Ongoing Upgrading my HTPC HW - suggestions? (1 Viewer)

[HakanThn]

I´m planning to upgrade my HTPC and would like to have feedback on my thoughts.

Current system
Case: Chieftec HM-03, incl. iMON VFD and iMON PAD remote
M/B: Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H rev 1.1
CPU: AMD Athlon 4850e
GPU: Radeon HD4550 HDMI
HD: Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB
RAM: 4 GB DDR II, 800MHz
Optical: LG Blueray
TV-card: Hauppauge HVR 2200 dual DVB-T tuners
OS: Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit

Add new drives:
- SSD OCZ Vertex 2 E Series SATA II 2.5" 60GB - For OS
- HDD Samsung EcoGreen F4 HD204UI 32MB 2TB - For storage
Old HDD will be used exclusively for TV recording and timeshifting.
The SSD will give much faster startup and responsiveness, and dedicated recording/timeshifting HDD will avoid HDD timeshifting problems.
I thought also about putting two HDD in Raid 0, or moving the pagefile and OS temp files to the storage HDD, but that would keep both HDDs spinning most of the time, adding more heat to the case. And it would not improve performance much?

CPU change:
- Athlon II X4 615e.
Fastest 45W. Will give quicker video encoding and better gaming. Also somewhat quicker startup and responsiveness?

GPU change:
- HIS Radeon HD5570 Silence 1334MHz HDMI 1GB.
Fastest low-profile, passive card. Will give better gaming, HD audio passthrough, and maybe somewhat improved video quality?

Memory, no change:
The new CPU supports 1066 memory, but I don´t think upgrading from 800 will do any noticeable difference? 4GB should also be enough.

Add TV-card:
- Technotrend S2-3650 CI ?
Will get satellite TV from Canal Digital. Don´t know what card to get. Need DVB-S2 card with CI - means low-profile PCI is not possible?

 

[elliottmc]

Add new drives:
- SSD OCZ Vertex 2 E Series SATA II 2.5" 60GB - For OS
- HDD Samsung EcoGreen F4 HD204UI 32MB 2TB - For storage
Old HDD will be used exclusively for TV recording and timeshifting.

Sensible.

I have the same 2TB drive, and it is great for storage but when I tried to use it for TV recordings and timeshifting, there was a noticable delay in starting TV. Can't fault it on cost though.

Make sure your PSU is delivering a solid 12V on the 12V line though. My server became unstable after adding one of these drives. A new PSU cured this!

CPU change:
- Athlon II X4 615e.
Fastest 45W. Will give quicker video encoding and better gaming. Also somewhat quicker startup and responsiveness?

Check benchmarks and make sure if will deliver a performance difference.

Personally, I would do the upgrades one at a time and see if they make a real difference.

Mark

 

[mm1352000]

Add new drives:
- SSD OCZ Vertex 2 E Series SATA II 2.5" 60GB - For OS
- HDD Samsung EcoGreen F4 HD204UI 32MB 2TB - For storage
Old HDD will be used exclusively for TV recording and timeshifting.
The SSD will give much faster startup and responsiveness, and dedicated recording/timeshifting HDD will avoid HDD timeshifting problems.
I thought also about putting two HDD in Raid 0, or moving the pagefile and OS temp files to the storage HDD, but that would keep both HDDs spinning most of the time, adding more heat to the case. And it would not improve performance much?

Like elliottmc says, this is sensible. A good 7200rpm drive like your old 1TB should be perfect for timeshifting and recording (I have 4 of the 750GB F1 model - fantastic drives ). You could move the page file to the 1TB drive if you want, though I agree that the performance difference will be minimal compared to the benefit of having an SSD for the OS drive. I'd avoid RAID 0, especially if it is only software ("fake") RAID. It is less reliable, more noise and heat, there is less flexibility when moving to a new motherboard... in my opinion there is just no need for you to use it.

Regarding the 2TB drives: I also have two of them. I've had a few problems since I installed them. When they spin up/down, they seem to block the OS from accessing my other drives, and this causes major problems for timeshifting/recording. I get a glitch that corrupts the stream until I restart it (ie. I have to stop timeshifting/recording, then start again to fix the corruption). The only workaround I have found is to have the drives never spin down. *Very* annoying. Be careful...

CPU change:
- Athlon II X4 615e.
Fastest 45W. Will give quicker video encoding and better gaming. Also somewhat quicker startup and responsiveness?

No comment...

GPU change:
- HIS Radeon HD5570 Silence 1334MHz HDMI 1GB.
Fastest low-profile, passive card. Will give better gaming, HD audio passthrough, and maybe somewhat improved video quality?

The 4550 is basically the lowest you could have gone for to get full 1080i DxVA support with vector adaptive de-interlacing. A *silent* 5570 should be a nice upgrade - just a bit more of a "buffer" in the video card performance. I don't think you'll see an improvement in video quality unless you turn off the denoise, edge enhancement and use vector adaptive deinterlacing, all of which should be possible with the 4550. Make sure your case can dissipate the heat from the card properly...

Memory, no change:
The new CPU supports 1066 memory, but I don´t think upgrading from 800 will do any noticeable difference? 4GB should also be enough.

Agreed - no noticeable benefit from faster RAM. I'm of the opinion that 4GB is enough, but others may disagree...

Add TV-card:
- Technotrend S2-3650 CI ?
Will get satellite TV from Canal Digital. Don´t know what card to get. Need DVB-S2 card with CI - means low-profile PCI is not possible?

No comment except to say that the 3650 tuner should be supported.

 

[HakanThn]

Thanks for your replies!

