10-24-2012, 02:25 PM
10-24-2012, 02:27 PM
10-24-2012, 02:28 PM
10-26-2012, 03:06 PM
(10-24-2012, 02:28 PM)Axxer Wrote: [ -> ]California ftw. Although NorCal sucks. Winter is my enemy.
Haha, it gets cold for a couple of months and then it's great year round where I live
PART 2 - SOFTWARE
Disclaimer
The software is where your media center will really shine. However, it can also be where you spend most of your time, and encounter the most frustration in doing so. Since the computer we've built is, for all intents and purposes, a full fledged PC (assuming you stuck close to the specs I listed), this media center won't be restricted to the file format, DRM, and visual restrictions many of today's pre-built media center options, such as Boxee or Apple TV, may have. However - this guide is strictly for windows PCs, more specifically, all of this was done using Windows 7 Home Premium, which I will explain in detail later. You are on your own using Linux or Max OSX, however there are plenty of people on the internet willing to help if you wish to use a different OS.
Customization of these programs will be outlined in the next section. This is just an inventory of the programs being used. Program prices, links, and reasonings will be added in shortly.
VIDEO 1 - XBMC, Advanced Launcher, Dolphin Emulator
Operating System:
Windows 7 Home Premium x64 Bit (This is for, and includes, windows media center. I'll explain why later) - 100$
ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre 5 (My Blu Ray player of choice) - 100$
AISuite II (For ASUS boards / Intel CPUs. I also like the AISuite's Overclocking Software) - FREE
AutoHotKey (For various scripts -to be outlined later- that will make using the Media Center much easier) - FREE
AutoIt (Modifying programs and apps to be a bit easier to use) - FREE
Bulk Rename Utility (Very useful for batch renaming files for media content organizing) - FREE
Daemon Tools Lite (On the odd chance you might be using .ISOs) - FREE
Ember Media Manager (An excellent Media Metadata scraping and editing tool. XBMC can detect most of your media and tag it properly, but if you want to customize what cover and background art it has, use Ember) - FREE
EVGA Precision X (Despite having a Gigabyte GPU, I really like EVGA's Overclocking Software. It's quite nice) - FREE
Handbrake (Hands down, the best compression software I have used) - FREE
Hulu Desktop (For Hulu, obviously) - FREE
K-Lite Codec Pack (The only codec pack you'll need. Very useful and allows your media center to play anything you throw at it) - FREE
MakeMKV (One of the excellent Blu-Ray and DVD ripping programs I've used. Combined with Handbrake, it's incredible) - FREE (For now)
Microsoft Silverlight (A lot of windows apps use it) - FREE
PCSX2 (PS2 Emulator) - FREE
Project64 (N64 Emulator) - FREE
BSNES (SNES Emulator) - FREE
Dolphin (x2) (One for Wii, one for Gamecube emulation) - FREE
MAME (Arcade Game Emulation) - FREE
NullDC (Dreamcast Emulation) - FREE
SlySoft AnyDVDHD (For DVD / Blu-Ray decryption) - 100$ (If you use MakeMKV and don't watch Blu-Rays often, you most likely won't need this)
Steam (PC Gaming) - FREE
WinRAR (Many uses) - FREE
XBMC (The Crux of the media center. Without XBMC, the media center lacks the same "pop" and is much less intuitive to use) - FREE
Many of these are free, and a few of them aren't, most notably Windows 7, AnyDVD HD, Arcsoft TotalMedia Theatre, and MakeMKV (Once it's out of beta) You can find alternatives to many of these programs, but this guide assumes you'll be following my setup. Your mileage may vary otherwise. Of course, I can't really stop you if you decide to obtain the paid programs in... other ways, but you're really on your own there.
