Waco Posted October 23, 2011 Posted October 23, 2011 (edited) I voted yes.... Our main TV has an AM2 rig in a Thermaltake Tenor case and that was our first one. It's getting pretty aged and I want something smaller. The kids room use a Patriot Box office and that works really well. My bedroom has an mini-itx case fitted with an E-350 set up thats as pretty dedicated for htpc as one could get and the rigs all run windows 7 and are networked to a main PC set up as a media server as are all the PCs in the house.. My family enjoys watching alot of movies and have multiple htpcs is the best way to keep them all happy.... best invention since the inception of MP3 players.... Speaking of which - I just got done testing that HTPC you were interested in. To enable the rear outputs (for component and s-video) I had to pull the GT210. Surprisingly enough...it still freaking renders 1080p H.264 rips just fine. The driver I was using initially must have been the reason it never worked without the GT210. So in short, it'll play pretty much anything assuming the driver is set up properly. It has composite, component, s-video, VGA, and HDMI outputs for video. It has optical, digital coax, stereo, and 7 channel analog outputs for audio. It even has a SCART output if you want to use it. I don't remember what BP quoted you so you'd have to get in touch with her if you want it - but I was able to watch a 16.5 GB rip of Forrest Gump in 1080p with essentially zero issues over the gigabit network connection. If I remember right you just wanted to run non-HD stuff - but at least you'll be able to if you want to! Edited October 23, 2011 by Waco Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celcius Posted October 23, 2011 Posted October 23, 2011 Nope, I've never owned an htpc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_bowtie Posted October 23, 2011 Posted October 23, 2011 Speaking of which - I just got done testing that HTPC you were interested in. To enable the rear outputs (for component and s-video) I had to pull the GT240. Surprisingly enough...it still freaking renders 1080p H.264 rips just fine. The driver I was using initially must have been the reason it never worked without the GT240. So in short, it'll play pretty much anything assuming the driver is set up properly. It has composite, component, s-video, VGA, and HDMI outputs for video. It has optical, digital coax, stereo, and 7 channel analog outputs for audio. It even has a SCART output if you want to use it. I don't remember what BP quoted you so you'd have to get in touch with her if you want it - but I was able to watch a 16.5 GB rip of Forrest Gump in 1080p with essentially zero issues over the gigabit network connection. If I remember right you just wanted to run non-HD stuff - but at least you'll be able to if you want to! to be fair.... Interested in it for the old 1999 Pioneer 55in RP-TV that either does composit (RBG) or S-Video.... its not new enough for anything else... but I may in the future upgrade to something with HDMI...so something as flexible as that MSI would work fine...the only HD stuff I have is 5gb mkv rips... The thing thats nice....is that they keep getting smaller, more powerful and cooler running and just, well....easy to use and very simple. I like the thought of having a "better, more functional DVD player" If you look at the newer TVs they all come with NIC ports and are internet capable and can be their own media players...these are going to be very nice Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciddono Posted October 23, 2011 Posted October 23, 2011 I use TVersity to stream video across my network to our Xbox 360. But thats from my main pc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedway Posted October 24, 2011 Posted October 24, 2011 I voted No, since I use my Western Digital TV Live that is networked to my media server on one TV, and my xbox 360 on another TV. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
d3bruts1d Posted October 24, 2011 Posted October 24, 2011 Not exactly an HTPC, though they all more or less offer the same functions (at varying levels) - PS3, 360, TiVo, and AppleTV. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
InCrYsIs Posted October 24, 2011 Posted October 24, 2011 HTPC in living room and a WD live plus in the bedroom. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waco Posted October 24, 2011 Posted October 24, 2011 My HTPC is the following: X3 720 @ stock, 4 GB DDR2-800, some ECS mobo with integrated video (just in case!), GTS 250, and a 1.5 GB HDD. Externally connected to that are two eSATA boxes with ~13.5 GB of space. Most of it is RAID 1 or RAID 10...the current bump in HDD pricing has me waiting on getting the last 2 TB drive I need. All of the data on them is shared over the network (gigabit) to all the other machines in the house. It's connected directly to my home theater setup as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyt Posted October 24, 2011 Posted October 24, 2011 PS3 for Blu Ray and dvd's I could just use my pc too so no use for a HTPC Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cirro Posted October 24, 2011 Posted October 24, 2011 my main computer is doubled as a HTPC its in my living room, connected to a 46" HDTV, positioned directly in front of the couch. i never considered it a HTPC, until i realized i watched it 4x as much as the TV next to my computer desk (and that tv dwarfs my computer tv, it has 2 consoles and a dvdplayer so its not bare) if i do play audio/video it anymore 90% goes through the comp. however every now and then i turn everything off except for the big TV, getting into a mood is easier. if im around the computer i always end up pausing and doing something computer related lol. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverfox Posted October 24, 2011 Posted October 24, 2011 Yep. Acer Aspire Revo 3610. Intel ION platform (Atom dual core, 2GB RAM, 9200M GPU). Plays full HD 1080p MKV files at absurd bitrates flawlessly over HDMI. Must be a whopping 30w under load? Also have the Western Digital Live TV player, though not an HTPC really - a streaming device with HDMI but great nonetheless. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danieljury3 Posted October 24, 2011 Posted October 24, 2011 My main pc has the only 1080p display in my house, a 24" LED whereas the lounge has a bigger 32" TV but its an old CRT and I just use the Xbox for that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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