MY HTPC Today
Graphics Card
I now
use a Gforce 6600 Gigabyte GV-N66256DP totally air cooled for
quietness. It has component out so picture quality has improved..
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TV
tuner
As
stated previously I have the tuner card in the media server. This
was a Nebula PCI version but due to the need to go to SATA hard
drives this was causing an issue so changed to USB2 version and
have had no issues in recording.
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Sound
card.
As
I have upgraded my motherboard to a ASUS K8N and this now came
with optical out built in to the motherboard so do not need a
seperate sound card.
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CPU
Upgraded
the old Athlon XP2600 to a Sempron 3.0Ghzsocket 754
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CPU
Cooler
Now
using the stock AMD cooler that came with the CPU. The mobo has
a fan speed controller built into the bios so in most situations
the fan is off or is at only 1000 rpm and is quiet.
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Motherboard
I stated
last time that there is no difference with mobo's this was such
a wrong quote. The Asrock mobo in the server failed just after
the first year, the SATA interface failed. This caused a lot of
recordings to be corrupt on a couple of hard drives. I purchased
a replacement Arock K7NF2 then found the disk array to be incompatible
so had to reformat all drives so lost all data on the SATA drives.
Then found problems with the SATA and the nebula PCI card. so
purchased another Asrock motherboard but still the same issues
with the PCI card. Upgraded to the socket 757 CPU and another
Asrock K8upgrade VM800 and still issues with the PCI card. Purchased
a new Nebula USB DVB device and still had issues. Changed the
Motherboard to Asus and no issues. I would not purchase a Asrock
again.
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Memory
Still
the same Crucial or own label 512MB.
The
server now needs 1000MB, but the HTPC is ok
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Hard
Drive
The
HTPC has still only a 120BG Samsung spin point, The media server
has the storage.
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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
In
the media server but would get one for the HTPC is building new.
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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.
2006
I have replaced this with a hiper PSU with a 125mm cooling fan,
nice and quiet with round cables.
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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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