HTPC

[cmtar]

ok forget dell i decided to build....
I want to know if what I picked will work, if there are things I can swap for something better or if some of the things are overkill and I can swap for something less powerful/cheaper. I don’t want to get more than I need. Also would like to know if I am missing anything.
This is what I plan to use the system for:
Use it as a dvd/blu-ray player
Copy all my blu-ray dvd’s to the hard drive so I can just click and play (video on demand)
I want to be able to record and watch another channel at the same time.
I would like 4 tuners but 2 will do for now.
I plan to install windows 7 and use media portal.
Also plan to use it as a computer at times.
It will be connected to a 65 inch HDTV via HDMI, with cable, maybe sat later on.



Power
Ultra LSP550 550-Watt Power Supply - ATX, SATA-Ready, SLI-Ready, 135mm Fan
Case
Thermaltake VF7001BNS DH101 HTPC Computer Case - Front LCD Display, Remote
Graphics
Visiontek Radeon HD 4850 Video Card - 1024MB GDDR3, PCI Express 2.0, CrossFireX Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV, HDMI Support, VGA Support
Tuner
Hauppauge WinTV-HVR2250 Dual TV Tuner Board
Hauppauge WinTV-HVR2250 Dual TV Tuner Board
Getting 2 to have 4 tuners?
Dvd/blu ray
Lite ON DH-4O1S-73C Blu Ray 4x ROM
Motherboard
MSI 790GX-G65 Motherboard - AMD 790GX, AM3 ATI Hybrid CrossFire, CrossFireX, PCIe 2.0, DDR3 Memory USB2.0, RAID, HDMI, DVI, VGA
CPU
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Quad Core Processor - 3.20GHz, Socket AM3, 6MB Cache, 2000MHz (4000 MT/s) FSB, Retail, Processor with Fan
HD
Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EADS Hard Drive - 1TB, 32MB, SATA-300

[CCarncross]

Just off the top of my head I would say the processing power of the PC itself is slight overkill, because of some of your chosen hardware I would up it to a 750W PSU, and add another 5 or 6 TB drives...well at least 1 or 2...you'll never have enough space, blu-rays can be up to roughly 25-50GB a piece, and expect about 10GB/ hour of recorded show.

[durl]

You may have already checked there, but avsforum.com has LOTS of info on HTPC components and builds.

I'd like to help with your questions but my HTPC isn't set up to what you're after. It's basically a blu-ray movie player to our media room (using Meedio as a front-end) but it's primary purpose is as a media server for a couple of Popcorn Hour units in other rooms.

For my build, I bought a new Dell Vostro 200 (slim) without a monitor on eBay. I then added a blu-ray drive, an ATI HD3450 video card and an ASUS Xonar D1 7.1 sound card.

[Grentz]

You are going way overkill on the parts. You can go with a much slower and more efficient processor, more mainstream mainboard, and more HTPC oriented video card (not gaming oriented).

HTPCs are all about being quiet and efficient, I would look at going with one of the lower end Core 2 Duo processors or even Core Duo processors personally. (I dontk now the AMD side that well but I am sure they have some good efficient lower end models as well) The Celerons are also great for HTPC use. There are video cards like the nvidia 9300/9400 series that have the newest purevideo decoding for playback of bluray and other high quality video formats and are also cool/efficient.

The main thing though IMO is dont go with that Ultra PSU, Ultra mostly makes crap (though a few better models) (like most PSU brands do TBH). Get a higher quality 500-600w unit like Corsair, Enermax, Seasonic, PCP&C, Silverstone.

I would look on some computer forums or AVSForum for more insight, I would go more into it here but alot of the information is out there ripe for the plucking on more dedicated forums.

[cmtar]

Well i was going to buld me an HTPC but I found out last night that I have the option for a new computer from Dell for a Christmas, gotta love the grandparents. So i was wondering if anyone recommends a good PC from dell that I can use as a kick butt lol HTPC. I saw the hauppauge 2250 so I thought about getting that to put in the PC and a 1TB hard drive as well as a blu ray drive. Can someone recommend a good PC including cpu that would be good for that? As I said in my other posts I want to use it as a DVR to connect via HDMI to my 65 inch tv as well as put all my blu ray on there for VOD. As of right now im thinking about using windows media center and my movies 3.0 to list all my movies.
I was looking at the vostro tower, either the 220, 420 or 430 which is best? or the inspiron or studio but still not sure which one, please share your knowledge.