Regarding the 2TB drives: I also have two of them. I've had a few problems since I installed them. When they spin up/down, they seem to block the OS from accessing my other drives, and this causes major problems for timeshifting/recording. I get a glitch that corrupts the stream until I restart it (ie. I have to stop timeshifting/recording, then start again to fix the corruption). The only workaround I have found is to have the drives never spin down. *Very* annoying. Be careful...

I had no idea! It is very tempting to get a BIG drive for storage, but not with such problems... Do you know if it applies to 2TB drives in general or only this specific drive?
I do need another storage drive, with storage space and heat as the main concerns. Any suggestions?

I spoke with a guy at the local PC-store yesterday, and he said that a SSD for the OS is the best upgrade for any PC, especially if you put TWO SSD in RAID 0. It´s tempting to get two, but I´m not sure it´s worth all the money, especially as I believe my M/B doesn´t have real hardware RAID 0, only software RAID.

I'm trying to read and learn more about a suitable TV-card for CanalDigital HD. It seems to be difficult to use Multichannel decoding features because of CanalDigital is now using pairing / strong CAM for new customers? Haven't even found a confirmation yet that any of the TV-cards I've been looking at works at all with pairing / strong cam and MP.

 

[mm1352000]

I had no idea! It is very tempting to get a BIG drive for storage, but not with such problems... Do you know if it applies to 2TB drives in general or only this specific drive?

I'd say don't take my experience as typical without further research. I'm not saying that you *will* experience that - rather, I'm just warning you that I had a few problems. There was also the firmware issue (Google). Just be careful...

I do need another storage drive, with storage space and heat as the main concerns. Any suggestions?

WD?

I spoke with a guy at the local PC-store yesterday, and he said that a SSD for the OS is the best upgrade for any PC, especially if you put TWO SSD in RAID 0. It´s tempting to get two, but I´m not sure it´s worth all the money, especially as I believe my M/B doesn´t have real hardware RAID 0, only software RAID.

I think the person you spoke to is just trying to sell you something else. Yes, RAID 0 may be faster, however if you buy a decent quality drive then the drive may be almost at the limits of the SATA interface speed anyway. I suggest you read a few of Anandtech's SSD reviews if you haven't done so already...

It seems to be difficult to use Multichannel decoding features because of CanalDigital is now using pairing / strong CAM for new customers.

What does that mean? I would have thought multidecrypt support depends on two things:
1. CAM - obviously the CAM has to support it.
2. Tuner - you'll need a DigitalEverywhere, KNC, Technotrend, Twinhan or Terratec tuner for multidecrypt support in MediaPortal. Be aware that I'm not sure that the wiki is completely correct. Certainly some Twinhan and Terratec tuners don't currently support multidecrypt. I'm working on that at the moment...

 

[kiwijunglist]

I wouldn't bother about the RAID, mediaportal is hardly ever slowed down by HDD issues, and having RAID will generate more heat + noise (2x HDDs must spin each time the HDD is accessed giving double the heat + noise). Having the timeshift folder on a ram disk would be better than having RAID.

Also I wouldn't bother about SSD it will make cold bootup faster, but i presume your HTPC uses S3 sleep, so that isn't relavent. Also when ever you play music / movies you will still be accessing a 1x HDD so having an SSD probably wont cut down on noise much either.

 

[Jay_UK]

Hi there,

Passive cards are good, but you still need to disipate/transfer the heat from around the card/inside the case, to outside.

An SSD is a worthwhile investment for the OS and the Mediaportal installation (along with data). It makes the screen loads/responsiveness quicker.

You will store all your thumbs, cache, DBs on the SSD, and your media (movies/pictures/songs/etc) on a HDD.

IMHO the best setup is SSD for OS/Mediportal, RAM drive for timeshift, and HDD for storage.

Dont bother RAIDing the SSDs.

If you are worried about data backup/retention, get an external NAS/HDD and backup/image to that.

As has been pointed out, one of the main issues is when the HDDs go to sleep, there is a delay while they wake (normally a few seconds - at this point they can make a little noise). I would not advise about disabling their sleep functionality, unless you are running enterprise class SATA or SAS drives.

J.

 

[HakanThn]

Thanks for all answers!

I think I will go for a SSD, also to speed-up system tweaking with all the rebooting and drive-imaging
A new HDD for storage will also be included.
The CPU and GPU change will be postponed, what I have i working and I don't want to risk problems right now.

Now, time to decide on a TV card for satellite. Need an S2 card with CI, external or PCI/low profile. My main alternatives are the Technotrend S2-3650 and the Terratec Cinergy S7, but searching this forum it seems both have problems and poor supplier support!?
Anybody have a recommendation?

It seems to be difficult to use Multichannel decoding features because of CanalDigital is now using pairing / strong CAM for new customers.

What does that mean? I would have thought multidecrypt support depends on two things:
1. CAM - obviously the CAM has to support it.
2. Tuner - you'll need a DigitalEverywhere, KNC, Technotrend, Twinhan or Terratec tuner for multidecrypt support in MediaPortal. Be aware that I'm not sure that the wiki is completely correct. Certainly some Twinhan and Terratec tuners don't currently support multidecrypt. I'm working on that at the moment...

I´m certainly no expert, but this is what I´ve found out by searching forums: Pairing means that CanalDigital is pairing the smartcard with the CAM/receiver, so that the card can only be used with one specific hardware. This stops cardsharing. I think maybe the technology is called Conax cas 7, it is though not (yet) CI+. There is a CAM available that is approved by CanalDigital, called "Conax Strong CAM". This CAM enables pairing, and it does not allow multidecrypt (!). Some people say that you can use other Conax CAMs in a PC even if the card has been paired, some says the pairing only effects HD channels, and some yet that not all cards are paired. It seems though that there are many problems with CanalDigital HD channels in MP, I´ve not yet seen anybody reporting a working solution in MP, with or without multidecrypt .
Hopefully someone reading this can give some hints