On an MCE setup, I have pretty much found that the biggest issue is what all codecs you install. The player itself is not truly an issue.

I used (Just recently went to SageTV but still use the same codecs) PowerDVD 7.3, FFDShow, Quicktime Alternative and the OGG Vorbis DirectShow codec. This combination will play anything through the MCE interface you may run into short of Matroska garbage. Your DVDs and any HD content you play will be able to take advantage of video card level accelleration as the PowerDVD codec (Which is used by MCE) will enable any of the hardware options that your hardware has.

And yup, MyMovies for MCE is great.

As for ripping, I use DVD Shrink and have a paid for copy of AnyDVD which now has ripping in it. Like I_Want_My_HDTV said, don't waste time compressing the DVDs. Just rip out the unused stuff like subtitles and other languages if you need to save space. You can fit about 50 full DVDs on a 320 GB drive so it is not that much $$$ to put a decent library of content onto the network.

It's best to keep your codec collection as simple as possible to avoid "dll hell".

FFDShow, Matroska Splitter, PureVideo & Windows Media codecs are basically all that's running on my machine right now.

Thanks for the helpful replies!! Im going to grab the mentioned codecs and work with my movies in hopes of getting it all running smoothly together.

Hello, i need some help making a HTPC.

can anyone give me some tips on best model and performance for the money for making this PC from scratch?

heres what i need:

motherboard
cpu (intel only please)
case
Memory
hard drive
video card
dvd burner

i want to do alot of video converting, alot of internet downloading as well as
streaming through my PS3 all the different audio and video to my HT setup.
I already have the Wireless network in my house.

I would like to.. lets say convert video, play my MP3's and surf the net, maybe play some yahoo games all at once without suffering speed lag.
Maybe stream video content to my PS3 while downloading content from the internet at the same time without lag to my HT.


Oh, and i cant spend more than 600$ for the whole thing...

any advice would be really appreciated. thanks

Ok just as a preface I have 0 experience building computers and know just the basics in regards to what is good and what isnt. I want to build an HTPC to connect to my 50" DLP Samsung HDTV. I was hoping to use HDMI for the connection but seems 99% of the stuff from computers is DVI. Will I notice much of a difference between HDMI and DVI?

I have done a little reading and picked up a few tips from the threads I read on what to buy etc but I honestly have no idea what I really need other than a pretty decent sized hard drive and a good case lol. This HTPC will pretty much be strictly for viewing movies, videos, tv shows but may want room to expand in case I get really into it and decide I want to connect it to my STB if thats possible. I want it to be able to connect to the internet to directly download files from the net for viewing. Other than that I wont be doing any sort of gaming with the system or much else with it other than watching movies etc.

I have put together the following list just by doing some research on items and going by what seemed reasonable in terms of pricing on ncix. I am looking for suggestions on whether what I have listed is more than I need, not enough or just right. I currently do not have a home theater setup but plan to get atleast 5.1 if not a 7.1 setup down the road.

-Antec NSK2400 New Solution mATX Desktop Case 2X5.25 2X3.5INT 380W ATX12V V2.0 Silver Black

-ASUS M2A-VM mATX AM2 AMD 690G DDR2 PCI-E16 PCI-E1 2PCI Video VGA DVI Sound Motherboard

-Samsung SH-S203B Black SATA DVD+RW 20X8X16 DVD-RW 20X6X16 DL 18X/12X INT DVD Writer OEM W/ Vista SW

-Seagate ST3320620AS 320GB SATA Hard Drive & Patriot 1GB 40X SD Card Combo Bundle *PN.CA Only*

-OCZ Gold XTC PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 CL5-5-5-12 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit

-AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Dual Core Processor Socket AM2 Windsor 2.0GHZ 2X512KB 89W 90NM Retail Box

-Chaintech AV-710 PCI Sound Card 7.1 24-BIT Optical Out Retail Box

-EVGA E-GEFORCE 8600GT 540MHZ 256MB 1.4GHZ GDDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I HDTV Out DIRECTX10 Video *IR-$10*

-D-LINK DFE-538TX 10/100 ETHERNET ADAPTER PCI - Not sure whether I should go with wireless or wired for internet connection


To add fuel to the fire I also currently have a desktop computer which I use for d/l, surfing and basic other stuff. I dont do any gaming on it. I am wondering if it would be easier or even possible to just add to this computer the components I need and run a cable from it to the tv in the next room. It is an HP Pavillion a250n with a 200gig HD installed in it. I am not sure if its even possible to make modify this computer but thought it might be worth a shot since it would save me having to get a case and all that stuff.

