i am looking to build a media centre to include a decent size hard drive and a blue ray player with wireless networking. Can anyone tell me what wold be the best components to do this or what woyld be a good configuration
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How to build the (nearly best) ultimate media centre
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If you intend to keep the PC in your listening room this place is a good starting point.
http://www.silentpcreview.com/
sikentpcreview
They're not too worried by the audio side though.
There's great information on everything else. Cases, PSU#s, fans, quiet hard drives etc.
http://www.silentpcreview.com/
sikentpcreview
They're not too worried by the audio side though.
There's great information on everything else. Cases, PSU#s, fans, quiet hard drives etc.
mark8par:i am looking to build a media centre to include a decent size hard drive and a blue ray player with wireless networking. Can anyone tell me what wold be the best components to do this or what woyld be a good configuration
I think suitability is the best.
Ultimate means very costly. And maybe some system performance is always unable to be used. So what would you do with your upcoming mdida centre PC? If you just use it to see BD movies and hear music, a AMD 780G based mothboard (integraded with ATI GPU) + Athlon 64 X2 4600+ + 2G RAM are enough to let you do those fluently. And it can deal with most small or old games. If you also wanna play lastest large game, like crysis, far cry, you need a individual video card. To let the video card well perform, all other components have to shift another level.
No matter how you choose, a high quality individual sound card is a must have. Onboard sound card won't let you happy. And more, like "Up To Music" said, you have to consider the system noise.
I think suitability is the best.
Ultimate means very costly. And maybe some system performance is always unable to be used. So what would you do with your upcoming mdida centre PC? If you just use it to see BD movies and hear music, a AMD 780G based mothboard (integraded with ATI GPU) + Athlon 64 X2 4600+ + 2G RAM are enough to let you do those fluently. And it can deal with most small or old games. If you also wanna play lastest large game, like crysis, far cry, you need a individual video card. To let the video card well perform, all other components have to shift another level.
No matter how you choose, a high quality individual sound card is a must have. Onboard sound card won't let you happy. And more, like "Up To Music" said, you have to consider the system noise.
John Duncan
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- Jan 8, 2008
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Yeah I think all this depends on whether you want a "one box" solution - ie a pukka media centre PC, or want to create the same result with a number of components?
I'd take a step back from the components first and start defining what it is you want to acheive and the relative importance of each activity.
e.g
Do you want photos, music, video (home), DVD, blu ray, TV, games, internet etc. Then start constructing from that a system that can meet your requirements. The whole media centre PC/Mac thing is a mine field and can be a right PITA to get setup.
Also look at who is going to be operating the system. As ease of use can steer your equipment choices.
e.g
Do you want photos, music, video (home), DVD, blu ray, TV, games, internet etc. Then start constructing from that a system that can meet your requirements. The whole media centre PC/Mac thing is a mine field and can be a right PITA to get setup.
Also look at who is going to be operating the system. As ease of use can steer your equipment choices.
Are there any websites i can visit where i can configure to my own specification.
Ideally i would like a system i can hook up to my Denon 4308 Receiver and be a good all rounder. I would like to play the latest games but i am not sure if a seperate system ie ps3 etc might be better for this. One thing i have read is that some media centres cant send hd sound through the hdmi connection is this true.
Ideally i would like a system i can hook up to my Denon 4308 Receiver and be a good all rounder. I would like to play the latest games but i am not sure if a seperate system ie ps3 etc might be better for this. One thing i have read is that some media centres cant send hd sound through the hdmi connection is this true.
mark8par: One thing i have read is that some media centres cant send hd sound through the hdmi connection is this true.
Yes. Depends on your video card. I know that the ATI 4xxx range can. There are probably others as well. With the ATI cards you have to watch out for the DVI/HDMI dongle. You must use the ATI supplied one. Any other dongle = no sound. The version of drivers used with ATI cards can also influence whether you get sound. Older versions don't always recongize receivers as receivers. Ah the problems are endless...
