My HTPC - the long brief

You have got an amazing HTPC dude, what I would want for my HTPC. Plz post some pics of this setup soon.

This guide will help you in making a solid Vista PC for whatever you want.

Using Windows Vista : The MVP way

To do: 1. buy an LCD monitor with HDMI input

Click to expand...

Even I m looking to buy one for me. Have a look the following models, let me know if you are able to inquire about the cost.

LG L194WT 19" LCD
LG L206WTD 20" LCD
Samsung 206BW

All three of these support HDCP over DVI which is same as HDMI port. You can also buy a DVI to HDMI afapter to connect the HDMI port of your motherboard to DVI port of these monitors. But this won't be required as your motherboard supports HDCP over DVI too & it will work fine when u connect the monitor via DVI port.

2. buy a TV tuner card. My eyes are set on Compro

Click to expand...

Videomate Vista E800F or E600F

Click to expand...

Also have a look at Pinnacle PCTV Tuner kit for Vista & Leadtek TV2000XP Global Media Center.

3. buy a Blu-ray DVD writer

Click to expand...

Better buy after 2 years

4. Order Power DVD ultra

Click to expand...

Why? Vista already plays DVD's fine out of the box. You can buy PowerDVD SE DVD decoder pack for Vista, after installing which you will be able to play DVDs with Dolby digital decoding fine in Windows Media Center or Windows Media Player. Before you order try this solution. PowerDVD 8 UI rox though, it is made with WPF.

Dont bother buying Blu Ray writer so early, hang around for some time, let it become more value for money.

what about speakers?

^^ @gx_saurav, your exposition Using Windows Vista : The MVP way is indeed great and I shall try to finetune Vista on the lines indicated therein.

Right now I am not in a position to move the HTPC to the living room for want of a suitable monitor and TV tuner. When I do, I shall put the snapshots of the whole setup.Taking a snapshot of the Zebronics CUBE is not going to serve any purpose.The various features of the cabby are given in the catalog I have referenced.

I wonder whether WMP can play blu-ray discs.Power DVD ultra can.

@gigacore, I have a Philips MX-980-D,a 5.1 X 100w/per channel AV Receiver doing the HT duty in the living room, and when I move the HTPC to the living room,the optical output of the HTPC will drive the AV amplifier.For the time being, I have to be content with Altec Lansing MX-5021.Right now an Antec Fusion cabby stuffed with an ASUS M2NPV-VM is sitting there.

Add-ons to the bare system are not going to come in a jiffy, considering the cost involved.But surely, the HTPC will move to take its pride of place in the living room, sooner than later.

Thanks to all who have evinced a keen interest.

Wat the heck is HTPC?

^^ Home Theater Personal Computer

I wonder whether WMP can play blu-ray discs.Power DVD ultra can.

Click to expand...

Install the trial version of PowerDVD 8 or WinDVD 9. After this you can play Blue Ray in Media Center or WMP.

My presonal choice would be Nero 8 legal, if you are paying then it is a gr8 suite & comes with inbuilt HD Content support with Nero Showtime.

^ I already have the legal licensed versions of Nero 8 and Power DVD 7 Deluxe.( I never go with pirated or hacked versions. )What all I have to do is to upgrade Power DVD 7 Deluxe to Power DVD ultra for $60. ( There is nothing as Power DVD 8 mentioned in the Cyberlink website. Perhaps it is Power DVD ultra). I shall wait for the day when I acquire a blu-ray writer before this software upgrade.As I said it is a longway up and I'm only on the first stepping stone.

PowerDVD 8 is in beta right now.

If you already have Nero 8 then you don't need anything else. Don't upgrade to PowerDVD 8 ultra, there is no need.

^Thanks for the info . I did not know that. with myself.

It's ok...now show us the pics & specially inside of the Cabinet....how is the ventilation?

Here are two pictures.
*www.imgx.org/pthumbs/small/6240/TCZCube1.jpg

*www.imgx.org/pthumbs/small/6243/MBCZCube2.jpg

OOpps........... the callout in the first picture should read "one 60mm fan can be fixed here in front of the HDD compartment" and not 30mm fan.

