Andy VT just posted up a blog post about his main HTPC specs so I though I’d post up mine.
Case: Antec Sonata II I love this case, in fact I own 4 of them. One for this HTPC, one for my WHS box, one for my main Office PC, and one for a spare just incase I need one later on. Comes with 450watt low noise, very efficient antec PSU. comes with 1 x 120mm fan, but is fitted to accept a second 120mm fan for the HDD rack in the front side of the case. I run 2 low speed, ultra quiet 120mm fans, that keep the system cool and at the same time keep it quiet. Most HTPC enthusiasts like to have AV rack style HTPC cases that can fit in their AV rack and look good, for me less is more, and not seeing the HTPC or hearing it, is a higher priority. Function over form goes a long way.
Mobo: Asus M3A78 PRO full ATX AMD 780G I chose this mobo as its a full ATX mob that allows me to get additonal PCIe and PCI slots so that I could run all 4 internal tuner cards and still have a spare PCI slot for future expansion, possibly a sound card that supports bit stream HDMI audio.
CPU: AMD Phenom 9850 BLACK EDITION 2.5GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core (stock HSF) I am running this quad core in my HTPC as a friend of mine purchased this and didn’t confirm if it would work with the mobo he ordered at the same time, however it didn’t work and the CPU I was running (AMD 4850e 45watt AM2 chip) would work with his system and the mobo I ordered would support the quad core we just did a cpu swap, ended up getting the better deal.
RAM: 4 gigs GeIL Esoteria 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Since I am only running 32-bit Vista I decided to only go with 4gigs as 512mb of the 4gigs is shared with the onboard video, so I am using all 4gigs without waste.
Video card: SAPPHIRE 100234L Radeon HD 3450 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 used in crossfire mode with the AMD 780G mobo
HDD: 2 X Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive 1 X Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EACS 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive one 500gig HDD for OS, one 500gig HDD for direct DVR storage, 1 1TB HDD for DVR recordings after they have been processes and commercials removed.
Blu-Ray/HD DVD Drive: LG Black LG Blu-ray/HD DVD-ROM & 16X DVD±R DVD Burner SATA Model GGC-H20LK got this on sale, normally don’t use the drive but for the few blu-ray and hd dvd movies I own, it works for what I need.
Tuner Cards: 2 X AVerMedia M780 PCIe hybrid tuner 2 x Vista View Sabar DA-1n1-I PCI hybrid tuner 1 X Silicon Dust HD Homerun network based dual ATSC/QAM tuner (6 ATSC tuners, 4 NTSC tuners)
Operating System: Windows Vista Ultimate 32-Bit
Software: Arcsoft Total Media Theater, Slysoft Any DVD HD, FFdshow, Haali Media Splitter, Lifextender, Media Player Classic Home Cinema. I don’t install any unnecessary software on my PC. You will find very little extra software on my Media Center PC. FFdshow and Haali is all I install for codec support. Arcsoft and AnyDVD HD are used for Blu-Ray and HD DVD playback. Lifextender is for commercial skipping.
For the main GUI, DVR, and media interface I use the built in Vista Media Center, that is part of Vista Home Premium and Vista Ultimate. Media Center is the “central” hub for everything I do in my home. Media Center is my DVR, my Music Juke Box, my digital photo frame, is basically the main source for my digital media entertainment. With the 10 tuner cards in this system I am able to DVR pretty much anything and everything I throw at it. I am able to stream live TV when needed, and I am able watch recorded TV on virtually any tv in my home.
This system is also my Blu-Ray player and my HD DVD player all in one. Which for me for the little investment I did, is a perfect solution for additional HD content. My only complaint is I can not stream Blu-Ray HD content to any tv in my home, until the day I can stream any HD content I want to any tv in my house hold via Media Center, will be the day my setup is complete.
My HTPC/Media Center system is located in my basement theater room inside of an adjacent closet that I have setup where my AV rack is located, where my home network hub is located, as well as my WHS machine is located. For more info on that setup see my Home Theater section of my website.
If you have any questions on my setup, and configuration beyond the parts and software list please feel free to ask, follow me on Twitter or sign up and post in the comments.
- Josh