My First HTPC build

srv128

Standard Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2005
Messages
12
Reaction score
1
Points
28
Hi,

Well UPS just dropped off all the bits for my first venture into an HTPC.

Been reading hundreds of posts and have plumed for the following parts: -

Antec Fusion Remote Veris Black MATX Media Center Case - No PSU - Qty: 1
Sony BDU-X10S Blu-Ray BD-ROM SATA Black Internal - Retail Box with Cyberlink Software - Qty: 1
Scythe Mini Ninja Socket 478/775/754/939/940/AM2 Heatpipe Cooler - Qty: 1
Samsung SpinPoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB Hard Drive SATAII *32MB Cache* - OEM - Qty: 1
OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800Mhz/PC2-6400 GOLD XTC Memory Kit CL5(5-5-5-18) - Qty: 1
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H 780G Socket AM2+ onboard VGA 8 channel audio mATX Motherboard - Qty: 1
Antec EarthWatts 430W 80%+ Efficiency PSU - 80mm Fan 4x SATA PCI-E - Qty: 1
AMD Athlon X2 5050e Socket AM2 45W Energy Efficient Retail Boxed Processor - Qty: 1
Pinnacle 7010i - Qty: 1

HTPC.JPG

Got the whole weekend to build and install software :clap:

Then we will see how it performs connected up to my Pioneer AV amp VSX-AX2AS via (HDMI) with poss S/P DIF for Audio, running the Pioneer 50 inch PDP-507

If all goes well I will be reporting back, and no doubt when I get stuck will be I will also be back for some help and advice.


Steve
 
Nice hardware there Steve:thumbsup:

What OS and frontend are you opting for?

Well Thats the difficult one. Being a Linux man (Ubuntu) for the last 2 years the only time I use MS is at work.
I have Vista Ultimate and XP Pro licenses as removed them from current PC,s.

Really I wanted to stick with Linux, but from reading around there seems to be far more experience with MS than Linux and I need it to be wife and kids friendly :D

The Box is built, well all the hardware is in just got to cable up and tidy it a bit, so after Tea it will be decision time I reckon. Prob give Vista and Mediaportal a whiz first.

Steve
 
Mmmhhh, I do love a pile of new boxed PC parts!!

D.
 
Well Thats the difficult one. Being a Linux man (Ubuntu) for the last 2 years the only time I use MS is at work.
I have Vista Ultimate and XP Pro licenses as removed them from current PC,s.

Really I wanted to stick with Linux, but from reading around there seems to be far more experience with MS than Linux and I need it to be wife and kids friendly :D

The Box is built, well all the hardware is in just got to cable up and tidy it a bit, so after Tea it will be decision time I reckon. Prob give Vista and Mediaportal a whiz first.

Steve

Just found this while browsing for linux media front ends

The Linux HTPC Howto - Basic and Advance Media Center Build Tips

Seems to give you some options and also advice with audio video codec support :thumbsup:

With building the htpc there are so many options for us either it be windows or linux so just go through the most popular and see what you feel comfortable with :thumbsup:

The new Sticky at the top of the main htpc page gives some really good advice so worth a read :thumbsup:

Good luck and don't forget the pics.....we love to see pics :D
 
Last edited:
Build complete, just a small amount of cable tidying to do. Managed to keep most of the main cables out the MB section apart from those needed.

HTPC1.jpg

Time to load to OS, going with Vista to start with and Media Portal.


Steve
 
Thanks for the pics, the more the merrier!

Also any details that can help a 1st time builder would be excellent - for example:

You say this is your first HTPC, have you built many PCs at all?
Can you explain to others if you felt there was much of a difference?
Did you do anything during the build specifically different from building a PC?
Whats the rest of your AV kit?


Ta! :smashin:
 
Thanks for the pics, the more the merrier!

Also any details that can help a 1st time builder would be excellent - for example:

You say this is your first HTPC, have you built many PCs at all?
Can you explain to others if you felt there was much of a difference?
Did you do anything during the build specifically different from building a PC?
Whats the rest of your AV kit?


Ta! :smashin:

Help, I thought it was me that needed it lol.

Yer this might be my first HTPC build but as far as PC's go I have built, re-built, upgraded and maintained quite a few.
In fairness it is part of my job as a Networt Consultant.
In my own house there are 3 Kids PC's (been rebuilt upteen times as even I cant quite make them understand the basics of downloading and viruses, they just dont listen)
My own PC and my wifes for that matter have the following spec.

