How To: Build An HTPC (With Windows 7)

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for they guy who had a question about the hd pvr.

if you want to record and watch a show at the same time you will need 2 hd pvr's.

sounds like you don't have a PVR...you will have to get OVER watching live TV...schedule a bunch of shows for the week and then watch the recorded shows at your leisure. you now control when you want to watch tv and not the tv controlling you...the entire point of having a PVR is to record and watch later....unless you want to watch the news or something.....sounds like you will need two of these boxes.
 
@jackalope
Thanks for that bit on Blu-Ray. I had a feeling the situation would be something like what you stated, just never looked into that deeply being that I don't even own a Blu-Ray drive yet and laziness. I would surely be interested in one of those Aspen systems if I where thinking about a new box. Really what I was tryin to say was it would nice to just be able to buy cable card card for what ever comp you choose to install it in. I was recently using the Happauge 2250 for Qam and Basic Cable. It was great until my cable company cut QAM availability to just the locals. That and the poor picture qaulity of basic cable was the last straw. Had to bow to the cable gods and get their STB to get my HD back.
 
[citation][nom]danimal_the_animal[/nom]for they guy who had a question about the hd pvr.if you want to record and watch a show at the same time you will need 2 hd pvr's.sounds like you don't have a PVR...you will have to get OVER watching live TV...[/citation]

Well as I see it, I don't have to get over anything unless I want to get rid of the DVR provided by my cable company, and what I was initially asking was whether or not I should bother trying to do that. It sounds like the answer I'm getting here is; "no, stick with the HD + DVR package you have from your cable company because current HTPCs cannot easily provide the same functionality".

As it is today my wife and I often have to chose what not to watch/record when we want to continue watching something we're watching live and two shows come up at the same time to be recorded - and that's with the two tuners in the set-top box! Simply pre-recording everything would not be an option. It just highlights how different people's habits are. If I lived alone, I'd have no problem simply pre-recording everything (again, this goes back to my "it's basically just a VCR" analogy), but my wife, who's a HGTV, Bravo, and HBO junkie would never let me get away with that. Given the fact that the cable company charges something like $8 / mo. for DVR on top of our existing HD package, it'd take something like 3 years to make up the cost of having 2 HDPVR boxes, not to mention the extra monthly rental cost from the cable company to have two set-top boxes to do the decoding - it's simply not worth it to me given the current technology available. To further highlight the difference in habits/desires of TV viewers, niether I nor my wife could ever imagine keeping any TV show after we've watched it (with the exception of maybe one or two all-time favorite family guy episodes). Same thing with movies; I'd much rather see what's new on pay-per-view than re-watch a movie I've already seen.

If there was an easier and more affordable way to replace that two-tuner HD cable box (and do HDMI switching from my PC) then maybe this whole HTPC thing would make sense to me, but from what I seen from the replies here and doing a little of own research, I'll be sticking with the cable box for a while. I do plan on setting up an HTPC one of these days, but it will basically be used to provide Blu-ray playback, iTunes, and picture-in-picture or split-screen web-browsing.

Cheers,
CList
 
[citation][nom]dlvonde[/nom]way to show your ignorance. if you ask a question, wait for the answer before sticking your foot in your mouth. there is hardware to do all of this and more.[/citation]
Not really, there isnt a unit out that can do all Satellite the satellite can (without issues anyway). Who cares if you can record OTA or unencrypted shows. To me it is all or nothing, I dont want an additional box I want a replacment to my SATELLITE HD DVR....
Oh and correct me if I am wrong but I don't think the Cable Card standard is applicable to satellite companies at all. It is a cable company thing only. If this is correct then shut your hole... K buh bye

 
[citation][nom]HD_Guru[/nom]Hauppauge HD PVR ( avchd-usb video capture device )... will soon be supported by Win7 MCE. It's the best way to watch and record Premium HDTV on your HTPC. http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hdpvr.html[/citation]
Sounds Sweet, wonder though, can this record two shows at once going from the satellite box (dish or direct tv? I am guessing no as it looks like a single tuner and I am guessing (could be wrong here) you would have to have to satellite receivers to do this as well. So if you need two receivers, ($10-$20 a month) and two of these units ($250 a piece whew!) then it sort of makes no sense to go that route as I pay like $10 a month for my HDDVR that can record two shows at once.
I really hate that is true, but hope one day this will change...
 
