Home Theater PC Build (HTPC)

[fus3r]

so you still have to have a pc for every tv, correct?

not exactly. you need a media center extender(MCX) for every tv. for reasons i'm unsure of, a PC can't officially be a MCX. but thats actually good, because a PC is usually big and loud, and doesn't fit naturally in a living room, even if you get a small microATX case.

anyway, there's a few MCX's out there already from companys like HP, Dlink, and Linksys. they are generally small, quiet, and relatively cheap. and obviously the xbox 360 is a MCX, even though its rather loud, and can get pretty hot. that will cover my main tv initially. i haven't decided which brand of MCX i'm going to use in my other rooms though. i'm hoping a new batch of MCXs get released this quarter since the cablecard tuner is growing in popularity.

oh, its worth mentioning that obviously your recordings are going to be stored on your main PC's hard drive. so any computer (or PS3) can access and play your recorded videos. but you won't be able to watch live TV or use the guide unless you have a MCX.

[Prep]

This may not be quite as inexpensive as it sounds t first glance. A decent quality "MCX" from Linxsys runs about $200. $250 with a DVD player on it. So if you have 3 TVs it will take over 3 years for it to pay for itself. Other issues I have: This runs off my PC. So assuming I don't have a stand alone HTPC what kind of resources are we talking about using here? I would guess quite a bit, especially while recording. So if that's true we're talking another few hundred bucks to build an HTPC. It's also going to be transmitted from HTPC to each TV over your home network. So if you're talking about HD it's typically in 1990x1080 resolution. That's alot of data, hell I don't even game in a resolution so high. What's that going to do to your network and bandwidth usage? What if you're downloading something too? What if I'm gaming?

Another thing that just crossed my mind. I pay AT&T for a cable package that's higher than basic, meaning I have a (DVR) box. Now if I were to unplug my cable box and plug my TV straight into the wall I still only get access to that basic cable package since it's the actual box that decrypts the data and allows my TV to display those channels. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that if I pay for the most basic package the signal sent to my home from AT&T includes every channel they offer and the channels I'm able to watch are dependent on what my box (or lack thereof) is programmed to allow me to watch. So what exactly happens when you take that box away? If I'm right you'd still need one box in your home to be plugged into your HTPC with the cable card. So you'd still have to subscribe to your cable package and would still need at least one cable box. But you still need the MCX boxes on each TV.

This just seems like a ton of bullshit just so that I don't have to pay $16/mo and "save" money. The only real benefit I see in all this is that, I think, you can access any media on your HTPC on any TV with a MCX. So if you download or rip alot of movies to your PC they're accessible anywhere. But I don't know if it's worth it.

[fus3r]

This may not be quite as inexpensive as it sounds t first glance.

well, you're right. it could get a little pricey. but i almost always would rather buy than rent. renting is just throwing your money away. when you purchase something, its an investment. thats why i finally bought a house last year. i got sick of throwing away money for rent, even though my mortgage payment is more than my rent payment was.

A decent quality "MCX" from Linxsys runs about $200. $250 with a DVD player on it. So if you have 3 TVs it will take over 3 years for it to pay for itself.

first of all, there are cheaper options out there. i've seen some for less than $100. but even if you buy expensive ones and it takes more than five years to pay for itself, isn't it worth it? unless the cable industry changes drastically, i plan on requiring some sort of recording/decryption device for watching TV. so why not buy one, regardless of how long it takes to make your money back?

So what exactly happens when you take that box away? If I'm right you'd still need one box in your home to be plugged into your HTPC with the cable card. So you'd still have to subscribe to your cable package and would still need at least one cable box.

the cablecard acts as a decryption device. if you have one, you don't need a cable box. in fact, a lot of TVs have a cablecard slot in the back, enabling you to have access to all channels without a cable box. cable companies are required by the FCC to provide cable cards to their customers as an alternative to cable boxes. but obviously they don't like to make their customers aware of this option, because the company doesn't make any money off them. that's why most people haven't even heard of them. anyway, comcast provides one cablecard per household for free. additional cards cost money, but with this new pc tuner card, you only need one.


anyway, yeah it will require an initial investment. but i think its worth it.

[fus3r]

my main PC just died on me. since i don't game anymore (on the PC), i was planning on using that for my new HTPC quad-tuner machine. now that's out of the question, so i decided to go ahead and build a decent low-power HTPC. i can live without a gaming PC... at least until diablo 3 comes out.

my main consideration was to base this system around the ceton quad tuner card that comes out at the end of march. and contrary to my original plan, i'm also going to be using this HTPC at an actual TV, to cut down on the number of extenders i will need in the house. thus, it needs an HDMI connection.


