Hi, I am new here. I just post a post and it dissappeared so here it is again. I am considering building a HTPC for the coming world soccer cup games. I come up a list but I need your help and advice since I have little experience on the hardward. Here is the list.

-- CPU: AMD 64x2 3800 with original cpu fan. Do I need buy another CPU fan?
-- Motherboard: ASUS A8N-SLI Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard. But I saw some reviews about BIOS problem. So I am not sure.
-- Case: SILVERSTONE SST-LC17-B Black Aluminum front panel, 0.8 mm SECC body HTPC Case Computer Case
-- Memory: CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory
-- Video Card: HIS Radeon 1600 XT IceQ II Turbo / 256MB GDDR3 / PCI Express / Dual DVI / VIVO / Video Card. I saw it from TG review and it's said it's quiet.
-- Power supply: FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX400-PN, RoHS, 12cm FAN, version 2.0, 2 SATA, 20+ 4 pin, PCI Express, 400W Power Supply.
-- TV tuner card: Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150
Don't know if it's powerfual enough.
-- Hard drive: 250g maxtor ATA. bought last black friday for $30.
--Sound card: need your advice.

Don't kow if I miss anything. Your help will really appreciated.

Hello whwpzy,

I just built my first HTPC after weeks of reviews for a client. I ended up with the following parts and couldnt be happier with performance and quietness and effective cooling.


CASE SILVERSTONE|SST-LC16B-M BLK
HD 250G|SAMSN 7K 8M SATA2
LITEON DVD+/-RW |SHW160P6S05
MS WIN MEDIA CENTER 2005 V2
AVERTV PVR 150 PLUS WHITE BOX
AVERTVHD MCE A180 WHITE BOX
DFI RS482 INFINITY Radeon Xpress 200
Antec SmartPower 2.0 SP-500 500W Power Supply
Corsair VS1GBKIT400 1GB Kit DDR400
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Processor
Zalman CNPS9500 LED CPU Cooler
Logitech diNovo Media Desktop Laser Retail

The Zalman Cooler is huge but was super quiet and effecient.
So far the only problems I have seen is not enough onboard usb ports needed 6 total and only has 4 sure i could use the usb on the back of the mb but looked cheap to have wires sticking out of case.

The lcd and imon remote controll are great and I wouldnt built a htpc without a remote keyboards and mice are just to bulky for everyday use.

I didnt have a chance to game on this pc before i sent it out but for what the customer wanted the onboard graphics should suffice esp with dvi and rgb outputs.

I would advise if hoing with the asus A8N-SLI get the one with the passive cooling to cut down on noise.

Is the Zalman the best option for HTPC (or anything really)? It looks pretty but there are cooler and quieter models. Scythe Ninja (designed to work passively) would I think be the first choice. It's also cheaper. Thermaltake Sonic Tower might also be worth a look.

If you aren't planning on using both those PCI-e (x8) then I would get a non sli MB, save some money.

I'm sure that the ninja is a great cooler but until it gets better known a lot of ppl will go for a better known, if not necessarily a better product. I personally would not go passive in a case that small, don't even know if the sonic tower would even fit.

For sound the X-Fi Xtreme music is a good card, don't spend more than that though as the sound quality doesn't get much better.

Hi Pleo & mcgruff,

Thank you very much for your info and advice. I am still debating on motherboard, power supply and video card. I already bought cpu, hard drive, dvd-rom, and tv tuner card. For software, I will go with Beyond Tv I like them so such.

Really appreciate your help.

For a true HTPC , you can save some money and use single core CPU , 3200 or 3700 A64 would be fine for you...SLi is not necessary unless you are setting up a gaming station in your HTPC... Dfi RS 482 is a better choice as it is smaller board and it's chipset has also good sound solutions onboard and also video on board (enough for HTPC, but if you are going to gamming...x1600 will be better) . If you will stick to X2 3800 CPU , Zalman 7700 CU cooler may be a better choice depending on your case space... stock cooler is fine, but pretty noise...but depending on you HT rack...it may not interfere....
Sound card would be great addition but honestly , try onboard sound as sould quality in this suggested MB is fine, if you connect hi quality speakers... Don't forget to add a good DVD-rw to your system...

For motherboard, why not the ASUS A8N-E?

Tuniq Tower 120 is good, somewhat passively cooler.

