HTPC FTA Project

[Dominator81]

In the last month I have started research on doing a HTPC that I wanted to use with my direct tv HD reciever, and then I remembered hearing about free to air about a year ago and came accross this site.

I am sure my setup on the HTPC side is going to be over kill but I had just got rid of most of my old computer stuff and the other old computer I have is being use in my shop for automotive so I am looking at upgrading my gaming rig and using the old stuff from it on the HTPC which will alow me to game on my 57" TV too

used parts
geforce 6600gt 128mb
2gb pc3200 ram
athlon 64x2 3800+
asus a8n-sli 939pin
lite-on dvd-rw
antec 550watt PSU
onboard sound with optical out

new parts
3 250gb sata in raid 5 for speed and protection
SILVERSTONE GD01B-MXR Media Center case

As you noticed I dont have a PCI sat card listed, well I am wanting 2 of them for receiveing 2 channels at once or do I need 2 so I can use more dishes for more channels? and I noticed the Skystar 2 2.3p is mentioned alot for the blind scan. I like Hauppauge but I perhapse they are not into the quality sat cards yet or more functional sat cards.

right now I pay like 50 dallars a month for DTV and I dont need movie channels so it sounds like that is what I can get from FTA.

Can anyone help me figure out what else I need, right now I have a DTV oval HD dish with the 4 terminal LMB and I am not sure about using a big C-band dish yet but if it is worth having then I can get one.

And if you just want to post some links to threads then I will take all the help I can get and I am still looking through threads some more after I send this.

Thank You

 

[Dominator81]

oh and I forgot,
I am using a 1080i 57" DLP samsung TV with RGB and getting good hardware, software, dishes are not a problem if it is worth the money

main use of rig
recording shows
playing games
playing movies
getting alot of good english language channels with out having so many sat dishes it looks like a cable company provider base

 

[stck4evr]

Your gear : AMD 3800+ with Nvidia graphics card w/128MB should be okay for SD, but you may want to make sure you can play High Definition content without a hitch/stuttering on you TV from the PC.
Download one of the HD movie previews in 720p or 1080p from apple.com/trailers (quicktime format) or windows media format HD stuff
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/musicandvideo/hdvideo/contentshowcase.aspx

I'm thinking about building DVR PC early next year also, but its hard to justify the cost of all this gear (especially if you want High Definition DVR).
This is definately not a cheap solution - it's cheaper to pay $6/month for Vip622 Dish HD DVR, or $10/month for cable DVR and that's for High Definition DVRs.
But if you don't subscribe to Dish or Cable, building your own may make sense.
But then, you will not have too much stuff to record...

Starting next year with new OS (Vista) you can put together brand new system,
with a high definition HDTV tuner that is Vista compliant, and then instead of placing the PC next to your TV you just put it in your office and leave it on. Then
buy XBOX 360 and use Media Center Extender as an interface to you HDTV tuner to watch LIVE TV and your DVR recordings. This way you can use the PC you just
built for more than just DVR - can also be your main/office PC, justifying the cost of the whole thing. Plus you don't have to put it into a quiet,small, not too ugly case so it fits nice in the livingroom.
By the way, I would wait for next year to make sure that the HD tuner card you buy will work in Vista, and most of the bugs are out (recommend reading PC magazine reviews before buying). Also they are talking that there will be some HD tuner cards that accept CableCards soon some time next year. I did not hear any mention of future Satelite HD tuner cards.

 

[Dominator81]

thanks for the input,

I played the 1080p video and it was smooth, also CPU usage was from 22-32% during the play, which could be a little skewed for a 3800+, this one is overclocked 25%

on HTPC build note, I dont really need to upgrade right now just to create a HTPC for I can play all the games out with my current system and the 7900gs I ordered for 129.99

btw if anyone needs a video card the 7900gs is a good choice for atleast a year so the DX10 cards can be priced right, you can get a XFX 190 dollar card from buy.com for 129.99 shipped from the , 40 dollar mail in rebate and 20 dollar off for using google checkout.

I wish computers had changed more in the last year to make it worth an upgrade but I am still justifying its worth to upgrade just to build a HTPC out of the currect PC

One other thing to think about it Blue ray dvd players and HD DVD players for the PC will be alot cheaper IMO also hardware on DVD players has always had a hard time with colors like red, and unless you by the cheapest player with one of the 2 chips like the panasonic S-97S for 240 dollars you dont get the true quality, so that is what makes me want a HTPC and the HD DVR with FTA.

of course I was one of those guys that had a DOS based computer in the truck of hmy mustang with a 20x4 char. LCD screen molded into the dash, for playing MP3's in the car before MP3/CD players started. actually it is not a bad idea still today but mostly in a SUV and if ya got Kids, GPS, External DVD drive, Internet WiFi, Games, Music. Kinda off subject, though

 

[mikeflight]

Hi!

I don´t want to alarm you, but I have read some difficults between asus a8n and the skystar II. It´s because the nForce 4 that carries the motherboard.

Read this link:

http://www.dvbviewer.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7761

Hope it helps you!

73´s

 

[Anole]

get the most video card for your $

... I can play all the games out with my current system and the 7900gs I ordered for 129.99...

I'm a big fan of the nVidia gForce video cards.
Most of what I own, and all that I've bought in the last 4..5 years are nVidia.

However, one thing everyone should know, to keep from getting stung, is that the letter suffix is as meaningful or more meaningful as the numbers!
Do your homework by reading card comparisons on the technical review sites.

For example, an nVidia 6600 is a dog by comparison to the 6600gt.
Last year when i got one, the 6600gt was the best bang for the buck.

The 7600gt will probably outperform the 7900gs. (I haven't verified this, so don't quote me.
I also bought a 7600gt last year, and it's way hotter than my 6600gt.

Point being, often you can get the correct version of a lower-numbered card for less money, and outperform a higher number card.



On a funny note, I read in another thread where someone had a P4-3000mhz box, and was running an nVidia Ti 4200 card.
(I have one of those, and a 5900oc, too.)
The point is, a 4200 is four or five generations old.
Will it display the video the guy wants? It might.
But it's sure outclassed by a P4-3000.

video cards aren't well understood...

 

[grusome]

Well, here's another kicker for you. I have a P4 3.0 Ghz with 512Megs ram, and running a
no-name GForce 3 with 128megs of ram. And I'm using the latest version of
DVB Dream (1.3c) with the Pure Video encoder and I can view PBS-HD with less than 40% cpu usage according to XP's Task Manager Preformance readings. (DVB Dream's cpu usage indicator shows 17 to 25%) That video card has both DVI & VGA output. I also get similar preformance with the HD demo channel on 82W.
Some of the weekend sports feeds in the past would freeze up on me, until I tried Pure Video and that made a world of difference. A lot of preformance problems can be cured by using the correct codec . I haven't tried a 4:2:2 feed yet. So, I don't know how well it will do there. But, I was suprisd that my old GForce3 card
would work as well as it does.
grusome