Build a DIY High-End HTPC

[Audioholics]

From time to time, we get submissions from our readers which turn out to be pretty cool guides for DIY projects. This one in particular outlines some good advice and recommendations on building an all-out top of the line Home Theater PC. Since our original DIY HTPC article focused on a more budgeted approach, and there are ten thousand ways to build an HTPC, we decided to post this as another relevant viewpoint towards obtaining the benefits of getting a computer into the living room. We listed some additional options and configurations throughout so those of you who want to back off a bit from the more expensive options can have recommended alternatives.

Part two of our HTPC article is still in the works and will make its way to prime time just as soon as we can get it completed. It will focus on software installation and cover the various hardware upgrades that have been made since the first article came out. In the meantime, enjoy this reader perspective on building a Home Theater PC.

Read the DIY Guide

 

[docferdie]

"Play MP3s"

Why settle for MP3s when with the right soundcard you can archive uncompressed PCM, multichannel DTS, or WMA lossless files on the harddrive?

 

[ThA tRiXtA]

Convenience I guess overall.

Of course that format being a choice of many options. If you prefer A over B, why not go for it?

 

[jaxvon]

Hmm...

I agree with some things, and not with others. First off, Antec is good stuff, but I think that Ahanix's DVine case is much more suited to make a HTPC in. Second, the options for quietness aren't as good as they could be. I'd try to put as much SilenX stuff in as possible. They make ultra-quiet fans and PSUs, so this is a plus. Also, I'd opt for a separate video card and TV tuner. This way, you can get fanless devices, again to reduce noise. Here's my Video Card pick, and my Tv Card pick. The SP=97 is a fine choice of CPU cooler, but again I'd opt for a SilenX fan on it. One might also want to look around a find some case insulation (for noise). The motherboard is also a good choice feature-wise, but not noise-wise. It has a little, noisy, 40mm fan to cool the northbridge chip. It is very possible to find NForce2 motherboards or 875P (for Intel) motherboards that have just a heatsink on the northbridge. I think this would result in a good, quiet HTPC.

 

[ThA tRiXtA]

Hi Jaxvon;

I agree with you that SilenX products are suitable for that type of application. However one of the points raised in the article is the fact that alot of fans aren't neccessary. With that being said, I don't care how silent your fans are, it will never beat out having no unneeded fans at all.

A little bit of work and thought goes a long way.

Which ties into my second point.

Yes the northbridge fan on that mobo is somewhat noisy, but if you read the article closer you'll see it states that removing the stock northbridge heatsink and fan and replacing it with just a high quality chipset heatsink but no fan is a more desireable approach.

Pretty much any motherboard as far as I am concerned can run perfectly fine with a half decent heatsink and no fan on the northbridge. A change of motherboards isn't neccessary.

 

[jaxvon]

Oops, I didn't read the article closely enough. I did more perusing than anything. I also forgot to mention that I might go for an M-Audio Card, being either the Revolution 7.1 or the Audiophile. The downside to the Revo is of course that it doesn't offer all the decoding goodies that the audigy does, nor the remote. However, many people state that it has superior sound quality. The AudioPhile is only a stereo card, but has full 24/96 support along with gold-plated RCA outputs. If you're just going to run your computer with a stereo setup and might want to record stuff into your computer, it'd probably be a good choice.

About the fans...Yes, with a Barton2500M, the PSU fan is probably enough to cool it in conjunction with the SP-97. However, depending on the surroundings of course, your own equipment and ambient temps might create the need for extra fans.


Edit: After checking some of the other links in this thread, I noticed that most of the parts in the 2nd HTPC were reccommended to be purchased from Newegg.com. Newegg Pwns, you should buy from them.

 

[Khellandros66]

A very quiet and fast sytem would consist of;

AMD 64 2800+
Asus K8V Mobo or MSI K8T800
1GB OCZ PC3700EB RAM
ATi X800Pro and HDTV Dongle
WD 36.7GB Raptor
WD 250GB ATA100 Storage
NEC 2500 DVD+RW firmwared to DL and 2510
Firewire Capture card
ATi HDTV Tuner
M-Audio Delta 410 Soundcard
Ahanix Case
Ahanix 400w 14db PSU
Zalman 7000Cu or Thermalright SP948u with an Enermax 90mm Fan

~Bob

 

[docferdie]

Where did you buy the ATI HDTV Tuner? I thought this wasn't available yet.

 

[Khellandros66]

Never said I bought any of that, and its not out yet but when it does...
get it istead of the other brands cause ATi's will do cable HDTV as well.

~Bob

 

[Scorpius]

wow interesting!!! but which sound card are you ....

i would be very interested to knwo which sound card you all had in mind which does dts lossles and pcm all in one???
cool

 

[mustang_steve]

Pinnacle makes a HDTV tuner already.

