Was your HTPC project more expensive than you anticipated?

[korben_dallas]

So I'm finally closing in on having a PC dedicated soley to SageTV duties. This PC will be both the server and main "living-room" playback client.

I'm discovering that to do this the way I want and not skimp on hardware, it's actually a fairly expensive project. It is a beefy box, but very quiet. Of course I could split up the server and playback into two boxes, but there are limitations to that, and I'm not convinced that route would be any cheaper.

In the past I found it funny people coming into the forum and complaining about the cost of SageTV software. Now I find it ridiculous, in comparison to the money spent on hardware (cpu, memory, storage, silent solutions, Windows OS, etc.).

So was your HTPC project more expensive than you anticipated?

[stanger89]

I didn't plan out the cost of my system, and I haven't looked back to add it up.

I think I want to keep it that way

Of course I could split up the server and playback into two boxes, but there are limitations to that,

What limitations?

and I'm not convinced that route would be any cheaper.

It will definitely be easier, might even change your goal from impossible to possible. Storage is, in my experience, not the loudest or hottest component, but it is the one that is hardest (if not impossible) to quiet.

[flavius]

Originally Posted by korben_dallas

So was your HTPC project more expensive than you anticipated?

Yeah. Over the past four years I spent around 12K on TV's, computers and related items which is not much when you break it down per year and person (in my house hold).

And I don't even have that HTPC anymore

It's hard to tell, though, what we would have spent without having to maintain and grow our 'PVR' ecosystem, but at least 5k were definitely triggered by this..

[camus]

Yes, but not a whole lot.

I based my my price on what it would get me/replace. Multi-tuner/HD DVR with DVD burning/access to other PC's, Digital Music Player, DVD player.

I didn't have a TIVO, both my CD and DVD player were shot, actually the DVD player dying is what got me looking at HTPC.

I went slightly over with "convience" items, wireless keyboard, additional drives, new remotes, new LCD TV, etc.

[doc]

I like my PC's to be silent. I spend a few hundred pounds a few years back trying to quieten down my existing PC's through bigger cpu heatsinks, slower fans, different PSU's etc.

I then bought an Acer PC off the internet for a friend, and found it was virtually silent, and it was cheaper than all the bits I'd spend trying to quieten mine down.

In the end I decided that quiet just isn't going to happen at a cheap enough prices, so my main server has a quietish PSU that I got from a failry cheap case, onbaord graphics, 2 HDD coolers without the fans disconnected (the metal cages transfer a lot of heat) and a fairly big heatsink with a slow fan (£7). This sits headless, and I have 3 mvp's scattered about the house.

The one thing I would recommend is a good spot to house the server, out of the way, so that its not in the bedroom or living room whirring away nagging at you. My friend has hers in her garage in a specially built closet. She doesn't have to worry about the noise as its nowhere near the rest of the house. Unfortunalely for me, mine sits next to the TV and the 2 satellite boxes. My house is tiny and doesn't have a garage or somewhere similar to put it.

I've been debating whether to build a new shed outside to put it all in. It would have to be more secure that a basic wooden shed, and have power etc, and I'd probably run a fibre from the shed to the house. Then theres problems with it overheating in the summer, and freezing in the winter. Now that could be an expensive project.

[stevech]

no. Currently using an old-ish laptop (1.3GHz) and USB2 disks because this is quiet. Tower pc was too noisy and cost to quiet it was too high.

Next step: Put SageTV in the garage and connect to TV in living room via an existing spare coax carrying video, and a long audio cable. Now I can run this on the 24/7 server that's already in the garage. IR remote goes over coax (this is already in place to send IR to the garage server, non-Sage application).

I don't have HD, so this approach is viable.

[FidgetyRat]

I originally started because I just happened to have a tuner lying around and an old system collecting dust.

The tuner was an Aver-Media P500 and the system was a goodwill-purchased ($14) 1.4 celeron eMachine.
After I decided the aver-media card had the worst possible tinny audio I tried a PVR-150 and fell in love <3

Over the span of a year, I kept saying, "hey, one tuner is not enough. Hey, two tuners are not enough". "this video card sucks."

