DIY Media Center PC

From The Book of Borg
Revision as of 22:15, 3 May 2009 by DBurr (talk | contribs)
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I want to eventually build my own Media Center PC. The goal of this project is:

  • fill in the blanks

Actually this page is being co-opted to use for the parts list for Stephanie's MythTV box. Besides, once I finalize this and build it, I have all the info I need to build my own!! Bwahahahahahaha!!!

(Note: All prices are rounded up for simplicity's sake, i.e. $49.99 becomes $50)

Requirements

  • output to TV Composite output (i.e. old school RCA plug)
    • or SVideo - it is trivial to convert SVideo to composite, just needs a like $3 adapter at Rat Shack
  • be able to play DVD Videos and burn DVD videos of recorded content
  • HD *NOT* necessary
    • but you might end up getting it anyway - pretty much all the tuner cards these days do both HD and SD
  • must be able to (at first) sneaker-net the program guide data onto the box - it *won't* be networked
    • this MAY be a problem - I'm not sure that the myth software can handle accepting program data via sneaker-net
    • well, "problem" may be too strong a word. We can probably hack together some sort of script that takes the channel data (presumably some sort of XML or HTML), parse it, and shove it into the MythTV backend.
    • at the very least you can operate it in "dumb VCR" mode (i.e. set the channel and start/end times yourself)
    • wifi a possible later add on
      • no problems here, I know of several good PCI and/or USB wifi cards that work in Linux
  • control a Comcast cable box using IR Blaster
    • this means the TV tuner must accept input from the Comcast (either SVideo or composite)
    • this is no longer an issue - they will only be watching unencrypted analog or ClearQAM channels, which the TV decoder card can decode natively
  • Do you guys want a Remote Control (ie to be able to control myth box using a remote?)
    • well you're getting one whether you like it or not - the tuner card comes with one and it is supported

The Official Parts List

Motherboard and CPU

RAM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227419 OCZ Blade Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) $56

Video card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131142 POWERCOLOR HD2400PRO 512MB SCS Radeon HD 2400PRO 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Retail $30

    • passively cooled so no fan to fail, and a better card overall, and it's only $10 more

Tuner card

IR blaster

  • insert link here

HD

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152101 Samsung SpinPoint 1TB drive, $90

Optical drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827129040 Pioneer DVR-117DBK (DVD Burner) $25

Case/PSU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144231 Apevia HTPC case, $65

GRAND TOTAL

(excluding tax and shipping): $494

Linux distribution to be used

Mythbuntu http://www.mythbuntu.org/downloads

The Junk Pile

(earlier parts that I ended up rejecting for various reasons or another - kept here for historical reference and "Just in case")

Mobo/CPU

Video card