recommendations for new build..

[trekuhl]

Hi all, this is my first PVR build, i have been wanting to get around to this for some time now. I have been eying GBPVR for a few months and i think i am ready to make the plunge.

I already have some spare items around the house I plan on using for my build:

1. XP pro
2. 2800+ AMD (barton socket A)
3. 512 MB DDR3200 Kingston Value Ram
4. 400GB UATA Seagate
5. GBPVR (*FREE)

PARTS TO BUY:

1. Power Supply: i was thinking of the seasonic 380W ($77; newegg) I have used Antec's for over 40 builds in the past several years, but the price and reviews on how quiet this PS is seem right for this project.
2. Tuner? i was leaning towards Hauppage, i would ideally want dual tuning capability, so its seems either two 150 or one 500 card. definately want onboard mpeg2 decoder to take strain off CPU.
3. REmote definately need a remote, so many different posts regarding this issue still unsure on what would work best
4. CPU cooler something fanless, or zalman low RPM
5. MotherBoard if i stick with the Barton, then socket A otherwise i could go to a 754 or even 939 and get a new processor and try to keep the new processor $$$ around $100-150.
6. video Card no choices yet, woudl go fanless - outputting to my Harmon Kardon AVR 635 and then to a 32inch sony trinitron tube (old, not flat)
7. Case TBD, depends on how much everything else costs... i like the nmedia 200SA because it would blend superbly with the AVR 635 but since I want to run fanless lian li seems to have very well vented cases...silverstone has some nic offerings as well.

That seems to cover most of the major points. One key thing is that i would run this HTPC through my Harmon Kardon 635 receiver, probably S-Vid and coax/spdif for audio, hopefully wouldnt need to run both coax ad standard L/R analog audio. If i find a killer mobo that 754 or 939 socket I don't have any qualms buying a newer processor at a minimal cost. Also thought about turning my athlon 2800 into a mobile version for reduction power/heat, but that seems to severely hamper mobo selection. Want to run the whole unit basically fanless or put in some very large low RPM fans...

Any thoughts/ideas/comments from current GBPVR users would be very welcome!

[alpine1]

Power Supply?
Nice quiet power supply that puts out enough power for your needs.

Tuner?
With all the problems I've had, I hate to suggest the PVR 150 but it seems this card is the most well support card right now (by GBPVR and other similar programs). Unless you're short for PCI slots, I would get 2 PVR 150 over 1 PVR 500.

Remote?
PVR 150 comes with a usable 45-button remote thats well supported by GBPVR unless you need to control more devices.

CPU Coolor?
Find a nice quiet one. Maybe you can go fanless with the 2800+? I'm using a Zalman.

Motherboard?
I'm using a P4PE2-X with my Celeron 2G. You may want to ask around for one thats compatible with the 2800+ you have and the PVR 150.

Video Card?
Not that important for HTPC but get a decent card. I'm using a cheaper ATI card.

Case?
Depending on your budget and taste.



Here's my HTPC I use in the bedroom.

[trekuhl]

now that i think about it, i have two video cards readily available, an old ATI 9600Pro 8x AGP and i recently built a new dual-core athlon system with a pci-e 512MB ati x1600 which turns out to be incompatible with the mobo on that setup (asus a8n-sli premium).

i chose the 150 tuner since it seems to be the most supported according to all the documentation on this site...if i run two cards can they both be run from a single remote (thought I saw somewhere on here that was an issue)

[alpine1]

now that i think about it, i have two video cards readily available, an old ATI 9600Pro 8x AGP and i recently built a new dual-core athlon system with a pci-e 512MB ati x1600 which turns out to be incompatible with the mobo on that setup (asus a8n-sli premium).

i chose the 150 tuner since it seems to be the most supported according to all the documentation on this site...if i run two cards can they both be run from a single remote (thought I saw somewhere on here that was an issue)

I have the A8N-SLI Premium as well on a different machine. My HTPC is a dedicated machine running just GBPVR without any plugins. So far seems very reliable other than some minor issues I have with GBPVR. No need to use the latest greatest on a PVR, you're just wasting energy and money. Not to mention its harder to cool these new faster processors.

I currently have 2 PVR 150 installed. My sources are from 2 cable connection and 1 Directv connection. Works well so far. All the recording and scheduling is done transparently so you only need 1 remote to operate GBPVR. I'm using my Sony remote that I learned the codes from the 45 button Hauppauge remote.

[trekuhl]

oh no im not planning on using my sli premo on this..that is my dedicated phothsop/vegas/after effects machine...the only thing i would yank from there is the video card since i am currently running it in VGA mode and i cant do any intensive work without lockups...im not startin a big animation project for another few months, so i figured i'd wait and sapphire would fix the issue or i'd wait since prices will continue to decline.

i completely plan on using the 2800 Barton, or going cheapest athlon 64/sempron route if i need to get pci-e to use the above card from my main rig. the current board the Barton was causing a lot of issues and i noticed a popped transistor, otherwise i would jsut use all those compenents and just need case and tuner...

i may be able to program my harmon kardon remote...my sony tv is from 98 so its old skool (but still kickin) i just wondered if the hauppage remote would work both cards or if its a null point since one card would be the "main" tuner and the other would be the "record" tuner

[herbs]

I have the seasonic 380w and can say it is very quiet, well worth it.

[limiter]

I just completed my rebuild and I went with an AMD Sempron64 3000+, ASUS K8N mobo (I would avoid Via boards if you are getting a Hauppage card), I am using 1 PVR500, 1 PVR250 (mostly because of the remote 'cause i'm cheap), and a FusionHDTV5 Lite.

For processor cooling I am using an ARCTIC COOLING Silencer64UltraTC (http://www.arctic-cooling.com/). In my experience it is dead quiet. The video card I am using is an MSI Nvidia 6200 because it offered cheap HD output and had no fan. I know it's dumb but I spend as little as possible on power supplies, but I always go for something quiet. I got COOLMAX CX-300 300Watt supply with 3 sound settings, the lowest being pretty quiet but definitely not silent. I got 300watts because it is on all the time and I figured it was better then running a 450 or 500 24/7.

For my case I was using an Silverstone LC11M (http://silverstonetek.com) which was slim, but did not offer the space I wanted for extra cards so I bought a LC17. I lost the cool LCD screen, but gained a ton of space.

[gEd]

if you already have a barton cpu and an ati 9600 pro, then you just need a suitable mobo, either atx or m-atx. This way you can build a pc on a tight budget - you don't want to throw too much money at old technology.

If you go for a full size ATX, an NF7-S would be excellent as it gives you great control over clock speeds and volts. Also it has a very good onboard sound chip.

The 9600pro can be cooled passively with a zalman heatsink (that's what i have) - I would have thought that the x1600 would be relatively noisy and is way over the top for output to an analogue tv.

Are there any passive heatsinks available for socket A? If you did find one, they do require very good airflow from the case to keep them cool. You are not going to be able to build a fanless system using the barton chip (unless you get a zalman watercooling tower)

better to get a zalman heatsink and fan - very quiet. Get a decent mobo and you may be able to underclock/undervolt it.