[pyrem]

Hello,

First time poster here. I’ve recently discovered XBMC and have been playing around with it using my laptop. I’ve since decided to build a dedicated HTPC since I have a few leftover components from my previous build and I just wanted to post this build for feedback. The main goal for this build is to process backups/rips of HD media through makemkv and Handbrake, play blu-ray and have enough headroom for future expansion (e.g. 3D Blu-ray and perhaps some very light gaming). This will be connected to a 46” LCD and a 5.1 audio system. I’m not really familiar with Linux, so this will be running on Windows 7 Pro

Case: Silverstone Grandia Series GD05B http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6811163166
--I need something small that would fit in my cabinet, but still large enough that it allows for future expansion. At just 13” depth, this will just barely fit my cabinet space (perhaps an inch left).

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6819115017
--Left over CPU from a previous build, older socket LGA 775

Motherboard: ASUS P5G43T-M Pro http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813131602
--Biggest needs for me were onboard video/audio processing HDMI output so I can forgo buying a video card at a later date.

PSU: Silverstone Strider Plus ST50F-P 500W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6817256065
--Is this too much? I’ve seen most builds hover around 400W, but I thought to step it up to an even 500W in case I add in a video card and another hard drive.

PSU Cables: Silverstone Short Cable Set For Silverstone Strider Series Modular PSU Model PP05 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6812162010
--I though to add this as the modular PSU, plus the short cables should help the airflow in a smallish case

Memory: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6820231189

Hard Drive: Western Digital AV-GP WD20EURS 2TB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6822136783
--I wanted to go 2TB right away since the space will be needed. These seem to be made for 24/7 digital video/audio operations so I thought this would be good match. I would be installing OS on this as well. Anyone have any experience with this hard drive?

Optical Drive: LITE-ON Black 12X SATA Internal Blu-ray Burner with Blu-ray 3D feature Model iHBS112 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6827106346
--I think I’ll be ok with the OEM model since I already some of the software for blu-ray playback

As far as other stuff I would add in later:
Video Card: nVidia 430 GT –Zotac makes a fanless edition of this, and it comes with HDMI 1.4 needed for 3D playback. However, results have been mixed and I’m going to hold on this to see if better cards are released

Additional Hard Drives: I’ve read reviews that the Silverstone Grandia Series GD05B has room for two hard drives, but they both rest on top of the PSU, which could increase the temperatures. My solution was to add eSata PCI express cards and just add 2TB enclosures as I go.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and opinions

[poofyhairguy]

Love most of the build. A few comments:

Motherboard: ASUS P5G43T-M Pro http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813131602
--Biggest needs for me were onboard video/audio processing HDMI output so I can forgo buying a video card at a later date.

If you want onboard video, you picked the wrong board. Intel GPUs are TERRIBLE. Not just awful, TERRIBLE. This is the only decent 775 mobo with a good GPU you can buy:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813500019

I can't emphasize enough how important it is for you to get that mobo. I personally believe the whole project is a failure without that mobo. I stake my reputation on that advice.

PSU: Silverstone Strider Plus ST50F-P 500W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6817256065
--Is this too much? I’ve seen most builds hover around 400W, but I thought to step it up to an even 500W in case I add in a video card and another hard drive.

That is fine.

Hard Drive: Western Digital AV-GP WD20EURS 2TB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6822136783
--I wanted to go 2TB right away since the space will be needed. These seem to be made for 24/7 digital video/audio operations so I thought this would be good match. I would be installing OS on this as well. Anyone have any experience with this hard drive?

I personally think this is a bad choice. Two reasons:

1. That drive doesn't offer anything over a WD Green EARS drive (their normal 2TB drives) for media purposes (you got caught by marketing BS).

2. You really want a separate OS drive, preferably a SSD. Otherwise the interface will be slow.

Video Card: nVidia 430 GT –Zotac makes a fanless edition of this, and it comes with HDMI 1.4 needed for 3D playback. However, results have been mixed and I’m going to hold on this to see if better cards are released

I don't know why you say "The results are mixed." I have this exact card and its the best HTPC GPU on the planet. In fact, if you want your original mobo just get this card day 1.

