For those of you that have been following along our AMD@Home blog, you know I have written multiple blogs on HTPC topics such as why you might want one and the cool things you can do with it.  I have even covered how I am using one at home for my family’s TV viewing needs. 

For this entry, I’m adding a little flair to the blog series by taking your through the videos for the assembly of an HTPC and show how easy it is to put one together.  There are a total of 9 videos in this series — most are only a couple of minutes long so it should make for easy viewing.

One of the main advantages of building your own system is that you are in control not only of the cost, but also the features and functions.  You get to choose exactly what components will go into the build and a sense of pride when the job is complete.

The video series highlights the basic steps needed to assemble an HTPC.  It is not necessary to follow the steps in the exact order — these are just a guideline to the assembly process.  The steps and order may be specific to the chassis you are using. 

To keep me and AMD out of trouble (and to keep our lawyers happy), I need to toss in the disclaimer…With any DIY build, you should ensure that you are properly grounded and building in an anti static environment so as not to damage any components.  You should wear the appropriate safety gear and it is always best that trained professionals do the building.  With that said, let’s take a look at the videos.

Intro/Chassis

For this video, I chose the Lian Li C39 for the video build. I wanted something low profile yet still able to support a full ATX PSU and have the additional ability to upgrade further as needed.  However, there are many chassis options available to meet many different needs and budgets.

Optical and Hard Disk Drive Installation

As you can see from video, installing Optical drives and Hard Drives are pretty easy.  You will likely need to adjust the optical drives position so that it properly aligns with the eject button on the chassis.  Also note that HDDs can create a lot of noise and vibration while spinning.  The rubber grommets will help isolate vibration and keep your HTPC quiet.  It is also worth mentioning that some HDDs are more suited for HTPC use than others.  See my earlier blog on Industry Changes to learn more.

Power Supply Unit (PSU) Installation

With this chassis, I chose to install the PSU after setting up the drives so that I would have more room to get to the drive bay.  Other chassis may follow a different order depending on how it’s laid out.  Note that for an HTPC, you typically don’t need a high wattage supply so look for one that is quiet and stable rather than high wattage which can create more noise.  Typically, anything over 350W should be OK for most HTPC configurations, however, this is somewhat dependent on just how many different devices you are installing.

Motherboard Installation

As you can see here, I waited to install the motherboard until the other components were set up.   Be careful not to scratch the bottom of the motherboard on the board standoffs/mounts.  This could cause shorting or stability issues. 

TIP: If the board standoffs on the chassis do not provide enough support in critical parts of the board where you might be applying pressure (installing memory, cables, etc.), get some electrical tape and roll it up (like a sleeping bag) until it is about the thickness of the standoffs.  Then using another piece of electrical tape, tape it down to the chassis in the areas where you want extra support.  Since the electrical tape is non conductive, it will provide support without creating a short against the motherboard.

Cable/Wiring 

Consult your motherboard documentation for the exact layout of the pin headers and wiring. While I did not take all the time necessary for the video, I can’t say this enough:  It is important that you wrap up and tie off any unused  cables.  Use zip ties (zip strips) or other non metallic material to get those cables out of the way.  They are not expensive so be generous when applying those zip ties. Not only will this make the inside of your chassis look better, it will greatly aid in allowing air to circulate through the chassis more effectively.   Bad airflow leading to overheating components is a common cause for system stability issues.  Tie Off Those Cables!

Audio Installation

Some boards use integrated audio so you may not need to follow this step.  Refer to your motherboard manufacturer to determine how the audio on your system will be set up and connected.

You will also note that because the board I am using supports integrated video, I did not need to install a discrete graphics card.

TV Tuner Installation

As you can see here, there are a lot of different TV tuner options for your HTPC. If you are installing a TV tuner in your HTPC, find one that best meets your needs and budget.  For North American builders, it is also important to know whether you are looking for an over-the-air solution, clearQAM solution or digital cable card solution.  For those in regions outside North America, you will need to determine if you need a tuner that supports DVB-T, DVB-S or other regional formats.

Memory Installation

Most motherboards will offer a dual channel memory configuration with 4 slots.  While gaming PCs or high end workstations might benefit from installing the memory in the slots nearest the CPU, HTPCs are not high demanding memory implementations.  Therefore, it probably won’t make much difference which slots you choose to install the memory in.  However, refer to your motherboard’s manual for the recommended procedure.

CPU/Heatsink Installation

One of the final steps in this build was to install the CPU and Heatsink.  Our CPU sockets are often referred to as ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) sockets.  This means it should require no force to install the CPU.  The CPU should just drop into the socket once the lever is raised.  If you have to apply any pressure to install the CPU…STOP.  This means that there is a problem somewhere. Perhaps the pins are not properly aligned with the socket holes, the socket lever is not raised or some other issue has occurred.  

