Denmark
Finally I got the time and parts to get my HTPC working. I've been reading these forums for quite awhile and finally it has become my turn to share my build.
Ever since I stumbled upon the term HTPC, I've wanted one myself. I love the possibilities, and the potentially endless list of features, that can be put into such a machine.
I started out thinking that MCE was the only way to go, but boy was I wrong. After reading up on forums, I found out about Mediaportal, and never since have I doubted that this was the way to go.
So, this is my first attempt at a HTPC, but hopefully not the last.
I'll start with the list of hardware:
CPU: P4 2,4ghz
MB: Some old Chaintech, can't remember excact name
Ram: 512 mb
GFX: Leadtek Geforce 4 ti-4200, modded to passive cooling with old P4 box cooler.
HDD: Seageate 120 GB
Tuner: Hauppauge PVR-500
Case: Standard PC case, havent gotten a decent HTPC case yet.
Sound: X-fi Elite Pro
Speakers: Creative 5.1 speaker system.
TV: 4 year old Samsung 28" CRT, not Widescreen
As you might expect, most of the parts are left overs from PC upgrades.
The plan is to change the CPU with a Athlon 64 3800+ that recently bought second-hand. Just waiting to find a motherboard and another GFX before I can make that change.
The Harddrive will also get changed at some point, since 120GB is not nearly enough for me. I find myself running out of space all the time, so I constantly have to erase shows and movies that I have seen.
The Case will get changed to, once I get the money for it, and me and my Girlfriend can agree on which case it should be - I fear that will be the hardest part of the entire build
I decided not to use TVserver, since I tried it for a short amount of time, and I couldnt get the channels right. I'm gonne try again at some point, but for now I don't need the added possibility of multi-seat, and I like the stability of the old engine.
But there are slot of features in the New TVengine which at some point will force me to make the switch.
The connection to the TV is at the moment through Composite cable, since for some reason I cannot get S-VHS to work. It works the first couple of times I have the computer restarted, but then at some point, it just starts showing black and white, instead of color. Really annoying. It doesnt look like its that big a difference, once inside MP, but in windows, its abit sharper with the S-VHS.
The picture quality is not always the best, but i suspect my Tuner to be the problem. I don't know whether I just can't configure it right, or I have one of the "bad" tuners (if I do, its to late to do something about it, since its almost a couple of years old now). I'm gonna try to mess a bit with FFDshow video decoder, but I fear that I don't have enoug CPU power for that.
I have to try and look at a regular DVD movie, to try and see how sharp the picture is there. Maybe I can then find out whether it's my tuner or the connection to the TV thats the problem.
Surround-sound wise I use analog connection from my X-fi to the speakers, since there is no digital input - its just a PC speaker system, but it plays very well IMO. Yesterday I decided to try and fiddle abit with FFdshow, to see if I could get some better sound, and Wow, what a difference. Before, I had stereo sound on all my movies, only place I had Surround sound was in DVD-playback. But now, it's like all my recorded stereo movies has been made with 5.1 Sound. It's amazing how good it sounds, considering it's just an upmix. I was litteraly stunned when I watched a movie yesterday, that was supposed to be just plain stereo, but sounded like it had full Surround Sound.
Thats it for now. Pictures will come at some point, but for now I just wanted to share something with the community.
So much for an Awsome HTPC program. I
Ever since I stumbled upon the term HTPC, I've wanted one myself. I love the possibilities, and the potentially endless list of features, that can be put into such a machine.
I started out thinking that MCE was the only way to go, but boy was I wrong. After reading up on forums, I found out about Mediaportal, and never since have I doubted that this was the way to go.
So, this is my first attempt at a HTPC, but hopefully not the last.
I'll start with the list of hardware:
CPU: P4 2,4ghz
MB: Some old Chaintech, can't remember excact name
Ram: 512 mb
GFX: Leadtek Geforce 4 ti-4200, modded to passive cooling with old P4 box cooler.
HDD: Seageate 120 GB
Tuner: Hauppauge PVR-500
Case: Standard PC case, havent gotten a decent HTPC case yet.
Sound: X-fi Elite Pro
Speakers: Creative 5.1 speaker system.
TV: 4 year old Samsung 28" CRT, not Widescreen
As you might expect, most of the parts are left overs from PC upgrades.
The plan is to change the CPU with a Athlon 64 3800+ that recently bought second-hand. Just waiting to find a motherboard and another GFX before I can make that change.
The Harddrive will also get changed at some point, since 120GB is not nearly enough for me. I find myself running out of space all the time, so I constantly have to erase shows and movies that I have seen.
The Case will get changed to, once I get the money for it, and me and my Girlfriend can agree on which case it should be - I fear that will be the hardest part of the entire build
I decided not to use TVserver, since I tried it for a short amount of time, and I couldnt get the channels right. I'm gonne try again at some point, but for now I don't need the added possibility of multi-seat, and I like the stability of the old engine.
But there are slot of features in the New TVengine which at some point will force me to make the switch.
The connection to the TV is at the moment through Composite cable, since for some reason I cannot get S-VHS to work. It works the first couple of times I have the computer restarted, but then at some point, it just starts showing black and white, instead of color. Really annoying. It doesnt look like its that big a difference, once inside MP, but in windows, its abit sharper with the S-VHS.
The picture quality is not always the best, but i suspect my Tuner to be the problem. I don't know whether I just can't configure it right, or I have one of the "bad" tuners (if I do, its to late to do something about it, since its almost a couple of years old now). I'm gonna try to mess a bit with FFDshow video decoder, but I fear that I don't have enoug CPU power for that.
I have to try and look at a regular DVD movie, to try and see how sharp the picture is there. Maybe I can then find out whether it's my tuner or the connection to the TV thats the problem.
Surround-sound wise I use analog connection from my X-fi to the speakers, since there is no digital input - its just a PC speaker system, but it plays very well IMO. Yesterday I decided to try and fiddle abit with FFdshow, to see if I could get some better sound, and Wow, what a difference. Before, I had stereo sound on all my movies, only place I had Surround sound was in DVD-playback. But now, it's like all my recorded stereo movies has been made with 5.1 Sound. It's amazing how good it sounds, considering it's just an upmix. I was litteraly stunned when I watched a movie yesterday, that was supposed to be just plain stereo, but sounded like it had full Surround Sound.
Thats it for now. Pictures will come at some point, but for now I just wanted to share something with the community.
So much for an Awsome HTPC program. I