[skuzzzzy]

So my budget will be around, $800-1,200.

I know completely nothing about htpcs but here is everything i will need it to do,

1. Beable to watch live TV on my TV using my cable companys cable card.
2. Have between 2-3tb hdd dedicated for live tv dvring.
3. Beable to play any iso/avi/mkv DVD/Bluray rip (3d if possible) with 2x 3tb harddrives connected to it for stored media.
4. A nice remote controll (i have a harmony one, not sure if it will work or if i should get something nicer?)
5. Not use that much energy
6. cool and quiete
7. Run very smooth / lag free, possible ssd for OS?

[Bmul]

NUC i5 with fanless case €600,-
4TB external hard drive 4TB €140,-

[jammyb]

NUC i5 with fanless case €600,-
4TB external hard drive 4TB €140,-

So how does the OP fit tuners? Do they make mini PCI tuner cards

Think the OP wants an all in one box. But will have to negate option 6!

[Bmul]

He will be able to play cable
He just have to set the Harmony to control the cabel box

[MediaPi]

Bmul why are you reccommending the i5 when the Haswell NUC is going to be released any day/week now, I'm sure it will be within OP's budget?

[skuzzzzy]

Heres what im at so far and its already over my budget =\.

Case:
Fractal Design Black Aluminum / Steel Node 605 FD-CA-NODE-605-BL ATX Media Center / HTPC Case

CPU:
AMD FX-6300 Vishera 3.5GHz (4.1GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 95W Six-Core Desktop Processor FD6300WMHKBOX

Motherboard:
GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

RAM:
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL

Media HDD's:
2x Western Digital Red NAS Hard Drive WD30EFRX 3TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

Live TV DVR HDD:
Seagate Constellation CS ST2000NC000 2 TB 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - 6Gb/s SATA - 7200 rpm - 64 MB

OS HDD:
SAMSUNG 840 EVO MZ-7TE120BW 2.5" 120GB SATA III TLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Cable card device:
Ceton InfiniTV 6 PCIe - 5205-DCT06IN-PCIE - Six-tuner Card for Watching Digital Cable TV on the PC, PCI-Express x1 Interface

GPU:
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

Power Supply:
CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 600W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

OS:
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM

$1,554.89

[Dougie Fresh]

A10-6800k with FM2 motherboard would give close to the same result for less money, less heat, less power needed and one less component.

[Daemaz]

You don't need a 120GB drive. I run a 60GB SSD and I haven't used more than 8GB. PSU is overkill, stick with a solid 500w. InfiniTV 4 has 4 tuners, are you sure you have a need for 6?

[teeedubb]

You don't need a 120GB drive. I run a 60GB SSD and I haven't used more than 8GB. PSU is overkill, stick with a solid 500w. InfiniTV 4 has 4 tuners, are you sure you have a need for 6?

A windows 7 install at 8gb? His pagefile will be 8gb alone.

Agreed that a lot of this is overkill. A 95w CPU will need a lot of cooling which equals noise. Also 7200rpm HDDs make a lot of noise - my 5700rpm drives are the loudest part of my gaming htpc with 8 fans...

[Daemaz]

You don't need a 120GB drive. I run a 60GB SSD and I haven't used more than 8GB. PSU is overkill, stick with a solid 500w. InfiniTV 4 has 4 tuners, are you sure you have a need for 6?

A windows 7 install at 8gb? His pagefile will be 8gb alone.

Agreed that a lot of this is overkill. A 95w CPU will need a lot of cooling which equals noise. Also 7200rpm HDDs make a lot of noise - my 5700rpm drives are the loudest part of my gaming htpc with 8 fans...

You're right, I'm not used to Windows builds of XBMC

FX-6300 is overkill for HTPC duty; that's a gaming CPU.

[joelbaby]

Skuzzy..
If you've got $800-$1200 to spend then do it right:

1. Get a NAS (Synology or QNAP). Put the Red drives in that.
2. Build PC with 4Gb RAM, Intel i3, TV Tuner Card, and SSD. No graphics card required.
3. Use a mini-itx motherboard, and a nice case.

Now everything is portable. Your power consumption will be lower. The NAS can stream to any device in the house (without having to switch the PC on).
As others have said, one key to quietness is low heat, and low power consumption.
You don't need a 4.1GHz CPU. .. take a look at the video of XBMC running on the 1.4GHz Celeron NUC with 1Gb RAM.
You don't need ripskillfastjawsdominatorblaster RAM. Is the TV show going to play back faster?
You will see no performance improvement recording or watching TV on 7200rpm drives.

Take a look at DougieFresh's website: www.ecosmartpc.com. (note that e-i5, e-i7 refer to model number of the case, not the CPU type).

[skuzzzzy]

Skuzzy..
If you've got $800-$1200 to spend then do it right:

1. Get a NAS (Synology or QNAP). Put the Red drives in that.
2. Build PC with 4Gb RAM, Intel i3, TV Tuner Card, and SSD. No graphics card required.
3. Use a mini-itx motherboard, and a nice case.

Now everything is portable. Your power consumption will be lower. The NAS can stream to any device in the house (without having to switch the PC on).
As others have said, one key to quietness is low heat, and low power consumption.
You don't need a 4.1GHz CPU. .. take a look at the video of XBMC running on the 1.4GHz Celeron NUC with 1Gb RAM.
You don't need ripskillfastjawsdominatorblaster RAM. Is the TV show going to play back faster?
You will see no performance improvement recording or watching TV on 7200rpm drives.

Take a look at DougieFresh's website: www.ecosmartpc.com. (note that e-i5, e-i7 refer to model number of the case, not the CPU type).

Thanks for the info. Why im here because i have no idea what im doing asfar as building a htpc.

I just didnt know exactly what i needed to ensure my files would all play lag free and that tv wouldnt be a issue.


I just ordered a
Synology DiskStation 4-Bay (Diskless) Network Attached Storage DS413
and 4x WD RED 3TBs.



So im looking at,
i3
4GB ram
Ceton InfiniTV 4 PCIe - Quad-tuner Card for Watching Digital Cable TV on the PC, PCI-Express x1 Interface
mini-itx motherboard, and a nice case
64 or 120gb ssd
which is the best OS? ones supported by the tuner are, Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8 Pro (64-bit) with Media Center
what size power supply 400w?
what else am i missing?
and for the DVR hdd, should i use a WD green or WD red?

[joelbaby]

Is the PC just to be used as a HTPC and PVR, and basic computing? (i.e. no serious gaming).

[skuzzzzy]

just htpc and dvr, ill have a gaming pc 4 feet next to it.

[joelbaby]

Then...
talk to DougieFresh on www.ecosmartpc.com ...or:
Giada i3 motherboard
4Gb cheap RAM
120Gb SSD
Small box, and a 90degree PCI riser so the PCI card can fit in.

Not sure about remote (someone else can help).
Don't put WD Hard Disk in there. Your NAS will be the main storage. The SSD will be able to record many hours before you need to transfer stuff to the NAS.
You can even do this with a Celeron motherboard.

Or, look at Eskro's builds in the 'stickied' thread at the top of this forum.