HTPC Upgrade

[xiro]

So I decided to upgrade my HTPC setup after 2 years. Hopefully this upgrade will last for next five years, but then I thought same while building the last HTPC .

HTPC BOM
1. Motherboard :- Asus P8Z68-M PRO
2. CPU :- Intel Core i3 2100 BOX, 3.1GHz, LGA 1155, 2C/4T
3. RAM :- 4GB DDR3 RAM GKILL RIPJAWS F312800CL9S-4GBXL * 4
4. Video Card :- Asus ENGT520 SL/DI/2GD3(LP)
5. SSD :- 120 GB OCZ Vertex3
6. HDD :- 2*3TB Seagate Barracuda
7. ODD :- Asus BW-12B1LT BluRay Writer
8. PSU :- Antec TP-550 Watt Modular
9. CASE: Antec Fusion Remote Max
10. CoolerMaster 212 Evo CPU cooler




At software end I been using LFS based custom build, but this time I am seriously thinking about OpenElec.

Right now I am in the process of assembling this HTPC. Will keep posting the updates.

 

[sam9s]

^^ Hardware def. overkill for an HTPC, but anyway congratts ... .

OpenElec is definitely good, but if you wanna use ur HTPC for other media activities, like Music as well with foobar maybe then, a windows based XBMC might be a better choice.

 

[assassin]

^^ Hardware def. overkill for an HTPC, but anyway congratts ... .

OpenElec is definitely good, but if you wanna use ur HTPC for other media activities, like Music as well with foobar maybe then, a windows based XBMC might be a better choice.

I don't think its overkill at all. He wants to use it for many years so the i3 was a smart move. He can drop in a new video card in 3-5 years and the CPU should still have enough oomph to give him a refreshed HTPC.

The i3 2100 is one hell of a CPU --- especially if you have a Microcenter and can get one for $99.

 

[nirav123]

So I decided to upgrade my HTPC setup after 2 years. Hopefully this upgrade will last for next five years, but then I thought same while building the last HTPC .

HTPC BOM
1. Motherboard :- Asus P8Z68-M PRO
2. CPU :- Intel Core i3 2100 BOX, 3.1GHz, LGA 1155, 2C/4T
3. RAM :- 4GB DDR3 RAM GKILL RIPJAWS F312800CL9S-4GBXL * 4
4. Video Card :- Asus ENGT520 SL/DI/2GD3(LP)
5. SSD :- 120 GB OCZ Vertex3
6. HDD :- 2*3TB Seagate Barracuda
7. ODD :- Asus BW-12B1LT BluRay Writer
8. PSU :- Antec TP-550 Watt Modular
9. CASE: Antec Fusion Remote Max
10. CoolerMaster 212 Evo CPU cooler

View attachment 6787


At software end I been using LFS based custom build, but this time I am seriously thinking about OpenElec.

Right now I am in the process of assembling this HTPC. Will keep posting the updates.

How much all these cost?

 

[baijuxavior]

OT - hi assassin, do you deal with Power ON switch for HTPC that can be controlled by remote control like SIMEREC Universal IR Remote Control PC Power Switch?

 

[sam9s]

I don't think its overkill at all. He wants to use it for many years so the i3 was a smart move. He can drop in a new video card in 3-5 years and the CPU should still have enough oomph to give him a refreshed HTPC.

The i3 2100 is one hell of a CPU --- especially if you have a Microcenter and can get one for $99.

Even after many years a typical, dual/qual core CPU will easily play Hi Def videos and audio, and its not like the res will jump 5 times in next couple of years, even if it does GPU is the one that needs to be considered not the proc. i3 is one hell of a CPU ...?? U telling me!!! It depends on what you will use the PC for ... e.g an SSD, now do you think an SSD is even remotely needed to built a decent HTPC ...???

 

[assassin]

OT - hi assassin, do you deal with Power ON switch for HTPC that can be controlled by remote control like SIMEREC Universal IR Remote Control PC Power Switch?

Why? Are you trying to save money? Or be green?

In either scenario this ends up being a failure.

First, just have your HTPC sleep. Then wake it when you want to use it. That saves on the $40+ that you are going to spend on that power switch. You would need to use your HTPC for many many years to recoup that cost in energy savings with this approach.

And if you are trying to be green buying that power switch is adding to e-waste when its not really needed and the energy savings just isn't really there.

 

[assassin]

Even after many years a typical, dual/qual core CPU will easily play Hi Def videos and audio, and its not like the res will jump 5 times in next couple of years, even if it does GPU is the one that needs to be considered not the proc. i3 is one hell of a CPU ...?? U telling me!!! It depends on what you will use the PC for ... e.g an SSD, now do you think an SSD is even remotely needed to built a decent HTPC ...???

We have 4K resolution, better/different HD streaming, likely better/different 3D, likely better/different post-renderers like Madvr, etc all coming out in the next few years. And there is likely going to be new tech released that you nor I have even thought of.

So why settle for something now that's at the bottom of the pack as far as CPU power goes if its not that much more in upfront cost with virtually the same energy usage?

I think if your goal is to maximize your hardware for the next 3-5+ years (who knows --- you might want to use your first HTPC in a bedroom or office and build a second one in 3 years or so) then spending a little more upfront definitely makes a lot of sense. If your goal is to replace your hardware every 1-2 years (don't know why anyone would do this personally) then by all means get something like the zacate/atom which already is showing that it can't do everything even by today's standards.

 

[arindamcc]

If you play dvd with Madvr + Lav filter with Asus ENGT520 frame drop will occur.Your display card is very weak a GTX550ti or GT450 would be better option.

 

[xiro]

If you play dvd with Madvr + Lav filter with Asus ENGT520 frame drop will occur.Your display card is very weak a GTX550ti or GT450 would be better option.

Hi Arindam,

IIRC GTX550i and GT450 don't even have nvidia VP5 with it. I really suspect dvd frame drop is going to be an issue with GT520 since it get offloaded to card anyway. BTW I had zotac 520 before this card, and it worked fine for almost a year IIRC.

Regards

 

[xiro]

^^ Hardware def. overkill for an HTPC, but anyway congratts ... .

Thanks Sam,
Well I don't think it's an overkill ;

OpenElec is definitely good, but if you wanna use ur HTPC for other media activities, like Music as well with foobar maybe then, a windows based XBMC might be a better choice.

Windows and I don't go together ;-). I definetly going to use this system as music transport also, and my requirement always get fullfilled by Linux .

 

[reignofchaos]

Hi Arindam,

IIRC GTX550i and GT450 don't even have nvidia VP5 with it. I really suspect dvd frame drop is going to be an issue with GT520 since it get offloaded to card anyway. BTW I had zotac 520 before this card, and it worked fine for almost a year IIRC.

Regards

It has VP5 processing but insufficient number of shaders. So madvr with full pixel shader processing will definitely cause trouble. Overall, inspite of being a VP4 card, a GT430 or GT440 is a better card.

In fact, the best cards would be the new kepler based cards that are already out for notebooks. However no desktop cards out yet.

ATI isn't too bad a deal either now cos LAV filters now support non cuda code paths such as DXVA. ATI has better deinterlacing and scaling performance.

 

[sam9s]

If you play dvd with Madvr + Lav filter with Asus ENGT520 frame drop will occur.Your display card is very weak a GTX550ti or GT450 would be better option.

It has VP5 processing but insufficient number of shaders. So madvr with full pixel shader processing will definitely cause trouble. Overall, inspite of being a VP4 card, a GT430 or GT440 is a better card.

In fact, the best cards would be the new kepler based cards that are already out for notebooks. However no desktop cards out yet.

ATI isn't too bad a deal either now cos LAV filters now support non cuda code paths such as DXVA. ATI has better deinterlacing and scaling performance.

You gotta be kidding me, even a crappy Pentium D can run H.264 and VC-1 smoothly, with as old as VP1 7 series card, albit with more CPU load. And we are talking about an i3 here. True GT440 has almost twice the shaders than GT520, and I am not sure how much impact a strict benchmarking will do with this difference, but its definitely not gonna create any issues , certainly not frame drops. I have played a BD ISO on my C2D with GT8800!!.
I have not used LAV filters but have been bitstreaming HD audio using FFDShow via GT440 on a C2D with mere 8% CPU load, and you suspect a frame drop with an i3!!. Even without nVidia Purevideo i3's not gonna sweat while playing any BD or MKV on LAV or any filters ....

 

[sub]

You gotta be kidding me, even a crappy Pentium D can run H.264 and VC-1 smoothly, with as old as VP1 7 series card, albit with more CPU load. And we are talking about an i3 here. True GT440 has almost twice the shaders than GT520, and I am not sure how much impact a strict benchmarking will do with this difference, but its definitely not gonna create any issues , certainly not frame drops. I have played a BD ISO on my C2D with GT8800!!.
I have not used LAV filters but have been bitstreaming HD audio using FFDShow via GT440 on a C2D with mere 8% CPU load, and you suspect a frame drop with an i3!!. Even without nVidia Purevideo i3's not gonna sweat while playing any BD or MKV on LAV or any filters ....

