new htpc

[coleman]

hi all, here is the situation
i am going to be building a new htpc over the next couple of months, as a project. i have carried out some research however i am very unsure on most of the parts, what i have come up with is shown below

case
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/130945

cpu
I am going to go with an athlon x2, not sure what one

RAM
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/116755 not to sure about this but it is a very good price

The main area where i need help is the mother board, i have no idea as to what one will be best, or which one wll fit in the case.

Considerations
1. i am going to be watching English channels 1-5
2. i have a 8600gt, can i use this for the htpc
3. i already have a hdd
4. i will order from any uk site

?'s
1. what tv card will be bet suited for my needs
2. any suggestions on a good cpu cooler that is near silent
3. willl the 380w power supply be ok for this build
4. should i install xp or a specific media center os

I i have missed anything out the please let me now

thanks to all replies in advance

 

[godmode]

well i recommend a MB with the AMD 780G or 790GX chipset. i use that on my HTPC and its fantastic. you won't even need the 8600gt. the integrated gfx is more than enough. a micro ATX board should fit that case and 380W will work.

i couldn't find it in ebuyer though i'm sure there is prenty of UK sites that have it.

 

[lunyone]

Okay let me try and help with a few of your questions.
* The PSU/Case looks great!! The PSU is one of my favorite ones to pick for several reasons. I have 2 that I'm currently using. They have a 3 yr. warranty (at least here in the U.S.) and the PSU is >80% efficient! The PSU should be able to easily handle just about anything you throw at it. Should be able to handle even a 4850, but for a HTPC I'd recommend going with onboard GPU for a couple of reasons.
First reason is that you won't get a quieter solution than with an onboard GPU.
Second it will be the cheapest solution.

With that out of the way, here are a few other concerns:
* I'd seriously consider getting an AMD 790gx based mobo. It's the latest (has AMD 3300 GPU on it) and should allow the most upgrades in the future (assuming you want to upgrade the CPU later).
Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-DS4H 790GX Socket AM2+ onboard VGA 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard
Link to a 790gx mobo, seems a bit pricey though. Most 790gx mobo's in the U.S. go for about $100-150 USD, so not sure if your going to find comparable prices or not.

* I'd consider the low power rated CPU's for this build. You shouldn't need a high-end CPU to run a HTPC, so I'm going to suggest at least a 2.2 gHz x2 or faster CPU. Even the single cores work well, but the x2's will do just fine.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4450e 2.3GHz Socket AM2 Energy Efficient 1MB L2 Cache Retail Boxed Processor
One listed above is low power (45 watts) and should work just fine for what you want to do.

* What HD do you have?? I'd suggest getting at least a 640 gb or larger HD to support any recording options that you may have. I read somewhere that it takes about 8 gb's per hour of HD video recording. I haven't researched that, but that sounds pretty common.

* XP MCE or Vista MCE edition (not sure on Vista platform name) is what you should use. They have integrated options that are based around HTPC uses. I haven't used either one, so some else can comment on them.

* I'd look for DDR2 800mHz RAM. Preferably ones that run at the stock voltage of 1.8v's. The ones that you linked run at 2.1v's. The lower stock voltage will run cooler and will also consume less power.

* As far as the TV card, I haven't done enough research on them to recommend one right now. Hauppauge is a pretty popular brand that I've seen discussed.
Hauppauge WinTV-HVR 1800 MCE Kit 1128 PCI-Express x1 Interface - Retail
Link above is from one here in the U.S., so just showing you what you might be looking at.

 

[coleman]

thanks for the reply godmode but plz could you post links

 

[TeraMedia]

Vista Media Center (VMC) works ok in the US (for now at least, prior to Feb 2009...), but I don't know what kind of signal and tuner HW your O/S needs to support for those English channels, nor whether VMC supports them. I strongly encourage you to check out thegreenbutton.com for more info on that, and also to see posters' complaints about UK channel support.

If you don't want the MSFT interface, there are plenty of other options out there. I would not go with MSFT XP MCE 2005 at this point, unless you enjoy the hassle of upgrading within a couple of years.

Plus one on the AMD integrated GPU MB! Unless you're gaming, that will do a decent job with even Full HD blu-ray decoding.

You should definitely try to get one of the low-power Athlons. Keeping the heat generation down inside your case is of paramount importance.

What type of audio system are you connecting to? If it has HDMI in with audio decoding, then another +1 for the AMD iGPU boards. If it only has S/PDIF then make sure your MB has that output (and in which case an audio card would be a waste of $). If it only has analog inputs, then make sure you're squared on that w/ the MB selection and that it has good SNR and low-distortion in the reviews.

Don't forget the RC! Lots of options. You might consider a learning remote to control everything at once.

 

[coleman]

thanks for the reply lunyone, i have a couple of questions

1. i would like to get a cheaper mobo, around 50-70 pounds, do you have any suggestions.

