[UFC-fan]

Thank you. I appreciate everyones feedback. Im having a hard time wrapping my head around the concept of "less is more" but that is all part of research.

[eskro]

i recall discussing with a user about that too,,
but after awhile, he understood my point,,
because after all, why pay more then you have to?

[bmcclure937]

Honestly for what you want to do I think you'd be best served with two computers:

Tower:
Blu-ray drive
tuner card(s)
recording software
hard drives
Photoshop software etc.

XBMC Media Extender Box:
pulls all the content from the tower

This is basically what I have setup (except I don't do any OTA recordings).

I agree!! This setup sure does sound like what you need... a workstation (which can do everything you need as far as heavy processing and graphics, along with storing the media) and then the HTPC to act as a front-end client box.

i recall discussing with a user about that too,,
but after awhile, he understood my point,,
because after all, why pay more then you have to?

Yes, especially today... when awesome hardware is so cheap! No use in buying top-of-the-line CPUs, GPUs, etc. if you do not need all of the performance it provides.

[UFC-fan]

Couple questions and my take...

Where is the main monitor vs the TV? IS the TV right next to it or across the room? Is the TV really just for you watching at your desk or is this a living room setup?

I understand you want to run graphics apps, but do you want to do games at all on the system?

Hopefully not to add to confusion:

-If the TV is really going to be used by family/friends/etc I would go with 2 boxes: the tower and a mini PC to pull content from it to the TV. This makes setup for controls a lot easier too.

-Whatever you do for video card make it nVidia, ATI drivers are a pain.

-The hardware list you posted mostly looks fine for a tower, and I really like Hauppauge tuners.

-You might rethink partitioning, usually works best to have a OS/Programs drive (faster/smaller, usually 100-200GB is fine) and another drive(s) for data. No real need to partition drives, if you want Tv and Music on the same drive just use folders it makes it easier to grow or shrink one vs the other.

-On the note of a dedicated OS drive as it seems you have some cash for this: SSD = win. I would do a 100-200GB SSD for OS and apps which will make the system boot fast and load stuff like Photoshop a lot quicker. Then use large mechanical drives for the data.

If you get back on those couple questions I would be happy to make a hardware list for whats missing.

The idea was to put the computer in the same room as the TV. Since I surf the web, and work from home while I watch tv.
I am getting rid of directv and i will no longer be subscribing to any cable or satelite providers. I am going to move to internet based entertainment and of course Bluray and dvd. I have a netflix account that suffices as well. I also torrent TV series so I dont have to worry too much about losing my cable.

I am sick to death of terrible customer service and poor program quality so I made the decision to eliminate that "bill" when I build this "super HTPC" or whatever you want to call it.

I have built computers in the past (10 years ago) and I was always taught to "go big or go home". My first home built pc had a 450 mhz processor and 32 mb of ram. It cost me $2000.00 to build back then. So my mind is having a hard time understanding how I can get something that is more powerful than a PS3 or any other Bluray player or DVR to perform for $500.00 It just doesnt seem doable. However as any of you folks know that is absolutely not the case.

My other set of thinking is that being able to scroll through the library of moives while someone else is using the pc to use photoshop sound great. The monitor will be on a table near the TV. I never considered building two machines because I already have a laptop and a PS3. I just figured I could build a huge computer to handle EVERYTHING I throw at it.

Hope that make sense. I only want to do this once which is why im here and not just ordering crap from newegg because it has a high priec tag and 5 golden eggs LOL.

Thnak you

[spartan711]

hmmm.... grouping algorithms. Are you on wall street/ in quantitative finance? If so, coolio!

About your build, it really depends on what you imagine.

Do you see yourself fiddling with the computer when you want to start XBMC?
Or do you see yourself using an XBMC appliance?

There is absolutely no problem running everything on one computer, its just that when you start to build "megamachines", things get hot, loud, and are always on. Oh and powerhungry.

In your specific situation (I can't believe I'm saying this on the xbmc forum...) I would stick with WMC. Here's why.

(First of all, for maximum compatibility that just works, you will go with Windows.)

- Netflix integration
- Flawless TV integration (you were already planning to do this yourself)
- TMT5 Plugin - Flawless Blu-ray Playback within WMC interface
- Can easily start with remote, no fiddling with eventghost.

In terms of hardware, If you go with the new i7 2600K Processor w/ 8 GB's ram, you will be all set. Overclock that baby to 4.5 Ghz (takes less than 1 minute), and get a nice HSF and you're all set for under $1000.

Also, that processor can play 3d content, bitstream audio, etc. Great for a workstation as well. AFAIK GPU assisted photoshop isn't too developed, but multicore is very well supported.
I neglected the tv card because I do not know too much about that, except its not very expensive.

Also, you can make WMC more XBMC-like using this software

http://www.mymovies.dk/products/windows-...enter.aspx

If you have any questions, lemme know!

