Advice for building a media center PC

[NU Star]

Like an AMD 3600+ and a 939 board, and 2gb of DDR 400. That's plenty right?

[LuckyTxGuy]

Ok, I'm back. I thought I'd gone into some detail here before but I searched my old posts and couldn't find much? Oh well, I'll try to give some basic info as quickly as possible and you can ask any questions you want.

Before XP Media Center Edition (MCE) came out, I used Snapstream's Beyond TV software as a tv recording/viewing Tivo-like experience. Beyond TV was very new and had some bugs but over all very nice. However, once MCE was released and reviewed some, I knew it was what I wanted. A buddy and I had built our Beyond TV boxes at the same time, virtually identical and we then moved over to MCE at the same time. We are both still using MCE and love it.

Let me add this disclaimer....I'm dealing with no HD content. I'm unsure how HD content would change a new setup, short of needing alot more hard drive capacity and an HD tuner card. I can find this info out though because my buddy is about to build a new box and it will be HD capable. Everything I'm speaking of will be about non-HD TV content.

First, the speed of the machine it takes to run an MCE setup isn't much at all. The big myth is that you need a souped up gaming type rig to use as an MCE box. Wrong. The pc I'm using is several years old now and still works great. The specs are:
XP MCE
Asus Motherboard (nothing fancy)
512 MB RAM
AMD XP 2400 processor
Chaintech AGP 128MB video card (nothing fancy)
Hauppauge PCI PVR-250 tv tuner

By todays standards that machine is old and slow. For running MCE it is great. What people don't realize is that if you get a good tuner like the Hauppauge 250 it has hardware MPEG encoding and hardware decoding built in....therefore it does the work and your computer doesn't have to do anything. Don't worry if you don't understand all of that, I don't either.lol The point is, your machine isn't being taxed, it just needs to be able to run XP and MCE and 512MB of RAM will do it. Obviously, I'd put 1 GB of RAM in a new machine today just because its cheap.

Also, a fancy video card isn't required. All it needs to do is provide you with the output options you want. I use S-Video out to my tv and great. However, I don't have a new flat-panel tv either. What output you want/need is something you've got to look at.

The install is simple because all you do is install XP like normal. For those that don't know, MCE is just a program built into the core of XP. You do the quick 5 minute MCE setup and you're done. Yes you might run into some hiccups here or there but it shouldn't be anything major. Once you understand the basics of how it all works, the MCE setup is very simple. Also, you need to make sure you buy the Microsoft MCE remote and receiver. That remote is awesome and even has a built in 30 second skip so you can blaze right by the commercials. Also, once XP is installed you can control every aspect of MCE including the setup by just using the remote. Very nice.

Also for those that don't know, there are some down sides to XP MCE. One is that it records all TV in a format called DVR-MS. This is a locked down encrypted format which prevents you from doing alot with the video. It's not a problem for me, because I use MCE like a Tivo and rarely want to keep the video forever. There might be some ways to crack the DVR-MS by now but as of a year or so ago there was no guaranteed or easy way. MCE does however offer an option for built in DVD burning which is awesome.....if it works for you. My DVD burning option failed a couple years ago and after tons of research, several re-installs of XP and talking to some Microsoft MVPs I was told: "the DVD burning option is buggy and works sometimes and doesn't others. Microsoft is doing nothing to address, fix or even offer solutions for the problem." End of story. It might work for you and it might not. When it does work..wow it's simple and very nice also.

Ok, I've hit some high points, I've rambled and my fingers are tired. I haven't even proof read this, so if it doesn't all make sense I'm sorry.LOL Ask any questions you want and I'll try to help. Hope this is a good start anyway.

- Jason

[NU Star]

Do you just connect straight to cable or have a box too? I see that some of the cards say they integrate with your set top box. Is there any advantage to this if I were to get a Digital Cable DVR, or do you get the most out of it with regular cable?

[Freakin]

Integrating with a set top box sounds like a big pain.

[NU Star]

Yeah, I'm probably not going to get a box anyway, but I was just wondering what that would involve. I think I just want to do a regular cable connection, and maybe an HD antenna.

