|
I have a Harmony remote, is there a good IR... uh, receiver, that I can use with my HTPC? I'll be using a Vista w/ XBMC on top of that as the front end.
|
#
?
Feb 9, 2009 22:21
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 11:54 |
|
|
Does any sort of parts guide exist for HTPCs? I'm looking to dump some extra cash into a new HTPC for my living room. I'm willing to spend a bit more to increase stability and lessen heat and noise. Are the mini motherboards the way to go now? Are there any good sites with a build guide that contains current, up-to-date parts?
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2009 08:22
|
|
|
Have a look around on Toms Hardware...it tends to be quite good.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2009 20:02
|
|
|
Bender posted:Does any sort of parts guide exist for HTPCs? I'm looking to dump some extra cash into a new HTPC for my living room. I'm willing to spend a bit more to increase stability and lessen heat and noise.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2009 20:03
|
|
|
I really want to get an HTPC, but I have no head for getting all this frontend software up and running. I DO NOT WANT TO BUILD MY OWN HTPC, PLEASE DON'T SUGGEST A GUIDE! I've been looking at two HTPCs to buy: The Western Digital http://store.westerndigital.com/store/wdus/en_US/DisplayProductDetailsPage/categoryID.13092400/subCategory.13742300 The Popcorn Hour: http://www.popcornhour.com/onlinestore/index.php?module=onlinestore&pluginoption=catalog&task=info&item_id=6&main_id=0&category_id= My situation is that I just want a media box to hook up to the TV. There's a lot of pros and cons over each of them, and I'm wondering if anyone can recommend one over the other, or recommend a superior quality product. I really want to keep the price it under 250. I want to go with the Popcornhour because it has internet accessibility, (though it seems to be limited to a few sources) a wide range of outputs and specifically tells me what codecs it can support/use, but from what I've heard, it can be complicated to setup and use, especially with all of the features. On the other hand, the WD is cheaper, seems to have a nicer interface, but I don't get any kind of internet connectivity, I'm not too sure what files it can support, and it's limited to HDMI/Composite for output.
|
|
#
?
Feb 11, 2009 18:33
|
|
|
Ineffiable posted:I really want to get an HTPC, but I have no head for getting all this frontend software up and running. These really aren't HTPC's. Your question is probably better suited for the Popcorn Hour thread. That said, I believe the popcorn hour is better in that it can stream over the network and it has a team of very dedicated people behind it who are quick to put out firmware updates to fix problems. I can't imagine it is too difficult to set up, and I hear that Yet Another Media Jukebox helps out with the interface.
|
|
#
?
Feb 11, 2009 19:07
|
|
|
I got everything up and running, working great. I'm looking at buying some relatively inexpensive computer speakers to pair with my HTPC and LCD HDTV. I don't need anything really loud but I'd like it to fill my small-to-medium sized living room. I'd prefer a 2.1 setup unless there's a nice 5.1 that won't break the bank. Anyway, I've been considering the Logitech Z-2300 THX-Certified set for around 130 bucks shipped. I just want to know if there's anything better for the same price if not cheaper. http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Z-23...34223945&sr=8-1
|
|
#
?
Feb 11, 2009 20:11
|
|
|
Randi Challenger posted:I have a Harmony remote, is there a good IR... uh, receiver, that I can use with my HTPC? I'll be using a Vista w/ XBMC on top of that as the front end. Microsoft seems to have removed it from their website, but it is this one: http://www.compusa.com/applications/searchtools/item-details-print.asp?EdpNo=1644435&Sku=M17-7900
|
|
#
?
Feb 11, 2009 22:12
|
|
|
PeePot posted:The Microsoft "M17-7900" remote and IR receiver works well with my Harmony remote. Of course you'll have an extra remote. Bookmarked. Thanks, Im compiling a list for my HTPC rebuild.