[citation][nom]CList[/nom]Well as I see it, I don't have to get over anything unless I want to get rid of the DVR provided by my cable company, and what I was initially asking was whether or not I should bother trying to do that. It sounds like the answer I'm getting here is; "no, stick with the HD + DVR package you have from your cable company because current HTPCs cannot easily provide the same functionality". As it is today my wife and I often have to chose what not to watch/record when we want to continue watching something we're watching live and two shows come up at the same time to be recorded - and that's with the two tuners in the set-top box! Simply pre-recording everything would not be an option. It just highlights how different people's habits are. If I lived alone, I'd have no problem simply pre-recording everything (again, this goes back to my "it's basically just a VCR" analogy), but my wife, who's a HGTV, Bravo, and HBO junkie would never let me get away with that. Given the fact that the cable company charges something like $8 / mo. for DVR on top of our existing HD package, it'd take something like 3 years to make up the cost of having 2 HDPVR boxes, not to mention the extra monthly rental cost from the cable company to have two set-top boxes to do the decoding - it's simply not worth it to me given the current technology available. To further highlight the difference in habits/desires of TV viewers, niether I nor my wife could ever imagine keeping any TV show after we've watched it (with the exception of maybe one or two all-time favorite family guy episodes). Same thing with movies; I'd much rather see what's new on pay-per-view than re-watch a movie I've already seen. If there was an easier and more affordable way to replace that two-tuner HD cable box (and do HDMI switching from my PC) then maybe this whole HTPC thing would make sense to me, but from what I seen from the replies here and doing a little of own research, I'll be sticking with the cable box for a while. I do plan on setting up an HTPC one of these days, but it will basically be used to provide Blu-ray playback, iTunes, and picture-in-picture or split-screen web-browsing. Cheers,CList[/citation]
Exactly!!!
That is what some of these guys need to understand, a HTPC is USELESS to us regular Joes unless it can do what we ALREADY have for LESS or the SAME amount we spend now. I mean really, $10 a month and I can record 2 shows at the same time not have to worry about if its encrypted or any other crap. It just works. I have a 250 Gig external drive hooked up to boost the storage (it has a 320 i think) and I dont need two satellite set top boxes and two other boxes that costs a BUTT LOAD...
 
[citation][nom]dlvonde[/nom]way to show your ignorance. if you ask a question, wait for the answer before sticking your foot in your mouth. there is hardware to do all of this and more.[/citation]
Yes I was ignorant for expecting you to have a clue. Forgive me wont happen again. lol
 
[citation][nom]ravenware[/nom]My main reason for wanting to build is to eliminate the stack of DVDs on either side of my television.Not sure what software will actually allow me to copy the Media to hard drive to copyright protection bs. Would be nice to rip all of my simpsons DVDs and shuffle the episodes up.[/citation]

There is a hack on the internet about changing the DVD Library value in the registry from value HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Media Center\SettingsDvdSettings to ShowGallery and a few other things then you can copy your DVDs to the hard drive and browse them just like the music library. This works for vista. Then there is Fab5 which can be used to copy DVDs. Its free!

I don't feel the review was very accurate. For example there was a comment about when you stuck in a blu-ray disk "you get kicked out to the Windows desktop". No! you were kicked out of the media center to the desktop.
 
This is Lame as always :
IT IS NOT PERFECT, BECAUSE THE REVIEWER DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO MAKE IT RIGHT.
First off:
The Lamer above should read about Motion-Adaptive Deinterlacing, so he would know why a set-top-box looks better than his system. Why do such Lamers write Articels for THG ??? Deinterlacing ist Newbie-Stuff. on Ati: HD4550 or higher on NV : GF9500GT or higher and the settopbox will disappear in dust in terms of quality.
A very lame article by a newbie. Why on Toms Hardware ?
 
Thanks for the review. It's the first true HTPC build on Tom's in nearly two years and long overdue. I just hope Tom's uses this as a starting point and continues to expand on it.

Some other areas that need to be explored:

Myth TV, KnoppMyth, Sage TV and other operating platforms. There are a number of alternative platforms that could be explored.

Capturing and recording (perhaps even authoring) HD content. There currently are no solutions for an integrated satellite HD receiver. With nearly 100 million subscribers, there is a large contingent that would like to be able to record from their DirecTv HD receivers for example. I'm one of them. I would have no problem if it weren't fully integrated into the HTPC. Just give me a capture device that is either HDCP complient or works around it. Black Magic Designs offer some very interesting products (the Intensity Pro or even the Decklink Extreme) that may be of use here. So what if I keep my DirecTv receiver in my entertainment center. I have no problem picking up it's remote to change the channels, as long as the software on the HTPC is integrated in a seamless fashion.

I think you're off to a good start. I just hope it isn't another two years until we see the next build or review.
 
Questions:

1. The big one, will this setup allow for a "Protected Audio Path" thus allowing for true HD audio from a HTCP? See below link for more information.

This is the BIG deal killer for me (and I would suspect anyone that is serious about HTPC's and HD content and is aware of it. I am currently running an HTPC but will upgrade in an instant as soon as I can get a PAP via HDMI from a HTPC.


2. Will this setup support audio via HDMI or are you restricted to outputting through coax/optical or analogs?


3. Is a similar board available in a full ATX or even ATX-E configuration?

I know people like M-ATX for HTPC's, but I like to only have one computer and with my multiple HDD's with TB's worth of storage I need the extra SATA connections and like the extra Xx PCI-E slots for flexibility.

Anyway, great article and looking forward to answers to the above.
 
See above, forgot link:
http://www.carltonbale.com/2008/11/the-state-of-blu-ray-lossless-hd-audio-in-home-theater-computers/
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1029603
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1055454

And two more questions: Will the 5x100w card allow for this internally? If so, can I route my 360, Wii, PS3 through the PC to and use my PC and a multi-channel receiver?

