Dream Machine - Starting from Scratch - TV via coax

[Seanmike]

Guys and gals,

I'd like feedback on a good, close to best, setup on a brand new system based on what I have to work with. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Please move if my noob experience put this in the wrong discussion area.

Budget $1000 or less
TV input Standard cable via coax, no set top box - Splitter sending one coax to cable modem/wifi and the other coax free to system
AV Receiver 5.1 surround, HDMI input and output - Sound output
TV Samsung 46" Smart TV, HDMI input - TV output

What I'm looking for is a good base desktop with speed to record while watching live TV. Also looking for 1080i TV (HD for HD channels) and full surround sound for channels that support this too.

I build PC's without issues and I am not intimidated in the least bit Here is what I'd like input based on above info. Let me know if further details are needed.

Desktop fast base model with windows 8 installed (or Win 7 but hard to find) or motherboard, chipset combo deemed good - Prefer first to save time and for system compatibility already ironed out with OS
TV Tuner Ability to take standard USA cable with no set top box
Video Card HDMI output, no need for gaming or DVD as the PS4 has this part covered
Audio 5.1 surround, can work with video card to either send digital sound via one HDMI cable or via optical

Thanks in advance guys!

[johnsonx42]

you need to be more specific about "standard cable via coax, no set top box". what does that mean? analog cable? digital "clearQAM" cable with no cablecard? encrypted cable with a cablecard? the answer to that strongly influences the tv tuner choice.

the rest of it is up to you, nothing special is required. NPVR doesn't need much horsepower. These days I wouldn't bother with a video card or audio card (I'm dropping my Radeon HD4550 when I rebuild my system soon), I'd just choose a system or motherboard with HDMI. The modern CPU-integrated video cores from AMD and Intel are quite good for video playback (even AMD's pre-fusion chipset-integrated video was very good).

also, given that you have a Samsung smart tv, you may get good results from Fred250's Samsung app: http://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php...post475086. Depend on which model TV you have, it may work so well you don't even need to have the computer hooked up to the TV directly (other than over the network of course).

[cbgifford]

I prefer Intel over AMD, been around so long that when AMD was truly the clone chip maker there were issues with compatibility but that is no more. I'm a computer gear head, more power! My initial build with NPVR was an I3 in a Silverstone HT case with 3 2250 and 1 1600 Hauppauge board hooked up to clear QAM cable, which is coming harder and harder to find now that the FCC changed the rules. So I switched to OTA. The I3 had no issues recording 3 HD streams and 4 SD streams while watching a HD stream, however, it got taxed when it started streaming to clients under that load. I bumped to an I7 Intel core and those problems went away. I also use WD Black 7200 RPM drives in a stripe which helps a great deal though I've read 5400 RPM drives function with no issues recording three streams and watching another. You don't need a graphics card if the motherboard has a built in HDMI port and almost all MB do now. 4 Gigs of ram should be sufficient but 8 never hurt

Good luck and enjoy the fun!

P.S.

Windows 7 Pro can be had at Newegg or Tigerdirect for about $139

[SickBoy]

you need to be more specific about "standard cable via coax, no set top box". what does that mean? analog cable? digital "clearQAM" cable with no cablecard? encrypted cable with a cablecard? the answer to that strongly influences the tv tuner choice.

the rest of it is up to you, nothing special is required. NPVR doesn't need much horsepower. These days I wouldn't bother with a video card or audio card (I'm dropping my Radeon HD4550 when I rebuild my system soon), I'd just choose a system or motherboard with HDMI. The modern CPU-integrated video cores from AMD and Intel are quite good for video playback (even AMD's pre-fusion chipset-integrated video was very good).

also, given that you have a Samsung smart tv, you may get good results from Fred250's Samsung app: http://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php...post475086. Depend on which model TV you have, it may work so well you don't even need to have the computer hooked up to the TV directly (other than over the network of course).

^^ what he said, and also: do you want the PC to be connected directly to the TV, or do you want to play back through a network client of some form?

I have a MicroATX case that is about the size of an older stereo receiver, when I was running everything off that box I was (somewhat) happier than I am now, with just the one machine directly playing LiveTV and the recordings. I've since moved the server functionality to my desktop machine in the basement and have futzed with a bunch of different clients, and (so far) none of them have been as satisfying of an experience as using NPVR directly.

[Seanmike]

Johnsonx,

Thank you for the info. The incoming cable on the coax is coming from a DiSH network hookup at the apartment complex. They say it's broadcast channels. I won't have access to the box that distributes the feed, so I'm thinking it will be a digital antenna if all else fails to get the basic channels. I haven't moved in to the apartment to figure out if it is clear QAM. I should do my homework on what happens when one DiSH system is used to supply the broadcast channels to a whole apartment complex.

