution (Marantz S7002, a good DVD-player and a decent sound system)?

What´s the budget for your HTPC project? And do you have any thoughts around my dilemma (which is rather pleasant at the moment :-) above?

I's be pleased for any comments on the subjects from the community.

/Johan