Encoding & Playback HTPC - Best Bang for Buck (1 Viewer)

Tau C Seti

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November 19, 2005
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Sydney Australia
Over the last 6 weeks, I have collected the following:

  • Silverstone LC03V - Ebay - Delivered $170.00

    Ultraview DVB-T Plus HDTV PC Tuner Card w/ Remote Dvico
    Ebay Delivered $97.00

    DELUX 500W Silent Power Supply - Ebay Delivered $55.00

    GA-8I945P-G, PCIe/DDR2/SATA2/Glan/8ch-S - EYO Delivered $161.70

    6600GT 128MB VIVO HDTV PCI-E - Ebay delivered $219.00

    HDD 200Gb SAMSUNG SPINPOINT SATAII $132(inc) x 2
    TODAYTECH = $264.00

    LG 4167B DVD+/-RW DL - TODAYTECH = $57.20(inc)

    Mem (1 Gb) PQI DDR2 533MHZ - EBAY DELIVERED $90.10

    CPU Intel 820 Dual Core
    EBAY USA (USD$162.50 + 35P&H) + FEES = AUD $293

    Big Typhoon (inc delivery) $72.00
Total $1479.00 :eek:


I had intended to go AMD, with the intention of encoding (as well as playback of course), but considering that the only ALC882x AMD MB available in Australia was the DFI LANPARTY UT RDX200 at over AUD $300, I reconsidered, especially as AMD's 940-pin M2 Socket (with DDR2) is 3-6 months away.

The Gigabyte i945 board has ALC882M (Dolby Master Studio with EAX support, etc), coax, optical and analog out (I have a 7.1 Amp). SATA2, GLan, etc is all included.

The only edge the Intel CPU has over AMD is video encoding. Considering the cheapest Dual Core AMD is $500 (3800+ X2), I concluded that the Intel 820 Dual Core 2.8Ghz CPU based solution was the best way to go. Together with the 6600GT 'purevideo' GPU optimisations, I hope to get reasonable .TP (SD & HDTV) to mpeg2, Divx/xvid or WMV9 encoding performance (H.264 is gonna need @ 10Ghz CPU's for real-time :roll: )

I decided on the Samsung HDD's as they are cool, the quietest in the industry (fluid coupled motors), and have very high sustained data transfer rates (even beating out the 10,000 rpm raptors). Seek time ain't the best, but when video reading/writing, who cares? The 250Gb versions are quicker (higher data density per platter), but at $120(ex) for 200Gb who's gonna argue ? :mrgreen:

The 6600GT card is supposed to have an external TDMS capable of 1080i @165Mhz, with VIVO (S-Video). A second VIVO S-video port is available on the Ultraview DVB-T card.

This Intel/Mb combo has cost $453.70
The 3800+ x2 CPU / Mb Combo would have cost me well over $830.00, and would soon have been redundant due to M2 (devalued at least).

Has anybody built anything remotely like the above? Any comments, advise or suggestions (This is my first attempt at a HTPC)? This is not meant for gaming (response times on large HDTV are not very good anyway), and I have an AMD64 6800GT beast with a Philips 22" screen for gaming already. It is meant for HTPC only, permanently connected to 7.1 Amp and TV :?:
 

Callifo

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  • December 7, 2004
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    Just a comment really, both those VIVO connectors wont work in MP. It doesnt support (officially) the software capture cards. If you really need to capture from analogue sources, youd be better off with a Hauppauge PVR-150MCE.

    Do you have a remote as well?
     

    Tau C Seti

    Portal Member
    November 19, 2005
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    Sydney Australia
    Yep, the Ultraview (Dvico) DVB-T plus comes with a remote.

    I am somewhat alarmed :shock: at the statement that the VIVO feature is not supported - The DVB-T card is on the MP 'officially' supported list (The Ultraview I have is a licensed OEM DVICO Fusion card - Same software, etc).

    As I am still waiting for about half the bits'n'pieces to arrive (the CPU won't get here from the USA until the New year), I thought I would concentrate a bit on the software build side of things, hence my request for advise from experienced builders. I definitely want VIVO - I can plug in my camera and DL via DV port, but a lot of home movies are already on VHS tape - I wanted to digitise it all eventually :cry:
     

    Callifo

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    I am somewhat alarmed at the statement that the VIVO feature is not supported - The DVB-T card is on the MP 'officially' supported list (The Ultraview I have is a licensed OEM DVICO Fusion card - Same software, etc).

    The DVB-T portion of the card works fine in MP. Its just the analogue inputs that wont work. These inputs require a software encoder to be utilised which use a lot of CPU cycles. Thus MP developers have decided to not support software cards because of this so only hardware analogue cards are supported.
     

