How to Build an HD DVR
Building your own high-definition (HD) digital video recorder (DVR) is a process similar to building any other computer system. The components are the same, except for the substitution of a sleek home theater personal computer (HTPC) case to provide a smaller profile for the system that easily fits alongside other consumer electronic products and the addition of an HD TV Tuner card. After hardware construction, Windows 7 provides all the software necessary for running your DVR through the Windows Media Center. The results, a system build that's capable of full 1080P HD recording and playback, Blu-Ray compatibility and days worth of HD quality storage.
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Things You'll Need
- Antistatic wrist strap
- PC motherboard
- Multi-core CPU
- 2 GB RAM
- Phillips-head screwdriver
- HTPC case
- 2 SATA hard drives
- Blu-Ray recorder drive
- PCI Graphics card
- PCI-e HD TV Tuner card
- SATA data cables
- PC power supply
- Windows 7 OS
Instructions
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Examine the product specifications for all component parts to ensure compatibility with one another.
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Place the antistatic wrist strap around your wrist and then clip the end of the strap to a metal surface, to ground you while working with the components.
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Lay the motherboard onto an antistatic mat. Pull the lever next to the central processing unit (CPU) socket upwards to unlock the socket and then remove the protective CPU socket cover. Align the small arrow on the side of your CPU with the arrow on the corner of the CPU socket and then gently place the CPU into the socket. Push the locking level downward, locking the CPU in place.
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Remove the protective paper from the thermal patch on the bottom of the CPU heat sink and fan and align the four posts of the heat sink and fan with the four holes in the motherboard surrounding the CPU. Place the posts through the holes, laying the heat sink and fan atop the CPU. Turn the levers at the top of the posts into their locking positions to lock the heat sink and fan into place. Locate the CPU fan power connector on the motherboard next to the CPU socket and plug the power cord from the fan into place.
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Push the levers on both sides of the RAM slots on the motherboard outward to clear the slots. Align the notch on the bottom of the RAM chips with the notches in the slot and then slide the chips into place. Push the levers back into the notches in the sides of the ram chips to lock the chips in place.
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Remove the cover to the HTPC case by removing the screws on the rear of the case that secure the cover in place. Pull the cover from the case to access the case interior.
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Pop out the foil input-output (I-O) cover at the rear of the case. Replace the case I-O cover with the I-O cover included with the motherboard. Screw the motherboard mounting screws that came with the case into the mounting holes in the base of the case.
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Place the motherboard in the case by pushing the I-O ports on the rear of the motherboard through the holes in the foil I-O cover and then placing the motherboard flat onto the bottom of the case. Secure the motherboard in place by screwing case screws through the mounting holes in the motherboard into the installed mounting screws on the bottom of the case.
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Mount the power supply into the case with the fan on the side of the power supply placed against the power supply venting hole at the case's rear. Secure the power supply in place by screwing case screws through the rear of the case into the mounting holes of the power supply inside the case.
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Remove the expansion slot cover from the rear of the case covering the slot adjacent to the first expansion slot on the motherboard by removing the screw holding the cover in place. Align the notch on the bottom of the graphics card with the notch in the expansion slot and press the card into place with the video socket on the rear of the card protruding through the uncovered case slot. Make sure the notch on the top rear of the card aligns with the screw hole on the case expansion slot. Secure the card into the slot by screwing it in place through the notch and the slot screw hole.
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Install the HD TV Tuner card in the small PCI-e expansion slot on your motherboard using the same installation process as the graphics card.
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Plug the case cables such as the power and reset button controls, into the motherboard.
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Mount the hard drives into the case drive bay by sliding the drives into the bays until the screw holes in the bay sides align with the mounting holes in the sides of the drive. Secure the drives with screws. Connect the data cables to the rear of the drives and then connect the cables to the motherboard. Connect the power cables from the power supply to the power sockets at the rear of the drives. Remove the cover of the 5 1/4-inch drive cover from the front of the case and then mount the Blu-Ray drive into the drive bay. Connect the drive to the system as you did the hard drives.
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Connect the power cables from your power supply to the power socket on the motherboard and graphics card.
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Place the cover back onto the case and secure the cover with the case screws.
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Plug your television into the graphics card and the cable from your television source into the rear of the TV Tuner card. Connect the system speakers to your speaker output from the motherboard and then plug the power plug into the power supply to complete the hardware part of the build.
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Turn on the television and the PC. Place the Windows 7 installation disc into the Blu-Ray drive and allow the system to boot into Windows setup. Follow the setup instructions to install Windows 7 onto your primary hard drive.
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Start the Windows Media Center and then follow the setup instructions. Choose the secondary hard drive for video storage. After setup, you can use media center to run your DVR.
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References
Resources
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