This is all the info I have on the cable coming into the apartment: http://edwardrose.com/activek_apps/edros...m/fiel.pdf

It says to tune the "antenna" part for broadcast channels. I've never used DiSH before so are local broadcast received a different way? I did check on the apartment models TV and its HD 16:9 on channels that support it.

Also I understand Bloom Broadband is kind of a joke, I've got work arounds planned for that. It's the whole DiSH / broadcast I need to learn about.

[Seanmike]

Sick boy,

I'd like the PC to run directly to the TV to start from its HDMI port now that I've found out info thanks to all of your guys input. So I guess from PC to AV Receiver for surround sound and from AV receiver to TV. My old Comcast box used to display DUI in this setup.

To clarify my last post, no cable card or analog I believe but straight digital tuning. If that doesn't work a straight digital antenna will be used if all else fails.

[johnsonx42]

Johnsonx,

Thank you for the info. The incoming cable on the coax is coming from a DiSH network hookup at the apartment complex. They say it's broadcast channels. I won't have access to the box that distributes the feed, so I'm thinking it will be a digital antenna if all else fails to get the basic channels. I haven't moved in to the apartment to figure out if it is clear QAM. I should do my homework on what happens when one DiSH system is used to supply the broadcast channels to a whole apartment complex.

This is all the info I have on the cable coming into the apartment: http://edwardrose.com/activek_apps/edros...m/fiel.pdf

It says to tune the "antenna" part for broadcast channels. I've never used DiSH before so are local broadcast received a different way? I did check on the apartment models TV and its HD 16:9 on channels that support it.

Also I understand Bloom Broadband is kind of a joke, I've got work arounds planned for that. It's the whole DiSH / broadcast I need to learn about.

I don't think they're saying those channels are coming from Dish, they're saying you can also get Dish for your apartment; I suspect the channels are coming from the local cable company. In any case, the way it's described I'd say it's very likely that it's plain old analog (they may be receiving the channels in digital form somehow, they could even be getting them from Dish I suppose, but they're redistributing them to your apartment as analog). Get a Hauppauge HVR-2250. It has two tuners with hardware MPEG-2 encoders, so you record two programs at once or record one while watching something else live. The tuners also support digital cable or antenna, just in case I'm wrong about your channels being analog.

[mvallevand]

The tuners also support digital cable or antenna, just in case I'm wrong about your channels being analog.

I'm with you uf they did have some sort if QAM re-distribution system they'd be showing the minor number so this would be analog. @Seanmike that this will not be HD or even 16x9 and no DD 5.1 so it is far from a dream machine.

Martin

[johnsonx42]

Agreed with Martin; if the analog signal you get is really clean and you set your encoding bitrate fairly high, it will look pretty decent but nowhere near HD. The audio will be plain 2-channel stereo, though you might be able to get your MPEG decoder to upmix it to digital 5.1 (I think AC3 filter can do that, though I wouldn't swear to it).

Obviously I don't know exactly where in Ankeny you live, but Antennaweb.org says your major TV stations are all just north of you about 5-7 miles away. You should be able to pull them in with just a simple indoor antenna, you'll get the best HD picture and sound that way from the major networks, plus a bunch of nice extra channels like ThisTV, MeTV, GetTV, MyTV, AntennaTV; those will likely all be SD, but digital SD from an antenna is usually very high quality and upscales to 1080p nicely.

[Seanmike]

^^ what he said, and also: do you want the PC to be connected directly to the TV, or do you want to play back through a network client of some form?

I have a MicroATX case that is about the size of an older stereo receiver, when I was running everything off that box I was (somewhat) happier than I am now, with just the one machine directly playing LiveTV and the recordings. I've since moved the server functionality to my desktop machine in the basement and have futzed with a bunch of different clients, and (so far) none of them have been as satisfying of an experience as using NPVR directly.

I'm with you uf they did have some sort if QAM re-distribution system they'd be showing the minor number so this would be analog. @Seanmike that this will not be HD or even 16x9 and no DD 5.1 so it is far from a dream machine.

Martin

Marin,

I watched the HD TV in the model apartment that hooks up directly to this coax, and some channels came in SD and others came in at 16:9, no noticeable difference from other HD cable (granted sports would be the true HD test).

I can find workarounds to the cable coming from the coax as Johnsonx states from his post using a superior grade indoor antenna if all else fails. The main thing is to have a machine that'll record one show while watching another and upmix or play standard 5.1 if it does come thru.

So far you all have been a huge help and have taught this newbie a great deal. Had I not come to this forum and did this on my own I would have wasted a ton of money on useless parts. I appreciate all your input. I'm still always game for me