Hows my HTPC?

[Format _C:]

Hows my HTPC? I use it mostly for TV recording and MP3 playback.
I have it hooked up to a 24 X 2 VFD 2 Display MP3 titles

MSI K7N2GM-L N-Force2 (MS-6777) (http://www.msicomputer.com/product/detail_spec/product_detail.asp?model=K7N2GM-L)
CPU AMD Athlon XP 2000+
512MB Ram 256 X 2 Dual Channel
Maxtor 7200RPM 80GB ATA133 With 8 MB Cache a FDB Motor
(http://www.maxtor.com/en/products/ata/desktop/diamondmax_plus_9/index.htm)
DVD/CD-RW Samsung SM-322
NIC Built in to MotherBoard
ATI All In Wonder Radeon 32MB DDR Graphics Card
(http://mirror.ati.com/products/radeon/aiwradeon/index.html)
Speaker System RCA STAV-3990 Receiver
Keyboard Logitech Cordless MX Duo
Mouse MX 700
Case Directron CS-TR100 Aluminum Micro ATX Desktop (http://www.directron.com/cstr100.html)
OS Microsoft Windows XP Professional

 

[valve1138]

Looks good, but you may want a bigger (or another) hard drive.

 

[roberttran]

I would get a smaller drive and use it just for the OS and software and have another bigger drive for all the media. Makes life easier when you have to upgrade or if something breaks.

-Robert

 

[Format _C:]

Yeah that drive is almost full . I like to record shows off TV edit out the commericals and DIVX them. for that I move them over to my main box. For Divx encodeing is there really a difference between 2000+ and 2200+ ? it might take longer but will the file quality be the same?

 

[DiscoStu]

Yeah that drive is almost full . I like to record shows off TV edit out the commericals and DIVX them. for that I move them over to my main box. For Divx encodeing is there really a difference between 2000+ and 2200+ ? it might take longer but will the file quality be the same?

It would be a little bit slower, other then that quailty will be the same.

decent set up ... I'm curious to know you make out with that case ... temps and loudness mainly ...

 

[SJetski71]

Def a nice setup, ought to work well for years to come. In the future you can always upgrade to a Barton XP3000 when they've dropped to $30 on ebay or something.

I'll agree with the others about HD space. Save a few pennies and get some >160gb HD when they're on sale for $.50 cents a gig (or less). Theres obviously no rush so just wait for a kick butt sale before you buy.

Edit: Thanks again for the case Format: C (see my sig). I repainted the top black and I dremeled out the front and rear fan grills and its helped air flow immensely btw . I'm running the 60mm fans on .5v to quiet them down (a lot). If you're in need of any parts, drop me a PM

To all who are curious: this is the case that Format: C gave me a few months ago. Its small enough for me, has great mod potential, and accepts full sized atx mobos if i ever decide to upgrade.

 

[NleahciM]

Hows my HTPC? I use it mostly for TV recording and MP3 playback.
I have it hooked up to a 24 X 2 VFD 2 Display MP3 titles

MSI K7N2GM-L N-Force2 (MS-6777) (http://www.msicomputer.com/product/detail_spec/product_detail.asp?model=K7N2GM-L)
CPU AMD Athlon XP 2000+
512MB Ram 256 X 2 Dual Channel
Maxtor 7200RPM 80GB ATA133 With 8 MB Cache a FDB Motor
(http://www.maxtor.com/en/products/ata/desktop/diamondmax_plus_9/index.htm)
DVD/CD-RW Samsung SM-322
NIC Built in to MotherBoard
ATI All In Wonder Radeon 32MB DDR Graphics Card
(http://mirror.ati.com/products/radeon/aiwradeon/index.html)
Speaker System RCA STAV-3990 Receiver
Keyboard Logitech Cordless MX Duo
Mouse MX 700
Case Directron CS-TR100 Aluminum Micro ATX Desktop (http://www.directron.com/cstr100.html)
OS Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Case is rather big for an HTPC. It will look a bit funny and take up a lot of space.

 

[xonik]

Don't you want a remote?

 

[SJetski71]

Case is rather big for an HTPC. It will look a bit funny and take up a lot of space.

"Rather big" is in the eye of the beholder (did you check out my case i linked? you might think its huge!)

 

[Format _C:]

Don't you want a remote?

Edit forgot to post I have a ATI remote wonder verson one

 

[CrimandEvil]

If you want you could get the newer version: http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/pro...pid=8871&sid=9W5BT905UWRH9HWEENAM8VR2Q0A030Q5
I have this one coming in the mail: http://htpcnews.com/main.php?id=thr_remote_1
Most people tend to start out with cases like that then upgrade to a more HTPC like case, I don't like most of the cases out there so I'm (slowly) building my own. I'd look into getting a hardware based encoder.
http://store.niveusmedia.com/s.nl/c.304836/sc.2/category.2/it.A/id.4/.f

 

[Format _C:]

I actually like my case. No one else does ? It fits nice in the space in my entertainment rack and I can still close the glass , But if I do everything overheats So I might as well take it off. (the glass)