HTPC Build--Need thoughts/Advice

[saukriver]

My proposed build is for a PVR/DVD player.  Really interested in feedback on the laptop hardrive for the OS, case options, and mobo/processor.

Harddrives:

WD Caviar Green 1.5TB --$99 at newegg.
SAMSUNG Spinpoint M Series HM080GC 80GB 5400 RPM 2.5" ATA-6 Notebook Hard Drive - OEM --$49

Case Options

    Antec New Solution NSK2480 Black/Silver 0.8mm cold-rolled steel MicroATX Desktop Computer Case 380W Power Supply - Retail  -$110

OR

LIAN LI Black Aluminum PC-C37B Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case - Retail --$170

Mobo:
GIGABYTE GA-MA785G-UD3H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail --$89

Processor:

    AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition Callisto 3.1GHz Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Processor Model HDZ550WFGIBOX

OS:  Win7

Still thinking on others parts (tuner); I might want a cheap tuner for a while and then be able to ditch my STB and go to cablecard with a cablecard tuner.  See the thread on the main forum.  While waiting for those to come out, is there a way to hook up a PVR to record from a STB that I need to decrypt the encrypted QAM from Comcast?

Suggestions on an IR/remote?

Thanks in advance.
 

[Miller]

I don't think a laptop drive is needed. You don't get as much space for the money as a 3.5 drive and if you want cool and quiet then I would suggest a SSD drive instead.

I think both cases are fine, that's more of a personal taste.

Mobo/proc is fine too.

Depending on your tuner card choice a lot come with a remote and IR blaster if you buy the retail package. Just make sure they are supported by your pvr program.

[Craig]

AMD 45w tri core and quad core are suppose to come out soon (I think) 400e, 405e, 600e, and 605e (I think  )

[saukriver]

Craig, thanks for the headsup on the 400e, 405e, 600e, 605e.

This http://aphnetworks.com/news/2009/09/18/amd-align-release-triple-core-athlon-ii-windows-7-launch says October 22 is the scheduled release to coincide with the launch of Win7.

[saukriver]

I wonder what "launch" means in this context.  I cannot yet find 240e, 400e, 405e, 600e, or 625e for sale anywhere.

Here information on suggested $102 price of the 405e (triple core, 45W) CPU.

http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K10/AMD-Athlon%20II%20X3%20405e%20-%20AD405EHDK32GI%20(AD405EHDGIBOX).html

I am also considering--and would welcome thoughts--whether the dual core with the higher 2.8MHz clock speed would be a better value at a $77 suggeted price:

http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K10/AMD-Athlon%20II%20X2%20240e%20-%20AD240EHDK23GQ%20(AD240EHDGQBOX).html

[Miller]

With a good videocard/chipset the only real work the cpu does is if you want to transcode video. So personally, I would either save the money or put it towards a nice remote.

[saukriver]

So, Miller, you would favor the cheaper 240e (2.8 Mhz and 45W) v. the more expensive 405e that is triple core?

When/under what circumstances would you want to transcode video?

My goals (in order of importance):

• have a PVR for TV (for analog and clear QAM channels, at this time)
• be able to migrate to a cablecard tuner (Dual or quad) once they hit the market and then get rid of my Comcast box
• be able to watch IPTV (like Hulu) on our flat screen TV
• be able to play DVDs; I am not yet sure whether I want to be able to store DVDs on a harddrive
• mayb have a Blu-ray player (but I have never seen a Blu-ray disk!)

I am wrestling with the CPU (obviously), whether the added cost of a Blu-ray drive is worth it, and the Internet connection

On the CPU, I have time to wait for this recent offering from AMD and the power efficiency.

On BD player v. DVD player, there are so few Blu-ray disks out there.

On the Internet connection, it needs to be wireless to get to where the TV is located.  But the problem is that I have never found a stable N router.  I have installed 4 (D-Link, TP-Link, Rosewill, and Linksys) and always gone back to my G-router from Linksys.  My current thinking is that I will just use a G-WAP to stream hulu across the house.

[Miller]

I would go with the cheaper, yes.

You would transcode video if you wanted to archive your recordings to a "better" (same quality, but smaller file) video format. You could also do this if you wanted to rip your DVDs to your computer.

If you don't have Blu-ray, then personally I would say wait. A good upscaling DVD player (or computer in your case) will look almost as good.

I would do a test run with streaming the video over 802.11g/n. It should be ok, but it depends a lot on distance/walls/etc. It might be better just to spend the $50 for someone to run a Cat5e line for you (or cheaper yet to do yourself).

[saukriver]

I am in a holding pattern while I wait for the 240e CPU to be available.

My current list:

WD Caviar Green 1.5TB --$99 at newegg (it was on sale).

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD800AAJS 80GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb--$35--for OS

Antec New Solution NSK2480 Black/Silver 0.8mm cold-rolled steel MicroATX Desktop Computer Case 380W Power Supply
--now on sale for $99.89 at newegg.

