My HTPC - the long brief

[Ponmayilal]

And finally my HTPC is alive and kicking.

Configuration:
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA78-GM-S2H: Rs.5290.00
Read review here: http://www.ocworkbench.com/2008/gigabyte/GA-MA78GM-S2H/g1.htm
Processor: AMD Athlon x2 4800+ (2.5 MHz65W) Rs.3500.00
Memory:Transcend DDR2 800MHz 1GBx2 Rs.2000.00
HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE16 (16MB buffer)
250GBx2 in RAID 0 mode Rs.5390.00
DVD Writer:Samsung SH203D/IDBH SATA Rs.1180.00
FDD:TEAC 1.44 MB Rs. 280.00
OS:Windows Vista Home Premium OEM Rs.5100.00
Cabinet: Zebronics Cube (w/o SMPS) Rs.2200.00
See catalogue here: http://www.zebronics.net/pro_catlog.pdf
SMPS: VIP Gold 400W Rs.1500.00

Total Rs.26440.00
VAT @4 % Rs. 1058.00

Total System cost: Rs.27,498.00

Other pertinent info:

• Gigabyte recommends a minimum of AMDx2 4200+(2.2MHz) processor plus 1GBx2 of DDR2 800MHz memory for smooth playback of HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs. AMD Athlon x2 BE-2400 (2.3 MHz) with its low Power consumption of 35W would have been a better choice, but not available right now.
• Floppy disk drive is not necessary.The RAID drivers to be loaded during OS installation can be fed from a USB pendrive.This is nowhere mentioned in the manual.

Initial Preparation:
1. Downloaded the latest Bios and drivers – Chipset, Audio,LAN,RAID - from Gigabyte website, extracted them and loaded into the pen drive.
2. Downloaded Vista (32 bit) service Pack 1 (434.5 MB) from here http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b0c7136d- 5ebb-413b-89c9-cb3d06d12674&DisplayLang=en and loaded it into the
pendrive.

Assembly:
The system was assembled meticulousy and after a final check, switched on, keeping an eye on the processor fan. And here was the shock. I was greeted with dead silence.Immediately I pulled out the Antec 460W SMPS from my other HTPC and tried.When switched on, the system fans turned on momentarily, to go dead immediately. (I did not see even this momentary rotation with the VIP Gold SMPS). That gave me a clue that the problem is not with the power supply and the SMPS is switching off due to an external fault.I then pulled out the power cables to the peripherals, one at a time from the system fans (3 in number), the FDD, the optical drive and the two HDDs.When the power cable to one HDD was pulled out and the system switched on, the system came alive and booted. I was very much relieved that the fault was not in the motherboard, processor or the memory.It was a holiday for Holi that day and the next day was Sunday. I could get the replacement for the defective HDD only on Monday.Anyway, I flashed the new bios using the bios-utility, installed the OS on the working HDD, played around and familiarised myself with Vista Premium.

OS Installation with RAID 0:
After I got the replacement HDD from the dealer on Monday, everything went on smoothly. I configured the RAID array in the bios and started the OS installation.At the load driver screen, I loaded the raid driver from the pendrive and installed the OS on a 50GB partition.Windows version 6.0.6000 build 6000.The installation took about 20-25 minutes.

I immediately started the SP1 installation from the the pendrive and this took about 27 minutes.At the end of it I had Windows version 6.0.6001 build 6001.

Next I installed the chipset drivers (ATI Display Driver and Northbridge Filter driver),Audio driver(ATI HDMI Audio, Realtek High Definition Audio) and the LAN driver.

A quick check of the Device Manager revealed that there are no ! or ? mark anywhere and everything is perfect. What a relief !

Once the LAN driver was installed , I was on the net in no time to check for any updates.( Almost all the updates have already been included in the SP1) Only the two following updates (12.7 MB) showed up and were installed.
Windows Malicious Software removal tool March 2008 and latest definition update for Windows defender.

