Completed Living Room and Antec Fusion HTPC (1 Viewer)

[Kossu]

Hello,

I've wanted to get a HTPC for years, but 1 year ago I took the step and built one, I haven't felt its completed since now. Due to the fact that everything hasnt been working exactly as I've wanted it, and that I haven't had all pieces.

Initial Goals

• Able to play 1080P
• Handle the TV streams, and cap
• Able to watch TV stream on my other PC
• S/PDIF option (header)
• As quiet as possible
• Cheap, Total cost for my build is less than 400 euros, about the price of a digital box with hdd

After looking around for ages I decided on this hardware. I am very happy with my choises, beside the tuner card, which I've managed to get almost perfectly working since then. But it has been a little challenge

Hardware

• Antec Fusion Black
• AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+
• 1GB DDR2 800mhz (upgraded to 2 GB in order to use RAMDISK (2/2/2009)
• XFX GF 8400GS 256MB (in order to use Nvidia PureVideo)
• AsRock ALIVENF7G-HDREADY (extremly versatile and feature packed motherboard, very cheap)
• Technotrend DVB-C 1500
• 1 x 300 gb 1 x 200 gb hdd

Software

• Windows XP SP3
• MediaPortal 1.0
• Codec: The included + Nvidia PureVideo + ffdshow + CoreAVC And PowerDVD 8
• IR Server Suit

Additional Hardware

• 32" LG TV
• Logitech Z680 5.1 Sound system
• Harmony 555
• Microsoft IR Receiver and Transmitter
• Lamp module with RF<>IR Converting pyramid

Before having a HTPC I went thru showing video via laptop, having wireless media players, and what not. But not compares even close to having a HTPC. Especially with the great options for plugins that MediaPortal has.


Recent Project
Just today I upgraded the ram to 2 gb, in order to save timeshift on ram rather than hdd, so that the HTPCs HDDs will not make more noise than needed.

Lamp Module system, as you can see on the picture I have 2 lamps beside the TV, these will dim down when playing media. I do not use any ordinary system like X10. As I've heard their really unreliable, so I decided to try something out of the box, and got a wireless RF lamp module that can dim, and got an converting pyramid which converts signal from IR to 433,92 mhz RF signal. So I can use IR Server Suit to blast IR signal and it will get picked up by the pyramid which sends the signal to the lamps. This hasnt failed me a single time yet, and it's really cool.
Thanks goes to Reines for modifying the source of the IR Server Suit plugin to understand when media is played or not.

Anyone wondering, I am a student, studying IT and Economics and yes that painting is handpainted

 

[ppeterr]

Thats a great setup. simulair to mine. I've got the same case....though....your closing the intake totally on the top of the case.
If i would do that, it would sure boil the motherboard, mine is passive cooled, so it really needs the intake.
What are your temps after playing 1080p for an hour orso

 

[Kossu]

Thats a great setup. simulair to mine. I've got the same case....though....your closing the intake totally on the top of the case.
If i would do that, it would sure boil the motherboard, mine is passive cooled, so it really needs the intake.
What are your temps after playing 1080p for an hour orso

Theres a tiny gap, though the top intake is so tiny it doesn't really matter since theres 2 120mm fans pushing air out.
I'll try and post results later.

 

[ozwombat]

Just curious if you use CyberDisplay for the LCD screen, if so what are the settings you use. Eg Brightness and Contrast, i can never seem to get mine right.

 

[Kossu]

Just curious if you use CyberDisplay for the LCD screen, if so what are the settings you use. Eg Brightness and Contrast, i can never seem to get mine right.

Heres my settings. Hopefully they work for you.

 

[sintei]

Hey.

Just some tips for you:
The cybrmg display plugin works for this case. And you can set it to dim after 10-20 seconds. Its very usefull when watching movies as the blue light wont hit you in the face.

 

[FantaXP7]

Excellent setup. I too am a college student and in the past have had to deal with tight quarters while still wanting a nice multimedia experience. Well done.

Just a few questions:

What cpu fan are you using, is it the zalman cnps8700?

How is the overall noise of the case?

I have a friend who has the same tv stand, very nice. It's nice to see your htpc in it as it gives me a perspective as to how big it is because I can only see what the internet shows me with pictures for cases. When you received your case, would you say it was bigger than what you expected?

