ukulele_ninja

INTRODUCTION

Seems like more and more people have been asking about this lately so I decided I would share a little of what I know about Home Theater Computers. Im coming off of my first successful build of one and I learned a considerable amount about hardware and software issues that your going to want to take into consideration before you begin. If you look back through some of my previous threads you will see that I started asking questions and researching this topic about 6 months ago to make sure I was getting the right parts and making the right decisions. In all honesty building an HTPC is not difficult and is very rewarding once you realize how incredibly open ended it is but you have to make sure your getting the right equipment and most importantly NOT SPENDING TO MUCH! You do not need an incredibly fast or beefy computer to do this, truth be told, you may be able to slide by with an old computer you have rusting in a closet somewhere. So lets get started!

WHY HTPC?

When I first started talking about building a HTPC a lot of my non-computer savvy friends kept asking me why? They didnt understand the need for it when (they thought) their TiVos could do the same things. Boy are they in for a surprise!

Their are the obvious advantages: Rip your DVD/Music Collections, Cheap or Free PVR services, FM/Online Radio capabilities, Watch online content from sites like Hulu and youtube, and best yet NO GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE! (For linux anyway...)

So what does that capitalized statement mean? Oh! You haven't heard about the government crackdown against PVRs? As more and more households become equipped with PVR's which give us the power to fast forward through commercials, its going to eventually start making the people paying for those commercials stop paying if no one is watching. So a bill beginning to spark interest in congress would make PVR services remove the skip commercial and fast forwarding capabilities from their boxes. This would cripple your capabilities with your PVR and allow you to essentially fast forward a show until it reaches a commercial break whcih you would be forced to watch before your fast forward option would work again. Lifes a bitch eh? Luckily for us, Open Source options are free of government hubbub and if you have a HTPC youve got nothing to worry about

More on this: http://www.avrev.com/home-theater-ne...s-its-way.html

Also, having forever expandable media means you wont be restricted to how much space is on your PVR at any given time. Simply backup recordings or pop in another HDD and be on your way. Currently in Canada, a law is underway making it illegal for PVR's to allow the archiving of recorded content which is total crap in my humble opinion.
More on this: http://www.canada.com/News/Minister+...886/story.html

OS OPTIONS

Before we talk hardware lets figure out what you want to do with your HTPC. There are a lot of software options that you will have to choose from and its important to choose one that is aesthetically pleasing to you and can handle doing the things you want to do with it. Some are designed strictly for playing and ripping your DVD/Music collection and do not have any PVR features. Others have the full monty of features but may not be as aesthetically pleasing or simple to use.

Heres a few options to consider and links to their websites:
MythBuntu= Full featured linux distribution obviously built from the Ubuntu-gnome environment. I personally prefer this because its AWESOME. The pvr is incredibly similar to TiVo and setup is a breeze even for linux newbies. It asks you a few simple questions about your hardware and your done! It has a few complicated steps, but they are not to bad an we will cover them later.

Cost= FREE for the OS, but a $20 yearly subscription to Schedules Direct Service is required for PVR features.

Windows Media Center= Another full featured option. Windows Media center comes standard are the premium versions of Vista but if your going to choose this as your OS option then please, please, please consider getting XP MCE as you will be much happier in the long run. Vista is going to bog down your hardware with a lot of junk that will not be related to your HTPC and also tends to be a little more frustrating when it comes to ripping your DVD collection. Further, Vista's MCE is not going to run properly on the hardware i will suggest later. This is the most expensive option but for many users will probably be the easiest and most native to them route to take. Ive used and I cant say I have a lot of complaints other than its lack of customization and support.

Cost= $114-$272

XBMC (Xbox Media Center)= This is probably one of the slickest looking interface options you have AND it is available for both Linux, Mac, and Windows! However, its biggest downfall is the lack of any live tv options or PVR functions. So this would strictly be used for your DVD collection and Music. There are some patches that claim to get PVR and live TV working although they are sketchy at best. A future release of this project is almost certainly going to incorporate it, but for now, you may want to pass.

