Modest HTPC build, long time reader - first time poster

[arnim]

Well, I've been scheming this build for about two months now... skimming the forums here and a few other communities late at night. I just ordered all the parts for my new HTPC and I plan on using gbpvr to run it. I thought I'd post the build in the hopes of getting some feedback from the community. I plan on posting my results, good or bad, and hopefully give something back to the community if I can. Thanks to all of you whos posts I've learnt from in the last few months, I was able to save myself a lot of time and money because of your efforts.

In short, I'm planning on a dual HD/SD tuner set up for a single HD-TV via DVI output. Future plans include 5.1 surround sound system and possible a second TV via MediaMVP or something similar. For now it will be very basic, I'm only buying one tuner card and I plan on using the remote that comes with the tuner card for now (I imagine HIP will be useful). Once I get the basic system running I'll probably be adding another tuner card right away.

If you have any pointers or comments, please post.

Specs:

nMEDIAPC HTPC 300SA Silver Aluminum / Plastic ATX Slim Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6811204008

ABIT IP-95 LGA 775 VIA P4M890 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.as...6813127017

Intel Pentium D 805 Smithfield 2.66GHz LGA 775 Processor Model HH80551PE0672MN - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.as...6819116249

GIGABYTE GV-NX73G128D-RH GeForce 7300GS 512MB(128MB on board) GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.as...6814125033

KWORLD ATSC-110 PCI Interface Digital / Analog HDTV Tuner - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.as...6815100140

Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.as...6822144417

Total cost of the machine is roughly around $400
http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wish...er=5681148


The motherboard was a great find for me because it supports the Core2Duo as well as the Pentium D and DDR/DDR2 memory. To start with I'll be using a Pentium D processor and a gig stick of DDR400 that I have laying around but down the road I could give it a boost by getting a Core2Duo processor and/or DDR2 memory. Downside was that it's only a microATX board (just 2 PCI slots) and it only has 5.1 audio with not SPDF/coaxial output - just the stereo jacks I think.

I'm not sure about the KWorld tuner card but it got good reviews on newegg and I figured it would be worth a shot, although it doesn't have a hardware encoder for SD tuning, I think my machine is beefy enough to handle it. If anybody has specific experience with that card I'd appreciate the info.

Thanks
-arnim

[pastro]

KWORLD ATSC-110 PCI Interface Digital / Analog HDTV Tuner - Retail

I'm not sure about the KWorld tuner card but it got good reviews on newegg and I figured it would be worth a shot, although it doesn't have a hardware encoder for SD tuning, I think my machine is beefy enough to handle it. If anybody has specific experience with that card I'd appreciate the info.

Thanks
-arnim

I think your intuition on the Kworld might be right. A friend of mine eventually got it going but in the process it got the nickname the Kworld of hurt. I thought there were some reviewers that didn't think much of the fringe reception. My friend lives fairly close to the towers and uses an indoor antenna that works great.

I think the analog tuner is a software encoder and that won't work with GBPVR. The digital should work ok. It sounded from your post that you don't need any analog channels (or composite in either) so maybe it will be ok.
good luck

[stefan]

although it doesn't have a hardware encoder for SD tuning, I think my machine is beefy enough to handle it.

Like pastro said, your machine might handle it, but gbpvr does not natively. There is a plugin for software encoding cards, but it's not developed anymore. A few people have managed to get it working with their cards, but others have failed.

[nak]

Don't know if it's an oversight or not, but your list doesn't show a power supply, and that case you're getting doesn't come with one. Figure another $40 - $80 for one, unless you already have one. (Not sure on the cost of one, I don't know a ton about power supplies, I just used the one that came with my case because I read it would be sufficient and was somewhat quiet.)

Also, you may want to think of getting a bigger hard drive, especially if you're making an HD system. I happen to trust Seagate drive's, and use a 320 GB drive I got for ~$90 at newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6822148139

Of course, that's IDE, and the one in your list is SATA, so if really you want SATA, mine wouldn't fit the bill. That Seagate drive I linked to is the one in my HD GBPVR system, and it has no trouble whatsoever with simultaneous recording/watching of 2 different HD shows, so throughput isn't an issue.

I'm biased toward Seagate myself, since I've had great luck with them, and the one or two drives of mine that have failed early have been other brands, not that I'm trying to start a Holy War about hard drive manufacturers.

Anyway, have fun building your system....

[stefan]

There's no RAM in there either?

[pastro]

I take it you are trying to receive OTA ATSC is that right? I think it also receives QAM but not any of the encrypted stations.

[arnim]

All good questions/input

I was the most hesitant about the tuner card (hence only buying one). I've seen posts where people got similar cards to work so I thought I'd take a crack at it... can you guys recommend a better card that supports both HD and QAM tuning (for standard cable, think that's what it's called). I couldn't find any cards that had HD/SD and hardware encoding for SD... I would really appreciate any of your input on that one.

As far as the other hardware goes, I have 1GB of DDR400 RAM and a 400W power supply from older builds that I want to use. I also might use a small IDE hard drive for the OS so that I have the full 250GB for content (wish I could afford more but I can always add more). I wonder if that will slow down the system, running the OS on an IDE hard drive... what do you guys think?

[arnim]

Yeah, didn't mention that... the HD service in the area is pretty good, catch almost everything on an indoor antenna and according to antennaweb.org (think that's what it was) it's all digital signals.

Just OTA HD and QAM for the basic cable channels.

[pastro]

Yeah, didn't mention that... the HD service in the area is pretty good, catch almost everything on an indoor antenna and according to antennaweb.org (think that's what it was) it's all digital signals.

Just OTA HD and QAM for the basic cable channels.

Basic cable in my area is analog. It isn't QAM. Digital cable is QAM here. Are you sure you have QAM?

[pastro]

Also, I "think" the card is a hybrid card and you can't record digital and analog at the same time. I'm not positive of this and in GBPVR it doesn't really matter since the analog side wouldn't be supported.