First HTPC

[Supe_]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within a month or so
BUDGET RANGE: $1000 USD, give or take.

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: One stop home media center. Movies, music, PVR, Netbased stuff like HULU and Netflix

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Receiver, tv, keyboard, mouse

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com, tiger direct, amazon

PARTS PREFERENCES: None really

OVERCLOCKING: No --- SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No
MONITOR RESOLUTION: currently 50" Pioneer Plasma, 720P native/1080i - possible upgrade to 1080P within the year.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Denon AVR 2809 Ci receiver.

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Because I am a retard I am creating a new post.

HTPC post V2.0

Here is what I have chosen up to this point and would appreciate advice or critique.

MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-MA785GMT-UD2H
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128397

CPU: AMD Phenom II X3 705e Heka 2.5GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103683

RAM: G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231205

OS HDD: Western Digital Caviar Green WD5000AADS 500GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136358
2 to 3 more ~1TB green drives for media.

ODD: Sony Optiarc Black
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030

POSSIBLE CASE: Thermaltake DH 202
http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-VJ80011N2Z-Digital-Built-Controller/dp/B0028MBFI4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1252101193&sr=8-1

The big question is what kind of power do I need? I would prefer to go with a modular PSU for airflow reasons but I find that option is not available until the higher wattages. So here is what I have chosen modular and non.

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX 520W ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V 2.91 (modular)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001

CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS (non modular)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003&Tpk=CMPSU-450VX
I am not completely sold on Corsair, just liked the reviews

Not really knowing all the cards and options I might add and have not listed here I went to http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine THANKS TECMO34!! and the result was 446W but the criteria I entered was extreme for my build but nothing gamer related.

Any help is greatly appreciated. If anything I have chosen is overkill or flat out wrong please let me know.

Thanks for any help.

 

[gkay09]

PSU for you -
SeaSonic M12II SS-430GM 430W CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151057

And wouldnt you require a sound card ? Or is the onboard suffice??
Rest are very good...

 

[huron]

HTPCs don't need quite as much horsepower as a gaming rig. The 430w suggested or even the 450w you had selected would be plenty.

The 785g (and the 780g) are great choices for HTPCs. I just put together one myself with an Athlon II chip - works great.

You may want to check out some of the fusion cases by Antec as well.

 

[rwpritchett]

Hey supe, I see you're still at it.

Go with gkay's Seasonic suggestion. Seasonic is who makes the Corsair's that you listed BTW so quality & acoustics are going to be the same. 430W is plenty for HTPC.

The build looks really good. There is a Gigabyte 785G board (GA-MA785GPMT-UD2H) that is $5 more than the one you selected that comes with 128MB sideport memory if that interests you. Maybe try to sneak a blu-ray drive in there? Read-only BD-ROM drives are around $70 now.

Also, keep room in your budget for software. I highly recommend Slysoft AnyDVD HD and TotalMedia Theatre 3 Platinum for blu-ray ripping/playing. For DVD's only you are good to go without extra software.

What OS are you going to use?

 

[Supe_]

@gkay and huron -- Thanks, I think I will go with the seasonic. With the suggestion of the Antec cases I started to look at them as I had not considered them before and just came to a sudden and painful realization. The cases I am looking at are HUGE!! Too big, way too big. I have to reconsider cases altogether. I want this thing to be in my entertainment center not beside it on it's own freakin stand.

@rwpritchett -- Yup, still at it. As you may tell I bagged the idea of the Xonar. My main use for the HTPC is to store all our DVDs and I was finding that it did do real well with the bitstream but was dicey with DVD playback in general. Oh well. I was thinking about the side port mobo and might as well cough up the extra $5 LOL. As for blu-ray or not to blu-ray. I dunno.
I did do a trial of the AnyDVD HD but as a trial it did not let me have access to the blu-ray portion but it did run pretty slick. A little on the spendy side but I might just get it.

As far as OS I will go with Windows 7 when available, maybe Vista Home Premium with an upgrade to 7. However I think I am going to use XBMC as the media center. I am also waiting for my free Ubuntu live CD to arrive and will play around with that to see if I want to go Linux. Of course, I know zero about linux.

I think I am going to start buying parts and continue looking at smaller cases.

OH! Any suggestions on a TV tuner?
Thanks for the help guys.

 

[huron]

I just recently got the Antec MicroFusion 350 (includes the 350w PSU). It's a really nice little case - takes a little effort to build in there, but it is designed well and is about the size of a VCR. You can only fit MicroATX in there, so you'd have to make sure you have the right motherboard.

I'd recommend the Hauppauge 2250 for a tuner - dual digital and one analog. It's MCE friendly as well.