HTPC Project

[~J~]

Morning!

Could someone offer me a bit of assistance with a HTPC I'm going to build please?

I'm in the process of speccing one out, but there's a couple of things I'm simply in the dark over.

My goal in this project is the following...

Replace 3 pieces of hardware (VCR, DVD and Freeview box) with on single unit (this also removes 3 remote controls thank God!!!!)
Record TV programs, with the ability to watch a different channel at same time.
Time-shifting (?) so I can watch a program, and if I need to stop, I can continue watching it as if I'd never taken the break
HDTV compatible
Stream video/music/image from hardware to PC, Xbox360, other device.
"Wife-Friendly"

OK, couple of things first...
NOT bothered about 1,000,000bit pentaphonic sound with Dolbythis, THX that. My house just ain't big enough for 24 speakers positioned perfectly. If I can hear a car brrrmmmming from left to right, I'll be happy.

Money, within reason and sensibly, isn't a problem.

Must be quiet

Must be reliable.

Based on all that, I've decided on what I think a good starting point.

AMD64 Dual Core processor (for recording/decoding HD when available)
Motherboard (compatible with above)
2x160Gb Samsung Spinpoint HardDrives (fast and quiet)
1x300Gb HD for backup of 'media' (photos, music, recordings, etc)
MS Media Keyboard (wife friendly!)
Creative Audigy 2ZS (already got this from old machine)
Creative 5.1 Speakers (already got this from old machine)
MS MCE2005

The things I'm totally in the dark over are:
DVD - +/-, dual layered, what's all that then? I'd like to 'backup' films/photos to DVD if possible.
Case - a slim, nice looking case, that MUST be quiet
Graphics card - must be fast enough to throw out HDTV video

And of course, the TV cards. I've been reading about these Terratec DVB-T cards which I think 'could' be what I'm after. If they go into the PCI-E (which I'm sure I've read they do) then I'd 'perhaps' need a motherboard that has 2 PCI-E slots (one for Graphics card, one for TV card), and again, I believe that would solve the "record one side - watch other" scenario.

If anyone can recommend me the DVD, Case, Graphics card, and if the Terratec is a good (and MCE compatible) card, I'd love to know.

Likewise if there's any problems with what I'm wanting to achieve, I'd appreciate the feedback.

TIA

[Skunkpipe]

The terratec is MCE compatible. The review I've seen rates it but they've not arrived in the UK yet so no user reports available.

DVD - HP840i or Pioneer DVR110. The HP is particulary quiet without the need for faff around restricting speeds. NEC drives are very noisy

Case wise the problem you have is you want slim and silent. The 2 cases that would spring to mind are the Silverstone LC11/LC11m (110mm tall), and the Ahanix D.Vine5 (150mm tall)
Both have pros and cons.
The Silverstone has the quieter PSU
The Ahanix can take uATX and ATX boards and full height cards (but not the fanless Gigabyte 6600GT).
The Silverstone takes uATX boards only and uses risers to fit upto 2 x PCI and 1x AGP or 1 x PCIExpress); again this takes full height cards (but again not the fanless Gigabyte 6600GT). Because of the use of risers there are required board layouts to be compatible with this case.

Motherboard wise, the Asus A8N-VM CSM would be the ideal choice. Used in the silverston LC11 with the PCI Expressx16 riser this would give you the PCI Express slot required for the Terratec card and leave 2 free PCI slots. The Asus has nVidia6150 Gfx which supports PureVideo and is HD capable

There is one other case; the Ahanix MCE302 - this is slimline but only takes half height cards which in itself causes restrictions and problems sourcing suitable kit.

The other issue for slimline cases is that those mentions only support 2 HDD's
You mention 3; you may need to rethink your strategy here (or look at NAS)

[FazerThou]

For the hard drives try PCworld (i know) reserve online, pick up at store £58 for 200GB

Paul

[~J~]

Thanks for the feedback. Never considered PC World for hardrive, I'm surprised over that.

The A8N-VM CSM looks absolutely perfect, especially as it has the DVI out and seems to have some good reviews.

Casewise, the Silverstone looks to be the one (silver though, that Walnut looks a wee-bit too tacky for my liking!! lol).

But really appreciate the help on this, many thanks.

[Ellster]

Hi there,

My spec for an HTPC was quite similar to yours.
You might be interested in what I chose in the end, where I sourced it, and how much it cost...

Silverstone LC17 "Silent HTPC Bundle"
(includes LC17 case, 400w Elan Vital Greenerger PSU, Gigabyte K8N Ultra9 motherboard and full CPU & case cooling kit)
£355 inc VAT & shipping from www.mediapc.tv

Processor - AMD64 3800+ Dual Core
Memory - 2 x 512MB DDR400
Video card - Gigabyte 6600GT Fanless
Hard drive - Samsung Spinpoint 250Gb
DVD ReWriter - HP840i Lightscribe
Op System - Windows XP MCE
NVIDIA DVD - Bronze edition
£613 inc VAT & shipping from www.scan.co.uk

I haven't actually got the kit yet, but by all accounts (this forum and elsewhere), the case/psu/cooling choice is very cool AND very quiet... although at 170mm high it's not exactly "slimline". But if you could fit it in, it's as expanable as you could wish -it'll take 5 hard drives and any graphics card.

The 6600Gt is also very popular on this board.

I've not chosen a TV card yet - waiting for some feedback on the terratec dual freeview cards (if/when they arrive!)

I'll post my findings when I get the kit and put it all together.

Elliot

[bad robot]

Id put forward that its worth spending £30+ on a much better CPU heatsink/cooler, like the XP120 combined with a quiet 120mm fan, yes the thing is blumming massive but with good RAM ive been able to hit 2.5GHz stable and benchmarked faster than a 4800 CPU, not bad at all for a processor thats about £300 cheaper than actual 4800.

Was also really impressed with the HIPER Type R PSU available from Scan costing approx £65 quiet and 580w on tap worth looking into.

Asus Premium mobo and a 6600 silentpipe is what i used too, popular choices.