HTPC - Full System Build For DVB-T / PVR.

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Snowflake

#160480 28-Aug-2008 15:21

Cadriel: Hi All,

1/
I live the case, but am worried about space. I notice on ascent they warn you about specific types of DVD drives and graphics cards. Does anyone know if the dvd drive and 8500GT i've selected above will cause issues with the case or not?

apparently you need "short" graphics cards and dvd drives. check this thread for lc16 and 8600gt cards:
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?ForumId=84&TopicId=22126

2/
Does the IR port on this case allow me to 1) power on from an off state or sleep state, and 2) will my harmony work okay with it?

from the silverstonetek.com site:

Q: cannot power up my system with the remote control
A: Please make sure you have connected the ATX powerup adapter properly to both the VFD's 4pin floppy power cable and to your power supply

so yes, this case will both power on and wake with the remote. The harmony remote should be able to control it too as long as has, or can learn the discrete codes

3/
I notice all the nvidia cards come with HDTV ready flag, but what does this mean? Does it have HDMI out? Shouldn't this be my preferred method of delivery for sound and video to my TV?

depends on the manufacturer - some build in HDMI and others build in DVI-I/DVI-D. the one you chose only has DVI. not sure if the HDMI cards can output integrated audio and video or not. You can get an adaptor to turn DVI-D into HDMI but you'll also need to take HDCP into account

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Nety

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#160542 28-Aug-2008 20:52

Cadriel:

I have a couple of questions I'm hoping some of you can answer for me:

1/
I live the case, but am worried about space. I notice on ascent they warn you about specific types of DVD drives and graphics cards. Does anyone know if the dvd drive and 8500GT i've selected above will cause issues with the case or not?

OK you do need to be aware of this. You should be fine with fairly much any 8500GT card and most 8600GT cards as they are quite short but you will not be able to fit any 9xxx series cards in this case.

I recall somewhere on the Silverstone site or Ascent site it tells you how much room you have to play with.

2/
Does the IR port on this case allow me to 1) power on from an off state or sleep state, and 2) will my harmony work okay with it?

Yes the IR control for the power sits in between the case button and your motherboard so when you turn the power on using your remote it is just like you are pressing the button on the front of the case.

3/
I notice all the nvidia cards come with HDTV ready flag, but what does this mean? Does it have HDMI out? Shouldn't this be my preferred method of delivery for sound and video to my TV?

To be honest it does not mean much at all. Cards have been saying HDTV ready for a long time. Long before they really were! However I can say that the 8500GT has the best hardware acceleration support available from NVidia.
I cannot confirm for sure for the card you are talking about but the 8500GT I have from XFX can pass audio and video through the main DVI port so you just need to use a DVI to HDMI cable.
As far as picture quality goes DVI and HDMI use the exact same system they just use a different plug so dont get hung up about the card having or not having a HDMI port. As long as it has DVI then you are just as well of as one that has HDMI. You will just need to get a cable to go from DVI to HDMI although some cards come with a converter so can just use a HDMI to HDMI cable.

Media centre PC - Case Silverstone LC16M with 2 X 80mm AcoustiFan DustPROOF, MOBO Gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H, CPU AMD X2 240 under volted, RAM 4 Gig DDR3 1033, HDD 120Gig System/512Gig data, Tuners 2 X Hauppauge HVR-3000, 1 X HVR-2200, Video Palit GT 220, Sound Realtek 886A HD (onboard), Optical LiteOn DH-401S Blue-ray using TotalMedia Theatre Power Corsair VX Series, 450W ATX PSU OS Windows 7 x64

Cadriel

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Master Geek
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#160552 28-Aug-2008 21:04

Excellent, thanks nety. My next question was going to be "Can I pass the Audio through to the HDMI or DVI".