Give thought to what media software are you doing to run eg Windows Media Centre, Media Portal etc. Give thought to what blu ray software to use Power DVD, Arcsoft TMT, WinDVD and whether you need this to integrate with Windows Media Centre, Media Portal etc.. All come with their own range of issues. Give thought to how important HD sound is to you. All the blu ray players downsample HD sound to 16bit/48Khz unless you use very specific hardware which in turn gives you a whole host of other issues to contend with.
This is why I say step back from the hardware to begin with and define the results you want to acheive. The end result maybe not even to bother with a media PC
Re games personally I always recommend people use a console.
Yes. Depends on your video card. I know that the ATI 4xxx range can. There are probably others as well. With the ATI cards you have to watch out for the DVI/HDMI dongle. You must use the ATI supplied one. Any other dongle = no sound. The version of drivers used with ATI cards can also influence whether you get sound. Older versions don't always recongize receivers as receivers. Ah the problems are endless...
Give thought to what media software are you doing to run eg Windows Media Centre, Media Portal etc. Give thought to what blu ray software to use Power DVD, Arcsoft TMT, WinDVD and whether you need this to integrate with Windows Media Centre, Media Portal etc.. All come with their own range of issues. Give thought to how important HD sound is to you. All the blu ray players downsample HD sound to 16bit/48Khz unless you use very specific hardware which in turn gives you a whole host of other issues to contend with.
This is why I say step back from the hardware to begin with and define the results you want to acheive. The end result maybe not even to bother with a media PC
Re games personally I always recommend people use a console.
mark8par:
Are there any websites i can visit where i can configure to my own specification.
Ideally i would like a system i can hook up to my Denon 4308 Receiver and be a good all rounder. I would like to play the latest games but i am not sure if a seperate system ie ps3 etc might be better for this. One thing i have read is that some media centres cant send hd sound through the hdmi connection is this true.
Try Dell website (www.dell.com). Pay attention to the XPS series.
PS3 is good for playing games, also for seeing BD movies. But if you wanna play other different format music or movies and upgrade system in the future, media center PC is better.
To hook up your Denon 4308, it's not a problem. Main stream / perfomance video cards like 4850/4870/GTX9800/260 have HDMI interface.
Your last question. HDMI has different versions. The latest version is 1.3. Compared to old version, the latest one has wider bandwidth so that it can support to play Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, which are lossless audio. So to enjoy the lossless sound, make sure the HDMI version is 1.3.
Are there any websites i can visit where i can configure to my own specification.
Ideally i would like a system i can hook up to my Denon 4308 Receiver and be a good all rounder. I would like to play the latest games but i am not sure if a seperate system ie ps3 etc might be better for this. One thing i have read is that some media centres cant send hd sound through the hdmi connection is this true.
Try Dell website (www.dell.com). Pay attention to the XPS series.
PS3 is good for playing games, also for seeing BD movies. But if you wanna play other different format music or movies and upgrade system in the future, media center PC is better.
To hook up your Denon 4308, it's not a problem. Main stream / perfomance video cards like 4850/4870/GTX9800/260 have HDMI interface.
Your last question. HDMI has different versions. The latest version is 1.3. Compared to old version, the latest one has wider bandwidth so that it can support to play Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, which are lossless audio. So to enjoy the lossless sound, make sure the HDMI version is 1.3.
Yes and no. Whilst the hardware can support it you will be hard pressed to find software that will allow it because of the lack of protected audio path. This is why PowerDVD et al down sample. There are a couple of ways around this. Look at the Asus HDAV 1.3 card in conjunction with a version of Arcsoft TMT. Alternatively PowerDVD with some particular Realtec chipsets (forget the numbers sorry). THe only otherway is going down the route of ripping blu rays then using various packages to reencode the audio to FLAC. But to be honest that is a total faff and limits what packages you can actually playback the video in.