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2009 00:29
|
|
|
Randi Challenger posted:Bookmarked. Thanks, Im compiling a list for my HTPC rebuild. My buddy bought two of these when experimenting with MCE 2005 in college, both of the remotes ended up dying. The receivers turned out to be great, though. I use one in the living room with a Harmony and another in my room with a 360 media remote. And if your Windows is new enough you don't even need to install a driver. You'll probably have good luck with it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2009 01:41
|
|
|
I'll probably step up to a HDTV once I get my tax return in a month or so but I'm wondering if I'll need an upgrade on HTPC to do 720p. (Right now the plan is to get a Samsung LN32A450 that can only do 720p.) AMD Athlon64 3200+ @ 2 ghz 2 gigs ram 9800 pro running MediaPortal 1.0 Right off the bat this can't handle 720p files. The audio desyncs after a few seconds. So then I got CoreAVC, figuring I'd probably want it even if I did upgrade. But I'm getting basically the same results. Maybe it audio takes a little longer to desync. And I'm pretty certain I've got ffdshow turned off and CoreAVC handling all the h.264 stuff. So my question is, should I be fiddling with more settings or is a 2 ghz A64 just not enough for 720?
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2009 18:54
|
|
|
A note for those who like CoreAVC that the 1.90 version has been released with CUDA support (hardware acceleration for Nvidia cards) Beta drivers (182.05) are needed, and it currently does not work for interlaced content.
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2009 19:28
|
|
|
el_caballo posted:I'll probably step up to a HDTV once I get my tax return in a month or so but I'm wondering if I'll need an upgrade on HTPC to do 720p. (Right now the plan is to get a Samsung LN32A450 that can only do 720p.) I may be mistaken, but doesn't the 9800 support dxva? Try downloading the mpc-hc standalone filters and enabling DXVA/avivo acceleration in the properties dialogue in graphedit/graphstudio. CoreAVC is good if you want the decoding to stay on CPU, but if you have gpu offloading available it seems almost silly not to use it. http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/DXVASupport.html
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2009 19:31
|
|
|
el_caballo posted:I'll probably step up to a HDTV once I get my tax return in a month or so but I'm wondering if I'll need an upgrade on HTPC to do 720p. (Right now the plan is to get a Samsung LN32A450 that can only do 720p.) Yes. its going to be pretty tough with what you have. Try overlay and verify that coreAVC is what's running, See if you can get it stable in media player classic or similar first before moving to mediaportal to make sure its nothing there holding it back.
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2009 19:32
|
|
|
TheScott2K posted:My buddy bought two of these when experimenting with MCE 2005 in college, both of the remotes ended up dying. The receivers turned out to be great, though. I use one in the living room with a Harmony and another in my room with a 360 media remote. And if your Windows is new enough you don't even need to install a driver. You'll probably have good luck with it. Yeah I have a nice Harmony already, so the remote will be stuffed into a drawer.
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2009 20:38
|
|
|
dfn_doe posted:I may be mistaken, but doesn't the 9800 support dxva? Try downloading the mpc-hc standalone filters and enabling DXVA/avivo acceleration in the properties dialogue in graphedit/graphstudio. CoreAVC is good if you want the decoding to stay on CPU, but if you have gpu offloading available it seems almost silly not to use it. Holy crap. Thanks. I just looked it up and it seems like it might. I figured it was too old for that. I'll give it a shot tonight.
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2009 20:58
|
|
|
Does anyone have any suggestions for an HTPC case with very low dimensions? Max Width 20", Max Depth 16"(although hopefully much less deep since there are cables and things to worry about)?
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2009 03:45
|
|
|
Skeesix posted:Does anyone have any suggestions for an HTPC case with very low dimensions? Max Width 20", Max Depth 16"(although hopefully much less deep since there are cables and things to worry about)? NSK 1480 Antec makes some real nice cases. This fits your specs, I believe. edit: Minuet 350 This one fits the bill, as well. And if you want to save some cash, or don't need a power supply, check the B-Stock they have. Usually the cases are half-off or more because someone opened the box then returned it. I've bought two like that and didn't have more then one or two scratches on either. Wood for Sheep fucked around with this message at 04:01 on Feb 15, 2009 |
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2009 03:55
|
|
|
Wood for Sheep posted:NSK 1480 I have a 2480 for my HTPC, really nice case and fits in nicely with other stereo gear.
