tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54886025302161213592011-11-28T07:30:07.090+08:00A blog that I share my on-going experience in building a HTPC in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I will cover all the components needed like hardware & software, some issues I faced along the way and other accessories I used to make it all work together. Read from bottom up to follow the sequence.stan001noreply@blogger.comBlogger111100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488602530216121359.post-24524661147535407112010-01-17T15:30:00.001+08:002010-01-17T15:35:46.495+08:00

With a HTPC, audio output can be a little confusing with so many types of sound output ports. Firstly, there are the regular analog speaker output ( Left, Right, Central/Subwoofer/Rear Left & Rear Right ). We usually only use the audio out to PC speakers. With a HTPC, there are a few more options to choose from.. There are the S/PDIF compressed digital audio ports that comes in two flavors,

stan001noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488602530216121359.post-66170598445570573332009-10-01T23:51:00.001+08:002010-01-21T03:15:33.366+08:00

With a limited budget for the HTPC rig, I have to decide on which components should I spend more money on and which components I should keep the pricing down. Main components - 42% of the total price Motherboard - ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO ( 13% ) CPU - AMD Phenom II X3 720 BE 2.8Ghz ( 15%  ) Memory - 4GB DDR3 PC1333 Corsair XMS3 ( 13% ) This is what I consider the main components and technology

stan001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488602530216121359.post-13409574375250173852009-09-28T14:25:00.002+08:002009-10-01T23:52:50.268+08:00

One of an important part of a HTPC is the TV input card to received tv / satellite or cable signal from the content provider. As my case in Malaysia, the obvious choice is Astro, a tv satellite provider that have all the tv channels onto one source. For my case, after doing some research and what most other HTPC users are using, I decided to get the Hauppauge WinTV PVR-150 Media Center Kit,

stan001noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488602530216121359.post-14741429785263083162009-09-21T14:20:00.001+08:002009-09-21T14:24:54.491+08:00

When I started budgeting for a HTPC, I left out the budget for a CPU cooler as all CPU includes a heatsink fan. With stock CPU cooler, the heat transfer are at best low to moderate performance. As HTPC need to be as silent as possible so that when watching a movie or listen to music without hearing the CPU fan noise, the stock CPU cooler just isn't suitable for this requirement. When running at

stan001noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488602530216121359.post-64513599008630033772009-09-17T00:27:00.001+08:002010-01-21T03:14:05.253+08:00

To have a PC in the living room means that it needs to looks like more like a HiFi components than a regular PC chassis. Since most HiFi component are horizontal instead of the regular vertical orientation of a PC chassis, most if not all HTPC chassis are horizontally oriented. There are many choices for HTPC chassis with some really really cool but also very expensive. Some Korean brands even

stan001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488602530216121359.post-22669573112174339612009-09-16T00:33:00.000+08:002009-09-16T10:42:07.521+08:00

Selecting power supply is a tough choice as there are like so many power ratings to choose from, 350W - 1000W, PFC ( Power Factor Corrections ) and so many brands.  I always believe that if the company is good in one line of products (for example a PC maker) I would not buy a LCD monitor from them as I know that they would just OEM it from some major LCD maker and put their sticker on it. I would

stan001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488602530216121359.post-60617098356597338512009-09-16T00:01:00.000+08:002009-09-16T10:48:47.379+08:00

After deciding on the main components, the rest of the HTPC components was quite easy. With the motherboard only support DDR3 ram, choosing memory types was an easier task. I decided to use 4GBytes of Corsair XMS3 DDR3 PC-10666 ( 1333Mhz running in pairs of 2GBytes ). Why did I choose Corsair over the other brands like Kingston or Muskhin, I do not know, perhaps I find them to be a

stan001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488602530216121359.post-15919508728895048702009-09-14T03:29:00.002+08:002010-01-21T03:11:39.937+08:00

Since I have decided to use the AMD Phenom II processor, I have a wide choice to choose between 2, 4 or 4 cores.  From my readings, all AMD Phenom II are 4 cores but during manufacturing, some of the cores or cache might be faulty, instead of throwing it away, they sold them as X2 or X3 with different cache sizes. After much comparison between price vs budget vs number of cores, I went for

stan001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488602530216121359.post-16687650139141681852009-09-14T02:53:00.001+08:002009-09-23T02:25:22.955+08:00

I did a lot of research on what type of components are suitable to built a HTPC for my living room. It have been a while since I last built my own PC as the previous one was since 2002 using an AMD Anthon XP system with PC133 memory. I have decided on to narrow down the components to the below items :- AMD motherboard with built-in ATI Radeon graphic card AMD Phenom II CPU HeatSink Fan (HSF)

stan001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488602530216121359.post-709156316785032752009-09-11T12:22:00.000+08:002009-09-16T10:44:20.404+08:00

A HTPC was nothing new as it been around for quite some time and most of my requirements are met with other options like Astro MAX and XBOX, a dedicated media center with large hard disk storage. Astro MAX As most Malaysian have Astro digital satellite broadcast, I was the early adopters for Astro Digital Video Recorder with recording and playback functionality called Astro MAX.I felt it was

stan001noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488602530216121359.post-80283517508676861892009-09-10T20:44:00.000+08:002009-09-16T10:45:02.470+08:00

Welcome to HTPC Malaysia, a blog dedicated to Home Theater Personal Computer ( HTPC ) for Malaysian. Here I will share my experience in setting up a HTPC and the decision I made along the way on which products I choose over another. My goal is to make this blog the Ultimate Do-It-Yourself ( DIY ) Home Theater Personal Computer ( HTPC ) Guide for all Malaysian or surrounding countries.

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