zedzed Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 I want to build a "Mom Friendly" PVR. The computer will be used for a bit of web-browsing and multimedia - connected to a 42" Plasma. Computing power is not a pre-eminent requirement but form-factor and silence is. After a lot of reading I have come up with the following hardware. Case = Silverstone LC-11 (300 watt PSU) http://www.silverstonetek.com/products-lc11.htm Motherboard = Intel D945GNTLKR http://www.intel.com/design/motherbd/nt/nt_available.htm CPU = Pentium 4 641 (sSpec # SL9KF, 65w TDP and only $99) http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SL9KF CPU Cooler = Silverstone Nitrogon NT04 http://www.silverstonetek.com/products-nt03.htm RAM = 1 gig (2x512 Crucial Rendition CT2KIT6464Z335) Hard Drive = Samsung 500gig SATAII HD501LJ http://www.samsung.com/Products/HardDiskDr...ies_HD501LJ.asp (Not fastest but Cool and Quiet) DVD = Pioneer 111 Video = onboard GMA 950 (out to TV via RGB) Sound = onboard audio (just stereo) TV Tuner = Elgato EyeTV 500 http://www.elgato.com/index.php?file=products_eyetv500 (Cable QAM channels + HDTV OTA - sadly no analog tuner) Note - The LC-11 is classified as a mATX case but I got very lucky in that the top right corner of the Intel mobo is "empty" and easily fits under the DVD rom drive. The PSU is overkill at 300W as I only expect to use about 140W max. I start putting it together tomorrow. Will keep you informed. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/43892-my-pvr-project/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
mifki Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 Look in the Genius Bar, munky has a guide already Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/43892-my-pvr-project/#findComment-313896 Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe75 Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 Don't get that case. The power supply sucks and you cant replace it with anything good. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/43892-my-pvr-project/#findComment-313901 Share on other sites More sharing options...
zedzed Posted March 1, 2007 Author Share Posted March 1, 2007 (edited) Don't get that case. The power supply sucks and you cant replace it with anything good. Why do you say the PSU sucks? Like I said - for my low power system I only need about 140w FORM-FACTOR is what is important to me. It has great form. SilentPCReview says Overall, this is a good case and will work fine with a lower powered system. Its styling and size should help it blend right in to a typical A/V rack system and the low noise will also help keep it unobtrusive. http://www.silentpcreview.com/article228-page1.html http://www.modthebox.com/review374_1.shtml How to set up the case. http://www.short-media.com/articles/silverstone_lc11_pc_case http://www.htpcnews.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=20612 Update #1: I have the components working - no OS installed yet. The Silverstone NT03 cpu cooler IS NOT quite. The thing is way too loud for HTPC use! I will have to find some other options. Edited March 1, 2007 by zedzed Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/43892-my-pvr-project/#findComment-314061 Share on other sites More sharing options...
munky Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 my 'guide' was perhaps misnamed - its not so much a guide as just what happened when i did this. my htpc is working tho, although its stalled waiting for either RemoteBuddy or Mira to give me a half-decent way of using EyeTV from the Apple Remote alone. one thing i notice is that motion video seems a bit funny on the TV. im not sure whether i need to deinterlace or something... i'm using GMA900 -> External VGA-TV box -> SCART socket. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/43892-my-pvr-project/#findComment-314098 Share on other sites More sharing options...
