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

mironicus

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March 9, 2008
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AW: need help with my new HTPC i7 config

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.

The graphics drivers for Intel are even more worse compared to NVidia/AMD. Also Intel does not support 23.967 Hz refresh rate (and also not 59,976 Hz, only 24 and 60 Hz) so you will have no smooth playback. Choosing Intel integrated graphics for a HTPC is the worst decision one could make.

What i really would recommend you is an i3 or i5 with integrated graphics.

Integrated graphics are a no-go with Mediaportal (AMD, NVidia and Intel). The gui is stressful to the gpu and you will get dropped frames if you playback 1080i-video with the menu displayed at the same time (like channel selecting). Everyone who starts with integrated graphics with Mediaportal will regret it soon or later. You will get the best experience if you always use a dedicated graphics card for Mediaportal. The Radeon 5770 is a safe buy and you will never have performance problems with it. For Mediaportal I would recommand at least a Radeon 5470 or a Radeon 5550.
 

crimz

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  • September 24, 2007
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    Re: AW: need help with my new HTPC i7 config

    Integrated graphics are a no-go with Mediaportal (AMD, NVidia and Intel). The gui is stressful to the gpu and you will get dropped frames if you playback 1080i-video with the menu displayed at the same time (like channel selecting). Everyone who starts with integrated graphics with Mediaportal will regret it soon or later. You will get the best experience if you always use a dedicated graphics card for Mediaportal. The Radeon 5770 is a safe buy and you will never have performance problems with it. For Mediaportal I would recommand at least a Radeon 5470 or a Radeon 5550.

    I think you should start read my post once again... If im not wrong i write something like... "Have in mind that if you are not satisfied with quality of intel graphics, you can easily change...", that means why spend money for something that you probably not need, and has a really bad history.. I also mention some nice features with q57 chipset which you cannot use if you choose not to buy a cpu with integrated graphics. If he has an อีสาน woman at his side, she probably kill him if he use to much money on computer :D

    What you say about 23.967 and such, ati, nvidia has/had an issue about that too.. Even ati had an issue with 50hz for a few years back.. An thats even worse for me... which wasnt really a big problem..

    If you had read Turrican2's first post, he needs something that works with thai television standards, bd and dvd in multizone , thats pretty much: DVB-S, mpeg2 and pal. Im not sure about hd with thaicom or truevision. But im pretty sure that an i5 with integrated graphics will work well for his needs...

    For bd playing theres actually only two choices regarding to hd sound, thats intel and ati... nvidia has overslept, other solutions.. to expensive and too much limitations.... hence my recommendation for intel, due to my extremely bad experiences with ati.

    I had so big problem getting stable hd sound in my system with ati, that i got tired to fiddeling around with that and bought a new i3 system.. Now i actually can play bd with nice sound and no problems... I probably could put my radeon 5770 into my htpc again, but... i dont really see any reason for that...

    I hope you can explain me why my 2 latest radeon was so faulty that i had to ask tech-support for help. All the problems i had where related to hdmi, sound and picture quality.. But noone of them where solved...
     

    mironicus

    Portal Pro
    March 9, 2008
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    AW: need help with my new HTPC i7 config

    I also mention some nice features with q57 chipset which you cannot use if you choose not to buy a cpu with integrated graphics. If he has an อีสาน woman at his side, she probably kill him if he use to much money on computer

    Well, money does not seems to be an issue if he already wants to buy a high-powered i7-860 for a HTPC and a case that costs more than the cpu itself. :)

    Personally I never would buy a highly-priced intel-processor for such purposes, you'll get much for your money if you choose an AMD-processor. For a HTPC even a lower clocked dualcore is fine.

    I hope you can explain me why my 2 latest radeon was so faulty that i had to ask tech-support for help. All the problems i had where related to hdmi, sound and picture quality.. But noone of them where solved...

    I can't. I have one HD 5450 in my HTPC which is connected to a Denon 5.1 surround receiver and one HD 5770 in my desktop and never had problems with HDMI sound. The only system where I have HDMI audio problems is a Intel/NVidia-powered Acer Revo 3600 - I don't get any sound at all, it always say "HDMI audio not connected". Also this problem was never solved if you look through the internet where many people had the same problem and Acer does not offer any solution yet.

