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With the advent of digital media content for computers, Home Theater PCs (HTPC) have become much more popular.
Individuals want to be able to show their pictures, music and videos on their TVs. A home theater PC is the perfect way to do that
because it can connect to a network to get content and to a TV to display that content. I decided to build one and I choose the MSI Media
Live platform to build it on.
Features
- Slim design
- Slot-load Slim DVD Burner
- On-board Graphics of NVIDIA GeForce 6150LE
- Gigabit LAN
- HDMI
There were several reasons that I chose the MSI Media Live platform. One of them is because it is a bare bones PC.
This means it includes a motherboard with built-in video, power supply, and DVD drive. All I needed to add was a CPU, memory and
a hard drive.
Another reason I chose the Media Live is because of its slim design. I really didn't want a big box sitting next to my
TV so I wanted something that would fit in with my other equipment. The design of the Media Live makes it look great and provides all
the functionality I would expect from a Audio Video component.
Design
When I first pulled the Media Live out of the box it looked a lot like any other piece of stereo equipment. The front of
the Media Live includes a slot loading DVD drive on the left side, a VDF display in the middle with controls underneath, and a power
button on the right side. Under the DVD player is a door that flips down to reveal a 4 slot memory card reader, two USB ports, a
Firewire port, and a headphone and microphone jack. The VDF display on the front is not customizable, meaning you cannot change
the text that is displayed, but it does a great job of telling you what is going on. It shows the names of videos that are playing, the
Channel the tuner is set to and it even shows when the tuner is recording.
Media Live
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Left panel open
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Left panel
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The sides and top are bare except for a lot of vents for releasing heat.
Top vents
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The back is where you will find all the connectors you will need to connect this to your TV, Stereo or anything else
you want. On the back are Component Video Out, RCA Audio out, HDMI, VGA, four USB ports, Ethernet jack, Firewire, SCART,
AV out, S-Video, Digital Audio out (Coaxial and Optical). There is also a single PCI expansion slot for an add-in card of your choosing.
Back
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When you open the case it looks just like the inside of a computer. Right in the center is the CPU slot, in the bottom
left is the power supply. Top left is the hard drive cage, and the top right is the slot loading DVD drive.
Case open
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The Media Live comes with its own heatsink. This one is custom made to provide the best cooling possible and still
fit in the tight space that you have. The Media Live also comes with Thermal Paste already applied, all you need to do is put the heatsink
in place. I compared the heatsink with the one that came with the processor and it looks like they are the same height. This means I
could probably swap them out if I ever needed to.
MSI Heatsink
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MSI Heatsink side
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MSI Heatsink thermal paste
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Processor Heatsink
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Processor Heatsink side
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Heatsink compare
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Assembly
Putting it all together is not that difficult. Because the Media Live is a bare bones computer it is mostly assembled when
you get it. The most you have to do is install a CPU, Memory, and a Hard drive, all this should not take more than 30 minutes. If you follow
the instructions they suggest that you start out by installing the hard drive first. In order to install the hard drive you first need to remove
the hard drive cage. This is done by removing the front cover and unscrewing two screws in the front. The hard drive cage then comes
out very easy. Next, you put the hard drive into the cage and secure it with the screws that are included. After the hard drive is in the cage
you should plug in the power and SATA cable, and then secure the cage to the case with the front screws. Luckily there is a SATA cable
and a couple power plugs waiting to be plugged into the hard drive. I recommend attaching the cables before you put the cage back,
because once the cage is back in place there is not very much room between the hard drive and the power supply. If you want to add a
second hard drive MSI included a second SATA cable in the box. All you have to do is plug it in and you are good to go.
Front cover
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Front removed
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Drive cage screws
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Drive cage
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Hard drive in cage
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Drive cage area
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Hard drive installed
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Hard Drive connectors
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After you install the hard drive the instructions say the next step is to install the DVD drive. Lucky for me the DVD drive
was already installed, so I could skip this step.
The next step, if you have one, is to install a PCI card. I chose to install a dual tuner TV card. As you can see it
goes in nicely, but it also takes up a lot of space. If you don't have a tuner you could put in a graphics card in case you need better
video performance. There is a small lip that sticks out of the back of the case that the card will screw into. Normally this is on the inside
of the case, but because things are so cramped it had to be put on the outside.
Riser card
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Tuner installed
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Instructions now say it is time to install the CPU and heatsink. This is by far the most difficult step, but that
doesn't mean it is difficult to do. Installing the CPU is the easiest part of this, all you need to do is lift the small lever on the side of the
CPU socket, place the CPU in, and push the lever back down. You must make sure that the CPU is installed correctly, otherwise it will not
fit and it could be damaged when you lower the lever. There is only one way that the processor will fit, so it is hard to mess up. If the
processor does not fit all the way down then you know it is the wrong way. Make sure you follow the instructions precisely so you don't
run into any problems. Installing the heatsink is a bit more difficult than installing the CPU. To do this the fan needs to be plugged in first.
