[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by Fillmore

Some tips , not sure if it might be of any help to you.

Did you consider the new Graphics card's that have HDMI out's ?
Cause I think the ASUS card you are checking out does not have one.

See

ASUS - EN7600GT
ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

OR

NX7300GS-MD256EH
MSI -- MICRO-STAR INT'L CO., LTD.

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas

Maybe the playout can be via DVI. Both HDMI and DVI are bound to HDCP and you can convert DVI very easily to HDMI (HDMI == DVI+SPDIF). I am not sure but this is possible.
Neat package with excellent footprint, though.

the card he's getting has DVI out. DVI->HDMI is just a matter of using an adapter/cable. Besides , his TV doesnt have HDMI In anyway

and #2, the cards you've linked to are actually a generation older than the one he's buying. They're 7 series , while he's getting an 8 series. The 8500/8600 have the best video decoders out there, even better than the flagship 8800.

[Fillmore]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

the cards you've linked to are actually a generation older than the one he's buying. They're 7 series , while he's getting an 8 series. The 8500/8600 have the best video decoders out there, even better than the flagship 8800.

Thanks for the Info, Did not notice that

[sandeepmdas]

Guys, sorry for the delay in posting this update. The home theater PC (HTPC) has been built and deployed successfully. I purposefully delayed the purchase till Nvidia 9 series is launched to ensure that I won’t be getting any nasty surprises as far as price/performance are concerned, and built the PC with a spec that is different from the one that I mentioned in the first post of this thread – the current spec is given below:

I made a tone-down in the selection of the all-important graphics card; The original plan was to buy an 8500, instead I opted an Asus Nvidia GS8400 PCIe graphics card.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ (instead of 4200+ of the original plan)
Asus M2N MX-SE mobo
Transcend 800Mhz DDR2 1GB * 2
Seagate 250GB SATA HDD
Lightscribe DVD RW SATA
Zebronics Adonis cabinet with an additional chassis fan
Also bought a 3-meter component video cable with “gold” plated male connectors from the Takaraparambu road. No KB/mouse/speakers/monitor were included in the purchase.

The reason for this last-minute-change-of-spec is some intense googling. I learnt that Nvidia has released a new iteration of the humble 8400 GPU in September 2007. It features the third generation PurevideoHD and it is purpose-built by Nvidia for HD playback. The card has limited (only 8 stream processors) 3D capability but it is very cheap to buy and own. The card consumes only 25W power so no fancy power supply or cooling is required.

So if you are looking for a HTPC with HD playback only, look no further go for the 8400GS; if you want a HTPC that can do HD as well as 3D gaming with élan, take a look at 8600GS or GT (or the new 9600 ).

Since I saved some bucks there, by opting for 8400GS instead of 8500, I put that money into the CPU and bought the 4800+.

You can see more info on 8400GS here:
Born for HD: first review of G98-8400GS - Expreview.com (3)

However, be aware that NOT all graphics card vendors bundle the HDTV cable with their 8400s; Asus does, so is Gigabyte. But the market is flooded with XFX, Sparkle, Big, Galaxy etc and are all bundled with S-Video cable only. You can’t connect that for a HD playback. You need either HDMI/DVI with HDCP for 1080p or you need component for up to 1080i.
The Asus EN8400GS offers DVI with HDCP and bundles a HDTV-out cable.

You can see the difference between an ordinary crappy S-video port and the 7-pin HDTV port of a newer graphics card here (albeit labeled confusingly):
http://techpubs.sgi.com/library/dyna...es/s.video.gif

Here is a picture of the a HDTV-out cable:
http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/2457/d2091cv2.jpg

An XFX bundle, with S-video cable only:
http://images.gideontech.com/img/xfx_xfx_parts.jpg

You can see more info on the Asus EN8400GS here:
ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

I will post an update about the setting up and software configuration ASAP.

[greenhorn]

just curious , why the zebby adonis ? there are so many HTPCish cabinets available

And which Writer (model number )

[sandeepmdas]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

just curious , why the zebby adonis ? there are so many HTPCish cabinets available

And which Writer (model number )

The Adonis matches perfectly with the Philips TV in looks. Secondly the choice was limited at that day. I will post some pix one day, when I will find some free time....

The DVD writer is HP model DH16A3L. I havent seen any LS supporting media in Trivandrum yet, anyway....

[rkg]

Hi! what is brand for component cable and how much did you pay for it?

[greenhorn]

Dude that's a Liteon. the naming scheme should have given it away.I reaad that it has some problems , finalising discs- I bought the sony AD7190S- its a Liteon 20A3 Series- instead .
How much was the HP for ? at logtech , the HP was 1.45k, the sony was 1.35k

[sandeepmdas]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Dude that's a Liteon. the naming scheme should have given it away.I reaad that it has some problems , finalising discs- I bought the sony AD7190S- its a Liteon 20A3 Series- instead .
How much was the HP for ? at logtech , the HP was 1.45k, the sony was 1.35k

yes I too read that....my mistake! Told them I need a writer with SATA interface and this is what I got...However, does not affect the playbac as of now, as most are played back from the HDD.

