It's official. I need an HTPC.

volksman · 2007-01-22, 04:15 PM

Hey All!

So I've been playing with an HTPC for a little over a year now and have sold myself and my wife on the idea of always having one that is working order, pretty and silent.

Currently we use an old beat up 17" case with older MB and Chip and cheap ass power supply. It does the trick but is noisy and not very attractive under a TV.

So I'm looking for options. I don't have a lot of cash to spend on the upgrade.

I've read a little about Hush PCs but they seem to be full blown PCs. Not just components. It also seems that they use 2.5 inch drives or may be limited in that department. I currently have a few 3.5" drives that don't need to be replaced.

I also already have two Hauppauge cards I can use so I don't really need any of that gear either.

I would like to replace the CPU and MB but can live with what I have.

So can anyone point me in a good direction here? I'm looking for a kit I guess that can be customized to what I need and isn't all proprietary parts (for future upgrades).

volksman · 2007-01-22, 04:47 PM

hahahah..hit the banner dude... Smile

Ok anywhere else other than Tranquil? Looking for something in Canada preferably.

volksman · 2007-01-22, 05:36 PM

Anyone have any experience with this board? ASUS M2NPV-VM. I'm wondering if the on board vid is good or would i want a better vid card? Also the TV out, any good?

rowle1jt · 2007-01-22, 06:06 PM

Don't know much about the ASUS board, and don't have time to look right now; but I can tell you this:

I have an MSI board that has the GeForce 6150 on board w/ tv out. I love it! you can use S-Video or Component (RGB) to get your video out. I use S-video and looks good on my 27" (non-HD) screen. I don't do hi-def so I don't know how it would do for that. But I am pleased with the 6150 on board video. Smile

Torque · 2007-01-23, 02:06 AM

My friend has the s939 version of that Asus board. It's very solid. I'm building up a new PVR based on the same board as rowle1jt. Both have the 6150 chipset.

I'm really happy with the Coolermaster ATC case. Only complaint is it takes only an mATX board, but since I'm not currently using any more than 2 pci slots, it's not a big deal. And if I wanted more, I could probably hawk one or both of my PVR150s for some dually cards. Case takes a standard ATX PSU but isn't any bigger than my Yamaha receiver so it blends in very nice and is super quiet.

pastro · 2007-01-23, 02:12 AM

Antec has a B stock page that has good deals although there isn't anything that exciting on it right now. Anyway, you might check once a week to see if they put anything better up.

volksman · 2007-01-23, 02:46 PM

sweet! thanks for the info guys!

So far after some reading around (gotta love Google) this is my new build spec:

ASUS M2NPV-VM
AMD 3200+
Antec Fusion case
Zalman CNB7000B fan
1 Gig of RAM

Will use a USB2 and 150 unit from Hauppage as the cap source for now. May change that up for a DVB in the future though.

I priced out the above to be roughly $550 from a Canadian supplier which falls right in my price range...

Comments appreciated!

dvasco · (This post was last modified: 2007-01-26, 05:46 PM by dvasco.)

That Antec Fusion case is awesome. Coworker says to go with ABIT NF-M2 nView Socket AM2. It has more postive reviews than the ASUS M2NPV-VM at Newegg.com

volksman · 2007-01-26, 12:58 PM

Thanks for the info dvasco!

I'm a HUGE fan of ASUS. I've never had a problem with any of my ASUS boards. However that Abit board does have a few features over the ASUS so now I will have to consider it...Plus that funky blue! Smile

While I was comparing them I realized that I need a serial port on the machine for a straight through null modem cable, which neither board has. A quick search in Google shows there are USB to Serial cables which may do the trick but a straight null modem is kinda rare (usually there is a twist in them). Anyone know if such a beast exists and if they work properly?

weisguy · 2007-01-26, 05:37 PM

Another suggestion would be to completely hide the device behind your entertainment center. The only thing I have exposed on mine are the Hauppauge remote sensor and an external DVD-ROM drive used as a DVD player. You could then use all the typical super-quiet PC components, like a fan-controller turned down low, a Zalman CPU cooler, and a power supply like my favorite:

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=24500

You might troll through everyone's setup pictures in the following thread for ideas:

http://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php?t=13722

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