Eventually I ended up rebuilding an entire new system, purchased newer licenses (yes I was one of the ones screwed by the 4-6 upgrade )


In the end I spent way more then I wanted too. as a grad student money was REAL tight (also hence why the license stuff hurt so bad). But in the end, this thing saves me so much time and I actually get to watch TV again since I have to work so much during the day/evening.


Worth it though. Few quirks here and there, but runs pretty damn good.


So far, the MVP is one of my favorite gadgets. Such an impressive little thing when you use it for reasons it wasn't designed for (such as sage ) I have mine hooked up through s-video into my dell 2007WPF monitor with picture-in-picture.

[Fluffdaddy]

An oldish poll on how much have some have spent on our HTPC projects

http://forums.sage.tv/forums/showthr...highlight=poll

[PhillJones]

Originally Posted by korben_dallas

So I'm finally closing in on having a PC dedicated soley to SageTV duties. This PC will be both the server and main "living-room" playback client.

I'm discovering that to do this the way I want and not skimp on hardware, it's actually a fairly expensive project. It is a beefy box, but very quiet. Of course I could split up the server and playback into two boxes, but there are limitations to that, and I'm not convinced that route would be any cheaper.

In the past I found it funny people coming into the forum and complaining about the cost of SageTV software. Now I find it ridiculous, in comparison to the money spent on hardware (cpu, memory, storage, silent solutions, Windows OS, etc.).

So was your HTPC project more expensive than you anticipated?

Hell yes. I first looked into HTPC as an inexpensive way of getting high quality multi-region DVD on a budget. That's not really how it turned out. I never got rid of my 60 dollar cheap multi-region player that I bought as a stop-gap measure because it doesn't skip and stutter, which is more than can be said for my $1500 HTPC. Still it's a bit late now, I've already spent the money.

[jbarr]

I had a ballpark figure in mind that I didn't want to exceed, and initially, I came well within that number. Since then, of course, I have added a few bits and pieces here and there. For example, I have added a SPDIF card to the motherboard, I purchased Acronis True Image Home to maintain a backup, and I just ordered an HDHomeRun box from 9thTee.com to add HD capability. But overall, haven't really added much the the HTPC itself. OK, so we bought a new 42" LCD HD monitor, and we purchased a new entertainment center, but those aren't the HTPC, right?

That said, there are some things that I would like to improve which will cost me lots more cash:

1. Case
I purchased a nice Antec case that I thought would look great in my entertainment center shelves, but when we replaced the entertainment center, the whole equation changed, and I ended up putting the HTPC behind the unit out of the way. So a nice-looking case is really not necessary. I would like to replace the case with a much more functional one that would provide easier access to the internal components and more expansion space.

2. RAID 5 disks
I installed a simple 40GB IDE drive as an "OS" drive and I a nice 320GB SATA drive as the "Data/recording" drive. But as we all know, you can never have too much storage space, so my dream goal is to add 4 more 320GB drives bringing the total to 5 to provide just over a TB of RAID 5 storage. Unfortunately, at about $100 per drive, it may be a while.

3. Graphics card
I bought an eVGA Geforce 7300LE card, and am thinking of upgrading to a better card. Stuttering has been a real issue for me. Fortunately, the WAF has been high, so tweaking this further would only satisfy me, but it may be an option.

Overall, though, what SageTV itself actually provides in many ways outweighs the any of extra expense I have put into my initial investment.

[jdamore]

As I stand here in front of the room, I say:

"I have a problem, I'm a Sageaholic.

I began experimenting with the light stuff... dvd software, music servers, beyondtv, ect...

It just wasn't enough.. one tuner, then two tuners, three tuners on a daily basis.

I had to have the best audio card, video card, huge hard drives all the time. The dealers loved me! (mostly newegg).

My room around me began to change with a 1080p FP, huge paradigm studio 100 speakers, AVR-3805.. The curtains were always drawn.

I'm not even going to go into detail about how much I've spent on cables.

Now I'm afraid to say that i got into the heavy stuff.. SAGETV! (sagemc), media extenders, 2 R5000 STBs, TT, CQC..

