Converting my old gaming PC to a HTCP

ryanomac

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Aug 22, 2009
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18,510
Purchase date: In the next month
System usage: HTPC, DVR, light surfing
Parts not required: Monitor keyboard mouse
Prefered purchase site: Newegg.com
Resolution: 1920x1080

Ok guys Ive decided to convert my old gaming rig which is just collecting dust right now into a HTPC, and I need a little advice.
I want to try and use as many of my current components as would be feasible. Ram and HDD should be perfectly fine for the new build, although I plan to add a 250g Seagate HDD for storage and use the old 80 gig purely for OS. The PSU works perfectly, but it is not modular and I had trouble routing all the extra cables in my mid tower case so this could be a real issue in an HTPC chassis. I'm also worried about the sound output of the PSU fan as well. I believe the GPU should be ok unless there are any issues performance wise I might be missing, although it is not HDCP compliant which is a definite negative. I would like to reuse the proc and mobo as both seems to be working perfectly. I believe the only positive I could get from replacing the mobo would be a smaller form factor, but the few HTPC cases I like all support ATX mobos.

PQI TURBO 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667
Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 ST380817AS 80GB 7200 RPM SATA 1.5Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS SB0350 7.1 Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - OEM

SAMSUNG Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE 20X DVD±R DVD Burner - OEM

Antec TruePower 2.0 TP2-550 EPS12V 550W ATX12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Power Supply

GeForce 7800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16

ASUS P5LD2 Deluxe LGA 775 Intel 945P ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Pentium 4 650 Prescott 3.4GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 84W Single-Core Processor


Ok so now for parts that I dont have

I will need a new chasis, as I dont want to have my crappy old mid tower sitting next to my TV so..

SILVERSTONE Black Aluminum front panel, 0.8mm SECC body GD01B-R ATX Media Center / HTPC Case - Retail

CPU Fan do to the current one being a older/loud stock CPU cooler
Rosewill RCX-Z775-LX 92mm Ball CPU Cooler - Retail


If I do swap out the PSU
OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ500MXSP 500W ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply compatible with core i7 - Retail

Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 Media Center Kit Dual TV Tuner 1213 PCI-Express x1 Interface - Retail

The Chassis, CPU fan, PSU, and TV card put the price of the build at just under $350 bucks. Im willing to spend about $500, so I have a little room to play with if you guys see something that should be added/changed. So there are the basics of the build. Ive built 3 PCs for my own personal use, but im completely clueless when it come to the TV tuners. I definalty want to be able to record and watch 2 separate channels, so I guess that means I will need a dual tuner card. I would also like to be able to pause and rewind live TV, I dont know if that would require anything special or different so I wanted to throw it in there. I have windows XP64 Pro, and im planning on using Media Portal. Ok guys so thats basically it. Please give me any advice/critisim you have

Thanks in advance

Ryan
 

rand_79

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Apr 10, 2009
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250gig isnt much if you are going to dvr any HD, also what are you using for a video in? the VIVO port?

what kind of software are you going to use for the DVR?

What type of device are you going to send the video to the pc with?
 

ryanomac

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Aug 22, 2009
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18,510
Sorry the HDDs should say 2 250s. If im not mistaken the Hauppauge would handle the video in as well as the DVR functions? As far as outputting the video to the PC I just remembered I have a 4850 that I loanded to a frind when his card went out, he has since replaced his so the 4850 is going to go into this build. It has 2 dvi ports so i will use a DVI to HDMi adapter and use the card for video and sound passthrough into my TV a 46 b610 samsung