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2009 02:26
|
|
|
I'm a big fan of antec cases, but the 1480 is 16.1 inches deep, the 2480 is 16.3 inches deep and the 350 is 16.8 inches deep. Are there any other solutions available?
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2009 19:50
|
|
|
The Lian-Li PC-C36 and PC-C37 are only 14.9" deep. In a few weeks the PC-C38 and PC-C39 models should be out as well which are basically the 36/37 models with a built-in IR receiver.
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2009 20:00
|
|
|
hec SECC 7K09 is 14.5" deep. Look around on newegg, they have a few other cheap cases that are smaller. Computer Cases > Media Center Cases. Another thought for you would be to get a good looking tower and have it sit next to the stand. Not ideal, I know, but with the right style of case it doesn't look tacky, imo.
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2009 21:43
|
|
|
Wood for Sheep posted:hec SECC 7K09 is 14.5" deep. Look around on newegg, they have a few other cheap cases that are smaller. Computer Cases > Media Center Cases. I did see that one. I wish they had a search by dimensions.
|
|
#
?
Feb 17, 2009 15:01
|
|
|
Any interesting concepts to replace the classical keyboard and mouse coming down the pipe? Something you can use on the couch. Concepts such as the ring-mouse http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=ring+mouse&gbv=2 e: just bought one of those and immediateley remorsed but fortunately my cc info was wrong Sid Meier Jr. fucked around with this message at 23:40 on Feb 17, 2009 |
|
#
?
Feb 17, 2009 22:57
|
|
|
Sid Meier Jr. posted:Any interesting concepts to replace the classical keyboard and mouse coming down the pipe? Something you can use on the couch. I sit on my couch with my laptop and use VNC to control the HTPC when my remote isn't enough. I've also seen somewhere a program to control the mouse with a remote but can't find it right now. I used to just use an RF wireless mouse/keyboard. There are some that have a trackball in the keyboard which are nice too. Wood for Sheep fucked around with this message at 23:11 on Feb 17, 2009 |
|
#
?
Feb 17, 2009 23:08
|
|
|
Sid Meier Jr. posted:Any interesting concepts to replace the classical keyboard and mouse coming down the pipe? Something you can use on the couch. Apple is coming out with something pretty cool.
|
|
#
?
Feb 17, 2009 23:47
|
|
|
shaitan posted:Apple is coming out with something pretty cool. Sad thing is, some people would line up for hours just to get one.
|
|
#
?
Feb 18, 2009 00:46
|
|
|
Anyone use GB-PVR? I'm having troubles installing it. It gets to the end of installation then it backtracks and reverses everything its done.
|
|
#
?
Feb 18, 2009 01:01
|
|
|
Is the 9800GT + an E8400 processor on 4GB of RAM not enough for HD playback? I use this computer hooked up to both a 1080p 42" plasma and this monitor and I can't even run 720p videos without random stuttering. With absolutely nothing running, using the latest CoreAVC (which makes use of hardware acceleration) with Haali's Video Renderer, and ffdshow audio, I get random points where the video will get choppy for a second and then just pause for 10+ seconds of total unresponsiveness. During that time, the CPU usage simply goes down to 2-3% until it unpauses, while it fluctuates between 25-60% usage outside of those times. I've tried every output option in MPC, various decoders and both 720p and 1080p sources, as well as turning this monitor off and making the TV the only one. It can't handle 1080p at all, with the stuttering/pausing happening almost once a minute. One of the biggest reasons I bought this computer was that my last one, which could handle 720p fine, just wasn't enough for 1080p. I was told by a ton of different people that my new computer is more than enough. Were they just wrong? I'm really stumped here.
|
|
#
?
Feb 18, 2009 10:21
|
|
|
An E8400 is enough to playback 1080p video without any gpu assistance. Hopefully you can find a solution because that's definitely not normal.
|
|
#
?
Feb 18, 2009 14:22
|
|
|
It sounds like you have a background process doing something very CPU heavy. Though, on an 8400 I'm not sure what this could be. Virus scans or indexing happening in the background when the stuttering happens? There is something wrong with the setup, I get 720p playback using an 2180 stutter-free.
|
|
#
?
