Thoughts on my new HTPC build
#1
Antec ISK 300-150 Black Mini-ITX Desktop Computer Case 150 Watt Power Supply

ASRock Socket FM1/AMD A75 FCH/SATA3&USB3.0/A&GbE/Mini-ITX Motherboard A75M-ITX

AMD A6-3500 APU with AMD Radeon 6530 HD Graphics

Ceton InfiniTV 4 Digital Cable Quad-tuner Card PCIe

Crucial 64 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s

Kingston Technology HyperX Blu 8GB 1333MHz DDR3 Non-ECC CL9 DIMM

Cooler Master 80mm Dual Ball Bearing Case Fan Black

I chose this setup for low noise, low power. I will not be gaming (maybe a little) and really I want to watch stored content, stream through Flash and Silverlight, and watch live TV (NFL, NBA, College Football, and my lady friends shows of course).

This is going to replace by HD DVR boxes. I already have an Acer Revo AR3700 hooked up to my 60" Aquos Quattron LCD LED, however with it's small form factor, adding the Ceton InfiniTV card is a no go. So the AR3700 is moving in to the bedroom (lights dimming, que Barry white) and this new setup will take center stage in my living room.

Right now my only concern is the heat from the Ceton InfiniTV card in this small Case. With a low power CPU (65W) and no discrete GPU I should be okay?? Will the extra 80mm fan (80mm fan included w/ case) move enough air?

I use XBMC through Win7 and plan to watch live TV through a 3rd party app. At worse I can use Windows MC. I'm just glad to be rid of Comcasts' cumbersome dashboard.

I plan on buying a NAS and using UnRaid as this seems to work hand in hand for the purpose of my application. (until then I will use my 2TB external to store recorded content)

I just cannot wait to have my Ceton card hooked up so I can watch live TV on all my PC's and Xbox360 and record to my NAS.

I will not pretend to be a big leaguer when it comes to everything electronics but I do know a little bit. so please feel free to comment or point out any shortcomings I may have missed. Cheers!!


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#2
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#3
If you record TV as well (unless your app allows recording directly to your NAS) 64GB SSD will not be big enough. You won't be able to record more than 1 show and watch TV at the same time. Even then it may complain.
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#4
If heat becomes an issue, maybe you should look into the 300-65 and upgrade the power brick. OR if you are still concerned. Remove the power supply and install your own Pico Power Supply.
I have that case and made a few modifications to quiet it up a bit.
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#5
(2012-05-09, 18:21)Dougie Fresh Wrote: If you record TV as well (unless your app allows recording directly to your NAS) 64GB SSD will not be big enough. You won't be able to record more than 1 show and watch TV at the same time. Even then it may complain.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I actually have an external WD 2TB HDD that is the destination drive for all recorded content. The NAS is coming next month. I'm going to throw 8tb in there.
(2012-05-09, 18:38)KraziJoe Wrote: If heat becomes an issue, maybe you should look into the 300-65 and upgrade the power brick. OR if you are still concerned. Remove the power supply and install your own Pico Power Supply.
I have that case and made a few modifications to quiet it up a bit.

Hey thanks for the input. I actually was looking at the pico psu 150 but they are out of the 150w AC Adapter so I'm going to see how everything runs and if I need pico psu hopefully by then their bricks will be in stock.

I was worried the 65 wouldn't have enough power.

They do have a pico psu kit that comes with a 150w psu and a 102w brick, but even still I worry the brick isn't enough.

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#6
If you go with one of the wide-input picoPSUs like the 120-WI-25, you can get a 18.5V/6.5A AC adapter 120W without having to deal with the 4-pin mini-DIN (it still has the 2.5mm*5.5mm barrel jack). If you want to spend less, the 120W picoPSU with 102W AC adapter should still be plenty. I believe though that adapter has a fan so if you want it quiet the first suggestion I gave might be better. I use this AC adapter with a picoPSU 120-WI-25 and it works great: http://www.amazon.com/Anker-317188-001-3...003LHP2K2/
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#7
I'm working on my first HTPC as well. I have almost all the components picked out. Working on a prototype on my laptop before dropping the $ on said components. Sounds like your setup is similar to what I am planning. Question is, do you know what your "third party app" is for watching LiveTV yet? I bought the USB version of the Ceton tuner for the prototype above and will be returning it after my proof of concept is working on the laptop. I have Charter, and was able to get this up and running last night with CableCARD and was picking up channels and recording. I had some channels (disney HD) that were not wanting to come through. I got all this working in WMC, but would prefer a plugin for XBMC to keep it within one clean interface. MediaPortal as a backend seems like a great option, but doesn't work with cablecards. Does anyone know if there is such a solution?
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#8
ddike83

Sorry for the delayed response.

Premium channels (HBO, Starz, etc) will only work w/ WMC. Problem is DRM related.

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