With the assembly complete, you are just about ready to power up and start installing the operating system, drivers and applications.  Soon you will be on your way to enjoying your new HTPC and all the functions and features it offers.  Again, if you would prefer a pre built system, you might want to read through my Build or Buy blog post.

You can find these and other AMD related videos on our AMD Unprocessed Channel on Youtube.

 Till next time, Happy Trails!

Jay Taylor is a Senior Developer Relations Engineer at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.

As stated in the first part of this blog series, I have seen different sites put together a list of potential HTPC hardware for budgets under $1000 USD.  While many of these sites are showcasing some nice systems, I think there are multiple ways to approach this project.  As such, I put together my own list for a potential HTPC build while offering some options to hit different price points — entry level, mainstream/mid level and higher end systems — each less than $1000 USD.   In part one, I covered the basic entry level system.  It served as a starting point for a system that could be easily upgraded.  This time, I want to look at some upgrades we can do to the entry level system to enhance the features/functions of the HTPC that make it more of a mainstream system.

So what can you expect from a mainstream HTPC build?  It should be able to easily handle all the same tasks as the entry level build and more.  With the mainstream system, we can add Blu-ray playback, transcoding content for portable devices, streaming content to other devices (other PCs, extenders, etc.) and TV tuning functionality. 

I would like to point out, these are just guideposts to provide a frame of reference for feature sets, functions and price points.  Some features may be more important than others to you as the reader.  Therefore, you may want to consider changing individual components to better meet your needs.  I am listing some optional equipment for your consideration.  I have tried to note component choices that are unchanged from the entry build and those that are upgrades.

Motherboard (Unchanged)
Like before, at the heart of any HTPC platform is the motherboard and critical to the motherboard is the chipset. So, starting with the Gigabyte GA-MA785GPMT-UD2H board from last time, this board has a host of features that make for a good HTPC system.  Being uATX, it can be put into a reasonably sized chassis (think ~VCR size). It is based upon the AMD RS785G chipset so it has great video performance and supports HD resolutions (including Blu-ray), when combined with an HD monitor. The UVD-2 support along with the powerful integrated graphics and 128MB of sideport memory provide smooth video playback. The HDMI output offers easy connectivity to your HD TV. All-in-all, this makes for a good solution for the HTPC. 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA785GPMT-UD2H $94.99 USD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128399&Tpk=GA-MA785GPMT-UD2H

CPU (Upgrade)
As stated earlier, processing power plays an important role in an HTPC. Depending on what it is you want to do with your HTPC, you may need more speed in your CPU or you may need more cores in your CPU.  To improve the system responsiveness in transcoding as well as to deliver more horsepower to the system so it can handle multiple video streams to other devices on the network, I opted for the AMD Phenom^TM II X3 705e triple-core processor.  This is a nice balance between frequency and core count, yet still a low power processor at 65W.

CPU: AMD Phenom^TM II X3 705e triple-core processor $129.00
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4695460&SRCCODE=GOOGLEBASE&cm_mmc_o=VRqCjC7BBTkwCjCECjCE

CPU Cooler (Optional Upgrade)
This one can be a little harder to address. When buying an AMD Processor In a Box (PIB) product, the heatsink will generally come with the CPU purchase in a nice box. These can be very effective and quiet coolers for most HTPC tasks.  However, there are some solutions out there designed for quiet operation.  Some are low profile while others are passive (no fan) solutions.  Therefore, in addition to the stock cooler, I am providing some optional cooling solutions for those that are interested.  However, I am not adding these into the overall pricing since the stock cooler is great for most HTPC builds.

Scythe Mini Ninja is a nice cooler with a quiet design. However, it may not fit in all chassis designs. $35.99 
http://www.directron.com/scmnj1100.html

Noiselimit Silent Flux Media Cooler is another nice option. It too is a quiet design with a low profile. $39.99
http://www.directron.com/3100003.html

Memory (Unchanged)
Now for memory. There are not a lot of optimizations a memory vendor can do for an HTPC type scenario. Unlike video games applications or other mainstream desktop applications, HTPCs don’t need the fastest memory available. Likewise, they don’t necessarily need huge amounts of memory to provide great performance. I have found that 2GB is a pretty good amount of memory to start with for an HTPC. Rule of thumb is to get as much as possible  of the fastest memory that fits within your budget.  For cost effectiveness, brand recognition and performance, I chose to go with memory from Kingston for this build.

Memory: Kingston 2GB Kit (2×1GB) of DDR3 1066 $46.49 USD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134492

Note: It is a good idea to check with your board manufacturer for compatible memory.  It should also be pointed out that if you are using a 32 bit operating system, anything over 4GBs will not be recognized by the system (actually about 3.5GB will be seen by the OS).

