MY new HTPC

[ktr]

Hey!

Just want to display my first and budget HTPC build...

Teh specs!

CPU: AMD 4400+X2 -FREE!
Motherboard: EVGA 131-K8-NF44-AX (a Micro ATX mother board with SLI ability! sweet!) -$65
Cooling: Zalman CNPS7000B-Cu LED (funny thing is that the LED version cost LESS than the non-LED on newegg) -$40
Memory: Patriot 2x512mb PC3200 DDR Singature Series (I would go to 2GB but HTPC are not memoy demanding) -FREE!
Video Card: MSI NX7600GT Diamond Plus PCI-E 256MB with HDMI & HDCP (Kinda hard to get this card...runs the coolest, the fastest, the quietest and has HDCP & VIVO...compared to the other cards in the same genre) -$175
Harddisk: Seagate 320GB SataII Perpendicular Recording (PR is a great technology.) -$85
CD/DVD Drive: External Plextor DVD-RW (BR/HDDVD in the future) -FREE!
Case: Antec NSK2400 MicroATX (great case) -$70
Sound Card: Realtek AC'97 (SPDIF for output -$0
PSU: Antec 380W PSU -$0
Software: WINDOWS XP Media Center Edition -FREE!
Capture Card: Twinhan 102g DVB PCI Card -$65

Teh Pics!

Case front

Case Back

Getting spdif to the MSI to Hdmi...

Top down shot

Binded Cables

Neatly routed HDD cables

Neatly routed Power cables

Close down shot (look how the 4pin is routed)

Shiny card! (where the spdif cable goes)

Little more cable management

EDIT! OK... i have installed the Zalman Fanmate2 fan controller...because that zalman is the only thing loud atm...

Located on the back...

Tightly bundled cable...its such a long cable.

Cable goes under fan and out...

Well thats about it...if you have questions on any of the parts just haller back.

-KTR

 

[ex_reven]

thats absolutely beautiful
i love it

are you gonna use it for anything other than watching dvds? ?

 

[ex_reven]

btw did your old parts come from your upgraded pc?

 

[ktr]

thats absolutely beautiful
i love it

are you gonna use it for anything other than watching dvds? ?

Thank!

It does have a satellite card in it, so i can get quality feed. Plus it will up convert any mpeg video to near HD and de-interlace them to progressive scan.

btw did your old parts come from your upgraded pc?

nope

 

[ex_reven]

nope

Then parts = free
how?

 

[ktr]

Then parts = free
how?

secret...

if you look closely..the patriots have the same factor specs, but are not the same (one has dimm with a red PCB, and the other is simm with a green pcb...Lolz)

also that plastic you see behind the cpu actually creates suction from the rear of the case when the top is closed...i really like and recommend this case!

 

[ex_reven]

does it take any MATX board?

 

[Easy Rhino]

does that tv card capture 1080p ? if so, how does your videocard react to streaming 1080p while your tv card records another channel in HD ? oh and is that sound card 7.1 digital with fiber out?

 

[pt]

pretty cool man
an sli in there and it would become a very good rig for games

 

[ex_reven]

lol "GAMING HTPC"

makes sense to me

 

[pt]

lol "GAMING HTPC"

makes sense to me

yes it does

 

[ex_reven]

why dont you turn it into a laptop then while we are at it

 

[ktr]

does it take any MATX board?

of course...

does that tv card capture 1080p ? if so, how does your videocard react to streaming 1080p while your tv card records another channel in HD ? oh and is that sound card 7.1 digital with fiber out?

All DVB cards capture cards capture mpeg2, reguardless of resolution or scanning. It is the decoders job to well...decode the feed into HD / deinterlace. A good one would be Nvidia's purevideo etc...

Streaming and recording goes very smooth. The thing is before it decodes...it buffers feed to the hdd-->decodes to hdd--->display...when recording, all you do is make a copy of the "decodes to hdd".

Yea the mobo has both fiber and coxial...but digital signal is still digital signal (nothing but on and off, 1 and 0)...so the quality or performance doesnt differ between the two.

pretty cool man
an sli in there and it would become a very good rig for games

maybe in the future...but this card is hard to come by...

 

[ktr]

Added Zalman Fanmate2...pics on first post.

 

[Frogger]

Wondering what app your using on the Twinhan 102g DVB PCI Card for the sat sig?

 

[Lazzer408]

KTR I like it! Does it stay cool?

 

[ktr]

Wondering what app your using on the Twinhan 102g DVB PCI Card for the sat sig?

i use MyTheater...no more questions on this if you know FTA...and the dark side of it...then you know where i am going.

KTR I like it! Does it stay cool?

Cpu stays around 30-35 on idle and goes around 45ish...and GPU is around 39 idle and 50 when doing HD.

 

[Frogger]

i use MyTheater...no more questions on this if you know FTA...and the dark side of it...then you know where i am going..

K

 

[ktr]

Funny thing is that my htpc beats my gaming rig...(tempted to switch...lol)

 

[Darksaber]

were did you get that evga mATX board from? I want one, but there are none to be found in austria...

cheers
DS

 

[ktr]

I got that one off newegg...

 

[Darksaber]

I got that one off newegg...

Well they do not ship to austria...anyone want to buy one for me? and ship it to Austria? (I would paypal you the money)

Edit:
On second thought, I will wait till christmas and upgrade the entire PC of mine ehehe

cheers
DS

 

[ktr]

OMG...PUREVIDEO is a MUST for htpc! I cant believe how well crappy quality videos look like after being de-interlaced and upcoverted and displayed on a 61in 1080p hdtv...***drool***

 

[Frogger]

OMG...PUREVIDEO is a MUST for htpc! I cant believe how well crappy quality videos look like after being de-interlaced and upcoverted and displayed on a 61in 1080p hdtv...***drool***

DL the PUREVIDEO yesterday for my htpc saw a fantastic improvement in the output in my plasma on the MT app thks for the heads up .F

 

[unsmart]

Did you see the review on tom's where they compared ATI's AVIVO to NV PUREVIDIO? It's a really in depth article and has some tips on optimizing DVD play back. ATI comes out on top with less cpu usage and better image quality. I've read another review using blue ray disk that had the opposite out come but who can afford one anyway. Here's the link http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/01/09/avivo-vs-purevideo/
It's a good read if building a HTPC.