afcon2019-blog

[afcon2019-blog]

How To Select Components To Build a Powerful Home Entertainment Hub/PC

Finding the Processor:

Browse around the Intel web site to understand what's present. It's always best to check so as to avoid obsolescence in a short time. Regarding every 18 months, Intel introduces a new generation of processor chips. You always get much better performance at about the same price of the last generation of processors. A processor selection tool along with specifications on their processors can be found on the Intel website. You may will not need the top of the line of the current generation with regard to normal household computing. For this application, I'm going for the 2ndGeneration Intel Core i5 2500k. This has built-in Intel HD images, so with the correct motherboard, you will not have to spend extra money to buy a separate graphics card. Intel's Boxed processors usually come having an appropriate heat sink which cools the processor, however always check the specifications to make sure. For cooler and more silent operation, you may want to choose a retail heat sink, but just do this if you are confident about choosing one. The key specs will also be available when you source the component (at Newegg. com, in this case). When choosing a motherboard, you will need to realize and match the processor socket (LGA1155, in this case) and the supported memory type (DDR3-1066/1333, in this case). They are important for fit and function. Choosing a motherboard: I'm a big enthusiast of Intel's products because of the high reliability over the years. Therefore naturally, I'm choosing an Intel manufactured motherboard. Desktop computer board DH67BL Media Series was chosen. Again, take a look at Intel's website for details. It supports the LGA1155 socket, DDR3-1066/1333 memory and has both HDMI and DVI connections. Other important specifications on the motherboard you will need to recognize: Number of memory slots: 4x240 pin. You will need to know this particular, along with the memory standard (DDR3), when selecting memory. Storage space devices supported: 3x SATA 3Gb/s and 2x SATA 6Gb/s. This determines the supported hard drives and BD-ROM. SATA 6Gb/s is the new standard but is in reverse compatible with SATA 3Gb/s. LAN speed: 10/100/1000 Mbps. This particular determines your maximum Ethernet connection speed in a " cable " network. Form Factor: Micro ATX (9. 6" by 9. 6"). This is the physical size of the board and it is important when choosing a case. The smaller Micro ATX boards will certainly fit in most Media Center style cases while the bigger ATX form factor may not. Choosing Memory: As mentioned above, we need DDR3-1066 or DDR3-1333 240 pin memory modules to become compatible with the processor and the motherboard. We choose two times of the Kingston 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model KVR1333D3N9/4G for a great total of 8GB. Memory prices vary a lot, plus they are cheap as of this writing, so take advantage of the price. The panel can accommodate up to 4 modules, but 2x4GB is sufficient for our applications. Choosing the Hard Drive(s): Hard drive prices possess almost tripled during October and November of year 2011 due to component shortage as a result of the weather in Thailand. Costs are expected to remain high for a couple of quarters. Previously, since hard disk drives were really cheap, the system here was built with a pair of hard drives. The first one is a 320GB drive used to load the very operating system and any other programs to be used on the system. The 2nd 2TB drive is dedicated for Recorded TV and may hold about 300 hours of HDTV. In general, the greater Read/Write heads you have, the better the performance. I recently turned to Western digital green or blue hard drives simply because I got one on sale and found it to be vastly quieter than the Seagate I was accustomed to. The key specifications of the turns that affect fit and function are the SATA speed and also the physical size. SATA 6Gb/s describes the data transfer pace and is the new standard for desktop computing. The selected motherboard supports two SATA 6Gb/s, so be sure to link these to the 6Gb connections on the motherboard for greatest performance. The physical size of the drive is recognized as 3. 5" internal drive. This specification is essential when selecting your computer case. The selected case holds a couple 3. 5" internal drives. Selecting an optical generate (Blu-ray/CD/DVD ROM): Today's optical drives are typically SATA 3Gb/s transfer speeds. Physical size for desktop computers is actually described as 5. 25" internal drive, and they fit into an instance which has an external 5. 