Mark,
My PC is primarily for music and the odd DVD, with moderate games performance. The problem with latest games is that they are graphics and processor intensive. Thus requiring more powerful graphics card and processor. These will produce more heat that you need to get out of your system. Bigger heatsinks only go so far in keeping CPU and graphics processor cool. I've found that a 40 watt AMD old school dual core processor and an ATI 4850 can be cooled passively. This allows me to play games of a couple of years old reasonably well. Anything more powerful than that for new games and I'll need to start adding fans. I haven't investigated water cooling thoroughly though.
Probably it's easier to get a PS3 if you really want current games, and would find fan noise too intrusive for music and video use.
My PC is primarily for music and the odd DVD, with moderate games performance. The problem with latest games is that they are graphics and processor intensive. Thus requiring more powerful graphics card and processor. These will produce more heat that you need to get out of your system. Bigger heatsinks only go so far in keeping CPU and graphics processor cool. I've found that a 40 watt AMD old school dual core processor and an ATI 4850 can be cooled passively. This allows me to play games of a couple of years old reasonably well. Anything more powerful than that for new games and I'll need to start adding fans. I haven't investigated water cooling thoroughly though.
Probably it's easier to get a PS3 if you really want current games, and would find fan noise too intrusive for music and video use.
Hi all! I'm an audio engineer and thought I will throw my tupp'ence worth in here and suggest you take a look at an extraordinary piece of Scandinavian engineering called the Mesiro Merium, although I'm not sure if you can source them in the UK yet.
These babies are totally silent and as well as all the usual gubbins, have interchangeable covers to match your decor which scores highly on the Wife-O-meteR, has a tiny footprint (unlike the wife) and is already WiFi enabled out of the box.
It's been a pretty good Vista PC as well, I use the full HD resolution to display the picture on a Sony KDL-52W4500 via the HDMI to achieve 1:1 pixel mapping with the audio side going through the optical out. Even webTV looks half decent.
The last I heard (I've had mine for a year or so) the cost point was floating around the £500 mark.
You can find it at http://www.mesiro.com/
These babies are totally silent and as well as all the usual gubbins, have interchangeable covers to match your decor which scores highly on the Wife-O-meteR, has a tiny footprint (unlike the wife) and is already WiFi enabled out of the box.
It's been a pretty good Vista PC as well, I use the full HD resolution to display the picture on a Sony KDL-52W4500 via the HDMI to achieve 1:1 pixel mapping with the audio side going through the optical out. Even webTV looks half decent.
The last I heard (I've had mine for a year or so) the cost point was floating around the £500 mark.
You can find it at http://www.mesiro.com/
Tarquinh:Why not just be done with it and buy a mac?
Games
In general I still view this as a marketplace which is yet to develop a properly affordable do-it-all solution.
Eliminate the games and there is a multitude of Vista, NAS and Windows Home Server boxes that will meet your needs (yes even-Macs 😉).
If you must play the latest games then as mentioned elsewhere noise, heat, power and size become a major issue.
Personally I'd use a separate PC for each task. The media PC can then use low power consumption components so it drinks less from the mains when playing music and stops a 200W+ gfx card costing you when it's not in use.
If you want to have your cake and eat it (without full-blown water cooling) then here's some tips:
1. A case running 120mm fans.
2. Fans with a noise rating sub 27db.
3. Gfx card with vapour-chamber cooling.
4. Look for explicitly quiet hard drives. Don't buy 10k Raptors for speed only to be deafened by them spooling.
5. Use eSata for external backups (fast) unless you can afford a Blueray burner.
6. CPU's built with the smallest process are more heat efficient so you can use slower fan speeds or posibly even a passive cooler.
There's loads more to consider but as others have suggested you may need to narrow down your requirement a little further first.
Games
In general I still view this as a marketplace which is yet to develop a properly affordable do-it-all solution.
Eliminate the games and there is a multitude of Vista, NAS and Windows Home Server boxes that will meet your needs (yes even-Macs 😉).
If you must play the latest games then as mentioned elsewhere noise, heat, power and size become a major issue.
Personally I'd use a separate PC for each task. The media PC can then use low power consumption components so it drinks less from the mains when playing music and stops a 200W+ gfx card costing you when it's not in use.
