Topic: Share your HTPC Setup

[HD_MOVIES]

yes pede siya hybrid crossfire.. same chipset naman yan different brand lang..

[Check]

Thanks for the quick reply Sir Clondalkin! 

[highwayman]

how much is a blue ray drive nowadays?

[kane]

Hi guys, just want to ask if its ok to play your hi-def files from an external hard drive?  Hindi naman mag lag or mag off sync yung audio?  Especially with 1080p files.

[Clondalkin]

Hi guys, just want to ask if its ok to play your hi-def files from an external hard drive?  Hindi naman mag lag or mag off sync yung audio?  Especially with 1080p files.

Perfectly OK if your system is powerful enough.  It also helps if the external drive is fast.

[SF40]

Yeah that AVS thread is really like an encyclopedia when it comes to HTPC set-up.  So I'll try to give some practical guidelines to complement all the information you can get from that site.  These are just my opinions.


CPU:  AMD or Intel.  Doesn't matter.  Just buy the fastest, meanest multi-core Intel or EQUIVALENT AMD that you can afford.  Intel's E6xxx and Q6600 seem to be very popular examples.  Any of these multi-core CPU's will make you happy but the more powerful the CPU is, the happier you will be for that blood thirsty MKV contents, especially 1080p ones.   Just like to stress once again, CPU is the most critical component at the moment for MKV playback.  You need to do some reading on the current line of CPUs and find your sweet spot in terms of budget.  No need to delve on full technical details.  For starters just look at the clock speed, the number of cores and the front side bus speed - and then make 100% sure that your chosen MOBO supports the CPU.    New models of MOBOs are OK in terms of compatibility but if you are buying an old model MOBO, then be very careful


MEM:  It appears the mainstream type right now would be the 667 or 800Mhz DDR2 (dual channel types).  You don't need to buy those expensive and cool looking Corsairs with 1066MHz clock, but I would recommend reliable makes such as Crucial, Kingston, Buffalo, I/O Data, etc.  Nowadays there are 2 types of "bulk" memories;  the "totally generic" bulk and those with rather "unpopular makes.  You can save money by trying them as well.  Compatibility with popular MOBOs is not 100% guaranteed but working chances are very high.   If your PC is retail (Dell, etc.), then stay away from generic mem.   For Vista, you need at least 2GB.  For XP, you need at least 1GB.  However, I personally think the sweet spot for MKV is at least 2GB.    BTW, dual channel memory banks should be installed in PAIRS, otherwise, it would run at half the rated clock speed.  So if you want 1GB of mem, then you have to install 2x512MB using the appropriately paired (usually color coded) mem bank slots in your MOBO.


HDD:  A 720p MKV is at least 4.5GB big.  1080p can range from 6B to 40GB.  Get as much GB as you can afford.    Seagate, Western Digital, Samsung, Hitachi...doesn't matter which make.  7200 rpm, 16GB cache has become the mainstream.  You don't need those expensive models with higher cache for your personal application


Sound Card:  If you are not that picky, the on-board 7.1 channel audio of most modern MOBOs is more than sufficient.  Confirm that optical out  (SPDIF) is available on the MOBO (it usually is for new MOBOs) if you want to go multi-channel connected to an AVR.  Otherwise, you need a GOOD 2.1 channel set of PC speakers at the very least.   Something with powerful subwoofer like that of Logicool Z4 would be nice.   But if you already have a multi-channel AVR and speakers set HT, then just connect your PC to the extra optical input of the AVR.


Video Card:  You mentioned "little gaming" but how little is little?  Once the word gaming comes out, then you can forget about the on-board video unless your image of gaming is Free Cell.   The general consensus is that Nvidia is better for gaming overall but AMD/ATI is better for HTPC, BUT, if you are interested enough to analyze the detailed performance of each particular model, you'd find out that it really depends on the particular GPU.    Doesn't matter which maker you choose because most of them follow the reference design provided by Nvidia or ATI, then just put their logo on the fan.

As I personally confirmed recently, you definitely don't need a high end card like HD3870 or 8800GT for an HTPC.   Depending on your gaming needs, I think you'd find your balance on any of the following GPUs:  HD2600XT, HD3650, HD3850, 8600GT, 8600GTS.    Cheaper cards MAY work just fine but the determining factor here is the kind of games you want to play, not the MKVs you want to watch.  More expensive cards are definitely overkill.

You may also want to read on the reviews of the new MOBOs based on ATI's 780 chipset with integrated graphics.


Casing:  Totally subjective.  Some like it vertical, some like it horizontal with "AV equipment look".  Some like it in whatever kind of color, some prefer vanilla beige or pitch black.   Some like it with transparent window with a nice view of the innards of the PC, some prefer the traditional "closed" container.   Some like it cute and slim, some like it huge and imposing with lots of spaces for future expansion and additional cooling.