Quality components all around. Some suggestions:

DVI and HDMI are identical for visual output. DVI does not carry audio. You will need a DVI-HDMI converter cable. There are issues with HDCP compliance and DVI, but that's not an issue with analog tuners, OTA or regular DVDs.

The ATI x2600 series offers HDMI with audio output, so that's something to consider. I don't know if they make a passively cooled version though.

Do you need on-board video? You might be able to save some cash there, although the AMD/ATI 690g is a quality chipset all around, and a bargain IMHO.

CPU: look at the AMD 65W and 45W TDP variants (Brisbane core, and EE models). They should egnerate less heat and run quieter, and are still pretty affordable.

About your current PC: 512MB of RAM and a 2.6GHz p4 are not really impressive. The GPU is an mx440? It probably can't even do more than 1024x768, and DVI is out of the question. Feel free to cannibalize it for parts though (optical, keyboard, floppy, etc...). The hard drive can be used as a second storage drive for added recording.
Wireless vs. wired: Wired is faster for transfering large files, but identical for internet. Depends you the layout of your house is, and whether running cables is feasible.

Have you though of getting a TV tuner card? That will add the possibility of recording TV shows yourself. Good ATSC/NTSC tuners can be had for around 100$, less for NTSC only.

cpu (intel only please)

This is the first major spot that I have to say, irrelevant. The Intel vs. AMD thing took care of itself a good long while ago. Even though a C2D can beat an X2, we are arguing over generally irrelevant or trivial differences.

In any case, as you also stated that you are on a tight budget, demanding Intel immediately destroys your budget. The medium speed C2D chips are still $200 or more. That is 1 third of your budget.


I would like to.. lets say convert video, play my MP3's and surf the net, maybe play some yahoo games all at once without suffering speed lag.
Maybe stream video content to my PS3 while downloading content from the internet at the same time without lag to my HT.

Very nearly any X2 or C2D with 2 GB of RAM will handle this. I actually use an old Athlon XP 2500+ to run two firewire STBs streaming HD content to a client PC across Gigabit. At the same time, that same PC does bit torrent and stores/serves all my e-mail PST files. I get no lag.

For the most part, the important factor is the hard drive setup. If you are going to be doing a lot of disk based things, then you need as many separate disks as you can afford and then make sure that you store/do each major thing on a different disk.

Oh, and i cant spend more than 600$ for the whole thing...

This will be very tight. My personal fav for a case (NSK2400) is about $120. From there, you are out about $100 for a drive, $100 for a CPU, $70 for a good mATX mobo and $40 - $60 for 2 GB RAM. That is about $430 right there. You still need an optical drive, an operating system and any other software that you may require (PowerDVD, AnyDVD, etc...). And the biggest issue of all is that if you plan on doing any serious gaming on this, you need to drop another $150 on a discrete video card as the only thing onboard is good for is HDTV playback.

My constant advice is that anyone building an HTPC to plan on spending up to $1000. It is possible to piece a simple one together but it will not meet your needs. Also, if you cheap out too much even on new stuff, you will be back in short order to change things and likely end up spending more money than if you had have done it right the first time.

A good list is the one two posts up/right after yours. The only major issues are that I would go for an X2 4000 or higher as the prices have recently dropped even more AND I would go for a Gigabyte 8600GT silent version. Most HTPCs are supposed to be quiet and the EVGA cards are sometimes built with fans that are set to 100% and not thermally throttled.

Stealth1

That is an excellent list. Note my only objections in my last post.