Also - I'm thinking of moving to the Antec HD160 case. Seems to be just as nice from a visual perspective (for the wife) and a little more roomier without the dvd drive stuck in the middle. I just don't like the price of it as much. ;D

I definately like the idea of simplicity, so i'll find a card that has HDMI out. That way it'll be like any other device - just needs power and an HDMI feed. No keyboards or mice needed! :)

CASE: Zalman HD160; MOTHERBOARD: Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3; VIDEO: Geforce Asus GT240 HDMI;
SOUND: HDMI Passthrough; CPU: Intel E8200; RAM: Corsair XMS2 2GB;
HDD: 160MB 2.5" Hitachi; TUNER: Hauppage HDR 2200; DISPLAY: Sony 46" 1080p X Series;
SOFTWARE: Windows 7, XBMC;

--
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kiwijunglist

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#160560 28-Aug-2008 21:19

From the reviews i have read HDTV usually refers to a little adaptor box that gives you component out via one of the gfx card ports.

If you have DVI out, you can buy a cable with DVI at one end and HDMI at the other, so no need to get an adaptor.

If you are buying a blueray drive it is important to get an HDCP compatible card. Someone else can probably explain better, but basically if you play a bluray disc with copy protection and your card is not HDCP compliant, then the cpu must do additional decoding. From memory the card you have selected is HDCP compliant, but you should confirm this.

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eXDee

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#160564 28-Aug-2008 21:25

Though a DVI-HDMI cable might account the fact that the card is actually outputting audio too, so it might not transmit the audio? Not sure how it works but i assumed that the card manufacturer simply used unused DVI pins or something for audio, or is it simply tacked onto the video signal? I'd be interested to know.

Cadriel

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Master Geek
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#160617 29-Aug-2008 08:45

Ok - the big question. Who has recommendations on reliable and well priced stores in Auckland? I'd prefer to get all components from one store if possible.

:)

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#160680 29-Aug-2008 11:19

eXDee: Though a DVI-HDMI cable might account the fact that the card is actually outputting audio too, so it might not transmit the audio? Not sure how it works but i assumed that the card manufacturer simply used unused DVI pins or something for audio, or is it simply tacked onto the video signal? I'd be interested to know.

See my earlier post re HDMI audio. Follow the blog link. Under "Technical History" you will find an expanation of how HDMI works. Its a bit like teletext - uses gaps in the video transmittion to transmit audio packets.

It will be basically the same when using a DVI-HDMI cable to transmit audio.

It is not the cable or pins that are at issue, what you do need is a DVI port on your video card that can feed audio during the video transmttion gaps. There are a number of video cards that offer that capability; eg. Asus EN8600GT/HTDI/256M or EN9600GT SILENT/HTDI/512M, which provide HDMI support via an DVI-to-HDMI adaptor (or use an DVI-to-HDMI cable). These (often?) require a compatible Mobo that allows you to run an internal cable feeding audio to the video card.

I assume these cards basically have an HMDI controller(?) feeding to a DVI out port (plus of course an internal audio-in link to receive the audio feed).

DS248

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#160697 29-Aug-2008 12:17

BTW there is of course a Wiki on HDMI (probably several), but the linked Wiki does not cover audio over DVI-HDMI.

Nety

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#160708 29-Aug-2008 12:48

DS248:
See my earlier post re HDMI audio. Follow the blog link. Under "Technical History" you will find an expanation of how HDMI works. Its a bit like teletext - uses gaps in the video transmittion to transmit audio packets.

Exactly right. There is a lot of bandwidth left after the picture is sent so they just use that bandwidth to send the audio signal.

It is not the cable or pins that are at issue, what you do need is a DVI port on your video card that can feed audio during the video transmttion gaps. There are a number of video cards that offer that capability; eg. Asus EN8600GT/HTDI/256M or EN9600GT SILENT/HTDI/512M, which provide HDMI support via an DVI-to-HDMI adaptor (or use an DVI-to-HDMI cable). These (often?) require a compatible Mobo that allows you to run an internal cable feeding audio to the video card.
I assume these cards basically have an HMDI controller(?) feeding to a DVI out port (plus of course an internal audio-in link to receive the audio feed).

You need to be able to feed the video card a SPDIF signal from whatever sound card you are using. This is then passed through the DVI or HDMI port once going through a chip on the video card that merges it with the video signal.

Nety

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#160711 29-Aug-2008 13:00

Cadriel: Excellent, thanks nety. My next question was going to be "Can I pass the Audio through to the HDMI or DVI".

