The ultimate home theatre PC is a fusion of form and function
By Adam TURNER
While Personal Video Recorders are getting better every year, they still don't do everything I want - so I'm looking to build the ultimate home theatre PC.
PC design has become very standardised and modular these days, but designing your own HTPC isn't a that simple if you stray beyond the stock standard desktop and tower casings. Most of the so-called media centre PCs from big vendors such as HP and Acer usually don't do this and, as a result, are butt-ugly machines that are unlikely to get the crucial "spouse tick of approval" for residing in the lounge room.
A true HTPC is a delicate balance of size, power, features, heat, noise and aesthetics. I've drawn up a list of draft specs for your approval - feel free to comment if you feel you know better. Sorry to disappoint the Macboys and Linux-heads but I've decided to go with a PC running Vista Home Premium with the Media Center interface - the judge's decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
I was considering the Antec's Fusion casing (pic above), but I think the volume knob is a bit wanky and redundant, so I think I'll go with the Antec NSK2400 Desktop Case - which is practically the same thing but without the volume knob and front display.
CASE: Antec NSK2400 Desktop Case with 380W
MOTHERBOARD: Asus P5V-VM SE DH micro ATX
PROCESSOR: Intel Core2 Duo E6600
HEATSINK: Zalman CNPS7700-Cu
RAM: Corsair Twin2X 6400 Pro 2GB
HARD DRIVE: Western Digital SE16 500GB hard drive (maybe two)
GRAPHICS: Gigabyte GeForce 7600 GS HDMI (GV-NX76G256HI-RH)
or
GeForce 8600 GTS (GV-NX86S256H - DirectX 10, 2xDVI)
SOUND: Probably onboard digital, or else Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Extreme Audio
BURNER: Pioneer DVR-212D (Waiting for Blu-ray/ HD DVD prices to fall)
TV TUNER: DNTV Dual Hybrid PCI-Express S2
EPG: IceTV
plus in the spare external drive bay:
CARD READER: Silverstone FP34
or
DISPLAY: Thermaltake Media Lab (although if you wanted this you'd probably opt for the Antec Fusion with a built-in VFD)
or
SOUND: Creative Soundblaster X-Fi with front box
.
So, what do you think? Click the comment link below and let me know.
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17 comments
the sound blaster xfi is a bit of overkill (personally) onboard sound such as realtek ALC880 with optical out works very well under vista. and is more than enough for a htpc
The DNTV PCI-e S2 card despite all the right noises from Renura the distributer is fundamentally flawed. I have this card and on 2 different motherboards the card with either dissappear from device manager or tuner 1 will stop working for no reason at all whenever it feels like it.
While I am in a complaining mode the Zalman HD135 case is a nice looking case let down by useless cooling with noisy fans. The VFD display/ software "made" by VL Systems is the most rubbish product/software and crap support I have seen in many years.
Other than that have fun and don't forget all about the EPG problems and how the ICE guide gets stuffed up every few days on CH7 and SBS.
rgds Damon
I'd echo the point others have made about the disk drives and warn that the same applies to the DVD drive - I don't know what the Pioneer is like, but the LG I used in a media centre project turned out to be far too noisy!
And what about a FireWire interface for your camcorder? I couldn't see one mentioned in the motherboard specs.
I've had people recommend the Zalman HD160 case, which takes ATX - has also given me something to think about.
Windows XP Media Centre 2005 is probably a better pick. Why? The EPG. Forums are chock full of unresolved issues with the IceTV system in Vista. Simply put, there is no way an average Joe could use the system without going nuts!
Second reason Vista is no go with the hardware specified.. Nvidia!
The drivers for Nvidia are still in what I could only call beta. There is NO DESKTOP resizing - only a few standard sizes which dont suit everyone.. So your average Joe is going to hate is Desktop and start bar overflowing into thin air.
Anyway, People are getting Vista working - albeit with the above exceptions - But for now, if you really want your readers to actually use their Media Center - reccommend XP MCE.
The DNTV dual card is brilliant, the comment above is the only negative review i have ever read.
Vista - as said, it's not quite ready for prime time yet. The guide issue isn't ICE specific, but doesn't affect all users either, i'd say 20% or so at a guess.
The nVidia drivers for Vista are also a complete disgrace. I spent 3 months struggling with them with 3 different nvidia cards, bought an ATI card, and my problems went away. The 8800 may be better than my ATI card, but my ATI card just *works*. Wait 3 months, and it should all be ready for prime time.
Change out the hard drives
change out the dvd drive
Get a prettier box
hmmmmm, lets see, I know there is one more thing..........
Oh yes the OS. Definitily change the OS out. I would use OSX. Hmmm, the AppleTV comes to mind.
Then again, you want a system that you have to fight to make work, so never mind. :-)
PC computer systems remind me of an old Harley. It ran but you were always repairing it and it leaded all over the place. But it was a Harley, right??? :-)
en
I've posted by updated spec list there, please drop by and let me know what you think.
I've got one going myself and the pq is superb!
It's driving a 70" Sony sxrd panel - pure joy!!
"But the Apple TV doesn't do anything."
lol - quite true, just an interface and only 5mb/s source at that - sd??
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The digital lounge room is Adam Turner's office and it's also becoming the new battle ground for the hearts, minds and wallets of the masses. Reporting from the front line where PC converges with AV, Adam offers a view from the couch of everything from digital television and hard drive recorders to piracy and digital rights management.