GIGABYTE GA-MA785GMT-UD2H AM3 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - $90

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit -$70

Athlon II x3 2.8 Ghz Regor 240e (45W)--$77 (this has been release, but does anyone know when it will be available?)

OS:  Win7 Home Premium

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM

SONY Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DDU1681S-0B - OEM--$19

Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1250.  I intend to use my Comcast box that can record 2 channels at a time.  This hybrid
will suffice for analog and dital until I can move to a cablecard tuner.  If the right cablecard tuner emerges, I will  sell the 1250 on ebay and sub that cablecard tuner in.

I am looking for a good N-router.

[Miller]

Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1250.  I intend to use my Comcast box that can record 2 channels at a time.  This hybrid
will suffice for analog and dital until I can move to a cablecard tuner.  If the right cablecard tuner emerges, I will  sell the 1250 on ebay and sub that cablecard tuner in.

If you're using the Comcast box (and their dvr) then why are you building your own? I think I'm missing something here. For the record, the 1250 would only be used with an antenna, nothing from Comcast.

As for the router, have you looked into running a Cat5e cable and using a wired network? I do my own wiring now and it's pretty easy. But even before I did my own, I hired someone to run one drop for me and I think they charged $50. (It was for a extra phone jack and a Cat5e run.) That's cheaper, more reliable, and probably faster than the 802.11n option.

[saukriver]

I want a PVR to be able to swap out my Comcast box once cablecard tuners become available.

Another goal is to be able to watch Internet TV on a bigger screen.

I also want more storage than I currently have.

Thanks for flagging the problem with the 1250.  I thought the 1250 would accept a Clear QAM signal:

Hauppauge takes their legendary TV tuner technology to the next level with the HVR-1250 MC. The card takes advantage of the bandwidth of the PCIe x1 interface to deliver rock solid HD video to your screen. It has a hybrid tuner supporting NTSC analog, ATSC and Clear QAM digital signals. There is also a composite video input so you can record video from other sources

The 1250 would not get the encrypted QAM channels, but I thought the 1250 would work for analog and clear QAM.  I would eventually swap out the 1250 for a cablecard tuner, again, once those are available.

I am not eager to drill the holes needed to run a Cat5e cable.  But you have suggested twice so I will look at that.  Has anyone had a good experience with wireless-N routers?  I find they drop the Internet signals frequently.  I have tried 4 so far.

[Miller]

I want a PVR to be able to swap out my Comcast box once cablecard tuners become available.

Another goal is to be able to watch Internet TV on a bigger screen.

Gotcha. I had forgotten that part. To watch the internet TV I would go ahead, but if the cablecard system is more important than I wouldn't buy anything until the parts you want come out. Everything else would be cheaper by then.

I also want more storage than I currently have.

You can't add storage to their system you realize. You'll have 2 separate systems that would both do similar things, but you'll always be going back and forth between the two looking for what you want.

Thanks for flagging the problem with the 1250.  I thought the 1250 would accept a Clear QAM signal:

Hauppauge takes their legendary TV tuner technology to the next level with the HVR-1250 MC. The card takes advantage of the bandwidth of the PCIe x1 interface to deliver rock solid HD video to your screen. It has a hybrid tuner supporting NTSC analog, ATSC and Clear QAM digital signals. There is also a composite video input so you can record video from other sources

The 1250 would not get the encrypted QAM channels, but I thought the 1250 would work for analog and clear QAM.  I would eventually swap out the 1250 for a cablecard tuner, again, once those are available.

The 1250 will do unencrypted QAM just fine, but you don't need a box for that. Also anything you get this way will also be available to record using the cable company's dvr.

I am not eager to drill the holes needed to run a Cat5e cable.  But you have suggested twice so I will look at that.  Has anyone had a good experience with wireless-N routers?  I find they drop the Internet signals frequently.  I have tried 4 so far.

Sorry, I don't always remember what I posted where and don't look back over everything either. That being said, a couple of holes can look very professional if done the right way. Depending on where they go you might not need any extra holes and just add a cat5e jack to an existing panel. For example if you have a coax connection at both locations, you could just replace the coax panel with a double that has a coax jack and a cat5e jack.

Not to discourage anything, but from what I read, except for the internet tv stuff everything else you want to do is down the road. If you have a cable subscription chances are a lot of internet tv stuff might be available there as well. (I guess it depends on your source.) All this would say to me to wait until you're ready to take the cablecard plunge. So I guess I should also ask, why not take the cablecard plunge right now?

[saukriver]

So I guess I should also ask, why not take the cablecard plunge right now?

I didn't realize that I could.  What are you suggesting?  I thought that cablecard tuners are 3-6 months in the offing.

[Craig]

They'll be out soon, but I would give it some time to mature. 6 months sounds like a good number.

[Miller]

Nevermind, you're right. I was thinking with all the 2,3, and 6-tuner cablecards stuff I was reading that something was out already. My bad.