To further the observations from mr_raider, I would suggest that you use your older PC as a media content server. It will be near useless for anything else but. And too bad at that as the CPU would have made for a good starter HTPC.

Anyhow, just remember things like remote controls and tuner cards.

Do you need on-board video? You might be able to save some cash there, although the AMD/ATI 690g is a quality chipset all around, and a bargain IMHO.

This is actually an extremely important and accurate point. In a recent review on Toms Hardware, it was shown that for HDTV playback, the 690G chipset (Contains an X1250 GPU) and an X2 5000+ will be very capable of playing back anything you toss at it. The only place that it looses in is gaming.

Wireless vs. wired:

HD content must have wired or have Wireless N. Wireless G is uesful only for web/e-mail and SD quality content (And even that is not always smooth). If you are severely restricted to wireless as your choice, well there is not much to do but get N and try it out.

Thanks for the reply, so should I drop the video card from the list and just use a motherboard with onboard video (specifically 1 with HDMI output?) From my reading many people said Nvidia is much better than ATI or atleast the software that comes with it for adjusting the overscanning. Is this true and if so should I try to find a "mobo" with an Nvidia onboard graphics card if at all possible?


Thanks for the reply, really appreciate any help I can get. From what I have read Nvidia is better than ATI in terms of setting up the picture for use on a TV set. That is why I chose a seperate video card rather than use the motherboards on board graphics. Is the video card I chose overkill for what I am looking to do or just about where it should be? Would I be fine getting a motherboard that has an HDMI output and using that for the output rather than have a dedicated video card.

These 2 video cards come with DVI to HDMI adapters, would I be better with 1 of these 2?

ASUS GeForce 8600GT 540MHZ 256MB 128BIT 1.4GHZ DDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I HDCP HDMI HDTV Out Video Card

or

ASUS Radeon HD 2600 Pro PCI-E 256MB 128BIT 1GHZ DDR2 2XDVI-I HDTV Out Video Card W/ HDMI Adapter

Or would I be better to just pickup something like this and not have a seperate video card?

Gigabyte GA-G33M-S2H mATX LGA775 G33 1PCI-E16 2PCI SATA2 HDMI Video Sound GBLAN 1394 Motherboard

or

ASUS M2A-VM HDMI mATX AM2 AMD 690G DDR2 PCI-E16 PCI-E1 2PCI Video HDMI Sound Motherboard

For the CPU are you referring to something like this?

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Dual Core Processor Socket AM2 Brisbane 2.3GHZ 2X512KB 65NM 65W Retail Box

So for my current PC it wouldnt be worth it or even possible to upgrade the components in it to use as my main computer but also be able to run an HDMI cable to my TV for use as an HTPC?

Thanks again

so should I drop the video card from the list and just use a motherboard with onboard video

Not necessarily.

(specifically 1 with HDMI output?)

There are many good AMD 690G based boards with DVI/HDMI and also VGA, component and Composite/s-video.

From my reading many people said Nvidia is much better than ATI

Due to the programmability of the ATI cards, that statement is only as accurate as the mistakes in the ATI drivers. Herdware-wise, the ATI stuff is better to way better. Of course you are not just buying the hardware but the drivers too...

or atleast the software that comes with it for adjusting the overscanning.

Generally, the NVidia drivers have become better as of late. This is both on tweakability and video quality. Now, if you are only planning on using DVI/HDMI or VGA, then the overscan business is a non-issue. The only draw for NVidia is their current (slight) lead in video quality from their drivers.

should I try to find a "mobo" with an Nvidia onboard graphics card

Actually, as far as onboard solutions go, the ATI stuff is definitely better.

Now to elaborate on the video output quality and any "deficiencies" that there may be from either ATI or NVidia. The latest comparisons of the two vs. an actual Silicon Optics $5000 video processor show that although they are not that good yet, either card will lay a whooping on anything less than them, a PS3 or the $5000 video processor. That means there is generally nothing better. So when someone complains about a couple of HQV points less on one vid card vs. the other, it is a lot more trivial than it is being made out to be.