Only one optional update showed up but that was an Oct 2007 Realtek LAN driver, which I ignored since I have installed the Feb 2008 LAN driver. (Windows update does not seem to have taken cognizance of this ! )

Now I have an up-to-date and clean install of Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 and I am delighted.

After a disk clean-up I defragmented drive C (25 minutes) and the final figures are
Used Space 14,17,65,42,720 bytes (13.2 GB).

So now you know that a clean install of Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 requires a minimum of 15 GB hard disk space.

(Initially I toyed with the idea of using a v-lited Windows Vista, but gave up when I stumbled upon the fact that SP1 cannot be installed on a v-lited Vista.)

And finally I partitioned the rest of unallocated space in my HDD using Windows Disk Management and here is the partition details.

C OS 50GB
D Data and Downloads 19.53GB
E Audio 78.13GB
F Photo 87.89GB
G Video 228.25GB

Windows performance:
Processor: calculations per second 5.1
Memory: memory operations per second 4.5
Graphics: desktop performance for Windows Aero 3.4
Gaming Graphics: 3D business and gaming graphics
performance 3.6
Primary hard Disk: disk data transfe rate 5.9
Windows Experience
Index Base Score ( lowest of the above ) 3.4

It’s time to back-up:

What software should I use to back-up? I have been using Acronics True Image 10 with XP and months back I have purchased the upgrade to ATI 11 also. Should I use it for Vista? Vista is known for incompatibilities with many a software. I have also read that many people who have tried ATI on their system but not happy, have problems in completely uninstalling it, to try some other back-up software. It is by now a known issue. Many of these back-up software, modify the MBR in someway, which cannot be undone by an ordinary and even experienced user.Should I take a plunge? Time to take a hard decision.

Recently I have read a rave review about Storagecrafts Shadowprotect Desktop v3.1 and here it is http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2254465,00.asp . I made a quick google search and read more about it and then the order went, my networth now less $80. I downloaded and installed it in no time and made an immediate back-up of C from within Vista . I also burnt the bootable recovery CD from the ISO downloaded alongwith the software . It uses Vista PE and once the system boots from the CD and loads the back-up software , I loaded the Raid Driver from the pendrive and checked that I am able to access the hard drive for an emergency restore. Made a trial backup of drive D from the CD also. I am sure it works fine.

To do: 1. buy an LCD monitor with HDMI input
2. buy a TV tuner card. My eyes are set on Compro
Videomate Vista E800F or E600F
3. buy a Blu-ray DVD writer
4. Order Power DVD ultra
and that will be a dream fulfilled

[gxsaurav]

You have got an amazing HTPC dude, what I would want for my HTPC. Plz post some pics of this setup soon.

This guide will help you in making a solid Vista PC for whatever you want.

Using Windows Vista : The MVP way

To do: 1. buy an LCD monitor with HDMI input

Even I m looking to buy one for me. Have a look the following models, let me know if you are able to inquire about the cost.

LG L194WT 19" LCD
LG L206WTD 20" LCD
Samsung 206BW

All three of these support HDCP over DVI which is same as HDMI port. You can also buy a DVI to HDMI afapter to connect the HDMI port of your motherboard to DVI port of these monitors. But this won't be required as your motherboard supports HDCP over DVI too & it will work fine when u connect the monitor via DVI port.

2. buy a TV tuner card. My eyes are set on Compro

Videomate Vista E800F or E600F

Also have a look at Pinnacle PCTV Tuner kit for Vista & Leadtek TV2000XP Global Media Center.

3. buy a Blu-ray DVD writer

Better buy after 2 years

4. Order Power DVD ultra

Why? Vista already plays DVD's fine out of the box. You can buy PowerDVD SE DVD decoder pack for Vista, after installing which you will be able to play DVDs with Dolby digital decoding fine in Windows Media Center or Windows Media Player. Before you order try this solution. PowerDVD 8 UI rox though, it is made with WPF.

[kumarmohit]

Dont bother buying Blu Ray writer so early, hang around for some time, let it become more value for money.

[Gigacore]

what about speakers?

