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vanilla slimfast posted:Digital or analog? Does this behavior happen with HD or SD content or both? Digital; SD content.
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Jan 8, 2008 20:59
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As promised here are some shots of the VFD on my Antec Fusion (version 1 w/o ir sensor) I had to turn the flash off as the reflection of the screen totally obscured it, so keep in mind how dark the rest of the picture is IS actually a fully lit room.     Click for big... P.S. before some wiseguy makes a "vista=low uptime" joke, I just updated my video driver and required a reboot...
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Jan 9, 2008 06:35
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dfn_doe posted:As promised here are some shots of the VFD on my Antec Fusion (version 1 w/o ir sensor) I had to turn the flash off as the reflection of the screen totally obscured it, so keep in mind how dark the rest of the picture is IS actually a fully lit room. Oh god, I wish I had that display in my Fusion case. I got the nasty blue on blue LCD, as can be seen here: http://www.insanegenius.com/fusionblack/ However, you really need to see the blurriness in motion to appreciate how unreadable it is.
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Jan 9, 2008 06:49
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Gromit posted:Oh god, I wish I had that display in my Fusion case. I got the nasty blue on blue LCD, as can be seen here: http://www.insanegenius.com/fusionblack/ Oh god, I have the same model. I stupidly went for black without reading about the LCD. It's unreadable from more than five feet. Why would they even have a different display than the silver one? Why not JUST change the color like a normal case manufacturer. drat you to hell, Antec.
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Jan 9, 2008 15:04
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dfn_doe posted:As promised here are some shots of the VFD on my Antec Fusion (version 1 w/o ir sensor) I had to turn the flash off as the reflection of the screen totally obscured it, so keep in mind how dark the rest of the picture is IS actually a fully lit room. This is the same display as on the Fusion 2 (Silver) that I've got, looks like exactly the same but without the IR receiver. I don't think it's too bad really, if it didn't lock up all the time.
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Jan 9, 2008 15:18
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Can anyone suggest a good, as close to silent CPU heatsink/fan that will fit in an Antec Fusion case?
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Jan 9, 2008 17:47
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Bender posted:Can anyone suggest a good, as close to silent CPU heatsink/fan that will fit in an Antec Fusion case? I've got the Thermaltake Ruby Orb in mine, without the fan plugged in. The size of the heatsink and the 2x120mm case fans right next to it mean it's able to keep my X2 4000+ at around 40 degrees most of the time. It may depend slightly on the motherboard choice, if they've moved the location of the CPU socket wildly then you might have problems.
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Jan 9, 2008 18:09
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SFrost007 posted:I've got the Thermaltake Ruby Orb in mine, without the fan plugged in. The size of the heatsink and the 2x120mm case fans right next to it mean it's able to keep my X2 4000+ at around 40 degrees most of the time. It may depend slightly on the motherboard choice, if they've moved the location of the CPU socket wildly then you might have problems. Awesome, thanks a lot. That's exactly the processor I'll be using.
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Jan 9, 2008 18:15
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Bender posted:Can anyone suggest a good, as close to silent CPU heatsink/fan that will fit in an Antec Fusion case? If you really want silence you could probably get away with a fanless Scythe Ninja Mini: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article754-page5.html
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Jan 9, 2008 19:22
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Wiseblood posted:If you really want silence you could probably get away with a fanless Scythe Ninja Mini: I have one of these in my newly built HTPC and it is indeed silent.
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Jan 9, 2008 22:38
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Bender posted:Can anyone suggest a good, as close to silent CPU heatsink/fan that will fit in an Antec Fusion case? I use the stock gear and never hear it. I'm using an older Q6600, so whatever HSF that came with, I guess.
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Jan 10, 2008 00:09
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I'm having a bitch of a time finding a case and motherboard combination that'll do what I want. I'm trying to fit an HTPC into a piece of furniture designed for a flat panel TV. There's very little depth. I can pull off 37 cm (13.5in) of depth and around 26-27 cm (10in) of height. That has to include the space for cables and connections in the back of the unit. A Shuttle SG33G5 would do it with room to spare, but I've heard bad things about the power supply fan being irritating. I don't want to have to chase down a replacement power supply for a custom form factor PC if I don't have to. It's too bad, because otherwise it's a perfect little device for what I want. Does anyone know of any other options? I can't find a small case that doesn't seem like a complete bastard of a beast to deal with, and I'm hoping to fit two hard drives in. I've been digging through ncix, and there's no way to search by case size, which is irritating. It's possible I've missed something neat and obvious.