Power Supply Unit:  If your interest in gaming is not that much, PSU wattage and amperage are not critical.   However, the given ratings of the PSU should be HONEST and not simply overhyped specs, that's why popular and reliable makes are recommended.


I only started to browse through tipidpc this year. Yeah you can find some nice parts there at good prices.  You don't need to buy brand new items, but make sure they are in perfect working condition.   Stay away from "REPAIRED" parts. 

The member Tambutsoo started a thread under Sources for an entry level HTPC less than 20K (including part models).   Please have a look at that one.

BTW, how come nobody seems to factor in the cost of the OS license in the budget???  Is it "free" in the Philippines???   An OEM OS would cost me at least $100 in Tokyo 

Finally, if you suddenly get afflicted with SARS of the HTPC strain, then PM me your hard to find exotic PC part and I can source it out in Tokyo. 

sir clondalkin, hd_movies, Gnew, john5479 thank you very much for the suggestions, insights and recommendations ..... more ideas the better

[SF40]

well done, ser clondalkin. if you're not really in to gaming, a 20k budget is ok for a decent htpc. for me, i'd spend the extra cash for the speakers and a plasma. 

OT: i'm a noob here in pdvd so pardon my ignorance. but what is SARS? 

anyway, here's my htgpc (home theater and gaming). i try to minimize noise as possible by using low-speed, mid-cfm fans on the radiator. sometimes i connect it to the tv kasi sya yung nasa gitna ng living room (not in pic). ipon mode muna sa plasma.
















i need to renovate the living room. furniture is all wood, no upholstery. tsk... 

sir ganda naman ng nasa luob ng htpc mo parang sa auto (sasakyan) hehehe paki share naman po ng set up nyo ganda din nung casing ... tia

[Speedracer]

Wow! What a souped up rig! Ganda boss congrats!

[squatt3r]

upgraded my htpc rig: Logitech MX3200

[paquito_chips]

speedracer and sf40... thanks po. 

here's my specs:
Asus Commando mobo
Intel E6600 2.4ghz (oc'd @ 3.3ghz 24/7 use)
OCZ Platinum DDR2-800 2x1gig
MSI 8800GTX (vanilla version)
Creative Soundblaster Audigy ZX
Antec Truepower Quattro 850watts
Silverstone LC20M case (with VFD and imon remote)
Asus dvd writer
22" HP w2207h monitor
Logitech wireless mouse and keyboard
1x 80gig Seagate 7200.7 (sata)
1x 320gig Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (sata)
1x 120gig Maxtor (sata) -- external via esata, no enclosure, not in pic. wala na kasi space if you'll notice.
*** all drives in a non-raid configuration

... and for the cooling:
D-Tek Fuzion v1 cpu waterblock
D-Tek Uni-sink GTX
Swiftech MCW60 gpu waterblock
Swiftech microres
Swiftech MCP355 12 VDC Pump with Petra's top
Thermochill PA120.3
Tygon tubing R3603 7/16" ID 5/8" OD
OCZ XTC mem cooler
3x 120x25mm Scythe S-Flex SFF21F (push)
3x 120x38mm San Ace 102 (pull) -- 7v mod. sobrang ingay pag naka-12v.
2x 80x25mm Thermaltake fans -- those orange fans as exhaust
Wilkins distilled water + Pentosin G12 coolant additive + Petra's nuke

*****

yes. this is a bit overkill for an htpc build. my rig is really concentrated for gaming (crysis, call of duty 4, assassins creed, etc.) i bought 90% of the specs from the other forum. yep. tpc 

but now, i'm trying to balance my life as a gamer-slash-movie enthusiast. lalo na ngayon na i'm hooked here in pdvd.

next up in my list is setting up the living room. have to get one of those cozy sofas. (tsaka ang hirap itago then ilabas yung projector. hind pa sya naka-mount. tapos yung pj screen ko nakakapagod rin itago. diy lang kasi.  )

[keema]

dito na lang po ako magtatanong kse po parang related din dito yung question ko...
may dvd player po ako na may usb input...nakakapag basa sya ng movies na .avi.
eh question ko po is kse po sa usb ko lang nilalagay ung movies...tapos palit pag may bago akong download...eh may 160gig akong portable na hardisk tanong ko po eh pwede ba un na yun na lang na portable na hardisk ko yung ikakabit ko? ginawa ko un kaso hindi naman nya nababasa, yung dvd player...so may way ba, kunyari format ko na gawing kong fat32..mga ganun??
or kung may alam po kayo..thanks...

[squatt3r]

sir dapat NTFS pag pinormat so that large files such as .mkv extension could be copied.

