DIY – Building a Windows Media Center (MCE) 2005

Introduction

Earlier this year, I set out to create my second Windows Media Center 2005 system specifically targeted to the living room environment. The first MCE system that I created was based on a Shuttle XPC based using an AMD Athlon 64 3200 processor. I posted an article on this design here at WhiningDog.NET. Although the Shuttle XPC is certainly a small system, it still doesn’t look quite right in the middle of a home theater environment. What I really desired was a PC that didn’t LOOK like a PC but more like a stereo component. Another important consideration was noise. As powerful as the Shuttle XPC system with the Athlon64 3200+ processor was, I needed something that produced less ambient noise in the living room. With these considerations in place, I set out to build my second Windows Media Center box.

Specifications

The first important consideration was the chassis design. I wanted a case that didn’t resemble your average PC system – no cubes, towers, or simple desktop designs. I also skipped over gamer cases since I don’t think they look all that attractive in the living room. I eventually settled on a several cases manufactured by Ahanix. Up for consideration was the Ahanix D6 Media Center Enclosure (http://www.ahanix.com/ahanix_product.asp?pid=6) and the Ahanix MCE301 case (http://www.ahanix.com/ahanix_product.asp?pid=26). I ultimately decided to obtain the D6 case because it could house full sized PCI cards as opposed to the low profile cards that the MCE301 supports. Here are the exact specifications of the D6 case from Ahanix:

  • Case Type (Dimension)Desktop (17.13″ W x 5.94″ H x 18.07 D)
  • Available Color: Black, Silver
  • M/B Type (Max. Dimensions)Micro ATX (9.63″ H x 9.63″ W)
  • PSU Type (Dimension)Standard ATX 350W ( 5.88″W x 3.38″ H x 6.32″ D)
  • VFD Type 2×16 character Samsung VFD / Parallel Port Connector
  • Rear Fans2 x 60mm Pre-Installed / 29CFM / 16dBA
  • External 5.25″ Bay: 2
  • External 3.5″ Bay: 0
  • Internal 3.5″ Bay: 2
  • Expansion Slots:4
  • Case Height:5.94″(w/ feet), 5.32″(w/o feet)
  • Compatible OS:Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/XP Media Center Edition
  • Weight:12.5 lbs. (w/o Package) 16.0 lbs. (w/ Package)

OK, next decision – what processor to use? Both AMD Athlon64 and Intel Pentium 4 processors were certainly powerful enough for the Microsoft Windows Media Center Edition 2005 OS. However, one thing was wrong for both of these CPUs – too much heat and too much noise. These processors give off a good deal of heat which requires active heatsink/fans which then in turn increases the ambient system noise. All of these factors lead to a system design which doesn’t bode well when you’re playing back a quiet movie moment and all you hear is the whirring sound of the internal fans. What to do? Go mobile with the Pentium M processor! Although the Pentium M processor is clocked at a lower frequency and costs MORE than a comparable Pentium 4 processor, its power consumption is so low that you can get away with a quiet CPU fan and a limited number of case fans. To me, this would be the processor of choice for quiet/low heat HTPC systems.

In order to use a Pentium M processor, we of course needed a Pentium M supporting motherboard. I decided to go with the AOpen i855 GMEm-LFS motherboard. (http://usa.aopen.com/products/mb/i855GMEm-LFS.htm) Here are the specifications to the board from AOpen’s website:
CPU support

  • Intel Pentium M CPU (Dothan / Banias)
  • Socket 479
  • 400MHz

Chipset

  • Intel 855GME
  • Intel ICH4-M

Memory

  • Support : DDR333 [PC2700]
  • DDR DIMM x 2
  • DIMM Type : 256/512MB & 1GB
  • Max Memory : 2GB

Video

  • Integrated VGA Engine in chipset
  • 4X AGP slot

IDE

  • Integrated ATA100 Controller
  • Promise Serial ATA Control Chip [Support Serial ATA RAID 0 or 1]
  • Max Disk : 144,000,000GB [by 48 bits LBA Spec.]

Network

  • Dual Marvell Gigabit PCI LAN Chip

Sound

  • Realtek AC’97 CODEC on-board
  • 5.1 Channel

USB

  • Integrated in chipset
  • USB2.0 x 6

Firewire

  • Agere 1394 Control Chip

Slots

  • AGP x 1
  • PCI x 3

Ports

  • Floppy Drive Connector x 1
  • IDE Channel : ATA100 x 2
  • Serial ATA Channel x 2
  • PS/2 Keyboard x 1
  • PS/2 Mouse x 1
  • USB Port x 4
  • LAN Port x 2
  • VGA Port x 1
  • COM Port x 1
  • Printer Port x 1
  • Speaker_Out x 1
  • Line_In x 1
  • MIC_In x 1

Size

  • 244 mm x 244 mm

Ok, so I’m done with the major components. Let’s lay out the entire system specification:

  • Ahanix D6 Media Center Enclosure
  • Intel Pentium M 745 processor running at 1.8GHz
  • AOPen MicroATX i855 GMEm-LFS motherboard
  • 1GB of DDR PC400 memory
  • 2 x 250 GB 7200 RPM hard drives
  • 1 x Toshiba DVD-ROM drive
  • 1 x Pioneer DVD+-R/RW drive
  • 1 x ATI Radeon 9700 Video Card
  • 1 x Creative Audigy 2 Sound Card
  • 1 x Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 500 MCE

Physical Overview

Some of you are probably curious what the Ahanix D6 case looks like. Here are some snapshots that I took of the case. Make no mistake about it – this is NOT a small case. If you THINK you have very little room for a PC case of this design, then you are probably right. I luckily had enough depth in my home theater rack to support this case. Actually, I just BARELY had enough room.

