Anyone have a HTPC guide? (proximon???)

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sleepychink125

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Feb 7, 2009
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Anyone link me a guide to a good HTPC components guide, like proximon's sticky at the top?

I just recently built a gaming comp a few months ago and am looking to build a HTPC. From what I've read in the forums, (and please correct me if im wrong) HTPC is basically opposite of a gaming PC...
-Low power/heat consumption
-More CPU intensive than GPU, meaning I dont care about GPU performance that much except for the connections (DVI, HDMI)
-AMD>Intel processors are generally better for HTPC
-Size, not performance matters for HDD (something like WD Green?)
-No overclocking (more heat)

here's what im hoping to do on my HTPC:
-watch .mkv files that i ripped/downloaded
-lightly browse the web
-Tivo and DVR stuff not important at all (i rarely record stuff)
-Watch DVDs for now, upgrade to blu-ray drive eventually.
-Connect it to my 1080p 46" samsung lcd tv.

Questions:
-How to choose AMD processor/Mobo for HTPC
-How much power PSU needs
-I see that everyone has a TV Tuner. If i dont want/need DVR and own a comcast cable box, do I still need one? If so, how to choose?
-Does the DTV transition affect anything?

Thanks to everyone on TH forums!
 
M

mindless728

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Jul 15, 2008
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choose a low power CPU and a board with a good chipset (like the 780G or 780V)
little power is needed (especially if you use the chipset if it is good enough)
you don't need a TV Tuner unless you are hooking tv service to the pc
DTV shouldn't really affect anything for you (especially without the tv tuner, though most of the recent tuner's have ATSC for over the air dtv or ClearQam for certain tv stations without encryption through cable provider)
 
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mindless728

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im making an htpc for my living room soon heres what i have planned so far:

MOBO: ASUS M3A78-EM
CPU: AMD Athlon X2 4850
and im using the 780G chipsets IGP for the graphics

plus the obvious other things a computer needs
 
Wolfshadw

Wolfshadw

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Aug 3, 2006
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Here are the components of my two (living room/bedroom) HTPCs:

HTPC1:
Case: NMediaPC 200BA m-ATX
Power Supply: Antec True Power Trio 450 watts (I think)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-965GM-S2
CPU: Intel Core2Duo E6600
RAM: 2x1GB DDR2-533
Graphics Card: ATI HD2600Pro
TV Tuner Card: AVerMedia AVerTV PCI-E Combo
Sound Card: B-Enspire 7.1 w/ S/PDIF Optical Out
HD1: SATAII 80GB
HD2: SATAII 750GB
Optical Drive1: LG 22x SATAII DVD Burner
Optical Drive2: None
OS: Windows XP MCE 2005
Monitor1: Olevia 32" LCD HDTV
Monitor2: BenQ MP610 LCD Projector

I wanted this PC to be a bit more powerful than necessary because I do all my ripping/encoding on this system.

HTPC2:
Case: Some cheap Rosewill ATX Mid-tower
Power Supply: Cooler Master 430w
Motherboard: ASUS A8N-VM
CPU: AMD X2-3800+
RAM: 2x1GB DDR333
Graphics Card: ATI All-In-Wonder X1800XL
TV Tuner: (see above)
Sound Card: Onboard
HD1: 160GB IDE
HD2: None (media stored on HTPC1)
Optical Drive1: ASUS IDE DVD Burner
Optical Drive2: Unknown IDE CD Burner
OS: Windows XP MCE 2005
Monitor1: HANNS-G 27.5" 1920x1280
Monitor2: None

This system was just tossed together with spare parts and it's only purpose is for media playback. It used to connect wireless to my network, but streaming video from HTPC1 would often freeze as the connection bottomed out.

-Wolf sends
 
A

AKM880

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Looks like a nice HTPC build good luck!
 
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