HTPC (SageTV) Box - Post your Specs Here

[mangriotis]

I would like to get an idea of what all you guys are using as a dedicated HTPC or Sage box. I am planning to purchase equipment to create a dedicated box because I find myself wanting to mess with (play games, tweak, ftp, etc.) when my wife wants to watch recorded programs.

I have read a number of posts regarding the EPIA M9000 mobo, but have yet to see what you guys use to house this thing, the case, PSU, HDD, etc. everyone is using.

I had almost decided on the Shuttle XPC SK41G system with a 1700+, but then I started reading here...

I already have the Hauppauge PVR250 card (which I will move to the new box). I would also like video card recommendations, as I will be keeping the Ti4200 in my other PC... I also have a requirement for DVI output (as my TV is the JVC RPTV with DVI-In, unless there is a better way to connect for playback).

Thanks,

[Mark Lamutt]

My Win98/Provideo Sage computer:

Athlon 600mhz processor
Win98se
256 MB ram
40GB hard drive
Provideo 256T capture card
cheapo AGB video card
Used only to record and view on 19" computer monitor and for guide use

WinXP/PVR-350 computer:
1 ghz celeron
240GB drive space raid 0
256MB ram
WinXP SP1
connected to 51" Sony HDTV via transcoder to component input on tv, running at 848x480p resolution with Powerstrip

[SHS]

Windows2000 Pro
Intel P4 1600a 478
Intel D845WN Motherboard
3, Micron 128meg SDRAM 168pin DIMM (PC133)
Creative Lab's SoundBlaster Audigy X-Gamer (Model SB0090) with Optical Digital I/O 2 card
Edimax EN-9130TX NIC (Realtek RTL8139)
Sony DRU-500AX DVD-+R/-+RW CDR/RW
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 80gig 7200 IDE
Sigma Designs REALmagic Xcard (Using VIP port)
Belkin USB Hub 4 Port
Microsoft SideWinder Precision Racing Wheel USB
Microsoft SideWinder Precision 2 USB
Microsoft WheelMouse Optical USB
Microsoft Natural MultiMedia Keyboard PS/2
Manhattan USB to Serial Converter
Actisys ACT IR-200L
Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 250 Model 980 "Conexant CX23416"
KDS VS190is
PNY Geforce 2 MX400
Creative Inspire 5.1 5300

[olyar15]

Hardware:
Asus P4PE motherboard with integrated LAN, firewire
Pentium 4 2.4GHz with Zalman CNPS AlCu 7000 quiet HSF
512Mb RAM
ATI 9000 fanless video card
Revo sound card
PVR250
80Gb Barracuda IV and 80Gb 7200.7 hard drives
Plextor DVD+RW drive
Nexus 300W quiet PS
Digitalis HTPC case
Gyration cordless keyboard and mouse

Software:
Windows XP
SageTV
TheaterTek
Media Center 9
Girder
SereneScreen Aquarium wide version

Misc:
Sony AV receiver
Paradigm Reference speakers and Hsu Labs sub (5.1 setup only)
Pioneer 503CMX plasma screen
Pronto TSU3000NG remote
Digital cable/HDTV box

[mangriotis]

Mark - What vid vard do you have in your transcoder setup? No mobo's that I can find come with DVI outputs, so I was leaning toward the Shuttle because it has an AGP port, and the EPIA's only have one PCI slot (so I would need to use it for the PVR250...)

[Xleon]

Win2K SP3
MSI 6119 MB with Pentium 3 450Mhz
Liteon DVD ROM
256MB RAM
Maxtor 120Gb HDD
Asus Geforce2 MX Deluxe 7100 with Tuner & TV out
Provideo PV256T Encoder Card
Sigma Designs RealMagix XCard Decoder
Realtek 8139 LAN
SoundBlaster Live!
BTC Wireless Keyboard
Kensington Wireless Trackball

[wangeth]

4-year old Dell XPS T450
Some cheapo Intel chip mobo through dell
PIII 450 MHz
640MB SDRAM
Visiontek GeForce2 TI 64MB (using s-video to SD 27" TV), soon to be a Matrox G550 w/ dual head
Hauppauge PVR-250
SBLive sound card
U.S. Robotics 802.11b wireless card
Logitech Cordless Elite duo mouse and keyboard
Maxtor 13 GB for OS and apps
WD 120 GB for Sage video stuff
IBM 120 GB for archiving video

WinXP Pro SP1, Sage beta version

[Mark Lamutt]

Originally posted by mangriotis
Mark - What vid vard do you have in your transcoder setup? No mobo's that I can find come with DVI outputs, so I was leaning toward the Shuttle because it has an AGP port, and the EPIA's only have one PCI slot (so I would need to use it for the PVR250...)

I'm using an ATI Radeon 7200 with an Asus TUSL2-C m/b in the HTPC with the transcoder. I have a Radeon 9000 pro in another computer that does have DVI out.

I haven't cared about DVI output because I bought my HDTV before DVI was available.

[mlar]

I put up a small webpage describing my setup (client and server), with pictures (oh my!). You can see it at http://mta.techno.org/sage/

In a nutshell, the server is:

EPIA M-9000, 512MB DDR
2xPVR-250
440GB harddisk

and the client is:

EPIA M-10000, 256MB DDR
1xPVR-350
40GB notebook harddisk
DVD+RW drive

EPIA's all the way, since power is so expensive here in california

[rrussell]

EPIA M9000
Windows XP SP1
512M RAM
120G Maxtor DiamondMax 9 (quiet but very HOT drive)
PVR-250
Samsung slim combo DVD/CDRW
Casetronics 2699R case, dremel'ed to allow an external power supply, and with extra cooling fans added. (See "HOT" comment. oy)
Also a custom-built IR receiver + WinLIRC + Girder.