BTW, isnt Liteon a brand of HP ?
Price is 1300; I will post the price all components, cant find the bill...damn

@rkg, the price of the cable is 150 (no extra zeroes, one fifty)
I forgot the brand...maxima or something like that...need to check the garbage tomorrow, as i throw out the bubble wrapper. It is Oxygen-free copper, and the contact pins (connector) are gold-plated; ribbon-like three meters in length.

Hi-fi world (Ernakulam) has quoted me 2800-3500 for a branded cable with all-gold-plated contacts; several brands are available there. As of now I have no plans to go for that, maybe next year....

My next priority is audio - the HTPC now runs with on-board audio connected to a creative 2.1...! been looking at various options:

Either I can go to an all-PC audio with a proper sound card and a 5.1 setup or I should look for a receiver with speakers...i prefer the former as it is meaningful for this project.

[greenhorn]

whats your total budget for sound

[sandeepmdas]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

whats your total budget for sound

may be 12~15k... (I am aware about the Sony/Philips receivers available for 12~18k...?, but a PC-based solution is more relevent here I think.

@rkg the cable brand is NAX; (not MAX) .. Nax 762 is the exact model number.

[greenhorn]

MX just released a monster lookalike here in india

Good cheap high quality audio interconnects - TechEnclave


As for the sound, i say Get the MX5021 ( yes, i know its a 2.1) and a good soundcard for the rest of the cash

[rkg]

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas

may be 12~15k... (I am aware about the Sony/Philips receivers available for 12~18k...?, but a PC-based solution is more relevent here I think.

@rkg the cable brand is NAX; (not MAX) .. Nax 762 is the exact model number.

@sandeepmdas
Thank you very much. here in bangalore shop guys are quoting Rs 700-800. Ok i will check it at SP road.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

I have a P III 800 (!!!!) lying around; with a busted SMPS. I am in the process fo doing preliminary research for a home theater system, and while poking around here, noticed a mention about a Phillips 5.1 speaker system for 8K odd, which sent me thinking about reusing the old PC.

The PC has a DVD combo drive, and 512 megs of RAM. I can find a decent IDE hard disk (old MoBo - "Krypton", IIRC). The OS would be Debian. We can forget about OS and media player and codecs for the moment - I guess I can handle most of that part.

I think I should put in a graphics card, a sound card (and a wireless lan card to connect to the PC now in use - for s/w updates, etc).

What I need is advice on selecting the graphics card and sound card.

1. WIll I need an amplifier between the sound card and the speakers?

2. No intention of using computer speakers. What features and brands to look for?

3. Not keen on TV tuner cards - most set top boxes provide the tuning features. Please correct me if I am wrong here.

4. So, the idea is, for TV viewing, whatever video from STB goes to the TV, and audio from STB will go to the speakers / amplifier.

5. No STB or TV right now (actualy going to discard the existing TV. and existing cable does not have CAS), and Question is, if video output from STB goes to TV, how do I record TV if necessary?

6. How do TV tuner cards interact with STB?

7. What should be power of the new SMPS? (need to open up the box to find power rating of present SMPS - it is a P III machine, so prolly 250 or 300 W). With the 3 new PCI cards, I will obviously require more power. (there is place for 3 cards - according to the manual).

in no hurry about the TV / video part.

Any advice (including those to chuck the whole idea) welcome.

And playing video using mplayer can work from console, and mp3blaster / emacs + mpg123 mode is wonderful for audio. So, the system speed / resources will never be an issue.

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

1. WIll I need an amplifier between the sound card and the speakers?

Depends on what speaker package you are planning to buy. most pc speakers and 5.1 speaker systems have built in amps. if they dont , you will need an amp.

2. No intention of using computer speakers. What features and brands to look for?

Budget ? at an 8k price point , you are better off buying the MX 5021, unless you absolutely need the surround , and are willing to compromise on SQ for it

3. Not keen on TV tuner cards - most set top boxes provide the tuning features. Please correct me if I am wrong here.


4. So, the idea is, for TV viewing, whatever video from STB goes to the TV, and audio from STB will go to the speakers / amplifier.

5. No STB or TV right now (actualy going to discard the existing TV. and existing cable does not have CAS), and Question is, if video output from STB goes to TV, how do I record TV if necessary?

6. How do TV tuner cards interact with STB?

if you want to record stuff, then you need to hook up the STB to the PC. else no need, but then you dont need an HTPC either. if you need to record, hook up the STB to the PC using
1. a graphics card with Video in - Video out (VIVO). kinda hard to get , especially since you need agp, but if you can get one , its all you need
2. if you cant get a VIVO card, get a tv tuner, but that only takes care of recording. for playback, you'll need a Graphics card with VIdeo out - not too hard to find, but still, getting hold of an AGP card right now is gonna be hard

and recording using the P III might be asking too much of it...

7. What should be power of the new SMPS? (need to open up the box to find power rating of present SMPS - it is a P III machine, so prolly 250 or 300 W). With the 3 new PCI cards, I will obviously require more power. (there is place for 3 cards - according to the manual).

any cheap old 400/450W SMPS should do fine

in no hurry about the TV / video part.

Any advice (including those to chuck the whole idea) welcome.

I'd vote in favour of chucking the idea, unless you can get hold of the tuner and agp card cheap (second hand ?)

[SirAlec]

You are thinking of putting all this in a Pentium III. are you crazy. on top of that you are planning to install Linux.