# HTPC easy as possible



## Ryan Anderson (Jul 20, 2009)

Hey all, 

I'd like a simple easy way to buy/build an HTPC with a Blu-Rey player to run to a good Onkyo 7.1 receiver that you all recommend. I want it as plain and cheap as possible nothing fancy. The HDTV I think I'm getting is a Sony with the new 24 True Cinnema or something like that. 

http://shopper.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/sony-kdl-40s5100/4014-6482_9-33485063.html

I'd also like ease of use with REW and whatever else you all think I may need/want.

I want to do a true 7.1 surround with Blu-Rey...and I want to do the Exodus Anarchy MTs, MTMs, or MMTs... but I don't know the difference. Also, Kevin isn't designing them anymore but Dyohn might. Help there as well would be great! 

I just ordered 2 Behringer EP-4000‏'s for the subs!


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## Ryan Anderson (Jul 20, 2009)

nevermind then










Decided to grab the Samsung, the only one with Netflix live stream capability..man what I had to go thru to get it... it's the floor display, paid full price...but I got the last one!

Bought Transformers and a bunch of other movies the other day...normal DVD... opened them all but Transformers so i can take that one back, and the lady that grabbed 2012 Blu Rey grabbed 2... so I can take that back tomorrow too LOL. I'll give all the others to my friends n fam!


I use hulu.com and I play my music from my PC on my HT. So how do I connect my cheap walmart PC I have to my HDTV and receiver? That was why I wanted to build an HTPC... so I can just run it all off it.


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## oposky2006 (Jan 4, 2010)

Well, right off the bat you're aiming for confliction when you say you want it plain and cheap but want to have 7.1 and blu-ray. Those two demands in an HTPC dictate the type of MOBO you will need and the respective chipsets. 

In order to get clean sound and blu-ray video you'll need to start with a worthy case, a quiet clean PSU and a stable mobo. Just off the cuff those three items will put you in the $400 range not including the CPU or ram and BD or HDD. 

There may be another way around this depending on what your goal is for the HTPC. Is your idea to be capable of bringing internet to your TV or mass storage only? For reference look at what we were building at www.rocputer.com


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## Ryan Anderson (Jul 20, 2009)

Internet to my TV and stereo.


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

Hi Ryan,
If you picked up the Sony KDL-40S5100 it is quite simple to hook up to your PC. That is if your PC has a sound card or a S/PDIF on the motherboard. 
The way I connect my PC to my Sony is this;
Video card DVI out - DVI to HDMI cable - HDMI input 2 on Sony
Motherboard S/PDIF out - RCA cable - digital coax in on Denon 3805


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## Mike P. (Apr 6, 2007)

> Video card DVI out - DVI to HDMI cable - HDMI input 2 on Sony


It's been a while since I checked into this, are all video cards HDCP compatible?


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

Hmm that is a good question Mike. I don't know off the top of my head, but I would guess not.
Quick check on Newegg and it looks like about 80% of new cards are HDCP ready.


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## rothnic (Jan 4, 2010)

For the cheapest possible route, then this. But, it won't have a bluray capability. However, because it has the Nvidia ION platform providing video acceleration, you can playback 1080p video.

The trend right now is to have a large network attached storage (NAS) tucked away, then one of these thin quiet low power clients by your TV running Boxee.


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## rothnic (Jan 4, 2010)

Mike P. said:


> It's been a while since I checked into this, are all video cards HDCP compatible?


Most are now, and probably the past year, year and a half have been. The tricky part is that only the ATI cards will passthrough audio over HDMI easily. Nvidia cards supply an adapter where you have to plug in your computers digital audio out into it for it to pass the audio over HDMI. So if you don't have digital audio out, then you definitely want to go the ATI route because it provides a digital audio device to play the audio through.


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## doubeleive (Oct 31, 2007)

you can take basically any halfway modern pc with pcie, add a video card with hdmi out, add a sound card with 7.1 if it is not already on the board, add a bluray player and thats all you need, it is very easy to do with a average cost of about $700 for something readily available on the market at this time. I built something like this for my tv and initially had video issue's but that was because I am using a 82" tv and the video card just couldn't push it so a little better video card did the trick I can access the internet and any available content, play bluray, dvd, mp3 or anything else for that matter, all hooked in to the home theater receiver, it's all dialed in with tivo hd, xbox 360, another samsung blu-ray with vudu which is killer, comcast hd, internet & satellite radio, itunes, got it all!