I hope to add a server to the mix, move the hard drive and quiet this sucker down. It's not outrageously loud, but it sure ain't silent.

I agree with mlar - the EPIA works fabulously. I was actually very annoyed when I first put this box together since Hauppauge's native software wouldn't take advantage of the hardware MPEG2 decoder, but since I installed PowerDVD (came with the samsung drive) and found SageTV to take advantage of it, picture quality is great and my system is responsive again!

[mlar]

With the registry tweaks Narflex posted in another thread, the WinTV app will actually make use of the hardware decoder on the EPIA. I still haven't decided if the Cyberlink decoder or the Hauppauge InterVideo decoder gives better picture quality, but I'm leaning towards InterVideo. Not that it matters much now that I have the PVR-350!

[mangriotis]

Rrussell - With that Casetronics, why did you need an external power supply? Is the one that's included good for anything? From the product description at lillicomputers.com, I am not quite following what kind of power this thing delivers...

Also, how do you playback to the TV? Are you using the onboard video from the M-9000?? Is it adequate? Do you use a VGA transcoder (if so, what brand?) with Powerstrip?

This case seems like an option (to replace the VCR currently collecting dust on my rack)....

[rrussell]

Well, where to start...

The casetronics PS has a ~55watt PSU. I made a poor choice in buying a 3.5" 7200RPM desktop hard drive for it. It runs tooooo hot for the enclosed space, and draws too much power for the PSU. I have learned since that the PVR board also pulls a decent amount of power, but I have no experience to back that up.

My symptom was that the machine would seem to startup fine, but after it sat and went to "sleep" for a while and I bumped the mouse, or hit a key to wake it up, the power drawn by the HD spinning up would trigger a system shutdown every time.

I have spotted a 120W DC/DC power supply on ebay, and I'm looking into whether I could just drop that into the casetronics case. If I can, then I'll go back to the internal PSU. Having this big honking silver thing tethered to the case really destroys the aesthetics of the stereo rack :-(

So, you might have a shot at it if you used a 2.5" laptop hard drive. Unfortunately, then you're much more limited in the capacity you can get. But on the OTHER hand, if you can wing a client/server setup, then that doesn't matter as much either.

I'm playing back via the onboard video. I'm no videophile, and it looks just fine to me. Indistinguishable from the TV for my money. The M9000 has S-video out, so I'm not using a transcoder or any sort of software - just have it plugged directly into my stereo.

HTH?
Rob

[IKK]

If you look at Miniitx.com they have a new 65watt fanless powersupply that will work with a full size dvd and hard drive.

By the way I have a 9000m computer and I cant get the video to work I have sound but not video I am trying to use it as a client and so I have no capture card install just the onboard video.

[mlar]

www.idot.com is also selling the casetronic case with a number of different options of DC-DC powersupplies (70W for example). You cant fit a fullsize DVD into the casetronic case, so I fail to see the purpose of that

[IKK]

If you look at Miniitx.com they have a new 65watt fanless powersupply that will work with a full size dvd and hard drive.

By the way I have a 9000m computer and I cant get the video to work I have sound but not video I am trying to use it as a client and so I have no capture card install just the onboard video.

[rrussell]

Are you using svideo or composite (the yellow plug)? If you're using the composite, there's a jumper on the board which controls whether this is audio-out or video-out. Make sure it's in the right spot, and just for kicks, try it in the other one anyway.

You also can enable/disable TV-out in the BIOS - make sure that it's enabled.

Um.

Is it set up in the OS also?

Double-um.

[Narflex]

I use a Compaq Presario 6300US as my server with a Hauppauge winTV PVR 250 and 290GB storage. My client is an EPIA M9000 also with a PVR 350 in it used a secondary tuner to the server. I use the audio/video out on the mobo of the M9000.

[Narflex]

There's also the workstation which uses an IWill XP333R mobo and Athlon 1800XP+ processor. It's got 120GB storage and a PV256, Creative VBDVCR (currently 2 of them) and a PVR350.

Then there's that drawer full of capture cards in my closet. I think I've currently got about 10 MPEG2 capture cards (probably 7 different models).

[seandulac]

I got a bare bones kit from CompUSA:
Biostar P4M900M7 FE Socket 775 Barebone Kit -
Intel Pentium Dual Core E2200 2.2GHz,
2GB DDR2-667 Kingston Memory,
Clear Side ATX Mid-Tower Case,
450 Watt Power Supply

Added drives:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB Hard Drive - 7200, 8MB, Serial ATA-300, OEM
HP DVD1040i Lightscribe Super-Multi Retail DVD Burner -
20x DVD±R Burn, 16x DVD±R Read,
8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD±R DL,
12x DVD-RAM, 48x32x CD-R/RW, Internal

Then I got the bundle from SageTV + placeshifter:
STVHBR - SageTV Hybrid Media Center In-a-BoxTM
WinTV-HVR-1600 - regular cable and the new over the air digital (ATSC)
SageTV Windows
Placeshifter Connection License

I will post again how it goes when I build out the box. This is for regular cable TV, and hooking it via VGA to my flatscreen TV.