EDIT: "My other set of thinking is that being able to scroll through the library of moives while someone else is using the pc to use photoshop sound great. "

In my experience, this always leads to trouble. If someone else is using the computer, then your remote commands will be sent to that program. For example, if someone opens up internet explorer, then pressing "down" on the remote scrolls down the web page, not xbmc. However, the last time I tried it was over 3 months ago, with eventghost. If someone wants to chime in with their experience in multimonitor setups, that would be great. The best way to get around this is the use the http server to issue commands (from your phone, ipad, etc).

[UFC-fan]

Ok. Well I took a few things in to consideration and built a new wish list. A lot cheaper and will still meet my needs Let me know what you all think:

AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core

MSI 870A-G55 AM3 AMD 770 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333

SPARKLE SXS4501024D5SNP GeForce GTS 450 (Fermi) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 Dual TV Tuner / Encoder 1229 PCI-Express x1

Antec twelve hundred case (For plenty of air since both video cards are passive, and I will have two large HDD's)

1TB HDD 6 GB/S SATA III (100 GB partition for OS/Programs, the remainder for files, photos, mp3, etc.

3TB HDD 6 GB/S SATA III (Movies)

Combine that with the cables, PSU, keyboard, etc. and im around $1300.00 for a computer that will do everything for me.

[bmcclure937]

Once again, I do not mean to be picky... but you may consider scrapping the 3TB single HDD for Movies (since 3TB drives are very expensive) and buy 3x2TB drives for around $80-$90 and then using FlexRAID in your Windows box.

This would actually net you more storage space than the 3TB standalone disk while being the same price and providing redundancy to your system.

Now THAT is cool! The only drawback would be more moving parts/possible heat... but in an Antec 1200 you should not have worries!

[UFC-fan]

the 3TB Drive is actually only $200.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6822145472

And it comes with a free cooler and has good reviews. The MOBO only supports 2 SATA III drives is why i went this route


Does everything else look good though?

[spartan711]

Cart Item List:
Qty. Product Description Savings Total Price
1
HITACHI Deskstar 3TB 3.5" SATA 6.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #:N82E16822145472
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$199.99
1
XIGMATEK HDC-D802 Aluminum Hard Drive Cooler for HDD Bay
Item #:N82E16835233080
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$14.99
1
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory
Item #:N82E16820231428
Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy
$109.99
1
NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Computer Case
Item #:N82E16811146067
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$139.99
1
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4 2TB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #:N82E16822152245
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$99.99
1
Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 Dual TV Tuner / Encoder 1229
Item #:N82E16815116037
Return Policy: VGA Standard Return Policy
$109.99
1
Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1 2.5" MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Item #:N82E16820148357
Return Policy: Limited Replacement Only Return Policy
-$35.00 Instant
$134.99
$99.99
4
Nexus BASIC D12SL-12 Case Fan
Item #:N82E16835610006

Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$47.96
1
SILVERSTONE Strider Plus ST50F-P 500W Power Supply
Item #:N82E16817256065
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$79.99
1
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm sleeve CPU Cooler
Item #:N82E16835103065

Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
$29.99
1

Intel Core i7-2600K 3.4GHz LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
Item #: N82E16819115070
Return Policy: CPU Replacement Only Return Policy


GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD3 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813128460
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy


Intel Sid Meier's Civilization V Free Game for CPU promo
Item #: N82E16800995100
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$5.00 Instant
-$59.99 Combo
$499.97
$434.98
Grand Total: $1,352.86

Summary of Build: juicy. comes with case + best fans (SPCR) for quiet computing. Also, added keyboard, 2TB plus 3TB, with 64GB boot SSD.

This build also has some coupons on it, which reduces the price to 1300. Sell the game if you don't need it for another 50 bucks. If your gonna spend at least $1000 on a computer, it makes financial sense to spend 5% more and be set for another 2-4 years.

[publicENEMY]

before you buy, did you intend to play 1080p on one monitor while do stuff on other monitor? if so, you MUST buy second 1080p card dedicated only to play 1080p. if its 2d, i think it would be wise to get nvidia 210.

the reason being, i have gt570 for htpc, browsing and gaming. i am using windows 7. what ever i do, if i want to play 1080p on dual monitor, the playback is not smooth. the only way to make the playback smooth is to use single monitor or (from what i heard) use another dedicated 3d card. i believe the situation is worse in linux.

gt570 is way overkill for 1080p and some browsing on other monitor. yet the playback wasnt smooth. fact is, hardware acceleration is problematic with desktop multimonitor(multimonitor gaming is whole different thing).

[Balinus]

I have a friend that does multi-monitor set-up on Windows and he use XBMC. These is some problem with the playback of 1080p (and 720p) when he plays the movie on his TV. The only thing that remedies that is to go single monitor and only diaply on his TV.

Moreover, this could be his fault but if a movie is being played, it is stopped if he launch another program on his 2nd monitor.

So, unless your set-up is well configured, you might end-up being unable to use the 2nd monitor when there is a movie played on your TV.

With that being said, I'm no expert at these kind of set-up. I would however go for a solution with one server/NAS (that could be hidden in a closet) for all your media files, one client HTPC (that you could hide behind your TV) and 1 desktop. Which in the end might cost the same as your ultimate PC that seems to cost 1300$.