HTPC Recommendations

Kilamon · Rated XXX Joined: 22 Mar 2005 Posts: 811

It's been a while since I've seen a review or build log for some HTPC stuff, and I've been considering a new HTPC build for a while now using some spare parts. My main concern is keeping the machine quiet and getting proper resolution for video on my TV (Infocus 61md10 -- a 61" DLP). The TV does not support a DVI connection, and only one HDMI, so I'm going to have to go through a switch box or similar to change that input (my DirectTV goes in to the HDMI at present). Audio should go out to my Denon system for the THX/Dolby and will be handled by the onboard sound (DFI SLi-DR board).

What I'm looking for now is a recommendation on a video card. I have a pair of old 6800 cards that I could do a SLI config on, but I think that's overkill and I really don't want to add more fans. I'm trying to keep moving parts to minimum to reduce overall noise. Any suggestions?

**Doctor Feelgood** · Posted: Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:31:44 Post Subject:

Do you play games on this HTPC, or mostly just movies, etc?

Low power and low noise is the way to go, so I wouldn't want to run those 6800's too long... But since they're paid for that is a different story.

I currently use this passively cooled Radeon HD4670 in my HTPC...

http://www.bigbruin.com/2009/sapphire4670_1

I don't see it for sale right now, but do see other passive 4670 cards with HDMI (and DVI of course) built in for $70+.

Could go into the HD5XXX series for over $100 for better gaming... Or down to the GeForce GTX210 series for under $30 and still have HDMI and DirectX10.

Kilamon · Rated XXX Joined: 22 Mar 2005 Posts: 811

This will be just movies. No expectation for games at this time. I was thinking I'd put in a Blu-Ray drive and dedicate it to running XBMC with a network connection to the primary server where all the data actually lives, that way I can get away with using a USB stick boot to remove another moving part.

That video card looks the business. What sort of native resolution did you get on the HDMI? I noticed that when I used the 6x cards on a DVI-HDMI conversion, the edges of the screen were off of the visible screen. I think that there must be a control to manually set the resolution to the native screen resolution that was not available from the 6800 (1280x720 on my screen)

ninx · Rated PG Joined: 12 Jan 2010 Posts: 2

Have you considered a pre-built HTPC? A good source is NinX Media PCs.

BeerCheeze · Posted: Wed, 13 Jan 2010 01:06:34 Post Subject:

ninx · Rated PG Joined: 12 Jan 2010 Posts: 2

acruxksa · Posted: Fri, 15 Jan 2010 03:04:25 Post Subject:

Kilamon,
You may want to seriously consider getting one of the Radeon 5000 series cards because they are purported to have the ability to bit stream hi definition audio. Last time I checked there was no software support, but it was supposed to be on the way. I'll believe it when I see it, but still the future proof potential is there. I touched on some of the pitfalls of blu ray audio and even a bit of HTPC stuff in a couple reviews I did for BB.com this spring and summer. Basically, my impression was that blu ray hi def audio wasn't ready for the pc. I've actually given up on it and purchased a standalone blu ray player. I just got tired of dumping cash on software players that had limited support and had long lists of movies they didn't support. I'm not trying to discourage you, just point out some of the pitfalls with htpc's and blu ray playback. If you aren't interested in HD audio, then the software works much better. In my case however I just couldn't settle for the standard digital surround when I knew the HD audio track was available. I often can't tell the difference between them, but there are times when it's a noticeable difference.

I was also able to construct a pretty quite HTPC using an undervolted q6600 running at 1.8Ghz. It was way more cpu than was needed, but I had one handy and wanted to see how it handled blu ray. You could probably get excellent performance and thermal results with an undervolted dual core cpu in the 2.0Ghz or higher range.

WaterRabbit · Posted: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 23:36:51 Post Subject: HTPCs and NinX

Kilamon · Rated XXX Joined: 22 Mar 2005 Posts: 811

Guess I should update this....

Ok, so I decided that the media center/HTPC wasn't enough. It needed data, obviously. So on a dismal weekend, I copied everything to my PC and spare hard drives. In all, I now have about 1.2 tb of movies and music. Once I centralized, with a new WD MyBook, I realized I was still short of my target since I had to put the MyBook in Raid0, which is not safe. So, I tore down my old network server (dual 250gb drives in software raid1, Ubuntu Hoary Hedgehog) and put in an old motherboard, tested out all the memory, etc, and had it running ESXi for a week and did a new server install and a OpenFiler ESX Appliance. Problem, I felt, was that the motherboard identified all 4 of my 1tb drives and when I went to raid them, I only got 768gb or 2tb depending on whether I used 3 or 4 drives. My goal was a full 3 tb (I need room to grow). So, I fiddled around and decided that the BIOS needed flashing to update the nvidia raid from 4.8 to 5.0 and now the damned mobo won't post (DFI SLI-DR -- 4 lights showing on post LEDs). Sooo I'm at the point now where I gotta use my other DFI SLI-DR and rebuild the server. I'm just going to do another software raid this time, though. Openfiler gave me that option and allowed me to do all 4 of the tb drives for the max capacity at raid5. I'm still not sure how to get some measure of safety for the 2 250gb drives - I can't get them to raid1 and when I do, ESXi sees right through it and views them both as individual drives.

Oh, the HTPC? Yes, I was going to use the second old DFI board and the sonictower for it, but now I need to get a new mobo, on the cheap, and it has to work with a 350w PSU, and the HIS Radeon HD 4670 (no fan on this bad boy). Since I'm shopping for THAT, I'm trying to keep it cheap and fanless. Not an easy task. Oh, and I got a Blu-Ray drive for the HTPC too. So far, I have the old PSU to use, the new blue-ray and the video card and an old Lian Li case. That leaves just the mobo,cpu, and memory. Hard drive, you say? I'm going to use an 8gb USB stick to boot and use XBMC as the primary interface, using MS SteadyState to ensure that nothing changes on the XP-based machine short of patches.

crowTrobot · Rated R Joined: 17 Mar 2010 Posts: 57

I'm torn between several choices for having a HTPC setup.

Right now I have an old dell system I use for playback. My main concern is the power consumption on that thing is a little too high for my taste and it looks ugly having it in the living room. I have a DLNA capable TV and I am getting that cheap LG BD player ($150-200 USD) that has MKV and DivX playback support so I'm thinking of ditching that HTPC and just running a DLNA server on my computer (once I figure out how).

I feel that if I am going to have an HTPC I should have it able to play PC games so I can play on my TV. The problem is cost. My P4 semi-HTPC uses a lot of power, ugly, hot, huge and can't even play any games.

My option is either to save money and just buy wireless adapters for my BD player and my TV (the adapters for each costs $80 + tax so its $160 at least) plus an HD based 1080p media player like a WD TV Live Air + LG BD/DivX/Mkv player and have my main computer act as a DLNA server since its on 24/7 anyway (just in sleep mode when I'm away) so total cost should be around $500-600 or Should I spend more money and build a new HTPC capable of gameplay and something that is lighter on the electricity bill like the new i3s + 5000 series ATI?