[Ponmayilal]

^^ @gx_saurav, your exposition Using Windows Vista : The MVP way is indeed great and I shall try to finetune Vista on the lines indicated therein.

Right now I am not in a position to move the HTPC to the living room for want of a suitable monitor and TV tuner. When I do, I shall put the snapshots of the whole setup.Taking a snapshot of the Zebronics CUBE is not going to serve any purpose.The various features of the cabby are given in the catalog I have referenced.

I wonder whether WMP can play blu-ray discs.Power DVD ultra can.

@gigacore, I have a Philips MX-980-D,a 5.1 X 100w/per channel AV Receiver doing the HT duty in the living room, and when I move the HTPC to the living room,the optical output of the HTPC will drive the AV amplifier.For the time being, I have to be content with Altec Lansing MX-5021.Right now an Antec Fusion cabby stuffed with an ASUS M2NPV-VM is sitting there.

Add-ons to the bare system are not going to come in a jiffy, considering the cost involved.But surely, the HTPC will move to take its pride of place in the living room, sooner than later.

Thanks to all who have evinced a keen interest.

[crystal_pup]

Wat the heck is HTPC?

[shashank_re]

^^ Home Theater Personal Computer

[gxsaurav]

I wonder whether WMP can play blu-ray discs.Power DVD ultra can.

Install the trial version of PowerDVD 8 or WinDVD 9. After this you can play Blue Ray in Media Center or WMP.

My presonal choice would be Nero 8 legal, if you are paying then it is a gr8 suite & comes with inbuilt HD Content support with Nero Showtime.

[Ponmayilal]

^ I already have the legal licensed versions of Nero 8 and Power DVD 7 Deluxe.( I never go with pirated or hacked versions. )What all I have to do is to upgrade Power DVD 7 Deluxe to Power DVD ultra for $60. ( There is nothing as Power DVD 8 mentioned in the Cyberlink website. Perhaps it is Power DVD ultra). I shall wait for the day when I acquire a blu-ray writer before this software upgrade.As I said it is a longway up and I'm only on the first stepping stone.

[gxsaurav]

PowerDVD 8 is in beta right now.

If you already have Nero 8 then you don't need anything else. Don't upgrade to PowerDVD 8 ultra, there is no need.

[Ponmayilal]

^Thanks for the info . I did not know that. with myself.

[gxsaurav]

It's ok...now show us the pics & specially inside of the Cabinet....how is the ventilation?

[Ponmayilal]

Here are two pictures.




OOpps........... the callout in the first picture should read "one 60mm fan can be fixed here in front of the HDD compartment" and not 30mm fan.

I should go hunting for a 60mm fan, for that would keep the HDDs cool.

Bottom compartment housing the motherboard is well ventilated with two fans at the rear in exhaust mode and one 120mm fan (temperature controlled) at the bottom of the SMPS blowing into it.Therefore another 120mm fan at the front drawing air in is considered not necessary.

[W i d e S c r e e N]

which 3D card is driving this HTPC?

[riowrl]

It's nice, but can I use my 29" Flat TV as Monitor in place of HDTV/LCD ? How???????

[gxsaurav]

Yup, u can connect just use the TV out cable

[Ponmayilal]

Contrary to what gx_saurav has stated, there is absolutely no possibility of connecting it to a TV with only composite/component/S-video inputs- not even an HDTV with just component inputs.HDMI input is a must.

The AMD 790G chipset used does not support conventional TV outputs and neither is there a TV-out header in the motherboard.
On the otherhand AMD690G chipset in the GA-MA69GM-S2H supports conventional TV output.In fact a TV out bracket with S-video/component/composite out is supplied along with the board.But the board does not support AM2+ processors.

[W i d e S c r e e N]

I've successfully connected my friend's old 6600GT with s-video / composite out to a 32 720p' HDTV @ 1366 x 768 or whatever the highest resolution that sony went.

Infact long ago I connected my own pc to a 21' flat wega with the composite cable. at @ 640x480

But an HDMI cable is no comparision to composite or svideo.
which one is better HDMI or component?
&
which 3D card is driving this HTPC?