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## Timelord (Oct 22, 2008)

If you want to build an HTPC on the cheap, mostly for watching videos and listening to music.
Here’s what I did, get these components:

Asus M2N68-AM Plus Motherboard – Price approx 62.00 (In Canada)
AMD Sempron 140 Processor 2.7GHZ Socket AM3 1MB L2 Cache 45W Retail Box, Price approx 36.00 (In Canada)
Powercolor Radeon HD 5450 650MHZ 512MB 800MHZ DDR2 HDMI DVI VGA DIRECTX11 PCI-E Video Card - Price approx 44.00 (In Canada)
DDR2 Ram 2 x 1 GB Ram Price approx 50.00 (Optional 2x2 GB Ram)
Liteon IHOS104 4X BLU-RAY Reader BD-ROM Drive SATA Black - Price approx 64.00 (In Canada)
Antec Earthwatts Green 380W Power Supply ATX12V V2.0 Active PFC 80PLUS Bronze 80MM Fan Price approx 51.00 ( In Canada)
Corsair VX450 450W ATX 12V 33A 24PIN ATX Power Supply Active PFC 120MM Fan - Price approx 76.00 (In Canada)
WinDVD 2010 Pro software - Price approx 60.00 (In Canada)

I chose all these components for its silent factor.
The CPU only uses 45watts of power and the stock heatsink and fan that comes with it is very silent and the M/B supports AMD Cool n’ Quiet Technology.

Either PSU is very silent in operation.
The Video Card is also fan less and silent.
The Video card is capable of processing *Dolby True HD and HD DTS* via HDMI output.
In order to utilize the Dolby True HD and HD DTS via Bluray you need to use the WinDVD pro Software. You could also use Power DVD 9 and TMT but I have no experience with those.

Please note that the Radeon 5450 Video cards doesn’t work with all Motherboards.
It won’t work with some socket 939 boards and a few other ones that have NVIDIA chipsets. 
I didn’t take the cost of a PC case into account since you can probably use your old case.
Buying a case like the Antec 300 would be approx 50.00

BTW I don’t use any case fans in order to keep things silent, and since my system is very efficient, no need for case fans. If you feel you need one get a silent case fan (Optional).
The heat is not an issue for me.

The entire system won’t cost you more than 350.00
On mine I play Bluray and DVD movies. I also download and watch a lot of HD documentaries. I can play any audio/video files without any problems.
I am using Windows 7 64 with k-lite codec pack. My PC is hooked up to a Pioneer VSX 819H Receiver via HDMI.
So it can be done, hope this helps.


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## Timelord (Oct 22, 2008)

Tirrany said:


> Read more: HTPC easy as possible - Page 2 - Home Theater Forum and Systems - HomeTheaterShack.com http://www.hometheatershack.com/for...26432-htpc-easy-possible-2.html#ixzz0m7ZBuvru
> 
> i dont see a sound card listed in your setup does the ati supply all audio through the hdmi port so no additional sound device is required im looking into building htpc and dont want to run additional sound cables if i dont have to


Yes, that's correct, no additional Sound Card is required as audio is passed through the HDMI port via the ATI Video card.


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## Tirrany (Jan 10, 2010)

cool thanks man


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## wbassett (Feb 8, 2007)

I built out my upstairs PC as essentially an HTPC complete with the LG Superdrive that can play DVD, Bluray, and HD DVDs! 

One problem I see with HTPCs as the main playback device is not just the boot time, but compatabilty. For example I just bought Avatar and PowerDVD said an update was needed, so I updated and now nothing plays on PowerDVD! 

ArcSoft Total Media Extreme won't play it either, but my PS3 did with no problem at all. So if only had my HTPC as my playback device I'd be out of luck until one of these two companies fixed the problem with Avatar's copy protection scheme hosing the players. Or I guess I could get a different player, but why should I is the point?

I'm not trying to be negative about HTPCs, just pointing out that yeah they are cool, but they aren't perfect either.


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## Timelord (Oct 22, 2008)

My buddy brought over his Bluray copy of Avatar. I tried it on my HTPC and it worked fine.
Mind you I am using WinDVD 2010 Pro software and had no problem playing it.

I have never used Power DVD or TMT so can't say why it didn't work for you with that software.


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## clark17 (Mar 28, 2009)

Timelord said:


> Powercolor Radeon HD 5450 650MHZ 512MB 800MHZ DDR2 HDMI DVI VGA DIRECTX11 PCI-E Video Card - Price approx 44.00 (In Canada)


Everything looks good except I would probably opt for a different video card. If I'm not mistaken 5450 might not be good enough to properly deinterlace 1080i HDTV. (according to the below article) :dontknow:

AMD’s Radeon HD 5450: The Next Step In HTPC Video Cards

I use el cheapo USB ATSC tuner with WMC7 to catch OTA HDTV channels in Canada. I find CBC HD 1080i PQ much nicer after I swap my computers (oldy but goody 8800GT from 8200IGP) My old HTPC is serving now as my file server/internet box and my old rig is now my HTPC feeding my Projector. 

BTW... NHL Playoffs in HD look awesome on 110" of glory... too bad my team is not there again :crying:


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