Does this sounds like a good HTPC system? (1 Viewer)

sirdandric

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February 23, 2006
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Does this sounds like a good HTPC system? (i like a quiet system, want to run MediaPortal and record tv, watch movies, etc.)

Shuttle Barebone ST62K ATI RS300, Firewire, TV Out (silver)
Intel Celeron D 340 2.93GHz FSB533 256kB Box
Corsair 2x512MB DDR SDRAM PC3200 CL2.5 Value
Seagate 200GB ATA100 8MB FDB, ST3200827A
Shuttle DVD-RW CR40 IDE for XPC (silver)
Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150 Stereo

Am also thinking about a 5.1 speaker set to connect it to (maybe Logitech Z-5500?).

Reactions are very welcome, since i'm thinking about purchasing a HTPC this year, and this system can be bought for not too much money. Any improvements on this setup are very welcome.

Thanks!
 

FlipGer

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  • April 27, 2004
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    Hi,

    looks quite well so far. But you should consider to spend the money for a PVR 500. Thats dual PVR 150 on one board, letting you record and timeshift two different shows at once. :)

    Flip.
     

    sirdandric

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    February 23, 2006
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    Thanks for your reply, but i don't think i will plan to record 2 shows at once. So that won't matter much.

    And you can watch tv while recording if you connect the tv also directly to the cable, right?
     

    onkl

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    February 18, 2005
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    If I look here, the onboard graphics are DirectX 8.1. For the moment, your proc may (not sure) compensate by raw power, but I wouldn't buy a non-DirectX 9 card for Mediaportal use in the longer term.
     

    infinite.loop

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    sirdandric

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    February 23, 2006
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    ah, ok... didn't knew that (about needing DirectX 9 support, and that onboard DirectX 8.1 gpu will NOT work with MediaPortal).

    Hmmm, i liked the barebone because it came really quiet out all reviews and isn't that expensive any more. But i doesn't has a spot for a video card, so i guess i should use another sff/barebone/case then.

    Any suggestions (please not too expensive and it should be quiet) ;-)
     

    infinite.loop

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    sirdandric said:
    ah, ok... didn't knew that (about needing DirectX 9 But i doesn't has a spot for a video card, so i guess i should use another sff/barebone/case then.
    i see it has no agp/pci-e slot :(

    but why do you want to use a barebone. okay they look nice, but the cooling can be a pita.

    a bigger case is easy to cool and possible to get (nearly) noiseless (HDD will still make some noise!!!).
    i.e. silverstone case http://www.silverstonetek.com/product-case.htm
    some cases also have integrated displays (supported by MP)
     

    FlipGer

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    Hi,

    sirdandric said:
    Thanks for your reply, but i don't think i will plan to record 2 shows at once. So that won't matter much.

    And you can watch tv while recording if you connect the tv also directly to the cable, right?

    Sure, but you cannot timeshift. I swear, you will love this feature once your used to it. :)

    A 8.1 GPU will work with MP! But the CPU will have more work to do. This will be seen in CPU usage, a DX9 GPU will lessen CPU usage.

    Flip.
     

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