Home Theatre Pc

[crack]

hey all

can some of you point me in the direction of some good sites that are for htpc construction. particularly for the beginner?

thanks

[mad082]

I am just using my old pc. only has 2 channel stereo sound but my amp takes care of that.

[bozodos]

marc you effing suck.

crack: www.overclockers.com.au

have a look in the wiki there

[Mayuri Krab]

I built my parents a HTPC using regular cheap low end PC components with the mobo having built in video & using HDMI to connect to their 50" Plasma.

Only thing I did different was choosing a small horizontal case so it could fit inside the TV cabin & using a uATX mobo since a full sized one won't fit the case.

[bozodos]

discrete graphics is a shiteload better for transcoding / high def playback, even a 70 dollar video card will crap all over integrated.

given that nearly all motherboards have at least 5.1 if not optical out / 7.1 sound inbuilt, why anyone would bother with a stereo only motherboard is beyond me.

[mad082]

In my case it was because it was free. it was just the old work computer. Simply plugged in a 3.5mm stereo to RCA cable for sound and a VGA cable for video. Even being a single core celeron with inbuilt video it still copes fine for what i do with it.

[bozodos]

sounds like you may as well be using an xpox or your ps3 as a media extender then marc

most people I know with dedicated media centres are running a Core 2 Quad, decent GFX for transcoding and SSD's lol.

[mad082]

I have playtv for my ps3. the pc is for downloaded content. When i'm not so lazy i will stream the video to the ps3.

[25GTT]

I have playtv for my ps3. the pc is for downloaded content. When i'm not so lazy i will stream the video to the ps3.

Im trying that at the moment, its harder to do than it sounds... pain in the ass and have had no success, its on the network but yeah cant share anything at the mo...

[DivHunter]

The PS3 signed code hack should give you some nice media sharing sometime soon maybe even mkv playback.

[hylian]

Those of you who have used your PS3 as a media server, check this out if you haven't already.

http://ps3mediaserver.blogspot.com/

I have been running this from my acer home media server over wireless and have had flawless playback. I use Netgear wireless N gaming access points however, so you may find that it will be a bit slower for you if you're on wireless.

[boiracer]

In my case it was because it was free. it was just the old work computer. Simply plugged in a 3.5mm stereo to RCA cable for sound and a VGA cable for video. Even being a single core celeron with inbuilt video it still copes fine for what i do with it.

asolutely right...no need for all that extra crap if all your doing is watching 700mb downloaded movies. which arent overly shiney...and sound is only stereo anyways but a video card does make life easier in every way...no comp should be without one regardless of purpose

[ARTZ]

sounds like you may as well be using an xpox or your ps3 as a media extender then marc

most people I know with dedicated media centres are running a Core 2 Quad, decent GFX for transcoding and SSD's lol.

Its overkill if your not playin games on it but too much power is better than not enough..

I built an old one for my bedroom runnin of an old celeron d 2.8 chip,2 gig ram and a 4350 1gig card that cost me 45$ new .its a useless computer , but makes a perfect media centre . Though it freaks out a bit when i try rewind live tv

For something decent youd want at very least a dual core or i3 processor 4 gig ram, dedicated graphics

(a 70$ card will do fine if you dont play graphics intensive games) I find Nvidia cards to have a much smoother picture than ATIs, make sure it has built in fan

If you have a decent surround system fork out another 50$ or so for a dedicated sound card as well, they make a world of difference to sound quality..

A tv card should only cost about 40$ but ideally you want a dual channel card so you can watch one channel and record another(mine doesnt do this ) and you will want the biggest hdd you can afford..probably best run a small hdd for programs and OS then a big one for movie storage

Edited January 12, 2011 by Arthur T3

[Cephas]

Another option is to go with a mini pc. Something like a Zotac HD-ID11.

http://www.zotac.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=100002〈=en

I have one with a basic HD and 2Gb of RAM. Cost $400 all up.

They run XBMC very well, and can use the onboard nVidia card to decode 1080p Bluray rips no problem.

Advantages over a more tradition system are size and power consumption; ie they are tiny and use bugger all power.

Downsides are lack of upgradability, suck for general purpose computing and you'll need a NAS / Server to store all your files.

[Cephas]

Or, if you are looking for something to do it all, maybe wait a few weeks and build something around the new AMD low power 'Zacate' chips.

Start with one of these

http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=qSoDxhM5mAk1F607

Add DDR3

Put it in one of these

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=15809

Power it with this

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=15958

Fill it with Hard disks.

I'd run it with Linux + XBMC and software RAID for storage.

Low power, but faster than an Atom based mini system.

I'm thinking about setting this up to replace my Zotac ID11 when they come out.

[ARTZ]

Problems with mini systems is they tend to overheat.

Should be ok if you know what your doin .

Edited January 16, 2011 by Arthur T3

[25GTT]

The PS3 signed code hack should give you some nice media sharing sometime soon maybe even mkv playback.

Thank F&*k for that, so many good movies are in mkv and its a pain in the arse to convert, so i just troll until i eventually find a good mp4 of what i want. Sometimes though they dont work to good!

Let me know if you ever see it come through, i hope PS3 eventually give us a patch for it like they did for 3D!