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Jan 10, 2008 10:00
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Have you looked at any of the Silverstone products? I have one of their larger cases (the silver version of the LC13) and while a bit expensive, they are really, really nice. Some of their smaller stuff might be up your alley.
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Jan 10, 2008 15:26
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Explosm posted:Digital; SD content. Ok, so you have your comcast cable hooked directly up to the tuner card via the digital port, and you are tuning/recording unencrypted QAM content? If that's the case, it seems odd that this would have performance problems as compared to analog capture. Since I don't really know anything about vista media center, my only suggestion would be to pull up some kind of performance monitoring software, and watch and see what happens every time the stuttering is experienced. It may simply be a driver problem with the capture card, or some kind of compatability/conflict? I'm just shooting in the dark here. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful v:)v
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Jan 10, 2008 17:09
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Wiseblood posted:If you really want silence you could probably get away with a fanless Scythe Ninja Mini: I ended up ordering one of these. I'm confident (hopeful) passive cooling will be good enough. The 120MM fan millimeters away should be ample. I've got a passively cooled video card, and now a passively cooled CPU. I've also got a spare Corsair PSU lying around in case the stock PSU from that case is too loud.
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Jan 10, 2008 19:22
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SubCrid TC posted:I'm having a bitch of a time finding a case and motherboard combination that'll do what I want. I'm trying to fit an HTPC into a piece of furniture designed for a flat panel TV. There's very little depth. I just got my Shuttle SG33G5M and popped in a Q6600 (2.4g quadcore) with 4 gigs of ram and it barely hums. Haven't put in a video card yet though. Pretty quiet to my ear. EDIT: The projector (Benq W500) plus Shuttle SG33G5M looks pretty amazing, though the fire-alarm in the corner of the wall kind of ruins the wall-as-screen effect. Getting a screen for the same size would cost over 1000$ however. I had to send the HD-DVDrom I bought for 150$ back because the tray would not eject out of the computer case properly. The replacement cost twice as much but supports blu-ray as well. There is a HQV chip in the projector which upscales DVD (480p/i -> 720p) and it looks great. Unfortunately the whole setup is on the edge of the kitchen counter, so I need some kind of furniture which will shield the cabling from kitchen activities. Sometimes having a small apt. really sucks. Now I just need curtains. sigma 6 fucked around with this message at 00:11 on Jan 11, 2008 |
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Jan 10, 2008 23:27
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sigma 6 posted:I just got my Shuttle SG33G5M and popped in a Q6600 (2.4g quadcore) with 4 gigs of ram and it barely hums. Haven't put in a video card yet though. Would you mind posting pics of the shuttle? I'm thinking of buying one but I can never tell just how big they are. I mean, I know the dimensions but actually seeing it with a frame of reference would help me out.
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Jan 11, 2008 00:38
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Sure. Right now it is a pretty crude setup since I don't have any furniture for it. The projector is sitting on top of a large cooler for example. The VFD is nice and easy to read but I haven't played with the settings yet. HDMI works fine, so does the optical audio / SPDIF. It is a pretty small unit overall but I will put some DVD cases next to it so you get a sense of scale. What attracted me to it most is that I could put a quadcore in it and max out the ram to 4gigs. Also - it is BUILT for HTPC stuff. The onboard intel chipset WILL output HD through HDMI. Even comes with a remote for media center, though I don't think there is a win64 media edition and I flat out refuse to use vista. Would rather use Meedio or MythTV over VistaMCE or MCE05. Since I don't pay for TV (rather dload it) this is kind of moot anyways. My only regret is not buying the deluxe version. For 100$ more I could have had a built in wireless NIC, bluetooth and I (think) a fingerprint reader. Now I kind of wish I had done that since I don't really want to run CAT5 across the room and a bluetooth wireless keyboard/mouse combo would have been nice. http://us.shuttle.com/G5_3300m.aspx Can't figure out which HD DVD roms are supported but definitely DON'T get the Asus drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827135161 IT WILL NOT FIT! I just picked this up as a replacement: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16827136133 It plays both Blu ray and HD DVDs but cost twice as much. I will post pics tonight, when I get home from work.