10-30-2012, 02:06 AM
PART 3 - Customization
Disclaimer
Customization is really up to you, in the end. This is where I spent the bulk of my time building and setting up this HTPC, and it's an ongoing process even as you're reading this. One of the downsides to making a HTPC / Media Center yourself is that you also have to maintain it yourself. With that being said, here is a basic overview of how I configured the programs I outlined in the previous section. Feel free to configure these programs and any additional programs you're using in the way you see fit, but to mimic my demo video you should follow my configurations.
Also, unless stated otherwise, assume all software is installed to your Solid State Drive, for speed and performance.
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - 100$
Configuration: 64 bit to make full use of our RAM, and to ensure fast performance when coupled with the SSD. Why Home Premium though? For Windows Media center, which is in my opinion, the best way to watch live and recorded TV via your PC, with the proper equipment. (I use a Ceton InfiniTV, which you can find in the Hardware section of this guide) As for the OS, there's no real customization done apart from disabling most notifications and making sure that the display stays on for at least 2 hours before going into screensaver mode / hibernating. Why the long amount of time? For my family, when the TV isn't in use, the TV is turned off 90% of the time. So I don't need to worry about screen burn in, and when XBMC is running, there's enough moving content to prevent burn in. Apart from that, it's like the notifications being disabled -it helps blur the line between PC and Media Center by making sure there's no interruptions while browsing or playing media.
Also, make sure to clear your desktop of shortcuts / links, once you've finished setting things up. Worst case, if you end up crashing to desktop or something like that, you don't want your guests / significant others seeing a bunch of shortcuts and such. I just have a wallpaper that changes daily, for when I have to venture behind the scenes to configure things. Be sure to set up folders for your media as well, but not on the SSD. I have over 200 movies, multiple games and TV shows, and about 50GB of music I've accumulated over the years. There is no SSD on the market that could store all of that. That's where the massive Hard Drives come in to play. I like to use the folders MOVIES / TV / MUSIC / GAMES to sort my media, but you can label them whatever you like. Just remember where they are located for when we set up Ember Media Manager and / or XBMC.
ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre 5 (My Blu Ray player of choice) - 100$
Configuration:
None! Well, nothing special really. I disabled auto-playing of DVDs (They are launched / played via XBMC, for a more intuitive experience), and enabled auto-full-screen mode (for the same reasons). Make sure to set your audio output settings to suit your needs and setup.
AISuite II (For ASUS boards / Intel CPUs. I also like the AISuite's Overclocking Software) - FREE
Configuration:
I used the TurboV EVO overclocking to set the CPU at a stable 4.2 GHz. Other than that, I just use it to monitor fan speeds, temperatures, and the CPU frequency.
For reference, here's my current settings:
![[Image: ibpl1oR1peYMKl.png]](http://i.minus.com/ibpl1oR1peYMKl.png)
AutoHotKey (For various scripts -to be outlined later- that will make using the Media Center much easier) - FREE
Configuration:
None, but we will be utilizing a few scripts, some of which are placed in the Startup folder so they are always running. Those will be outlined in their respective program's entries.
AutoIt (Modifying programs and apps to be a bit easier to use) - FREE
Configuration:
None - like AutoHotKey's scripts, these will be outlined in their respective program's entries.
Bulk Rename Utility (Very useful for batch renaming files for media content organizing) - FREE
Configuration:
None. It is a tool to use when you need to rename a lot of items quickly, say to remove a certain amount of characters from the end of a series of folders, or to clean up TV episode names so you can rename them more accurately.
Daemon Tools Lite (On the odd chance you might be using .ISOs) - FREE
Configuration:
None. Use this when you need to mount an .ISO file for installing a program.
Ember Media Manager (An excellent Media Metadata scraping and editing tool. XBMC can detect most of your media and tag it properly, but if you want to customize what cover and background art it has, use Ember) - FREE
Configuration:
Be Sure to set your media paths according to those you set up, and tailor its settings to your needs. Ember's set up should walk you through it better than I can via this guide.