Audio (Included)
One thing I did not mention last time was the audio solution.  Depending on your audio requirements, the motherboard has multiple options to handle audio.  Audio can be run over HDMI to your AVR or TV or alternatively, you can pass the audio over the optical SPDIF port controlled by the the Realtek codec on board (RT889 chip). 

HDD (Upgrade)
Vendors like Seagate, Samsung, Western Digital, and Hitachi also offer a variety of products for the PC space. Like AMD, they have some products that target the lower power environment.  Seagate’s Pipeline HD series, Western Digital’s Green series, Samsung’s EcoGreen and Hitachi’s Cinemastar series drives are optimized for low power and quiet operation.  These drives typically have fluid bearings, improved firmware and thermals that make them well suited for HTPC applications.  Like memory, more storage is usually a good thing for an HTPC.   

For this system, I opted to go with a larger drive to allow more room for storage of content. However, one option to consider is having a multi drive system.  For example, 1 drive for the OS + applications and 1 drive for content storage (shows, pictures, music, etc). In that case, 1 smaller drive and 1 larger drive might better serve your needs.

HDD: Samsung Eco Green 1TB Green HDD $79.99 USD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152173

Optical Disk Drive (ODD) (Upgrade)
Selecting an optical drive can be a little challenging because it is often hard to tell the advantages of one over another. I have used a variety of drives over the years — some more reliable than others and some quieter than others. However, for me when it comes to the HTPC discussion, it boils down to DVD vs. Blu-ray. With the format war over and Blu-ray drive prices coming down, it does make for a nice upgrade to the HTPC. 

ODD: Lite-On Blu-ray ROM (OEM version) $59.99 USD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106325

Note: Drive listed is the OEM version. It may or may not ship with Blu-ray playback software Retail versions typically ship with additional software.  However, I am listing some optional Blu-ray software below that has worked well for me.

Chassis (Upgrade)
In an earlier blog, I covered some of the different chassis solutions on the market. Selecting a chassis really depends on personal tastes, budget, room decor, etc. The criteria I used below included a combination of price and functionality, yet still fitting the overall HTPC look and feel. In this case, I am listing a couple of options that can be nice choices for an HTPC.  However, adjust your choice and budget based upon your own goals.

The nMedia chassis has a nice feature set supporting multiple HDDs, full ATX PSU, good airflow and full size card support.

 nMedia H1000b $79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811204030

The Antec chassis is a low profile solution that supports a pretty small footprint.  It offers an integrated PSU, front panel display and remote control and adjustable speed chassis fans.  However, note that being low profile, it may not work with your CPU cooler.  Be sure to check the dimensions of your preferred cooler to ensure compatibility with this chassis. 

Antec uFusion Remote 350 $99.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129046

Power Supply Unit (PSU) (Optional Upgrade)
In the previous blog, I mentioned that Power Supplies are an important part of an HTPC build.  The Antec chassis I used this time also included a 350W PSU which is pretty good for most HTPC configurations using this chassis.  However, the other chassis does support a standard ATX type PSU, which greatly opens up the option for selecting quiet, reliable supplies.

For the mainstream build with the nMedia chassis, I opted for the Corsair 450VX.  This is one of the more quiet PSUs I have had the pleasure of working with on previous HTPC builds. 

Corsair 450VX PSU $74.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003

TV Tuner (Optional Upgrade)
Now, to me this is a really nice addition to an HTPC. There are some that will argue that TV tuners provide no real value since you can find just about anything online.  For some, this may be true, but others find a great deal of value in a TV Tuner card. In fact, some people (like myself) install multiple tuners so they can watch/record multiple shows at one time.  Being able to combine broadcast TV with online TV content is somewhat of a best of both worlds approach.  Likewise, some tuners not only support ATSC content (Digital OTA broadcasts) but also support Clear QAM content from cable companies.  Therefore, you may want to consider adding a TV Tuner to your HTPC build. 

As mentioned in an earlier blog, I used this hybrid approach of TV tuners + online content to cancel my satellite service and save money each month.  The TV Tuner provides me with some really nice HD content for free (over the air TV content) and I have the option of using my HTPC as a DVR as well. For everything else, I just go online. 

For this build I opted for the TV Wonder 650 card from Diamond Multimedia.  There is also a retail version of this unit that comes with additional hardware and software for just a little more money.  It is nice to have but not required, since the OEM units will work just fine as well. I should also point out that the tuner listed is a combo tuner which means it has 2 fully functional tuners integrated into the design and both can operate at the same time. You can opt for a Hybrid tuner which also has two tuners, but only one can be active at a time. This can save you a little money if budgets are tight.  I am using two of the ATI branded version of this card and it works great. 