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Jan 11, 2008 02:41
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Can anyone briefly detail how to get Milkdrop working as a visualizer in Media Portal? I tried to follow a thread on the MP discussion board, but every time I select Milkdrop as the visualizer in MP Config it shows the visualizer idle in full screen and then crashes my computer. I've put all the Milkdrop files into the media portal visualizer plugins folder, but beyond that it just keeps crashing. Also, is there any way to make old versions of G-Force work as a visualizer in Media Portal? I have the old 2.x version which works great in iTunes and such, but I can't get MP to recognize it. I downloaded the trial for 3.7x and it seemed to work, but since it's the trial version it nags and nags and nags. I can't upgrade to the new versions of G-Force without dropping $20 or so, and I'd prefer to avoid that.
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Jan 11, 2008 03:24
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Screw it, I bought the Shuttle SG33G5M barebones system just now. None of the silverstone stuff was really a good fit. I looked around for another day or so before deciding that it was dumb and the Shuttle was pretty much the exact feature set and size that I needed. If I have trouble with the fan, I'm willing to dick around with it and install something else. Ended up buying it from Premiere Computer because NCIX's prices on Shuttles are $80 higher, and they don't seem to really stock them. They don't have the M variant either. It's too bad, because the NCIX warehouse is a block and a half from my office and when I order from them I can walk down and pick it up when they've finished processing it. I'll pick up some memory, a CPU and tuner card this weekend and then just toss in my hard drives and the DVD drive I'll be using until I decide if I want to buy the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray combo drive. SnatchRabbit, I've attached a photo of the SG33G5M that gives a great sense of scale. The extended CD gives you a reference. Sigma, don't worry about the deluxe stuff The stupid fingerprint reader junk is almost completely useless for 98% of people, most bluetooth keyboards come with their own USB adapter, and you can get a cheap wireless USB NIC for $30 or a better one for slightly more.
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Jan 11, 2008 17:12
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Thanks for the pic. The barebones model you listed still comes with the remote and LED display? I really want to use it with my Harmony remote.
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Jan 11, 2008 17:44
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SG33G5 - Standard SG33G5 Pro - Standard plus Fingerprint scanner and some system to transfer files between computers via USB SG33G5M - Standard plus front panel display and remote SG33G5M Deluxe - SG33G5M plus fingerprint scanner, USB file transfer dealie, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a different power supply. Their website has complete specs on everything. If you go to https://www.shuttle.com and then find the model you want to look at you can click on the specifications link in the product details and it'll give you a long list of what's included. There may be some other minor differences between the SG33G5 and SG33G5M, but if there are, they're nothing significant. I got the SG33G5M because the integrated IR receiver is nice and the price difference between the SG33G5 and SG33G for me was less than buying my own remote and IR receiver would be. I'll probably just turn off the display because lights irritate me when I'm trying to watch movies in the dark. T.C. fucked around with this message at 18:09 on Jan 11, 2008 |
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Jan 11, 2008 18:07
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Sorry - I passed out and forgot to post.  Haven't figured out a way to turn off the VFD or bright blue light on the center, but they don't bother me much - I have a pretty bright projector now  I would definitely pay extra for the bluetooth, wireless, and PSU now. Oh well - it won't cost too much to fix but ultimately probably would have been cheaper if I had gone deluxe. The VFD and remote were important to me however. Also sorry bout the blurry pics. It was late. Keys, pencil and remotes there for scale ref. SnatchRabbit: Let me know how it goes with the harmony remote. I am thinking of picking one up. sigma 6 fucked around with this message at 19:46 on Jan 11, 2008 |
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Jan 11, 2008 19:38
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Will do. I actually checked the device database that comes with the Harmony software and Shuttle is listed right there under Media Center PCs, so I'm assuming that it should work just fine. Will find out for sure once I get my unit, though.
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Jan 11, 2008 19:54
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sigma 6 posted:Sorry - I passed out and forgot to post. I'm assuming you can effectively turn off the VFD by using the Shuttle XPC Tools utility. It lets you select what it shows. So if you just deselect everything I would assume it won't show anything at all. Once I have the system I'll dig around inside and see if I can find a good way to disconnect the light, otherwise I'll just throw a piece of tape over it like I had to on my TV.
