BASIC HTPC
The
minimum specification of your system will depend upon what you
want to do. I started with a system based on an Athlon 800 but
soon found that this has its limits especially when playing DivX
encoded films (more on this later or see history section).
One
key area for concern is noise generation, obviously in the living
room you don't want a device that sounds as if it was taking off.
The
system components that I will list take into account of price,
performance and noise generation, and are ones that I have used.
Graphics
Card
With
video or svideo out. I use a simple GF5200fx that has no cooling
fan. I use the svideo out to connect to my AV amp and using Nvidea
media center software can alter the screen size so it fully fills
the TV screen, adjust colours and brightness and reduce the flicker.
The
graphics card will also accelerate DVD playback (MPEG2 file format)
but not any other such as DivX (MPEG4) or MPEG2-TS- the free view
broadcast
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TV
tuner
Sometime
referred to as a tv card, and must not be confused with the graphics
card (even though some graphic cards can have a tv tuner built
in).
This
is a device to receive and record TV broadcasts. It can be either
an external device via USB or internal via PCI slot. The main
reason for myself to develop a HTPC was to be able to record tv
and kick out my old SVHS video player. I had a analogue Aver media
TV card but the quality was not that great and the recordings
were stuttery.
Now
freeview is widely available this uses a MPEG2 file format (slightly
different called MPEG2-TS for Transport Stream) I use a Nebula
DVB (Digital Video Broadcast) and records the MPEG2-TS straight
to hard drive without any trans coding in real time, so no loss
in quality from the broadcast compared to the loss when recording
onto VHS tape. Nebula have improved the recording so that DVD
compliant playback is now available.
The
file size is about 2GB per hour and a film normally fits onto
a DVD RW disk. The file can be converted into a different format
like MPEG4 that will reduce the size down to 0.5GB per hr with
minimal loss of quality, see software section for more details.
These re-compression steps are CPU intensive so the faster the
CPU faster the transcoding.
I don’t
actually have the Nebula card in my HTPC, but in my server PC.
The main reason for this is due to the fact that I already have
a built in DVB tuner in my TV so did not require the nebula card
to actually watch live TV on the main TV.
Located
in the server which is on all the time which is required for program
recording (new software out now boots up the pc when a recording
is to be made, when the PC is shut down it changes the bios to
boot up the pc at the specified time, but I have not tested this
yet) I can control all recordings and schedules much better. Also
this frees up the HTPC to transcode films into DivX when required
and I have connected the server PC to my aerial distribution amplifier
so I can either view freeview or watch recordings or listen to
music from any TV in the house
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Sound
card.
Most
mother boards come with built in sound card and many are AC97
compliant (dolby surround 5.1). simple connection via 3.5mm jack
to phono will be ok. However will get complicated when connecting
to a surround sound amp as 3 sets of cables will be required.
I have
a Sony AV amp that can accept digital in either coaxial or optical
so I purchased a Audio Extreme 5.1 PCI 3D Audio Adaptor with 5.1
Channels digital audio for £11. This has both optical or
coax audio in/ out and comes with Win DVD 5.1 software.
I use
a optical cable for simple noise free connection and works perfectly
but cost £25I
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CPU
Minimum
2Ghz for Div X decoding. I use an Athlon 2.6Ghz, I will reduce
the clock speed!! and so reduce the heat output of the CPU and
will be able to lower cooling requirements and noise. Faster processors
are not needed and require noisier fans for cooling, but will
transcode DivX faster but this can be done in the background or
when the HTPC is not in use.
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CPU
Cooler
This
can be one major source of noise and will be so annoying in the
living room. Look for coolers that are speed adjustable I use
Zalman copper cooler CNPS6000-Cu. The massive 92mm fan sits above
the cooler (not connected to the cooler so eliminates noise transfer)
and is ideal for HTPC arrangement. The fan speed is controlled
via the supplied fan mate and cost £30.
Some
motherboards use on board temperature sensing and fan control,
however I find that this is fine for low use or standby but when
watching a film the fans become very noisy. It is not possible
to use larger/ more powerful fans due to current these require
cannot be supported direct from the motherboard, so good idea
but need larger and better cooling in the first instance.
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Motherboard
2004
I find no real difference in motherboards, Asus A7N8X for £60
or Asrock K7S8XE for £23, Don’t pay more for over
the top facilities if you are not going to use them.
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Memory
2004
No difference in make either Crucial or own label but must have
at least 512MB.
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Hard
Drive
More
storage the better, UDMA 133, speed of 7,200RPM run just fine,
No need for SATA, 8MB cash or SCSI. Look for price/ capacity and
go for the best. It may be cheaper for 2 120GB drives than one
200GB.
It
is probably better to use one small drive for the Windows system
and another for storage, if you need to reformat then you will
loose all the information. I find that the Samsung spin point
drives very quiet, some drives chirp when in use.
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DVD
ROM
I use
a Samsung DVD ROM, came with power DVD and is nice and quiet.
If the DVD is noisy this can be adjusted with software so that
the maximum data rate thus spin speed can be reduced.
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DVD
RW
Only
required for archiving films. They are so cheap now and that DVD
R disks (write once) can be got for as little as 16 pence, RW
(write many times) are less than a £1. I don’t have
this in my HTPC but in my server PC, and it a Sony DRU-500A.
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PSU
I use
a old power supply that has the cooling fan changed. I used a
cheap PSU but don’t try this at home you could be electrocuted.
I am an engineer and know what I am doing.
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IR
remote
I
have a IR module with software called Girder, but I find that
the system is not as good as a IR mouse, yet another IR device
or more work recording the codes and teaching the software what
to do.
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IR
Mouse
In
my opinion the most used for interactivity simple and quick. I
use a Chicony set, that cost £20. I had to extend the I.R
receiver as the distance is a bit too far for the mouse, over
12 feet from the HTPC. I have removed the software as a small
information/status box is superimposed over all images including
recordings so required to be shut down every time I used the HTPC.
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IR
Keyboard
Same
as the mouse above. Only required when surfing the web. Its a
nice thing to have but not essential.
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LCD
display
Matrix
Orbital 2. Perfect for the finishing touch and look of the HTPC.
Great for displaying status of the HTPC and to obtain other information
like the weather and program/media data. Costs £80.
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Case
Possibly
the most important part of the setup. There are lots of nice aluminum
cases out there. I had a limited space to fit the system in, and
budget. Most cases are around £150-300. I made my own case
out of MDF,chipboard, silver spray and parts form an old VCR.
I cover
this in more detail in the history section. For the logo's or
decals see software
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