autoboy

[autoboy]

[quote=”Meester.Rip”]
I would think you could buy a AM2+ board, proc and DDR2 pretty cheap whether it be used, refurbished or a cheap combo deal. 1080P isn’t going change like video games as far as graphics hardware goes. If it runs today then it should run several years from now. Unless the pockets are deep.

The only thing I would definitely change on my future main HTPC builds would be to use an ATX board. More options, e.g. more tuners, a 3d capable video card (if there needs to be such a thing), more sata ports (should it get moved to a server).
[/quote]

I think MATX is perfectly suitable.  Just make sure you have things like firewire onboard if you think you will need it.  I use it to change channels on my cable box.

I would go with AM3 since DDR2 will only get more expensive.  AM3 will be more upgradable.  But, you are are wanting to upgrade a board, and Athlon X2 will fit in a AM2+ board.  From what I’ve heard though, it hurts the onboard graphics/video performance because you step back to HT2.0 instead of HT3.0 on the new chips.

[autoboy]

He’s already using his HP WHS.  He’s keeping his Dish DVRs in parallel for now until he gets comfortable and stable.  SageTV can be very stable if you can just quit fiddling with it.

[autoboy]

He’s already using his HP WHS.  He’s keeping his Dish DVRs in parallel for now until he gets comfortable and stable.  SageTV can be very stable if you can just quit fiddling with it.

[autoboy]

I used to have the same problems.  Constant issues with SageTV and constant issues with my PC clients.  I switched to WMC and it was even worse and I couldn’t do half the stuff SageTV could do.  I switched back and got it working ok, but no matter what I did there was always something that I couldn’t get to work.  DTS, or smooth playback, or MKVs.  It was a mess.  That all went away when I switched from PC clients to the HD100 and HD200 extenders.  Since then, 95% of my problems are the bad HD-PVR I have.  It fails every 2 weeks or so, but I’m too cheap to replace it and I have my hopes up for CableCard on SageTV. 

Now I’m building a system for my brother in Sacramento.  125 miles away.  I hope I’m not getting myself into a support nightmare…

[autoboy]

I used to have the same problems.  Constant issues with SageTV and constant issues with my PC clients.  I switched to WMC and it was even worse and I couldn’t do half the stuff SageTV could do.  I switched back and got it working ok, but no matter what I did there was always something that I couldn’t get to work.  DTS, or smooth playback, or MKVs.  It was a mess.  That all went away when I switched from PC clients to the HD100 and HD200 extenders.  Since then, 95% of my problems are the bad HD-PVR I have.  It fails every 2 weeks or so, but I’m too cheap to replace it and I have my hopes up for CableCard on SageTV. 

Now I’m building a system for my brother in Sacramento.  125 miles away.  I hope I’m not getting myself into a support nightmare…

[autoboy]

You really don’t need too much CPU power these days in a HTPC.  A basic system can be built with an AMD 785G motherboard and a dual core 45W CPU.  I’d probably go with the dual core to keep the power and heat down, but a tri or quad are fine choices as well.  Remember, you can always upgrade later if you decide you really need the extra CPU power.

I like the Antec NSK 2480 case since it comes with a nice power supply. 

2GB of ram is enough, but I don’t build without 4GB anymore.  Especially since the really cheap motherboards I like to build with sometimes only support 2 slots for RAM.

A SSD is overkill, and 2TB drives are $100 now.

I don’t expect you really need to spend much more than $400 right now on a HTPC and other than a better video card, I don’t see much reason to spend more than that.  But, with the AMD 6XXX series coming soon, I’m hoping that AMD’s lowest end and lowest power card will finally be a good HTPC performer.  The 5450 isn’t much of an upgrade over the 785G.  The AMD 5570 is the go to card right now if you want more than the 785G.

[autoboy]

You really don’t need too much CPU power these days in a HTPC.  A basic system can be built with an AMD 785G motherboard and a dual core 45W CPU.  I’d probably go with the dual core to keep the power and heat down, but a tri or quad are fine choices as well.  Remember, you can always upgrade later if you decide you really need the extra CPU power.

