PVR/Htpc - QUIET!

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akaidiot
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Post by akaidiot » Tue Nov 16, 2004 8:18 am

bomba wrote:
akaidiot wrote:I am now considering a Silverstone Lascala LC03V-Black
Have you checked out Dasman's HTPC in the Gallery? The Kanam Accent HT-400b HTPC case he used looks like a winner!
That does sound interesting! A bit more expensive but with the dollar cheap as hell I will take teh price down a bit when ordering from digitalconnection.com. Is there any other retailer for it?(Anywhere in the world..). I can't find it on ebay:shock:.

sthayashi
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Post by sthayashi » Tue Nov 16, 2004 8:50 am

Damn do I feel like a kid in a candy store :D

BTW, I finally re-remembered a case I had considered long ago, ruled out, and now can't remember why I ruled it out to begin with:
Coolermaster's ATC-620. Granted, it's a Coolermaster, aluminum and w/ a 60mm fan no less, but it looks pretty and it's low profile. My gut instinct is telling me that with a relatively cool system + 60->80mm fan swap + HD suspension + a few additional vents, and it could be a really nice and quiet HTPC.

akaidiot
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Post by akaidiot » Tue Nov 16, 2004 10:08 am

sthayashi wrote:Damn do I feel like a kid in a candy store :D
I know the feeling :D
BTW, I finally re-remembered a case I had considered long ago, ruled out, and now can't remember why I ruled it out to begin with:
Coolermaster's ATC-620. Granted, it's a Coolermaster, aluminum and w/ a 60mm fan no less, but it looks pretty and it's low profile. My gut instinct is telling me that with a relatively cool system + 60->80mm fan swap + HD suspension + a few additional vents, and it could be a really nice and quiet HTPC.
That is interesting! Gaaah!

Also. If I understand right, MCE 2005 doesn't nativly support Swedish TV info.. But it can be fixed with XML-TV

Also, the Accent HT-400 has a VFD display which I think is kind of nice(If you can make it display Title and playing time etc..), so does the LC03V..

Schroinx
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Post by Schroinx » Tue Nov 16, 2004 10:10 am

Because it was mATX perhaps?

Digitalconnection got a special case made by CM, called the 613. Apart from not having a VFD and room for a IR reciever it was the best bet for a HTPC case. See it here: http://www.digitalconnection.com/Produc ... atc613.asp

BTW: Better check shipping rates from the states.

/Schroinx

Schroinx
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Post by Schroinx » Tue Nov 16, 2004 10:23 am

Oh, and check out the dign cases. They are worth considering. Couldn't find the official website.
http://www.datorbutiken.com/se/default. ... =DIGNHV5BL

/Schroinx

sthayashi
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Post by sthayashi » Tue Nov 16, 2004 10:39 am

Schroinx wrote:Because it was mATX perhaps?
Maybe. But depending on your needs, full ATX is often a waste of space.

The Shuttle XPC that I'm currently using as an HTPC (no PVR capabilities), though a little loud, is the perfect amount of space for me. 6" height or 150mm is about the maximum height I'd want for an HTPC.

I remember doing the measurements once, and I discovered that some of HTPC cases are actually bigger than my HT receiver.
Schronix wrote:Oh, and check out the dign cases. They are worth considering. Couldn't find the official website.
http://www.datorbutiken.com/se/default. ... =DIGNHV5BL
That there looks like a D.Vine 5 series

Schroinx
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Post by Schroinx » Tue Nov 16, 2004 2:16 pm

I totally agree. Why could Intel with their new BTX standart not have made one for HTPCs giving cases only 12-15 cm high. All in all thats why I prefer the DVine5 case.

/Schroinx

akaidiot
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Post by akaidiot » Tue Nov 16, 2004 2:53 pm

Ok.. This is the current situation..

I actually have a BQE3700 case left with a DIY HD Cage a lá Bluefront

Which I will probably use for now.. So ironicly since the most part of the thread has been about cases I would like to concentrate on the inside of the case.. My suggestion right now is this:

DFI Lanparty UT NF3
AMD DTR Mobile 1mb cache 2800/3000/3200+
TR SLK-948U - Works best with DTR's according to dfi-street.com
1GB RAM
ATI Radeon X800/9800 PRO/XT - HL2 is out! Gotta love it! :D
(2x?)Hauppauge PVR-250
SP1614C -Boot
2x SP1614C@RAID0 - The rest
SS400 with M1A/FSP350-60PN

PPGMD
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Post by PPGMD » Tue Nov 16, 2004 7:44 pm

1GB RAM

At least.

ATI Radeon X800/9800 PRO/XT - HL2 is out! Gotta love it! :D

I would go Nvidia because I like their display control panel better.

(2x?)Hauppauge PVR-250
I would go for the MCE edition, or even the 150MCE if he can find it, because both of those card have full size RCA plugs for audio, while the PVR-250 uses a miniplug for audio so there is room for the remote port.

The PVR-250, PVR-250MCE, and PVR-150MCE are the exact same hardware according to the guy I talked to from Hauppauge except the audio inputs, and the remote option. They all use the same driver set for input.

