Dmitri's HTPC Project
Dmitri Lenna's log of his attempt to build a Home Theater PC or Media PC as it's sometimes called. He plans to describe all the steps he takes, both sucessful and not so successful, so that ohers may learn from his experiences.
Case, cases, cases! | Sunday, February 27, 2005 |
So I've been looking at cases. I have a few things that I'm considering:
- Must support full form ATX.
- Must be tall enough to support my existing CPU fan.
- Support for at least 2 hard drives.
- Clean look.
- Effective but quiet cooling
- Covered front USB ports.
- Built in IR reciever.
- VFD display.
The begining of Project HTPC | Saturday, February 19, 2005 |
Welcome to my HTPC blog. I decided to dedicate a seperate blog for my HTPC posts. I'm currently visiting with some old friends from college in South Riding, VA. It was when we were planning this trip a month or so back that I got the idea to convert my existing PC into an HTPC. My friend Rick has put together a nice HTPC for his home theater. I was in the midst of planning my new PC, and was trying to figure out what to do with my current PC. Rather than going into the whole schpeal again, I'll get started.
Hardware:
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 1900+
CPU fan : Thermal Take Volcano 7 (78 mm or 3.1 inches tall)
Ram: 512 MB Ram.
AGP Video: Gainward Geforce 4 TI4400
Sound: Creative Sound Blaster Live 5.1
Now the things I need to decide:
Operating System:
I'm currently running Windows XP pro, but I'm considering moving to MCE 2005. Say what you want about Microsoft but eventually they get it right, and will be compatible with more video cards, front ends, remotes, etc, than anyone else.
PVR Software
If I got with Windows MCE, I don't think I will need this. Otherwise I'll have to buy one.
Video Capture Card:
Probably going with a Hauppauge PVR card.
Case
This where things get complicated. I'm planning on using a HTPC component style case. These care computer cases that are sort of like a tower on it's side.The motherboard lays flat. The look for the case is made to look as though it would be at home amoung other Audio/Video components. A handful of companies produce some nice ones:
Hardware:
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 1900+
CPU fan : Thermal Take Volcano 7 (78 mm or 3.1 inches tall)
Ram: 512 MB Ram.
AGP Video: Gainward Geforce 4 TI4400
Sound: Creative Sound Blaster Live 5.1
Now the things I need to decide:
Operating System:
I'm currently running Windows XP pro, but I'm considering moving to MCE 2005. Say what you want about Microsoft but eventually they get it right, and will be compatible with more video cards, front ends, remotes, etc, than anyone else.
PVR Software
If I got with Windows MCE, I don't think I will need this. Otherwise I'll have to buy one.
Video Capture Card:
Probably going with a Hauppauge PVR card.
Case
This where things get complicated. I'm planning on using a HTPC component style case. These care computer cases that are sort of like a tower on it's side.The motherboard lays flat. The look for the case is made to look as though it would be at home amoung other Audio/Video components. A handful of companies produce some nice ones:
