I built an Intel Atom based box a few months ago. I installed Windows Vista Ultimate on it and used the Media Center functionality to record TV programmes off Freeview. You will find the original post here.Up until now I have been using a Hauppauge Dual Tuner USB stick, but decided to upgrade to a PCI card. The USB stick solution works well, but it isn't a particularly elegant solution. I like using this computer to record programmes since it uses such lower power (around 30W) and can be left on all the time.
The main challenge is that the mini-ITX case that I am using has space for only one PCI card and this card is positioned parallel to the motherboard so requires a right angle PCI extender. I used a Hauppauge WinTV Nova-T 500 Dual digital DVB-T PCI TV card. This provides dual Freeview tuners. The card is half length card (which is just fits in the mini-ITX case). I was a little confused since the image on the outside of the box clearly shows a full-length PCI card (see the image above). Compare this image to the image of the actual card installed into the unit shown below.
Even with a half-length card it is a tight squeeze to get all of this into a single box. As always, when the space is tight, it can be fiddly to get all of the cables installed and ensure that none of the fans are fowled. The main issue that I can see is that the PCI card lies very close (maybe 3-5mm) to the fan on the motherboard - there is only one fan on this motherboard and that is on the graphics chip. However, there aren't any major components on the PCI card that further reduce the clearance. You can see this on the image to the above.The hard drive is then installed on top of this card, so there really isn't a lot of space inside this case (it is a Noah 3988 case).
Over the next couple of days, I will install the relevant drivers and get this unit back up and running. Hopefully, the lack of clearance over the fan will not cause any major issues.