I should go hunting for a 60mm fan, for that would keep the HDDs cool.

Bottom compartment housing the motherboard is well ventilated with two fans at the rear in exhaust mode and one 120mm fan (temperature controlled) at the bottom of the SMPS blowing into it.Therefore another 120mm fan at the front drawing air in is considered not necessary.

which 3D card is driving this HTPC?

It's nice, but can I use my 29" Flat TV as Monitor in place of HDTV/LCD ? How???????

Yup, u can connect just use the TV out cable

Contrary to what gx_saurav has stated, there is absolutely no possibility of connecting it to a TV with only composite/component/S-video inputs- not even an HDTV with just component inputs.HDMI input is a must.

The AMD 790G chipset used does not support conventional TV outputs and neither is there a TV-out header in the motherboard.
On the otherhand AMD690G chipset in the GA-MA69GM-S2H supports conventional TV output.In fact a TV out bracket with S-video/component/composite out is supplied along with the board.But the board does not support AM2+ processors.

I've successfully connected my friend's old 6600GT with s-video / composite out to a 32 720p' HDTV @ 1366 x 768 or whatever the highest resolution that sony went.

Infact long ago I connected my own pc to a 21' flat wega with the composite cable. at @ 640x480

But an HDMI cable is no comparision to composite or svideo.
which one is better HDMI or component?
&
which 3D card is driving this HTPC?

W i d e S c r e e N said:

I've successfully connected my friend's old 6600GT with s-video / composite out to a 32 720p' HDTV @ 1366 x 768 or whatever the highest resolution that sony went.

Infact long ago I connected my own pc to a 21' flat wega with the composite cable. at @ 640x480

But an HDMI cable is no comparision to composite or svideo.
which one is better HDMI or component?
&
which 3D card is driving this HTPC?

Click to expand...

I was also using my geforce fx 5200 TV out since long to play games on my 29" Phillips via s-Video.it was great to play games on huge monitor.[now outdated card]

Also the Image quality of Movies played in WMP in windows is far better then what my Phillips DVD player displays.[ Subjective ???]
May be its because it upscals to 1024 X 768 , =the resolution that i use on PC for my SD Analogue Phillips tv.

@widescreen
HDMI is always better
cos
DIGITAL transmission, pure /untouched data directly fed to tv[analog conversion done 4 component]
Audio also transmitted.

Also i want to ask,
which is the cheapest TV Tuner that work with in Windows Media center, with live TV / Pause ?

@W i d e S c r e e n
No separate add-on Graphics card is necessary.The motherboard is fully geared towards a Real HDTV/LCD monitor with HDMI/HDCP .
If you want to use an analog TV, it is better to go in for a motherboard without IGP and use whatever Graphics card with TV out, you may want to use.

View attachment 1709

Back I/O panel of GA-MA78GM-S2H

Here is an extract from *www.tomshardware.com/2008/03/04/amd_780g_chipset/ with a picture of how small an HTPC you can make.

AMD is finally enabling users to build an HTPC or multimedia computer for HDTV, HD-DVD or Blu-ray playback that doesn't require an add-in graphics card. (AMD already included HDCP support and an HDMI interface in its predecessor chipset, the 690G.) The northbridge chip of the new 780G chipset also features an integrated Radeon HD3200 graphics unit that can decode any current high-definition video codec. As a result, CPU load is decreased to such a degree that even a humble AMD Sempron 3200+ is sufficient for HD video playback.
The integrated HD3200 GPU offers the same functionality as the current generation of add-in graphics cards, namely DirectX 10 support, dual-GPU operation in the form of CrossFire, HDMI with HDCP, full HDTV support, and a PCI Express 2.0 interface.

View attachment 1710



Hiper's HMC-1K53a is a mere 53 mm high.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm........... we can only drool over such cases

wow great review and help, you really have managed to make things in control. And you even bought Softwares to keep safe of pirated.
My question is you could have gone for an Intel procy also like 2160 or 4400 on same price, is their limitation ingetting MOBOs for the overall HTPC requirement and vid-outs for TV. Because I wanna take some time and wait and then build up a HTPC for myself latter on, but I wanna keep intel procy.