When my addiction will end I don't know, but I'll know when I hit rock bottom when I can view live/recorded TV on my Pocket PC (someday this will happen)

Thank you for listening"

Edit: I am now streaming to my Pocket PC... help!

[MeInMaui]

Originally Posted by jdamore

As I stand here in front of the room, I say:

"I have a problem, I'm a Sageaholic.

I began experimenting with the light stuff... dvd software, music servers, beyondtv, ect...

It just wasn't enough.. one tuner, then two tuners, three tuners on a daily basis.

I had to have the best audio card, video card, huge hard drives all the time. The dealers loved me! (mostly newegg).

My room around me began to change with a 1080p FP, huge paradigm studio 100 speakers, AVR-3805.. The curtains were always drawn.

I'm not even going to go into detail about how much I've spent on cables.

Now I'm afraid to say that i got into the heavy stuff.. SAGETV! (16x9), media extenders, 2 R5000 STBs, TT, CQC..

When my addiction will end I don't know, but I'll know when I hit rock bottom when I can view live/recorded TV on my Pocket PC (someday this will happen)

Thank you for listening"

For the cables check out Monoprice.com. (I think this is called enablement)

I don't think any of us can help you with the rest. We're all just patients in the asylum.

Aloha,
Mike

[Kirby]

Originally Posted by MeInMaui

We're all just patients in the asylum.

Speak for yourself! I jumped the security wall last week and have been on the run ever since!!

[MeInMaui]

Originally Posted by Kirby

Speak for yourself! I jumped the security wall last week and have been on the run ever since!!

That explains it. I just thought they had you in isolation.

And to stay on topic...

I'm on my 3rd incarnation of my HTPC setup. I switched to a server with one full client and an MVP. Along the way I upgraded to a gigabit network, added more tuners (including an HDHR) and hard drives, rented an additional 2 cable boxes for digital cable, got a 47" 1080p LCD, etc...

I'm afraid to even begin to tally it up.

Aloha,
Mike

[Fluffdaddy]

Originally Posted by MeInMaui

Along the way I upgraded to a gigabit network

Aloha,
Mike

So how did the gigabit network work-out for ya, did you see a performance increase that was worth the money and effort?

Thinking about doing the same.

[MeInMaui]

Originally Posted by Fluffdaddy

So how did the gigabit network work-out for ya, did you see a performance increase that was worth the money and effort?

Thinking about doing the same.

The gigabit network is working great. There was actually very little effort/expense. I ran Cat5e cable, which required a little attic crawling but nothing too horrible. All of my computers have gigabit ethernet ports built-in on the motherboard. The only extra I really had to get was a good gigabit switch. I got an 8 port Netgear (bluebox, not white) gigabit switch for about $70. I plugged it all in and it just worked. It was one of the easiest upgrades I've done. I now have an HDHomeRun on the network as well. I had some severe problems with stutter and breakup from the HDHR, which I traced to the Nvidia gigabit nic on my server. I added an Intel pcie gigabit nic (~$50) to the server and everything has been rock solid since. I think it was very worthwhile, especially since I am planning on getting a shiny new HD extender when they come out.

Aloha,
Mike

[BobPhoenix]

It's definately worth it if you do more than just stream the content around.

I usually move the recordings to my other boxes with high drive counts for permanent storage (after editing out any commercials of course) which just took to long at 100MB speed. Seems much faster at Gig speed.

[hemicuda]

I need to get a better job so I can afford to feed this HTPC habit I'm developing. I'm beginning to feel like I'm an unwitting participant in a Pavlovian experiment.

[Crashless]

My original build came in right on budget.

It was the 2 years of upgrades that I didn't plan on that really got me.

Now HD is threatening to make me build a new client and turn my current system into a server...

Damn hobby....

[stevech]

Originally Posted by MeInMaui

... I had some severe problems with stutter and breakup from the HDHR, which I traced to the Nvidia gigabit nic on my server.

I have a new PC with an nVidia 430 chipset with gig-e. Is that the chipset you had trouble with? I'm still at 100BT.