TV Tuner: Diamond TV Wonder 650 $84.99 (OEM Version)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815306018

Now, the unit does come with a remote, but I recommend using the standard MCE remote below along with the media center software from Microsoft.  It makes things very simple to set up and use. 

Note: Make sure you purchase the appropriate tuner card interface (PCI or PCIe®) to match the available slot on your motherboard.

Remote Control (Unchanged)
The Remote Control is another important piece of your HTPC. I have already posted about this in part 1 and part 2 of the series. Microsoft’s Media Center product that is included with some versions of their operating system does a very nice job of bringing the “10-foot experience” to the PC. While the basic remote is certainly one option, there are some remotes that provide more functionality than the basic remote and are programmable so you may be able to simplify at the same time. Therefore, you might want to read through the series on remote controls to see what options are out there.  However, for the sake of simplicity, I am keeping the same remote option for this build.

Remote: Anywhere Media Center Remote with IR receiver $22.99 USD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16880121001

Keyboard/Mouse (Unchanged)
Similar to remotes, keyboards are another important part of your HTPC solution. See part 1 of the Remote Control series for more info on keyboard options. For this build, I kept the choice of the Logitech keyboard/mouse Bluetooth solution for both range and functionality. Having both keyboard and mouse functionality out of the same device makes it easy to use. 

Keyboard: Logitech Mediaboard Pro $69.99 USD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16879212011

Operating System (Unchanged)
There are many different options here and many people will have their own opinion of what operating system to use.  With Microsoft® Windows® 7 just around the corner (October 22nd expected release date), it is probably worthwhile to wait and use that as everything I have seen with Windows 7 looks to be very impressive for both general PC duties in addition to HTPC duties.  (A Windows 7 capable PC configuration will be required.)   Linux® is another very viable option and very cost effective. However, you might need more experience with setting up and configuring a Linux based system to get everything working to your liking.

Blue-ray Software (Optional)
Microsoft’s media player included with their OS works great for standard DVD playback.  However, it is not capable of playing back Blue-ray discs.  As such, additional software is needed.  As mentioned above, some Blu-ray drives will ship with the necessary s/w for Blu-ray playback and like many drive s/w bundles, it may or may not work well for you.  I have found some Blu-ray playback s/w that has worked pretty well for me.

Arcsoft Total Media Theater
http://www.arcsoft.com/estore/software_title.asp?ProductCode=TMT3P

Cyberlink Power DVD
http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdvd/overview_en_US.html

Conclusion
OK, that covers most of the components you will need for the mainstream system.  The total cost of the hardware listed above starts at $688.42 USD + operating system.  I did not include the playback s/w nor the optional coolers in the cost because as mentioned some ODD drives come bundled with playback s/w and the stock cooler works well for most HTPC builds. 

Overall, you can see that by increasing the budget about $250, we can greatly increase the functionality and features of the HTPC by adding Blu-ray playback, Live TV playback via a TV tuner, DVR functionality, better CPU horsepower for streaming and transcoding, etc. and a more aesthetically appealing chassis.  Still well below the $1000.00 USD and we get a very functional HTPC that can probably handle just about anything you throw at it.  If your budget is somewhere between the entry build and the mainstream system, this should give you an idea of different upgrade options to get more features that fit within your budget.

Note, I am listing prices in US dollars found online as of the day this was written. These are not the only sources for hardware and there are plenty of choices on where to purchase.  Likewise, this does not reflect shipping, rebates, bundle deals, etc. or online retailers for readers in other countries.  So do your homework to get the best deals when you purchase and you may be able to get even better prices than what’s listed here.  

For those that would rather purchase a pre configured HTPC, see my “Build or Buy?” blog posting.

So, as you can see, building a mainstream HTPC does cost more, but you also get more functionality.  Again, don’t look at this blog as a hard requirement but more of a sign post to help you along the way.  If there are functions that are more/less important to you, feel free to swap out a more suitable part for your needs and budget.

 Till next time, Happy Trails!

Jay Taylor is a Senior Developer Relations Engineer at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.

One of the things that has become very apparent to me over the last year is that my TV viewing habits have completely changed.  In the past, I would either watch TV shows live or DVR them and watch them later that same day or night.  Lately I have found that my wife and I often catch up with our favorite TV shows (Lost, Heroes, The Office, Lie To Me, and 24) on the weekend, when life slows down a bit.  We will either watch them on the DVR in our media room, or we will watch them using Hulu on our Bedroom TV (using a PC).   Occasionally we will even use our Slingbox to stream the shows from our media room to the PC in the bedroom.

Recently however, my bedroom PC has started to show its age, and has become a bit unreliable.  I decided one easy way for me to test out the DV2, was to hook it right to my TV and see what happened. 

