New to HTPC & need some input (1 Viewer)

[fathead]

Hey peeps! I'm totally new to HTPC setups, but am more than qualified in setting up a PC. With this being my first HTPC build, I just want some input on my setup & see if there are areas I can improve etc. Tell me if you see issues.

Basically the machine is primarily gaming machine HL2, doom 3 etc. High end gaming. I use mostly messenger & Skype when chatting (I don't know how media portal handle these two). I have a massive collection of CD's already on the PC, so this software should be great for that. I have loads and loads of DVD's, but I'm unsure how I transfer DVD's to my HDD for viewing like that. Finally Recording & playing TV back - I've never done it on a pc before! All help and input welcome. From what I've seen of the software, I love it! I may be back on this forum a lot though as aspects confuse the hell out of me.

Ok to the system:

SilverStone SST-LC10M all fans changed for Silenx (I already own them so might as well use them).
Enermax Noisetaker (Or similar quieter PSU).
DFI Ultra-D Nforce 4 Motherboard (Dual Gb Lan, 3Gb SATA, Karajan Audio Theater 7.1/8ch supported SPDIF IN/OUT)
NEC 3520A DVDRW
2Gb Geil Value Ram (4x512Mb Cas2.5)
Athlon64 Winchester 3200+
ThermalRight XP-120 with Silenx 120mm 14dba
3 x Seagate 300Gb SATA Drives
Sapphire Radeon X800XL (Arctic Cooling Silencer)
Hauppage Nova-T PCI freeview TV card
Safecom 802.11G PCI WIFI card


Ok peeps, let me know what you think & where I go with this!

 

[CoolHammer]

Looks like your hardware wont let you down

What kind of display you are thinking?
- If traditional TV then is there decent s-video (tvout) on graphics card.
- If beamer or flat tv can you use dvi

Other thing is can you really make it silent? I see that you have at least thinked it.

Sofware you gonna need:
- Windows XP
- Directx 9C
- .NET 1.1 runtime
- MediaPortal, of course

For dvd you wont need anything else necessarily. And you cd collection (MP3?) would play nicely. For capture i would recommend hauppauge 500 dual tuner, so you could watch tv and recort same time.

CoolHammer

 

[fathead]

Coolhammer thank you for your reply.

I will be watching this through a 32" LCD with DVI input from the PC (1366 x 768 resolution).

Silence wasn't really my concern. "Quiet" is what I am aiming for. I'm more of a gamer & this system will act as my main rig. From my experience its the PSU, graphics card & CPU fan that make the most noise. For this reason I have gone for a quiet PSU, 120mm silenx on the CPU & a arctic cooling silencer on the card.

I appreciate your suggestion of the Hauppauge dual tuner, the tuner side of things was something I was unsure about. Do you suggest this along side the the Nova-T or instead of? The only reason I was going for the Nova-T is because it offers digital freeview channels - I've just bought a new flat, and sky digital is not in my budget at the moment. Digital freeview will be my only source of TV input.

Again thank you for your suggestions, I look forward to your reply.

 

[LastMar]

In terms of getting a quiet system...


Why on earth do you need 900gb of storage? Do you have any idea how noisy 3 hdd's will be?

At any rate, suspend the hard drives, and throw in some Acoustipack.... you should have room, that's a pretty big case....

Try and decouple the case fans as well.

 

[fathead]

In terms of getting a quiet system...


Why on earth do you need 900gb of storage? Do you have any idea how noisy 3 hdd's will be?

At any rate, suspend the hard drives, and throw in some Acoustipack.... you should have room, that's a pretty big case....

Try and decouple the case fans as well.

3 hard drives aren't that noisey in my experience, especially when running quiet drives such as the Seagates. After running a big tower rig with loads of fans & Six HDD's, anything will be quieter.

 

[CoolHammer]

Fathead,

Nova-T should be fine. There is still few minor hicups but it should work for most of the time. DVB-T support is quite new on MP so stability and usability is getting better on every version.

CoolHammer

PS: Can you use DVI to connect all of your "display hardware" that would be ultimate on terms of quality.

 

[fathead]

Fathead,

Nova-T should be fine. There is still few minor hicups but it should work for most of the time. DVB-T support is quite new on MP so stability and usability is getting better on every version.

CoolHammer

PS: Can you use DVI to connect all of your "display hardware" that would be ultimate on terms of quality.

All of my diaply hardware? My LCD TV supports DVI input with resolutions up to 1366 x 768. Its just like using a normal PC screen to be honest, except when up close its a bit more pixelated. Its also got a 18ms response time, so games have very little issue with ghosting etc.

Works a treat for both work & play. :wink:

 

[CoolHammer]

I'm currently looking for similar LCD tv. What is your TV:s mark and exact model? Do you have pal /ntsc / HDTV / DVB-t tuner on it?

CoolHammer

 

[fathead]

Here is a link:

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=83120

roduct Specifications

* Panel Size: 31.5" LCD Panel (80 cm)
* Viewable Size H x V: 697.68 x 392.26 mm
* Aspect Ratio: 16:9
* Pixel Pitch (HxV): 0.511 x 0.511 mm
* Colours max.: 16.7 Mio.
* Contrast Ratio typ.: 600:1
* Brightness typ.: 500 cd/m²
* Response Time: 18 ms
* Viewing Angle H/V: 176°/176°
* Horizontal Frequency: 31.5 – 68.5 KHz
* Vertical Frequency: 50 – 85 Hz
* Resolution: 1366 x 768 (WXGA)
* Systems: PAL/SECAM-B/G, D/K, I, L/L
* Power Consumption max.: < 150 Watt / Stand-By < 5 Watt
* Cable Tuner (Hyperband) Auto/Fine Programming
* Stereo (Virtual Surround)
* Sleep/On Timer
* PIP-Function (Picture-in-Picture)
* HDTV, Progressive Scan, Digital Combfilter
* Teletext (100 pages)
* Speaker: 2 x 14 Watt
* Features Silver Design, wallmountable (VESA 200 mm)
* User Control Multi Language OSD
* Video Input 15 pin D-Sub, VGA
* Input Antenna, 2x Scart, S-Video, DVI, Audio L/R, Component YUV (Y/Pb/Pr),
* PC Audio
* Supply User Manual, Remote Control,
* Batteries, Power Cord, Antenna Cable
* Dimensions (WxHxD): 791 x 630 x 242 mm with Stand 791 x 570 x 105 mm without Stand
* Weight net/gross: 16.5 kg / 21.5 kg

£930

 

[fathead]

Got a question in regards to remotes. The Silverstone case has a remote (I presume for the VFD), the Nova-T has a remote. Does the Silverstone remote have any other functions? Could I simply (with the aid of a plugin maybe) use 1 remote for all jobs??