I like the Antec NSK 2480 case since it comes with a nice power supply. 

2GB of ram is enough, but I don’t build without 4GB anymore.  Especially since the really cheap motherboards I like to build with sometimes only support 2 slots for RAM.

A SSD is overkill, and 2TB drives are $100 now.

I don’t expect you really need to spend much more than $400 right now on a HTPC and other than a better video card, I don’t see much reason to spend more than that.  But, with the AMD 6XXX series coming soon, I’m hoping that AMD’s lowest end and lowest power card will finally be a good HTPC performer.  The 5450 isn’t much of an upgrade over the 785G.  The AMD 5570 is the go to card right now if you want more than the 785G.

[autoboy]

Good to know that the black levels are still good on the Panny.  But, I’m really not happy with knowing that my 2009 model will continue to get worse.  Still, I don’t expect it to get much worse than Samsung’s 0.017

[autoboy]

Good to know that the black levels are still good on the Panny.  But, I’m really not happy with knowing that my 2009 model will continue to get worse.  Still, I don’t expect it to get much worse than Samsung’s 0.017

[autoboy]

I read the front page AND the forums, but I don’t look in the sidebar of most websites because I filter it out, expecting to see ads. 

Ok, so I’ve done a bit of research on the sidebar and realized why I don’t notice it at all.  It is the width of a standard banner advertisement, so my eye filters it out.  If you look at Anandtech’s site, their sidebar is much larger and the title text is the same size and format as on the main section of the webpage.  I use Anandtech’s sidebar all the time to look at dailytech content.

If you look at Gizmodo, their side bar (opposite side) actually features banner ads, which is why I’ve never actually clicked on any of the content in that sidebar.

Engadget is in between Anandtech and Gizmodo.  While Engadget features ads in their sidebar, they are not the long banner type, and there is enough space to make the text for the title large enough to draw the eye. 

On missingremote, I never see any of the content in the right sidebar and I’ve been here for awhile.  I knew it was there because you guys have pointed it out before, I just never looked at it unless I had to.

[autoboy]

I read the front page AND the forums, but I don’t look in the sidebar of most websites because I filter it out, expecting to see ads. 

Ok, so I’ve done a bit of research on the sidebar and realized why I don’t notice it at all.  It is the width of a standard banner advertisement, so my eye filters it out.  If you look at Anandtech’s site, their sidebar is much larger and the title text is the same size and format as on the main section of the webpage.  I use Anandtech’s sidebar all the time to look at dailytech content.

If you look at Gizmodo, their side bar (opposite side) actually features banner ads, which is why I’ve never actually clicked on any of the content in that sidebar.

Engadget is in between Anandtech and Gizmodo.  While Engadget features ads in their sidebar, they are not the long banner type, and there is enough space to make the text for the title large enough to draw the eye. 

On missingremote, I never see any of the content in the right sidebar and I’ve been here for awhile.  I knew it was there because you guys have pointed it out before, I just never looked at it unless I had to.

[autoboy]

[quote=”shadymg”]
blame Mikinho for it only running 1 week, he couldn’t wait to get the Blu-ray survey out there!!! 😀
[/quote]

Actually, I now realize that I’ve never seen any polls because they aren’t featured front and center.

[autoboy]

[quote=”shadymg”]
blame Mikinho for it only running 1 week, he couldn’t wait to get the Blu-ray survey out there!!! 😀
[/quote]

Actually, I now realize that I’ve never seen any polls because they aren’t featured front and center.

[autoboy]

I started to watch the fringe but didn’t get into it.  It just seemed kinda strange and far fetched.  Maybe I’ll start it up again though if you guys like it.

[autoboy]

I started to watch the fringe but didn’t get into it.  It just seemed kinda strange and far fetched.  Maybe I’ll start it up again though if you guys like it.

[Author]

Posts