How Do You Build A Home Theater PC (HTPC)?
• Know your own requirements. Do you want to use this HTPC as a stereo as well? Will it store your MP3 collection and act as a server? What other users can you dedicate to it? • Research and purchase hardware. While almost any modern PC will work, specific component technologies will help your HTPC handle smooth recording and playback of video. • TV Tuner cards. Hauppauge and ATI have made their names a standard for TV tuners and other multimedia cards. The Hauppauge PVR-150 (a single TV tuner card) is more widely supported in third-party software than any other card. Multiple PVR-150 cards may be installed in one PC and recognized with any TV recording application without any customization. The same is true for the dual TV tuner card from Hauppauge, know as the PVR-500. • Memory. Almost any DDR memory is suitable for up to two TV tuners. For three or more TV tuners, DDR-400 or higher bandwidth memory with a CAS latency of 2 is recommended, and for DDR2, a CAS of 4 is recommended. Avoi