EVGA Precision X (Despite having a Gigabyte GPU, I really like EVGA's Overclocking Software. It's quite nice) - FREE
Configuration:
Vary your settings to suit your needs and your noise level / system limits. For reference, here is what my settings are:
![[Image: i8dZY6ApQ8Kcx.png]](http://i.minus.com/i8dZY6ApQ8Kcx.png)
Handbrake (Hands down, the best compression software I have used) - FREE
Configuration:
Since you'll be using the AutoRipDVD Script in XBMC for your DVD / Blu Ray ripping and / or compressing, you don't really need to configure anything in Handbrake as the script uses the CLI (Command Line Interface) instead of the GUI (Graphical User Interface) to get the job done. However, for reference here are my DVD / Blu Ray ripping / compression settings:
ALBUM
The GUI can be useful for when you have downloaded a video and wish to compress it without losing quality. However, I use the script outlined in the XBMC section of this part of the guide to do most of my ripping.
Hulu Desktop (For Hulu, obviously) - FREE
Configuration:
Always on top: On
Automatic Updates: On
Closed Captioning: No
Font Size: Large
Navigation Sounds: Yes
Remember Password & Login: Yes
Seek Jump Length: 10
Start Options: Queue
Stop Auto-Play: No
Video Quality: Auto
K-Lite Codec Pack (The only codec pack you'll need. Very useful and allows your media center to play anything you throw at it) - FREE
Configuration:
None. The codec pack is just to make sure you can play any file type, such as .MKV files.
MakeMKV (One of the excellent Blu-Ray and DVD ripping programs I've used. Combined with Handbrake, it's incredible) - FREE (For now)
Configuration:
None. I have never even used MakeMKV apart from the CLI used in the AutoRipDVD script for XBMC.
Microsoft Silverlight (A lot of windows apps use it) - FREE
Configuration:
None. Silverlight is like Adobe Flash - it's just to make sure you can play any and all of your media and visit sites like netflix and hulu.
PCSX2 (PS2 Emulator) - FREE
Configuration:
Make sure to set your ROM paths as well as these settings:
ALBUM
Project64 (N64 Emulator) - FREE
Configuration:
Make sure to set your ROM paths as well as these settings:
ALBUM
BSNES (SNES Emulator) - FREE
Configuration:
None. See XBMC section for more details. Make sure to set your ROM paths though.
Dolphin (x2) (One for Wii, one for Gamecube emulation) - FREE
Configuration:
Make sure to set your ROM paths as well as these settings:
WII:
Album
GAMECUBE:
Album
MAME (Arcade Game Emulation) - FREE
Configuration:
None. Make sure to set your ROM paths though.
NullDC (Dreamcast Emulation) - FREE
Configuration:
Make sure to set your ROM paths as well as these settings:
Album
SlySoft AnyDVDHD (For DVD / Blu-Ray decryption) - 100$ (If you use MakeMKV and don't watch Blu-Rays often, you most likely won't need this)
Configuration:
None.
Steam (PC Gaming) - FREE
Configuration:
None. If you choose not to launch STEAM from XBMC, be sure to enable big picture mode.
WinRAR (Many uses) - FREE
Configuration:
None. This is for when you need to unzip .rar, .zip, etc. Compressed files.
XBMC (The Crux of the media center. Without XBMC, the media center lacks the same "pop" and is much less intuitive to use) - FREE
Configuration:
Skin Used: AEON MQ 4
Skin Settings: View Picture
XBMC Settings: View Album
Add-Ons Enabled: (NOTE: I don't use all of them. If I do, and if I changed those settings, I'll go over them below) View Album
Add-Ons:
See above for full list. To see which ones I'm really using, look here .
Customizations:
Advanced Launcher : Use the Wiki Guide to add your games / emulators. For example, here's what my advanced launcher looks like, with the display settings.
For PC games, I made a folder of shortcuts (.lnk), and then Advanced Launcher reads from that folder.
For the Utilities (Explained Below), I made a folder to store them, and then Advanced Launcher reads from that folder. I then made sure to mark them as favorites links, so that they can easily be added to the home page of XBMC. (shown in the Add-ons section above)
Utilities:
Netflix Via Windows Media Center
XBMC doesn't have the license to make their own Netflix App, so WMC's is much better.