I had a DV2 at the house anyway, since I was using one for AMD Fusion Media Explorer testing.  With the DV2’s nice and convenient HDMI port I figured this would be a snap.  I proceeded to run an HDMI cable between my Visio 37” LCD, and the DV2.  Within less than 5 minutes I was up and running.  While I was able to use the DV2’s integrated keyboard and mouse for navigation, I found myself missing the convenience of a wireless keyboard and mouse.  I hooked up my Gyration mouse, and it automatically loaded the driver and I was in business less than a minute later.

In addition to being able to stream content from my favorite TV sites (Hulu, Fancast, Veoh, TV.com, nbc.com, abc.com, etc.),  I was also able to watch my collection of archived movies, and TV shows, as well as Blu-Ray and DVD movies.  I like to save my movies and TV shows in either WMV or DiVX file formats.  Unfortunately, most CE devices won’t play either of these formats.  The nice thing about a PC, like the DV2, is support is only a codec install away.

Another feature I put to quick use, is the Sling Media Player, which comes preinstalled on the DV2.  I have only 1 cable box in my house, (and hoping to get to none when my Time Warner contract runs out), so I use a SlingBox to get premium content from that box to the rest of the house.  I have my DVR setup to automatically record many of the shows listed earlier in the post.  As soon as I clicked on the Sling icon, it found my SlingBox, and after entering my password, I was watching TV in seconds.  It was a very intuitive and seamless experience.

As for the video quality in each of these uses cases are concerned, here if what I found:

Blu-Ray – Excellent.  Looked about as good as my PS3

DiVX/WMV – Very Good.  While not as stunning as Blu-Ray, I was more than happy with the playback

Slingbox – Very Good.  It was as good as I had seen it on any other PC I have tried it on.

Youtube/Hulu – Good.  Youtube playback can only be as good as the content.  The DV2 seemed to play it as well as any other PC I have tried.  As for Hulu, my experience was mixed.  The visual quality was very good, but I did notice an occasional stutter.  My wife didn’t notice it though, so maybe I am just ultra picky.  It was still watchable, but wasn’t quite as smooth as it was on my quad-core “Dragon” platform system.

AMD Fusion Media Explorer – Good. Installing Fusion Media Explorer on the system was really the highlight of the experience for me.  Now I was able to surf the web while I watched TV or movies.  That is what I call “getting it done.”  Give me a 6 pack of Diet Coke and I am good for hours. 

I also really enjoyed the photo, music, and video experiences.  I found it very easy to navigate and find what I was looking for.  The performance of the ribbon isn’t as smooth as it is on higher end systems, but it was still quite usable.  I loved clicking on a song, and having it present music videos to me from Youtube.  I wasted about an hour just doing that. 

All said and done, I was really happy with my experience using the DV2 as a mobile media center.  The other nice thing is I can take it in the car and hand it to the kids in the back seat, and now they are good for hours.  As a standard notebook, the DV2 is great; but I really fell in love with this notebook’s better than expected multimedia capabilities.

Casey Gotcher is Director, Product Marketing at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.

Up until now, I have tried to provide a high level overview of the hardware and software changes that have taken place over the past couple of years that are making the Home Theater PC an interesting platform. So, is the HTPC really ready for a larger audience?  It is difficult to say what makes a platform move from a niche segment to the mainstream consumer platform.  Certainly the degree of difficulty in setting up and using the product is one factor, while cost may be another.   However, I thought I would share a little of my personal experience with the HTPC as a user and not as an engineer.

In these trying economic times, consumers are carefully watching their expenditures and spending their money where they believe they can get the most bang for their buck.  Like the rest of you, I have taken a hard look at my own monthly expenditures trying to find some ways to save a little more ca$h.  This is where my HTPC comes into play. I have been working on these types of platforms for a couple of years now and I think technology and content are finally coming together to open this system up to a larger consumer audience. 

Jumping In

Now, I know that some of you may be thinking: “You’re an engineer. You can solve problems if something goes wrong with it, but the mainstream consumer may not be able to“.  Let me assure you, that while I may be more technical, my family is certainly less so.  Now, I may catch a little heat over this from my family (love you guys!), but they can be very vocal when things are not working quite right.  I do a fair amount of traveling internationally and therefore, I am not always around to fix things if something breaks. For example, while on business in Taiwan I’ve been awoken at 3 am by an upset voice on the other end telling me in a polite but exasperated manner that “The doohickey isn’t clicking the way it’s supposed to and instead it’s making a thumping/gurgling sound so I can’t watch what I wanted to and you need to fix it now!“.  So, I learned a while back that if I don’t want to sleep on the couch or get the evil eye from my children, I should probably not make my family test subjects and I should NEVER mess with their entertainment experience. 