If you want to have your cake and eat it (without full-blown water cooling) then here's some tips:
1. A case running 120mm fans.
2. Fans with a noise rating sub 27db.
3. Gfx card with vapour-chamber cooling.
4. Look for explicitly quiet hard drives. Don't buy 10k Raptors for speed only to be deafened by them spooling.
5. Use eSata for external backups (fast) unless you can afford a Blueray burner.
6. CPU's built with the smallest process are more heat efficient so you can use slower fan speeds or posibly even a passive cooler.
There's loads more to consider but as others have suggested you may need to narrow down your requirement a little further first.
Tonya,
It's a lovely looking case, but a shame they don't sell it as a case only as I'd whack a mini ITX 780G and BD ROM in there ...
It's a lovely looking case, but a shame they don't sell it as a case only as I'd whack a mini ITX 780G and BD ROM in there ...
Tarquinh:Why not just be done with it and buy a mac?
Front Row vs Media Centre = media centre definitely wins. I still haven't figured out getting blu ray to work with my Mac Pro - though have only spent a limited amount of time looking into it.
Front Row vs Media Centre = media centre definitely wins. I still haven't figured out getting blu ray to work with my Mac Pro - though have only spent a limited amount of time looking into it.
Is there any native support at all for BluRay wthin MacOS? I don't recall so.
You could install Vista using Bootcamp and provided you have a GPU that will cope, this could be a solution for you. If the Mac Pro you have does not allow the HDCP handshake to take place then AnyDVD will do the job for you.
If you manage to play, do let me know the results. I can't see why it wouldn't work. (I guess its far from ideal having to book into Vista to watch a film though)
Mtat.
You could install Vista using Bootcamp and provided you have a GPU that will cope, this could be a solution for you. If the Mac Pro you have does not allow the HDCP handshake to take place then AnyDVD will do the job for you.
If you manage to play, do let me know the results. I can't see why it wouldn't work. (I guess its far from ideal having to book into Vista to watch a film though)
Mtat.
I built a Media PC with a LG Blu-Ray/HD DVD drive but found I could get better blu-ray and DVD playback from a relatively modestly priced (£160) standalone player in the form of the Sony BDP-S350. I ditched the media PC because it was too big, too noisy and simply didn't cut it with HD movie playback, both sound and picture. Plus constant updates for the playback of blu-rays didn't always work.
Having said that, I do miss the media center with music. I've got all my music as Windows Media Lossless and creating playlists on the fly in media center was brilliant. Consequently I'm going to build myself another media PC, this time smaller using the Moneual 301 case and Asus P5N7A-VM motherboard, it's main use will be for music.
It's an expensive way just to play music, but I don't want to have to stream music and so always leave a PC on and the playlist on-the-fly feature is crucial to how I listen to music.
Having said that, I do miss the media center with music. I've got all my music as Windows Media Lossless and creating playlists on the fly in media center was brilliant. Consequently I'm going to build myself another media PC, this time smaller using the Moneual 301 case and Asus P5N7A-VM motherboard, it's main use will be for music.
It's an expensive way just to play music, but I don't want to have to stream music and so always leave a PC on and the playlist on-the-fly feature is crucial to how I listen to music.
Silverstone Grandia SST-GD01B-MXR £110 (Comes with remote and a nice screen)
Asus p5E-V HDMI £80 (Good motherboard with HDMI)
E8400 Dual Core £120 (No need for Quad core in a media PC)
500GB Samsung Spinpoint F1 £60 (Samsung are pretty good)
Sony BDU-X10S BD-ROM £50 (Blu ray for £50, pretty good)
MSi Silent 9400GT with HDMI if you really want a GPU £50
about 4GB decent RAM £40
And remember to budget for an OS if you don't already have one lined up
Asus p5E-V HDMI £80 (Good motherboard with HDMI)
E8400 Dual Core £120 (No need for Quad core in a media PC)
500GB Samsung Spinpoint F1 £60 (Samsung are pretty good)
Sony BDU-X10S BD-ROM £50 (Blu ray for £50, pretty good)
MSi Silent 9400GT with HDMI if you really want a GPU £50
about 4GB decent RAM £40
And remember to budget for an OS if you don't already have one lined up
Pete - which motherboard and gfx card were you using ? I'm using a 780G with an ATI3450 in crossfire configuration. Whilst my TV, the Panasonic TH42 P70 doesn't display 24fps, I can use ReClock to speed up BD playback to 25fps and have completely smooth video on my screen. I don't think BluRay players can do that. I'm going to compare a Panasonic BD player to the computer playback I think - see which I prefer. If you were using the old Intel mobo - G45 or something like that, then it probably wasn't any good. Very interested in your answer.
