gbpvr with Sat TV

[rds_correia]

Well, it's all a question of semantics, really.
By VGA I meant Video Graphics Adapter.
It's an addon card and some of them have a "PS/2 like" plug.
I guess that's what you all call S-Video, right?
And I was asking if that would be the only way to go and apparently you have already answered my question .
Sooo, which VGA should I buy and which soundcard should I buy?
Anyone would like to give me their oppinion?
As a matter of fact I need an oppinion on all the hardware that I should buy.
That is, Mobo, CPU, VGA and soundcard.
Thank you all in advance .
Cheers

[stefan]

Ok, I think we're talking about the same thing now =)

[frazer]

Well, where to start?

The first thing I'd say is that if good quality audio and video are a must, and you want to use your scart connecton properly (i.e. with an RGB signal), then I'm not sure you'll beat the XCard I mentioned. It's hard to gauge how different people assess what good quality actually looks like, but I've tried the TV outputs on a Radeon graphics card, my EPIA motherboard, and a Matrox G400- which many consider the best quality TV output of any graphics card- and I don't think any of them match the XCard, although the G400 is definitely ahead of the others.

Further, the Xcard is the only one which has a scart cable that you can buy; the Matrox is designed to output scart RGB, but you have to make your own cable. There is also a specially designed VGA-Scart RGB self made cable which, I believe, takes the normal RGB computer monitor output and thus has to overcome the different synchronisation of the computer RGB output and the RGB signal TVs use. I have not seen how good the quality you get from this method is, so I can't compare.

The cable you mention will just take the s-video output from your motherboard or graphics card, and I think would only work if you're TV takes an s-video signal through the scart socket (many don't), otherwise the picture would be black and white. This cable will never give you the highest quality RGB picture that you might be used to if you've been plugging a DVD or set top box into your TV scart socket.

So really you have to ask yourself what you are expecting; personally I wouldn't go without my XCard at the moment, as I don't want the quality to be any lower than I'd get from a cable or satellite box; in fact, if anything, I think it's better. Of course others might disagree (see the links below to find other opinions on all these matters), but I continue to think it worthwhile to fight through the problems using the XCard gives, as I detailed in my post before (but I warn you, there are problems!). Furthermore, the XCard has SPDIF audio output, so if you're hooking the HTPC up to a A/V receiver, you don't need an additional sound card. (Using the scart connector, the sound is output through the TV as normal).

The only other downside with the XCard scart output is that the connector takes up one of your case's expansion card slots; unless you are handy with a dremmel and want to cut a place for it (it attaches to the XCard and not the motherboard), or better still, build a scart socket into your case and wire that up to the card so that you can use a higher quality scart cable. One of the little things I like about the case I use is that it had a spare slot just for such connecting brackets, where, annoyingly, most cases don't.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Silent-Fan-less-PC...dZViewItem

This is the case I use; it is also fanless and hence the only thing you hear is the hard drive. In it I have the XCard and a Nova-t card. It is a little pricey; but they are asking for "best offers".

Using the hardware Mpeg decoding also takes a huge amount of the strain of HTPC use off your processor, so you can get away with a much lower powered system; and if you choose a slightly larger case than the one I have (and so don't have to use the more expensive EPIA boards) this could be a way of saving money too- or at least offset the cost of the XCard giving you the better picture quality. If I were starting again, I might look at using a Tualatin Pentium 3 or Celeron, which would outstrip the EPIA in CPU power by a long way, but which some people run at very low voltages which require little cooling; and there are plenty of P3 motherboards and Tualatin CPUs for sale on eBay. I suspect with this and the XCard together, GBPVR would run without any of the slight (and momentary) hiccups on calling the OSD.

You might like to look at the Silverstone cases; some of them are little bigger than many set top boxes, but will take M-ATX or even ATX boards, which are cheaper and easier to come by; the in-built PSUs aren't silent like the external ones many mini-ITX cases have are though. If you did go for a larger board though, it will in turn increase your choice of cases, and you might prefer one without a power supply so that you can buy the quietest one you can find; and running a low powered CPU would make it easier to run a PSU at very low, and hence quiet, fan speeds (or even a passively cooled one).

A larger case will also be easier to cool the components in; I'm building two systems, the second in an Accent HTPC case (these pop up on eBay as well, often selling well below the shop price ) which at present has a Pentium 4 in. I am planning to change this to a Pentium M, which runs a lot cooler, but in this relatively roomy case, the P4 actually cools adequately without a fan whilst the Xcard is in use, so I've not been in any hurry to change. There are a number of cheaper, larger cases around which have been designed with HTPC use in mind as well; though often they are deeper than they are wide, which offends my sensibilities for some strange reason!

Anyway, what I'd suggest is a good bit of browsing to get other opinions about building a system from scratch; there really are a number of options, and the right solution will depend on exactly what you want to use your HTPC for, and what your priorities in terms of quality/noise/style and price are. You might also think whether you want it to grow with you; i.e. if you were planning to get a high defintion TV or a flat panel sometime, the EPIAs and the XCard would not handle high definition content (although we can perhaps hope for an HD equivalent of the XCard sometime).

Silverstone cases; http://www.silverstonetek.com/product-case.htm

Discussion sites; http://www.byopvr.com
http://www.htpcnews.com
http://www.avforums.co.uk

Frazer

[sub]

I agree with Frazer that the XCard produces an excellent quality picture, but honestly I wouldnt recommend it. It's poorly supported in GB-PVR, and not at all in most other applications. It also has all sorts of limitations that make it not worth it in my book.

The XCard is no longer actively supported by GB-PVR, so many of the new features I've added dont work with the XCard.