However, with all the recent changes taking place in the industry, I finally felt sufficiently at peace that we could make some changes in how we consume content in the home.  About 3 months ago we took the steps to cancel our satellite service and get content strictly from over the air (OTA) broadcasts and through online content providers (see list here).  There was certainly a little concern expressed on behalf of my wife and kids, but we tried it anyway.  So far, things have been going pretty well.  We have not had any blue screens, lock ups, or major problems at all.

End Result

There was a little bit of a learning curve that was needed, but soon everyone started to get the hang of this new thing (affectionately called, “the box”).  Then as we discovered new sources of online content, I saw ever so slight smiles. Then those smiles grew as they started to realize the possibilities. No longer were they tied strictly to the time when a show was broadcast. No longer were they limited by the amount of DVR storage that our satellite provider gave us with their box. We now have more freedom to watch what we want, when we want.  They have come to not fear the new box under the TV, but instead are starting to embrace it. Well, they are not REALLY hugging it, but they are seeing that it is not all that hard to use and in many respects, operates in a similar manner to our previous satellite box. 

Sure there may be a few extra steps to get to the online content, but even that is starting to change.  The kicker here is that since I built the box from scratch, there was no instruction manual, yet my wife was able to quickly pick it up without much guidance from me. This was a big deal for me because my wife loves instruction manuals and micro organizing. We have a big binder full of instruction manuals (really, I’m not exaggerating). We even have one from an answering machine we had 15 years ago.  So, it was great to see her jump in and start using it (honey, I am so proud of you!).

Now, this did not all come without some sacrifice.  We don’t have access to all the exact same content we could get from our satellite provider.  There are some shows we just can’t get, at least not yet.  However, for all that we lost, we gained significantly more content.  Sure, this content was out there and we could always watch it on our desktop PC, but do you really want to crowd around a 19″ computer monitor sitting at your desk to watch your TV programming?  I know I don’t.  Our HTPC gives us access to all that content and that experience but from the comfort of my couch. In addition to all that, the HTPC is our:

• Blu-ray and DVD player
• Digital Video Recorder (DVR)
• Photo Library
• Music Library
• Internet Radio
• DVD Library
• Amplifier
• TV Tuner

Just one box and one remote — it works great for us.

Between the two ATI TV Wonder^TM HD 650 Combo PCI Express® tuners I installed, we can watch and record multiple programs at the same time. For shows we may miss or are not broadcast on OTA TV, we go online to watch.  To top it all off, we are saving about $100 per month by cutting the cord (or in our case, the satellite feed).

I can’t say if it is right for you or your family, or if you would save as much as we do, but perhaps it is time to take a look.  If you have an interesting story or thoughts about your HTPC experience, please leave a comment, we would love to hear what you have to say.  You can read about the steps I took to cut the cord here. Likewise, if you have a topic you would like to see covered in a future blog, let us know. 

Till next time, happy trails!

Jay Taylor is a Senior Developer Relations Engineer at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.

In previous segments we have discussed some of the functions and features of the HTPC. We have shown you the very cool MSI Media Live Diva platform. We have even shown you where you can buy your own system. This time let’s spend a little time on how the hardware industry as a whole is addressing the needs of the HTPC.

Until recently, the HTPC space has been dominated by the “Garage Shop Guy”. By this I mean, the technically skilled enthusiast type person that thrives on building and tweaking their own computer hardware. Building an HTPC required patience and time along with core knowledge of PC hardware. There has been a fair amount of fine tuning the hardware and software to get just the right functionality and performance out of the system. This put the HTPC outside the realm of the mainstream consumer. However, with advancements in technology and greater levels of integration, it is much easier to build a compelling system without the time commitments and tuning previously required. In future segments, I will do a deeper dive on many of the individual topics in this blog, but for now I want to provide a little overview on technology changes.

Improved Video Processing
Prior to HDTV, PCs displayed on standard definition televisions (SDTV) were never that compelling. Resolution capabilities of SD sets were just too low to properly display digital content. However, with the growth of HD TV sets and advances in video processing technology, chipsets are offering better performance and more functionality than previous generation products. Things like hardware acceleration to improve video playback, improved connectivity options via HDMI outputs, and Microsoft’s DirectX® 10 support for better 3D processing have all come together to make the HTPC not only easier to build, but also cheaper since a discrete GPU card is no longer required for many HTPC applications. What this can mean to the consumer is a lower overall cost, low heat, low noise, but with full, Hi-Def playback of your favorite content on your HD TV or monitor. However, many of these chipsets also support a hybrid mode that allows for a discrete card to be used in conjunction with the integrated GPU. This provides more horsepower for more GPU intensive applications like gaming and more.

