My new build

[Miller]

Ok, so I've been talking in different posts about building a new machine. Here's some links to the different posts I've mentioned:

Using Vista:
http://forum.byopvr.com/dvr/index.php/topic,9010.0.html

Possible videocard:
http://forum.byopvr.com/dvr/index.php/topic,8988.0.html

New soundcard:
http://forum.byopvr.com/dvr/index.php/topic,9008.0.html

Motherboard:
http://forum.byopvr.com/dvr/index.php/topic,8984.0.html

Possible remote (since mine was dropped and cracked the lcd screen):
http://forum.byopvr.com/dvr/index.php/topic,8989.0.html

[Miller]

Right now, here are the components I'm considering:

Case: Silverstone LC20B - my favorite case for HTPCs for a while now.
http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/p_contents.php?pno=lc20&area=usa

Power Supply: 500W coolermaster

Motherboard: GA-P35-DS3R - discussed in the above link
http://www.gigabyte-usa.com/Products/Motherboard/Products_Spec.aspx?ProductID=2634
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128050

RAM: maybe 2GB, but probably 4GB DDR2 800

Processor: I'm thinking one of the new Wolfdale procs. I like the 45nm, low-power option. Maybe the E8200 or E8400. They're Core-2 chips with the latest instruction set, that new metal that prevents more current leakage, around 3.0GHz.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

Hard Drives: As many large SATA drives as I can budget. I currently have 2 500GB that I will probably transfer over. I might use 1 PATA drive as well to go with the DVD burner since I have 1 PATA port on the motherboard.

Videocard: Probably a ATI 3xxx card. Not sure which one yet. Might depend on budget as much as anything. (Also referenced above.)

Soundcard: I have an Auzentech card already and probalby won't have the budget to buy another, but I like the idea of a pci-express card (as referenced above) just because of the slots I'll have available on my motherboard.

Tuners: I plan on using my pvr500 and hvr-1600. Might add a HDHomeRun depending on need.

Case Fans: I always use Nexus case fans. They are very quiet.
http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/std/sku=nexus80mm.html
http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/std/sku=nexus92mm.html
http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/std/sku=nexus120mm.html

OS: Probably Vista (see above reference), but maybe XP.

PVR Software: Sticking with GBPVR. The only reason I'd switch was if I wanted to use one of those SageTV HD extenders.

I'll probably put a card reader in there in the 3.5 slot. I just don't think I'll use a floppy drive anymore. I like the Gyration keyboard and mouse. This will actually be my first living room pc (always used a MVP before) so looks are important.

Any comments, thoughts, suggestions?

[LoganSix]

I like the case.  Simple and nice looking.

[Miller]

And it has 6 internal 3.5" bays. That will go niely with my 8 SATA ports.

[Miller]

Ok, so now I have some conflicting thoughts... If I use Windows Media Server then I would think that I would want to store my archived tv shows and music on the server, but do any recording on the local computer. With this in mind, maybe I don't need the motherboard with 8 SATA ports. I really only need 4 (2 for optical drives and 2 for hard drives. I would have a OS hard drive and a recordings drive.) Any additional sotrage I would put on the server. Is this good thinking? Any see any pros/cons I'm not thinking of? If I only need 4 SATA ports then I can get the DS3L instead of the DS3R and save about $40-50. Not a lot I guess, but that money can go elsewhere.

[LoganSix]

You got me... but I would say that if you are going to have a server, you definitely don't need as many drives in the recording/playing machine.

[Miller]

That's what I'm thinking. I do have 6 internal 3.5" bays on the case though and 2 5.25" external drive bays. So I have room for 8 drives if I want it. Then again, if I only fill every other drive it will probably stay cooler... decisions, decisions.

[Miller]

Ok, so the media computer has been put on hold. We decided to wait until we actually get the HDTV and armoire to put it in. So in the meantime I'm updating my desktop (that I use for recording - streaming to my MediaMVP) with some of the parts and using the leftover parts to build a Windows Home Server. I've got everything but the videocard. Still deciding on that and I have time while I wait for the parts and the software to get here.

My desktop will have the Gigabyte board (GA-P35-DS3L) with an E8400 Wolfdale processor. This is the new one that runs cool at 3.0GHz. 2GB of DDR2 800 RAM and probably one of the ATI 3xxx cards.

The server will get my P4 2.8GHz processor, 1GB of ram (the rest goes to my wife's computer) and whatever hard drives I decide to cram in the case. I have an Ultra mid-tower that I'd like to put everything in. I'm excited and if I remember I'll post some pics and thoughts when I get done (probably in a couple of weeks).

