Let us know your HTPC specs

[Nova935]

I would like to know what other forum members are using for their HTPC. I think that this might give other members idea`s when building a HTPC. This will let them know what combination of processor, video card, video drivers, HD optical drives, and software player that should perform well when viewing High Definition content. Most of us have made many changes to our current systems to eliminate bugs or other problems and this information could help others save time and money when building a HTPC for the first time.

My current specs are:

P4 3.4 ghz, XFX 8600 GT XXX video card w/ 163.71 drivers, 2Gig memory, XBox 360 HD DVD drive, Pioneer BDC 2202 Blu Ray drive, C-Media audio PCI card, PowerDVD 3104a, Sony 60" LCD RPTV and of course AnyDVDHD 6.3.0.0

 

[tekmobile]

Antec Fusion Case Click to SEE
AMD Athlon64 5000+ (Socket AM2)
2GB DDR2
Xbox360 AddOn Drive
MSI Nvidia 7300 PCIe Graphics Card with HDCP enabled HDMI out
Onboard Sound (cant remember which)
Windows Vista Home Premium
No AnyDVD installed because I dont need it to play movies
PowerDVD latest version but wanting a better replacement

My main Setup includes a standalone player though the HTPC is mainly used for TV Viewing and recording, Music etc

Toshiba HDTV 42" dont know model without looking
ONKYO TX-SR605 A/V Reciever
Toshiba HD-EP30 HD DVD Player outputting PCM to the ONKYO
Tannoy EFX 5.1 Speaker Package
Xbox 360
About 30 HD DVD movies and counting

 

[blingo]

Silverstone case
AMD 4200 X2 socket 939
Asus A8N-E
Corsair 2gb RAM Dual channel config
ATi HD 2600XT Fanless
Azentech Prelude 7.1
80gb + 750gb Western Digital hard drives
Toshiba HD-DVD drive
Pioneer BDC-202

Connected to a Sony Bravia 46inch (46X2000)
Prelude connected via analog to a Sony 1200ES. DD+, TrueHD, DTS-HD working fine in PowerDVD.

PowerDVD 3516
ATi 7.10
Windows XP SP2

 

[Iota]

My HT/HTPC setup

Silverstonetek LC16M Case with built in Card Reader
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz w/Artic Freezer 7 CPU cooloer on an Asus P5B Deluxe
XFX 7950GT Video card with 512MB / HDCP Enabled (Fanless)
2GB Corsair XMS2 PC2 6400
1 TB (RAID 5 - 3x500gb WD Drives)
Samsung 18X DVD Burner w/LightScribe
Xbox 360 Addon
Spec Research RF Keyboard+Mouse
Vista Ultimate
AnyDvd HD + PowerDvD

TV - Westinghouse 42" 1080p
Receiver - Denon AV-2308CI
Speakers - Bowers&Wilkins 600 series (5.1 Setup)

 

[SamuriHL]

Antec HTPC case
Gigabyte motherboard
AMD Athlon X2 4200+
2 gigs of DDR2 ram
XFX 8800 GT
Xbox 360 HD DVD drive
LG GGC-H20L Blu-ray/HD DVD/DVD drive
PowerDVD Ultra Remote
PowerDVD Ultra

Sony 50" LCoS SXRD TV
Yamaha receiver and speakers

 

[Rathbone80]

Athlon X2 4600+ @ 2,7 GHz
Abit KN9 Ultra
2x 1 GB Mushkin DDRII
Zotac GeForce 8800GT Superclocked (512 MB)
HD-DVD: XBOX 360 Addon
Bluray: Pioneer BDC-202
DVD: Pioneer DVD-116 (codefree)
Auzentech Prelude 7.1
Speakers: Teufel Concept G 7.1 THX
HDDs: 17 GB Maxtor for WinXP SP2 / 120 GB Seagte (Vista Home Premium 32 and Home Premium 32 SP1 BETA / 320 GB Seagate (Vista Home Premium 64)

Software: PowerDVD Ultra or Nero SHowtime 4.1.0.1

 

[Nova935]

My current specs are:

P4 3.4 ghz, XFX 8600 GT XXX video card w/ 163.71 drivers, 2Gig memory, XBox 360 HD DVD drive, Pioneer BDC 2202 Blu Ray drive, C-Media audio PCI card, PowerDVD 3104a, Sony 60" LCD RPTV and of course AnyDVDHD 6.3.0.0

Forgot to add my audio equipment:
Yamaha RXV-995 Receiver 100x5
Yamaha MX1000U Amplifier 260 watt x 2 (pre-out from receiver for front ch)
Yamaha MX800 Amplifier 170 watt x 2 (pre-out from receiver for rear ch)
Yamaha GE60 Graphic Equalizer (used for front speakers via analog connection)
2 Sony 400 disc DVD changer
Toshiba HDA1 HD DVD player
Definitive Technology BP7001SC Bi Polar front tower speakers
Definitive Technology CLR2300 Center Speaker
Definitive Technology BPX Bi Polar Rear Speakers

