HTPC Setup

I'm thinking about making an HTPC setup.
Would you say this is an optimal setup?

Tuner Card: TBS 6925 PCI-E DVB-S2
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z68MX-UD2H-B3
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB
PSU: Rosewill Stallion Series RD400-2-SB 400W ATX 12V

OS: Mushkin Enhanced Chronos Deluxe MKNSSDCR60GB-DX 2.5" 60GB
Storage: Western Digital 4TB Green

I'll be designing my own Linux-based OS to run everything.

whats the total price for your setup?

Tuner is $250 but it is quite the advanced piece of tech really.
The rest brings the total up to ~ $800.
Forgot to mention the CPU is an AMD A8-5600K

CPU graphics would be able to handle fine I believe. I have a gaming computer with 780 ti in SLI. For this though I'm trying to make it as small as possible while still being speedy. Hence why I'm making my own os on top of it. Good point about and drivers though, completely forgot.

Edit: there is amd support on linux. Just checked

Sounds like a sweet setup! If space wasn't an issue I would use something similar in the living room. I may just buy the and install it on my windows 8.1 pc. Lots of options still open. I don't need a sound card since I'm out to a nice pioneer elite a/v receiver. Probably just going to have it pass they digital signal without processing and let the receiver do the work

Change of plans, I think I'll use this:
TBS 2910 Matrix ARM mini PC $150
Prof Revolution DVB-S2 7500 USB Tuner $75
Total" $225 + tax + S/H

Other option is:
Power Adapter $10
Raspberry Pi $40
Prof Revolution DVB-S2 7500 USB Tuner $75
Total: $145 + tax + S/H
I'll probably install OpenELEC, use OSCAM, and TVhead. Do you think that would work on the RaspPi?

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Originally Posted by The Noof

I tried both ways (cpu vs gpu), and found the dedicated gpu gave much better HD results,Depends on your home theater, and how fussy you are I guess.I settled on a amd fx-4300 based gigabyte mb,8 gig 1866 ram,nvidia 650 2gb gddr5,240 gb ssd primary,1 tb hd secondary,sb z sound card.Excellent results,& cost me about 700.00 to build in a NICE ht case.

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Thanks for sharing Noof! What tuner are you using with this setup? Thanks!

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Originally Posted by coldkick

TBS 2910 Matrix ARM mini PC $150
Prof Revolution DVB-S2 7500 USB Tuner $75

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Why did you select this particular tuner? I noticed you initially were thinking you would get the TBS 6925 PCI-E DVB-S2. Thanks!

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Originally Posted by PRKid2

Why did you select this particular tuner? I noticed you initially were thinking you would get the TBS 6925 PCI-E DVB-S2. Thanks!

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The Prof Revolution is a USB Tuner with the same capabilities as the TBS 6925. The Raspberry Pi and other mini PCs do not have PCI-E slots so I had to choose a USB device. The Prof is only $87.50 after shipping while the TBS was around $290 so it seemed like a no brainer. Also after some research the Prof has better universal driver support. :)

Thanks for the very prompt response! Certainly makes sense.

I was gonna ask pretty much same question .. so I'll just hijack this thread
so lets say I have hardware ready ... what software would I need to use and configure IKS?

not sure if I don't know where to look (hit right keywords on google) or there really there isn't too much info in regards to this topic

N3XT is one of the available options.

Also if you want speed, go with a solid state hard drive, they are so fast you can't even blink in the time when they are fully booted up.

They are expensive the higher you go in GB but worth it.

Some put the OS on them and then use a second one for data storage.

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Originally Posted by tuyo

N3XT is one of the available options.

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wow thank you sir... one keyword makes a such a huge difference

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Terryl

Also if you want speed, go with a solid state hard drive, they are so fast you can't even blink in the time when they are fully booted up.

They are expensive the higher you go in GB but worth it.

Some put the OS on them and then use a second one for data storage.

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it's intel nuc with i5 ... ssd is really my only option