You guys have though helped me out alot to know what components to add though.

^ @ acewin, thanks for the nice words.

And yep, for a small form-factor HTPC with HD capability, there is no match from the Intel-nVidia stable yet. And this is what Tomshardware has stated finally in the referenced article dated 04 March 2008.

Rival Intel is put to shame by AMD's chipset in every single one of these categories. And although Nvidia recently released a similar product with the GeForce 8200 mGPU, we have yet to receive a review sample.

But things may change. If you are bent upon Intel - nVidia comby, then hang on and keep your eyes and ears open. IMO however, for a dedicated HTPC ( no gaming ), the low cost AMD/ATI comby is value for money and more than sufficient with all-around appreciation on the performance front.

WOw............Wow........What a great build. I was pleasantly surprised when I reached here through gx_saurav's equally worthy tutorial, to find that this build preceded it with the only difference that you had gone for two 250 GB hard drives (total 500GB) in RAID 0, for faster read and writes.

I may suggest to the mods that in as much as these two noteworthy threads complement each other, they should be integrated under one thread.Those interested in a DIY build will benefit. At least the two pictures of the build in the Zebronics CUBE cabinet can be placed in the other tutorial with due credits.

And @Ponmayilal, if you are under the impression that a 60mm fan is of an exotic hard to find variety, it is nothing but the the usual processor cooling fan which you can get from most stores dealing with computer accessories. You may perhaps need to extend the leads so that they can reach the motherboard's Chassis Fan connector.

What monitor/HDTV and TV tuner card do you have in mind to complete your HTPC?

Monitor = LG L206WTQ, I am using it at 1440X900 with 75 Hz, although it is not the native resolution but I like it cos text is fine... & movies from a distance look awesome on a 20" LCD.

Dude, ur tut cleared lot of tech cobwebs in my head. Thanx for enlightening.

My pleasure.

^^^@ daffodil thanks for your keen interest and info.

As for the TV Tuner, I had already indicated that my mind is set on Compro Videomate Vista E800F or E600F.Though the products are listed in the Compro USA website, no store in USA still carries the product. My US friends' email query to Compro remain unanswered for whatever reason. I shall wait, for I'm a Compro baby . As a stop-gap measure, I may try the Yuan PG 600 TV tuner that is now doing duty in my XP MCE PC. It is certified for use with Windows MCE 2005 by Microsoft, but I donno whether the MCE driver will work with VMC.

As for the monitor, an order is being placed for DELL SP2208WFP (1680X1050 resolution with HDMI input; Rs.14513/-) and DELL AS501 Soundbar (10W ; Rs.758/-). Prices inclusive of taxes and shipping but through DELL's Employee Purchase Program. Lead time indicated 12 to 15 days.
1080p capable 24" monitors are still out of my reach and I shall wait till prices drop.

See review for the 22" monitor here

The soundbar will clip on to the monitor and derive its DC Power and audio input from the monitor when connected with the HDMI input.Thus it will be a total replacement of my 29" Philips TV for HD Video viewing.. For casual TV viewing the soundbar will be used and for other audio, the HTPC will drive the Philips AV amp through its optical output.That's how it has been planned and lemme see how practical its gonna be.

Ponmayilal said:

It is certified for use with Windows MCE 2005 by Microsoft, but I donno whether the MCE driver will work with VMC.

Click to expand...

It will work flawlessly.

As for the monitor, an order is being placed for DELL SP2208WFP (1680X1050 resolution with HDMI input; Rs.14513/-) and DELL AS501 Soundbar (10W ; Rs.758/-). Prices inclusive of taxes and shipping but through DELL's Employee Purchase Program. Lead time indicated 12 to 15 days.
1080p capable 24" monitors are still out of my reach and I shall wait till prices drop.