    Tau C Seti

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    November 19, 2005
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    Sydney Australia
    Callifo said:
    The DVB-T portion of the card works fine in MP. Its just the analogue inputs that wont work. These inputs require a software encoder to be utilised which use a lot of CPU cycles. Thus MP developers have decided to not support software cards because of this so only hardware analogue cards are supported.

    I purposefully went nVidia 6600GT due to 'purevideo' quality and features (Direct X based SW). Hence my selection of a Dual Core CPU.....

    The latest UltraViewHDTV3.2 SW has the XVid format added to the Converter. Can't I access this SW from within MP ?

    Please excuse my ignorance :oops: but I have as yet to install and run MP.
     

    Callifo

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    The purevideo functions can be used if you use the Nvidia Purevideo decoder mpeg2 codec. It doesnt actually have anything to do with the video in function.

    If you prefer to use that program for the analogue inputs I cant see why not, you should be able to launch it from the MyPrograms Plugin.
     

    Tau C Seti

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    November 19, 2005
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    Callifo said:
    The purevideo functions can be used if you use the Nvidia Purevideo decoder mpeg2 codec. It doesnt actually have anything to do with the video in function.

    If you prefer to use that program for the analogue inputs I cant see why not, you should be able to launch it from the MyPrograms Plugin.
    Yep, I was referring to the video quality output. I was initially tempted to go with the cheaper ABIT RX600 Pro-HDTV
    rx600-hdtv-angle.jpg

    As you can see, this card is purpose built for HTPC use, and only $108.00

    However, nVidia 'purevideo' has advantages even over ATI's latest X1xxx AVIVO software, hence my decision on the 6600GT HDTV VIVO card.

    :lol: I am much relieved re your confirmation that I can launch native features from within the 'MyPrograms' plug-in.

    In your honest opinion, considering the scope and budget, how do you think this lot of silicon will perform ? I am not really fussed with PIP, etc, just good HDTV OP, Good encoding, playback all formats (FFDSHOW is going in).
     

    critifer

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    February 9, 2005
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    Iron ...

    I have almost all of that iron in 1 2 3 or 4 of my boxes but have so much damn gear. All of that irons will work fine but note Dman's comments on your analog with SW vs HW cards, personally go with a PVR500 as it will give wou double the tuner's (if analog is coax also). The 6600 I have both the passive and non-passive flavors.

    In my latest box I went almost all Passive except the CPU cooler which I used the Zalman which is about as silent as u can get. I HIGHLY reccomend the Silverstone Passive power supply. To me it's a no-brainer and not sure that is the one u ordered. PCAlchemy carries it. It's not super expensive, works great.

    I have my Silverstone (the larger not sure on the PN) with 4 SATA drives in it, 500 - 400 - 300 - 300 in a non-well ventilated issue with most all passive components, 2 500MCE's, 1 DVICO-HD Gold, and a load of USB drives hanging external and never have heat issues.

    I use this box as one of my MP Pressure Testing boxes and gets high marks. I think the case is the .. 17 something from Silverstone. It's larger than most like but I love it due to all the storage I can place in it and it acts as a core for a NetWide HTPC infrastrcuture.

    Good luck...
     

    Tau C Seti

    Portal Member
    November 19, 2005
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    Sydney Australia
    Hmmm....Should I swap out the Ultraview for a Hauppauge or run both cards? Is this more hassle than it's worth?

    The Hauppauge PVR500-MCE - DUAL TUNER TV Card & FM Reciever is a biit of an overkill in my circumstances.

    I have a digital SD Rx'r plugged into a Wintal DVDR-X20 recorder, which usually has a DVD+RW sitting in the tray. Anything good comes along, it has OTR (One Touch Recording). It's a lot handier than firing up a PC, pressing buttons and setting everything up (meantime, youv'e lost half the !#$@ show) :roll:

    As stated, I want quality HDTV out, and I want the sucker to ENCODE - Fast !!!!! Hence dual core Intel CPU, hence VIVO inputs. The Haupps only have HW MPEG2 encoding......I usually use Xvid 1.1.0.....and plan to start playing around with WMV9-HD. The Conexant CX2388x on the Ultraview is supposed to 'assist' Divx (and now xVid) encoding, so are the Haupp's really justified considering my intent and use ? :?
     

    Callifo

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    Recording to MPEG2 using the hauppauge, you can then use the burner plugin to convert to Xvid. It handles this all inside MP so you dont need external programs so its not such a bad solution.

    PVR-500 may be a bit of overkill though, as it sounds like you dont need a dual tuner card. A PVR-150MCE would work fine and it also has an FM tuner.
     

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