need help with my new HTPC i7 config (1 Viewer)

[Turrican2]

Hey guys,

As my HTPC is getting old (still running with a mobile XP CPU ) I am going to build up a new one from scratch.
I selected the following components:

CPU - Intel Core i7-860

CPU Cooler - Zalman CNPS10X Flex

mainboard - Asus P7P55D-E Premium (for the 9.1 Output and USB 3.0)

RAM - G.Skill DIMM Kit 4GB PC3-10667U CL9-9-9-24 (DDR3-1333)

graphic card - ASUS Bravo 220 Silent

case: Thermaltake DH202 Desktop with Touch-Screen VJ80051N2Z - black or Silverstone SST-CW03B-MT Crown - black

HDD - Samsung EcoGreen F3 2000GB

remote - Logitech Harmony One

TV-Card - I am still searching for one that I can use with Thai television standards (not much research done yet)

Power Supply - Be Quiet STRAIGHT POWER BQT E7-600W

TV - LG 47LE8500

I want to use the HTPC to watch BluRays, DVDs, HD Video, listen to music, play some old school emulated games, watch & record TV, watch livestreams / streams of TV shows and surf the internet from time to time.
Aaaand of course I have some questions

- I am out of the building your own PC busines for some years so I was wondering if this config is OK?
- I was using a Silverstone Case for my old HTPC and can remember that configuring that crappy iMON remote and the display was a pain in the ass.
As far as I read in the forum the problems with the screens have been solved with some Plugin, but can I use the Logitech Harmony One with the built in Infrared reciever of the Silverstone / Thermal Take cases, or do I have to replace it?
- I want to watch BluRays and DVDs on it so I am searching for a reliable BluRay drive without a region code lock for DVD's and BluRays. I know that there are many BluRays without a region code, but as I am living in Thailand and my DVD Collection has a variety of different region codes I am sure it will be the same with my growing BluRay collection soon.
Are there any drives available without a locked region code?
- Is the power supply strong enough to power the system?

 

[ejtje]

Hello,

One Question: Do you realy need that powerfull CPU?

The only thing missing is a powerfull graphics card and you will have a great gaming pc, so I think you hardware is a bit to highend/expensive for you purpose. And will also use a lot of power if you let in on 24/7...

Greetings,

E

 

[Turrican2]

Thanks for the fast answer!
As I am not sure how much power I need to encode 1080p Videos I chose a fast CPU.
The only comparison I have here is my Core2 Duo MacBook which is not able to play a 1080p mkv file without skipping frames and sound.
I know that the video performance of OSX is rather weak but yeah that is the only hardware (except my PS3) that I have here to compare.
What CPU mainboard combo would you suggest?

 

[ejtje]

I whould go for a energy efficient CPU and PSU.

CPU - Maybe a AMD Athlon II X4 610e is a good option or if you realy need more power the AMD Phenom II X4 910e
Less power consumption = less heath, less energie bill, less "big" PSU

TV-Card - For the TV-tunner ccard you need to no what kind of DVB-(C or S or T) you need
I'm also busy selection a TV-card, but is hard you need to know a lot before you can make a decision.

Motherboard - Maybe a motherboard thats supports the "new" stuf USB3 etc.? But I'm not sure you realy need that on a HTPC

Case - I have readed a lot about the cases with the IMON stuff but a lot of people don't like the IMON in ccombination with Media Portal, I have decided to go for a case without the IMON stuf, For example the LC20B or the LC17B

Remote - I see you are planning to use a Harmony, you also need a MCE IR-receiver because the harmony doesn't come with a IR-Receiver.


I'm also no Hardware of Media Portal master , so guys plz help selecting this man's hardware

Greetings,

E

 

[mbuzina]

Hi Turrican2,

in my opinion (there are many here on the forum) it is sufficient to have a Core i3 to power your media center (it decodes 1080p and will even de-interlace 1080i, which is even harder). If you go with that option, your power supply is way to big. A power supply should have approx. 2 times the needed wattage. For the i3 I am planning to use in my htpc I initially wanted to use a be quiet 350 Watt PSU, but other forum participants told me even less is OK (200-250 should be OK, the whole system should draw less than 80 Watts when running).

