HTPC show and tell

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › HTPC show and tell

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84 posts

Master Geek

#162737 7-Sep-2008 11:14

Do you have the FM aerial running into your HVR2200 or is it going into an external reciever? I've split my UHF feed so not only is it providing DVB-T, its also the source for my FM radio reception. It works well, and means I dont have to worry about a seperate unsightly FM antenna.

peteinakl

22 posts

Geek

#163754 11-Sep-2008 12:27

Getting a Bravia which will replace my AV switcher and Dell 24" (post #1 in this thread). The HTPC has also now officially been named "Steview" as my wife is convinced I'm stealing Freeview

Also, I saw the thread asking which codec to use for DVB-T: Answer is CoreAVC, it may not be hardware accelerated, but is the best quality and idiot simple to use [on Windows].

kiwijunglist

2981 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#167625 28-Sep-2008 21:37

took out the middle shelf, yay =) might move the mouse to under the table too. finally finished =)

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

ZeeBOB

26 posts

Geek

#172100 19-Oct-2008 17:33

Hi all,

Having read through the majority of all the HTPC related posts here I finsally made the decision to get my own HTPC. I also decided, if i'm going to do it, do it well, so I went a little OTT, but its turned out well.

ZeeBOB HTPC 1

ZeeBOB HTPC 2

ZeeBOB HTPC 3

HTPC:
Case: Zalman HD160XT Plus
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA790FX-DS5 AM2+
CPU: AMD Phenom 9950 Quad-Core Black Edition
Memory: 4GB - Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C5DHX 2 X 2GB DDR
Graphics: Saphire ATI Raedon HD4850 512MB HDCP HDMI PCI-E
HDD: 2x Seagate 750GB SATAII 7200RPM
PSU: Seasonic M12 700W
TV Tuner: Hauppauge WinTV HVR4000 Quad Mode TV Reciever
Sound Card: Asus Xonar Ultra Fidelity PCI Sound Card
Keyboard: Logitech DiNovo Edge Ultra Slim Keyboard
Mouse: Logitech MX Revolution Cordless Laser Mouse

Audio/Video:
TV: Panasonic Viera 42" Plasma
AV Reciever: Onkyo TX-SR705
Speakers: Wharfdale 5.1 Surrond Sound Speakers

Software:
OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate (x64) with Service Pack 1
Media Center: MediaPoral 1.0.0.0 RC3
Daemon Tools
WinAMP
VLC Media Player

Codecs:
MPEG-2 Video: CyberLink Video/SP Decoder (PCM45) - Bundled with TV Card
H.264 Video: CyberLink H.264/AVC Decoder (PDVD8)
Audio Codec: CyberLink Audio Decoder (PCM45) - Bundled with TV Card

The 7" LCD Touchscreen on the case is connected via DVI-VGA and the TV via DVI-HDMI. All sound is decoded and processed on the Asus Xonar card and output via SPDIF to the AV Reciever. MediaPortal can do pretty much everything now just a few little problems and extra tweaks to do:

Outstanding:
1. Get xmlTVNZ installed and working
2. Get my Logitech Harmony 525 to control the PC and MediaPortal

peteinakl

22 posts

Geek

#172109 19-Oct-2008 18:18

Yum, but should post some new pics as I've got a Bravia and a decent cabinet now.
Love that TFT screen, but have you thought about a Logitech Harmony remote. It took me a while to come around, but now I have it working right (took 3 days) I can't imagine life without it. I used to have 5 remotes, now we have one and my wife can just push 'Watch TV' and it switches everything on, jumps to live TV, adusts the sound field.... you get the idea. It takes a little bit of patience, but is SO worth it.
Awesome setup. Thanks for posting it :)

Dingbatt

6756 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#172121 19-Oct-2008 19:10

ZeeBOB:............

Outstanding:
1. Get xmlTVNZ installed and working
2. Get my Logitech Harmony 525 to control the PC and MediaPortal

I note you are in an apartment so this may not be possible...
If you have access to a satellite dish pointing at Optus D1 then your HVR4000 will be able to download the 7-day EPG via freeview. It is what I use because my HTPC is not connected to the 'net.

Awesome setup tho'.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

peteinakl

22 posts

Geek

#172122 19-Oct-2008 19:23

I second that, I too run an HVR-4000, well 3 of them.
I have one pointing at the Optus D1 which gets my EPG, the other two point at DVB-T.
Has anyone had any good results getting their EPG over DVB-T? I hate EPG's via internet!

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

ZeeBOB

26 posts

Geek

#172147 19-Oct-2008 21:25

Dingbatt:
I note you are in an apartment so this may not be possible...
If you have access to a satellite dish pointing at Optus D1 then your HVR4000 will be able to download the 7-day EPG via freeview. It is what I use because my HTPC is not connected to the 'net.

