HTPC Guide: Part 1, The Components
By Jeffrey | May 19, 2008
Not so many years ago people who had a passion for movies, music, and photography would store their collections on rows and rows of shelves. The more obsessed ones would require entire rooms to house their media library.
But today, thanks to the low cost of hard drive space and the advanced capabilities of computers, we can compile an infinitely larger collection, and keep it all in a space no larger than a computer case.
Of course, that is nothing extraordinary today. People have had digital collections since the first media player was coded.
But now I’m going to show you through a series of guides how to watch and record TV, professionally upscale DVDs, organized and view your media collection, and tie it all together in a specialized computer known as a Home Theater PC - all using free software.
First Things First
Before even considering how you’re going to organize your files, and what software and codecs you’ll play them with, you’re going to need to complete one simple step: building the thing. :)
This task is a little easier when you keep in mind that a HTPC is just your typical computer, albeit with a few specialized components.
Here’s a general list of what you’ll need:
CPU:
Any modern CPU will do fine. Just consider whether you’ll be playing high-definition video (and why wouldn’t you?) and recent games.
Motherboard:
Again, any recent motherboard will work, but it’s preferable to find one with excellent onboard audio, with digital output, and onboard video, if gaming isn’t required, in a MicroATX form-factor. You can do a full size ATX board if you’d like, but keep in mind you’ll need a larger case for it.
Hard Drive:
No special requirements here, just go for SATA in as large a size as you can afford.
RAM:
The more the merrier! Get at least 2gb DDR2, but the sky is the limit.
Tuner Card:
If you plan on watching and recording TV - which is a primary motivation for building a HTPC - you’ll need one.
DVD Drive:
Definitely a necessary component. Try to find a quiet, but fast DVD burner if you can. You can also use a Blu-Ray drive, if you’d like.
Case:
Since this is a HTPC, not just any case will do, unless you don’t mind a huge tower sitting next to your new HD television. It doesn’t need to be a (overpriced) HTPC-specific case, either, just get one that would look good in your entertainment center.
Keyboard & Mouse:
You’ll want wireless, and good quality at that.
Remote:
Unless you want to control all your media with the keyboard.
What I Used
Here’s the list of components I chose for my design. Feel free to mix and match when you build yours.
CPU: Athlon 64 x2 6400+
I wanted a blazing fast setup capable of advanced gaming, as well as playing high-definition video without a hitch. This CPU, at around 3.2ghz, definitely accomplishes that. Although, for only around $50 more I could have gone with a quad-core Phenom.
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H
This is one sweet board. Running on the AMD 780g chipset, this board supports 7.1 audio through optical output, has great onboard video in the Radeon HD 3200 - the best onboard video I’ve seen thus far, and is in a MicroATX form factor so it’s perfect for a HTPC.
Hard Drive: Western Digital 500gb
Even a 500gb drive can seem small when used for a HTPC, so I wouldn’t recommend going any lower than this. This isn’t the quietest drive, though it’s not a jet engine either, so you might want to shop around.
RAM: G.SKILL 2gb DDR2 800
This memory is fantastic. It is fast, and is incredibly cheap, too. If you have the budget, go for 4gb.
Video Card: EVGA Geforce 8800gs Superclocked
I plan on gaming with my setup, so this card was necessary. It is simply the best graphics card for its price, in my opinion. Yes, the HD 3850 is available, but I’m staying away from ATI until they fix their terrible OpenGL support.
Tuner Card: WinTV-HVR-1800
The software is junk, but the card itself is amazing. It has an onboard MPEG2 encoder, dual-tuners for ATSC or NTSC signals in high definition, and also includes S-Video input for using other signals (such as a set-top box like I’ll be using).
DVD Burner: Samsung SH-S203N
This drive is incredibly quiet for its speed, and runs on SATA. It was stuck on Region 2 for some reason - a common problem with this drive it seems - and I couldn’t change it. I found a solution, but more on that later.
