New HTPC suggestions please

BigVix · **7th August 2005, 04:50 PM**

Hi all.

I’m on the verge of building my own HTPC and just have a few questions.

Below is my planned hardware configuration. In an effort to keep the system as quiet as possible I’m trying to build it with as few cooling fans as possible and buying components that use passive cooling. If anyone has any suggestions or experienced problems with any of the components, your input is most welcome.

MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum Edition AMD 939 Mother board.
1 PCI-E and 4 PCI slots is a big plus. 4x SATA I-II ports.

Gigabyte GV-RX70P256V-SP VIVO and HDTV output.
Passive heat pipe cooling.

SilverStone SST-LC14M case. Might wait for the just released SST-LC16M or SST-LC18 with LCD display.

AMD 64 X2 3800+ 939

Thermaltake SonicTower. Pasive cooling.

Vantec Stealth 92mm 28cfm 20dBA Case Front Fan
2x Vantec Stealth 60mm 12cfm 20 dBA Exhaust Fans

PC-3200 1024MB GEIL DDR CAS 2.5 (2X 512MB) 400MHz

Antec Phantom 500 Fan-Assisted 500W ATX

2x WD 200GB SATA II 300 7200 and maybe 2 x Zalman ZM-2HC2 HDD Heatpipe Cooler 5.25 Bay

Pioneer DVR-109D Black

2x FUSION HDTV PLUS DIGITAL TV TUNER PCI CARD for free to air

HAUPPAGE PVR-150MCE PERSONAL VIDEO RECORDER / FM RADIO PCI CARD for Foxtel Digital

GLOBLINK WIRELESS MULTIMEDIA KEYBOARD W/TRACKBALL OPTICAL MOUSE

The main question I have is with regard to HDTV and Foxtel Digital reception via MCE2005. I have been reading the forums on both these topics and am getting mixed views on both issues. So here are the questions.

1. Is it possible to receive and record free to air HDTV signals with MCE2005? I have read about issues with sound.
2. Will having the HAUPPAGE PVR-150MCE card with the 2 FUSION cards cause any problems with my recording both Foxtel and free to air? Read some posts mentioning problems with having digital and analogue tuners in the one box.
3. Do I need an IR Blaster to control the changing of channels on the Foxtel Digital set top box when using MCE2005 for timed recording and what is the serial port on the Foxtel Digital set top box (silver one) for?
4. Has anyone had any experience with MCE2005 extenders? I’m thinking of buying a Linksys WMCE54AG from the US.

Again any and all suggestions are welcomed and thanks in advance.

Cheers,
BigVix.

IceFragmatic · **7th August 2005, 05:27 PM**

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. You cannot use MCE to record both Digital TV and Foxtel.

MCE will use either digital or analog. The connection from the foxtel box to the MCE box will be analog.

You can, however, set up MCE to record Foxtel and install a program called WebScheduler to recoed Digital TV. If you setup WebScheduler to record in DVR-MS format and to the recorded TV folder, these will be visible in MCE. You will, however, need to use a web browser to setup and recordings.

Webscheduler can handle series recordings very easily.

As for the hardware, I wuse two Fusion cards and they work well.

John

Matt · **7th August 2005, 06:27 PM**

Also you can't record or view HDTV signals with AC3 sound (Ch9 & Ch10) as MCE can't currently decode AC3 audio. We hope an update to MCE (codenamed Emerald) may fix this.

Cheers

Matt.

BigVix · **8th August 2005, 01:04 PM**

Thanks guys for your response.

I'm a bit sad to read about the problem with the analogue/digital tuner combo.

How about instead of using an analogue tuner card a for the FOXTEL feed I just use a video capture card. Does MCE support timed recording from an AV source?

Cheers

ExtremePC · **8th August 2005, 04:05 PM**

nope, mce does not handle av imput sorces once you start using digital.