Back to the original question and I do believe it's entirely possible to build an all in one media centre that does pretty much everything, you've just gotta know how to configure it. Higher end GFX cards can now output dolby true HD though I'm not sure whether Windows plays with the audio at all or not (ie: dunno if it's bit perfect). I can't answer that one but anyone with a receiver can as it'll display the digital signal that it's receiving.
I'd personal keep my music playback separate using an ESI Juli@ which would allow me to pass music at different resolutions to my external DAC.
Many ways of doing it, and if you've got the money you can have it silent to. The software integration is all bound to improve going forward, it's just a shame that us audiophiles remain in the minority.
Back to the original question and I do believe it's entirely possible to build an all in one media centre that does pretty much everything, you've just gotta know how to configure it. Higher end GFX cards can now output dolby true HD though I'm not sure whether Windows plays with the audio at all or not (ie: dunno if it's bit perfect). I can't answer that one but anyone with a receiver can as it'll display the digital signal that it's receiving.
I'd personal keep my music playback separate using an ESI Juli@ which would allow me to pass music at different resolutions to my external DAC.
Many ways of doing it, and if you've got the money you can have it silent to. The software integration is all bound to improve going forward, it's just a shame that us audiophiles remain in the minority.
agree with you re the sentiment about building media centre PCs. But what higher end gfx cards are you referring to re dolby true HD. There are a number of gfx cards that can output 7.1 but I don't think any of them do dolby true hd or DTS MA. The only cards I'm aware of doing that are the ASUS HDAV and a card from assuntech (spelling error?). I'm not sure the assuntech card is even out yet. And (being pedantic) both are sound cards.
Cram,
ATI have this under the spec for the 4800 series card:
(But at the bottom of the page it does state it's limited to 6.144MPS - teach me to read the small print eh) .. mind you, that's still a rather high bit rate ...
HDMI output support
ATI have this under the spec for the 4800 series card:
(But at the bottom of the page it does state it's limited to 6.144MPS - teach me to read the small print eh) .. mind you, that's still a rather high bit rate ...
HDMI output support
- All display resolutions up to 1920x10802
Integrated HD audio controller with support for stereo and multi-channel (up to 7.1) audio formats, including AC-3, AAC, DTS, DTS-HD & Dolby True-HD
Cram,
You could of course use a 780/790G based motherboard and add this audio card:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SC-003-AS&groupid=701&catid=11&subcat=
Pass the DD True HD or DTS-HD to your cinema amp and use the SPDIF output to your external DAC for music which could be passed bit perfect - sure it'll support WASAPI and ASIO !!
Pretty cool setup.
You could of course use a 780/790G based motherboard and add this audio card:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SC-003-AS&groupid=701&catid=11&subcat=
Pass the DD True HD or DTS-HD to your cinema amp and use the SPDIF output to your external DAC for music which could be passed bit perfect - sure it'll support WASAPI and ASIO !!
Pretty cool setup.
I've got a 4850 I've never managed to get anything other than downsampled audio out of it. The downsampling is still better than DVD though.
I've got one of the HDAV cards. Very pleased with it. Saying that could have bought an actual bluray player for the same amount of money....
I've got one of the HDAV cards. Very pleased with it. Saying that could have bought an actual bluray player for the same amount of money....
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