[dr_jimit]

Originally Posted by W i d e S c r e e N

I've successfully connected my friend's old 6600GT with s-video / composite out to a 32 720p' HDTV @ 1366 x 768 or whatever the highest resolution that sony went.

Infact long ago I connected my own pc to a 21' flat wega with the composite cable. at @ 640x480

But an HDMI cable is no comparision to composite or svideo.
which one is better HDMI or component?
&
which 3D card is driving this HTPC?

I was also using my geforce fx 5200 TV out since long to play games on my 29" Phillips via s-Video.it was great to play games on huge monitor.[now outdated card]

Also the Image quality of Movies played in WMP in windows is far better then what my Phillips DVD player displays.[ Subjective ???]
May be its because it upscals to 1024 X 768 , =the resolution that i use on PC for my SD Analogue Phillips tv.

@widescreen
HDMI is always better
cos
DIGITAL transmission, pure /untouched data directly fed to tv[analog conversion done 4 component]
Audio also transmitted.

Also i want to ask,
which is the cheapest TV Tuner that work with in Windows Media center, with live TV / Pause ?

[Ponmayilal]

@W i d e S c r e e n
No separate add-on Graphics card is necessary.The motherboard is fully geared towards a Real HDTV/LCD monitor with HDMI/HDCP .
If you want to use an analog TV, it is better to go in for a motherboard without IGP and use whatever Graphics card with TV out, you may want to use.

GA78BP.jpg

Back I/O panel of GA-MA78GM-S2H

Here is an extract from http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/03/04/amd_780g_chipset/ with a picture of how small an HTPC you can make.

AMD is finally enabling users to build an HTPC or multimedia computer for HDTV, HD-DVD or Blu-ray playback that doesn't require an add-in graphics card. (AMD already included HDCP support and an HDMI interface in its predecessor chipset, the 690G.) The northbridge chip of the new 780G chipset also features an integrated Radeon HD3200 graphics unit that can decode any current high-definition video codec. As a result, CPU load is decreased to such a degree that even a humble AMD Sempron 3200+ is sufficient for HD video playback.
The integrated HD3200 GPU offers the same functionality as the current generation of add-in graphics cards, namely DirectX 10 support, dual-GPU operation in the form of CrossFire, HDMI with HDCP, full HDTV support, and a PCI Express 2.0 interface.

HTPC case.jpg



Hiper's HMC-1K53a is a mere 53 mm high.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm........... we can only drool over such cases

[acewin]

wow great review and help, you really have managed to make things in control. And you even bought Softwares to keep safe of pirated.
My question is you could have gone for an Intel procy also like 2160 or 4400 on same price, is their limitation ingetting MOBOs for the overall HTPC requirement and vid-outs for TV. Because I wanna take some time and wait and then build up a HTPC for myself latter on, but I wanna keep intel procy.

You guys have though helped me out alot to know what components to add though.

[Ponmayilal]

^ @ acewin, thanks for the nice words.

And yep, for a small form-factor HTPC with HD capability, there is no match from the Intel-nVidia stable yet. And this is what Tomshardware has stated finally in the referenced article dated 04 March 2008.

Rival Intel is put to shame by AMD's chipset in every single one of these categories. And although Nvidia recently released a similar product with the GeForce 8200 mGPU, we have yet to receive a review sample.

But things may change. If you are bent upon Intel - nVidia comby, then hang on and keep your eyes and ears open. IMO however, for a dedicated HTPC ( no gaming ), the low cost AMD/ATI comby is value for money and more than sufficient with all-around appreciation on the performance front.

[Daffodil]

WOw............Wow........What a great build. I was pleasantly surprised when I reached here through gx_saurav's equally worthy tutorial, to find that this build preceded it with the only difference that you had gone for two 250 GB hard drives (total 500GB) in RAID 0, for faster read and writes.

I may suggest to the mods that in as much as these two noteworthy threads complement each other, they should be integrated under one thread.Those interested in a DIY build will benefit. At least the two pictures of the build in the Zebronics CUBE cabinet can be placed in the other tutorial with due credits.