[Miller]

I'm waiting for the videocard to come in and then hopefully will update my old computer late this week, early next week. I'll also be building a Windows Home Server out of the extra parts so we'll see how that goes. I'll try to take some pics and update as I go.

For the videocard I decided to go with this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161220

It was a little more expensive, but I wanted a 3650. This one is fanless and has the faster core and DDR3 RAM. I figure it should last me for a good long while.

[dhrandy]

Here is the one I just built.  I upgraded the HTPC.  There are more pics at overclock.net.  I'll be updating my post as soon as I get everything completely setup.

Previous HTPC
-2.4 P4
-760mb of generic ram (3 sticks)
-9600XT w/tuner
-WinTV-PVR-150 tuner
-40 gig 5400 rpm IDE hard drive
-Case
-430 Watt PS
-250 gig IDE hard drive
-DVD Rom IDE drive
-AuzenTech XPlosion 7.1 Sound Card

What I will be using from old HTPC
-Case
-430 Watt PS
-250 gig IDE hard drive
-DVD Rom IDE drive
-WinTV-PVR-150 tuner
-AuzenTech XPlosion 7.1 Sound Card

The Upgrades
GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail 
$87.55 Club-it

Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1800 1129 NTSC/ATSC/QAM/FM Tuner Card PCI Express X1 - WhiteBox - Retail 
Item #: N82E16815116016 $94.99 Newegg

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-2GBPK - Retail 
Item #: N82E16820231144 $64.99 Newegg

AMD Athlon X2 BE-2350 Brisbane 2.1GHz Socket AM2 45W Dual-Core Processor Model ADH2350DOBOX - Retail
Item #: N82E16819103231$89.99 Newegg

EXCELSTOR Jupiter Series ESJ8160S 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Item #: N82E16822210003 $45.99 Newegg - For OS

Future Upgrades
Blu-ray drive

[Miller]

Whose new build is this?? Man, now if I post pics I gotta make sure they look at least as good as yours. Thanks a lot!

[Miller]

Ok, so we dropped our camera on the tile floor so there won't be any pics of the new build unless they're final pics. I did finally start putting the pieces together today though. Not sure if I'll get to work on it over the weekend or not...  I'll try and post final specs and prices here soon. (It's not a true HTPC, this is an upgrade on my main pc that I will have GBPVR running on, do video editing, and serve an MVP with. The parts from my old computer are going to make my Windows Home Server machine.)

[Miller]

Ok, so here are the parts I ended up using:

Case: Ultra Wizard
http://www.ultraproducts.com/product_details.php?cPath=13&pPath=250&productID=250

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L
http://www.gigabyte-usa.com/Products/Motherboard/Products_Spec.aspx?ClassValue=Motherboard&ProductID=2560&ProductName=GA-P35-DS3L
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059

Processor: Intel E8400
http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLAPL
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

RAM: 2 GB Corsair DDR2-800
http://www.corsairmicro.com/products/xms2.aspx
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145034

VideoCard: HIS H365P512GNP (ATI 3650) - 512MB DDR3 RAM
http://www.hisdigital.com/html/product_ov.php?id=368&view=yes
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161220

Hard Drives: 1 120GB IDE Hard Drive for OS and Apps
2 500GB SATA drives for recordings and movies

[Miller]

Putting it all together I've been generally pleased. A couple of things if anyone uses any of these parts. I really like the videocard. I think it's a good bang-for-the-buck card. (Especially now that NewEgg has lowered their price to $125 and it has a $10 rebate.) But since it has the heatsink on it, I lost a pci-express slot. Also the board is a little small around the northbridge area with the fins from my videocard very close to my RAM. I almost have to remove the videocard to insert/remove RAM, but not quite.

As for the case, it was cheap (~$10 after rebate I think), but is working well. It has 3 5.25 external bays and 1 3.5 external bay. It also has 5 3.5 internal bays so it has a lot of room for drives. However to I have to remove the RAM (which is hard because of the videocard) to be able to install hard drives in 2 of the bays. They work fine once they're in, but it took a little work to get them in there.

Other than that everything seems to be going ok. I'm going to do a clean install of Windows this afternoon and we'll see how it goes.

[tvd4d]

Having just found this site today and reading through some of the threads, I'm really inspired to build my own PVR to replace the DVR I have from DTV. I've got a question about the video card that you listed:

On your setup, you used the ATI 3650 but in most other threads, the Hauppauge HVR/PVR cards are used. Do you already have a tuner(like a Hauppauge card) and just using the ATI for video out?