Additional Hard Drives: I’ve read reviews that the Silverstone Grandia Series GD05B has room for two hard drives, but they both rest on top of the PSU, which could increase the temperatures. My solution was to add eSata PCI express cards and just add 2TB enclosures as I go.

In the long run the best solution is a dedicated media server.

[yite]

poofyhairguy - I've been researching an HTPC for some time and you always provide very sound advice with knowledgeable background. In the end, I've determined that I'm pretty much going to listen to your advice.

I guess to make things simpler, if you don't mind, I'd like to know what HTPC build(s) you have.

What capabilities do they have? Do you use XBMC for them all?

If you have already posted this, I apologize but when I search "poofyhairguy" and "HTPC build" you can imagine how many results I get.

To conclude, I've learned a lot from the information you've provided and I thank you for your contribution to this forum.

[poofyhairguy]

First of all, thank you very much for your nice compliments.

I guess to make things simpler, if you don't mind, I'd like to know what HTPC build(s) you have.

Yeah, I have a few HTPCs and not even most of them are practical. I plan to eventually put them all on the forum in pictures (as soon as I finish one more), and add them to my sig.

But at some level my HTPCs are just honestly an amalgamation of parts that I currently have at the time. I am constantly rotating new parts in and out (giving away older parts to family in the form of HTPCs) in order to test new things and to utilize the maximum ability of XBMC.

I use that knowledge gained to recommend practical HTPCs for people, but someone who copied me exactly would honestly have parts that aren't the best values of the time.

With that said I will soon put my whole kit in this thread:

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=68514

Just got to finish my main HTPC.

[pyrem]

Thanks for the comments Poofy! They were really helpful and helped me evaluate some of my component choices!

If you want onboard video, you picked the wrong board. Intel GPUs are TERRIBLE. Not just awful, TERRIBLE. This is the only decent 775 mobo with a good GPU you can buy:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813500019

I had read the same somewhere that Intel onboard GPUs were also weak. I was hoping to get by with the onboard GPU by not gaming on this rig, and just using it purely for media playback for the time being. Unfortunately, I already have possession of the motherboard (got a used one from ebay). However, if the video playback is still terrible, I have a left over video card I can use (covered in my comments below).

I personally think this is a bad choice. Two reasons:

1. That drive doesn't offer anything over a WD Green EARS drive (their normal 2TB drives) for media purposes (you got caught by marketing BS).

2. You really want a separate OS drive, preferably a SSD. Otherwise the interface will be slow.

Thanks for the tip! I'll buy the 2TB WD Green EARS drive from Newegg. It'll save me about $40 once I factor in the mail-in rebate that is currently being offered.

Agreed on the comment about the SSD. My gaming rig runs Windows 7 with an Intel 80GB SSD and it's screaming fast! However, the cost is a little to steep for me, and I'd like to keep the budget down.

What I'll probably do is take a 1TB Western Digital Caviar Black from my NAS drive to use as my OS drive for the HTPC and replace it with the bigger Green Drive that I'll buy from Newegg. This will help me make better use of the Black Drive (since it's a fast drive) and expand the storage on my NAS server by using the Green drive instead.

I don't know why you say "The results are mixed." I have this exact card and its the best HTPC GPU on the planet. In fact, if you want your original mobo just get this card day 1.

I don't have the links on hand (I think one of them was from anandtech.com), but I read a couple of lukewarm reviews on the 430GT. Most reviews have it as a good HTPC GPU with a couple of great features (e.g HDMI 1.4a). That feature in it of itself was the biggest draw for me since it’ll make the build somewhat future-proof—however, since I don’t have a 3D TV yet (probably not till next year), I’ll wait to see if better cards will be released.

For the time being, I have a 9800 GT from a previous build that I can put to use if the mobo onboard GPU does not hold up. It only has a DVI connection so I’ll need to run the audio through SPDIF to my receiver. However, at least I can do some gaming on this card as well.

[poofyhairguy]

What I'll probably do is take a 1TB Western Digital Caviar Black from my NAS drive to use as my OS drive for the HTPC and replace it with the bigger Green Drive that I'll buy from Newegg. This will help me make better use of the Black Drive (since it's a fast drive) and expand the storage on my NAS server by using the Green drive instead.

That sounds like a much better idea.

I don't have the links on hand (I think one of them was from anandtech.com), but I read a couple of lukewarm reviews on the 430GT.