[nutkrakr]

i'm using theatertek software, and currently using windows media player with codecs installed by my great friend to play mkv files in 720p and 1080p format.  my friend updated the codec so i can play bluray type files through my computer, now comes the problem, whenever i'll use theatertek for my dvds, it'll ask me to reinstall theatertek, there seems to be some conflicts with the bluray codec and theatertek. does anybody here who's using theatertek with a bluray optical drive who's not facing same problem with my htpc? just want to know the proper settings

[ericag_ph]

Here's a suggestion... create two user profiles in windows
one that uses original codec so you can watch 720p,1080p stuff, and

another user for the blue ray codec stuff

might work...might not...
but it looks like the new codec wiped out the old codec which theatertek depends on.


 

i'm using theatertek software, and currently using windows media player with codecs installed by my great friend to play mkv files in 720p and 1080p format.  my friend updated the codec so i can play bluray type files through my computer, now comes the problem, whenever i'll use theatertek for my dvds, it'll ask me to reinstall theatertek, there seems to be some conflicts with the bluray codec and theatertek. does anybody here who's using theatertek with a bluray optical drive who's not facing same problem with my htpc? just want to know the proper settings

[nutkrakr]

try ko rin, thanks

[GioSpike]

January 9, 2008


2 weeks ago, birthday ng parents ko sa province.  Binigay ko na as a gift yung Logitech Z5300 at 32" LCD na gamit ko dito sa Manila(Para may reason ako mag-upgrade rin! hehehe!). 

Kaya last week, start na ako magcheck ng ipapalit sa Z5300. I was thinking of replacing it with Klipsch Promedia or Logitech Z5500.  I ended up buying this yesterday...

May 18, 2008


Receiver: Yamaha Natural Sound AV Receiver RX-V620
Speakers: Front: Wharfedale 8.4, Rear/Center: Wharfedale WH2


PC Specs:
Mobo: ASROCK Conroe1333-D667 R2.0
Processor: Intel® Core2Duo E6750
Memory: Team Elite PC6400 DDR2 800MHz 1GB*2 (Dual)
Power
Graphics Card: Powercolor ATI HD 3850
Soundcard: Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
HDD: 160gb Seagate SATA HDD (Primary), 320gb Seagate SATA HDD, 250gb Seagate SATA HDD
ODD: LG 16X Multi DVD Writer with Light Scribe
PSU: HEC Winpower 550 Watts
LCD: Samsung 22" 2232GW

GioSpike's HTPC


May 27, 2008


Toshiba Regza 37C3500 37" LCDTV
Yamaha Natural Sound AV Receiver RX-V620
Speakers: Front: Wharfedale 8.4 Rear/Center: Wharfedale WH2
Intel® Core2Duo E6750
ASROCK Conroe1333-D667 R2.0
Team Elite PC6400 DDR2 800MHz 1GB*2 (Dual) Power
Powercolor ATI HD 3850
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
160gb Seagate SATA HDD
320gb Seagate SATA HDD 250gb
Seagate SATA HDD
LG 16X Multi DVD Writer with Light Scribe
HEC Winpower 550 Watts
Logitech MX™5000 Bluetooth Keyboard
Logitech  MX™610 Laser Cordless Mouse

[STRIKER]

just want to share what i am currently running

[danrd]

Woow!!  Your gears rock bro. Is that an 875? I like your Silverstone casing. Planning on getting one myself. Man you should post these on ht gallery.

[STRIKER]

not quite dan, its an sr805.

di pa pede i share to sa HT gallery. temporary lang po ito till i get "the room" done. kasi at th moment bare concrete pa yung room. kaya ayun, for now eto muna setup ko.

[skylynx888]

nice one sir striker!!!! pareho tayong onkyo 805  .... tsaka mukhang Cayin mt-12 din yan tube amp mo ah!!! Great gears... pwede mo na nga post sa ht gallery 

[Clondalkin]

Konting chismis about my recent upgrade to HD3870 from 8600GTS.

Uninstalled the driver that came with the card.  Ran 3DGuru Drive Cleaner to remove all remnants of the old driver then installed Catalyst 8.4 from ATI.

Observations:

Playback Smoothness:  Still no significant difference between the 8600GTS and HD3870 both for 720p and 1080p MKV contents using The KM Player.  For VLC, "parang" gumaang" ng konti with the HD3870.

CPU Resource Usage:  Still hovering between 25-60% for 720p playback both for The KM Player and VLC.  Still hovering between 35-70% sa 1080p playback.   Kapag nag-kick-in bigla yung background processes ng Vista and/or the hard drive becomes busy for some reason, CPU resource can spike to 90%.   If I download/upload gazillions of torrents simultaneously and the hard drive is busy as hell, that adds 10-15% on the CPU loading depende sa traffic ng data.  