The power connector is difficult to get to, so you may need to work at it a bit. Then you install the heatsink on the CPU. This is difficult, but
if you follow the instructions then it can be done without any trouble. Normally you would need to put down some thermal grease first, but
this heatsink already has some on it. Most hard core guys will probably want to wipe that off and use there own high quality grease, but
for this installation I am going to use the thermal grease which has already been applied. The tricky part of installing the heatsink is there
is a small little latch
on one side and above that is a slot for a flat head screwdriver. So what you have to do is first get the other side hooked on to the CPU
bracket and then use a screwdriver to press down on the side that has the latch, and then reach in with your finger and press the latch
closed. When I first tried this I did not use a screwdriver and I was unable to get it attached. So if you don't have a flat screwdriver you
should go get one before you try this, preferably one with a long neck.
CPU slot empty
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CPU slot open
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Processor Bottom
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CPU in slot
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Heatsink installed
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Media Live inside
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The last step is installing the Memory. This is really easy, just match up the slots and press down hard. The Memory
will snap into place and the latches will close. It only fits one direction so make sure it is correct before you press down on it.
Memory slots
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Memory installed
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Once it is all put together it is time to load the OS. I first started out with Vista Ultimate, but ended up using Windows
XP Media Center Edition 2005, the reason for this I will talk about later.
Performance
Now comes the fun part, testing the capabilities and performance of the machine. To do this I moved it up to my TV
and put it next to my VCR and DVD player. I used the HDMI connection to connect the Media Live to my TV. The first problem I ran
into happened as soon as I turned it on. The picture was too big for my TV and it ran off the edges. I found out that this is a common
occurrence when hooking up a computer to a TV, it is called overscan. There are some configurations in the NVIDIA drivers that can be used to compensate
for this. Unfortunately, they did not work perfectly and I was left with a picture that fit on my screen but was off to the right a little.
The next problem came when I tried to play video. The video would play, but it was very jumpy, the oddest part was that
the audio was fine, it was just the video that was jumpy. I checked the processor and memory in Task Manager, but they did not seem out
of control, I checked to make sure all the latest drivers were installed, and finally I checked the Windows Experience Index rating in the
Vista Control Panel. This is when the lights came on. The overall score was 2.3 out of 6.0 and this was because the graphics portion of
the rating was 2.3. The hard drive, CPU, and memory all had great ratings, but the one that mattered the most was really bad. This is a
really bad score and is probably the reason the video did not play very well. The Media Live uses the NVIDIA 6150LE chip. This chip is
several years old and even though the NVIDIA website says it is capable of running Vista it obviously does not do it very well.
In an effort to try and salvage all my hard work I went through and tried to tweak every setting I could think of to give the graphics chip more
power. I went into the BIOS and increased the amount of memory for graphics to the maximum setting of 128MB, I turned off all the
extras in Vista, and I made sure I had the latest nForce and graphics drivers. Needless to say, nothing I did helped the performance. At this
point I was ready to throw in the towel, but then I got the idea to load on XP Media Center 2005 and give it a try. Fortunately, I bought a
computer a couple years ago that came with disks for XP Media center, so I used those disks and installed it without a key so I could
get a 30 day trial. To make a long story short I am happy to say that this worked much better and I did not have any
problems playing video.
The next problem I had to tackle was the noise level. I could easily hear the Media Live from all the way across the
room. All the fans were spinning full blast. This concerned me because I felt it would get in the way of enjoying my movies and
other media. I downloaded a heat monitoring program and noticed that the system and CPU heat was way too high. In addition, the
outside of the case was extremely hot. I tried to lift the case and I could not hold it because it burned my hand. I actually
had to turn it off and let it sit for about 10 minutes before I could hold it. I decided to take the Media Live out of the spot I had it in and
see if I could get better circulation by placing it on top of my entertainment center. After doing this and letting the computer run for
several hours, I am happy to say the temperature was about 20° C lower. The fan noise was also reduced and I could no longer
hear it unless I was within about 2 feet. When the system is idling I cannot hear it unless I put my ear right on it. The one remaining noise
concern is the hard drive. As you probably noticed from above, when I put the hard drive in the case there was not padding or anything
that would help reduce the noise level of the drive. Because of this I can hear the hard drive clicking as it records and plays back. It is
quiet enough that it does not bother me, and when I am watching a show the sound form the TV easily covers it up, but when nothing else
is going on I can clearly hear the hard drive from across the room.
At this point I had solved all the problems that I was having. Everything is working great and I am able to stream music,
DVDs and photos without any problems.
Warranty and Support
The warranty is non-existent, except where each part has a warranty. It is up to you, the builder, to
make sure you buy parts that have manufacturer warranties.
Conclusion
While I was very disappointed with the performance of Vista, I am happy I was able to get it working with XP. It seems
the video chip is underpowered for Vista and it is getting harder to get copies of XP. Hopefully MSI will update it soon and in the next
revision of the Media Live MSI will improve the video chip. If you are
planning on using this case in your own HTPC, then I recommend that you use XP. I did not try Vista Home premium, so it
is possible it would perform better. Additionally, you will need to make sure the case is out in the open so that it has plenty of air to keep
it cool. I think the Media Live has a lot of potential, but it needs a few improvements to make it a really big success. I was able to put this
system together for $564.96. Here is a list of all the
parts I bought:
Hard Drive:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3500630AS $119.99
Case:
MSI Media Live $339.99
RAM:
Kingston ValueRAM 1GB KVR800D2N5K2/2G $44.99
CPU:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ Brisbane 2.1GHz $59.99
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