Here's how to launch it from XBMC, so there's a seamless transition when you want to watch Netflix. I added those links as Favorites so that I could add them to the Home Screen of XBMC. This also applies to the HULU desktop app .
Automatic Wii Remote Sync
This way, you can just pick up your Wii Remote, Hit a button on it, then launch your game from XBMC and go straight to playing. However, if you have a Wii / Wii U you also use the remotes with, it won't work. I just found that out, sadly. Here's the link .
Auto-Rip DVDs and Blu-rays to your collection.
Using MakeMKV, Handbrake, and this script , you and add the movie you just watched or rented into your XBMC library in one click.
Using Logitech Remotes to control XBMC
Now that you've got it all working smoothly, add some ease-of-use with this guide.
With all of the above, you should be able to enjoy all your media and have it look sleek while doing so. For additional guides, check out LifeHacker, the XBMC Wiki , and the XBMC Forums.
Disclaimer
Customization is really up to you, in the end. This is where I spent the bulk of my time building and setting up this HTPC, and it's an ongoing process even as you're reading this. One of the downsides to making a HTPC / Media Center yourself is that you also have to maintain it yourself. With that being said, here is a basic overview of how I configured the programs I outlined in the previous section. Feel free to configure these programs and any additional programs you're using in the way you see fit, but to mimic my demo video you should follow my configurations.
Also, unless stated otherwise, assume all software is installed to your Solid State Drive, for speed and performance.
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - 100$
Configuration: 64 bit to make full use of our RAM, and to ensure fast performance when coupled with the SSD. Why Home Premium though? For Windows Media center, which is in my opinion, the best way to watch live and recorded TV via your PC, with the proper equipment. (I use a Ceton InfiniTV, which you can find in the Hardware section of this guide) As for the OS, there's no real customization done apart from disabling most notifications and making sure that the display stays on for at least 2 hours before going into screensaver mode / hibernating. Why the long amount of time? For my family, when the TV isn't in use, the TV is turned off 90% of the time. So I don't need to worry about screen burn in, and when XBMC is running, there's enough moving content to prevent burn in. Apart from that, it's like the notifications being disabled -it helps blur the line between PC and Media Center by making sure there's no interruptions while browsing or playing media.
Also, make sure to clear your desktop of shortcuts / links, once you've finished setting things up. Worst case, if you end up crashing to desktop or something like that, you don't want your guests / significant others seeing a bunch of shortcuts and such. I just have a wallpaper that changes daily, for when I have to venture behind the scenes to configure things. Be sure to set up folders for your media as well, but not on the SSD. I have over 200 movies, multiple games and TV shows, and about 50GB of music I've accumulated over the years. There is no SSD on the market that could store all of that. That's where the massive Hard Drives come in to play. I like to use the folders MOVIES / TV / MUSIC / GAMES to sort my media, but you can label them whatever you like. Just remember where they are located for when we set up Ember Media Manager and / or XBMC.
ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre 5 (My Blu Ray player of choice) - 100$
Configuration:
None! Well, nothing special really. I disabled auto-playing of DVDs (They are launched / played via XBMC, for a more intuitive experience), and enabled auto-full-screen mode (for the same reasons). Make sure to set your audio output settings to suit your needs and setup.
AISuite II (For ASUS boards / Intel CPUs. I also like the AISuite's Overclocking Software) - FREE
Configuration:
I used the TurboV EVO overclocking to set the CPU at a stable 4.2 GHz. Other than that, I just use it to monitor fan speeds, temperatures, and the CPU frequency.
For reference, here's my current settings:
AutoHotKey (For various scripts -to be outlined later- that will make using the Media Center much easier) - FREE
Configuration:
None, but we will be utilizing a few scripts, some of which are placed in the Startup folder so they are always running. Those will be outlined in their respective program's entries.
