Building a HTPC

Building a Home Theater Personal Computer (HTPC)
“The nuts and bolts of your HTPC.”
by Marc Bacon

My companion article in this issue of ComputorEdge is an overview of what makes up a Home Theater Personal Computer (HTPC) and describes some of the software that is available. In this article I will get into the details of the HTPC I built last year and the logic I used to pick components. At the end of this feature is a list of the components I used—however, most are no longer available. I recommend special issues of two magazines that get into the nuts and bolts of building a computer. One is Maximum PC‘s “Build the Perfect PC,” June/July 2010, and PCGAMER‘s “2010 PC Builders Bible.” These magazines are on the rack at your favorite bookstore until July 13 and 20 respectively.

Do Your Homework

The three most important things in picking components are to read the reviews, read all the reviews, and read as many reviews as you can. It is important to understand that a small percentage of components will be dead on arrival and others will suffer infant mortality. When you see a very bad review, notice how many good reviews there are and what the overall rating is. Also, some builders have very little experience and make mistakes that other reviewers will identify. I think first-time builders who have not had any experience changing out hardware would benefit from a class on building a computer and might be able to find a community or technical college in their area that offers a continuing education course on the subject. Or maybe you have a friend or relative with hardware experience who would be willing to offer their assistance.

As I stated in my other piece, I investigated building or buying my HTPC. It did not take long to realize that my budget and the required technical specifications would require that I build the machine. To recap, I needed a machine that would function as an HTPC as well as be my machine for typical household PC tasks. The minimum I figured I needed was a dual-core processor, four gigabytes of memory, a terabyte of disk space, a Blu-ray player and a graphics card that could support Blu-ray resolutions. All of this needed to go into an HTPC case that would fit in the entertainment center. For the operating system I decided to go with Vista Home Premium, which included Windows Media Center, which I had used in an earlier laptop. Of course today I would go with Windows 7 Home Premium, which still includes Windows Media Center.

My machine is not a screaming gaming rig, but a very capable one I built for $1,200. This did not include the main monitor since I already had an HDTV and the second USB tuner stick—which I already owned. My wife was intent on holding me to the $1,200—including shipping charges—and she succeeded. During the year and a half it has been in operation, my HTPC has proven capable and reliable. I have frequently recorded two HD programs at the same time while watching a third HD recording. I have had a total of two failures: a hard drive that died during OS installation and a cooling fan that died after a year. Newegg refunded my money on the hard drive, and I replaced it with a one-terabyte drive. I replaced the fan with a spare from an older computer.

If you decide to build your own, make sure you buy items that have a lot of reviews. Read as many as you can so you will have a good chance of choosing components that will both meet your requirements and be reliable. If you shop online, take advantage of the site’s wish list feature. When you find components you think will work for you, save it to the wish list. Otherwise you will move on to something else and lose track of that perfect component and never find it again. In some cases you may want multiple wish lists.

If you start shopping online, you will see components that are labeled as either Retail or OEM, which stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer. The OEM items will be cheaper, but for a reason. For hardware, this means you will not get a pretty retail box like you would get if you bought it at an electronics store or superstore, but it is the identical item. You do not get any fancy manuals, cables or free software. For instance, I purchased OEM disk drives and they came as bare drives protected by a few layers of bubble wrap in the box with all the other small components. There was no partitioning software or cables. I knew that the motherboard I was getting had extra SATA cables, the power supply would have power cables and the OS install would format and partition the drive.

If you are new to computer components, you may want to spend the extra money and get the retail package, but check for prices online (and at local computer parts dealers) before you buy. If you are getting multiple items, get one in Retail packaging and the duplicates in OEM packaging. For the operating system you will qualify for the OEM price if you buy even one component for building a computer, such as a SATA cable. You may have a few extra steps to complete during installation, you will not get support from Microsoft and the license is not transferable.

HTPC Components

CPU: When I built my machine, the Intel i series had just come out and there were very few motherboards available for that chip. I went with a Core2 quad processor that was proven technology at the time. The number of programs that can take advantage of multiple cores is increasing, so I recommend a CPU with the maximum number of cores and the highest speed you can afford. Be sure to find reviews for CPUs from several manufacturers and do not assume that because one CPU has a higher speed that it is actually faster.

Motherboard: You can get a lot of motherboard for a good price; however, do not sacrifice future upgrades by being too cheap. If you choose your CPU first, it will narrow down the possible motherboards. Today I would make sure to get one with USB 3.0 and SATA 3.0 ports and DDR3 memory. You can still get motherboards that support the Intel Core2; however, I would consider the Intel i series.

CPU Cooler: Buy an aftermarket cooling fan for about $30 to keep your CPU significantly cooler than the stock fan. Do not spend too much on a cooling fan or a water cooling system unless you expect to do a lot of overclocking, because my system is performing very well.