Improved Audio Processing
Along with improved video performance, vendors are trying to address the audio performance requirements. Watching a beautiful, high definition movie with flat or distorted audio tracks is just not all that interesting. Listening to it through your TV speakers is not all that exciting either. To address this, vendors are moving to support more advanced audio features. This in turn will lead to a much more compelling experience when watching movies or listening to music. One platform that really targets this experience is the MSI Media Live Diva platform covered earlier. As mentioned, AMD, MSI and D2Audio got together to try and deliver a platform that uniquely targets the HTPC market needs.

Improved Chassis Designs
Early HTPC chassis were based upon standard desktop PC chassis designs. They were very big and frequently very loud. They had high RPM fans spinning at full speed that often exceeded 34+dBs. This created very loud system level noise and was very annoying when one could not hear the subtle dialog over the loud fan noise. Furthermore, they still looked very much like a black painted PC chassis that had just fallen over. Aesthetically, these PCs just did not fit into the look/feel of the rest of the Audio/Video components. Today, you can find numerous chassis from different vendors like Antec, nMedia PC, Lian Li, Silverstone, Thermaltake and others making chassis in different shapes, sizes and looks.  The chassis are designed to look/feel much more like audio/video equipment than a traditional PC look/feel. Chassis vendors have spent a great deal of time trying to improve the overall design and airflow of these chassis solutions while improving the functionality. Many have LCD displays or VFD (vacuum fluorescent displays) to show information much like a DVD player or AVR. Some have volume knobs and front panel controls. Others are more simplistic in design for a very Spartan feel. The benefit to the consumer is that they now have much more choice and price points when selecting a unit.  I have a future blog planned to discuss this further, stay tuned for that one.

Improved Thermal Designs
As stated earlier, many of the older technologies were just adaptations from the traditional desktop PC. Noise levels in the desktop context were never a big issue since most desktops sat underneath a desk and quiet systems were merely an afterthought. However, in a living room, you want to hear the dialog when watching movie, hear the subtle details of your music. Audio is fairly important in this space. You really don’t want to hear the loud CPU fan whirring away while trying to enjoy your content. Therefore, cooler manufacturers have worked hard to find more effective ways to properly cool the components in the system without spinning fans at 5K RPMs. There are many innovators working on improving technology in this area. For example, Noiselimit Noiselimit has developed a cooling technology that uses a “bubble pump” technology that allows the use of a low spinning fan (1900 RPMs), yet keeps the process very cool.  There are many others that offer solutions for this space as well.

Improved HDD technology.
Hard Disc Drive (HDD) vendors are also addressing the needs of this market segment. Vendors such as Seagate, Hitachi, and Western Digital offer a line of drives that specifically target the HTPC segment and incorporate technology like fluid bearings, improved streaming, low noise operation, and more, to bring lower power and quieter operating drives for the system. The HTPC does not need super fast drives that are constantly grinding away crunching data. This type of computer setup requires drives that are quiet and have spin rates designed to handle the streaming needs of entertainment content. They also need to operate efficiently in smaller enclosures with less airflow. Therefore, these industry giants have been working on technology to address these operating parameters. As such, these hard drive vendors have launched new products in the recent past that target the set-top box and HTPC markets.

The list of hardware changes can go on and on — graphics cards, optical drives, improved drivers and endless variety of software applications. One could blog endlessly on any one of these industry changes, let alone rambling on in a single post. Therefore, I will try to focus upcoming blogs on some of these pieces of technology, show you various options for components, and explain how it all comes together.

So, what are future hardware topics you would like to see covered?

Till next time, Happy Trails!

Jay Taylor is a Senior Developer Relations Engineer at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.

In my personal life I consume media in many ways. My primary tool is my AMD LIVE! Media Center PC with Microsoft Vista Home Premium. It is in my bedroom and very integrated into my routine, and I use it heavily. In the morning I watch The Today Show while I get ready for work. When I get home from work I catch up on shows I missed that are pre-recorded. At night my wife and I watch Family Guy as we wind down and head to bed. When we go to parties and take pictures, the first thing I do when we get home is stick the camera’s SD card into the Media Center and copy the photos to the hard drive.

There are several areas that still need improvement. It is still a computer, so a wireless keyboard and mouse is a must. While the integration needs a lot of work, I do love being able to stream video from Hulu, Netflix, and YouTube onto a large screen TV.

Being able to use all the online streaming services without special support is great. Upgradability is also a plus. With all the HD content I’ve been recording, I had to upgrade the hard drive twice. There are still several more ways I plan on using my Media Center. In the near future I want to get either a Pica extender or a Microsoft Xbox 360 to view my content outside of the bedroom. I also want to get a SideShow device to have a more interactive experience with my computer.