My experience with ATI's tuners has steered me away from them. Almost the same hardware as the Pinnacle, just the driver implementation is dreadful.

My opinion for a HTPC is the Ahaniz D-Vine case with the following:

CPU (Athlon XP2500+ barton
2x512mb ram
NForce2 ultra 400 motherboard. (go for soundstorm if possible, hardware DD encoding is a very nice touch, and worth the hit of not using an athlon64). I don't know if it would fit the D-vine, but my current motherboard, DFI NF-II ultra lan-party, is a very fast neforce2 board, and has more than enough features for any HTPC use, including firewire/usb 2.0/dual ethernet cards/soundstorm. That board used coaxial digital in and out as well....nice touch IMO.

There is an option for those who must have A-64 setups, a company called HiTec makes a card called the X-Mystique, which is the first PCI add-on card to have dolby digital live support (realtime DD encoding, like soundstorm). Problem is they are not easy to find in the US market, but they often go on Ebay for about $70.

Videocard is debatable...I'm a fan of gamer cards, so I would go for a Radeon X800XT platinum. I own one, and they are screamers...just make sure to buy an ATI silencer 4 rev2 for it, as the stock fan is also a screamer

Hard drives...I've been fond of the seagate barricuda.

The thing is, the faster the CPU, the more the heat output, so you need more airflow, and thus more noise to keep it stable...so get the fastest CPU you need, nothing more.

I would be half tempted to just take a subwoofer, gut teh driver/amp, and build then entire HTPC inside the subwoofer enclosure....true stealth baby!

 

[Scorpius]

thanks for the mystique card info...it sounds like a good dd card...
i myslef have a amd64 as a htpc...but i got my sa8300hd dvr plugged into the pci tv card..and i use dscaler to view it...i have also been looking for a good hardware based tvcard and for some reason didnt want hauppage..since the one i have right now has some ****y effects in teh picture..so it makes in unwatchable...but i also run a vido procesor for all my other video needs...so i wasint to onserned tillnow..
i woudl have to disagree about your view of the ati card,,,and i m assumiing you mean the tv cards and not the graphics...but again i m not loioking for the all in one...
the best card that i seem to have come across is made by powervcolor and has the ati chip in it..along with a y/c filter and a buch of other neat fitures that you only see in stand alone products...
anyhow it the powerolor pic tv card it has a 550 in it...keep in mind that powercolor only makes this one pci tv card so it will be easy to find and it is also in teh sub hundred dollar category...
so here we are!!!
thanks for the input on the mistique cards

 

[nick_danger]

I have the Ahanix DVine MCE601 for my case and it's great! I'm still not done buying components, but a few things I know for sure:

I'm getting rid of my Audigy4 Pro in exchange for a Dolby Digital Live card (the Mystique or a newer card). I may try to use both at once, but only so I can keep the external box... or I'll just toss it into my older PC.

I'm more than likely going to get dual NTSC/ATSC tuners.

I need to build a massive media server somewhere to store my ever increasing media library...

 

[Scorpius]

yep..with teh amount of data and files (pics whatever!!!) than a person (these days!!) can accumulate is amazing!!!
I just hope people/software programers will figure out an aeasier way for us to archive and access all the data that we accumulate..i know in my case it is out of cotrol...just the other day a client was saying that my work area is staring to llok like a data center/mission control station for nasa or something...or some goverment reasearch lab!!!! hehe

anyhow

I wanna get hold of one of these mystics...
i also looked into this new product that imation has that is stackable and holds hunred cs/dvd/whatever in that form and then connects to you pc via usb and keep track of what you put in it...you can also lock it up with a paassword!!
when you find what you want on the list in spits irt out and you put it in the drive!!!
sounds like a good product...i m wondering what you all think!!!

thansk

scorpius

 

[stinkyonion]

wireless mouse

I initially had a infrared mouse and keyboard connected to my HTPC. I was unhappy with this because my 65 inch HDTV pretty much kept me about 12 feet back from the screen, and this distance was frequently problematic for the infrared system. Also, there was occasional signal loss if I wasnt within like 15 degrees of the front of the computer. Finally, the line of sight restriction of infrared was sometimes annoying. ALAS, for a little less then $300 i purchased a media center edition radio frequency gyroscopic mouse and keyboard from Gyration. EUREKA. They have a far better range, more accurate mouse, and no line of sight restriction. The mouse precision is so fine you can play videogames like doom3 no problem. I couldnt do that before. The only downside (minor) is there are fewer buttons on this mouse than a standard media center mouse, but they are completely programmable and have been adequate for my needs. All in all, the mouse rules as both a mouse and a remote control (has volume, channel, DVD functrions, and a few smart buttons).