And if you have not read my entire thread going back to the first post, I have used many cards in the last 2 years and that is from both companies. Currently, I have 2 of each in use, 1 spare ATI and 1 spare NVidia. Both are likeable. Personally, I am more interested in the creativity of the board manufacturers and what kind of fanless video card they can produce or if they have DVI AND HDMI on the board so I do not have to get an adapter to flip back and forth.

So do you think I would benefit from a seperate video card if my plan is solely for video file playback via DVI or HDMI? I am trying to keep the system pretty low in cost but I also want a system that is somewhere in the middle in terms of performance. Not the worst but not the best either (since the best usually costs $$$$).

Between these 2 motherboards is it worth it for me to get something that has a direct HDMI output or am I fine to go with the less expensive one with the DVI output and run a DVI-HDMI adapter?

ASUS M2A-VM mATX AM2 AMD 690G DDR2 PCI-E16 PCI-E1 2PCI Video VGA DVI Sound Motherboard

Vs

ASUS M2A-VM HDMI mATX AM2 AMD 690G DDR2 PCI-E16 PCI-E1 2PCI Video HDMI Sound Motherboard

So after more reading and a few changes here is what ive arrived at now. I removed the seperate video card and sound card for now since I dont think I will need either of them right away. I also changed the Ram to the Patriot Extreme as they are a little bit less than the OCZ. I changed the HD to the WD 320GB SATA2 as it is cheaper than the seagate I had originally and from what I read WD is quieter generally than seagate.

-Antec NSK2400 New Solution mATX Desktop Case 2X5.25 2X3.5INT 380W ATX12V V2.0 Silver Black

-Samsung SH-S203B Black SATA DVD+RW 20X8X16 DVD-RW 20X6X16 DL 18X/12X INT DVD Writer OEM W/ Vista SW

-D-LINK DFE-538TX 10/100 ETHERNET ADAPTER PCI

-AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Dual Core Processor Socket AM2 Brisbane 2.3GHZ 2X512KB 65NM 65W Retail Box

-ASUS M2A-VM HDMI mATX AM2 AMD 690G DDR2 PCI-E16 PCI-E1 2PCI Video HDMI Sound Motherboard

-Patriot Extreme Performance 2GB 2X1GB PC2-6400 DDR2-800 CL4-4-4-12 Dual Channel Memory Kit

-Western Digital SE16 320GB SATA2 7200RPM 16MB 8.9MS Hard Drive OEM 3 Year MFR Warranty

quote Wayne IMHO MyMovies is the best playback option. It integrates beautifully into MCE - sure there are other players but most of them aren't that easy to integrate into the whole MCE experience. It also is very nice in downloading the DVD cover artwork, and lots of metadata about the movie. It integrates well with TheaterTek.

As far as ripping I use DVDShrink to rip to hard drive and AutoGK to convert to DivX or XviD.


Quick question: Can you configure MCE and My Movies to load ripped ISO files into Daemon tools so that theatretek will playback the movie. Or does the movie have to be ripped in file mode only?

Quick question: Can you configure MCE and My Movies to load ripped ISO files into Daemon tools so that theatretek will playback the movie. Or does the movie have to be ripped in file mode only?I don't think so - I generally rip in file mode - i.e. creating the VIDEO_TS folder with all of the files. You can then point My Movies to this folder and it will play the movie back.

Stealth1

The only benefits for an HTPC to have HDMI is for the smallness of the connector/cable and that you can (On some mobos) get your audio in the cable.

Now, there are other alternatives to the ASUS boards. Sapphire produces a couple of really nice competitors that are based on the same chipset. Gigabyte also has a nice one.

I also changed the Ram to the Patriot Extreme as they are a little bit less than the OCZ.

In reality, for an HTPC, it is a waste to use anything more than DDR2-667 and generic at that. If you feel you need to spend the extra on the more exotic stuff, then go ahead but it is overkill.

D-LINK DFE-538TX 10/100 ETHERNET ADAPTER PCI

Why are you getting a NIC? All of the boards that you are looking at have Gigabit cards that cover all your needs (10/100/1000).