[durl]

A Vostro with a Core 2 Duo processor and 2GB of memory should be able to handle the job very easily. Video playback doesn't require a lot of "umph." And as someone mentioned, let your video and sound cards carry the processing load.

I'll reiterate what CCarncross said: plan on eventually needing more than 1TB. That hard drive will fill up pretty fast, especially with blu-ray rips.

[Lee L]

So, would a Celeron 450 and a Radeon HD 3450 be sufficient? I can get an Insprion 537s down to $329 with Windows 7 home premium with that config. Only a little over 4 inches tall and about 15 inches wide (though it is 17 inches deep when laid on its side.

[bidger]

You are going way overkill on the parts. You can go with a much slower and more efficient processor, more mainstream mainboard, and more HTPC oriented video card (not gaming oriented).


I would agree. I have an ATI Radeon 3650 that I picked up for $25 after MIR from Newegg, DVI-to-HDMI cable connection to SONY KDL46Z4100 HDMI port 4 (specifically for any DVI out devices), and I'm more than happy with it. I had to use the ATI software to correct underscan, but it more than suits my needs.

[durl]

I believe a Celeron 450 will work OK for playback IF, stressing the IF, you use the HD3450 to pick up the processing load. I just wonder how well it will handle other video-related tasks you may want to do.

[Lee L]

I believe a Celeron 450 will work OK for playback IF, stressing the IF, you use the HD3450 to pick up the processing load. I just wonder how well it will handle other video-related tasks you may want to do.

Well, it is only another $40 to go to an e5300, which I know can handle whatever, I was just originally thinking to buy a Acer Aspire Revo 3610, which has just an Atom 330 and Ion graphics, so the 5300 seemed like overkill.

I am really only wanting to be able to watch the occaisional Show on Hulu or downloaded from wherever, plus ESPN 360. Not really into loading all my DVDs just yet, but who knows, I might get the bug to do it.

The other thing is the 3450 that Dell has is only 256 meg ram, so that is not ideal. Dell also has an option for HD4350 graphics with 512 meg, but that is $30 more than the 3450, a total of $60 more than the base onboard video. Looking at Newegg, you can get a 4350 with 1 gig of ram for less than $60 so it might just be better to buy the system with no card. You of course lose the single vendor aspect of it all.

I did look around a few weeks back and I could not find a way to build anything close in power, size, etc to the Aspire Revo 3610 or this low end Dell for even $500 including OS so fully home built will not fit the bill since I want at least 2 of these for various TVs and budget is an issue.




Sorry for hijacking this thread so much. I'll try to stay out.

[cmtar]

what do you think of this, will this fit my needs? Im going to had a hauppauge 2250 tuner and a 1tb drive. Keep in mind i want to use it as a dvr, PC with the tv as the monitor, and put all my blu rays on there so i can click and play like VOD. Also can I overclock this processor,i heard you can overclock dells. Is there an intel chip that is equal/better/cheaper than the one listed?
Memory
4 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz (2 DIMMs)

Hard Disk Drive
640 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)

Video
256MB ATI Radeon HD 3450 supporting HDMI

Base
Inspiron Desktop 546 MiniTower

Media Bay
6X Blu-ray (DVD+/-RW + BD-ROM)

Processor
Processor: AMD Phenom X3 8750 Processor (2.4GHz, 1066MHz, 3.5MB)

[CCarncross]

So, would a Celeron 450 and a Radeon HD 3450 be sufficient? I can get an Insprion 537s down to $329 with Windows 7 home premium with that config. Only a little over 4 inches tall and about 15 inches wide (though it is 17 inches deep when laid on its side.

Just for future proofing, avoid the Celeron processor if at all possible, you cant believe how many pcs I've upgraded for friends because they saved $50 by buying a model with the Celeron instead of full blown Core2 or similar processor and then all they do is complain their new pc is so slow compared to one of mine. I do a processor upgrade, and usually a memory upgrade because they decided to save another $50 and all of a sudden the PC runs fine. If you have any plans on running Windows 7, 3GB RAM min, more if you plan on running the 64-bit version.

The whole goal of an HTPC is enough performance to do what you need it to do, but do it quietly, meaning as many fanless items as possible in the case to cut down on noise.