Lots of potential goodness here, hoping for some positive answers! Thanks again.

 
This article is so wrong... using an inefficient processor (e5200 kicks its ass regarding performance/watt and overall consumption), a stupid chipset (no HD acceleration) and a doubtful motherboard.
 
[citation][nom]adaemox[/nom]Questions:1. The big one, will this setup allow for a "Protected Audio Path" thus allowing for true HD audio from a HTCP? See below link for more information. This is the BIG deal killer for me (and I would suspect anyone that is serious about HTPC's and HD content and is aware of it. I am currently running an HTPC but will upgrade in an instant as soon as I can get a PAP via HDMI from a HTPC.[/citation]

i have a same question regarding uncompress audio format...

i use Popcorn Hour myself for watching downloaded videos and my mp3 collection...

what i would like to do is build HTPC to watch DVD, blu-ray, downloaded videos, and listen to mp3s through a receiver...

on blu-ray and HD contents, is there going to be a solution where HTPC would passthrough uncompress audio format such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD via HDMI so the receiver can decode it instead of having HTPC decode it itself?
 
[citation][nom]icepick314[/nom]i have a same question regarding uncompress audio format...i use Popcorn Hour myself for watching downloaded videos and my mp3 collection...what i would like to do is build HTPC to watch DVD, blu-ray, downloaded videos, and listen to mp3s through a receiver...on blu-ray and HD contents, is there going to be a solution where HTPC would passthrough uncompress audio format such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD via HDMI so the receiver can decode it instead of having HTPC decode it itself?[/citation]


The problem with HDMI and 1.3a spec is that hardware and firmware developers need to come together and decide on how to pass the audio (7.1 uncompressed) and video through. Now you have a video card for video, and an audio card for audio. How do you get that HDMI output to satisfy the 1.3a spec? Everyone needs to get together to figure how to get along. I would think you would have a motherboard and a single card for doing both audio and video with HDMI output. Until then I think we are stuck with 5.1 compressed audio.
 
this is a good article about current stuff but ati has been doing this for a long time and i have been along for the ride. from the original aiw pro running on a Pentium 2 ati has made it possible to own a htpc. my point is that it does not take all the latest stuff to make one work. if you have an old system from the past 5 years you can invest a few bucks and get a great htpc.

with a pentium 4 or athalon system you can get a great htpc. the key is finding the right capture quality to match your system performance. an athalon 2500+ or celleron 2.4ghz have plenty of power to record a show and watch a show that you recorded at the same time. if you want to record two shows at once you would need to use an aiw video card with the tv-wonder pci card.

a newer dual core system would allow you to record a the best quality and play 1080p .mkv files.

the remote that ati uses is not the best but works well with included software or other media players. it has 6 programmable buttons and rf receiver so it will go through walls. no need to point.
 
[citation][nom]bad_code[/nom]I saw ASUS has a 1.3a compliant audio card solution that supports the DTS-HD and Dolby Digital TrueHD via HDMI. To my knowledge this is the fist and only sound card which supports both via HDMI. Am I wrong. I see people talking about HDIM connections, but I thought that was only for video.http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx? [...] odelmenu=2[/citation]


I forgot to mention it also dose video out upto 1080p. Check it out.
 
The reason I'm toying with the idea of building a HTPC is to get rid as many wires as possible. Because I do not have a very good ear for surround sound but want something better then the TV speaker, I'm thinking of going with the Yamaha YSP-4000 Sound Bar which has a built in amplifier. Then all I need is a HTPC that has all my DVD, Blue-Ray, Music, Dual Digital TV Tuners. The case I have been looking at is the Silverstone CW02, I do not need a touch screen, but the LCD would be nice and it has a 120mm Exhaust fan with the option of 2 92mm intake fans.
 
I just ordered a similar setup in Belgium, cost me just below € 800.

Newegg, if you read this, start delivering in Europe because prices here are horrifying!
Anyway these are the components ordered and the best price i could find at this point. (I hope it's ok for me to post these prices?)

CPU AMD Athlon 64 X2 5050E - EUR 59
MB MSI 5.1 Live DIVA – EUR 209
Case Antec Fusion Black with rc - EUR 133
RAM OCZ 4 GB, PC6400 - EUR 29
HDD SAMSUNG SPINPOINT F1 640 Gb - EUR 59
DVD-BD Lite-On DH-4O1S 4 – EUR 93
TV Tuner Hauppauge HVR 2200 - EUR 130
PSU Antec Truepower Trio 550w – EUR 62

The ATI tv wonder card doesn't support PAL tv format (which is commenly used in Europe), so i had to find another card with a dual tuner and PAL support.
The ATI card isn't available in Belgium anyway.


I chose the same CPU as jschoorl, since the cpu listed in this article is € 100 more expensive and overkill if you ask me.

just received a msg from the computer store that my MB has arrived, now waiting for the rest!
 
just started up with this article have not finished reading it yet, just wondering about linux for this project, would it work and which distro is recommended? thx for your input ...
 
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