Author Topic: How to Build the Ultimate 3D Home Theater PC  (Read 4008 times)

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How to Build the Ultimate 3D Home Theater PC
« on: July 15, 2010, 06:14:52 AM »
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Offline 12TimesOver

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Re: How to Build the Ultimate 3D Home Theater PC
« Reply #1 on: July 15, 2010, 07:56:35 AM »
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Not a bad read although it seemed like they were throwing things into this box simply because they are the "top of the line" version of the item even though this wouldn't be necessary at all; not to mention being in love with "Silverstone products, this almost read like an ad for them! Either way, cool to think about a 3d HTPC even though I'm not going to be able to upgrade my tv for a while anyhow. I've been thinking about building an HTPC or just grabbing a Popcorn Hour and adding storage and a blu-ray drive.

A couple comments on the article. COnsider that building an HTPC is different than building a standard PC. This is something that goes into your entertainment center and should look and act like an entertainment component, not a gaming PC! It should look good, be quiet, and run cool!

1) The hard drive. Personally I would build my HTPC with a solid state drive for the OS and keep the media library storage as NAS or SAN based. It's a little bit pricier but a solid state has zero moving parts thus zero noise and is much, much faster so when you turn the machine on it will boot in a few seconds - much better for the entertainment center. So figure a 30-50 gig solid state drive for the OS. If storage simply MUST be on the HTPC then a seperate drive would be better anyhow.

2) OS - Why Windows Ultimate? It costs much more and, frankly, offers very little to the HTPC builder over Windows 7 Premium. Even better go with a Linux build and something like Myth TV. Either way, Ultimate = overkill!

3) I question whether a 400w PSU is really needed for an HTPC but I'd need to go through all the hardware listed to see if it's overkill for this particular build. I would think a 200w would likely be enough and offer options for a MUCH quieter machine.

4) TV Tuner - This is the most expensive component on their list and I would love to bash it but I simply can't, this is a bad-ass card. Do you need it? No, absolutely not. In general, TV Tuner cards with cable-card slots are indeed bleeding-edge so this is going to come with a premium. You can get away with something a quarter of the price as long as you are willing to pass on some features. Unfortunately this includes the inability to record any encrypted channels which, take Comcast for example, will be pretty much no channels at all in the "near future". The cable card TV tuner allows you to get a, say...Comcast, cable card and watch and record all encrypted channels. This is the same thing you would need for something like a Tivo but you can install it in your PC. Awesome stuff but will be a couple years to mature and drop in price. Be careful!

5) Case - nice case... heh

You'll also want to couple this with a good remote (which is discussed further in the article) and the Logitech Harmony series remotes are pretty much the best bet. The article recommend the Harmony 900 and this is a kickin' remote control but it comes with a HEFTY price tag!! The cool thing though is that it supports both IF and RF so as you start upgrading devices to components that support RF you can keep using the same remote. Believe me, you WANT RF, especially if you plan on watching content from a single HTPC in more than one room of the house.

Anyhow, I gotsta get back to work!

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« Last Edit: July 15, 2010, 08:06:12 AM by 12TimesOver »
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Offline Masscre

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Re: How to Build the Ultimate 3D Home Theater PC
« Reply #2 on: July 15, 2010, 06:18:11 PM »
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Wow you hit almost every thing I was thinking head on except about the video card.  The video card was a lot of over kill. ATI makes a paired set that you can channel together for fast smooth HD service and for a quater of the price. This is a quarter of the price for both compared to the price of this one.  Again remember we are setting up a HTPC and not a gaming rig.

Offline 12TimesOver

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Re: How to Build the Ultimate 3D Home Theater PC
« Reply #3 on: July 16, 2010, 04:23:08 AM »
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Wow you hit almost every thing I was thinking head on except about the video card.  The video card was a lot of over kill. ATI makes a paired set that you can channel together for fast smooth HD service and for a quater of the price. This is a quarter of the price for both compared to the price of this one.  Again remember we are setting up a HTPC and not a gaming rig.
BUT it's a "3D HTPC" - different requirements than a non-3D.

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Offline 12TimesOver

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Re: How to Build the Ultimate 3D Home Theater PC
« Reply #4 on: September 07, 2010, 07:19:10 AM »
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Not to resurrect a thread but here's a great general/newbie HTPC guide. I'm thinking about retiring my new Sony BDP570 BD player *sigh* and moving to an HTPC but it's hard to suck up the loss of that $250 lol. Still thinking but this URL is a great starter resource.

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