 

[kdssrugby]

AMD X2 4600+ (AM2)
4GB DDR2
ATI 2600 XT 512
Onboard Sound (7.1)
Windows Vista Ultimate
Latest PowerDVD and AnyDVD HD

Sharp Aquos 42" LCD
Harmon Kardon HKTS 15 (5.1)
Onkyo TX-SR605
xbox 360 HD DVD addon
Sony BD100a drive
HP wireless mouse and keyboard
Cyberlink remote
320GB, 250Gb + 250GB hard drives
64 HD DVD's
52 Blu-Rays

 

[erikt]

AMD X2 4200+
MSI K8NGM2-FID
eVGA 8600 GTS
2x1GB PC3200 DRAM
A-Tech 5000 HP
Samsung 80GB 2.5" HDD
Seasonic 300W mATX PSU
Zalman CNPS7000-AlCu HSF
Panasonic slim-line slot-loading DVD/RW
USB-UIRT
Xenarc 700TS touchscreen
Toshiba 50HM67 DLP RPTV
Denon receiver
PSB Alpha 5.1 speakers
Vista Home Ultimate
Meedio, Zoomplayer, PowerDVD, Girder

 

[tato68]

HP Pavilion e6300 1.87
2gb RAM - 250GB SAT Int. - 1TB MyBook USB
Pioneer BDC 202
XBox HD-DVD USB
nVidia 256MB e6600
Vista Ultimate
AnyDVD HD, PowerDVD 3319a, myMovies
Onkyo 735 - HDMI 1.3
Toshiba 63' DLP

... and I feel ashamed by looking at other people's gear!

 

[Dgephri]

warehouseing PC:
QX6700 CPU watercooled
mATX Gigabyte board G33M-DS2R
4X1Gb Crucial BallistiX DDR2-800
8800Ultra
4X1TB Hitachi Deskstar 7200rpm 32Mg cache
XP Pro-32bit (not using all RAM, I know)
Nvidia PureHD decoder
Cyberlink upgraded to ultimate
LiteOn BD drive/burner
Xbox360 Add On via USB
AnyDVD-HD registered
CPU utilization about 5%?

new front Room HTPC
extra E6400 CPU on stock air
Asus P5LD2-VM motherboard
4X512Meg Corsair DDR2-675
ATI 2600HD w/HDMI converter including Audio
250Gig Western Digital Caviar 7200rm 8Mb cache
LG combo BD/HD drive
CPU utilization 15-20%
CyberLink OEM, played both HD and BD via Network from folders on above PC.

 

[Defiant2TheEnd]

Cooler Master Stacker 830 with six 120mm fans
Intel Q6600
4GB RAM DDR2 800 Dual Channel
ASUS 680i Model P5N32-E SLI Systemboard
Thermaltake Toughpower 750W SLI 80Plus PS
Dual BFG OC 8800GT
Dual HP LP3065 monitors
Westinghouse 47" 1080p monitor
AVerMedia AVerTV Combo PCI-e HDTV TV Tuner (highly recommend)
XBOX 360 HD-DVD
Pioneer BDC-202BKS
OS boot on SSD 64GB
D: - Dual Seagate 500GB SATA II NS Series (RAID 1)
E: - Quad Seagate 1TB SATA II NS Series (RAID 5+HS)
Hot swap chassis for drives -Black AMS 5-IN-3 SATA to SATA Module DS-3151SSBK
Logitech wireless keyboard/mouse
Keyspan RF media remote
Vista Ultimate 32-bit
PowerDVD 7.3 Ultra release 3104a
AnyDVD HD

Also have the same system but with ATI 2600 Series (I don't recommend using the ATI 2600 series video adapter if you're going to connect to a HDMI monitor). The 2600 series card limit the resolution of their HDMI adapter to 1920x1080. You cannot go beyond 1920x1080 with their DVI to HDMI adapter.

 

[Dgephri]

I am just going to hook the ATI card up to my 1080P Sony, not a Gaming monitor.

 

[mickemus66]

Mozart Media Lab Case
MSI K9N Diamond Motherboard w/ onboard Creative Soundblaster 7.1 Audio
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+
4GB Patriot PC2-6400 800MHz Memory
XFX 8800GT 512MB DDR3 625MHz ALPHA DOG EDITION
Avermedia HDTV MCE A180 Tv Tunercard
3 500GB Seagate Sata 300
LG Bluray/HD DVD Combo Drive DVDRW/DL
Ultra Media Dashboard 16/1 Card reader
Logitech Wireless Keyboard Mouse
Microsoft Windows Media Center Edition
AnyDVD HD
Cyberlink Power DVD
SAMSUNG 50" 1080P Plasma (Using DVI to HDMI Cable From Video Card)
Onkyo TX-SR602
3 Klipsch In Wall Speakers
4 Klipsch In Ceiling Speakers
1 Infinity PS-12 Subwoofer
VIP 622 Dish HD Receiver With Seagate 750 GB External HD
Viewsat Platinum 2000 FTA Receiver
Home Theater Master MX-600 IR/RF Remote

 

[hotdog453]

Machine itself is hidden, so no unique case need.