AutoIt (Modifying programs and apps to be a bit easier to use) - FREE
Configuration:
None - like AutoHotKey's scripts, these will be outlined in their respective program's entries.
Bulk Rename Utility (Very useful for batch renaming files for media content organizing) - FREE
Configuration:
None. It is a tool to use when you need to rename a lot of items quickly, say to remove a certain amount of characters from the end of a series of folders, or to clean up TV episode names so you can rename them more accurately.
Daemon Tools Lite (On the odd chance you might be using .ISOs) - FREE
Configuration:
None. Use this when you need to mount an .ISO file for installing a program.
Ember Media Manager (An excellent Media Metadata scraping and editing tool. XBMC can detect most of your media and tag it properly, but if you want to customize what cover and background art it has, use Ember) - FREE
Configuration:
Be Sure to set your media paths according to those you set up, and tailor its settings to your needs. Ember's set up should walk you through it better than I can via this guide.
EVGA Precision X (Despite having a Gigabyte GPU, I really like EVGA's Overclocking Software. It's quite nice) - FREE
Configuration:
Vary your settings to suit your needs and your noise level / system limits. For reference, here is what my settings are:
Handbrake (Hands down, the best compression software I have used) - FREE
Configuration:
Since you'll be using the AutoRipDVD Script in XBMC for your DVD / Blu Ray ripping and / or compressing, you don't really need to configure anything in Handbrake as the script uses the CLI (Command Line Interface) instead of the GUI (Graphical User Interface) to get the job done. However, for reference here are my DVD / Blu Ray ripping / compression settings:
ALBUM
The GUI can be useful for when you have downloaded a video and wish to compress it without losing quality. However, I use the script outlined in the XBMC section of this part of the guide to do most of my ripping.
Hulu Desktop (For Hulu, obviously) - FREE
Configuration:
Always on top: On
Automatic Updates: On
Closed Captioning: No
Font Size: Large
Navigation Sounds: Yes
Remember Password & Login: Yes
Seek Jump Length: 10
Start Options: Queue
Stop Auto-Play: No
Video Quality: Auto
K-Lite Codec Pack (The only codec pack you'll need. Very useful and allows your media center to play anything you throw at it) - FREE
Configuration:
None. The codec pack is just to make sure you can play any file type, such as .MKV files.
MakeMKV (One of the excellent Blu-Ray and DVD ripping programs I've used. Combined with Handbrake, it's incredible) - FREE (For now)
Configuration:
None. I have never even used MakeMKV apart from the CLI used in the AutoRipDVD script for XBMC.
Microsoft Silverlight (A lot of windows apps use it) - FREE
Configuration:
None. Silverlight is like Adobe Flash - it's just to make sure you can play any and all of your media and visit sites like netflix and hulu.
PCSX2 (PS2 Emulator) - FREE
Configuration:
Make sure to set your ROM paths as well as these settings:
ALBUM
Project64 (N64 Emulator) - FREE
Configuration:
Make sure to set your ROM paths as well as these settings:
ALBUM
BSNES (SNES Emulator) - FREE
Configuration:
None. See XBMC section for more details. Make sure to set your ROM paths though.
Dolphin (x2) (One for Wii, one for Gamecube emulation) - FREE
Configuration:
Make sure to set your ROM paths as well as these settings:
WII:
Album
GAMECUBE:
Album
MAME (Arcade Game Emulation) - FREE
Configuration:
None. Make sure to set your ROM paths though.
NullDC (Dreamcast Emulation) - FREE
Configuration:
Make sure to set your ROM paths as well as these settings:
Album
SlySoft AnyDVDHD (For DVD / Blu-Ray decryption) - 100$ (If you use MakeMKV and don't watch Blu-Rays often, you most likely won't need this)
Configuration:
None.
Steam (PC Gaming) - FREE
Configuration:
None. If you choose not to launch STEAM from XBMC, be sure to enable big picture mode.
