Thoughts on my HTPC spec

[nofam]

This is all very flexible, so please feel free to tell me where I've gone wrong (and right hopefully!)

I'm planning to use this as a PVR to record FreeviewHD (using GB-PVR), as well as a media player using (probably) XBMC as the front end for a server which stores all my media in another part of the house. Everything on the LAN is gigabit.

Case: Silverstone LC03
MoBo: Asus P5QL-E
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E7300
Graphics Card: Asus 9400GT silent
TV Card: Hauppauge Nova T 500HD
PSU: Corsair 450W VX

Anything glaringly wrong here?? All thoughts appreciated!!

Also, what's the major difference between a Nova T 500HD and an HVR-2200? And am I right that Vista is a better choice for an HTPC O/S than XP? (thought I read that somewhere??)

Thanks all!

[pBS]

well, don't believe everything you read, xp and vista both have their strong and weak points...depends on what's important to you...tho hw accell is supposedly more robust under vista, the rest of it sucks bigtime...lol

but why using xbmc as front end for media? just use gbpvr and setup the other machine dirs in video library...unless you already have info on all the other files and want to use a client made for that server..
i tried xbmc for pc and it was horribly slow and resource hungry[and buggy]...

i saw recent post with a nice front-end like apples i-pod touch...[the sliding cover art]
but it required media in separate dirs...
would be sweet if it were able to read tags and movie.xml info w/out each being in own dir..
search for "CoverJuke"
it's a great player for portable thumb drives...no install needed and has own player or use your own...

[Carlito]

but why using xbmc as front end for media? just use gbpvr and setup the other machine dirs in video library...unless you already have info on all the other files and want to use a client made for that server..
i tried xbmc for pc and it was horribly slow and resource hungry[and buggy]...

i saw recent post with a nice front-end like apples i-pod touch...[the sliding cover art]
but it required media in separate dirs...
would be sweet if it were able to read tags and movie.xml info w/out each being in own dir..
search for "CoverJuke"
it's a great player for portable thumb drives...no install needed and has own player or use your own...

Actually, I still use xbmc for windows as my main front end as well. When's the last time you tried the windows version?
Uses next to no resources on my machine under recent builds.
Not sure exactly which section you were referring to, but afaik you shouldn't need media in seperate directories.
it also reads xml based files for movie information with no need for them to be in their own directory. just needs to be named the same as the media with an nfo extension.
I would love if gbpvr would incorporate more user friendly interfaces for video libraries and music libraries, without showing 'file based' directory structures.
if and when that happens, i'll finally have everything I need/want in one app.
I have been checking out a couple of the upcoming plugins that appear to do this, so i can't wait to see how they turn out.

Anywayz, sorry for going off topic from the OP.
Those specs look decent to me, just remember that xbmc has no hardware acceleration, so just make sure you got lots of cpu power (the 7300 should suffice for 1080p if you're planning to have that) I currently run an Core2 8400 (3ghz) and it plays everything I've thrown at it so far
your specs should work great for gbpvr

[Gameross]

Just bought this MB for my new HTPC http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813128358 and am very happy with it. The 1x PCIe slots are nice for HVR-2250s.

I've got my Q6600 2.4Ghz OCed to 3.2Ghz on standard heat sink with 1 click in the included OC utility. Can go higher, but figured why push it with the Intel heat sink.

[TonyXL]

Case: Silverstone LC03

I have this case (black). It looks as good as it does in the pictures. It was pretty easy to work with as far as HTPC cases go. The fact that it's a full ATX size is good. Very sturdy, I've moved/opened/tweaked/closed the guts countless times.

For negatives, the front doors, when opened, fall open very quickly, there's no "slow-motion" opening action. Also, the case uses 2 60mm fans for cooling. At full speed, the fans are fairly noisy. At low speed, they don't move much air. This is just a limitation from the fan size, at this small size, you're kind of limited. I've tried a couple different fans. Just make sure you get a fan controller, or make sure the motherboard allows case fan control, so you can find the right mix of cooling/silence.

Overall, I'm happy with it.