Thinking of setting up a HTPC

[silkstone]

Hi guys,

I have a few spare parts lying around, enough to make a e8400 system, i'm either going to sell it or make a HTPC and hook it up to my network and TV.

Having never done this before, i have no idea what i need in terms of TV card and what it would be capable of.

Ideally i would like to be able to use Windows media centre and have the ability to pause and record TV... is that possible?

I have seen an AVerTV Volar GO for a fairly reasonable price, would this be capable of doing what i want or would i need something different? Is there anything else i would need? i see it comes with a Remote, but i'm guessing, this wouldn;t be compatible with Windows media centre, right?

Thanks for any help guys.

[erixx]

Just check your HTPC video out and TV-set video IN matching. Ideal is HDMI, becaos it ports sound + video. If the TV is older you might need Composite or S-Video out on your videocard.

For recording, an USB HDTV part is enough.

Remotes: I only use a small wireless keyboard with mousepad for everything from the sofa (passwords, internet surfing, youtube searching, file exploring...). I have already too many remotes anyway and I never used the included remotes of TV-cards or sticks (I must have about 6 unused then .

[silkstone]

Originally Posted by erixx

Just check your HTPC video out and TV-set video IN matching. Ideal is HDMI, becaos it ports sound + video. If the TV is older you might need Composite or S-Video out on your videocard.

For recording, an USB HDTV part is enough.

Remotes: I only use a small wireless keyboard with mousepad for everything from the sofa (passwords, internet surfing, youtube searching, file exploring...). I have already too many remotes anyway and I never used the included remotes of TV-cards or sticks (I must have about 6 unused then .

Cool, thx.

Yea i will get an 5xxx with hdmi for the TV, is it practical to use this kind of setup as my primary tv viewing experience? i.e. watch TV and do everything else through the HTPC so i can stick to one remote?

[erixx]

yes, I doo. Switch the TV on with its remote and forget it.

But depending on your HTPC hardware, of course it can take longer to boot up and you have to wait more to play music, or TV or movies... But in my case I have a low end 4 core AMD whatever processor, but with nearly no shit programms installed and it boots very fast compared to a much more powerfull desktop but with dozens of peripherals and software.

Good luck

[CJCerny]

You need to do a little more investigation about the TV recording thing. In the United States anyway, depending on how you receive your TV programming, you may or may not be able to record it with a PC. If you get your programming over with air with an antenna, you can likely record it. If you get your programming from a cable TV provider or a satellite TV provider, you will likely not be able to record it. How do you receive your TV programming?

[silkstone]

i'm getting cable piped down a regular coax cable, just like the antenna. No decoder or anything and afaik it's not digital.

Should work, right?

[CJCerny]

Yes, you should be able to record it if it analog cable TV. You need to buy a TV tuner card that has an analog cable TV tuner in it. Be careful to purchase a card with that kind of tuner.

[CJCerny]

You will also need to research whether or not Media Center is able to get TV program listings for where you are. If you can not get those from the Internet, you will not be able to search or record by program name, which greatly reduces the usefulness of Media Center.

[brandonwh64]

While using spare parts would be nice for a HTPC but wouldn't a E8400 get very hot using quite cooling?

Honestly I would look at a cheap sandy bridge CPU with a H61 Motherboard and 4GB of DDR3

Intel Pentium Dual-Core G620T Sandy Bridge 2.2GHz LGA 1155 35W Dual-Core Desktop Processor = 82.99$

ASUS P8H61-M LE/CSM (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard = 54.99$

GeIL Pristine 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model = 20.99$

APEX DM-318 Black Steel Micro ATX Media Center / Slim HTPC Computer Case w/ ATX12V Flex 275W Power Supply = 39.99$ + 9.99$ Shipping

Total = 208.95

OR!

Find used AMD Am2+ mATX motherboard (at least 780G) with Athlon X2 CPU (Around 4400+) and 2GB of DDR2 (667/800mhz) Then purchase the case above