And @Ponmayilal, if you are under the impression that a 60mm fan is of an exotic hard to find variety, it is nothing but the the usual processor cooling fan which you can get from most stores dealing with computer accessories. You may perhaps need to extend the leads so that they can reach the motherboard's Chassis Fan connector.

What monitor/HDTV and TV tuner card do you have in mind to complete your HTPC?

[gxsaurav]

Monitor = LG L206WTQ, I am using it at 1440X900 with 75 Hz, although it is not the native resolution but I like it cos text is fine... & movies from a distance look awesome on a 20" LCD.

[nsbindra]

Dude, ur tut cleared lot of tech cobwebs in my head. Thanx for enlightening.

[gxsaurav]

My pleasure.

[Ponmayilal]

^^^@ daffodil thanks for your keen interest and info.

As for the TV Tuner, I had already indicated that my mind is set on Compro Videomate Vista E800F or E600F.Though the products are listed in the Compro USA website, no store in USA still carries the product. My US friends' email query to Compro remain unanswered for whatever reason. I shall wait, for I'm a Compro baby . As a stop-gap measure, I may try the Yuan PG 600 TV tuner that is now doing duty in my XP MCE PC. It is certified for use with Windows MCE 2005 by Microsoft, but I donno whether the MCE driver will work with VMC.

As for the monitor, an order is being placed for DELL SP2208WFP (1680X1050 resolution with HDMI input; Rs.14513/-) and DELL AS501 Soundbar (10W ; Rs.758/-). Prices inclusive of taxes and shipping but through DELL's Employee Purchase Program. Lead time indicated 12 to 15 days.
1080p capable 24" monitors are still out of my reach and I shall wait till prices drop.

See review for the 22" monitor here

The soundbar will clip on to the monitor and derive its DC Power and audio input from the monitor when connected with the HDMI input.Thus it will be a total replacement of my 29" Philips TV for HD Video viewing.. For casual TV viewing the soundbar will be used and for other audio, the HTPC will drive the Philips AV amp through its optical output.That's how it has been planned and lemme see how practical its gonna be.

[gxsaurav]

Originally Posted by Ponmayilal

It is certified for use with Windows MCE 2005 by Microsoft, but I donno whether the MCE driver will work with VMC.

It will work flawlessly.

As for the monitor, an order is being placed for DELL SP2208WFP (1680X1050 resolution with HDMI input; Rs.14513/-) and DELL AS501 Soundbar (10W ; Rs.758/-). Prices inclusive of taxes and shipping but through DELL's Employee Purchase Program. Lead time indicated 12 to 15 days.
1080p capable 24" monitors are still out of my reach and I shall wait till prices drop.

See review for the 22" monitor here

The soundbar will clip on to the monitor and derive its DC Power and audio input from the monitor when connected with the HDMI input.Thus it will be a total replacement of my 29" Philips TV for HD Video viewing.. For casual TV viewing the soundbar will be used and for other audio, the HTPC will drive the Philips AV amp through its optical output.That's how it has been planned and lemme see how practical its gonna be.

Quite an expensive setup. Won't normal creative 5.1 speakers work?

[Ponmayilal]

Thanks for the reassuring info.

There exists the Philips 100W RMS X 6, 5.1 AV receiver complete with 5 full-range speakers and a subwoofer (not the sub/sat variety ) for the last five or six years..So I will only be using the existing HT setup without any additional expenses of a 5.1 PC speaker system.Already I shall be incurring the wrath of everyone for dispensing with the expensive 29" Philips TV (with pixel plus 2 for PAL and 100Hz for NTSC,) till I can show them what HD video is . It can take 480p and 1080i thro component video input, but there is no way I can couple this HTPC to it.

[gxsaurav]

24" LCD isn't even required. Unless you are comparing the HD quality on a 20 & 30"+ LCD monitor, 1080p doesn't make a difference.

On my 20" LG Monitor, both 720p & 1080p HD Videos look same to me....