nwboater

[nwboater]

[quote=”Skirge01″]
[quote=”nwboater”]
Thanks for the encouragement and tips. I have only XP experience but am really looking forward to 7. Just think it will take a little time cause I run on autopilot with XP.

I have done lots of backups, but never made an ‘Image’. I do have a 2 or 3 year old copy of Acronis True Image, but doubt that will run on 7. If I have to get something new what do you suggest? BTW I do all our backups with our WHS.

Rod
[/quote]

If you’ve got WHS, just use that then.  Manually create those two backups and lock them, so that WHS won’t delete them on you.  I go a little overboard with how long I keep my backups because I have the storage space, but you’ll probably be fine with more moderate settings.  WHS is a wonderful thing to be able to fall back on.
[/quote]

Good idea on the Manual Backups – I’ll do that.

Yes WHS is wonderful. I have no regrets at all on building it. And so far it ‘Just Works’.

Thanks again.

Rod

[nwboater]

[quote=”Skirge01″]
[quote=”nwboater”]
Thanks for the encouragement and tips. I have only XP experience but am really looking forward to 7. Just think it will take a little time cause I run on autopilot with XP.

I have done lots of backups, but never made an ‘Image’. I do have a 2 or 3 year old copy of Acronis True Image, but doubt that will run on 7. If I have to get something new what do you suggest? BTW I do all our backups with our WHS.

Rod
[/quote]

If you’ve got WHS, just use that then.  Manually create those two backups and lock them, so that WHS won’t delete them on you.  I go a little overboard with how long I keep my backups because I have the storage space, but you’ll probably be fine with more moderate settings.  WHS is a wonderful thing to be able to fall back on.
[/quote]

Good idea on the Manual Backups – I’ll do that.

Yes WHS is wonderful. I have no regrets at all on building it. And so far it ‘Just Works’.

Thanks again.

Rod

[nwboater]

Thanks for the encouragement and tips. I have only XP experience but am really looking forward to 7. Just think it will take a little time cause I run on autopilot with XP.

I have done lots of backups, but never made an ‘Image’. I do have a 2 or 3 year old copy of Acronis True Image, but doubt that will run on 7. If I have to get something new what do you suggest? BTW I do all our backups with our WHS.

Rod

[nwboater]

Thanks for the encouragement and tips. I have only XP experience but am really looking forward to 7. Just think it will take a little time cause I run on autopilot with XP.

I have done lots of backups, but never made an ‘Image’. I do have a 2 or 3 year old copy of Acronis True Image, but doubt that will run on 7. If I have to get something new what do you suggest? BTW I do all our backups with our WHS.

Rod

[nwboater]

Thanks for the info on Comskip. Does sound like I’ll be able to share between the server and client. It may take a bit of learning and set up for me. I’m going to wait for a couple of things before I get involved with it though. 1. The new Client built and running smoothly with me learning Windows 7.  2. SageTV 7 to be out of Beta. Two may very well happen before One does!

Rod

[nwboater]

Thanks for the info on Comskip. Does sound like I’ll be able to share between the server and client. It may take a bit of learning and set up for me. I’m going to wait for a couple of things before I get involved with it though. 1. The new Client built and running smoothly with me learning Windows 7.  2. SageTV 7 to be out of Beta. Two may very well happen before One does!

Rod

[nwboater]

I originally was going to use a dual core. Someone on the Sage Forum suggested the Quad core because he said Comskip duties could be shared with the server. I have no experience yet with Comskip so just took his word for it. I hope it can partially be shared. Guess I should have looked further into it. I ordered it all yesterday! Do you have any idea if that can be done?

This PC is only for HTPC duties.

Thanks for your interest.

Rod

[nwboater]

I originally was going to use a dual core. Someone on the Sage Forum suggested the Quad core because he said Comskip duties could be shared with the server. I have no experience yet with Comskip so just took his word for it. I hope it can partially be shared. Guess I should have looked further into it. I ordered it all yesterday! Do you have any idea if that can be done?

This PC is only for HTPC duties.

Thanks for your interest.

Rod

[nwboater]

[quote=”autoboy”]
The 8400 was no great video card.  I think you will find that the onboard graphics are just as capable.  That’s too bad about the case.  I thought it was cool.  Not my style, but I can see it being a great piece in an appropriate room.
[/quote]

Yeah I was looking forward to the unique case. The build just got too pricey, and I finally had to decide that power was more important than looks. The other thing is we have a good spot to tuck away a conventional case, but the furniture style one takes up quite a bit of room. But maybe someday if I get a few extra coins I’ll get it and move things over.

If the onboard video handles things okay that will be great. Should be interesting.

Thanks for your interest.

Rod

[nwboater]

[quote=”autoboy”]
The 8400 was no great video card.  I think you will find that the onboard graphics are just as capable.  That’s too bad about the case.  I thought it was cool.  Not my style, but I can see it being a great piece in an appropriate room.
[/quote]

Yeah I was looking forward to the unique case. The build just got too pricey, and I finally had to decide that power was more important than looks. The other thing is we have a good spot to tuck away a conventional case, but the furniture style one takes up quite a bit of room. But maybe someday if I get a few extra coins I’ll get it and move things over.

