Show us yer HTPC....

[ni9ht_5ta1k3r]

thinking of putting on some decals on the case (phantom 410) to spruce it up and make it look fancy.

Originally Posted by flu!d

The only issue with the Antec fusion black is limited room for full sized HDD's, however you could fit an SSD for the OS and two 2TB HDD's no probs.

Apart from that the Antec fusion is the best HTPC case I've used to date, perfectly designed and awesome quality (and I'm on my 4th dedicated HTPC case).

i wanted to get the NZXT H2 case since it has a sleek, TRON-esque feel to it...but i couldn't find it in stock at any shops.

[slobber]

Originally Posted by Little Man

So hard to choose a case.

Don't know if i'll want to grab more than 2 large HDDs or not.

If your going for low power then most use a 2.5" HDD for the OS and a 2~4TB 3.5" HDD for media

[ni9ht_5ta1k3r]

i am planning on:

-500gb for OS (BD Dumps)
-2TB for recordings (plus some space for timeshift)
-3x2TB for videos, music, pictures

that's 5 HDDs and I already have the 500gb and a 2TB.

[Pugsley_21]

Do you really want all those hdd's in your HTPC? Wouldn't a NAS make more sense?

On another note, new HTPC case arrived today, so expect photos after work sometime

[ni9ht_5ta1k3r]

Originally Posted by Pugsley_21

Do you really want all those hdd's in your HTPC? Wouldn't a NAS make more sense?

On another note, new HTPC case arrived today, so expect photos after work sometime

not really since i have a TV tuner and a blu-ray drive so it means i can do more stuff than a NAS can

Plus I prefer having the TV tuner have it's own HDD space that doesn't chew up space from the other content I have. 1TB for TV recordings is enough I think the only thing that would need more HDDs is the videos and music being pumped into XBMC.

this will be more handy...

http://xbmcwmc.teknowebworks.com/

as i have WMC7 for TV/Blu-ray and XBMC for videos and music.

EDIT: sure, it isn't a true integration into WMC7 but when you exit XBMC it does go back to WMC7 so handy as I can insta-boot WMC7 and go between the two.

[foxmulder881]

Originally Posted by Sledge

Use a DVI to HDMI converter..
pretty sure it won't do the sound, but the video will be much much better

Both my VGA and DVI outputs are used already. S-Video was the only one available for me to use.

[flu!d]

DVI > HDMI dongle > HDMI splitter > 2 x HDMI outputs for any HDMI equipped display device.

It's how I connect both my HD projector and my HD plasma to my receiver, roughly $50.00 from Jaycar and it works a treat.

[Sledge]

Originally Posted by flu!d

DVI > HDMI dongle > HDMI splitter > 2 x HDMI outputs for any HDMI equipped display device.

It's how I connect both my HD projector and my HD plasma to my receiver, roughly $50.00 from Jaycar and it works a treat.

So HDMI splitter works both ways?
1 in 2 out
2 in 1 out? 1 at a time of course..

[flu!d]

This one's one in two out, not too sure what would happen if you ran it the other way. And both outputs can be displaying at the same time.

[The Mastermind]

Lots of great advice in this thread.

Does anyone bother with a UPS for their HTPC and data storage drives or just surge protection? I'm still not sure how vulnerable hard drives are to damage from sudden power outages...

[ni9ht_5ta1k3r]

Originally Posted by The Mastermind

Lots of great advice in this thread.

Does anyone bother with a UPS for their HTPC and data storage drives or just surge protection? I'm still not sure how vulnerable hard drives are to damage from sudden power outages...

HDDs i think are more prone to shock do to physical forces like being dropped or shaken so i just use a belkin surge protected power board.

EDIT: i think data corruption may result from a power outtage.

[flu!d]

My HTPC shuts down to S3 STR so that I can turn it on via IR remote and I've had numerous power outages while the machine was in it's powered down S3 state and suffered no data loss whatsoever.

If you're going to run a UPS make sure it's a good one, cheap UPS's do more harm than good in my experience.

[ni9ht_5ta1k3r]

Originally Posted by flu!d

My HTPC shuts down to S3 STR so that I can turn it on via IR remote and I've had numerous power outages while the machine was in it's powered down S3 state and suffered no data loss whatsoever.

If you're going to run a UPS make sure it's a good one, cheap UPS's do more harm than good in my experience.

hmm...ok i tried booting the HTPC with a remote from a cold boot and that didn't work

[The Mastermind]

Originally Posted by flu!d

My HTPC shuts down to S3 STR so that I can turn it on via IR remote and I've had numerous power outages while the machine was in it's powered down S3 state and suffered no data loss whatsoever.

If you're going to run a UPS make sure it's a good one, cheap UPS's do more harm than good in my experience.

That's exactly what I do with mine too. Don't think I'll bother with a UPS since I'll need one with 8 outputs and doesn't sound worth it for what I'm running. Was just paranoid about drive failures from a power outage but sounds more like it would just be data loss during writing... I can live with that.

[flu!d]

hmm...ok i tried booting the HTPC with a remote from a cold boot and that didn't work

You need to use S3 STR in order to power up/down via IR remote, IMO a HTPC should integrate into your HT like a proper HT appliance and a little less like a PC, it's for that reason a good frontend that in no way relies on the use of the Windows desktop and full remote control is important.