I totally agree with sam9s as i have mentioned on another thread i have been using xfx GT-520 on Fusion E-350 Gigabyte Mother board with ffdshow filters and it plays everything without problem (DVD, blu-ray isos with 3D and HD audios)

Regards

sub

 

[reignofchaos]

You gotta be kidding me, even a crappy Pentium D can run H.264 and VC-1 smoothly, with as old as VP1 7 series card, albit with more CPU load. And we are talking about an i3 here. True GT440 has almost twice the shaders than GT520, and I am not sure how much impact a strict benchmarking will do with this difference, but its definitely not gonna create any issues , certainly not frame drops. I have played a BD ISO on my C2D with GT8800!!.
I have not used LAV filters but have been bitstreaming HD audio using FFDShow via GT440 on a C2D with mere 8% CPU load, and you suspect a frame drop with an i3!!. Even without nVidia Purevideo i3's not gonna sweat while playing any BD or MKV on LAV or any filters ....

I'm not talking about your usual EVR as the renderer - with which anything will work. I'm talking about madVR

madVR - high quality video renderer (GPU assisted) - Doom9's Forum

This is the best renderer/resizer/rescaler out there and it needs a lot of GPU horse power.

 

[sam9s]

^^ I have not read the entire article, (which I will do, I always do), but the first few posts told me that madVR only accepts YCbCr 4:2:0 and no GPU at present natively accepts YCbCr 4:2:0 input, everything is converted to RGB. Also AFAIK it wont do a thing to a regular 1080p video. Maybe on a 10bit color content, I dont know. I can not comment unless I test it myself.

Anyway none of this is related to frame dropping. At the worst (I mean really worst) case scenario, the color quality might shift a bit, but no frame drops for sure.

 

[reignofchaos]

^^ I have not read the entire article, (which I will do, I always do), but the first few posts told me that madVR only accepts YCbCr 4:2:0 and no GPU at present natively accepts YCbCr 4:2:0 input, everything is converted to RGB. Also AFAIK it wont do a thing to a regular 1080p video. Maybe on a 10bit color content, I dont know. I can not comment unless I test it myself.

Anyway none of this is related to frame dropping. At the worst (I mean really worst) case scenario, the color quality might shift a bit, but no frame drops for sure.

Almost all video(99.99%) found on the internet including bluray content is 4:2:0 YCbCr. It can do chroma upsampling to 4:4:4 RGB or any other format you like.

madVR drops frames like crazy if your GPU is not fast enough.

 

[sam9s]

^^ Yes BD Content is 4:2:0 YCbCr, but its always converted to RGB by the display card. No GPU yes outputs untouched YCbCr data. Hence the point of using madVR in itself becomes moot.

Anyhow I still am gonna definitely test this madVR when I get back to India. It should be interesting.

 

[xiro]

It has VP5 processing but insufficient number of shaders. So madvr with full pixel shader processing will definitely cause trouble. Overall, inspite of being a VP4 card, a GT430 or GT440 is a better card.

In fact, the best cards would be the new kepler based cards that are already out for notebooks. However no desktop cards out yet.

ATI isn't too bad a deal either now cos LAV filters now support non cuda code paths such as DXVA. ATI has better deinterlacing and scaling performance.

Solution is simple for me, when requirement comes just get the hardware which do the job. Now since I am not going to use __madvr__ becuase of it's windows dependency the whole point is moot.

 

[bg_f50]

Hi ,

Is it possible to give a breakup of the prices

HTPC BOM
1. Motherboard :- Asus P8Z68-M PRO
2. CPU :- Intel Core i3 2100 BOX, 3.1GHz, LGA 1155, 2C/4T
3. RAM :- 4GB DDR3 RAM GKILL RIPJAWS F312800CL9S-4GBXL * 4
4. Video Card :- Asus ENGT520 SL/DI/2GD3(LP)
5. SSD :- 120 GB OCZ Vertex3
6. HDD :- 2*3TB Seagate Barracuda
7. ODD :- Asus BW-12B1LT BluRay Writer
8. PSU :- Antec TP-550 Watt Modular
9. CASE: Antec Fusion Remote Max
10. CoolerMaster 212 Evo CPU cooler