i really think it's from pczone. 2 weeks back when i bought my unit, they still have a few pieces of it in the front cabinet.

saw and bought one home with me.
it's powercolor.

i'm using xbmc paired with ember media manager. so prefer other media manager, but ember is the best for me (though i still have others installed and using them).

i prefer to store all the info in nfo/fanart/poster files (rather than in internal database) because i sometime format and/or change my system.

Scrape Media -> All Movies/Marked Movies/New Movies (your choice) -> Automatic (force best match)

more than enough for playing high bitrate mkv and bluray.

invest a bit in a HDTV bro. hang it on the wall there and dual monitor it to your htpc. watching HD movies on a big LCD TV have much better impact

you use more than 1 optical drive issit?
1 unit of BD combo or BD writer should be enough for most people. i don't even have an optical drive for my HTPC. the 2 extra slot could be used for 3 more HDD.

maybe the OS is trying to access a turned off drive. happens sometime to my setup. and as i have lots of HDD, it happens quite frequently especially if there's something running in the background.
you could turn off power saving for the drive and this should go away (if indeed the stutter is because the OS powering up unused drive)

friends have been asking about HTPC and Network Media Tank (NMT) like Dune, BD1, etc etc.
and though NMT is good, they're still an embedded system with a processor and an OS (in the form of firmware). some of the better ones (NMT concerned) runs of general purpose CPU (ARM or RISC compatible) with a form of general purpose OS (linux, windows CE etc).

and since the price is just a bit more from a full fledged system, why not consider a HTPC?
the same general purpose OS, with better components (system components).
the same general purpose CPU, with better speed.
the same general purpose hardware, with better upgrade path.

i'm running Silverstone LC17 HTPC case. RM400 and fits 6 HDD in standard form.


drill 8 holes and you'll be able to fit 8HDD if your mainboard has the clearance. mine does.

don't use the 5.25" optical drive bay?

buy a HDD cage and put the 2 extra bay to use. able to fit 3 HDD here. i ripped mine from an old computer case.

still require more storage? there's space for 2 more HDD beside the cage.

so that makes 13 HDD in a single RM400 case.

still require a BDROM drive with all of that? easy, can always use an external USB-SATA converter. or eSATA converter and run in externally. when all of your movie collections are stored in the HTPC, browsing and selecting and watching are easy peasy. don't need to search the list and swap the hdd manually. everything are done with a remote from the couch. no need for an extra NAS or another PC acting as a file server. no bandwith problem handling high bitrate file or bluray playback. no lag from the network.

and then there's support for internet browsing, subtitles searching, subtitle syncing, music playback (with support for external DAC/soundcard), remote desktop, bittorent, download, etc and everything else you can think of.

the cost?

300W should be enough for 3-4 HDD if it's rated as truepower. but if you're running the cheap RM50 PSU, then by all means don't attach more than 2.
BSOD is usually caused by RAM not sitting properly. HDD not detected caused by faulty mainboard, or by the cheap PSU if you're using one.

try reattach back all the connections and modules to the mainboard and make sure they're all firmly attach. also helps to clean the attachment and make sure there's no dust.

try and check your ram. test it with memtest86+. sometimes it may be caused by a PSU not supplying enough voltage also. but do check the RAM first

lots and lots of movies requires lots and lots of hdd hehe
i fill a 1.5tb drive in a month a so..

if correctly configured, the 5450 are capable of hardware acceleration. won't depend on the cpu much for decoding. works for both 1080p mkv and bluray playback. just the configuration are a little bit tricky.

building is easy, the configuration is not. a htpc is just a normal desktop, any pc shop can build it for you. i reckon lowyat shops could build it

luckily mine is working purrrrfectly.

because WD media player or any other media player in that matter doesn't support more than a few HDD daisy chained together.
for someone that have more than 6 HDD, HTPC is the only viable choice.

and not to mention, media player will have a hard time if your media collection are spanned across a few hdd

why don't you try a media manager like xbmc or media browser?
don't have to browse the folder one by one to find your mkv files. looks much nicer too

use xbmc lah. for mkv it has the best and easiest interface and configuration.

if he can get ember to get poster and fan art, i guess he didn't set the folder content as tv series or movies.
set it as tv or movies and the info will show.

set it in xbmc, not in ember.
go to videos, where you added your movie folders. right click or press 'c' to bring the context menu.
edit source -> set content

then close everything, bring out the context menu again -> scan for new content. it should show. or you could update library.

i'm using the same interface as this:


the skin name is rapier. the reason it's being used is because the rating is shown together with the title and other info when browsing the poster wall. other skins hides the rating and just show the title of the movie.

xbmc is used solely for my mkv whereas my bluray collection are in media browser. xbmc can't handle bdmv properly and media browser don't have resume function when playing mkv. so i use them both.