See review for the 22" monitor here

The soundbar will clip on to the monitor and derive its DC Power and audio input from the monitor when connected with the HDMI input.Thus it will be a total replacement of my 29" Philips TV for HD Video viewing.. For casual TV viewing the soundbar will be used and for other audio, the HTPC will drive the Philips AV amp through its optical output.That's how it has been planned and lemme see how practical its gonna be.

Click to expand...

Quite an expensive setup. Won't normal creative 5.1 speakers work?

Thanks for the reassuring info.

There exists the Philips 100W RMS X 6, 5.1 AV receiver complete with 5 full-range speakers and a subwoofer (not the sub/sat variety ) for the last five or six years..So I will only be using the existing HT setup without any additional expenses of a 5.1 PC speaker system.Already I shall be incurring the wrath of everyone for dispensing with the expensive 29" Philips TV (with pixel plus 2 for PAL and 100Hz for NTSC,) till I can show them what HD video is . It can take 480p and 1080i thro component video input, but there is no way I can couple this HTPC to it.

24" LCD isn't even required. Unless you are comparing the HD quality on a 20 & 30"+ LCD monitor, 1080p doesn't make a difference.

On my 20" LG Monitor, both 720p & 1080p HD Videos look same to me....

Hello ponmayilal , saurav and others,

I am trying to assemble a PC for my son and new to this stuff. I need help.

I would start with the AMD4800+ and Gigabytye GA_MA78GM-S2H and add a 250Gb harddisk

I already have an Pentium II ATX cabinet, Intel Motherboard with 200Watts power supply and a 6Gb harddisk using windows 98.

1. Can the new mother be installed in the old cabinet.
If not ,what is a good Cabinet and SMPS for this PC.

2.Does this require a separate CPU cooler FAN other than the one which comes with AMD. Also does it require a system fan.

3.can the windows 98 harddisk be used with this PC.

Thanks for any help.

amd4800 said:

1. Can the new mother be installed in the old cabinet.
If not ,what is a good Cabinet and SMPS for this PC.

Click to expand...

No, U will need to a buy a new one. Although any cabinet will do with a good 400W power supply but have a look at the above mentioned Zebronics Cube cabinet with Cooler Master 460W SMPS

2.Does this require a separate CPU cooler FAN other than the one which comes with AMD. Also does it require a system fan.

Click to expand...

The bundled Fan should be good enough, the cabinet comes with some system fans so those alone will do.

3.can the windows 98 harddisk be used with this PC.

Click to expand...

6 GB is very less now, atleast get a 120 GB SATA.

^^ I fully endorse what gx_saurav has stated.
Give a go-bye to any old cabinets.Though a bit costly The Zebronics CUBE case is a better choice and you do need a good SMPS with atleast 380W and above and a reputed one at that.Do not skimp on it and go for no-name brands.

There are already reports that the Northbridge in the Gigabyte MB runs very hot and people are worried, though no catastrophic failures have been reported under normal usage conditions ( no overclocking ).

Given that so much is packed in so little a chip, that is understandable and good case ventilation is very important.

In the Zebroncs CUBE case, the bottom fan of the SMPS blows air directly on to the Northbridge in the lower compartment (see the pictures elsewhere on this thread). Therefore this case is ideally suited rather than a tower case.

So choose an SMPS with a fan at the bottom.I was not aware of this but luckily, the VIP Gold 400W, I chose, has a bottom fan and so I am happy that I made a correct choice of the case and cabinet.I would have erred had I chosen an SMPS with the usual fan at the back only.

I have now been running the HTPC for almost 20 hours a day for the last twenty one days.( I still have 9 more days to activate Vista ) The AMD overdrive program ( which I use only for monitoring) reports tmpIN1=42 C, tmpIN2 =44 C and TmpIN3=87 C. The last one is presumed to be that of the Northbridge.(82 to 90 is what is being reported by other users).( I did not check the temperatures immediately after installing the AMD overdrive, when I had kept the case fully open)

As already reported a clean install of Vista Home premium SP1 requires 15GB for OS alone.

The current breed of motherboards support XP and Vista only since most software vendors have stopped providing drivers for Win9X/Win ME. So don't even think of them.