1 x Antec P182 Super Midi Tower Case - Gun Metal Black (No PSU)
1 x Gigabyte GeForce 8600 GTS Silent Fanless 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
1 x Pioneer DVR-215DBK 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM
1 x Abit IP35 Pro (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
1 x Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
1 x Crucial Ballistix Tracer 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel Kit
1 x Samsung SpinPoint S 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM
2 x Samsung SpinPoint T 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
1 x Corsair HX 620W ATX Modular SLI Compliant Power Supply
1 x Scythe Infinity/Mugen CPU Cooler (Socket 478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA775)

Both run Ubuntu 8.1 as an operating system. Mine has the added advantage of running Vmworkstation with Vista. XP and FreeBSD as virtual desktops.

So to me a PC is a PC, hardware yes, may vary from each individuall along with operating system. but I dont see a HTPC being any different apart from the fact that most are base in what used to be known as Desktop case but now has moved on a notch to become a Media centre case.

The build was pretty simple really, did my usual of fitting PSU and DVD drive to the case first, then CPU, Ram and cooler to the motherboad before dropping it into the case. Follwed by the usual fiddling arround with all the cabling (why does it take so long?)

I have now spent about a day loading all the software, updates etc and pretty much have it done. I followed the sticky post and Project HTPC to load and setup the following software (all the latest releases.)

Windows Vista 32-bit
Motherboard Chipset Drivers
Graphics Drivers
Audio Drivers
KMPlayer
CoreAVC Pro
Haali Media Splitter
Daemon Tools
MediaPortal

I recon I am half way there as there is a lot of fine tuning to do.

I did have several attempts at getting the sound to work mainly due to the added complexity of the AV amp and not selecting Digital sound :oops:
I also had to mess arround with the the Video settings in ATI Catalyst to get a good output. Opped for 1280 x 720 as this gives the best Native output for the TV which is 1366 x 768. (the option for 1366 x 768 gave a terrible picture)

As to the AV setup that I have its a couple of years old but still very good spec as follows: -

TV Pioneer PDP-507XD
AV Amp Pioneer VSX-AX2AS-s
DVD Pioneer DV-696AV
SKY HD
Spearkers are MK Xenon 36 system with 12 inch sub

All the above is connected using HDMI where possible and SPDIF when needed.

The HTPC is connected up using HDMI and SPDIF to the AMP and also I have added a Netgear WPN111 wireless adaptor until I get the Ethernet cable run back to the switch. The wireless card is actually attaching at 54Mbps with excellent signal and seems to stream Iplayer on HD no problem.

For now I am happy but need to play a lot more to get it all sorted.

One last thing I forgot to mention is I typed this whole reply on a Bluetooth Keyboad and Mouse that I added as the Remote is just to fiddly for Text.

Steve.
 
Last edited:
First problem

Install went like a dream, configured everything as per the Sticky and all was going great, until half way through a DVD it hung.

Took dvd out clean and replaced but PC not happy so rebooted. Now Media Portail wont run just crashes just as it finishes starting up.

As I have version 1.0 I saw that there was a new version 1.0.1 so downloaded and tried to upgrade but no go. Errored reporting DirectX 9c installed with an X next to it MediaPortal expects you to uninstall, yer right.

So uninstalled MediaPortal rebooted and tried again but now I cant install it as its complaining still about DirectX 9c

Any idea?

Steve
 
I can't really offer any advice on your windows problem,but, I just build my first HTPC yesterday. I'm like you, a Linux man; I didn't have any Windows licences that were suitable, so, I went with Arch Linux and XBMC - it really couldn't have been simpler. The Arch install is bare-bones, and there was very few packages that needed installing.

Andrew
 
First problem

Install went like a dream, configured everything as per the Sticky and all was going great, until half way through a DVD it hung.

Took dvd out clean and replaced but PC not happy so rebooted. Now Media Portail wont run just crashes just as it finishes starting up.

As I have version 1.0 I saw that there was a new version 1.0.1 so downloaded and tried to upgrade but no go. Errored reporting DirectX 9c installed with an X next to it MediaPortal expects you to uninstall, yer right.

So uninstalled MediaPortal rebooted and tried again but now I cant install it as its complaining still about DirectX 9c

Any idea?

Steve

I think its this MP wants, a new part of DX 9c that came out in March - and Vista still needs it.

Download details: DirectX End-User Runtime

Try installing that seperately and then re-run the MP installer.
 
Theydon

Thanks, installed the DirectX update and hey ho, media portal installed without a hitch.

next steo is to get the Fusion remote to work the app properly.

Steve
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom