Budget P4 build

[audiodigital]

While Looking for a DVD recorder a few weeks ago I stumbled upon Media Portal and a quick download was enough to convince me that I needed a Media PC not a blackbox oem product.

I had some bits lying around including a P4 3Ghz Proc. a 160Gb Hdd, a DVD and some mem which I was planning to use to upgrade my PC but I decided that these would be the components for this instead.

A quick browse on e-Bay showed some CoolerMaster ATC-620 MicroATX media style cases for £45 (normally £100) so I had one of those and that arrived the next Day.

I also bought a Hauppage TV card for £40 and a Motherboard for £30 but the Mobo turned out to be a non runner.

I have since sent the board back and bought a brand new one and a VFD from KustomPC.

Finally found time to begin the build last night which completed fine only to find that my XP pro disk is damaged I also noted that intel's P4 fans are really loud, with the case fan and the three in the PSU too this is currently one very loud system however I'll quieten it later once I've proved the system.

My only advice so far would be to avoid the P4 due to the cooling requirement but the rest of the system is good it's cost me so far just over the £200 I wanted to spend on a basic recorder (though I did have a good £200+ worth of hardware already)

Will update when complete though i'm sure i'll have questions before then!

TJ

[audiodigital]

.:: Update ::.

I completed the install of XP and SP2 last night using a good copy of XP pro CD, I also installed the base VFD software so the display is live now and also the TV card.

To install my Hauppage Nova-T DVB 90002 card I ignored the driver CD and documentation supplied with the card and instead used the links and instruction given on the MediaPortal site here.. http://www.maisenbachers.de/dokuw/in...va-t:mce_90002.

The install was problem free using the above link and I seem to have a working card and remote however as I didn't have a TV arial to connect to to scan for channels this will have to occur when the unit is installed under the TV.

Finally I installed Dx9 and the .net framework

Hope to install MP tonight!!

[audiodigital]

.:: Update ::.

Been using MP over a year now since 0.1.3 now on 0.2.4 - Love it!

Have just upgraded my original Coolermaster ATCS (ATC-610-SX1) case to an Antec Fusion from X-case in the UK. This is a superb case in all respects and it's two 120mm slow running fans draw air through it so efficiently that I am debating unplugging the cooler fan.

I have also upgraded the HDD to a 400Gb Samsung (because you can never have enough storage space in an HTPC) and the Samsung's are notably quiet, aided further by the rubber dampers in the Antec case. and there's still room in the case for another drive ;-)

The upgrade to an M series processor was very cheap and very worthwhile, the adapter for the asus board was £35 and the M series processors are dirt cheap on e-bay now from around £25. The Pentium 4 3.00GHz i used originally was producing way to much heat requiring lots of cooling and this has shut it right up.