Building a HTPC

[anarkeygodslam]

Computer:

Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Ultimate
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor
XFX MB-N780-ISH9 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI Intel Motherboard
OCZ ModXStream OCZ900MXS 900W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply 110 - 240V UL, CE, CB, FCC, CSA
XFX PVT80FSHF9 GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
Bigfoot Networks Killer NIC M1 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps PCI Network Adapter with a 400 MHz Network Processing Unit (NPU) 1 x RJ-45, 1 x USB2.0
Western Digital Raptor WD740ADFD 74GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 1.5Gb/s Hard Drive (x2 in Raid0 setup)
OCZ Platinum Edition 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000)


Home Theater:

Sony® (KDL-52W4100) 52" BRAVIA® W Series 1080p LCD HDTV
Direct TV + DVR Receiver
VR 7070 Kenwood Audio 6.1 Receiver
Full Athena Surround Sound setup



Systems:

Nintendo Wii
Microsoft Xbox 360 (with HDMI connector)
Playstation 2



A quick setup explanation:

The computer tower will be aprox 2.5 feet from the rear of the TV.
The Xbox 360 will be 1 ft from the TV.
The Kenwood receiver will be 2 ft from the systems/TV and ~3.5 feet from the computer tower.


My questions. What connectors do I need to go get? What components need to be purchased? Are there extentions or long cables for the graphics card to hook into the TV? The power cord from the PC?


Any help would be very appreciated as well as read through thoroughly, because this is the most expensive system I have put together and I plan to have it for a long time.

Thanks.

 

[DiscoDuck]

Those high power parts are allready ringing fan noise in my ears. It is the making of a great gaming rig. Do you plan to use it for games on the TV? If not I would definitely rethink the power to heat to noise ratio. A 780g mobo with low power dual core would do everything you need for HTPC and would run cool quiet and cost much less than your excellent gaming parts above.

 

[geofelt]

I have been thinking about this also, and I have some opinions about it.

The Q6600 and 8800GTX are hot parts. Heat and quiet do not coexist well, particularly for a HTPC. Look for a quiet case like the Antec P182.

I would be patient, therer are better parts coming out in the third quarter. Nvidia and ATI will introduce high end vga cards in june/july, and they should be faster and cooler than the 8800GTX. I would also expect them to have HDMI output which the 8800GTX does not have. At least go with a EVGA unit so you can use their "step-up" program within 90 days.
Look for a 45nm cpu. They are faster and cooler. Price reductions are due in 3Q. Do you really need a quad? A faster clocked duo is faster, cooler, and cheaper unless you are doing serious multi-tasking.

Is an expensive SLI motherboard necessary? SLI has not in the past been a very good way to upgrade vga capability.

A 900w psu is overkill, I think.

What will be networked? All good motherboards include one or more fast nic's.

I like the raptors, but raid-0 does not perform any better than a single drive in a typical single user environment. If you want performance, look an the new WD 300gb velociraptor.

I got 8gb, because it was cheap, but don't expect much over a 4gb system, unless you are doing lots of heavy multitasking. Also, there is no real difference in application performance between ddr2-800 and faster ram.

Shopping tips for Vista:
1) Do you qualify for an academic license?
If so, you can get Vista at a discounted price.
2) Look for an upgrade version of home premium instead of OEM.
Upgrade is a retail version which gives you support from microsoft, unlike OEM,
and allows a more hassel-free ability to transfer the os to a different pc(motherboard).
For $10, microsoft will send you the 64 bit DVD.
I saw Vista home premium upgrade recently at Costco for $85, amazon for $89.
There is a legitimate two step instalation process to install an upgrade version
You install vista from the cd, but do not initially enter the product code.

just tell the install which version you bought, and do not activate.
After it installs, you have a fully functional vista for 30 days.
Step 2 is to insert the cd again, while running vista and then do an upgrade.
This time, enter your product code, and activate.
After activation. you may delete the initial version which is named windows.old.

3) Do you really need Ultimate? There are very few features that the home user would want.
Check out the differences on the microsoft Vista web site.
If you get a retail or upgrade version, you will still be able to upgrade to ultimate later.
At 50" and larger, my reading indicates that plasma is better than lcd. Bigger is better, if you will be 12 feet away.

HDMI cables can be 15 feet with decent cables.

 

[KyleSTL]

Ok a few comments:

1) The Killer NPU is a rediculous waste of money unless you have a dedicated T5 line straight to your house or are planning many lanparties in your house in which you have many Gigabit ethernet connections (and I don't think you have either.

2) If I were you I'd buy an eVGA 8800GT video card now, and when the 9900GTX comes out, nab one. The 8800GTX is an outdated card (albeit still very powerful, simply put, it's not worth it - unless you buy eVGA and intend on stepping up as I stated before)

3) A Quad is very future-proof and should only be purchased if you're intending on keeping this PC 3+ years (which I think you are).

4) I'm not crazy about your PSU selection (both in model/make and capacity). I would go for a PC Power and Cooling Silencer 750, unless you need modular, and I can make recommendations on that too.

5) Connectors, you'll need an DVI-D to HDMI adapter (although many cards come with it in the box), this can either be hooked straight to the TV, or routed through the receiver (which is definitely preferable, assuming your receiver has HDMI in/out). You can transmit audio through optical or coaxial digital out that almost all mid-high range motherboards include.

6) I'm not quite sure what the power cord question is about.

 

[anarkeygodslam]

This is already purchased from earlier this year, I am just looking to see what all I need cable/adaptor-wise to get this thing underway.

 

[anarkeygodslam]

SO! I just did a bit of work and boy, I can say this is a BEAST. I do, however, wonder what a better card would be than this hot as hell GTX I have. *note, I have had the full system for about 5 months already, and the card I have had longer, always hot*

I did find that my system crashes when using AA. I will post another topic somewhere else.

In the meantime, what can I do about the text of websites. I used the settings in View at the top, but only some of the text gets it, forum text like this is still small, almost too small....