Also, I'm impressed with the fact you are able to have an extensive liquor collection and be in college at the same time, haha...Or maybe I'm an alcoholic...

 

[ppeterr]

Whats that showing on the case lcd ? TV channel ? - I dont use my MP for tv, so i was just wondering.

As i noticed before, i got the same case as yours, but then with a x2 5000 on a gigabyte board. Cooled with one
case fan, and a ninja mini (passive) on the cpu. This setup, is almost "not" cool enough for playing 1080p for 2 hours....
Even with the machine, placed on top of my tv cabinet, it sometimes crashes
Oke, i placed a fan on the ninja, controlled with speedfan, to be at 800rpm, and every 20 degrees the speed doubles....
Still at 1600rpm there is no extra noise...but then again, the 800rpm is enough to keep it running - also now placed
into the cabinet it plays and keeps cool perfecly

lovely case that antec!

I could show some pictures (but i dont wanna hi-jack your topic) (i'll open my own "htpc ready" topic)

 

[booris]

Hi,

Could you tell more about that lamp system? Just decided that that is something I must have too! Where did you buy that pyramid and other equipment necessary? Was there some modifications that needed to be done to ir-suite? I'm from Finland too so if you can recommend where to get that equipment and tell other relevant info, it would be nice! I suppose your lamps are from IKEA?

 

[Kossu]

Hey.

Just some tips for you:
The cybrmg display plugin works for this case. And you can set it to dim after 10-20 seconds. Its very usefull when watching movies as the blue light wont hit you in the face.

Thanks

Excellent setup. I too am a college student and in the past have had to deal with tight quarters while still wanting a nice multimedia experience. Well done.

Just a few questions:

What cpu fan are you using, is it the zalman cnps8700?

How is the overall noise of the case?

I have a friend who has the same tv stand, very nice. It's nice to see your htpc in it as it gives me a perspective as to how big it is because I can only see what the internet shows me with pictures for cases. When you received your case, would you say it was bigger than what you expected?

Also, I'm impressed with the fact you are able to have an extensive liquor collection and be in college at the same time, haha...Or maybe I'm an alcoholic...

Almost, its a Zalman CNPS7500. I used to have the stock AMD fan which sounded like an airplane taking off, so its a really big improvement. The overall noise is low but I wish I could turn the cpu fan ever more down (its on minimum atm) because it has excellent cooling fins so the fan wouldnt need to spin so fast. The noise level is about the same as the antec tri cool fans (on lowest setting). If I were to buy again, I would take a serious look at the Scythe Ninja Mini because the heatpipes are so large that it can be ran passively. However the Ninja Mini is twice as expensive as the Zalman so im very happy with it.

I try to keep special liquor and normal liquor apart, I have a few 12-15 year old Whiskeys there and 20 year old cherrys and what not, but I also have normal booze for "everyday" use

Hi,

Could you tell more about that lamp system? Just decided that that is something I must have too! Where did you buy that pyramid and other equipment necessary? Was there some modifications that needed to be done to ir-suite? I'm from Finland too so if you can recommend where to get that equipment and tell other relevant info, it would be nice! I suppose your lamps are from IKEA?

Yup the lamps are from ikea, really expensive ones!! (5 euro each ) Though I really like how they look when its dark and their dimmed down.

There are a couple of ways of doing it, But to do it the way I did you basically what u need is any lamp that is capable of dimming down (if thats what u want to do) The IR<>RF Pyramid, A way to send IR signal from computer. and a RF lamp switch.

These are the hardware I used
Nexa Light Switches (they have released the HEX codes needed to send from IR Server Suit) 2818 - Nexa PA3-3300 kauko- - Verkkokauppa.com U can find these way cheaper elsewhere.
Microsoft Media Center Remote using the IR Eyes, if u down own this, it is extremly hard to find it anywhere. But there are other posibilites.
Kaukosäätimen signaalinvahvistaja. You only need one of them, but they come in a pack of 2 but are NOT identical Clas Ohlson - Helpomman arjen puolesta


This isnt the "neatest" way of doing it, but essentially this gives the option of controlling the lights both from the universal remote control as well as from the computer. Plus if u already own a microsoft remote control usb receiver its quite cheap.

I can send the modified IR server suit, its only the plugin thats loaded into mediaportal that is edited to allow for adding event according to Playbackstatus