Awesome setup tho'.

I like this idea! I know the last tenants in our apartment had SKY but there is no seperate cable feed so i'm guessing the Sat and UHF signals are coming down the same cable...

Can anyone advise the settings I need in MediaPortal for a DVB-S signal or is it just as simple as picking the Sat from the list and run a detect?

ZeeBOB

26 posts

Geek

#173227 24-Oct-2008 00:20

So I posted the build of my HTPC up on youtube including the 98% completed system, feel free to check it out!

http://nz.youtube.com/user/ZeeBOBNZ

mcraenz

1140 posts

Uber Geek

#175089 1-Nov-2008 15:51

Well I've commented quite a few times in the freeview and HTPC threads so I thought I'd better snap a few shots of my very humble setup. I opted for hiding the computer rather than putting it on display in an HTPC case.

The "TV" is small; 19" but its ok for TV, I have a projector for movies .

The case contains a custom made fibreglass cpu/video card duct and is very quiet.

The lamp and sub can be turned on an doff using the parallel port power control plug-in I wrote for MediaPortal

Help me build a better way of doing politics in Aotearoa New Zealand

political.nz

ajst2duk

170 posts

Master Geek

#178324 17-Nov-2008 10:17

Hey all - thought I would be cheeky & re-post as I've made a few tweaks here & there
It's all on http://www.jenkin.net/HTPC.htm
Major changes since last post are addition of a USB DAC, namely Citipulse 2.03E which I've now had for about 6 months, oh and the hand-built sub, which really does get things moving. I'm still a stereo freak, not yet taken to the dark side of HT.
The tweaks to the HTPC setup itself amount to the addittion of a few new tuners (HVR2200, & 2XUSB Nova-T, total 4 digital & 2 analogue tuners) and I had to swap out the ATI video card for an Nvidia 9600GT Passive. I took the Preamp out and am using the Citypulse as the pre. I've also pulled the twin 500GB drives, replaced the system disk with a solid state drive, and media disk with a 1.5TB HDD. I also replaced my TV cabinet and the wine rack I was using for my audio/HTPC rack with a custom built TV unit from a guy who sells on trademe. The whole affair is now as good as I could ever wish it to be, and the family love it.

HTPC setup

metalla

28 posts

Geek

#179646 23-Nov-2008 16:19

Here is my setup.
Running An Asus M2h with a AMD Athlon 64x2 5200, ATI HD2600Pro, 2gb Ram, Hauppauge Nova-T 500, Seagate 500gb SATA, WD 320gb IDE, WD 200gb.
Mediaportal RC3 with Aeon Skin, Moving Pictures, TV Series, Music Video DB, etc. etc.
Two x Logitech Cordless PS3 controllers (which work on PC) to run the emulators
Connected to a 42" k7 Pana Plasma
Marantz 5.1 Amp, powering Acoustic Reseach HC6 5.1 Speakers
Plus the PS2. My HTPC

duckquack

75 posts

Master Geek

#189000 12-Jan-2009 15:39

Current

CASE: Silverstone LC16-M & iMon Remote,
PWRSUP: Corsair VX520W,
MOTHERBOARD: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R,
VIDEO: Gigabyte 8600GT Silent,
SOUND: Onboard 8 Channels ALC889A Audio controller ,
CPU: Intel Core2 Duo E8400,3.00GHz,
RAM:Corsair DDR2-800, 2GB,
HDD: SAMSUNG 500 & 750GB HDD,
TUNER: Hauppauge PVR150MCE PCI TV Tuner + Sky Star SAT Tuner for Freeview & EPG,
DISPLAY: Panasonic 50" PZ850 HD Plasma with HD Freeview Tuner.
SOFTWARE: Vista, Mediaportal 1.0.
RECEIVER: Sony 940 5.1 surround sound, it also has an optical link which I connected directly to the computer.
SPEAKERS: Front: PSB, Not shown but I also have the following that I haven't setup yet Centrer Paradigm, Rear: Paradigm Mini Monitor, Subwoofer: Paradigm PS1200

Things to do

HD Tuner, possibly HVR 2200
Blueray player, once prices come down
more storage in a RAID setup so I don't loose it all, possibly 3 x 750GB HDD
Harmony Remote

Here's some photos, and yes I know the cables look messy, but who cares you never see them. You will also note that I removed some of the rear paneling so overheating isn't a problem.

Comments welcome.

htpc

psk20

155 posts

Master Geek

#191772 24-Jan-2009 11:07

Right, it's not actually finished, but it's far along enough that I feel like putting something up here : )

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/skeletoro/DSCF2715.jpg

Here she is in all her glory. You're looking at:

[b]receiver[/b]: Onkyo TX-SR575s. Got for $498. Doesn't process HDMI signals, so I just use a 5.1 spdif coaxial connection from the pc.