I would also consider a seperate sound card if you are hooking this upto a mid to high end audio system since they have lower SNRs.

akaidiot
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Post by akaidiot » Tue Nov 16, 2004 10:03 pm

PPGMD wrote:1GB RAM

At least.

ATI Radeon X800/9800 PRO/XT - HL2 is out! Gotta love it! :D

I would go Nvidia because I like their display control panel better.
But the nvidia cards tend to be harder to keep quiet since they use more power.. But if you have got a good suggestion I might change my mind..
(2x?)Hauppauge PVR-250
I would go for the MCE edition, or even the 150MCE if he can find it, because both of those card have full size RCA plugs for audio, while the PVR-250 uses a miniplug for audio so there is room for the remote port.

The PVR-250, PVR-250MCE, and PVR-150MCE are the exact same hardware according to the guy I talked to from Hauppauge except the audio inputs, and the remote option. They all use the same driver set for input.
Ok, I'll go with the MCE edition. What is the difference between 150 and 250, both MCE edition? Also, will the rest of the HW, mobo and ram have to be "Microsoft approved" hardware or isn't it that picky with that?

Schroinx
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Post by Schroinx » Wed Nov 17, 2004 12:17 am

1) You won't need more than 1 GB RAM for the HTPC stuff. Gaming is another matter.

2) All DX9 compatible cards will work with MCE. However Nvidia from 6600 have a sligt advantage as these cards have hardware decoding of certain video streams.

3) Not much beside the remote. So get the 150MCE and another remote.

4) No, it does not. The main things are GPU, TV/HDTV tuner.

/Schroinx

PPGMD
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Post by PPGMD » Wed Nov 17, 2004 7:52 am

akaidiot wrote:But the nvidia cards tend to be harder to keep quiet since they use more power.. But if you have got a good suggestion I might change my mind..
The 5700 should be fairly quiet, and should work fine with some of the fan-less cooling solutions. If you are a gamer Giga-Byte makes a fan-less 6800 and a small fan 6800GT (using the same heatsink system, just attaching a small fan).
Ok, I'll go with the MCE edition. What is the difference between 150 and 250, both MCE edition? Also, will the rest of the HW, mobo and ram have to be "Microsoft approved" hardware or isn't it that picky with that?
250 is the one available in retail markets, the 150MCE is one that is available to OEM only channels.

The only things that Microsoft is picky about is the display adapter, TV tuner, and DVD decoder. Everything else they don't really care about, as long as you have enough of it to run the applications.

bomba
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Post by bomba » Wed Nov 17, 2004 9:38 am

Hauppauge has a new dual TV tuner/FM card for MCE2005. Not sure if you can buy it yet though, but for a sff or uATX HTPC it's awesome.

sthayashi
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Post by sthayashi » Wed Nov 17, 2004 9:57 am

bomba wrote:Hauppauge has a new dual TV tuner/FM card for MCE2005. Not sure if you can buy it yet though, but for a sff or uATX HTPC it's awesome.
DAMMIT, How am I supposed to save up for a new car and TV if cool s*** like this keeps coming out? :evil: :wink:

If it did OTA HD, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

EDIT: BTW, it seems that you CAN buy it.

PPGMD
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Post by PPGMD » Wed Nov 17, 2004 10:38 am

It's available, but right now all you can use is the CATV input for dual tuners.

I was thinking about getting it, but I'm not using CATV so I might as well get 2 250's or 150's since it would use the same amount of slots.

akaidiot
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Post by akaidiot » Wed Nov 17, 2004 1:24 pm

bomba That indeed is an interesting card! But I will probably get 2 150MCE instead..

I only have a TV output connector by the TV, is there a cable so I can just split the signal? or how does that work?

If I get a 6800GT card. How can I make it as quiet as possible?

Also, we have a digital sattelite reciever and the channels I'm interested are encrypted. Is there an usb card reader of some sort so I won't have to set the right channel on the reciever when I want to record from the satellite? I also have cable..but some movie chanels etc. are only on the satellite..

PPGMD
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Post by PPGMD » Wed Nov 17, 2004 1:54 pm

I only have a TV output connector by the TV, is there a cable so I can just split the signal? or how does that work?
You should be able to just split it.
If I get a 6800GT card. How can I make it as quiet as possible?
Good questions that is probably something to ask the smart folks here, but the Giga-Byte one would probably be a good start since the normal 6800GTs don't have the holes necessary for a Zalman fan less cooler.
Also, we have a digital sattelite reciever and the channels I'm interested are encrypted. Is there an usb card reader of some sort so I won't have to set the right channel on the reciever when I want to record from the satellite? I also have cable..but some movie chanels etc. are only on the satellite..
There has been some talk of getting the Hauppauge Satellite receiver card working with Dish Networks, but right now the only way to get cable or satellite to work without a box is to use the 125 channel CATV.

If you are in Europe Hauppauge offers a series of satellite TV receivers that work without a box if I remember correctly.

Now the Microsoft Media Center remote includes IR blasters, that will change the channel automatically on any cable or satellite box.

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