Questions about a HTPC

[briggek8717]

I’m considering building a HTPC, but I have some questions. First, I built my last computer, so I’m not concerned about the actual assembly. What I am concerned about, is what, if any, quality I may give up by using the PC instead of dedicated components.

The reason(s) I’m considering an HTPC are:
1. Less components. My wife will be much happier to see less black boxes around the TV.
2. I currently use Turtle Beach’s Audiotron to serve up MP3’s on my wireless network. Since this is going in the newly finished basement, I could leave that component upstairs with my stereo and then would have the capability on both systems.
3. Internet access while sitting on the couch would be great (especially during fantasy football season!)

So, my questions would be:

1. Will the video quality of the DVD player/software be able to compare to the DVD player I was considering buying (Samsung HD-950)?
2. Will the sound quality be as good coming from the PC as it would be from a regular component (Not sure which sound card I would go with yet)?
3. Does anyone know of a an attractive, black case (I’d prefer the desktop look to a tower)? It needs to have plenty of room for cooling because I plan on playing an online game (Everquest 2) that requires a hefty video card.

Any other insights from those that have done this? Anything else I need to consider?

 

[Spiffyfast]

Well, what you're planning on doing is not impossible, I think your getting away from what a HTPC is, basically, its just your file storage and DVR. You can store alot of music and digital video on it, and then output it to the rest of your system, ie, receiver and TV. From what your talking about, you want a gaming pc with a TV out so you can watch some movies and play games on the Big Screen. Your going to give up some video quality by not using a computer monitor for you games. And depending on the sound card youre going to lose sound quality by not using a stand alone dvd player to watch movies on. I don't want to discourage you at all, it just sounds as though your wanting everything out of this PC which can be done, but it might be more cost effective to have you gaming pc, and then a seperate audio set up

 

[jaxvon]

I would suggest that you use a sound card with digital output. The analog outputs on soundcards, unless they're really expensive pro-level ones, tend to be quite noisy. Digital eliminates this noise as well as allows you to use one cable for surround sound.

For the case, I would suggest you look at the offerings from Ahanix. They make cases designed for HTPC installations. They look like nice hi-fi components and come with a vacuum fluorescent display already installed. The only downside is they don't have tons of room for fans. However, with a good power supply and a quality fan, you should be okay.

BTW, what video card are you using? If you really feel you need more cooling, you can always opt for a PCI slot fan.

 

[briggek8717]

I'd probably opt for the Nvidia 6600 GT video card.

 

[RLA]

I'd probably opt for the Nvidia 6600 GT video card

That is a great card for the $ Another important attribute of the HTPC is you can achieve 1:1 pixel mapping for the display device that you own.

I currently use my HTPC with one of my front projection systems and the results are stellar. It does take time and patience to dial a HTPC in, but once you have everything configured correctly results will surpass even the finest stand alone DVD players

 

[Spiffyfast]

After reading alot more into this for my personal use, I have a question for you, what monitor are you going to use to hook all of this up to, b/c that will better determine what video card you should be looking for. If you're monitor will accept a PC's SXGA or a DVI connection ATI or Nvidia will work. If you are looking at outputing through Component Video to get an HDTV signal from the PC there is a difference. It's my understanding now that the Nvidia cards can only output progressive scan to a TV through component out, so 480p or 720p. If your TV can't accept 720p but can use 1080i, the ATI Radeon 9500 and up can output everything from 480i to 1080i by using a special dvi-component converter available at www.ati.com. If I'm wrong about any of this, let me know b/c as of right now I'm going to order a Radeon 9600xt next week probably so I can do this in my current setup.

 

[brian32672]

let me know b/c as of right now I'm going to order a Radeon 9500xt next week probably so I can do this in my current setup.

I am assuming you mean 9600xt. Since there is no such thing as a 9500xt.
BTW, I had a AIW 9600xt and it was a awesome card.... The AIW will do rgb, composite, s-video out and dvi as well as vga

 

[Spiffyfast]

I am assuming you mean 9600xt. Since there is no such thing as a 9500xt.
BTW, I had a AIW 9600xt and it was a awesome card.... The AIW will do rgb, composite, s-video out and dvi as well as vga

Yep, that was a miss type, thnx for catching that so he doesnt get confused, I'll edit it

 

[SimonG]

... If you are looking at outputing through Component Video to get an HDTV signal from the PC there is a difference. It's my understanding now that the Nvidia cards can only output progressive scan to a TV through component out, so 480p or 720p. ...

The newer nVidia cards with component video out have no trouble outputting an interlaced signal. I'm using a 6600GT at the moment, and am able to display 1080i (with a 5% over-scan correction) without any difficulty. The drivers even allow you to mess with custom resolutions, so there's no need to mess with PowerStrip anymore to fix over-scan, etc.

 

[Spiffyfast]

The newer nVidia cards with component video out have no trouble outputting an interlaced signal. I'm using a 6600GT at the moment, and am able to display 1080i (with a 5% over-scan correction) without any difficulty. The drivers even allow you to mess with custom resolutions, so there's no need to mess with PowerStrip anymore to fix over-scan, etc.

Thnx for the info, everything I was reading must have been older and is now fixed with the new drivers. I appreciate it.

 

[mazurek]

An HTPC should have better tv quality than your dvd-player. You can install super high quality dvd-decoders like the NVidia DVD decoder, which will probably scale the SD dvd picture to HD better than any dvd player. Your 6600 gt should have every output option you need, or you can get a component video adaptor if necessary. With the video out of the way, just do what others are suggesting with the sound card. Any sound card with digital out will allow SPDIF pass through, which will just take the sound signal on the dvd and output it without processing. In this way, the htpc will act the same as any dvd player with digital outs.

I just did exactly what you are talking about for my dad. I got him a silverstone lc11 case, which is sexy on the outside but hard to work with. Go to pcalchemy.com for an htpc specific store, they have a selection of the best cases. Also silentpcreview.com will comment on your proposed system if you would like to make it quiet too.

 

[Rowdy S13]

Ok Ill admit I didnt read any replys so I may repeat some info. Ive built more than a few PC's and here is what Id recomend.

Intel P4 id say at least a 3.0
Mother board with a SATA RAID built in (I perfer DFI after going through a LOT of boards but Intel makes a great board as well get 875P or higher chipset)
1 gig (2 512 sticks) of Corsair 400mhz memory
500 Watt Power Supply
Nvidia 6800 or up (They have come down a lot in price now that the 7800 is out)
Audigy 2 ZS or XFi sound card
ATI Theater 550 Pro capture card
2 120 Gig SATA Hard Drives set up on a RAID 0 (or bigger)
NEC ND3540A DVD burner (one drive to do everything)
Run Windows Media Center (very nice and easy to use over just caputre software)

For Cases Silver Stone makes amazing desktop cases. There a lil pricey but worth the money. If you use quality componets through out it should be amazing. Thats close to the set up I have now for my HTPC and its as good as it gets right now IMO. Trust me when I say its worth spending a lil extra on good componets. Ive gone the less expensive route before and have always ended up buying the good stuff anyway. Places not to skimp include PSU (always over looked) Board and memory. Also make sure the board supports media center there are a few that dont.

Hope this helps a lil,
Sean