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**WalkinTarget** · 29 Jan 2008, 01:01 PM

I'm looking at a similar build, but using this board and probably a 4300:
url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188021[/url]

Dunno about what your hookup will be, but the eVGA board has DVI (for HDMI) and VGA built right into it, and uses a decent 7100 onboard chipset for video chores. I'd assume the Gigabyte would OC more, but if you are building an HTPC you are not going to prioritize overclocking too high.

I like that desktop case you chose. We had talked about that, so I'm glad you found one. As far as the OnAir Creator, I have no idea on that one, as I am using PC cards to record and view, so good luck with the component box. It should be a better setup than a PC card.

I would seriously consider investing in a larger HD, as HD content will run about 13gb per hour uncompressed (thats 26gb per 2 hour movie), filling your 400gb in less than 15 movies !! OUCH !!!

**Duke{CLR}** · 29 Jan 2008, 01:11 PM

Darth I am so glad you are building one. I hope to build one next year and watching you build one will be cool.

**darth_nevus** · 29 Jan 2008, 01:17 PM

wt, i was looking at the same mobo, and i cam e to an impass. do i even NEED a video card with that?

if i can drop the video card and just use the 7150, will it play hd 1080i correctly? thats my only real concern, but i'd love to go with that board instead.

The E4300 was also a definate choice, but i wasn't sure how it would be affected with Nvidia's Purevideo encoder running. i watched alot of specs about 2.2-2.6 intel procs running at 30-50% on purevideo's decoder/encoder, so i was't sure how the small cache & lower clock speed would be affected. i suppose once the fat is trimmed from Vista, it'd run more smoothly. i also am havign a hard time finding the chip. the last price is 5$ MORE than the e4500 is, and the 4500 is a better chip. if you know where to get it sub$100, and in stock, i'll consider it.

The "OnAir" creater gets alot of good reviews, as does the GT variant. there are pros and cons to both, but the creator won out in the end. intrenal cards. i looked REALLY hard at these, and found some things i didn't like. most of it was the lack of suitable digital tuners, or it would lack an analog tuner. add to that a large group of them lost QAM functionality with vista or MCE, with no real way to get it back. The creator uses the 5th gen Lucent chip, which looks REALLY good, and records fairly well on the external box. the hauppage chips seem to be lacking or has issues with vista all around, and the MCE of vista is REALLY nice. While it is external, which does annoy me to an extent, it also means its easily transfered, and works on any usb2.0 port.

**WalkinTarget** · 29 Jan 2008, 01:20 PM

Its actually a crappy time to build an HTPC, since I'm not sure what happens to HD:OTA once we are all digital next February. I'm running a hybrid SD/HD card now, but I want another tuner card so that I can either record two channels or watch one whilst recording on another.
The only downside to that is I don't know if I want a dual SD tuner or a dual HD tuner, or even yet another hybrid ! One thing that I really want is QAM support, so here is what I think best fits my needs:

http://www.silicondust.com/

^^ That thing looks awesome, but the only drawback is I want to send my TV recordings to a TV, NOT a PC !! That's where I am stuck at this point. This stuff makes my head hurt thinking about it, as I have no clue how to do what I want to do.

**darth_nevus** · 29 Jan 2008, 01:42 PM

Originally posted by WalkinTarget

Its actually a crappy time to build an HTPC, since I'm not sure what happens to HD:OTA once we are all digital next February. I'm running a hybrid SD/HD card now, but I want another tuner card so that I can either record two channels or watch one whilst recording on another.
The only downside to that is I don't know if I want a dual SD tuner or a dual HD tuner, or even yet another hybrid ! One thing that I really want is QAM support, so here is what I think best fits my needs:

http://www.silicondust.com/

^^ That thing looks awesome, but the only drawback is I want to send my TV recordings to a TV, NOT a PC !! That's where I am stuck at this point. This stuff makes my head hurt thinking about it, as I have no clue how to do what I want to do.

Here'sd a quick pro/con list. i looked there as well. what irked me is the lack of analog tuner, that vista & mce reuire to get it setup with their MCE software. i don't feel like buying 2 seperate tuners.

http://www.hdtvtunerinfo.com/hdhomerunreview.html

As hfar as HD

ta, thats going to be whats staying around. the beauty of the one i chose is that the OTA tuner is both HD, and Analog, but is digital as well.

**WalkinTarget** · 29 Jan 2008, 02:42 PM

Yea, the analog tuner bug is an MCE2005 exclusive, and I was able to work around it in MCE by using the Krams driver hack for my ATI HDTV Wonder card, so there are workarounds available.

What about my HD size question ? You really do need to keep that in mind if you plan on recording 1080p stuff on a regular basis.

Good point on the 4300 .. I didn't know it was still holding its value. Hell, its even gone UP about $12 !! I'd settle for an e2180 chip if they keep bumping the price.

I'm space limited in my setup, so the component parts are just too wide to use, so I'll just use my Micro Fly case and hope for the best. Between HTPCs and SFFs, there are so many options it really is up to the builder as to what they want to accomplish.

**darth_nevus** · 29 Jan 2008, 03:07 PM

well, as far as hd. it really came down to cost atm. the software will compress the video a bit, so it won't be too bad for the time being, and my fileserver can hold whatecer the interal unit can't. the hd i chose i picked because of the price, @ $100, and the 32mb cache will help quite a bit with the recording of the hd content. i have a "smart" gigabit router now, attached to my fileserver, so i am not as concerned about streaming the content back and forth between the pc's once its all up and running. and, chance are, down the road, i'll add another, or just get bigger ones. i have a 750gb hd thats usb for additional storage as well.

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