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium comes with Windows Media Center for recording TV. I would consider Linux with Myth TV as an alternative OS. I have reserved about 75 percent of my disk space for Linux and hope to build a Linux HTPC in the near future. If I do, I will write about my experience.

Digital Video Recorder Software: I found Microsoft Media Center to be an adequate DVR tool, but found SnapStream Beyond TV (www.snapstream.com/products/beyondtv/) to be a better product; however, it costs $100. Beyond TV cannot run as a service with the All-In-Wonder graphics card I used, so it’s necessary to always have a user logged into the PC for recording.

Graphics Card: The nice thing about my graphics card is that it has dual-monitor support via HDMI and DVI outputs and an onboard tuner card. The primary HDTV/monitor is used for watching video via the HDMI output, while the smaller secondary HDTV/monitor sits next to the couch and is connected via a 25-foot VGA cable. Unfortunately, I have not been able to get Beyond TV to play on the secondary monitor. The reason may be that VGA cables are not HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) compliant. You need to make sure all your components are HDCP compliant or you will not be able to watch copyrighted video without some illegal techniques. This applies to the graphics card, HDMI cable and HDTV. (HDCP is anti-piracy technology that inconveniences the honest user while doing nothing to stop piracy of copyrighted video and audio.)

I had some problems with sound dying when I turned the TV off and then back on. To solve the problem I did a search on “ATI” and “no sound” and found the answer. I had to disable the ATI External Event Utility Service. Sometimes you have to search for solutions to problems, but the answer is usually out there in the ether.

Memory: Get as much memory as you can afford now realizing that you can add more later. Most motherboards today use DDR3 memory and the older DDR2 is getting more expensive.

Power Supply—Make sure you get a big enough power supply for the components you are buying. Also, choose a modular one that allows you to plug in the minimum number of cables instead of having a huge bundle of every possible cable you may need permanently attached to the power supply. The case is going to be full enough without having to tuck away miles of wire that is not used.

Disk Drive: A one-terabyte disk can hold about 142 hours of HDTV, so get as much as you can afford. There are some fast two-terabyte drives available, but they will cost about three times more than a slower one-terabyte drive. These drives are almost as fast as a 10,000-RPM disk. The slower drives I use perform great; however, I do store recordings on a separate drive from the one with the OS and all the software.

Blu-ray Player: Unless you have a need to burn 20-plus gigabytes to a video disc, I would go with a combo Blu-ray Disc (BD) player and DVD and CD-ROM burner. This will allow you to watch movies on Blu-ray and burn DVDs and CD-ROMs. The prices are coming down for both BD burners ($169) and writable discs ($2.70 each), so you may opt for the BD burner.

HTPC Case: In most instances, you will want a case that can be placed in an entertainment cabinet and will have to be horizontal rather than a tower case. If you investigate cases that are described as HTPC cases you will find what you need. The reviews will help you get a case that will hold all the components you intend to install.

Input Devices—If you get a wireless keyboard and mouse, you will be able to sit on the couch and do things on your HTPC such as surfing the net to stream that TV program you missed the other day.

Monitors: I really like working with two monitors on my job; however, I find two indispensable when it comes to an HTPC. I use a 42-inch 1080 HDTV as my main monitor for watching movies, TV and other video feeds. I have a 22-inch 1080 HDTV I use as a monitor next to the couch. As a matter of fact, I am using my wireless keyboard and mouse and the 22-inch HDTV to write this article while watching TV on the big screen.

My HTPC Parts List

1. CPU—Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600.

2. Mother Board—GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel.

3. CPU Cooling Fan—ARCTIC COOLING ALPINE 7 92mm CPU Cooler.

4. OS—Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders.

5. Graphics/TV Tuner—All-In-Wonder – DIAMOND AIWHD3650PM Radeon HD 3650 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready All-in-Wonder Video Card (with wireless remote).

6. Memory—PNY XLR8 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model MD4096KD2-800-X4.

7. Disk Storage (X2)—Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5″ Internal Hard Drive-Bare Drive.

8. Blu-ray Player—LG Black Blu-ray/HD DVD-ROM & 16X DVD±R DVD Burner SATA Model GGC-H20L.

9. Second TV Tuner—Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-950Q TV Tuner Stick/Hybrid Video Recorder with Remote Control 1191 USB 2.0 Interface.

10. HTPC Case—Thermaltake Black Aluminum / Steel Bach Media Lab.

11. Power Supply—Thermaltake TR2 RX W0134RU 550W ATX12V Ver2.2 SLI Ready Modular Passive PFC PFC Power Supply.

12. Wireless Keyboard and Mouse—Rocketfish Bluetooth RF-BTKB2 keyboard and TF-8TMSE2 mouse.

13. Primary Monitor—42″ 1080p HDTV.

14. Secondary Monitor—22″ 1080i HDTV.

15. Replacement Hard Drive—Western Digital Caviar Green WD15EARS 1.5TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5″ Internal Hard Drive-Bare Drive.

16. Alternative DVR Software —SnapStream Beyond TV 4.