HD HTPC & Vista home premium

[suniil]

mates,

I've just built a HTPC with the configuration:-

a. ASUS M2A-VM HDMI motherboard (AMD 690G chipset)
b. AMD AM2 4800+ cpu
c. 2 GB Crucial DDR2 ram
d. 250GB samsumg spinpoint HDD (for OS and software)
e. 500GB segate 7200.10 HDD x 2 (for storage)
f. Zalman HD 135 Case with Seasonic S12 430w PSW

Installed 32 bit Vista OEM & Chipset driver! all looks pretty OK at the moment.

I'll post my findings & pester you guys for helping hand later!!

Thanks
Sunil

[England2Canada]

Any chance of seeing pictures of this beauty?

[suniil]

sure! by tomorrow i'll post pics

btw, I've seen your cenima room in members gallery. excellent stuff!

Originally Posted by England2Canada

Any chance of seeing pictures of this beauty?

[suniil]

Everything looks alright other than few issues
a. setting up dual screen (not in clone mode),
b. playing 1080p movies,
c. 1080p HD ripped movies has slight shuttering issues
d. WMP with HD video.

otherwise whatever i throw in works perfectly

Software installed

PowerDVD Ultra
CCCP
Catalyst driver
Daali media splitter

according to media player classic, no frame loss, but i've shuttering issues.

[suniil]

pics. of HTPC, back panel, and screen

Zalman HD135 HTPC case, i'm impressed with build quality, usability & form factor


Plenty of connections in back panel of M2A-VM HDMI mobo (just £50 from scan, uk!)


Sorry, need to hide/tidy up cables of monitor. It runs from front cabinet all the way to lounge sofa. Wall bracket has features to fold, tilt etc, so that i can fold monitor back to wall after use


Playing Happy feet (1080p) on plasma (clone mode). Guys, anyone can recommend a way to switch between monitors with a mouse click or any other function

Originally Posted by England2Canada

Any chance of seeing pictures of this beauty?

[tups]

Great set-up! I have got a Zalman HD 135 and like you am very impressed with the build quality and aesthetic.

How are you getting on with the VFD display? I cannot get the driver software to play nicely with Vista. Although I have gotten over the problem of the tray app not minimising on start-up it now stops the pc from dropping into S3 stand-by when it is idle for more than 20 minutes

[England2Canada]

Sunil.....Like the setup a lot mate. I noticed you installed vista home, why not install vista ultimate, that way you get media centre that will play hd movies, as supposed to media player?

Does that setup include a HD dvd player?

Originally Posted by suniil

Everything looks alright other than few issues
a. setting up dual screen (not in clone mode),
b. playing 1080p movies,
c. 1080p HD ripped movies has slight shuttering issues
d. WMP with HD video.

otherwise whatever i throw in works perfectly

Software installed


according to media player classic, no frame loss, but i've shuttering issues.

[England2Canada]

Sunil.....which keyboard and mouse are you using with that HTPC, and is it functioning well, and how is the HTPC connected to the plasma cable-wise?

[suniil]

Keyboard & mouse: Microsoft desktop pack, so far works brilliantly from 10 feet away

Vista home premium does have MCE & WMP11 bundled, but have to look into that tomorrow

The whole setup does include Toshiba HD E1 DVD player, but not part of HTPC

tups: Zalman VFD and remote are good so far, but unable to switch on / off power.

Originally Posted by England2Canada

Sunil.....which keyboard and mouse are you using with that HTPC, and is it functioning well, and how is the HTPC connected to the plasma cable-wise?

[England2Canada]

How much did all that HTPC cost you Sunil? Also someone recommended the ocz gamesxstream power supply for that zalman case, does your power supply work fine?

So your HTPC is not the one playing the happy feet movie? How did you decide on that CPU?

[suniil]

£550ish, including 1TB HDD & Zalman HD135 case. This case takes most of the full sized PSUs, I use Seasonic S12 430w PSU

1080p movies plays better now after tweaking with filters etc, i guess hali media splitter + Media player classic gives a better result. Still have issues with sound, as i've no idea how i'm *getting* 5.1 over HDMI cable to AV Receiver. Receiver displays LPCM 48khz and shows 5.1 speaker icons light up, but in neo:6 mode.

Originally Posted by England2Canada

How much did all that HTPC cost you Sunil? Also someone recommended the ocz gamesxstream power supply for that zalman case, does your power supply work fine?

So your HTPC is not the one playing the happy feet movie? How did you decide on that CPU?

[England2Canada]

Sunil....what do you think of these parts for my build, and what will be the best cable to hook it up to my LCD HDTV? I onlyhave 1 hdmi port and that is being used by my dvd player

From the advise you've given so far, I have narrowed my build down to, is there anything am missing or should add to the list below?

1. Asus m2a-vm hdmi socket am2 amd 690g chipset

2. nmedia htpc-100ba desktop media centre case matx silver 1x5.25 lcd card reader 300w

3. crucial rendition 2gb pc2-5300 ddr2-667 240 pin dimm memory

4. LG gsa-h54n dvd+rw 18x8x16 dvd-rw 18x616 dl 10x writer ide 2mb

5. western digital se16 500gb sata 2 7200 rpm 16mb cache 8.9 ncq hard drive oem

6. amd athlon 64x2 3600+ dual core processor socket am2 brisbanw 65w

7. Microsoft Remote Control W/ USB Receiver OEM for Windows XP Media Center Edition (with System Only) - $29.15

8. nvidia geforce 8600GT 256mb gddr3 pci-e dual dvi-i hdtv out video card

9. HD-dvd rom xbox 360

10. vista ultimate, power dvd, anydvd-hd

[suniil]

Looks fine, with few suggestions.

Onboard graphics is pretty good, which is the most compatible chipset with vista (690G & Ati Xpress X1250 Radeon). later stage once the technology is stable with single card carries HDMI 1.3 specifications, you can update.

You could add a 160GB HDD to Operating system and other programs, and use WD HDD for Media. It would be nice to increase the processor speed to 4200+ or more, for 1080p movies

Originally Posted by England2Canada

5. western digital se16 500gb sata 2 7200 rpm 16mb cache 8.9 ncq hard drive oem

6. amd athlon 64x2 3600+ dual core processor socket am2 brisbanw 65w

8. nvidia geforce 8600GT 256mb gddr3 pci-e dual dvi-i hdtv out video card

10. vista ultimate, power dvd, anydvd-hd

[England2Canada]

New updated list,

I really appreciate the feedbacks....I have now changed a few things to reflect your suggestions, please tell me what you think?

1. I need an asus full ATX mobo recommendation with usbs, firewire, and 5.1 audio, DVI that will work with the CPU below????????

2. Silverstone LC20M case silver ( comes with no fans )

3. crucial rendition 2gb pc2-5300 ddr2-667 240 pin dimm memory

4. LG gsa-h54n dvd+rw 18x8x16 dvd-rw 18x616 dl 10x writer ide 2mb

5. samsung s300 hdd hard drive oem and 160gb for OS and software

6. AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ EE Dual Core Processor AM2 Windsor 2.2GHZ 512KBX2 65W 90NM Retail Box

7. Microsoft Remote Control W/ USB Receiver OEM for Windows XP Media Center Edition (with System Only) - $29.15

8. nvidia geforce 7600GT

[England2Canada]

Suniil.....what is the latest on your HTPC, everything working in a pukka fashion?