I have been talking about HTPCs for about two years now, and I have finally done something about it: my own HTPC now sits in the AV shelf next to my HDTV.
The final parts (versus my earlier list) I used are:
| Case | Zalman HD160 |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 |
| CPU | Intel Duo 2 Core E6400 |
| CPU Cooler | CNPS9500 AT 2 |
| Power Supply | ZM460-APS 460w PSU |
| Hard Disks | 2 x SAMSUNG SpinPoint P Series SP2504C 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM |
| RAM | CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Unbuffered DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) |
| Video Card | NX7600GT-VT2D256E HD |
| SD Tuner | Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-500MCE |
| HD Tuner | VBOX Cat’s Eye DTA-150 ATSC Over-the-air HDTV Tuner |
| DVD Burner | NEC 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE/ATAPI Model ND-3550A - OEM |
| OS/PVR Software | Media Center Edition 2005 |
| Keyboard | Microsoft Remote Keyboard for Windows XP Media Center |
| Remote Control | Microsoft Remote Control (bundled with the Zalman HD160) |
The most painful parts of assembling the computer involved the cables. There are just too many of them to connect and then to tuck away afterwards. I pushed all the cables to the edges inside the case; I just hope this doesn’t come back to bite me.
The IR software caused the most pain among software configurations. The first problem was making the MCE Remote Keyboard work with the non-Microsoft IR receiver embedded in the HD160 case. It’s almost working completely (’\’ still doesn’t work), after I followed instructions from this forum thread.
The other problem is making sure the IR software starts automatically following every reboot, otherwise neither my IR keyboard or IR remote would work. ZoneAlarm turned out to be the culprit.
I figured out how to configure the IR software to allow remote power-on and shutdown the computer. The instructions are over at Zalman USA’s website under HD160’s FAQ & Notices section.
Lastly, I am a bit disappointed in my Samsung DLP’s overscan behavior. I used NVidia’s underscan feature to compensate, but it’s still not 100% satisfactory.
Here are some pictures of the HTPC:
Dude!
That rocks! How much did your setup cost? I’m clueless about HTPC stuff, but was wondering about a few things. I work on the road a lot and am looking to do the following:
Record shows like Tivo and make it available to myself over the internet.
Want to rip my DVDs and convert them to stream to myself over the internet.
Want a location free like Slingbox.
Ry
The parts roughly total $1900, including shipping and tax. It’s not bad, a similarly equipped boutique PC costs way more.
I have installed Orb on my HTPC, and I was able to view my pre-recorded shows on my PPC6700. I could also view them on a PC, but what is the cool factor in that?
It was possible to watch live TV using Orb, but then I had to shutdown MediaCenter program to free up the TV tuners.
Did I mention Orb is free?
I am looking forward to installing Vista with MediaCenter once it comes out.
Thanks for the 411! You have a real nice setup. I may have to build one for myself. Wife says that if I can catalog and stream DVDs, she’s sold on it. Time to do some homework.
Ry
I haven’t looked at what video formats Orb supports (besides the one used by MCE). You should look it up first.
Hi - Ive just completed a similar build and am trying to get a Mircrosoft media keyboard working with a) usb ir receiver that came with mobo or b) ir reciever that came with tv card. I figure if I buy official microsoft remote with it ir reciever I wont have any problems but seems silly to by another ir reciever when I have two in the box already. You said:
It’s almost working completely (’\’ still doesn’t work), after I followed instructions from this forum thread.
But unfortunately the link is dead. Ive scoured the net for info on this but just cant find any leads at all (except by a microsoft remote) - any pointers on how you solved this would be cool. Its a while ago now I know so no probs if you’ve moved on to other things…. Cheers. Ric.
I ran into the same problem later when I installed Vista. And yes, the forum link was dead by then. So this time I documented the steps in another post: Windows Vista and VFD/IRTrans.
Let me know if I had missed anything in that post.