Memory Card Reader: Super Talent INT-AIN1-C
With how common flash memory is today there is no reason not to have a reader in your PC. This one supports every format I’ve found, and in USB 2.0, too.
Keyboard: BTC 9019URFIII
Simply put, this is by far the best wireless keyboard I have used. The range is excellent (even with the receiver out of sight behind the case), and I’m still on the original batteries almost 2 months later. The included joystick mouse is adequate for generic computer use, but for gaming I’d recommend using a good USB mouse.
Remote: Microsoft WinXP MCE
Don’t be alarmed by the name, it works great on Vista, too.
Case: Athenatech A100BB.350 // APEVIA X-QPACK2-RED
Why is this section by itself? It’s a long story.
Let me just say that I DO NOT recommend using the Athenatech case. It looks great, but that is it’s only attraction. How dost it disappoint? Let me list the ways:
HEAT!
Like, not just warm, but fry your video card hot. Which it did. See, video cards aren’t meant to run at 90°C.
Space
The case is cramped. Not just cramped. I mean so small that Andre the Giant would get his pinky trapped in it. This ties in to why it is so hot.
Noise
You know how great it feels to watch a nice, quiet movie while straining to hear the actors over the sound of a jet engine? Neither do I. This, I’m sure, is directly a result of the incredible heat in the case.
Power
The included 350 Watt Power Supply, while decent for a MicroATX case, is simply far too insufficient to power any recent components.
So, for the sake of keeping control of myself, I’ll move on to the case that I love, the X-QPack2.
This case is everything the Athenatech is not. It’s great to work with, cool, quiet and looks fantastic.
I have noticed that the build quality of the front panel could be improved as in rare situations touching the wrong part of the front panel can cause the computer to short out and reboot (not good), and the case covering can be a pain to replace. Still, like I said, I love it.
How Does It Look?
See for yourself:
Next Time…
Read on for Part 2 of this guide where I’ll help you decide what operating system to use.
Topics: Guides |
I’m curious about your OS and software decisions. Seems like there are a lot of choices out there, but everything good is still in beta.
Posted by: Nathan on May 19th, 2008 at 6:06 pmThose will both be covered in Part 2 coming on Wednesday - so stay tuned! :)
Posted by: Jeffrey on May 19th, 2008 at 8:17 pm[...] already discussed what hardware you’ll want to have in Part 1 of this guide, so now it’s time to consider what operating system you’ll be wanting to run on [...]
Posted by: Building A Home Theater PC (HTPC) - Part 2 at SavvyGeek on May 21st, 2008 at 12:15 pmGreat post! well done Jeffrey.
Don’t you think that using a Radeon HD 3650 512MB will be better than the EVGA Geforce 8800gs Superclocked?
Also, I don’t know if you plan to OC or not but that 6400+ draws a lot of power already, and produces more heat. You can just about cut your wattage in half with a Black Box Brisbane, and you can easily bump the multi up a notch or two for extra speed.
Posted by: Nakkoush on May 31st, 2008 at 5:01 pmNakkoush,
You’re right about the 6400+, it is a monster in the power and heat department. I managed to get mine for a great price at the time, so it made the most sense.
Also, the 8800gs blows the 3650 away in performance. The HD 3850 is comparably priced to the 8800gs, but I am refusing to buy another ATI card (which I’ve been a longtime fan of) until they start fixing their terrible drivers.
http://savvygeek.com/2008/05/02/ati-fix-your-drivers/
Posted by: Jeffrey on May 31st, 2008 at 7:41 pmIf you are truly building an HTPC with XP MCE the last card you should be reccomending is an 8 series NVidia, they removed overlay support from the drivers and while you can enable from Nview it still does not work correctly. Overlay is necessary for viewing full screen video from within Media Center and other programs. This is one area ATI is superior and for an HTPC you do not need a screaming video card, in fact passive cooling and quiet are more important than core speed and memory bandwidth.
http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=17158&pid=148009&st=60&#entry148009
Posted by: Redmango on July 21st, 2008 at 5:38 am