Feb 18, 2009 18:04
|
|
|
Wood for Sheep posted:I've also seen somewhere a program to control the mouse with a remote but can't find it right now.
|
|
#
?
Feb 18, 2009 18:37
|
|
|
Loutre posted:Is the 9800GT + an E8400 processor on 4GB of RAM not enough for HD playback? I use this computer hooked up to both a 1080p 42" plasma and this monitor and I can't even run 720p videos without random stuttering. Are you playing back files from your local disk or across a network? Sounds like an I/O bottleneck, not a CPU/GPU one
|
|
#
?
Feb 18, 2009 19:56
|
|
|
Loutre posted:Is the 9800GT + an E8400 processor on 4GB of RAM not enough for HD playback? I use this computer hooked up to both a 1080p 42" plasma and this monitor and I can't even run 720p videos without random stuttering. Can we start a new thread with some of this stuff stickied? I swear every page of this thread includes almost this exact question.... Use graphedit or graph studio to assemble the exact filter graph you want to use. Double check the properties pages for any filter you use. Be aware that the "hardware acceleration" that coreavc does is Cuda offloading which is different than avivo or purevideo video acceleration. I've personally never bothered with coreavc since it has always been targeted as the "fastest software decoder" which doesn't really speak to it's suitability for leveraging hardware acceleration. Your system specs look more than sufficient for playing back any high-def 1080[pi]/720p video that is in vc-1 or x264. Try downloading the mpc-hc standalone directshow filters and playing your video through those in graphedit with hardware accel enabled in the properites box. Also during the windowsed playback you should open the performance viewer (or whatever the hell microsoft is calling it these days) and watch for processor utilization as well as disk i/o.
|
|
#
?
Feb 18, 2009 20:36
|
|
|
vanilla slimfast posted:Are you playing back files from your local disk or across a network? Sounds like an I/O bottleneck, not a CPU/GPU one Harddrive; but I just put a particularly bad 1080p video on my tiny secondary drive, and it runs flawlessly through the most action-heavy parts. Looks like I'm going to have to figure out what the gently caress's going on with my main HD. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 18, 2009 21:18
|
|
|
Loutre posted:Harddrive; but I just put a particularly bad 1080p video on my tiny secondary drive, and it runs flawlessly through the most action-heavy parts. I kept running into issues like yours, and ran HD Tune, and found out I was taking massive I/O hits every 30 or 40 seconds. I was not getting this behavior on my secondary drive. You could have spyware or other badware that's making I/O hits, or it could just be windows being retarded.
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2009 18:27
|
|
|
UndyingShadow posted:I kept running into issues like yours, and ran HD Tune, and found out I was taking massive I/O hits every 30 or 40 seconds. I was not getting this behavior on my secondary drive. You could have spyware or other badware that's making I/O hits, or it could just be windows being retarded. Average speed on secondary drive: 45MB/sec. Average speed on main drive: 4MB/sec.  thanks for the tip on HD Tune. Edit: Got it off of PIO mode, so its average speed is about 60 now, but both harddrives are spiking down to nearly 0mb/s every 20-30 seconds. Loutre fucked around with this message at 21:03 on Feb 19, 2009 |
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2009 18:53
|
|
|
iluvpr0n posted:This AVS Forum thread. Wow that was actually useful. Normally I am pretty negative about AVSforum but I hadn't realized there was finally a affordable ITX board with HDMI and PCIE. Time for a new media center! Juriko fucked around with this message at 22:15 on Feb 19, 2009 |
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2009 22:12
|
|
|
Loutre posted:Average speed on secondary drive: 45MB/sec. Average speed on main drive: 4MB/sec. Okay, now we get into the ugly stuff. Download Procmon from Sysinternals (now Microsoft) and run it, it should help you figure out what's spiking your hard drive
|
|
#
?
Feb 20, 2009 01:24
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 11:54 |
|
|
Loutre posted:Average speed on secondary drive: 45MB/sec. Average speed on main drive: 4MB/sec. They aren't newer Seagate drives are they?
|
|
#
?
Feb 20, 2009 07:01
|
|