HTPC Hardware Suggestions

[George L. Schmauch Jr.]

I posted this on the SageTV forums, but got nowhere fast; about the only suggestion I got was “use an extender”, which was kind of annoying, given the 2nd sentence in my post.  Anyhow…

My primary HTPC client may be on its way out and it’s time to start thinking about new hardware. Since I play games, work, and surf the internet regularly on the TV, I don’t want an extender. I haven’t had to look for parts in a while, so I’m out of the loop on what features I should be looking for to get the most out of my setup. Everything is connected using HDMI; all my Blu-rays are ripped to MKVs with HD audio; and I bitstream from the HTPC to the receiver.

Here’s what I think is still sufficient for the new build (open to suggestions, though):
Antec Fusion Case
USB-UIRT (through EventGhost)
Harmony 890
Samsung Blu-ray/HD-DVD combo drive
Creative X-Fi Titanium (for old LIVE/EAX supported games)
OCZ SSD
Pioneer VSX-1020-K Receiver
Panasonic VIERA TC-P65VT50

I also have a HIS H657HS2G Radeon HD 6570 2GB GPU, but I’m thinking there may be something better suited to my setup (maybe even integrated graphics?).

One thing I really want to ensure I get with a new PC client is a reliable standby/wakeup from the Harmony/USB-UIRT. Currently, I usually need to use the keyboard to wake up the computer, but I’m pretty sure that’s an issue with the old Intel mobo I’m using.

What kind of features should I be looking for and any suggestions on hardware (mobo, cpu, gpu, etc.) for my setup?

Thanks for any input…

[babgvant]

Whether you can use an IPG will depend on how serious a gamer you are. A dGPU is required if it’s the demanding FPS type.

Wake from S3 is a function of the driver, so it’s up to USB-UIRT to support it or not. The motherboard shouldn’t play a role unless it was truely ancient and didn’t provide power to USB devices in standby.

What is your budget? Unless it’s really limited a Haswell i5 (which gives you the option to try the IPG) w/ 8GB DDR-1600, 120GB SSD, etc is a good starting place.

 

[skirge01]

Definitely not a serious gamer; no FPS games at all.  Now that you mention the USB-UIRT driver, I think I recall looking into it a couple of years ago and wakeup from S3 may very well have been an unsupported (or at least very hit-or-miss) feature in Windows 7.  I’ll have to take a look again to see if they finally decided to get it working.  In case it’s still not, is there something besides the USB-UIRT I could use with EventGhost, which definitely has the ability to wakeup from S3?

Budget usually isn’t a constraint when I start building things (thankfully).  The only cost I haven’t been able to justify yet is one of those fancy URC remotes.  Every time I look at them, I go, “Okay, HOW many Harmony remotes could I buy for that price?” and it never makes sense.

Thanks for the first steps…  I’ll start looking to the Haswell.  If there are any other things I should be considering or ensuring I have support for, throw them out.

[oliverredfox]

I’ve got a 6570 in my HTPC and it works pretty well for gaming.  On board solutions are a bit underpowered but I know the AMD APUs can support “dual graphics” mode where it will crossfire the onboard video card with the dedicated video card to make it run better. (chart for which cards will do dual graphics with which CPU http://www.cpu-world.com/info/AMD/Recommended_graphics_cards_for_AMD_dual-graphics.html )  Personally, I’d pick my CPU entirely based off CPU performance and not the dual-graphics feature, but just figured I’d give you this food for thought.

[mikinho]

Holy crap. Hi George. I have nothing useful to add…sorry.

[babgvant]

You should be able to use a standard WMC IR receiver (or CIR of the motherboard has it) to receive + EventGhost, they will wake the PC.

Get a board with an Intel NIC. It will save you some headaches later.

 

[mikinho]

[quote=babgvant]

Get a board with an Intel NIC. It will save you some headaches later. 

[/quote]

I can’t +1 that enough times. The CPU of choice of HTPC has gotten a lot harder now that Intel got out of the consumer motherboard business (damn you) but regardless of AMD or Intel CPU always get an Intel network card.

[skirge01]

[quote=babgvant]

You should be able to use a standard WMC IR receiver (or CIR of the motherboard has it) to receive + EventGhost, they will wake the PC.

Get a board with an Intel NIC. It will save you some headaches later.

 

[/quote]

Any suggestions for Haswell mobo’s with CIR?  I just did some reading on CIR and my preliminary search seems to say that it’s not quite as simple as just getting a CIR header.  Are WMC IR receivers normally bundled or sold separately?  (The separate ones I found on Amazon look huge and I’d like to keep it internal like my USB-UIRT currently is.)

[oliverredfox]

[quote=skirge01]

Any suggestions for Haswell mobo’s with CIR?  I just did some reading on CIR and my preliminary search seems to say that it’s not quite as simple as just getting a CIR header.  Are WMC IR receivers normally bundled or sold separately?  (The separate ones I found on Amazon look huge and I’d like to keep it internal like my USB-UIRT currently is.)

[/quote]

I’d always considered using a hack like this and putting a full blown WMC IR receiver into a drive bay.  http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17579411&highlight=mce

[babgvant]

[quote=skirge01]

Any suggestions for Haswell mobo’s with CIR? 

[/quote]

DH87RL has CIR and an Intel NIC. It’s very easy if your case has somewhere to put it. Just plug in the module to the header and install the drivers.

[skirge01]

[quote=babgvant]

DH87RL has CIR and an Intel NIC. It’s very easy if your case has somewhere to put it. Just plug in the module to the header and install the drivers.

[/quote]

Wow, they even linked to one of your articles, Andy!  Nice!  My USB-UIRT is currently hooked up to an internal USB header, so that’s nearly the same premise.  It’s almost as simple as oliverredfox’s idea (thanks to him for that link, too, BTW).  After going through your article, that definitely seems like the way to go.  Thanks for the link.  Just to make sure I understand, though, my Harmony 890 will be able to send a command that the Inteset receiver will get and wake the computer up from S4 or S5?

[babgvant]

[quote=skirge01]

Just to make sure I understand, though, my Harmony 890 will be able to send a command that the Inteset receiver will get and wake the computer up from S4 or S5?

[/quote]

It should work that way yes. Give me a day (or two), and I can make sure it works properly on the RL.

[skirge01]

[quote=babgvant]

[quote=skirge01]

Just to make sure I understand, though, my Harmony 890 will be able to send a command that the Inteset receiver will get and wake the computer up from S4 or S5?

[/quote]

It should work that way yes. Give me a day (or two), and I can make sure it works properly on the RL.

[/quote]

That’d be awesome.  Thanks!

[babgvant]

[quote=babgvant]

[quote=skirge01]

Just to make sure I understand, though, my Harmony 890 will be able to send a command that the Inteset receiver will get and wake the computer up from S4 or S5?

[/quote]

It should work that way yes. Give me a day (or two), and I can make sure it works properly on the RL.

[/quote]

Verified.

[oliverredfox]

Just be aware of how your current recordings are flagged.  I hadn’t upgraded in years, was still running an x2 4600+ and just upgraded to newer motherboard and CPU today (been playing LAN games with the GF and needed something with more kick for the 2nd computer).  Thankfully, I only upgraded to CableCard about a month ago, so I only lost a dozen or two recordings due to copy protection flags on them not allowing the new system to play them.  Just something to be aware of, didn’t cross my mind before I upgraded.

[Author]

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