Ongoing HTPC for Streaming + TV (DVB-C) (1 Viewer)

[Domme]

Hi Folks,

currently my Media Setup consists of a Samsung 37" LCD Full HD TV, a LG BD360 Blu-Ray Player, a Xbox360, a Humax HD DVB-C Receiver and a Buffalo NAS as Storage. I use the Blu-Ray Player as a Streaming Device. My german Cable Provider is Unitymedia. My home network is 1 Gigabit/s for wired devices and 802.11n for wireless devices.

my goal is to get rid of the Blu-Ray player and the DVB-C Receiver and enjoy the nice features of a HTPC (Recording, Timeshift, one GUI for everything). The HTPC needs to be silent and the software has to be user-friendly, since my girlfriend has to use it without me sitting next to her.
After reading a lot in Forums and wikis I think about the following:

Case: Antec Fusion Remote black € 125.09
I like the look and that it is recommended for silent builds

PSU: Corsair CX400W € 59.90
I read, that it is a quiet PSU for a good price.

CPU: Core i3-530, 2.93 GHz € 99.95
Mainboard: ASRock H55M Pro € 67.90
The Intel Core I CPUs have some nice HD integration. I do not want to use an extra graphics card. And it seems, that it does not get very hot either.

Cooler: Silverstone NT01-E € 31.43
This is a passive cooler. I need your experience if this will be enough.

RAM: Kingston HyperX Blu 2GB Kit DDR3 PC3-12800 CL9 (KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/2G) € 23.79
2GB is enough. I can upgrade later if I need to.

TV-card: Digital Everywhere Floppy DTV C Kabel CI HDTV € 155.00
CAM: alphacrypt classic € 91.45
From what I've read this is the most reliable combo for my cableprovider. Do we have some german users here, who made experience with HTPC and unitymedia?

Blu-Ray: LG CH10LS20 € 59.50
I read that LG drives are known for being silent.

HDD: OCZ Vertex 2 60GB € 98.49
I like the speed of SSDs and I want to use the NAS as Storage. The SSD is for OS and Software.

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit € 78.48
I thought about using the MediaPortal together with XBMC on the same machine (and maybe later more xbmc front-end devices). so Windows 7 is the obvious choice.

the prices are from german online shops, without delivery costs. The configuration comes to a total of € 890.98.

I'd really appreciate your feedback especially if this configuration won't overheat and maybe some of you can give me some hints to make the build cheaper, by using other components. Since I did not order anything I am totally open for proposals.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Domme]

I read a little more and heard, that there might be some performance issues with the internal GPU of the i3, regarding 24p. So I thought about a AMD based solution, with a Video card.

Case Antec Fusion Remote black € 125.09
CPU AMD Athlon II X2 240e 2.8GHz € 50.95
Mainboard Asus M4A88TD-M EVO/USB3 € 84.46
PSU Corsair CX400W € 59.90
TV Card Digital Everywhere Floppy DTV C Kabel CI HDTV € 155.00
CAM alphacrypt classic € 91.45
OS Windows 7 Home Premium € 78.48
CPU Cooler Scythe Shuriken Rev. B € 21.68
HDD OCZ Vertex 2 60GB € 98.49
Blu-Ray LG CH10LS20 € 59.50
RAM Kingston HyperX Blu 2GB Kit DDR3 PC3-12800 CL9 (KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/2G) € 23.79
Video Card Sapphire Radeon HD 5450 LP HDMI 512MB DDR3 € 29.79

Sum € 878.58

not that much cheaper, but I have a better feeling regarding performance.

What about your thoughts? Any hints to tweak this configuration? Since I am new, to this whole HTPC thing, maybe someone can tell me if I am on the right track, or if I am running in a wrong direction.

 

[mr viggo]

Don't go for the Silverstone CPU cooler in the first post, unless it's the only one tjat fits in your case.

 

[Domme]

I ordered hardware from the 2nd post (except the TV card, where I am still looking for either an alternative or a good price) with a few changes:

CPU AMD Athlon II X2 245e 2.9GHz € 55.31
Mainboard GigaByte GA-880GM-UD2H € 70.57
PSU Antec EarthWatts EA 380 € 40.98
CPU Cooler Scythe Shuriken Rev. B € 21.68
Blu-Ray BD 12X SAMSUNG SH-B123L schwarz Retail € 62.36
RAM DDR3RAM 2x 2GB DDR3-1333 G.Skill CL8 € 42.34

I upgraded to 4GB of memory, to be able to use a RAMDisk for Timeshift. I'll update here, as soon as I start assembling it and installing the software

 

[Domme]

great I received the hardware on saturday. I was a little surprised how big the case in the end is, but it will fit in my Rack. Unfortunately it seems, that I received a defective mainboard. There is no video showing on the monitor, although there is only CPU and RAM connected to the Board. The CPU fan is turning, so the mainboard gets power, but the screen stays blank... I already asked the distributor for a replacement.

 

[Jay_UK]

Hi there,

Have you tried booting without the graphics card fitted, and the monitor plugged into the motherboard?

The mobo bios might be configured to use the onboard graphics first?

Cheers

J.

 

[Domme]

yeah, that is what I tried first. But no difference. As I wrote, I took the motherboard out of the case, just CPU w/ cooler and RAM plugged in. The Monitor is connected to the onboard Video Card, but still a blank display.

 

[Domme]

ok, Layer 8 Problem... It's been a time, since I assembled a PC, so I did not know, that I have to connect a 2nd power cable to the Mainboard... Now it is running, but I am still waiting for my TV card. I'll upgrade as soon as it arrived and I managed to make it work.