Very new to HTPC's and the like. Participated/ing in Ceton Echo & Companion Apps beta and just (1/13) purchased a PCIe InfiniTV to replace the $17/mo DVR from Verizon. Ceton FTW!
The only thing I'm aware that I really need right now, hence why I'm here, is a video card with HDMI out. A good friend of mine suggested picking up a Sapphire Radeon HD 7750 ($94). I want to make sure I get something appropriate for the task at hand. I know one can get very creative with their HTPC (emulators, CD/DVD backups etc) and I'll probably try to do something similar, but I won't be Crysis 2 gaming on this thing so I won't need a pair of GTX 560 Ti 448's or the Radeon equivalent.
Can anyone recommend decent video cards for HTPC setups?
When it comes to noise & placement:
- The 'HTPC' (HP ML150 G6) is very quiet; was running for weeks, maybe as much as 2 months before I realized it was still on! On the other hand, my Dell PowerEdge T710 is fairly loud, probably because of the 8x500GB drives in there. (That and its a dual quad core whereas the HP is a single quad core.)
- I'm not [too] concerned with GPU fan noise, just as long as it doesn't sound like a 1U server right out the gate. I imagine video cards at this level (e.g.: not gaming oriented &/or are not under any appreciable load) are usually fairly quiet. Still, I'd like to do what I can to keep it silent (tweak bios, adjust driver/software profiles etc).
- The HP will be in the same room as the TV. I originally planned to keep it in the rack near the TV, but since I have clearance behind some furniture, I'm just as happy to run a 10-25 foot HDMI cable to the TV.
My HTPC is a rather robust HP ML150 G6 with plenty of RAM and processing power for what it will be doing. There will be minimal local storage as everything (music, photos, videos etc.) will be stored on a Synology DS411+ii NAS with 4x3TB drives. The goal is to use this as our new MediaCenter/STB/DVR. We primarily record a good number of shows because of time constraints and watch them as time permits during the week and catch up on the weekend. And while I'm no stranger to PC's, the HTPC/MediaCenters arena is new for me, and could greatly benefit from the expertise of the community.
Anticipated Build Overview:
- Windows 7 Pro 64-bit
- I have Ultimate 64-bit if there's value in installing that instead
- I also have Windows 8 Pro 64-bit (+MediaCenter) if there's value in installing that instead
- Microsoft Security Essentials
- InfiniTV Installation & Setup Process (whatever that entails)
- PlayOn & PlayLater
- There's more but I'll save that for a different thread!