ASUS P7H55-M PRO LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard $104.99
i heard good things about this model. its priced mid-range, and supposedly it really utilizes the i3 well. and of course, it has an HDMI output. the onboard gfx is hdcp compliant, which means it can run HD content with no problem. i have no idea how it works with the CPU's graphics capabilities (see next item), but supposedly the combination makes video content very smooth.

Intel Core i3-530 Clarkdale 2.93GHz LGA 1156 73W Dual-Core Processor $124.99
i did some research, and apparently intel's new i3 processor does some really good stuff with its on-chip graphics processing (yeah, integrated graphics on a CPU? i was confused too). but HTPC enthusiasts seem to really like it for new HTPC builds. it is intended to be the new entry-level replacement for core2duo. you can definitely get away with a lower-end processor, but since i'll be utilizing the quad-tuner, it is recommended to step it up a notch.

Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" $69.99
since i'm using it as a DVR, i opted for a 750GB hdd. most people recommend more, but its a huge upgrade over comcast's dvr, so i'm not worried about it.

CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) $87.99
i'm pissed that scott got his 4GB memory for under $60.
(edit: the mobo doesn't support ddr2. i had to go with ddr3. the link above is not what i got)

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders OEM $104.99
i need windows 7 because i will be utilizing windows media center. there are other options out there, but i'm using my 360 as an extender, so this just makes it easier. this is the first time in my life that i've ever purchased an OS. it sucks. xp was free in college, i skipped vista, and i've been running the release candidate for win7 for a long time. i don't trust getting cracked OS's from torrents.

total:
$492.95
free 3-day shipping

notes:

• i'm using an old case. it will be near a TV, but it will be hidden, so i'm not worried about it being too bulky or ugly.
• i'm using an old 400W power supply, but with this build you could get away with a cheap 300W (or more if you're putting a bunch of HDDs in there).
• i'm using an old DVD drive

(UPDATE 2/15/10)
i decided to go with a new case.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811204035 $59.99

new total:
$552.94
$16.57 shipping
$569.51

i wanted to keep it under $500, but i failed. oh well, it'll be pimp.

[davep]

looks good, as for windows 7 i've been using the Ultimate RTM version since it was released to the public and haven't had issue. for some reason the windows site recognizes it as a legit version and i've been updating no problem to

[fus3r]

looks good, as for windows 7 i've been using the Ultimate RTM version since it was released to the public and haven't had issue. for some reason the windows site recognizes it as a legit version and i've been updating no problem to

same here. but from what i hear, you will start seeing pop up warnings beginning in march, and then sometime this summer it will no longer boot.

[Prep]

Looks good, although I don't see why you wouldn't wanna get a bluray drive.

[fus3r]

Looks good, although I don't see why you wouldn't wanna get a bluray drive.

i have a ps3. i forgot to mention that.

[fus3r]

update: i decided to buy a case. the one i was going to use was too big.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811204035

its a great looking case, and surprisingly cheap.

[scott]

Cool. So you are just going to use it to record and then stream the files to the xbox?

[fus3r]

well, yeah, that's how it works. the main htpc acts as a hub for all the other extenders. so every extender can be watching something different, whether it be live tv, recorded tv, movies, etc.

its all streamed from the main box, but its all controlled from the extenders. obviously, it wouldn't be worth it if i had to go to my HTPC to set up a recording, and then go to my xbox and stream it.

[partypooper]

Thanks adam and scott for these awesome cost effective htpc builds ... i am going to do this in the near future.

Adam, when are you going to have this thing built and ready to go ?

[fus3r]

it is built and ready to go. i linked it to the house speakers too (mainly just so i can stream music throughout the house). i also got a cheap little IR receiver and programmed it so that my current TV remote can also control the PC. if anyone's interested, intelliremote can read/learn IR signals from any remote and use them to perform specific PC tasks. its pretty dope. its a lot cheaper than going RF.

now i'm just waiting for my quad tuner card (march 31?) so i can get rid of my DVR. for now, all its doing is streaming my movies/music/downloads.

[fus3r]

not sure if anyone cares, but the tuner card got pushed back 60 days.... lame.
http://www.cetoncorp.com/buy.php

[true.]

I know this is kind of a stupid question, but I couldn't decipher an answer from the previous posts.

I'm not as keen on the tech speak and computer intricacies as you guys are.

What exactly in this in simple English (haha)?