New HTPC

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MattB
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Joined: 09 Aug 2011, 08:24

New HTPC

Post by MattB »

I am thinking of building a new Media Center/Home Theater PC setup. Its primary function is to be a DVD/Blu-Ray player and a (umm ... legally downloaded) HD movie player/library. WiFi/LAN capability for YouTube etc. would also be nice. With that in mind I came up with this set up:

CASE: SILVERSTONE MILO SERIES 3 HTPC TOWER

PSU: GIGABYTE ODIN GZ-ODIN-370-C2 (370W)

MOTHERBOARD: GIGABYTE GA-B75M-D3H

HDD: SEAGATE BARRACUDA SV35.5 ST3000VX000 (3TB, 7200RPM, SATA 6G)

OPTICAL: LITE-ON IHES212 BLU-RAY COMBO

RAM: KINGSTON VALUERAM KVR1333D3N9/2G (2 x 2GB)

CPU: INTEL CORE I3-2105 (DUAL-CORE 3.1GHZ)

CPU COOLER: COOLER MASTER VORTEX 211Q

WIFI: CANYON CNP-WF518N2 WIRELESS ADAPTER

This should have more than ample space for movies etc. as well as be powerful enough to display Blu-Ray movies via HDMI for a total cost of R5920. I don't think there is anything wrong with that setup. The reason I am posting on here though is the issue of HD recording. Could I record HD content from my HD PVR onto the PC via something like a BlackMagic Intensity Pro? Would it be worth the R2000 for the HDMI that may not even work due to HDCP? Any help here would be great. Thanks.

Update: Added another 2GB of RAM
Last edited by MattB on 28 Sep 2012, 20:16, edited 1 time in total.
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Ron2K
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Re: New HTPC

Post by Ron2K »

Regarding the rig, there's little that I would fault. I'd stay away from wireless for any serious streaming within your local network (it would suffice for web browsing though, and YouTube would be included in that category), and I'd up the RAM to 4 GB, but other than that, I think it looks fine. And yes, the i3 onboard graphics are more than adequate for an HTPC setup (in fact, Intel nowadays has raised the onboard graphics bar high enough that one only really requires a dedicated card for CAD/3D design/gaming/that kind of thing).

Unfortunately, I don't know enough about recording HD content from PVR devices (in fact, I have no knowledge of this at all!) to be able to give you a useful answer to that question. There are folks around here that I believe are knowledgeable regarding this kind of thing (naughty comes to mind), so just wait until they show up.
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Stuart
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Re: New HTPC

Post by Stuart »

The old school character in me wants to see some sort of dedicated graphics card in that rig, but I guess the right thing to do would be to go as suggested and see if need for anything dedicated arises. What iRon says about the i3 onboard is probably correct.
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naughty
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Re: New HTPC

Post by naughty »

Unfortunately, I don't know enough about recording HD content from PVR devices (in fact, I have no knowledge of this at all!) to be able to give you a useful answer to that question. There are folks around here that I believe are knowledgeable regarding this kind of thing (naughty comes to mind), so just wait until they show up.
i have not tried copying from the PVR - it is definitely difficult due to the HDCP so i have used alternative means to procure the same content far more easily

i have had lots of success with dvd and blu-ray backup though but thats very different from getting stuff off a set-top-box
the i3 onboard graphics are more than adequate for an HTPC setup
in theory the Intel HD2000 graphics are good enough but sometimes you will get a bit of glitching and possibly some stuttering depending on the video formats you playback - to ensure that this does not happen i reckon using an ivy bridge based processor with the HD4000 graphics engine will help but im not sure that the budget ivy bridge chips are available yet and also some of those will be using the HD2500 graphics engine (my personal minimum for glitch free HD video would still remain the HD4000 otherwise an inexpensive dedicated multimedia graphics card would be advisable)

still not the hugest train smash because multimedia capable graphics cards are not expensive - i got a sapphire HD6450 for around 600 bucks for my microserver and im sure if you dont want 3D playback capability then even a GT210 or HD5450 would do and you can get those starting at around R350 to R400

EDIT : forgot to mention that i agree with Ron about the wireless ..... rather go Gigabit wired - what you could also do is to get a cheap Gigabit switch and use a wired Gigabit network for multimedia playback and connect your router to that to distribute the internet over the network ..... still have the wireless functionality for the laptop and tablets and phones etc but for serious multimedia playback over HTPC's and media players you use the wired solution

the one i got is the Sitecom 8port - but there is a 5 port one available cheaper - so it depends on the size of your network

8 port switch
http://www.pricecheck.co.za/offers/1177 ... it+Switch/

5 port switch
http://www.pricecheck.co.za/offers/1177 ... it+Switch/

its cheap and easy and you just add the router that you have to the network over one of the ports and you can share the internet as well integrate all your wireless stuff
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