Power Supply: At least 20 on the 12V, Antec, Thermaltake, etc. Around 450+. I would personally recommend the Ultra-X 500W, which is modular: Less Cabling, better air flow.

Video Card: Try a passively cooled 7600GS/GT.

~Ibrahim~

I'd recommend you get a X1300. The AVIVO is really something.

Well, I can't comment on AVIVO as I have stuck with Nvidia and the 7600GT and 6800GS for my last 2 cards but video performance is satisfactory from these and AVIVO is meant to be better so the X1300 is probably the best option if you aren't interested in gaming on the HTPC.
I have other recommendations for components though, especially for keeping your costs down. I recently bought the ASRock 939SLI32...not for SLI at all but because this has passively cooled north & southbridge chips...good for keeping noise down. My older, dedicated HTPC kicks out a lot of noise but produces good performance (XP1700+ with 1GB RAM, 6800GS) using Hauppauge PVR150. I would say however, you may not be impressed with recording performance for soccer. I am a brit and live and breathe footie but combining the 150 with poor TV output quality on ABC and ESPN will mean your overall quality will be sub-par. Even recording on high quality (typically medium offers enough quality for regular TV shows) does not help that much. Perhaps a better system and AVIVO will overcome these problems......
Other than that, noise levels and location and cooling of your HTPC are the other critical factors. If you want gaming performance too go with the 7600GS silent or 7600GT at stock settings.

gaming on htpc is not necessary what I want just good video quality.
For motherboard, I have a question. When I search on newegg. There are only 16 motherboard listed there supported amd 64x2. but I saw someone's motherboard running with amd 64x2, they are not listed as supported amd 64x2 on newegg. Do I miss something.

If you're not gaming you can save on the video card and maybe go for something with nvidia 6150/430. The Asus M2NPV-VM (AM2) mobo looks like a good base for HTPC.

I kind of confused what you are saying, but NewEgg certainly doesn't have all the motherboard choices. NewEggs source also may be dated and reporting incorrect information. If a motherboard doesn't support X2, a BIOS fix will usually fix that and NewEgg won't tell you that. I have one question: Does the GPU interact with the TV Tuner? If it does, I wouldn't choose an onboard vid, unless the interaction was minimal.

~Ibrahim~

I kind of confused what you are saying, but NewEgg certainly doesn't have all the motherboard choices. NewEggs source also may be dated and reporting incorrect information. If a motherboard doesn't support X2, a BIOS fix will usually fix that and NewEgg won't tell you that. I have one question: Does the GPU interact with the TV Tuner? If it does, I wouldn't choose an onboard video card, unless the interaction was minimal.

~Ibrahim~

ikjadoon,

Sorry, I didn't make me clear. But you already answer my question. So I can choose a motherboard in newegg that supports amd 64 and then update bios to support amd 64x2, am I right? Sorry i don't have much experience on hardware.
For video card, I have no idea if GPU intereact with tv tuner. anyway I don't want to use onboard video card. I want a medioc level video card. how about HIS Radeon 1600 XT IceQ II Turbo. Do you have any experience with it.

Thanks a lot for your help.

Just about any S939 motherboard and all AM2 motherboards will support dual core Athlon 64 X2s. As some people have mentioned, the BIOS may need to be updated. But chances are low that you will need to, just post whichever mobo first so people can give you opinions.

As for the videocard, in general ATI outputs better quality video than nVidia. The difference is not day and night though, overall ATI is better, but it is also subjective since everyone's eyes are different. The X1600 should do just fine.

As for the Heatsink Fan, you may want to check out the Scythe Ninja. It is a very effective cooler, and can passively cool (no fan) a X2 3800+ easily as long as you have decent airflow and you are not overclocking. The Ninja is tall though, standing 5.9 inches tall (150mm) adding the fan will bring up to about 6.3 inches tall. Therefore, it may not fit your case. But it is a damn good HSF. It's cheaper, quieter, and if you use the fan, it is also a better cooler than the Zalman 9500.

i wouldnt go for the x1600 i have heard bar reviews why dont your try the x1800 or the 7600?

I believe you are referring to it's gaming abilities, not it's video output quality.

The X1600 is a decent enough gaming card, if you are not demanding greter than 1024x768 resolution, and max eye candy.

True, what about ATI All in Wonder cards? Those are very Media-oriented. Does anybody know how those are? They are like a GPU + TV Tuner.

~Ibrahim~