HD DVD add-on playback using PowerDVD Ver 7 is smooth as silk and light as sushi.   Loading time is definitely faster than the Xbox360  now.  Hopefully, the price of BD add-on drive goes down soonest.  Mahal pa masyado eh (the Pioneer BD drive still costs around $220 as of last weekend).

Image Quality:  ATI is clearly of a different league in this category.   VLC image quality s*cked on the 8600GTS but it's absolutely gorgeous on the HD3870.   Using The KM Player, the 8600GTS was certainly great but the HD 3870 was awesome.   Default ATI colors may be too vivid and rich with high contrast,  but using the ATI Catalyst Control Center, everything is tweakable to match ones preferences.  Wife says the 1080p HD r*ps look more 3D on the ATI card.  I think so too, and I've been having headaches as side effect of that.  

ATI Powerplay:   Automatic adjustment of the GPU clock depending on the application - GPU underclocks during idle and 2D applications - works like a charm.  The GPU remains at around 48 degrees C kahit ilang oras manood ng HD.   Default fan setting is surprisingly not annoyingly loud even though it is a single slot design (the new reference design of Sapphire for the 3870).  Should be beneficial for someone like me who runs the PC continuously for long hours everyday while torrenting due to lower power drain.   On the other hand, I still hope experts would be able to tap the GPU power for MKV playback somehow.  The ATI Control Center indicates no more than 10% usage of the GPU while running The KM Player.

Also I'm using a stock Delta PSU rated 400W which is less than the recommended power capacity of ATI.  I looped 3DMark06 during an entire night with all settings maxed out.  Not a single failed test.  Maxed out settings of DIRT and COD4 and played for an hour or so during the weekend - framerates remained nice and smooth.  No hiccups whatsoever.  No artifacts at all.   So yung recommended minimum na 450W ng ATI is too safe I think.   Keypoint is the quality of the PSU and the amperage of the 12V rails for stable operation.

My conclusion:  Finally very happy with the HD3870 upgrade.  

Anybody wants to buy the 8600GTS at a reasonable price?  It's only a month old (purchased on 28 April 2008).   Great for gaming and Nvidia's Purevideo HD is not bad for HD viewing per se.    

[m0b1u5]

Here's my current (2 year old) rig...

Proc  : AMD X2 3800+
Mobo : Asus M2N Mobo with onboard sound
HDD  : 160GB SATA
          250GB SATA
          200GB SATA
RAM  : 2 x 1GB Kingston DDR2 800
ODD  : 2 x LG DVD/RW (1 internal, 1 external)
VC    : 512MB DDR2 128bit MSI 7300LE Graphics Card
TV    : 19" Widescreen Viewsonic LCD
Case : Generic Case with generic 350W PS

alin ba kailangan ko pa i-upgrade para maging decent HTPC setup?

thanks

[Weng!]

check out this cool looking HTPC casing


blends very well with the current av gears

Zalman HD160 Plus

[Weng!]

check also this ready-made HTPCs

http://www.okoromedia.com/index.htm

here's one of their product at US$3795 ONLY

[dyerds]

A very cool casing Gnew but with that price you already can build your own htpc.     

[Clondalkin]

What about this.   A very comfortable high-back computer chair.  Made in Japan.  Price:  Approximately $1,700.   What do you think?  I got shocked by the price, that I totally forgot the brand name...

The same store sells the ULTIMATE European made bed mattress for Yen1,000,000 (about 400K pesos).  Selling point:  A normal person spends 1/3 of his life lying on the bed.   

[Speedracer]

check also this ready-made HTPCs

http://www.okoromedia.com/index.htm

here's one of their product at US$3795 ONLY

Wow!!!  Pati presyo boss wow din 

[Weng!]

A very cool casing Gnew but with that price you already can build your own htpc.     

mahal nga dyerds no? naghahanap din me ng casing like the antec fusion na around 4k max kahit walang volume control. meron naman antec na mga 5k na may kasamang 380watts psu, pero gusto ko sana magkabit ng hec 550watts. meron kaya nito?

[dyerds]

mahal nga dyerds no? naghahanap din me ng casing like the antec fusion na around 4k max kahit walang volume control. meron naman antec na mga 5k na may kasamang 380watts psu, pero gusto ko sana magkabit ng hec 550watts. meron kaya nito?

PM sent.

[Marl☆1]

Just to share my recent PC upgrade to experience HD on my desktop...
Am actually checkin' out Quad and branded pc's for the first time. 
Hope it's worth the investment...



HP Pavillion M9299D [mod]
Neptune / Intel Core 2 Quad - Q6700 2.66GHz
3GB ram / 320GB SATA / Super Multi Drive + Lightscribe SATA
NVIDIA GeForce 8400

HP w2207h 22" monitor




The screen's HDMI-in allows 720p / 1080i HD viewing via PC.  Still ordering a BD player / burner via the web to complete the set-up. 

Cheers!
Marl_1