Completed HTPC Build Silverstone LC13-E (1 Viewer)

[wineohe]

Recently completed my build and have been dialing in MediaPortal. I'm a noob at HTPC.

Asus M3N78-EM (MicroATX version)
AMD Phenom II X3 710
A mix of 800MHZ (4GB total) from my desktop (it's now been graced with 1066Mhz)
LG Blu-ray/HD DVD-ROM & DVD±R DVD Burner Model GGC-H20L
PC Power and Cooling Silencer 370W
Vista Home Premium x64
Western Digital 1T Green WD10EADS Hard Drive (may add a second since the movies really eat up space)

The LG Blu-Ray drive came with CyberDVD HD software. It works best if all you are going to do is play disks from the drive. Otherwise it is very cumbersome for playing ripped movies off of the hard drive. It has a terrible front end. If it was better I would actually pay them to upgrade. Then again why bother with MediaPortal right? ;-)

I've had difficulty getting my HTPC to work with an HDMI switch that I purchased recently. My TV is an older Panasonic 39" Plasma. I've given up and am running the cable set top box through composite and the HTPC through the lone HDMI input.

I am really yearning now for 1080P. I am building this box for our vacation property which will have a 42" LCD with 1080P, probably a Samsung. Displaying PC content over 720P is difficult and not recommended unless all you are going to do is MediaPortal.

I've enjoyed learning how to work with MP. Is it perfect? No, but it's a great start and I really appreciate the hard work that has gone into it. Again I really found out about it with regards to it's front end for movies stored on my hard drive. I'm still getting the hand of the interface.

 

[dcwp]

Welcome! This looks like a nice machine. I like that case and considered buying it, but I need something a little smaller.

When you say PC on 720p is not recommended, do you mean because fonts are produced too small? I run my HTPC at 720p and don't have major problems. You can upscale text and window sizes through control panel and most browsers will let you zoom in on text. These are imperfect solutions, but they work for me. But then I don't do much besides MP, Boxee, and a little web surfing.

Anyway, enjoy!

Actually one last thought. You've probably copied your home hard drive onto your vacation HTPC, but you might be interested in one of the mediaserver solutions so you can stream media from one location at the other. There is SlingBox of course, but several MP users use Orb as well MyCast your digital media with Orb 2.0 remote pc access software which is a free open-source solution.

 

[wineohe]

720P

Yes I've played with the text size and such, if anything for me it is too big and I'm unable to access the bottom edge of browser windows. I'll keep playing with this. It's not a big deal since I have a Desktop I use for most of my PC work. The movies still look great on the 720P Plasma. In fact in some instances I really question the need for HD on a smaller TV, say less than 40". I played a Blu-Ray as the first movie and was impressed. Then later I put in a regular DVD. It was not as good but still surprising to say the least. As for 1080P, it's becoming so common now it might be difficult not to find a TV without it by the time I buy.

My place is in the Caribbean so bandwidth is an issue as far a streaming, but I appreciate the info.

As for the case. I do like it, but I hadn't really given much thought to IR for a remote. I didn't really think it was that worthwhile. No after reading about some other rigs I realize it is every day stuff. Now I have to figure out how to add IR inexpensively. Antec has a cheap remote with receiver that I might buy, ditch the remote and get a Logitech. In hindsight I should have just found a case with it built in.

 

[dcwp]

Well, being the selfless sort let me offer to do on-site consultation at your vacation home any time you need it

In my experience the MCE remotes do a great job for very little money as long as you aren't trying to control anything but MP and a STB with blaster. But personally I like to hide all the peripherals; invisibility is almost as important as silence in my house. So you might want to consider an rf remote like some of the Harmony models. With that you can tuck the reciever inside the case and not have to see it sitting on a shelf.

 

[wineohe]

Oh one thing I forgot to mention. Noise. So far I am Very happy. The Power Supply is virtually silent and the case fans aren't bad either. The only thing I hear are the drives and the OEM Heat Sink Fan supplied by AMD. My next component order is going to include an Arctic Cooling Alpine 7 for $13. I've read it is fairly quiet and a good value at the price. It also accomodates PWM Signal control for speed. I'm not overclocking so it should suffice.

I may also hunt around to see if I can find some 1/4" adhesive back acoustic foam to line some of the interior case surfaces. Some neoprene would be cool, but I don't want to have to order it special.

As a final note I have a Watt Meter. I've measured 70~90W at the wall, depending on my method of movie playback. Hard Drive is lower, Optical Drive higher. This would suggest about 60~80W output for the Power Supply. This is very low, and is still not in the sweet spot of the Power Supply. A 250W to 280W PS would be more than enough and get into the more efficient zone, but alas PC Power and Cooling does not offer such a small unit in their silencer series.

Well, being the selfless sort let me offer to do on-site consultation at your vacation home any time you need it

You would not believe the offers I have had, for everything from plumbing to building a website.

In my experience the MCE remotes do a great job for very little money as long as you aren't trying to control anything but MP and a STB with blaster. But personally I like to hide all the peripherals; invisibility is almost as important as silence in my house. So you might want to consider an rf remote like some of the Harmony models. With that you can tuck the reciever inside the case and not have to see it sitting on a shelf.

RF is an option, but oh the price. Ouchy!

 

[dcwp]

Oh one thing I forgot to mention. Noise. So far I am Very happy. The Power Supply is virtually silent and the case fans aren't bad either. The only thing I hear are the drives and the OEM Heat Sink Fan supplied by AMD. My next component order is going to include an Arctic Cooling Alpine 7 for $13. I've read it is fairly quiet and a good value at the price. It also accomodates PWM Signal control for speed. I'm not overclocking so it should suffice.

If you haven't already found it, you should check out Silent PC Review silentpcreview.com | Everything about Silent / Quiet Computers They do product reviews, but the forum is an amazing source of information on queting and cooling your case. SpeedFan is also a great tool for silencing case and CPU fans and it's freeware. I use it on my stock Intel Core2Duo cooler and I can make the fan inaudible by turning it down to 55% speed.

You would not believe the offers I have had, for everything from plumbing to building a website.

Wow, you must be surrounded by a lot of really helpful people.