Heres on for ya!!

[MFCGMFC]

hey all

what i'm wanting to do is build a dual tuner pvr sorta thing

built round about 2 HISAT : Satellite equipment and information : Triple-Dragon, GbSat, Twinhan, Visionnet, MVision, Dreambox

what software do you recommend? which OS?

what other hardware would i need to make this work (forget about the mobo cpu hdds etc )

and also could someone recommend a remote that could control it all so its as much as a "STB" as possible if ye ken wit a mean like, eh? lol

TIA

Cheers
MFCGAVMFC

 

[witchy]

I ditched DVB-S kit for a Dbox2 a long time ago.

For most people the Dbox2 will do exacly what you need, it uses way less power, is much simpler to setup and use, fits into a nice little silent box.

Unless you specifically need a pc running this stuff then I'd go for a dual tuner HD PVR Dreambox or similar.

I had a dual booting system that had WindowsXP and Linux, my cards were a SkyStar 2 and a Technotrend 2100. I used MythTV and RitzDVB on windows and erm.....I can't remember the name of the Linux software, but they were all very good.

 

[MFCGMFC]

its not just to build a cable box as such its a wee media centre pc i'm looking at with the cable tv as one of the main points mucker

Cheers
MFCGAVMFC

 

[witchy]

Cool, if you are wanting to use it as a PC then go for it mate.

I'll help as much as possible, but it's been a few years.

 

[señor ding dong]

its not just to build a cable box as such its a wee media centre pc i'm looking at with the cable tv as one of the main points mucker

Cheers
MFCGAVMFC

You should think about spending a little extra cash on (near)silent cooling. A humming PC will do for work purposes, but it isn't much fun for watching movies.

Also, like Witchy said, these things do tend to eat up a bit more electricity than your average set top box, but you can find hardware that's fairly energy efficient.

As for software, XP will do just fine, and the two most popular HTPC apps around are DVBviewer and Media Portal, the latter being the fancier of the two, if you're looking for all-round media PC functionality, but I preferred DVDviewer's slightly more straight-forward approach myself.

Some HTPC cases come with remotes. I was very happy with my Antec Fusion remote, but Microsoft's remote is also very popular.

 

[MFCGMFC]

would the software and remote be able to use both cards at the same time like set one card to record and the other to view a different channel?

Cheers
MFCGAVMFC

 

[witchy]

would the software and remote be able to use both cards at the same time like set one card to record and the other to view a different channel?

Cheers
MFCGAVMFC

That's all down to the software you decide to use mate, but the answer is yes.

 

[MFCGMFC]

and software would be able to open the channels no bother?

Cheers
MFCGAVMFC

 

[MFCGMFC]

can anyone reccomend a spec for this pc?

it'll be used for:

streaming
watching/recording tv
internet usage


it has to be ultra silent cause its for bedroom use

Cheers
MFCGAVMFC

 

[señor ding dong]

and software would be able to open the channels no bother?

Yep.

can anyone reccomend a spec for this pc?

it'll be used for:

streaming
watching/recording tv
internet usage

Well, I was very happy with my original HTPC spec. Antec Fusion (remote) case, 780G based motherboard, AMD 2X 4850e CPU.

The case is extremely quiet, the motherboard has onboard MPEG2 and H.264 video decoding and is farly energy efficient, as is the CPU. I actually can't remember which CPU cooler I used. I've mentioned one before, when listing my specs, but when I looked for it recently for a new HTPC, it looked bigger than I remembered, but there are quite a few different options. You're supposed to be able to go 100% passive with this CPU, if you case has enough ventilation, although I did have a large, slow-moving fan on mine.

 

[MFCGMFC]

that mobo and cpu look like a good setup but i really like this case

iBox Cube Micro ATX PC Case > Maplin

and most likely stick a 500gb HDD in it so i've got plenty space for downloaded films and recordings which would leave me needing a remote lol

thats me at bout £260 so far lol!!