zedzed Posted March 4, 2007 Author Share Posted March 4, 2007 The HacPVR has been built. I finally got the hardware together and installed 10.4.8. The Intel mobo worked perfectly out of the box - video + sound + networking. I connected the EyeTV500 and scanned both HDTV OTA and Cable QAM. THE BOX IS QUIET! The HacPVR makes less noise than the buzz from my Samsung plasma TV! The only lesson learned is that Pioneer DVD drives are not quite. I need to find a quieter DVD drive. How did I make it so quiet? 1. The LC-11 is naturally a quiet case. 2. The Silverstone Nitrogon NT03 CPU cooler is a good idea but the included fans are too loud. This is how I solved the CPU cooler noise problem. I switched the side fan to a SilenX 80mm fan (http://www.silenx.com/ixtremaprofans.asp?sku=ixp-54-14) which moves 32 cfm at 14dm! I then oriented the CPU cooler to have the open face towards the side exhaust fan. The exhaust fan was connected to the CPU fan plug on the motherboard (not that it makes any difference since the motherboard cant control the speed of the fan). I took off the included cpu cooler fans and connected the exhaust fan to cpu using duct tape to make a duct - it was only about 1.5 inched (2 cm) duct. The exhaust fan now draws internal air across the cpu cooler and sends it out of the case so there is not internal hear build up (I wish there was some sort of temp app for my mobo). I then moved the original side case fan and put it in the place of the front fan so that it can be connected to the motherboard. Screen resolution issue One issue that is annoying me is that the screen seems to be squished vertically - when watching TV. For example watching PBS which is broadcast in 16:9 I have black bands at the top and bottom of the screen and results in that everything looks fat. The native resolution of the TV is 1024 x 768. The HacPVR screen resolution identifies the right resolution 1024 x 768. The HacPVR is connected to the TV via analog RGB cable (analog monitor cable). Maybe I should get an RGB to Component cable to hook up to the TV. EyeTV ATSC tuner issue The tuner sensitivity does not appear to be as good as the tuner in my Samsung TV. The TV can catch more channels than can the EyeTV500. Next up to get FrontRow working - maybe with a Wii Remote. That would be cool. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/43892-my-pvr-project/#findComment-315958 Share on other sites More sharing options...
zedzed Posted March 6, 2007 Author Share Posted March 6, 2007 (edited) To overcome the 4:3 to 16:9 video stretching (fixing aspect ration problem with my TV) I tried to change the resolution manually by changing the com.apple.Boot.plist to have the 1280x768 and 1280x720 at boot but the Hac PVR automatically goes to 1024x768 after it recognizes the Samsung PDP. I assumed that if the Hacintosh did not know what kind of display it was connected to that I could manually set the resolution to a wide screen mode. I then bought a VGA to Component cable (it has RGB VGA to connect to computer and component cables to connect to the TV but that did not work. The TV said that it was an unsupported mode. I then tried connecting to a 4:3 CRT TV and that did not work. I then connected to a HP f2304 computer display which also has component in and that was also a no no. I did see the apple icon on boot but the picture was green and not positioned correctly. Does anyone know what the VGA to component cables are used for? Has anyone had success connecting their Hacintosh to a TV using this type of cable? Here is the answer why the RGB to Component does not work http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/compon...tocomponent.htm Edited March 6, 2007 by zedzed Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/43892-my-pvr-project/#findComment-317712 Share on other sites More sharing options...
zedzed Posted March 9, 2007 Author Share Posted March 9, 2007 (edited) The video image is jittery - as if the full framerate is not being shown. Also in fast motion scenes tiny horizontal lines are visible. I thought my P4 641 3.2 GHz CPU would be powerful enough - but maybe not? What CPU are other EyeTV users using? What is your image quality like? Here is a review of the EyeTV 500 http://www.eff.org/IP/broadcastflag/eyetv500.php Edited March 9, 2007 by zedzed Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/43892-my-pvr-project/#findComment-319997 Share on other sites More sharing options...
asap18 Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 You would get much better performance using linux with mythtv. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/43892-my-pvr-project/#findComment-320023 Share on other sites More sharing options...
zedzed Posted March 9, 2007 Author Share Posted March 9, 2007 Probably - but I dont want to use Linux. I am here because I want to use Mac. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/43892-my-pvr-project/#findComment-320080 Share on other sites More sharing options...
zedzed Posted May 12, 2007 Author Share Posted May 12, 2007 I fixed - partially - the problem with the jittery video. Since the GMA950 uses onboard ram for video, the ram speed is important. I upgraded the ram from 533 MHz to 667 MHz and now the image is much more fluid Still not perfect - but better Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/43892-my-pvr-project/#findComment-364136 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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