The one feature of the D6 (and really nearly all Ahanix cases) chassis that I love is the inclusion of the Vacuum Florescent Display (VFD). MCE specific messages can be displayed on the VFD which adds a touch of class to your MCE setup.

Here’s a look at the insides of the case – as you can see – there’s plenty of expansion room (although only room for a Mini ATX motherboard). It’s actually a shame that Ahanix didn’t decide to fit in a standard ATX motherboard because I believe there just might be room for such a board. Oh well.

The included power supply from Ahanix is a 350 watt PSU – more than enough for our setup.

Here’s a look at the AOpen motherboard which was one of the first desktop motherboards available for the Pentium M processor. For more specifications on the motherboard, please take a look at the AOpen website. In the meantime, we’ll take a look at the board from all angles.

Setting up the system

Setting up this MCE box is similar to setting up any PC system. I won’t spend too much time into this subject since there are so many articles around the net that talk about constructing a PC.

Here were the basic steps for this system:
1. Installing the processor onto the motherboard (which includes adding thermal grease and the appropriate heatsink for the board and processor)
The Pentium M processor resembles the older Pentium III so be careful when attaching a heatsink on top. AOpen ships with a custom heatsink/fan for the processor and motherboard.

2. Installing memory onto the motherboard

3. Taking apart the case and removing any components that hinder the installation of other PC components
It takes a bit of time to remove all the compartments found within the D6 but it’s not unbearable. Luckily, the D6’s construction is excellent! There are no sharp corners or edges to worry about.

Oh – and make sure to keep track of all the various screws that you’ll have to deal with.

4. Mounting the motherboard mounts onto the chassis

5. Screwing in the motherboard

Make sure to keep a good amount of clearance when you are installing the motherboard. It’s generally a good idea to provide clearance around hotspots such as the CPU or power supplies. You’ll want to provide good airflow to and from these areas.

6. Attaching the drives to their appropriate locations

7. Attaching all relevant cables to the motherboard


If you’re a stickler to neatness then you might want to consider placing cable ties around the power cables and the IDE cables.

8. Installing expansion cards
I installed three expansion cards within this MCE system – an ATI Radeon 9700 Pro Video Card for graphics, a Creative Audigy 2 sound card, and a Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 500 MCE Dual TV Tuner card.

If you’re on a budget, then you can probably get away without having to use a dedicated graphics card like the ATI Radeon 9700 or a dedicated sound card. Integrated components are good enough for most applications.

A TV Tuner is a bit more difficult to find integrated on a motherboard. I’ve had great experience with Hauppauge tuners in the past so the 500MCE was a no brainer for me. If you really want a low profile case, then consider looking for a low profile TV tuner. They’re out there – you’ll need to do your research in finding them.

9. Testing
Once all the hardware is together, connect the power cable to the PSU and power up the system. Sure you don’t have an OS installed but who cares? Your goal is to make sure that there are no problems during the POST section of the boot process. You should also modify any BIOS settings at this point (although you can easily do this later on of course).

10. Installing the OS
If you’re new to the Windows Media Center 2005 world, then be prepared for a slightly different experience than normal Windows XP operations. MCE is a far different beast than XP (although it is built on top of XP). Not all hardware will work for MCE so make sure you purchase equipment that has specific driver support for MCE and not just for XP. The hardware accessories you should pay close attention to include graphics card and TV tuners. Luckily, most modern day graphics cards will suffice since NVIDIA and ATI have MCE drivers on their website. You can’t go wrong with a Hauppauge TV Tuner but you should also look at other vendors.

I won’t go over the MCE setup in detail here (that’s for a different article on a different day). Once you have the drivers installed, most of the work is with the actual MCE setup wizards.

Up and running.. and recording


There you go folks – my new HTPC system using the Windows Media Center Edition 2005. To top off this entire project, I decided to connect the box directly to my Sony WEGA television set using a DVI cable. If you think the MCE user interface looks nice on a 4:3 display, wait till you see it on a 16:9 display. WOW it looks sweet. I had to use Powerstrip to get the customized settings right on my analog television screen. If you have a LCD or plasma display, setting up the display settings will be far easier.



My MCE box has been used for nearly everything media centric in the living room. I’ve used it for the following activities:

  1. Watch live and prerecorded TV
  2. Listen to stored music on the network
  3. Watch stored videos on the network
  4. View stored photographs on the network
  5. Burn DVDs from recorded TVs
  6. Listen to CDs
  7. Watch DVDs

The list would continue to grow if I also count the things I can do with the PC outside of the MCE interface.

Summary

This is the second MCE 2005 box that I’ve created over the last half year and the platform is absolutely stellar. There are other viable options out there and you should check them out to see which one fits your needs. However, for my home, I have to admit that MCE 2005 is the way to go (at least for now!).


I said goodbye to my TiVo box over six months ago and I honestly haven’t missed it since.

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