Cheers
MFCGAVMFC

 

[MFCGMFC]

can media portal open the channels?

or do i have to buy dvbviewer?

I'm gonna spec up and hen post it if soemone wouldnt mind running the rule over it to see if my proposed machine would do the jobs i want it to do?

TIA

Cheers
MFCGAVMFC

 

[MFCGMFC]

Case:
iBox Cube Micro ATX PC Case > Maplin

Mobo:
Okobe.co.uk: ASUS 90-MIB5G0-G0EAY00Z - ASUS M3A78 PRO, Motherboard, 780G, 8GB, DDR2 SDRAM

CPU:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4850e 2.5GHz Socket AM2 Energy Efficient 1MB L2 Cache Retail Boxed Processor - Ebuyer

Dvd Drive:
SAMSUNG SLIM 8x DVD WRITER SATA BLACK - Aria Technology £30

HDD(500GB) :
500GB Hitachi SATA-2 P7K500 Hard Drive- 16MB - Aria Technology

Ram:
Arianet 2GB PC2-6400 DDR2 SDRAM - Aria PC

Cable Tv Cards (2x):
HISAT : Satellite equipment and information : Triple-Dragon, GbSat, Twinhan, Visionnet, MVision, Dreambox

still need a PSU is there such a thing as a passively cooled psu?

trying not to have any fans at all if possible

Cheers
MFCGAVMFC

 

[newm]

mediaportal will open channels most dvb viewers support vplug but dvbviewer is probaly the best supported and for 15 euros cant go wrong realy and as for psu just built htpc with cit silent psu from ebay not to bad

 

[MFCGMFC]

i tkae it whichever software will autoupdate on keys etc?

btw do ya have a link to that psuy my friend?

Cheers
MFCGAVMFC

 

[señor ding dong]

i tkae it whichever software will autoupdate on keys etc?

Vplug is a 3rd party plug-in that works with DVBviewer and Media Portal to descramble channels and auto-update keys.

Your specs look fine, but I can't say I like the case, sorry. I'm not sure how noisy that hard drive is, but Hitachi does make drives classed as "ultra-quiet". A noisy drive can be a little bit of a pain, if you're using timeshift or recording.

 

[MFCGMFC]

ok mate thanks

do you thikn that case would be ok for ventilation?

can anyone reccomend a silent psu? with a link preferably please

Cheers
MFCGAVMFC

 

[señor ding dong]

do you thikn that case would be ok for ventilation?

I've never heard of this case before, so it's impossible to say how noisy it might be, or if it has adequate airflow for a passively cooled CPU and possibly PSU. You'd probably have to try and find some reviews or user comments for it.

 

[wonko]

I use a BeQuiet 550w Modular PSU - more than adequate for the job - around £80 and almost silent - ie u cant hear it from further than 6 inches away even at 4am - overclockers sells them but other places can be cheaper

However if you want a totally fanless PSU then these seemed to get good reviews - only 300w but given my setup has more in it than your planned one and only pulls 89w max (measured at plug socket) that should be adequate
Kustom PCs Silverstone ST30NF PSU

I use WD 500gb green drives - around £45-50 and you cant hear them - fairly nippy for a drive optimised for silence/low power rather than performance as well

I'd ditch the retail HSF and go for a Coolermaster Hyper Z600 - totally fanless - with that chip it runs under 30c (in fact 23c atm)- downside is it's a bit big lol

no idea on the case - never seen the inside of one

edit - think you wont be impressed with the ati 3200 onboard graphics m8 - however for media playback they can be persuaded to work ok IF you use the drivers installed by vista windows update rather than the ati ones - or just buy a http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_99102.html instead lol

 

[MFCGMFC]

this looks ok mate

After Hours Computers - Be Quiet! DarkPower Pro 550W PSU

the first one u mentioned

i think the onboard graphics should be ok if i dont like them i may upgrade to that card my man



any more suggestions welcome

thanks again

Cheers
MFCGAVMFC