Htpc

[bggsm03]

Going to paraphrase cause I am quite tired.

Am wanting to convert this computer that I now have into an HTPC (one year old this month). Building a new one in it's place. Anyways... specs of this prospective HTPC is a...

AMD Athlon 3800+ 64
2GB DDR2 667 Corsair ValueSelect
evga 7600GT 256
160GB SATA Seagate Barracuda HD
M2N-E mobo
DVD-RW/ROM CD-RW/ROM
Corsair 450 PSU

Basically all I am wanting to do is use it to casually game on the 37" WS... surf the net, and play music through my surround sound (from a shared hard drive on the network).

I am wondering what cables I would need to be able to hook my computer up to my receiver(generally) for it to play through.

Also, what is a good cheap TV tuner card to get (<$100) that will allow me to record and watch TV at the same time. If this is not possible, or is significantly more for a dual tuner tv card, then so be it, I'll go the cheaper route.

Anything else I need to look out for? Don't plan on really worrying too much about the case.. it's a Cooler Master CAV T-05, I really do not care. Just trying to salvage the thing and give it a new (more productive) life. Also, would Windows Media Center be a necessity or more of a bit of "eye candy" type of deal?

Thanks,
Mark

[bggsm03]

Out of the 60 people that have looked at it? Not a one has an answer?

[Katreat]

Sorry you have not gotten any responses but Home Theater is kind of a specialty PC and probably like me many dont really know how to advise you on a build. You might have better luck posting in the Video, Audio and Multimedia forum although that is just a guess.

Kat

[yamahaSHO]

Howdy, I've got two HTPC's so I'll lend a hand. The computer you have will be fine for what you want to do, and you'll be able to watch and upconvert SD material just fine. If you're looking for HD material, you *may* have to upgrade some parts (video card).

Either XP Media Center 2005 or Vista Home Premium would suit you better than regular XP. It will give you a MUCH better interface that you can navigate through from your couch with a remote.

If you're looking for a really good SD TV tuner card, I just happen to have one for sale that comes with a IR receiver and a Media Center remote (remote is brand new as I have too many and never used this particular one). It retails for $100ish, so if you want one, I'll let it go at a decent price. It is a single tuner card, but it may be worth your time to PM me. The model is Hauppauge PVR-150-MCE kit. PM me if you wan it, the card is actually only a couple months used as I upgraded to a hybrid tuner.

For getting sound to your receiver, you can do it several ways:

-There is allways a 3.5mm DIN to RCA to get you stereo sound.
-If you have a multi-channel sound card, you can use the same concept with the adapter cable and hook up all the channels via analog if your receiver accepts it.
-You can also use SPDIF (digital optical or coaxial). This will get you stereo and Dolby Digital/DTS pass through if what your watching is encoded with these.
-Auzentech makes sound cards that will convert everything into Dolby Digital or DTS and send out through SPDIF.

There are a few more options, but these are more common currently.

Hope this helps

[phigdon]

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion...ist=22-148-309

heres a link to the HTPC system I plan on building. if you can use HDMI out to your monitor/TV use it. you can get an adapter from newegg for DVI to HDMI. Heres a cheap tuner card.

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16815310002

I would absolutely recommend Windows Media Center and remember to get a WMC remote, a wireless keyboard, and wireless mouse.

(the reason there is no video or mobo listed is that i am going to use my current equipment for the HTPC)

[yamahaSHO]

We cannot view your saved wish lists

[phigdon]

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16811129030
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16815129006
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16823126176
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16827106037
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16829127002
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16832116049
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16880100851

sorry, didnt know that when I posted.

[yamahaSHO]

From HTPC experience, I would change a few things around from your list.

[phigdon]

like what?

[yamahaSHO]

I would swap the TV tuner to something like the Hauppauge HVR-1600-MCE or HVR-1800-MCE which is made to be supported natively through Media Center. They each inlude a licensed media center remote and both do SD and HD (ATSC/QAM). You won't NEED to get the Microsoft remote. The plus about the MS remote is that it has a power button for you TV as well.

As for the keyboard, if this is a true HTPC, and integrated mouse pad like the Logitec DiNovo Edge will make things much easier and less cluttered. If you have a table and like to use the computer for gaming with a mouse and keyboard, your selection may be better.

Do you really need a BD burner? For $150, you can get a BD player. For $200, you can get a BD, HD DVD, DVD/CD-burner and worry about a BD burner when it becomes a cheap standard.

XP MCE... It's decent, but is/will lose support very soon. Vista, IMHO, is better overall (I have both) and will be much better for the future of HTPC HD and audio.

The sound card looks like a decent choice, but if you like gaming, you may want to look at an Auzentech. The Antec case is an excellent choice. I have an NSK-2480 myself and will be using the black fusion for build for my father very soon.

Other than that, you're heading in the right direction. What motherboard are you planning on getting. Do you plan to run a video card (for BD/HD decoding AND gaming), or do you want one of the new motherboards coming out that have onboard hardware decoding for HD material? If you want silence, I would recommend a 2.5" SATA drive. I just suspended one in my NSK-2480 and it is SILENT and also even though it is 5,400 RPM, it got a better Vista score than my 80GB Seagate 7200.7.

[phigdon]

I plan on using my current system, I bought the M2A VM specifically for making it into a HTCP. it has integrated video, X1250 not great but good for HT and will support HDTV. i probably will leave in the HD2600 for 1080P. the MOBO has 5.1 HD audio integrated. I am not totally sold on Vista yet. i got a X2 dual core for the possibility for upgrading to 64 bit OS. I plan on putting in one 750 gig (32meg cache) for movie and audio storage and one 250 gig for system. I do plan on using this for web surfing and maybe gaming but its really mainly for HT. I will look at the Hauppauge cards with remotes and find one with good reviews and one i like. I planned on a burner to copy movies from the HTPC. with the sound card i want great movies and TV not gaming.

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16822152100

more to come.

[Staren]

I'm going to jump in here. I've set-up a few HTPCs at this point and I have to say I hate the MCE and Vista Media Center software. It copy protects what you record and they're both light on features. On my personal HTPC I use BeyondTV right now. It is not free, but it is a one time payment and very well done.

I'm seriously looking into switching to LinuxMCE right now. It is a free openscourse all in one solution that combines quite a few programs into one well designed package to set-up a full media computer. LinuxMCE I have yet to try though, because I'll have to do a hardware upgrade to make my current box Linux compatible, but it looks very promising.

I would google some HTPC DVR websites before doing a build. These are pretty specialized designs. Not more expensive, but they are different.