Note: Though AMD Overdrive is slated to work on this RS 786 motherboard with the latest F3 bios update, there still appears to be some bugs, which AMD/ATI/the bios manufacturer have to sort.For example the CPU core temperatures are read as 0(?).I have tried to ascertain as to what are tempIn1,tempIn2,tempIn3 but no info.The user manual just states value of temp sensor1, 2 and 3.So tempIN3 represents the northbridge temperature is at best only a guess by many.If there is any clarity on this I shall post the same.For now take it with a pinch of salt as I do.

ponmayilal,gaurav

the zebronics cube and VIP/Powersafe 400W SMPS is not available in chennai. but zerbronics B2 is available.

Please suggest some alternative cabinets and power supply.

Is Cooler Master Extreme power 390W good enough.

also pls suggest a DVD writer with or without lightscribe facility.

Thanks.

Zebronics Cube should definitely be available at Chennai.In fact I have heard that at around Rs.1900/=, it is cheaper in Chennai. Please contact Top Notch Infotronics India Pvt. Ltd.For the benefit of all, this is the branch address at various places.
*www.zebronics.net/contactus.asp

I have no idea about other make power supplies but whether Coolermaster or antec or Corsair or Gigabyte,or whatever good brand, choose one that has a bottom fan.

I have gone in for Samsung SH203D/IDBH SATA (Rs.1180.00) DVD Writer after reading good reviews in Digit and elsewhere too.Till then I was a lite-on fan.

@ponmayilal

These are the components that i have bought.

1. Mother board - Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H
2. Processor - AMD4800+
3. Memory - Transcend 2Gb 800Mhz
4. HardDisk - Seagate 250Gb Sata
5. DvdWriter - Samsung S203 Sata
6. SMPS - Cooler Master Extreme 460W
7. Cabinet - Cooler Master Elite 332
(with 120mm Fan in the back.
provision for 80mm fan in the side - do i need this fan??)

Do i need a Thermal compound to fix the stock CPU Fan.

Any Cooler required for North Bridge or South bridge as you mentioned.
Can I use the Floppy and CDROM Drive from my old pc in this setup.

Since i am a first timer, please give me tips on assembling the PC. Anything i should be careful about etc..

^^^ Thermal Paste is already applied on the stock CPU Cooler. No cooler is required for northbridge or south bridge. Install a 80 mm fan on the side. You can use old floppy & CD drive in it.

Which OS R U installing on this machine?

Currently I have only Windows XP now ( I need to get windows Vista).

Where is the offer for Windows Vista Home premium fr Rs.5100 (ponmayilal had posted).

does the 2x 1Gb make a difference over 1 x 2Gb RAM??

Any Tips on how to go about assembling the parts.

amd4800 said:

does the 2x 1Gb make a difference over 1 x 2Gb RAM??

Click to expand...

yup, 2 X1 GB will run in Dual Channel configuration.

Any Tips on how to go about assembling the parts.

Click to expand...

Buy the parts, then tell some hardware assembling guy from some computer shop to assemble it for u, he should take Rs 400 maximum.

amd4800 said:

Where is the offer for Windows Vista Home premium fr Rs.5100 (ponmayilal had posted).

Click to expand...

Windows Vista Home Premium was purchased at Computerwarehouse, Bangalore for Rs. 5100 plus 4% VAT.Prices have since dropped and the same is quoted now as Rs.4600 + 4% VAT. My loss Rs. 520 . *www.computerwarehousepricelist.com/productlist.asp?curpage=2&ctg=23.

From what I see, the Coolermaster Elite has an optional airduct on the side panel - not actually intended for a fan - that can draw air on to the processor. Since northbridge is the hottest on the MB, an additional 120mm fan in the front may help in better cooling.Whether absolutely essential is debatable, but IMO it will be better than nothing.

With another four days to go for windows activation, I decided to add two more transcend 1GB 800 MHz modules thus making it to 4 GB.While shopping my eyes fell on a 120mm Fan and I decided to add it to my CUBE cabinet.

Currently I am evaluating the efficacy of an 120mm front fan in the CUBE cabinet. I am halfway through this experiment and will post the results soon here.