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#1
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HTPC or simply a PC for the living room
Hi!
I'm thinking about building a PC for the living room, basically for watching DVD/TV and listening to music: * Playing music; WMA, mp3, FM radio, Internet streaming radio using traditional 2-channel stereo into an existing amplifier/loudspeakers * Playing DVD using the same audio setup plus a PC flat screen * Watching slideshows * Watching TV * Recording TV on HDD * Casual surfing Interfaces * WiFi to existing WinXP server where most files will be stored/backed up; any ripping would be done here aswell * WiFi to internet broadband gateway/router * FM radio in * CATV/Digital in * CD/DVD player internal * USB * Memory-media * x.1 audio out configurable to 2.0 * Wireless remote/keyboard * xx" PC TFT monitor Priorities * Low noise/silence * Nice, modern design * Small/resonable footprint * Convenient handling with remote & keyboard * Set and forget operation :-) Since the low noise-requirement is quite important to me it sounds resonable to start off with a system with a low power requirement - meaning slower clock; question is just how slow can you go and still have a useful system? I'm looking at the mini-ITX stuff but have no experience of the VIA processors and their actual performance in relation to what I want to do with the system. Any advice? Could you have passive/heatpipe cooling on these? Or ATX and mainstream processors like AMD/Intel? Possibly sounds like a safer bet in terms of upgrades? What about the mobile ones for lower power/less cooling requirements? OS? Is there a choise? I would love to hear that there is a Linux distro that without weeks of work would let me do what I want :-). Perfect if I could boot it over the network from the server :-) |
#2
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HTPC or simply a PC for the living room
Peter wrote:
Hi! I'm thinking about building a PC for the living room, basically for watching DVD/TV and listening to music: * Playing music; WMA, mp3, FM radio, Internet streaming radio using traditional 2-channel stereo into an existing amplifier/loudspeakers * Playing DVD using the same audio setup plus a PC flat screen * Watching slideshows * Watching TV * Recording TV on HDD * Casual surfing Interfaces * WiFi to existing WinXP server where most files will be stored/backed up; any ripping would be done here aswell * WiFi to internet broadband gateway/router * FM radio in * CATV/Digital in * CD/DVD player internal * USB * Memory-media * x.1 audio out configurable to 2.0 * Wireless remote/keyboard * xx" PC TFT monitor Priorities * Low noise/silence * Nice, modern design * Small/resonable footprint * Convenient handling with remote & keyboard * Set and forget operation :-) Since the low noise-requirement is quite important to me it sounds resonable to start off with a system with a low power requirement - meaning slower clock; question is just how slow can you go and still have a useful system? I'm looking at the mini-ITX stuff but have no experience of the VIA processors and their actual performance in relation to what I want to do with the system. Any advice? Could you have passive/heatpipe cooling on these? Or ATX and mainstream processors like AMD/Intel? Possibly sounds like a safer bet in terms of upgrades? What about the mobile ones for lower power/less cooling requirements? OS? Is there a choise? I would love to hear that there is a Linux distro that without weeks of work would let me do what I want :-). Perfect if I could boot it over the network from the server :-) Since you mentioned Linux you might want to check into MythTV but last time I checked it was a major endeavor just to read through the installation and configuration instructions, much less actually do it and have it work. http://www.mythtv.org/modules.php?name=MythInstall |
#3
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HTPC or simply a PC for the living room
Got my PC hooked up via component in my living room. The pc is quiet. Its got 3 120mm fans in it running at 7 volts. Would like 5 volts but fan controller dont do that. Got a zalman coole ron my CPU and videocard. VERY VERY quiet I mean you can hear it but once you have the TV on or some mosuic or a movie you can't even noirce its on. When i get my NEW pc it iam going to transplant it to a Media pc. You know the flat cases and use the HUGE case as my games case. With the same cooling and connected up to the other component port at the back of my TV for WideScreen gaming. Everything is possible. Dont know about Linux last timei tried that it gave me a headache, And stress me out NO END. being married is easier Any questions glad to help. On Wed, 04 Jan 2006 18:44:03 -0600, David Maynard wrote: Peter wrote: Hi! I'm thinking about building a PC for the living room, basically for watching DVD/TV and listening to music: * Playing music; WMA, mp3, FM radio, Internet streaming radio using traditional 2-channel stereo into an existing amplifier/loudspeakers * Playing DVD using the same audio setup plus a PC flat screen * Watching slideshows * Watching TV * Recording TV on HDD * Casual surfing Interfaces * WiFi to existing WinXP server where most files will be stored/backed up; any ripping would be done here aswell * WiFi to internet broadband gateway/router * FM radio in * CATV/Digital in * CD/DVD player internal * USB * Memory-media * x.1 audio out configurable to 2.0 * Wireless remote/keyboard * xx" PC TFT monitor Priorities * Low noise/silence * Nice, modern design * Small/resonable footprint * Convenient handling with remote & keyboard * Set and forget operation :-) Since the low noise-requirement is quite important to me it sounds resonable to start off with a system with a low power requirement - meaning slower clock; question is just how slow can you go and still have a useful system? I'm looking at the mini-ITX stuff but have no experience of the VIA processors and their actual performance in relation to what I want to do with the system. Any advice? Could you have passive/heatpipe cooling on these? Or ATX and mainstream processors like AMD/Intel? Possibly sounds like a safer bet in terms of upgrades? What about the mobile ones for lower power/less cooling requirements? OS? Is there a choise? I would love to hear that there is a Linux distro that without weeks of work would let me do what I want :-). Perfect if I could boot it over the network from the server :-) Since you mentioned Linux you might want to check into MythTV but last time I checked it was a major endeavor just to read through the installation and configuration instructions, much less actually do it and have it work. http://www.mythtv.org/modules.php?name=MythInstall |
#4
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HTPC or simply a PC for the living room
Its my Gaming case :0 On Thu, 05 Jan 2006 15:26:35 -0800, Sean Cousins wrote: On Fri, 06 Jan 2006 01:52:38 +1100, Alyssa wrote: Its got 3 120mm fans in it running at 7 volts. Do you really need three? I've got one 120mm in the rear running at 5v and no heat issues. At the most you should only need one in at the front and one out at the rear. |
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