[geeks] Home Made STB/HTPC

[Lionel Peterson]

On May 4, 2009, at 2:50 PM, Sridhar Ayengar <ploopster at gmail.com> wrote:

> I just got a 67" TV.  I'm interested in playing stored video on it.
>
> The machine needs to be fast enough to decode 1080p video compressed  
> with a variety of algorithms, with the most processor-intensive  
> probably being H.264.  It needs to talk to my TV at its native  
> resolution of 1920x1080.  Being able to output unaltered Dolby  
> Digital and DTS sound over a digital pipe to my receiver would be a  
> huge plus.
>
> It doesn't need much storage, since I'll be streaming the video from  
> a file server.  A single PCI slot would be convenient for various  
> reasons I don't need to go into.  Low power consumption would be  
> nice.  Silence is golden.
>
> Anyone have any pointers or suggestions for me?  I'm more looking  
> for hardware tips.  I'm reasonably familiar with the software.   
> Thanks.

SuperMicro makes a very nice ATX MB, C2SEA, IIRC - intel's latest  
chipset, including their latest integrated graphic w/HDMI and supports  
all current intel CPUs. DDR3 RAM, about $150 w/ 2 gigs RAM at  
Microcenter.com, I think...

Lionel