Need help with sea of options

J

jukie888

n00b
Joined
Jun 22, 2004
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Hi all, I've decided to build a server/htpc system. I kinda want it to serve as:

1. DVD Player
2. Cable TV tuner
3. Print Server
4. HTTP Server
5. Something that can store all the movies and music of my apt (only 2 people)

The monitor will be the tv, which only has composite and s-video.

What should I buy? I'm personally thinking of a SFF with an AIW card. I'm mostly concerned about quiet operation since it will probably be on 24/7. Any recommendations? Thanks!!!
 
Please see the stickies at the top of this forum

In a nutshell, to store lots of movies & act as a server, you're going to want a lot of HD space, which will probably not fit in a SFF. micro-atx isn't too bad though.

Tuner cards - the AIW's aren't all that good, get a PVR150-MCE from www.pcalchemy.com (see the stickies)
 
What I would do:
Full size ATX mobo and case
Several large capacity HDDs
PVR500
.... forget the AIW, (waves hand) this is not the tuner you are looking for.

When I get back home to my DSL connection (currently out of town on dialup) I'mm post something more specific on hardware suggestions.
 
Does this mean I have to get windows MCE? I'm on a pretty tight budget.

I've heard pretty good things about the AIW cards. I could use another tv tuner card.

I'm seeing that maybe SFF is not the way to go, but I would definitely like somethin as compact as possible. Any recommendations?
 
You could go with SageTV or one of those free programs that I forget the name of (GB-PVR?). The ATI software isn't all that great for an htpc. I would deinitely recommend a tuner with a hardware encoder, at least a pvr150 as mentioned before. You could pick up one of those and a decent video card for a nice price.As for your build, are you buying all new hardware?
 
jukie888 said:
Does this mean I have to get windows MCE? I'm on a pretty tight budget.
Click to expand...
I wouldnt suggest MCE for this anyways, SageTV with SageClient would be better for this.
I've heard pretty good things about the AIW cards. I could use another tv tuner card.
Click to expand...
Yes you have but from the kind of people that know nothing about a Home Theater PC, they are pretty good for adding some multimedia options to a PC but an HTPC they do not make.
 
let me preface this by saying htat I don't think server and HTPC mix well. they are 2 totally different creatures that have different requirements. HTPC is suppsoed to be quiet, compact and cool. Servers are supposed to be versatile, stable, and have enough PSU power to run many hard discs for storage expansion.SFF and server don't mix. there is no room for expansion later down the road.

However, if you are set on combining the 2, here is what I would go with. for the tightest budget, go with a decent mid tower or generic desktop case with some extra bays. Prime thing to remeber is you want a standard ATX size PSU to make upgrade later easy. then for a tuner card, use a hardware based card like the hauppauge PVR series. with all those processes running (HTTP server, print server, etc) it will help to stabilize the system. Pick up an HEC power supply from Directron.com. They are a well kept secret, but run pretty strong and quiet for cheap cheap. For software, run linux and Myth to save real money and be very stable. if windows is your limitation, go with whatever OS you have and run Media Portal. It's free and good. takes some time to get working right, but that's why it's free. If you have a little && to spend on software, go with sage or beyond TV. both have free trials, so download and mess around before you buy.

Now, if you want to do it right, build 2 boxes. a SFF, compact, cool, and quiet HTPC and a seperate server with room for expansion. a server can still be fairly quiet as well. if you use sageTV you can place all of the tuner cards in the server as well, reducing space needed in the htpc even more.
 
I second IDvsEgo's comment about separating the duties out... it is difficult to mix the two of them as they have rather diverse functions.

On the AIW argument, they are usable cards.. In SFF systems, they're handy to add a third tuner- I've got a PVR500MCE and an AIW 9600 Pro in my Shuttle HTPC box, and works as a nice 3rd tuner on BTV.
 
So I'm getting the impression that an AIW card is definitely not the way to go...no problem!!

For the PVR cards, are the only ones with composite out the MCE ones? I'm likely going to be using the TV speakers until I can afford to get something a bit nicer. Again with the tight budget.

I am going to be buying practically all new hardware to answer that question...

Separating all the different things would be idealistic, but again I'm trying to cram as much stuff into one thing as possible. This HTTP server is going to very low load, just a small website with minimal php/sql use except for picture gallery. So I figure that should not be too much load since I don't expect much traffic at all. All the other stuff should be low load too since watching TV/DVD shouldn't be crazy and printing won't happen super often either.

Sorry for all this noobness, but I'm pretty unknowledgable in this arena.
 
the MCE cards do not havy any output. they only accept incoming signals. the output has to come from your video card. the AIW is the same. the coax is input only.
 
IDversusEGO said:
the MCE cards do not havy any output. they only accept incoming signals. the output has to come from your video card. the AIW is the same. the coax is input only.
Click to expand...

So how would I have both picture and sound come out to the tv?...

Thanks for all the help so far!!
 
jukie888 said:
So how would I have both picture and sound come out to the tv?...

Thanks for all the help so far!!
Click to expand...
For the video card and sound card, how else could you do it?
 
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