I feel like I live two years in the future, because I am not a typical user. But I’m sure in two years everyone will have a computer hooked up to their TV. It might not be in the same form and I’m hopeful the setup will be more polished. I know I didn’t include Blu-ray in my setup, but once again that ties back to the great upgradability of a PC platform. PCs are the best kept secret in home entertainment.

1. THIS UTILITY MAY DISABLE SECURITY / ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE, OR ADVERSELY AFFECT YOUR SYSTEM. REVIEW ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTATION CAREFULLY BEFORE INSTALLING.

Wesley Faulkner

Wesley Faulkner is a Product Development Engineer at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.

Last time, I addressed why anyone would consider owning an HTPC. HTPCs have come a long way in a short amount of time. Today I want to share a little more info about the features offered by an HTPC and include some pretty screen shots. This is Part I of a two part post. Look for Part II in the coming days. Most of what I am sharing here is based upon my own, personal experience and most of the screen captures in this series are from my own system at home.

What I’m describing today is based on the Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate operating system which includes an application called Windows Media Center. While not the only solution, I am limiting this particular blog to the Windows Media Center functions along with a few “plug-in” applications due to some inherent advantages offered by Windows Media Center along with its support for digital cable tuners. I do want to note that what I am describing here is controlled with your HTPC remote control for ease of use.

Access Music, Recorded TV, Live TV, Play Blu-ray discs, and more with a touch of a remote.

Movies and Videos
HTPCs provide a great way for you to enjoy DVDs and Blu-ray discs. With the appropriate playback software you can use your HTPC to play back all your favorite DVDs and Blu-ray discs without ever touching a keyboard or mouse. It behaves just like a traditional DVD player.

Access various online content including Internet Radio, movie services, news and shopping.

With applications like Cinemanow (pictured above, lower right corner icon), you can even rent or buy the latest movies online and stream them over the Internet without leaving your living room.

HTPCs also give you an easy way to store and playback your personal video library. Those vacation videos that you took last summer? Your kid’s school play? Whatever the content, now you can access it anytime with a simple click of your remote. Heck, you might even embarrass your kids by breaking out that video of them dressed like an talking tree in the 2^nd grade school play and showing it to their dates years later.

Broadcast and Cable TV
If you add a TV tuner to your HTPC, you can receive your local broadcast television transmissions (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, etc.) in full, high-definition, free of charge. I find myself using my HTPC for TV viewing quite regularly. Even my wife is using our HTPC for TV viewing more often than our satellite set top box.

Guide data for scheduling recordings, tuning stations, etc.

Add a digital cable tuner (a.k.a. OCUR) and you can access many of your favorite premium cable channels like HBO, The Movie Channel, etc. right on your HTPC. A digital cable tuner and a cable card from your cable provider can turn your HTPC into a cable-like set top box thereby eliminating the need of renting one from your cable company.

Digital cable tuners and/or OCUR solutions are only available from OEM vendors and system integrators and not available to the Do-It-Yourself community at this point in time. We will be posting a list of system integrators that are selling AMD technology-based Home Cinema PCs on our website.

DVR/PVR (a.k.a. Time Shifting)
Along with live TV viewing, with your HTPC, you can watch TV on your terms. An HTPC can be used just like a digital video recorder (DVR) or personal video recorder (PVR). Record your favorite shows and watch them when you are ready. You can pause and rewind live TV, and skip commercials. Depending on the amount of storage space on your HTPC, you can store hundreds of hours of HD TV content. This is one I find myself using quite frequently as well.
 

DVR/Recorded TV – Watch TV on your terms

Remote Viewing (a.k.a. Place Shifting)
Typically known as “place shifting,” your HTPC can also serve content from remote locations (i.e. traveling, etc.) Similar to devices like a Slingbox, your HTPC can serve media to you while you are outside the home from just about any Internet-enabled system. Perhaps you are on vacation overseas and want to catch the local news. If your HTPC is set up to record the news, you can access that programming from a local device connected to the Internet.

Pictures
Millions of people own digital cameras. In fact, more pictures are taken now than any other time since the invention of the camera. However, people rarely go back to view them more than once. They might share them via an online service or email a few pics around to family and friends, but the majority of digital photos sit on the computer or your camera and rarely get viewed. With an HTPC, you have an easy way to access those pictures from the comfort of your couch. You can easily play them back in a slide show, set to your favorite music while friends are over. It really is a great way to share your memories.
 

Store all your pictures in one, easy to access location and enjoy them on your big screen TV.

 Some of these functions may be limited at times due to copy protection mechanisms, but this does show the power and versatility of an HTPC. Stay tuned for Part II of this two part series where we will next discuss amplified audio, music, Internet TV and more!

Till next time, happy trails!
Jay Taylor is a Senior Developer Relations Engineer at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.