[Meech]

Lucky sounds about right.

I'm running MCE on a Socket 939 with a bit more horsepower and I like it.

[ QUOTE ]
Also for those that don't know, there are some down sides to XP MCE. One is that it records all TV in a format called DVR-MS. This is a locked down encrypted format which prevents you from doing alot with the video.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not entirely true. Google dvrmstoolbox or visit thegreenbutton.com

[Josem]

My existing desktop PC's CPU died because I was stupid - I pulled off the heatsink/fan to play around with it, and stuffed up the CPU in the process.

I thought I'd take the opportunity to make something new, and I'm interested in feedback. All prices are in $A, which is about $US0.80 to $A1.00:

Case: Silverstone LC17 Black Steel ATX Desktop HTPC Case - Aluminium Front Panel , 2x5.25" 1x3.5" 6x3.5" bays - No PSU - $127
A nice black HTPC case; looks cool, and should fit on the entertainment unit thingy.

Power Supply: SilverStone 350W PSU ST350, 20+4pin Power Supply, Black, Dual +12V Rails, 120mm fan, 22 dBA minimum, 4 x SATA power connectors - $55
Relatively quiet, and should be sufficient power.

Motherboard: Asrock 4CoreDual-VSTA M/board - PT880 Ultra, 1066MHz FSB, Dual Channel DDR2-667 and DDR400, PCI-Express, AGP 8X, SATA RAID, LAN, 8-Ch, USB, ATX - $95
My current video card, which is AGP, works fine, and I want to keep using it. This also offers a PCI-E expansion card if I need it down the track.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 Dual Core Processor - 2.0GHz, 64-Bit, 800FSB, 2MB Cache, VT, LGA775 BX80557E4400 - $175
The cheapest Core2Duo processor from the retailer.

CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS7700-AlCu CPU Cooler with LED, Ball bearing, supports Intel Socket 478/775 and AMD Socket 754/939/940, Noise Level: 20 ~ 32 dB - $58
Quiet CPU fan.

Case Cooling 1: I assume I don't need any
Case Cooling 2: I assume I don't need any
Memory: I have 1gb in my existing machine that I'll just move across.

Hard disk 1: I have a hd in my existing machine that I'll just move across.

Graphics: Ditto
Wireless network card: Netgear WG311 54 Mbps Wireless PCI Adapter - $33.65
Cheapest wireless network card they have.

TV/DV Tuner: Hauppauge Nova T 500 MCE Digital Tv Tuner For Windows XP Media Center - $235
I think this brand was recommended above...any alternative suggestions?

Optical drive 1: Can move it from my existing machine.
Sound card: Do I need one? The motherboard has 7.1 digital audio output.
Floppy disk: Meh.
Monitor: I have a bunch.

Keyboard & Mouse 1: Logitech MX Revolution Cordless Laser Mouse - $118
Need to get a wireless mouse...might as well get it at the same time as the rest of the unit.

Keyboard & Mouse 2: Already have a wireless keyboard on the way.

Operating System: I have WinXP on my currently dead PC; Do I need to get a new copy? I assume I still have the installation disks somewhere...will this have the MCE discussed above?

Network Hardware: Built into motherboard
Build to Order: Nintek - Full System Build - Hardware only $99
I'm scared about killing my CPU again.



Any general comments/questions/compliments/criticisms/other feedback?

[Meech]

Only thing that jumps out is..

- Don't skimp on the power supply, I'd shoot for 450-500. If you ever want to upgrade to a decent, new graphics card you'll need it.

- Make sure your old memory is compatible and running at the fastest speed your new motherboard will accept. Get a matched pair for dual channel.

[NU Star]

How big is your hard drive? I'd say that's one thing you're going to want big if you're going to record stuff. 500gb HDs are only like 100USD nowadays.

[NU Star]

Also, I think you'd need to get MCE. I don't believe it comes standard as part of XP, other than XP media center. There are also other options, but I haven't had a chance to research them too much.