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Jan 11, 2008 20:02
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SubCrid TC posted:I'm assuming you can effectively turn off the VFD by using the Shuttle XPC Tools utility. It lets you select what it shows. So if you just deselect everything I would assume it won't show anything at all. Once I have the system I'll dig around inside and see if I can find a good way to disconnect the light, otherwise I'll just throw a piece of tape over it like I had to on my TV. A good way, if you know you will never want it, is to just simply snip the wire inside the case. Just make sure you know which wire you're cutting, but it's fairly simple to figure out. Just follow the wires to where they go.
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Jan 11, 2008 20:37
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Wood for Sheep posted:A good way, if you know you will never want it, is to just simply snip the wire inside the case. Just make sure you know which wire you're cutting, but it's fairly simple to figure out. Just follow the wires to where they go. or just unplug it....
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Jan 11, 2008 20:41
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LMK what you guys decide on in terms of a graphics card. I blew a lot of money on the projector + SFF so I am going to have to wait until next pay day for the video card. A passively cooled, high-end nvidia with HDMI would be ideal but I am most concerned that whatever card it will be will fit in the case. Here is the compatibility list again: http://global.shuttle.com/support_list03.jsp?PI=873 BTW - the newest BIOS update supports 45n "Penryn" CPUS.
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Jan 11, 2008 21:33
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I'm going to play with it for a bit before I decide whether I need to get something more than the onboard graphics. I doubt I'll need to. I'm not doing anything intensive. I might install a HDDVD/Blu-Ray drive and then I'll need to be able to decode them, but the description of the system seems to imply that the onboard + CPU can do that for me. Basically, I'll only add something if I run into an actual application that the existing won't handle.
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Jan 11, 2008 22:08
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sigma 6 posted:LMK what you guys decide on in terms of a graphics card. I blew a lot of money on the projector + SFF so I am going to have to wait until next pay day for the video card. A passively cooled, high-end nvidia with HDMI would be ideal but I am most concerned that whatever card it will be will fit in the case. Not Nvidia, butI've been eyeing this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127298
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Jan 11, 2008 22:34
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Question about sound cards: I want to be able to connect my HTPC to my receiver via an optical or coaxial S/PDIF connection. Can anyone recommend me a card that does this well in XP and/or Vista? Maybe there's some site somewhere that has a review roundup of various HTPC sound cards? Also, if I go this route, will I be able to get all sounds from the computer out of this connection? Or will it only output from specific applications that make use of it? Thanks.
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Jan 11, 2008 22:56
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Bender posted:Question about sound cards: I think most mother boards these days have optical out and can do this without issue. I have a toslink cable running from my HTPC to my receiver and can output DD and DTS without issue. For things not encoded in a surround format the signal just gets passed through as stereo and the receiver handles it however you want. The most important thing is setting up all of your audio and video codecs so that they know to just pass through the signal.
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Jan 11, 2008 23:10
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.Nathan. posted:I think most mother boards these days have optical out and can do this without issue. I have a toslink cable running from my HTPC to my receiver and can output DD and DTS without issue. For things not encoded in a surround format the signal just gets passed through as stereo and the receiver handles it however you want. The most important thing is setting up all of your audio and video codecs so that they know to just pass through the signal. My motherboard doesn't have that, unfortunately. Is there a codec pack you recommend that makes it easy to setup pass through like that?
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Jan 11, 2008 23:20
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I am a 3d modeler, so I am looking for the strongest thing which can fit in the case and not run too hot / loud. I guess I could put a low end quadro in there but I am not quite that rich, and I think the higher end gaming cards are often almost as good anyways. EDIT: SnatchRabbit: Looks like a pretty good card. I am concerned about the heatsink coming off the back and out the side. quote:In an Antec Fusion case this card is millimeters too tall and the case cover rests on the heatpipes. This could be seen as a plus as it lets the pipes dissipate on the case. I am sure this is really a case by case basis but it is note worthy. Random question: Is there such thing as a digital audio / SPDIF switchbox? I have only one digital audio output from the shuttle but I have a speaker system and a wireless headphone set which both take digital audio EDIT2: This is the CPU I would have bought if I had known it was compatible. I believe the newest BIOS update makes this possible. Quadcore 2.66@1333mhz FSB - Q9450 Well worth the extra money if you can actually find one!! sigma 6 fucked around with this message at 00:35 on Jan 12, 2008 |
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Jan 11, 2008 23:20
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I'm running Media Portal and after updating my outdated ATI drivers from Catalyst Control Center 6.4 to 7.12 i've been having weird little hiccups with h264/x264 files. Every 5 to 10 seconds the video looks like it skips a few frames and jumps forward. I reinstalled CCC 6.4, FFDShow, CoreAVC, Haali, and VSFilter and the issue's still there. What the hell did i do and how can i fix it? I'm running an ATI X300SE on a P4 3ghz. Not the best set-up, but it was handling 720p x264s fine until i updated CCC. Any ideas would be great.