WinRAR (Many uses) - FREE
Configuration:
None. This is for when you need to unzip .rar, .zip, etc. Compressed files.
XBMC (The Crux of the media center. Without XBMC, the media center lacks the same "pop" and is much less intuitive to use) - FREE
Configuration:
Skin Used: AEON MQ 4
Skin Settings: View Picture
XBMC Settings: View Album
Add-Ons Enabled: (NOTE: I don't use all of them. If I do, and if I changed those settings, I'll go over them below) View Album
Add-Ons:
See above for full list. To see which ones I'm really using, look here .
Customizations:
Advanced Launcher : Use the Wiki Guide to add your games / emulators. For example, here's what my advanced launcher looks like, with the display settings.
For PC games, I made a folder of shortcuts (.lnk), and then Advanced Launcher reads from that folder.
For the Utilities (Explained Below), I made a folder to store them, and then Advanced Launcher reads from that folder. I then made sure to mark them as favorites links, so that they can easily be added to the home page of XBMC. (shown in the Add-ons section above)
Utilities:
Netflix Via Windows Media Center
XBMC doesn't have the license to make their own Netflix App, so WMC's is much better.
Here's how to launch it from XBMC, so there's a seamless transition when you want to watch Netflix. I added those links as Favorites so that I could add them to the Home Screen of XBMC. This also applies to the HULU desktop app .
Automatic Wii Remote Sync
This way, you can just pick up your Wii Remote, Hit a button on it, then launch your game from XBMC and go straight to playing. However, if you have a Wii / Wii U you also use the remotes with, it won't work. I just found that out, sadly. Here's the link .
Auto-Rip DVDs and Blu-rays to your collection.
Using MakeMKV, Handbrake, and this script , you and add the movie you just watched or rented into your XBMC library in one click.
Using Logitech Remotes to control XBMC
Now that you've got it all working smoothly, add some ease-of-use with this guide.
With all of the above, you should be able to enjoy all your media and have it look sleek while doing so. For additional guides, check out LifeHacker, the XBMC Wiki , and the XBMC Forums.
11-03-2012, 06:12 AM
11-03-2012, 01:52 PM
11-03-2012, 03:47 PM
11-10-2012, 12:46 AM
I will be building this exact build. Thank you for your setup 
. Im hoping to play dolphin at full speed and I'm pretty new to all this. Will be the first time I build a computer on my own. Wish me luck haha
. Im hoping to play dolphin at full speed and I'm pretty new to all this. Will be the first time I build a computer on my own. Wish me luck haha11-16-2012, 07:41 AM
Very impressive. I am going back and forth on whether to build an HTPC setup now or wait for Haswell. Waiting for Haswell would probably mean I would have spare GPU as I assume I will upgrading my new PC next gen and it bring other performance/cost benefits. However, it also means I don't have a new bit of kit RIGHT NOW! See my dilemma? 
I am wanting to do this with a SilverStone SUG08 which looks the part but is stupidly expensive.
Have you ever run into a PS2, Gamecube or Wii game suffering a 10fps or more drop in the framerate at any point? I have just played through Metroid Prime and Ratchet & Clank on my current main gaming rig (920 @3.2) and suffered pretty bad slowdown in parts. I need to know if IvyBridge can cope both at stock speeds and with some overclocking. If not I will just wait. I really don't want to overclock the hell out of it.
Out of curiosity have you tried just running Dolphin or PCSX 2 on the HD 4000?
I am wanting to do this with a SilverStone SUG08 which looks the part but is stupidly expensive.
Have you ever run into a PS2, Gamecube or Wii game suffering a 10fps or more drop in the framerate at any point? I have just played through Metroid Prime and Ratchet & Clank on my current main gaming rig (920 @3.2) and suffered pretty bad slowdown in parts. I need to know if IvyBridge can cope both at stock speeds and with some overclocking. If not I will just wait. I really don't want to overclock the hell out of it.
Out of curiosity have you tried just running Dolphin or PCSX 2 on the HD 4000?