I assume you are referring to this:

http://www.anandtech.com/Show/Index/3973...rce-gt-430

Where the GT430 fails a few tests of playing basically Camcorder video because the Nvidia driver is incompatible. What these testers DON'T test (and I do test) is tons of crazy encodes like you will ACTUALLY playback in XBMC. I can stand and say that the GT430 can play my huge library, a feat no other GPU on the planet I have met so far can claim.

A GT430 is the best HTPC card on the planet, unless you shoot a lot of stuff with a HD camcorder.

For the time being, I have a 9800 GT from a previous build that I can put to use if the mobo onboard GPU does not hold up. It only has a DVI connection so I’ll need to run the audio through SPDIF to my receiver. However, at least I can do some gaming on this card as well.

Oh jeez, a 9800GT can do the job perfectly.

[yite]

Poofyhairguy - I look forward to the unveiling of your HTPC but until then I'm still attempting to get my bearings for an HTPC build. Prior to throwing a build at you, I've been trying to understand the capabilities of the technology.

I've seen you post a number of times:

"It takes a Core2Duo 2.4 GHZ chip minimum to decode all available 1080p streams." and "I would rather have an ION Box and my Samsung Blu Ray player".

One specific thread said that you started with this mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813500036

Is the HTPC incapable of playing back 1080p since it has a 1.6GHz processor? Or does the onboard GeForce 9400 take on that task?

Would there be benefits to building an HTPC with an i3 processor and the GT430?

I should probably state what I'm trying to accomplish as well. The main purpose of my HTPC is to play ripped BluRay movies (regardless of format or container) from my NAS.

I've been reading a lot of information (probably too much) but am getting lost when trying to relate it all. I've even read forms that say XBMC is not capable of playing back BluRay content.

I could probably pick one of the many builds out there and be satisfied. Then again maybe not. The problem is, I've become obsessed with the intricacies of the media such as 24p and DTS-HD MA even though I probably can't even decipher between that and DTS.

I've read where you posted that you get HD audio through PCM. You also said that PCM was very hard to achieve. So PCM seems to be out of my league and so I shall defer to bitstreaming. Oh wait, that is also beyond me (except for the part that it's a one to one lossless signal...).
I found a seemingly great walk through here:
http://www.mediasmartserver.net/2010/06/...-dsplayer/

But I still have no idea what to look for in hardware or how to turn it on (if there is an on). I could setup the bistream by mindlessly following that tutorial but a part of me wouldn't be satisfied with that. Then again I probably wouldn't care how it works until it broke.

Additionally, is there an advantage to having a BluRay player with an HTPC other than for Netflix and the additional programs? All along I've had the intent of installing a BluRay drive in my HTPC in order to play discs when desired.

Sorry for the extensive post but throughout my research I am still unable to connect everything together to my satisfaction.

Thank you in advance

[bmcclure937]

Would there be benefits to building an HTPC with an i3 processor and the GT430?

GT430 - can handle 1080p, 3D, DTS-MA (although not technically working in Live)

Core i3 benefits - ability to handle other content, such as Netflix, Hulu, Flash-based video

[yite]

Great, then that is the route I'll take. I don't need an audio card then correct? Does the card bitstream or would I have to use something like the tutorial to get DTS HD MA?

Thank you,

[poofyhairguy]

In Windows using DSPlayer is where bitstreaming works:

http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=HOW-TO:_Using_DSPlayer

No need for an audiocard.

[yite]

Would Windows 7 64 bit, XBMC, DSPlayer, and the below:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6856158014

accomplish everything I want?

Thank you

[pyrem]

Just a quick follow up on this build, which I completed late last night.

Overall, I'm happy with the build. Especially pleased with the Silverstone Short Cable Set and the Scythe Shuriken B.3 cpu fan. The case is somewhat of a tight fit, and these helped me out a lot.

The one issue I ran into was that the Blu Ray playback (using Cyberlink Powerdvd 9 Ultra) stuttered significantly when running on my EVGA 9800 GT and Q6600 Quad Core. I ended up replacing the 9800 GT with one of 460 GTXs from my gaming rig (it was under utlized anyway). The playback is smooth now, but I'm still not sure why it was an issue with the 9800 GT. Any thoughts?