My plans are:
Case Antec Fusion Remote Black
Proc Intel Core i3 530 2x2.93GHz So1156 BOX
Mainboard Gigabyte Mainboard GA-H57M-USB3
Memory "Geil 4GB KIT PC3-10667U DDR3-1333 CL7-7-7 Low Voltage "
PSU be quiet Pure Power 350W ATX 2.3 (BN104) (could be less)
BD LG Electronics BH10LS30, SATA, schwarz, retail
SSD Kingston SSDNow V Serie 64GB G2 2.5" SATA II
HDD WD AV Green Power 1000GB SATA II 5400-7200rpm 32MB
DVBS DigitalDevices PCI-Express TWIN-DVB-S2 HDTV Karte für MediaCenter-PC or
DVBS Mystique SaTiX S2 Dual V2 (DVB-S2)
Keys KeySonic ACK-540RF Wireless Mini Keyboard, USB, DE
OS MS Windows 7 Home Premium Retail dt. (PC)

I do not know about the TV card, no experiance with Thai TV.

 

[ejtje]

Tnx for the support.

Why a I3? because it comes with inbuild graphic?

Greeting,
E

 

[mbuzina]

Yes. I can skip setting up a dedicated Gfx card saving power. And it is still a powerfull CPU.

 

[Turrican2]

Hey guys!

Thanks again for the fast replies!
I changed my config a bit:

Graphic Card - Sapphire Radeon HD 5770, 512MB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort, PCIe 2.1 (I read that the picture quality for HD videos of the ATI HD5xxx Series is better than the one from NVidia Cards)

BluRay Drive - LG Electronics BH10LS30 (saw it in mbuzina's post, read some reviews and here it is )

Logitech diNovo Edge Keyboard for my couch surfing experience.

CPU and mainboard - looking into it right now!

PSU - depending on the chosen CPU I will calculate the power consumption and see if I can "downgrade" to a smaller PSU.

ejtje
So the iMon LCD/IR module will not work with the Logitech Harmony one remote, right?
What kind of IR module should I buy for it?

mbuzina
Do you know if it is possible to watch DVDs and BluRays with different region codes with the LG Electronics BH10LS30?

 

[ejtje]

I haven't got any experiance with the IMON but I have readed some alarming post on this forum while I was busy selecting my HTPC case. A lot of users has problems setting op the Imon hardware. So i made the decision to stay away from the imon stuf because they seem to give bad support and it isn't working that well with media portal. I want a solution that keeps working over time, Also included the girl factor ;-)

You are planning more or less the same hardware setup for remote control as I'm doing. So maybe you can have a look a my idea:
- Buy Harmony one (to control: TV, PC(with Media portal), and in the future also my surround sound and lighting
- Buy a external MCE IR-Receiver (Media Center Remote Microsoft, afstandsbediening MCE - eBay, Overige Toetsenbord Muizen, Toetsenbord Muizen, Computer PDA. (Eindtijd 01-aug-10 18:59:36 CEST))
- Configure Harmony as MCE remote for controlling the PC
- Configure Media portal to be controlled by a MCE remote

Greetings E

 

[crimz]

Hey guys!

Graphic Card - Sapphire Radeon HD 5770, 512MB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort, PCIe 2.1 (I read that the picture quality for HD videos of the ATI HD5xxx Series is better than the one from NVidia Cards)

Sawatdee

I would highly recommend you to reconsider your choice about radeon and ati/amd products. Because its mainly just some piece of shit. The reason you should stay away is crappy drivers, and faulty hardware. Most problems that will affect htpc use is hopefully solved now, but...

What i really would recommend you is an i3 or i5 with integrated graphics. You doesent need anything more then an i3, but theres a few nice features regarding i5-650 with Q57 chipset, like vPro/amt 6... Have in mind that if you are not satisfied with quality of intel graphics, you can easily change...

If you using a i3/5 system, you do not need to buy any fancy fans or such... standard cooler is enough and silent. (Just change settings in bios for fan)

You probably need to play more with settings if you choose intel, but that is not a show stopper, your screen does not turn green after 20 minutes, or your sound suddenly disappear... Like radeon...

What satelite provider do you use? I know that Thaicom using standard DVB-S/Mpeg2.. Which means that you probably can use whatever you want... I think hauppauge is easy to get in pantip plaza.. Buy something that is supported in mediaportal

iMon is bad... best you can use is ms mce..

Touchscreen for mp is not mature enough. Fun the first 2 weeks, after that its just anoying when you watching movies. I have disconnected the whole touchscreen, and looking for a new case, with less fancy light and disturbance (MP hasnt native support for touchscreens, you have to use imon drivers in combination with a plugin, which for me where to unstable) Have in mind that touchscreens makes more heat...

Playing DVD/BD i would look into anydvd... there is also a nice plugin for playing bluray movies...

If i where you i would buy a system with:
Intel i5-650 or i3-540
Mainboard with Q57 chipset or H55 with an i3
4gb ram
a less fancy case
silent modular psu, less then 500w, im not sure if i would go for a totally passive psu in Thailand...

If you are left handed, dinovo edge is really bad... Fancy but not a good keyboard...