Building the HTPC - Setup and Software

Following, the list of components we are going to use.

Test Setup
Case	SilverStone ML05
Power supply	SilverStone ST45SF-G V2.0
Motherboard	ASUS Z87I-PRO (BIOS 0602)
Processor	Intel Core i7 Haswell QDE8 2.6 GHz 4C/8T, Turbo: 3.0 GHz
CPU cooler	Intel Stock
Memory	Kingmax FLKF66F-C8KLAA
Storage	2 x Seagate Momentus XT ST95005620AS SSDH RAID0
Fans	2 x Noiseblocker M8-S2 1 x Noiseblocker M12-2
Video adapter	iGPU - Intel HD Graphics 4600
Audio	Onboard Realtek ALC1150 (S/PDIF)
Network	Onboard Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4/5.0 GHz)
Display	Samsung UE55D7080 TV
Audio system	Logitech Z5500
Remote	Logitech Wireless Touch Keyboard K400

For the software part, right after we set up the BIOS and created the RAID 0 array we have installed Windows 8. Once the installation of the OS was complete we updated all drivers (video, chipset, audio, IME, Wi-Fi) as well as Windows to the latest version. Then we followed this guide to play movies with the highest quality using MPC-HC. In our case we use LAV Splitter to demultiplex, ffdshow to decode the video and manage the audio and madVR for the rendering. Since the audio signal makes its way to the receiver via S/PDIF the receiver will do the decoding not the HTPC.

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Page 1 - Presentation

Page 2 - Building the HTPC - Setup and Software

Page 3 - Building the HTPC - Part I

Page 4 - Building the HTPC - Part II

Page 5 - Noise and Thermal Testing

Page 6 - Conclusion