    For your problem: You can also use the Realtek HDMI 2.49 audio driver instead of the ATI one. I also would try "Driver Sweeper" which cleans up your system from old drivers and install the latest drivers again.
     

    niels37

    Portal Pro
    February 24, 2009
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    Hi There,

    My config is just brand new , chose my components for purpose of being capable enough for playing 1080P blueray ( and tested it) , for serious gaming yóud better off with an extra graphiccard.
    I like to overclock ( although you don't need it) just a sport ;-)

    Case : Antec Fusion Remote Max Black ( YES WITH IMON AND WORKS JUST FINE With irss)
    Power Supply : Coolermaster 620 real Power ( Chosen for stability for 12 V ans 5 v lines which is the most important thing when u choose a powersupply!!! In any case DON'T BUY A CHEAP ONE!!
    Motherboard : Asrock 890GX Extreme 3 ( cheap has everything you want incl usb 3.0 ( if you care) )
    Onboard Ati 4290 ( the best ONBOARD graph chip u can get a the mo)
    Cpu : AMD X2 555 Black edition @ stock 3,2 Ghz ( running at the mo @ 4 Ghz)
    Cpu Cooler : Scythe mini Ninja ( rev 1) with 1 fan @ 16db
    Memory : Geil DDR3 @ stock 1600Mhz cl8 ( running @ 1600 Mhz cl 7 )
    DVD RW drive : Well its the most cheap product u can find, just because y'll probablly never use it
    HDD : 2 x 1 TB Western Digital low energy variants


    Pro : You have an outstanding PC which is upgradeable in the future ( you can replace cpu for a 6 core AMD)
    Low powerconsumption
    Low priced components compared to other configurations BUT have all the benefits ( some even better) for very good performance ( although intel is a bit faster but u don't need it! ) You can easily try To unlock cores of the Amd X2 cpu OR /AND
    Overclock to 4 Ghz easy!! with only air cooled cpu just like mine ;-)


    Hope to help u a bit further.

    gr Niels
     

    malmin

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  • June 19, 2008
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    Hi,

    I am also living in Thailand, an have run Mediaportal for quite a while now. I got the Silverstone LC20 cabinet from Jedicool at Pantip, it is integrated with the IMON remote, but I use my Harmony instead and have absolutely no problems with this setup.

    Regarding TV cards, I have a True satelite subscription, and I am able to receive all channels with my Floppy-DTV DVB-S2 card. Unfortunately Digital Everywhere has gone out of business, so I am not aware of any good replacement, other people on the forum might have better knowledge about this. Anyway, the key is that you need a Irdeto2 CAM to use your True card to decode channels. On my setup this works well, there is no "pairing" problem that True only accepts to use the card in their decoders or anything like that. The TV quality is not that good, but that has nothing to do with MediaPortal - it is the source signal from True. I got both the DVB card and the CAM from DVBSHOP - Technotrend,Mystique,Digital Devices,Tevii,Shop,DVB-S,DVB-C,DVB-T,HDTV,H.264,DVB-S2 - shipping to Thailand was no problem.

    I have tried approaching different shops in Pantip about my need for a digital TV card that also supports a CAM, but as I don't speak Thai much - they don't seem to understand what I am talking about. I have found some cards without support for CAM, but they don't fulfil my needs as I cannot decode HBO etc with them.

    Good luck
     

    guyver_dio

    Portal Member
    August 20, 2010
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    just to add my 2 cents...

    I'd go with WD in the hard drive department. I've used WD hdds since my very first pc build and my very first WD hdd is still being used in one of my pc's (going on 8 years now) and I was right into lanning back then so it got knocked around a fair bit, and between friends and others I've spoken to I haven't heard a single case of a WD dying, yet a few stories with other brands. I just don't think you can go past them.

    A 420-500watt PSU is easily sufficient for a htpc regardless if your using a video card or integrated graphics (since the video card only has to be good enough for hd media playback). I'm using an Antec earthwatts 420watt psu, I'm only using the integrated graphics from the i3 processor but I'm sure it is more then enough for a HD media oriented video card.
     

    rinorho

    New Member
    February 20, 2011
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    Hi to All,
    My new HTPC (about 2 mounths)

    -Case: Silverstone LC13
    -MoBo: Asrock X58 Extreme 3
    -CPU: i7 950@3.2Ghz
    -CPU cooling: Noctua NH-C 12P SE14
    -Video Card: Asus ENGTS450
    -RAM: 3x2Gbyte DDR3 1600 Mhz CL8 Corsair
    -PSU: NEXUS NX5000
    -HDD 1x 1TB WD CAVIAR BLACk SATA 3 (system)
    -HDD 2x 2TB WD CAVIAR GREEN (storage htpc case)
    -Docking Station YCI BOX 2x3,5" USB 3.0 + 2x 2TB WD CAVIAR GREEN (external storage)
    -Videoprojector. Mitsubishi HC3800
    -Audio receiver: Yamaha RX-V1200

    The system is equilibrate and silent. Probably, I'll need to increase the OC @3.6-3.8Ghz for new avsynth 1080p Motion interpolation scripts.
    My advice is to use, big htpc case like Silverstone LC13-LC17 or Antec Fusion Remote Max. (No problem to install big video card and very Silent CPU cooling)

    Next step will be to assembly one NAS (FreeNAS based) in other twin Silverstone LC13 with 8 HDD 3,5" (2TB HDD is under €70 now, and Blu-ray Disc collection grows exponentially!!)
    My problem are focused around the softwares Moving Pictures and external player.
    bye
     

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