Cost=FREE

Entertainer= This is a very promising up and coming project. You can download and use it now in a linux environment and it is extremely clean and professional looking although still very riddled with some annoying bugs. No PVR or Live tv yet, I point this one merely as an option to keep your eye on if your just now thinking about a future HTPC build.

COST=FREE

There are few other minor projects floating around, but these seem to be the most popular and most talked about ones. Again, I personally prefer MythBuntu because its cheap, works great and has a HUGE support community.

HARDWARE OPTIONS

This is where I see a lot of HTPC build questions making some really bad decisions. You can by all means spend a fortune on the fanciest fastest hardware, but in the end you need to ask yourself....why? None of the OS options I mentioned above require much of any hardware power so lets not go overboard. Save your money! And spend it where you really need it.

Now lets explore the wide world of hardware. I dont claim to be an expert here and depending which OS you choose, their sites have a much better grasp of what system requirements you going to need. Generally, all of them will work on a pretty barebones system. For reference, here is my new system:

Foxconn 915 Series Mobo= This board is awesome because it supports both AGP and PCI-E video cards.- $20 ebay
Intel Pentium 4 3.0Ghz HT processor= A pentium 4 or later is a requirement for all HTPC's and Hyper Threading is equally as important. You can get away with lower than 3.0Ghz, but these processors are so cheap anymore dont skimp on the added processing power especially for HD content.- $15 ebay
Evga 8500GT 512MB= This card is actually in the upper echelon of what you need. Basically, almost any 7 series Geforce or later will do just fine. Try and get a 512Mb for HD content and also aim for a card with TV outs (obviously) that can support up to 1024X764 Resolution. Stick with Nvidia regardless of where your normal 'allegiances' rest. ATI cards will give you a serious headache under linux getting them to work. Nvidia is natively supported.
RAM- I have 1 gig with zero problems. Your ram isnt going to be very busy, so 1 should be plenty
HDD- This is really up to you. I have 2-500 gigers and 1-250gig. Your all tech savvy enough to know how much content you have and how much your going to want. Remember, you can always expand!
PSU- 300watts is plenty
Sound- Most mobos have onboard sound and it sounds perfect. I am an audiophile and chose to pick up a used Sound Blaster Audigy 2 which is hailed as one of the all time best sound cards and it does sound pristine. Again, its up to you though if onboard is good enough for you. Be cognizant of whether or not it supports surround sound if you have surround sound speakers though!
Tuner Card- An entire book could be written about picking the right tuner card. Your capture card will probably end up being one of the most expensive pieces of equipment you purchase and is one of the only items i will say the more you can spend the better. DONT buy an el cheapo brand and get pissed when it looks like garbage. I recommend Hauppauge over anything else but stay away from their USB dongles because they are garbage. Go with a good HVR series or DVR series card. They come with multiple tuners and some are digital and analog while others are only one or the other. If your capturing HD content from a cable box or whatever, you HAVE TO HAVE A DIGITAL TUNER! This has nothing to do with the DTV transition. Digital content requires digital tuner! Another good option is the HD Homerun which I have never used but gets rave reviews from those who have. Stay away from ATI's which have compatibility issues under linux.
Case- Im using just a standard computer case because its going in a cabinet so it doesnt matter. Newegg has some good looking HTPC cases that look just like a piece of stereo equipment. If you go with one of those beware of size limitations though!
IR Receiver Blaster- These are an entire beast unto themselves and can get complicating. To make things easy on yourself, pick up the Microsoft receiver. It works great under all Os's and is inexpensive. There are some homebrew options for linux but again, proceed at your own risk with them.
Remote- Any universal remote will do the job. Setup is different for each brand.

Again, these were my picks. You can go with whatever you want but dont overdue it! Stick to the ebay circuit for good deals on used equipment if your comfortable with it. I ordered 90% of my stuff from there with zero issues.

(pause here, ill finish in a bit)

__________________
http://raptr.com/badge/7183de702f2e4...bbc43e0/fs.png