25" drive bay. The case specifies the main bay as external because it gives you access to open the drive tray. Additional software like Power DVD is needed to play Blu-ray disc. Some drives come bundled with this particular software. I have found that most internet stores are vague regarding whether the software is included or not. The Samsung included in the desk above, came with software. TV Tuner cards: I have not one but two "AVerMedia AVerTVHD Duet - PCTV Tuner (A188 -- White Box) - OEM" in my system. The main thing you should know is the interface type, which is PCI-Express x1 interface. It was described in article 2 . The selected Intel motherboard fits two such expansion slots. This set up gives 4 available tuners for simultaneous recording or watching 1 channel while recording three others. Selecting a computer situation: To have your Afcon 2019 look like another piece of sound equipment, you will need to select a case from the HTPC/Media Center group. To avoid the hassle of having to select a power supply to fit the situation, I chose a case with a built in 500W power supply. "APEVIA Dark SECC Steel / Aluminum X-MASTER-BK/500 ATX Media Center or HTPC Case". It's important to make sure you have an adequate wattage power. Because we are not using any add-in graphics credit cards, 350W to 500W will typically be more than sufficient. Feel free to select a case that's more esthetically pleasing for you. It's also important to make sure that your selected motherboard fits into the case. The actual Micro- ATX motherboard will fit into most cases. We are utilizing two 3. 5" hard drives and a 5. 25" Bluray player, so the case must have at least two 3. 5" drive bays and one 5. 25 external drive bay. Something that bugs me when buying a case is that the fan kind or fan noise is hardly ever specified. You don't understand what you are going to get until you put it together. Fortunately, fans are inexpensive and you can replace them if the noise level is too high for you personally. Fan noise is dependent on the design, rotating speed, in addition to air flow. The lower the stated noise level in dBA, the actual quieter it should be. A variable speed fan will manage the speed base on the temperature inside the case, so it will simply rotate as fast is it needs to, keeping noise down. Wireless keyboard and Wireless remote: I particularly such as the "nMEDIAPC HTPCKB-B Black 2 . 4GHz RF Wireless Efficient Keyboard with Track Ball & Remote Combo Set" because a track ball mouse is built into the PC handheld remote control. This makes for easy operation of the media player. We hardly ever use the keyboard, but when I do, the built in monitor ball mouse also comes in handy. No surface is required to run the mouse. Choosing the operating system: Windows 7 home premium and above includes Windows Media center which manages your tuner cards plus recorded TV. I chose Windows 7 Professional because it enables you to use Remote Desktop to remotely log into the PERSONAL COMPUTER. This way, using my laptop, I log into the press PC to do more demanding tasks. Note that the selected Home windows 7 OS is the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) edition. Amongst other things, this means that there is no technical software support provided by Microsoft, but it's a lot cheaper. I never have the necessity to call Microsoft for technical support. If there is a problem, chances are that another person would have already found it so do a Google search. Placing it all together: As mentioned earlier, this article is mainly about choosing components to make your Media PC. Your components guide will guide you through the steps required to assemble the different elements. If you need additional help, you can do a simple Google search on 'how to build my own PC. ' Don't forget to connect the front screen switches and jacks. Once everything is connected you might be now ready to turn on your new PC. If everything will go well, you will see a boot up screen once you turn on the ability. Refer to the motherboard manual to make BIOS settings changes if needed. The default settings should work lacking any changes, but it's always a good idea to read this section of the particular manual to see what's available. The next step would be to insert typically the Windows DVD and follow the installation instructions. Be sure to be connected in to your network and have an internet connection. Windows set up will take about an hour. When prompted, select to download and install home windows updates automatically. Updates will probably take another hour, based on how many they are. Firmware and Driver updates: These up-dates are usually provided to fix bugs and improve device performance. In most cases, the system should work properly without these updates, but if you are experiencing functionality problems, it's always a good idea to check the manufacturer's website and install available updates. For Intel motherboards, Intel device drivers are available on Intel's download website for Network connections (LAN), Graphics, Chipset, and Sound devices.