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Building a HTPC/Gaming unit

Forum Homebuilt Systems : New System Build - Building a HTPC/Gaming unit

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I want do build a unit that I can play and record blu-rays/dvd's, record programs from a tuner card, play games,(nothing hard core)a e-sata connector for a external hard drive, and the usual pc stuff,(e-mail,surfing,music,photos,) I plan on hooking this up to a digital T.V. via a HDMI cable and maybe to a receiver (sound only,if possible)via a optical or HDMI cable.this is not that important since I can go through the T.V. I already have a dual vision-tek tuner card, 1-1tb W/D hard drive,and a wireless keyboard/mouse. so what I need is a case, motherboard, CPU, Memory, and a Graphics card. I kinda like the Antec fusion remote because i can choose my own power supply(I was thinking about a 500Watt)and there cheap. It requries a micro ATX, 9.6 x 9.6. I"m assuming I would get better performace out of a graphics card than relying on the one on the motherboard. I'm not sure on the CPU, something fast. how much memory do you think I would need? my e-mail is gwood758@msn.com Thanks

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Well my friend and I are building with the same/almost expectations. Well we decided to go AMD because of the price and performance wise vs Intel at the moment.

GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-US2H 780G Chipset, integrated HDMI. - 80.00 Free Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128379

AMD Athlon64 X2 5050e Brisbane 2.6Ghz 45W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103298

^ This CPU is good for the price and vs the AMD 4850e for about the same price ($5.00 diff.) It'll handle Blu-ray and HD fine even without DXVA. The motherboard will support HDMI with sound, I'm pretty sure and will have a onboard GPU that'll decode the HD content.

Corsair XMS2 DDR2 PC6400 RAM - 25.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145201

^ Good brand, and good ram. Its only one stick and thats all you need for HTPC

Antec HTPC/Fusion Case - 160.00 + Free Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129053

^ This is one of my favourite cases for HTPC builds I wish I had one lol.

This will be good build for HTPC, I don't know about gaming. I'll have to make another build for it lol. But this is what I personally would get.

Reply to AKM880

PS. I don't know how a dedicated GPU would do in a HTPC mATX case, they'll run hot and it won't fit BIG cards.

Reply to AKM880

Hmm first off is your LCD TV a HD Ready 1368 x 768 sort or the Full HD 1920 x 1200 type?

If the latter i suggest looking at shoe box casings - they still have small footprints but could fit in at least a single high end card instead of being limited to low profile ones in some purely HTPC/flatbed casings

Message edited by batuchka on 04-24-2009 at 11:55:40 AM

Reply to batuchka

Here's an application that AMD is better than Intel. The 780 and 790 chipsets are supposed to be powerful enough that an external graphics card is unneeded. Saves money and reduces heat and noise. Find a silent power supply. Underclock the CPU to where it's just powerful enough and you can get away with a passive CPU heatsink.

Reply to jsc

AKM880's list is good, though I would personally still go with 2 sticks of RAM for dual channel.

What will determine whether or not you need a discreet video card rather than use the onboard video is what kind of games you want to play and your TV's resolution. If you're running full HD 1920x1080 (1080p) and want to play reasonably demanding games, you will definitely need a separate card, maybe from the HD4XXX series. Onboard 780g/790GX will be sufficient for any media playback.

You also need a power supply. For micro-ATX definitely get a modular one. I recommend Seasonic, Corsair, or one of the Enermax Liberty/MODU82's. Something in the 380-450W range would be sufficient.

Reply to rwpritchett

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