HTPC - Progress!

Post by **bicostp** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 10:35 am

EDIT: See later post for update!

(Didn't want to hijack UA's thread.

)

The motherboard, processor, and heatsink shouldn't be a problem. My college dumped a bunch of 1.8ghz P4 boxes last year, and I might be able to get one from an instructor. I know, 1.8 gigs isn't cutting edge, but that's still many times faster than the current machine's processor (450 mhz P3).

As of now I'm shopping around for a graphics card. It doesn't have to be fancy or anything, but a low-end card probably won't be much better than the onboard video. So far I've forund this one:

<a href="http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... 28">Radeon 9250- $40 at Tiger Direct</a>

It's about the same as the card in my desktop PC, but this one has TV output, which is good. (One of the goals is semi-portability, so the PC-TV circuitry should be built in.)

Here's what is needed out of the card (in case you were wondering or had an idea for one.)

- AGP (PCI is slower, and the old board won't have PCI-E)
- Price (preferably under $50)
- Order from Tiger Direct (My folks don't want to order form a million places, and I don't have a credit card.)

What do you think of the 9250? Remember this rig will basically do games up to PSX/N64 and video.

Thanks!

EDIT: How about <a href="http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... Id=0">this one</a>? It's essentially the same, but includes composite output instead of a second VGA port. (It would be helpful for those times when you're stuck with composite... even though an adapter wouldn't be too hard to make...)

Reaperman@home · Post by **Reaperman@home** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 11:21 am

I have a 9250 in my HTPC, works great. Mine came off ebay for $30 shipped, but it didn't have the outputs you are looking for. (projector didn't need them) It really helped with those new mega-size divx movies. And it let me max out freelancer, which is about the last PC game I enjoyed.

as far as psx and n64, unless there's some massive compatability issue it will be fine. My onboard did them great, and this is many times nicer. Even though mine's just a PCI, I've had it doing 4 videos at once without a hitch. I ran out of screen before I ran out of power. Really the 3d hardware may be old, but it's still quite beefy for standard use.

now that I've simplified my old celeron's life, I use it over my amd x2 box every day. I know it's no faster, but in it's current state, it really feels like it.

Post by **Sparkfist** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 11:55 am

Take a look at what Mircocenter has to offer. I can't say I'm a good person to say what video card to go with but this card looks to be a good choice (if not a bit expensive).

daguuy · Post by **daguuy** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:32 pm

I'm using a GeForce MX 4000. I got it from ebay for $30 including shipping. Mine's 128mb, dual 350mhz, S-video out. Here's a similar card on ebay. I can only find 64mb versions on Tigerdirect but here's a similar FX 5200 for $40. MX 4000 runs my N64 and PSX emulators perfectly so I highly recomend it.

Post by **marshallh** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:38 pm

I had both the Radeon 9250 and the Geforce4MX4000 and I can vouch that the 9250 works fantastically. It worked great for me until it crapped out because the previous owner overclocked it to death.

On the other hand, I had a GF4 MX 4000 but compatibility is spotty at best. It's basically a glorified Geforce2. I had lots of display artifacts when playing games using Direct3D 6-7 (Project64 included) and it was just a mess. I must have tried at least 10 different driver revisions but no one worked all the time.

Then, I gave up and got a Geforce 2 GTS AGP on ebay for $10. It kicked the crap out of the Geforce4 MX. It plays GTA3 beautifully and the drivers work quite well. Not to mention it was dirt cheap

But anyway, get the 9250 if you can. Good, solid budget card.

daguuy · Post by **daguuy** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:45 pm

Wierd. All MX's specs are better, I guess it depends on the driver and compatability. I downloaded the latest version from the Nvidea website and it works great. Maybe different manufacturer's cards work differently.

Post by **bicostp** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:50 pm

I've used cards from both manufacturers, and have had better luck with ATI.

How's the TV-out resolution? At least 800x600 would be nice. (Anything's better than the dark, muddy 640x480 picture my crappy old PC-TV box makes.