[b]speakers[/b]: Monitor Audio Bronze 3 front speakers, plus Monitor Baby Center and 2x Monitor 2 surround speakers (not shown). No subwoofer yet - I'd probably die an early death due to neighbour hate. Bought 5 years ago when they were being phased out by a newer range for about $1k - just under 50% RRP from Soundline Audio.

[b]Screen[/b]: Philips 47PFL7422 47" 1080p LCD. Connected directly to PC via HDMI.

[b]PC[/b]: WARNING: MESSY

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/skeletoro/DSCF2717.jpg

Specs are in my sig. As you can see, I'm trying to get this rig working as a hybrid HTPC/Gaming machine. I've had some success with this - its playing games and dvds without a hitch at the moment. Regarding freeview, I'm getting some problems with the hardware decoding of channels 4 and up, and I still don't have a guide working in windows 7. :( But I'm hoping that driver updates or updates to windows 7 will sort that. I still have yet to buy a blu-ray drive.

Its messy and noisy right now. My corsair modular PSU died earlier this year, and the replacement is a POS. It will eventually need replacing, for reasons of noise. I'm also thinking about moving this computer into a better case, although I am not sure which cases will fit my video card - and it needs to have decent cooling! I'd also probably buy a better CPU cooler - I imagine that the stock cooler with my phenom is contributing to the noise issue too.

For some reason the Windows 7 version of the catalyst drivers isn't actually installing the control center, even though it claimed that it does. Once I've got that up and running, I'll probably look at using the profiles system to underclock the video card and turn down the fan when I'm not gaming.

[b]Outstanding[/b]:

Reduce noise coming from PC case (replace PSU, CPU fan,set up software tweaks)
Fix some software issues
video artifacts on resume from sleep
Freeview 576i channels not displaying correctly
Put PC in a decent HTPC case that will fit it, and move into the left cabinet cavity so that I can properly center TV.
Get a subwoofer if and when we move somewhere more suitable
Get a blu-ray drive

m1k30rz

34 posts

Geek

#194475 6-Feb-2009 15:10

After making a dead silent home server that pretty much only serves music/movies and pictures.. I thought...

Wouldn't a HTPC be far better!?!
My girl and I shall be moving to a new place soon anyway so instead of having heaps of crap like a DVD recorder, FM tuner, Media Extender, Blue Ray player etc etc in our lounge, it seemed much more suitable to make a real nice HTPC running Vista Media Center... Bring on zombo...

Specs:

Pentium 4 3.2ghz LGA775 (Soon to be upgraded to E5200)
Asus P5KPL
CM Motherboard
2x 1024mb DDR2667, overclocked to DDR2800 with 5
5
5
10 timings.
1x Western Digital Green Power 750gb, modded with AAM to silent
1x Western Digital Green Power 640gb, modded with AAM to silent
Asus 7600GS 256mb passive graphics card.
Creative Audigy 2 with SPDIF breakout box
High Power 420watt quiet PSU.

So I bought an Antec NSK2480B (BLACK!!)...

Took out the tricools and replaced with some 12L Arctic Cooling 120mm fans, very very silent, barley audible and rubber mounted! Sweet little things.
Also replaced the 380watt noisy 80mm powered "Earth Power" Antec PSU with my 420watt with a 120mm fan, removed the grill also, to make it even quieter :)

A few hours later, great success!! Yes EVERYTHING is wired up.. nice huh? Just all very sneakily hidden :P

I have modified the heatsink on my P5KPL
CM chipset as it seems to get quite hot, have epoxy welded another northbridge heatsink from a Gigabyte motherboard to the top of it, runs a LOT cooler!

I have also very carefully routed the two fan wires for the 120mm arctic's under the motherboard tray to hide the wires.

Whats left?

Well she's memtesting right now, passing no troubles, have to setup vista now!

In a fortnight I will be replacing the FlyTV Platnium (basically just in there for FM radio for now lol) with a Hauppauge HVR3000 I think.. unless anyone has a better idea? Want to run DVBT Terrestrial Freeview on it under Vista Media Center.

Will be replacing the P4 3.2 ( hot mother ) with a Intel Core2Duo E5200 or maybe even E8200.

Going to add a BluRAY/DVD Combo drive also, and in turn find a good graphics card maybe a nVidia 9400 would that suit? I basically need one with a passive cooler that is single slot, or a very quiet single slot fan'ed model otherwise I will have to find a pciexpress TV tuner that also can do FM and DVBT... hard to come by!

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