I changed the HD to the WD 320GB SATA2 as it is cheaper than the seagate I had originally and from what I read WD is quieter generally than seagate.

Believe it or not, the best drives for silence and generally good overall performance, is Samsung. They are consistently the quietest drives by far and are typically middle of the pack or better for performance. They are also not prone to failure as bad as they were way back 7 - 8 years ago. Most of the drives I use are Samsung (3 Sam, 3 Hitachi, 2 Max and 2 Western) and I have had no issues.

Indeed, if you are relaying sound by any other means than HDMI, the DVI has the advantage of actually screwing in and less chance of getting knocked loose.

As for on-board GPU vs discrete card, if money is tight start with the AMD 690g chipset. If you get the urge to game on that thing later, or are unsatisfied, you can always buy a GPU later. The price of graphics cards can only go in one direction: down.

As for the memory ddr2-667 is fine as stated, and even 5-5-5-12 memory will do. Due to a quirk of the A64 AM2 memory controller, your ddr2-800 wil actually run a bit slower, so don't sweat the speed issue.

In terms of the motherboards, im trying not to get too confused because there are so many options and all this LGA775, AM2 etc is confusing to me because I am not sure what the differences are.

If this board (ASUS M2A-VM mATX AM2 AMD 690G DDR2 PCI-E16 PCI-E1 2PCI Video VGA DVI Sound Motherboard) will do then I will go with that. The HDMI version is like $15 more, I would personally rather just run 1 HDMI cable from the PC to my TV instead of having a DVI cable and whatever I would need to run audio from the PC to the TV if I went with the DVI version. Now if there is another board in around the same price range ($90ish without taxes) from another company that has improvements over this board I currently have on the list please let me know what it is.

For the RAM the Patriot extreme 2GB is like $60 after rebates, seems like a pretty decent deal to me and with all the options it is very difficult to sift through and find DDR2-667 2GB. Also I am not sure what the differences between say PC2-6400 and PC2-4200 are so I am not sure if there is a specific sub-category I should be looking in for RAM.

Thought I needed an ethernet card but if I dont then thats great, have removed it from my list...thanks for the heads up :).

The only Samsung I can find is ATA100 which I dont think works with SATA Motherboards, am I wrong?

The only thing I am really not sure of is the CPU, have I chosen the right one and is it good enough, overkill or not good enough for what I want to do?

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Dual Core Processor Socket AM2 Brisbane 2.3GHZ 2X512KB 65NM 65W Retail Box

It's a good board. Stick with it. If the memory is 60$ for both, that's a good deal.

That CPU is good. Is it overkill? Maybe. However, if you ever decide to put in an ATSC tuner and start to record HD streams, the more CPU headroom you have the better. Also, the faster the CPU, the faster your encodes to divx from mpeg. IIRC there' barely 50$ separating the 1.9GHz Brisbanes from the 2.4GHz ones.

I have actually decided to switch the RAM for some DDR2-667 Crucial Rendition 1Gig x 2. From reading many have had issues with DDR2-800 RAM and some of the higher end ram didnt work well with the Mobo. Has anyone experienced issues with audio using the HDMI output on the Mobo I have in question. Would I benefit at all from running 4 sticks of ram (4gig) vs. just the 2 im planning to run. Any benefits in terms of movie playback etc?

In your opinion should I just get a wireless keyboard/mouse setup for navigating or should I also get the Microsoft remote that is available aswell.

There is little, if any, benefit of 4 GB on XP.

As for the keyboard, take note that there are other options. BTC and Gyration make alternatives that are RF and not IR based. I use BTC for both my systema and am happy. Of course, my HTPCs are nothing but HTPCs. They are not for active web browsing or for gaming so I do not need an exceedingly fancy keyboard/mouse solution.

To be more specific, XP can only address 3.25gigs of RAM. To fully access 4 gigs, you need a 64-bit OS (LInux, Xp-64bit, or Vista 64), and I wouldn't touch the last two at this stage.