Also - I'm thinking of moving to the Antec HD160 case. Seems to be just as nice from a visual perspective (for the wife) and a little more roomier without the dvd drive stuck in the middle. I just don't like the price of it as much. ;D

I think you mean the Zalman HD160? Does look nice but quite a bit more expensive. As I said the distance will not be a problem with the card you are getting. I also am guessing that by the time you are ready to replace the card (should not be for a long time) there will be other cards that fit in the space. It is just the current quite limited range of 9xxx cards that I know will not fit.
Personally in every other respect I think the Silverstone is a great case but up to you.

I definately like the idea of simplicity, so i'll find a card that has HDMI out. That way it'll be like any other device - just needs power and an HDMI feed. No keyboards or mice needed! :)

IMHO I would suggest you do not get a card with HDMI out. They charge a premium for cards that have HDMI out and as explained there is no difference between HDMI and DVI other then the plug. As you can pick up a DVI to HDMI cable for the same price as a HDMI to HDMI cable it becomes a no brainer.

Nety

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#160713 29-Aug-2008 13:10

Cadriel: Ok - the big question. Who has recommendations on reliable and well priced stores in Auckland? I'd prefer to get all components from one store if possible.

:)

Do you need to get it from a physical store? I have been exclusively getting my PC parts from online stores for the last few years now.

You may be pushing it to get everything from one store but I would say I have found C1com quite good otherwise the best range and extremely good service is Ascent however they do not compete on price so there is a higher price to be paid with them.

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Wannabe Geek
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#160956 30-Aug-2008 22:47

I could be way off but would you consider going down the ps3 route as
they are bringing out PlayTV which is a DVB-T tuner and might be
sufficient for your needs. You might save half price of building a
media centre pc.

If you just want a PC for TV then why not get a nice low cost dell PC
and a USB dvb-t tuner for about 20 quid on ebay. The dell studio hybrid
is a lovely little pc with HDMI out and a dvd burner €550. The beauty of course with the PC is that could get HD DVB-S receiver to watch some of the Free HD channels on astra 28.2 using mediaportal.

Another final option if you are willing to wait and you can install a dish (if not google selfsat flat dish H21D) is a Humax Freesat PVR
supposibly coming out this christmas.It looks like a really nice piece
of kit with very fast menu's and epg.

Hope this gives you some ideas. For the price you quoted in your initial post you could almost get a dell or ps3 and a freesat HD PVR later on.

Best of luck let us know how get on.

droopy

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Wannabe Geek
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#160958 30-Aug-2008 22:54

sorry just copped there is no way to get freesat in newzealand so i am not sure what is on satellite there. might be worth a look.

Cadriel

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Master Geek
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#161486 2-Sep-2008 10:39

Hi All,

So - after much deliberation and hunting of online stores, here's what I've ended up with:

Computer Lounge:
Hauppauge WinTV HVR2200 PCI-E (White Box)
Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C5DHX 2 X 1GB DDR2-800 XMS2
Pioneer DVR-213LS 20X SATA DVD Burner Black
Gigabyte nVidia Geforce 8500GT GV-NX85T512HP 512MB DDR2
Zalman CNPS9500 LED Silent CPU COOLER Pure Copper
Seagate Barracuda (1TB) 7200.11, 32MB, SATA II

C1 Computers:
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3 Motherboard
Corsair CMPSU-450VX PSU
CORE 2 DUO E8200 CPU

QuietPC:
Zalman HD160 Case (black)

I went way over budget, but in saying that I've made some good savings on some components and am happy with what I've ended up with.

Components are all coming in this week. I'll probably start the build this weekend.

Thank you all for your comments and help. I'm sure I'll have a bunch more questions when I get into the setup of Media Portal.

--
Craig.

Nety

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#161496 2-Sep-2008 11:38

Cadriel: Hi All,

So - after much deliberation and hunting of online stores, here's what I've ended up with:

Computer Lounge:
Zalman CNPS9500 LED Silent CPU COOLER Pure Copper
Craig.

Just a heads up. I have one of these coolers which has always been fantastic (on its third PC now) however I have found a problem with it and the newest motherboard.

The motherboard is passiveley cooled and seems to assume that the CPU cooler will be blowing down. I find that the motherboard components get very hot because the 9500 blows accross the top of the board rather then down onto it.

It keeps the CPU very cool with very little noise but seems to do little to cool the motherboard itself.

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