2. what RAM would you suggest

 

[coleman]

ok, i keep posting before seeing other posts, here are my thoughts so far

it looks like the 790gx chipset is the best but the price is rather high.
I am only going to be hocking up my samsung t220 monitor & speakers
I think using integrated gfx's is the best option in order to keep the noise level down
I will probably go with xp mce

I am still unsure on what cpu cooler to go with and also will i need a sound card?

 

[lunyone]

thanks for the reply lunyone, i have a couple of questions

1. i would like to get a cheaper mobo, around 50-70 pounds, do you have any suggestions.

2. what RAM would you suggest

Well there should be some available in that price range. Unfortunately I don't know of any good UK online websites. If someone else knows, please link it for us. I'll list the one mATX 790gx mobo that I know. I would think it would be close to the 70 pound limit that you desire.
DFI LP JR 790GX-M2RS AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI AMD Motherboard - Retail

Here's a few DDR2 800mHz RAM that I'd consider. Keep in mind that you'd probably want ones with heat spreaders on them and one that run at stock voltage (1.8v).
Those would be the minimum that I'd consider for your build, 2x1gb's of DDR2.
If your going to have a 64bit OS than I'd seriously consider getting 2x2gb's of DDR2, of coarse at stock voltage too.
Here's some examples of what to look for.

I am still unsure on what cpu cooler to go with and also will i need a sound card?

I think the stock cooler should do fine. Not sure how much room that your going to have with that case. If you can fit a Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 pro in that case, than I'd recommend that. I'm currently using one and I gotta say that it's quite the quiet one.
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail

Personally I think you'll be surprised with the onboard sound these days. I'm not sure if your going to need an additional sound card or not to hook up all of your components or not, but I wouldn't be surprised if you liked the onboard sound.

 

[lunyone]

780g chipset mobo's will do too. I'm going to list a few of those found on eBuyer's website.
59 pounds
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H 780G Socket AM2+ onboard VGA 8 channel audio mATX Motherboard
53 pounds
ASUS M3A78-EMH HDMI 780G Socket AM2+ onboard graphics 8 channel audio mATX Motherboard
49 pounds
ABIT A-S78H 780G Socket AM2+ onboard VGA 5.1 channel audio mATX Motherboard

That should give you an idea. I'd look at all of the options that they have to offer and pick one that fits your needs. I think the Abit has 5.1 surround sound and the Asus has 7.1 surround sound. So depending on your needs, this should dictate what your going to buy.

 

[coleman]

thanks again lunyone, i think i will go with a 790g chipset as it is more my price range.
i will use the stock cooler and if it is quite enough then will just stick with that
Ill use on board sound and ram with 1.8v and heat spreaders.

 

[lunyone]

Yeah I think the 780g chipset is the best for tight budgets. It's currently pretty easy to find, since the 790gx chipsets just came out not too long ago. The memory you selected should work on any of the mobo's that I listed above. It just runs at 2.1v, so you'll need to adjust the voltage manually in the BIOS after you turn on the system. I'm not sure it'll add that much heat, but if you can afford the 1.8v stuff and it's not too much more, than I'd consider them. What size is your HD that your putting in? Is it a SATA 3 gb one?

 

[coleman]

it is a 250gb SATA from one of my dads old pc's, after what you said tough i am considering getting a new 750gb to a tb

the 780g chipset is good for my budget, this is the one that i am looking at
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/150281

I will try and find some RAM that runs at 1.8v stock but over here in the UK the sites have very poor searches in comparison to newegg, and the ones that i have found have been around 40-50pounds

I am still unsure on what tv card i will need, i have done lots fo research but i just can't seen to find the solution.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

Hauppauge makes great TV tuner cards. I use the rig in my sig as a HTPC and it works out great. I also highly recommend Vista for your OS. Despite what some people say, Vista has been very stable for me and the built-in Media Center works great. The new WIN TV-HVR-2250 TV tuner has really caught my eye. It has dual tuners that can both be used for either digital or analog signal. I live in the US, but my HVR-1600 is hooked to a roof-top antenna and pulls in beautiful 1080i OTA HD.

I agree with getting the biggest HD you can, especially if you will be recording HD programming. All three of my HD's are currenly almost full.

I also use this computer for video editing and kick myself for not getting a quad core every time I see both my cores go to 100% while performing editing.

 

[coleman]

thanks for the input shortstuff, looks like hauppauge r the tv cards to go for after suggestions from here and www.thegrenbutton.com (thanks teramedia for the greenbutton suggestion very good site)

here is my build so far
case: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/130945
RAM: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/116755
cpu: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/144637
Mobo: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/150281
tv card: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/117737

I will probably get a tb hard drive as well but i am yet to decide

if Any one have any more suggestions or comment on what i have put together so far then it would be helpfull

 

[lunyone]

Well I think the TV card is only good under Windows XP Home/Pro and MCE. I don't know if your planning on using Vista, so I'm just mentioning what the literature mentions about the card.

 

[coleman]

ill be using xp media center so it wont matter for the time being, i might find one that has more upgradability