)

Post by **marshallh** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 4:13 pm

You won't get any benefit from 800x600, because the NTSC signal is limited to 484 horizontal lines of resolution (The rest of the 525 lines are for sync and cc data).

TVs suck for PC monitors, that's all there is to it. You should use a S-video cable instead of composite video whenever you can to reduce artifacts.

Duke Nukem · Post by **Duke Nukem** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 6:34 pm

I used a Radeon 9800 PRO for my HTPC. Except im using it on a 32" LCD PC Monitor and DVI-D output.

If its on a normal TV i recomend using a cheap-ass graphics card like a Geforce 6200. They can output Component video which you will see a large improvement in video quality over S-Video which the 9250 outputs.

Post by **bicostp** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 10:57 am

I'm going with the 9250se, since it has built-in composite jacks (less adapters to lug around) and, to my knowledge, we have no TVs with component inputs.

The next items up for debate are the motherboard and CPU. I found <a href="http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... Id=0">This $65 combo</a> with a 3.20GHz Celeron D 352 processor. TD also has a Sempron 3000 processor for $20 after a rebate, but the motherboards for it are too expensive (and I can't find one in my price range that includes an AGP slot).

What do you think of that? If you have a better idea, please keep these criteria in mind:

- Must be from Tiger Direct
- Please keep the prices under $70 if possible
- It doesn't need buttloads of power. (no $9999 Core 2 Duo things)
- MicroATX form factor

If nobody has a better idea, then this is what I'll order. (Placing it today so we're absolutely sure we can get the rebate for the case.)

Harshboy · Post by **Harshboy** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 5:18 pm

That seems like a good CPU for your needs.

Post by **bicostp** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 7:09 pm

Great! I guess I'll order this barebones kit:

<a href="http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... 0">Link</a>

It comes with a PCChips P23G v3.0 Via Socket 775 MicroATX Motherboard, a nIntel Celeron D 351 3.20GHz processor, a CPU fan, and the squarish case I'm after. All for $150, which is about the same as it sould be if the components were bought seperately. (Plus it's less of a headache than picking parts out.

)

Video card: <a href="http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... -6068">ATI Radeon 9250se</a>

RAM: <a href="http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... u=ULT31688">
Ultra 512MB PC4200 DDR2 533MHz</a>

Looks like this should be pretty smooth-running, since everything's around a 533 mhz FSB. (400-300 mhz RAM would create a bottleneck, no?)

In case you're wondering about software:

OS: Windows XP Professional SP1a (Heavily knocked down with XPlite)
Game launcher - GameEx
Media frontend: Meedio

Harshboy · Post by **Harshboy** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 9:01 pm

That GameEx software looks neato

Hope it turns out cool.

Post by **bicostp** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 8:29 pm

Holy poop, Batman! Progress!

The case, CPU cooler, RAM, and video card arrived at my doorstep yesterday. The case is amazing for its size. The motherboard tray slides easily enough to pull it out, but it's not so loose that you wouldn't want to trust it. The handle feels sturdy, but it's always good practice to carry computers from underneath anyways. My only complaint is that the aluminum side panels feel rather thin and light. Overall I give it a thumbs-up. If you want a relatively portable gaming rig, give it a look.

There is one peripheral for it that is a lot more "afrotech"-looking; the infrared interface! Yes, a serial port IR reciever made out of Rat Shack parts! This, combined with some software, allows one to use any old TV remote they have lying around the house as a PC controller. Great for HTPCs. (Especially this one since we've got a shoebox full of orphaned/universal remotes.

) All the cabling came from some old ribbon wire and a USB cable. A short USB cable plugs into a free USB port. Its other end goes into the serial port connector's D-Sub hood. The rest of the former USB cable is connected to the power leads on the short cable and pin 1 of the serial port. This wire goes into the cleaned-up Tic-Tac container, where the real Majikâ„¢ happens. Inside is a part of a PC board which holds the rest of the parts.

If you want to build one, here's the guide I used (minus some improvising):
http://www.engadget.com/2006/05/16/how- ... -computer/

Long story short: Parts came in, and now there's a way to use a TV remote on it! Wootsauce! I'll post a picture of the finished unit over the weekend.