If the onboard video handles things okay that will be great. Should be interesting.

Thanks for your interest.

Rod

[nwboater]

Just placed my order with Direct Canada. A couple of changes over my original build:

1. Gigabyte GA-880GA-UD3H AMD880G ATX AM3 DDR3 3PCIE 2-WAY CrossFireX GBLAN SATA3 USB3.0 Motherbo
[url=http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11830BD4567&vpn=GA-880GA-UD3H&manufacture=GIGABYTE]http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11830BD4567&vpn=GA-880GA-UD3H&manufacture=GIGABYTE[/url]

2. Silverstone Precision PS04B ATX Black Mid Tower Case 4X5.25 1X3.5 5X3.5INT No PS
[url=http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=22170AC7935]http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=22170AC7935[/url]

The mobo change was a result of recommendations on this Forum. The case change was to save some money as the build was getting a bit pricey.

Thanks to everyone here for their great support. After it’s built I’ll make a post here as to how it’s working. But it sure should be a screamer compared to my old Dell P4!

Rod

[nwboater]

Just placed my order with Direct Canada. A couple of changes over my original build:

1. Gigabyte GA-880GA-UD3H AMD880G ATX AM3 DDR3 3PCIE 2-WAY CrossFireX GBLAN SATA3 USB3.0 Motherbo
[url=http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11830BD4567&vpn=GA-880GA-UD3H&manufacture=GIGABYTE]http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11830BD4567&vpn=GA-880GA-UD3H&manufacture=GIGABYTE[/url]

2. Silverstone Precision PS04B ATX Black Mid Tower Case 4X5.25 1X3.5 5X3.5INT No PS
[url=http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=22170AC7935]http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=22170AC7935[/url]

The mobo change was a result of recommendations on this Forum. The case change was to save some money as the build was getting a bit pricey.

Thanks to everyone here for their great support. After it’s built I’ll make a post here as to how it’s working. But it sure should be a screamer compared to my old Dell P4!

Rod

[nwboater]

[quote=”htpc_user”]
I agree.  If you are going with that motherboard, then why not just use the onboard video instead of adding the little bit of extra heat and power consumption you’ll have by using the 8400GS?
[/quote]

Good point. I’ll try it first with the onboard video. If that works fine I’ll put the 8400GS in the surplus bin!

Not sure what you agree with, but I think it’s using the Gigabyte mobo.

Thanks,
Rod

[nwboater]

[quote=”htpc_user”]
I agree.  If you are going with that motherboard, then why not just use the onboard video instead of adding the little bit of extra heat and power consumption you’ll have by using the 8400GS?
[/quote]

Good point. I’ll try it first with the onboard video. If that works fine I’ll put the 8400GS in the surplus bin!

Not sure what you agree with, but I think it’s using the Gigabyte mobo.

Thanks,
Rod

[nwboater]

[quote=”autoboy”]
[quote]I like Sage Extenders – in fact own an HD100 and an HD200. Our problem with that is that I’m also somewhat of an audiophile (audiophool?). The SPDIF out wont give the best audio out with HD audio. Since we are using a sound card in the HTPC there is no easy way to get the full HD audio to the soundcard from the Extender. Otherwise I sure would go with an HD300. For most people they make a lot more sense than a Client PC!
[/quote]

You mean that you are using the analog outputs from the HTPC to get HD audio output on your receiver that DOESN’T have HDMI bitstreaming available.  That’s what I think you are saying, because the HD300 can bitstream full HD audio from a blu-ray over its HDMI port to a receiver with HDMI 1.3 inputs.

It sounds like a perfectly good build.  The motherboard is kinda strange since you are using an old Nvidia chipset with bad graphics built in.  I’d go for a modern AMD based motherboard and you can have your pick of either the Nvidia 8400 graphics card you already have, or the AMD graphics built in.  You don’t need to pair the graphics card with a motherboard unless you want SLI or Crossfire for gaming.

I have the Nvidia 7025 chipset in my wife’s computer and it is a perfectly acceptable system for basic stuff, but the graphics lacks most HD acceleration and is really only fit for an office machine.   It’s also a bit long in the tooth when it comes to SATA connections.  But in a HTPC it doesn’t really matter much.
[/quote]

Guess I should have explained what I’m doing with the audio. I’m taking each of the Analog outs from the Sound card (6 total) to inputs on our power amps. No receiver! Only problem with this is that I’m limited to play what’s on the computer. But since we have all our cd’s, movies, recorded TV and photos on the server it works fine for us. We actually use SageTV for all but critical 2 channel music listening. For that we use JRiver Media Center MC15. It has better audio.

Thanks for confirming that the video card can be a different make than the onboard video unless gaming. We don’t do that so a non-issue.

I’m inclined now to spend the extra money and use the Gigabyte mobo that Meester.Rip recommended. It would allow for a lot more future options.

Cheers,
Rod

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