Suggestions on a HTPC Build

[erickoegle]

I will definately be looking into building a HTPC in the near future. Probably with a black case so it can integrate nicely with my current setup. I've been building PC's for about 6 years now so it's not really how am I going to put it all together. I came here to this forum to take on suggestions on what components to put together.

Case: Any black HTPC case that can be rack mountable with at least 2 drive bays for cds.
Motherboard: Does not really matter if it has dual pci express because I will probably only be using 1 card. (Wireless capabilities would be excellent.)
RAM: Probably at least a Gig, not too sure on what type, depends on MOBO
CPU:Not too sure to go withdual core processors or with AMD or Intel, some input would be helpful here.
PSU: Probably something modular for ease of cabling and airflow.
Sound Card: I know I definately should get one, but I would like one that has either optical or digital coaxial connections to connect to my Digital Decoder.
Video Card: Anything that has DVI (I will be running DVI to the TV because it does not have HDMI) Potentially have VIVO as well, I do want to use my HTPC to act as a DVR.
Video Capture Card: I already have a Winfast TV2000XP card on my regular PC that I am currently not using.
HDD: Probably around 500gigs or so. I'd rather not go with raptors because they are insanely loud.
Input devices: I already have wireless mouse and keyboard.
DVD: I definately need at least one dvd burner, (lightscribe doesnt matter because I dont use that) and one DVD player that is relatively quiet when spinning.


Price range said and done, less than $2,000 I don't really want to go that high but if I have to.
Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

 

[ikjadoon]

Price range?

~Ibrahim~

 

[utaka95]

I would look at Silverstone cases, I have one - it's both rack mountable and very stylish looking(and solid). I used an Athlon xp mobile on an old nf7s2 at 1.6 gigs and it always does all of my TV tasks admirably, with a fan that's barely turning and it never gets very hot. I use a hauppage wintv150 and it uses very few cpu cycles anyway. So I would try to pick a cpu that's relatively cool running cuz it don't take much and the fans can be slowed down to aid in the noise battle. Hope this helps.

 

[rwpritchett]

If you decide to go ATX instead of micro ATX (need to decide on the case first), then I suggest these motherboards:

AMD
ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $199

Intel
ASUS P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $200

Both of these have optical & coax digital out, fanless cooling, and built in WiFi. If you need mATX though, these won't work.

For a power supply, I suggest any of the Enermax Liberty line. They are efficient, quiet, modular, have active PFC, and dual 12V rails.

As for cases, Lian Li has a really nice one here. The other poster that recommended Silverstone is also good advice. Check out some HTPC cases.

 

[MiguelOne]

I just finished my HTPC build.

My main research was devoted to sound, so ill provide you at least this information.

Buy a Creative Platinum X-Fi soundblaster card. front bay to plug your headphones if necessary etc + remote control.

X-fi platinum's front bay has an optical out both Digital and Coaxial out but
you wont recieve TRUE 5.1 coming out of it. You will only recieve stereo Outs from Optical.

I thought buying a mid range home-theatre-in-a-box would be better than any comp speakers but i found out later that im not really getting true surround..

You will get TRUE 5.1 surround if you connect your speakers Through the ANALOG output of the X-Fi Card. (kind of makes the optical out useless...)

Why am i still suggesting this? Because coming out of your PC you will still have the best sounding audio coming out of an X-fi card vs the ones that will give you 5.1 with 'decent' sound.

Depending on how much money u want to spend on sound you can connect the soundcard out to a reciever + 2 high end bookshelf speakers and work your way to surround, or you can connect it to a Logitech Z-5500 5.1 (using the analog outs of course.)

I chose the cheaper route and went to Z-5500 :Þ

 

[erickoegle]

I already have the speakers and receiver so I was just planning on using this HTPC to produce better sound and picture quality than most high end dvd players (yes this has been tested and proven.) Plus having this as a DVR as well would save me about 600$ purchasing that as another component.

 

[ikjadoon]

Do we have a price range yet?

~Ibrahim~

 

[rwpritchett]

I believe he set a budget of $2000. Here's a list:

Zalman HD160 Home Theater PC Enclosure - Black $290
ASUS P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX $200
ENERMAX Liberty ELT500AWT ATX12V 500W Power Supply - Retail $110
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6300 - Retail $183
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $95 x 2 (RAID 0)
NEC 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE/ATAPI Model ND-3550A - OEM $30
GIGABYTE GV-NX76T256D-RH GeForce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Silent Pipe II, Lead Free Video Card - Retail $160
Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 500 MCE White box PCI Interface Personal Video Recorder - Retail $140
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 w/SP2B - OEM $110
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model F2-4200PHU2-2GBNV - Retail $200

Total before shipping: $1613

Some items are out of stock though

 

[erickoegle]

Price range is included in my first post less <$2000USD

 

[rwpritchett]

You might want to add a large and silent aftermarket HSF like this to my list above and add another $40-50 to the total price.

 

[unsmart]

I would go with something in the ati x1xxx line for graphics card for the avivo , It has the best image and helps with incoding/ decoding on a hardware level. A x1800 all in wonder is a good deal and saves a slot. For the rest I agree with rwpritchett. zalman is great for anything cool an quit.

 

[rwpritchett]

Excellent suggestion, if the OP gets that, he can scrap both the video card and tuner card from my list. Only concern with the AIW X1800 is that it isn't passively cooled. Are they quiet enough for HTPC use? You'd think they would make it as quiet as possible knowing what purpose it supposed to serve.

I noticed that the Zalman case I linked only has 1 DVD drive bay. You might consider another case choice if 2 DVD drives are desired.

 

[erickoegle]

thanks for the suggestions, I was actually thinking on a silverstone case, I really like the one with the built in 7" touchscreen LCD, but for 650$, thats alot of dough.
With HTPC's are Intel the way to go? Or does it not really matter ?

 

[rwpritchett]

Yeah, that Silverstone case looks like a really good idea, though I've read reviews that the screen becomes distracting when its dark and you're watching movies and the price isn't justified IMHO.

AMD vs. Intel on a HTPC? Well, the way to go is whoever offers the coolest, quietest solution with the most horsepower. That means stay away from Pentium 4's and Pentium D's because of heat issues and stay away from Sempron's and Celerons because they are rather weak. Some HTPC's use mobile processors, but they tend to be weaker than their desktop counterparts. If you go AMD, go with either a Athlon 64 or Athlon X2. For Intel, there's nothing better than the Core 2 Duo line right now. Your budget is high enough that you can afford a Core 2 Duo which is the pick of the bunch at the moment.

 

[unsmart]

The x1800s can get loud with the stock cooler but there are some very silent after market coolers . whats wierd is I don't see them listed on alot of sites like they where a few months the good part is they go for about $200. For the cpu I would go with anything dual core, AMD has a sff line that is aimed at the htpc market but you can't go wrong with core 2. This is the case I'm looking at ( if I can get the cash for it) http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/product/Chassis/desktop/mozart/vc4001sns.asp it's not all black but fits the rest of what your looking for. There is also this http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/product/Chassis/desktop/mozart_SX/mozartsx_vc7001.asp# it's bad axx but not realy what your lookig for, the dvd type buttons are killer. Risers suck but I could deal with it for htpc case that is that cool looking.