Antec 1650B.
Asus P5K-E
Intel Q6600 @ stock.
ATI Radeon 3870 (Recent addition, but can finally game.. yay!)
8GB DDR2 PC800 (2GBx4)
HDD:
A) OS Drive: 150GB Raptor
B) Storage drive for local machine: 500GB Seagate
DVD-ROM: Liteon.
Xbox360 HD-DVD
Pioneer BDC-2202B
Vista Ultimate 64bit.
PowerDVD

Irony of ironies, I built this machine, and promptly pretty much stopped using it, for one main reason: The inability to do TrueHD or DTS-HD with PowerDVD, and the lack of 36bit color, which my components can do. Until there's a way to do that, I'll be using my HD-A30 or PS3 for playback; the lossless audio is too much to lose, IMHO. So, for now, this machine sits unused, doing absolutely... nothing. At all. Ah well.

Home Theater:

130" Da-Lite 2.35:1 screen with 16:9 cutoffs.
Pioneer Elite VSX-94TXH
Optoma HD81-LV 1080p
Optoma Asia BX-AL133 2.35:1 lens
McIntosh MC252 * 3 for fronts, rears, and sides.
McIntosh MC2KW * 4 driving 4 Dayton IB385s in an Infinite Baffle setup
KEF XQ40s for the front stereo and rears, KEF XQ20s for the rear surrounds. KEF XQ50c for center
Toshiba HD-A30 for the HD-DVD player
Sony PS3 for Blu-Ray.

 

[scmeis1]

coolmaster stacker 830
10x wd7500aaks drives
2x wd raptor 150
1 x Fantom Drive firewire 800 external drive 1T
2 x sata hot swap drive cages
creative X-fI platinum
qx9650 OC 4.6Ghz Water cooled
Asus Maximus formula
1 x promise fastrek Ex16350 Raid controller
8G G.skill Ram
SIIG firewire controller (3 port)
Nero 8 ultra w/ blu-ray/Hd-dvd add in
Koolance exos-2 watercooler
LG GGC-H20L
Vista x64 Ultimate
Evga 8800GT SSC


Gigabit home network over Cat 6. D-link Dir-655, 3x Netgear GS-608
xbox 360 and Playstation 3 UPnP
Samsung 46" DLP
Toshiba 52"
Toshiba A20 Hd-DVD player

 

[SamuriHL]

I've updated my specs above. It's changed a bit.

 

[tekmobile]

Mines also changed slightly

Antec Fusion Case Click to SEE
AMD Athlon64 5000+ (Socket AM2)
2GB DDR2
Xbox360 AddOn Drive - SOLD
LG GGW-H20L Blu-Ray Writer / HD-DVD Reader Drive - NEW Addition
MSI Nvidia 7300 PCIe Graphics Card with HDCP enabled HDMI out
Onboard Sound (cant remember which)
Windows Vista Home Premium
No AnyDVD installed because I dont need it to play movies
PowerDVD latest version but wanting a better replacement

My main Setup includes a standalone player though the HTPC is mainly used for TV Viewing and recording, Music etc

Toshiba HDTV 42" dont know model without looking
ONKYO TX-SR605 A/V Reciever
Toshiba HD-EP30 HD DVD Player outputting PCM to the ONKYO - Up for SALE
Tannoy EFX 5.1 Speaker Package
Xbox 360
About 40 HD DVD movies and counting

 

[ajeffo]

Antec Overture II Case
Asus M2NPV-VM Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ AM2
Arctic Cooling Alpine 64 Fan/Heatsink
Crucial memory 4 * 512Mbyte dual channel
2 * Samsung Spinpoint T1333S 300GByte
Zotac nFire Geforce 8600GT 256MB Zone Edition Silent
Pioneer BDC 202 Blu Ray Reader 12X DVD±RWDL RAM
Toshiba SD-H802A HD DVD-ROM Drive IDE (Internal)
Netgear SC101T Network Storage 1.25 Terrabytes for DVD's
Lacie Ethernet Disk Mini 320gb Nas drive for Musc, Photos and videos

SOFTWARE

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium x32Bit
CyberLink PowerDVD Ultra
Slysoft AnyDVD HD
My Movies
This is all hooked up to the following Cinema Equipment

Panasonic 37” TX-37LZD70 LCD television
Sky HD
Denon 1907 AV Receiver
KEF 2005.2 5.1 speakers
2 * Roku Soundbridge music streamers

 

[SamuriHL]

LG GGW-H20L Blu-Ray Writer / HD-DVD Reader Drive - NEW

NICE drive. I wish I could have found one when I was getting my GGC, but, I couldn't afford the extra for it anyway. That's ok, there's always the next HTPC I build for the bedroom. I'll PROBABLY take this one that I just built and move it to the bedroom. Then I'll build a new one from scratch for the living room. But, I need a tv for the bedroom first and that's not happening for a little while.