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Jan 12, 2008 02:44
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I'm on Vista using its media center on my HTPC. Is it worth it to downgrade to XP (cheap since I'm a student) and install Media Portal? Is there any icing on the cake level poo poo that makes MP better than MC?
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Jan 12, 2008 19:05
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Bender posted:My motherboard doesn't have that, unfortunately. I use this with my HTPC, works a treat and just hangs off a usb port. http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/micro/home.aspx
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Jan 12, 2008 22:34
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Explosm posted:I'm on Vista using its media center on my HTPC. Is it worth it to downgrade to XP (cheap since I'm a student) and install Media Portal? IMO Media Portal is leaps and bounds better than MC as a HTPC frontend. If you've ever used XBMC on an original modded xbox, media portal is essentially that on a pc.
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Jan 13, 2008 04:27
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mattfl posted:IMO Media Portal is leaps and bounds better than MC as a HTPC frontend. If you've ever used XBMC on an original modded xbox, media portal is essentially that on a pc. That's great to hear. Does MP offer anything over MythTV? The reason I ask is that I wanted to set up my HTPC for a dual boot with XP and Ubuntu with MP and MythTV. If there's no real difference between the two I might just use XP/MP exclusively. Does MP allow you to stream media remotely outside of your network, like listening my music at work? Anyone wanna critique my potential setup? Because I'm going with a shuttle PC case because of space, IR and display. It has an integrated 3100 chipset which is kinda crappy for my purposes. Probably going to dual boot XP and Ubuntu and use Media Portal/MythTV. Already have DVD and HDD drives. I'd like to try and keep the price down as much as possible. I originally wanted to keep it under $600. Is there anywhere I could cut costs without taking a performance hit? The only sticking points are the case and video card I think. I might consider axing the tuner card for DVR. Shuttle SG33G5M Intel Socket T(LGA775) Intel Core 2 Quad / Core 2 Duo / Celeron 400 Intel G33 VFD remote control Barebone - Retail -$10.00 Instant $369.99 $359.99 Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 150 MCE 274 PCI Interface Tuner Card - Retail $59.99 MSI RX2600XT-T2D512EZ Radeon HD 2600XT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDMI HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Silent Heat Pipe Video Card - Retail $20.00 Mail-in Rebate $119.99 CORSAIR 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory Model VS2GB667D2 - Retail -$10.00 Instant $10.00 Mail-in Rebate $54.99 $44.99 Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 Allendale 2.2GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E4500 - Retail $124.99 TOTAL Tax +Shipping $779.80 SnatchRabbit fucked around with this message at 16:05 on Jan 13, 2008 |
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Jan 13, 2008 05:36
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SnatchRabbit posted:Anyone wanna critique my potential setup? I'll preface this with a disclaimer. None of my builds have actually made it out of a NewEgg shopping cart, so I'm far from an authority here. But, I'm in the same boat as you are with trying to keep costs down. I was set a barebones Shuttle until I realized it was far more expensive than some of the other options. I've been going back and forth between these two. Granted, neither of them built in IR or a display quite as fancy as yours, but I'll bet you can cut upwards of $100 while at least maintaining your current specs and leaving room for more expansion in the future. To compare, my cart right now comes out to $592.38 after shipping but before $35 in mail in rebates. You do have a better processor than I'm thinking about (AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+), but I've got a hard drive, HD tuner and DVD drive too. But again, I'm still figuring things out, so I may be way off here.
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Jan 13, 2008 21:01
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