HTPC spec check and questions

shandy1948

shandy1948

shandy1948

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20 Nov 2004
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I want to build a silent, powerful HTPC for:
  • Watching freeview (with PVR functionality)
  • Playing games
  • Media encoding
  • Media server for my laptop

My budget is £1000. I'm currently using a 32" CRT, so I need S-Video output. But as I will soon be upgrading to a nice HD LCD TV, I also need HDMI and HDCP. I'll be running Vista Home Premium.

It's important to me that it's silent (or near silent).

This is what I've spec'd so far:

2007257853_37e76f05d9_o.jpg


  • Will the graphics card fit in the case?
  • Which CPU cooler should I buy? (it needs to be quiet/silent, but also fit inside the case)
  • I need to buy a wireless keyboard, mouse and remote as well
  • Any other suggestions or amendments?
 
I need to buy a wireless keyboard, mouse and remote as well
Click to expand...

Keysonic RF wireless keyboard/trackpad.
Biege optical drive- YUK!

You also need IR receiver + remote, the MS USB kit is about £18-22.
 
You'll probably want to change the graphics card to an 8800GT, they're better in pretty much every way. And I believe they come with a lead which plugs into the component out to change it to HDMI (you might wanna check with this though).

And as for the RAM, unless you're goin to be seriously overclocking this like a *lot*, it really doesn't need to be that fast. You might as well get the Geil 2GB that's on offer at OcUK this week because you really won't see a change and you'll have a bit of spare cash to either keep or spend on a more decent component.

Just noticed actually, you CPU is OEM so it won't come with a cooler; you could use the spare cash you get from downgrading the RAM for this. The arctic cooling freezer 7 pro is a great cooler for the price, but I really odn't know if it'll fit in the case or not. Anyone else know?
 
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Also how would you fit a PCI-E videocard plus PCI-E tuner on a MATX board? I'm pretty sure you just have a single 16 x PCI-E
 
From the looks of the product page on the OcUK website, it appears to have two PCI-e slots, one being the 16x and one being a 1x, which should fit the tv card. Just saw as well, the motherboard only supports DDR2 800, so it'd be pointless buying that 1066 RAM anyway.
 
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I agree with closeratio's suggestions. Gigabyte's site says that the mobo has one PCI-e x16 and one PCI-e x4. That should do the job.

As for coolers the AC Freezer is is very good. If it doesn't fit you might look into a Zalman CNPS7500. It's not a tower-style cooler so it has a pretty low profile and I'd imagine it'd fir that board.

As badbob said that optical drive is going to look nasty. Judging from the black insert that comes with the case it seem that they intend for you to use a black ODD.
 
Sorry for the hijack (hope you don't mind), but my HTPC has just popped it's clogs (sounds like caps - high-pitched whistle), so I'm interested in this as well. Planning to go the same route too - Antec case, Gigabyte mobo.

How well would the freezer 7 cool the quad? It does a reasonable job on my E6600 but temps hit the high 40s under load (granted it's overclocked a little).
 
I think quad core is a bit OTT for a HTPC. although I guess if you're recording HD and playing back HD at the same time you'll probably need quad.
 
Well, looking at the various specs, the Freezer 7 may fit - just. :eek:

Edit - I take that back - looks like it doesn't. Actually, the freezer 64 doesn't (about 5mm too tall from the pictures I've seen), and the freezer 7 is the same height.

Also...
badbob said:
You also need IR receiver + remote, the MS USB kit is about £18-22.
Click to expand...
Don't need the receiver as it's in the LCD/VFD panel (allegedly). Do still need the remote though. Luckily I already have one. :)
 
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The beige BD drive will look so out of place/tacky. I'd pay the extra for black BUT you know that these are 1st generation drives?

HSF, Zalman CNPS8700. Searching around & it seems ok for the Quad-Core.

I'd wait for the ATI HD 3800 series dropping tomorrow (Thursday) ;)

Encoding, PVR, media-server, etc will 500GB be enough? TBH I'd get 2 hard disks for backups, etc :)
 
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Ok. I've updated the specs. I've replaced the (beige) blu-ray drive with a (silver) DVD-RW. I figure that I might as well wait for a dual-format drive (i.e. HD-DVD and blue-ray) to reach the market before i purchase one.

I've also added some thermal paste, and the CPU cooler. Plus, I've changed the RAM

2024225140_bb706a656a_o.jpg


What do you think? Any other changes?

  • Are there any other quieter CPU coolers which will still fit inside the case?
  • Will I have trouble fitting in that graphics card?
 
Not sure if there are any quieter coolers than that. They all tend to give the same sound output these days anyway, and Zalman are well known for their quality so if anything it should be pretty silent. And besides, they only run faster when you've got it under a lot of load, which I'm guessing won't be to often (when I say load I mean during Orthos or Prime95).

You shouldn't have trouble fitting that graphics card, but you should note that because it's a dual slot cooler, it'll take up the PCI slot next to it, which I guess is another advantage of getting the 8800GT, as that's only takes up a single slot.

Lol and you probably know this already but the slot which you put the TV card in will be a little too big for it (the TV card is pci-e 1x, the slot is 4x), but it should still work fine.
 
I'd try and find a quieter cooler, mate has 7000 and have to set it to low, otherwise it's too loud. Same case (well NSK2400) I'd see if a mini ninja fits, or buy a case that's slightly taller allowing you to fit a quieter tower cooler.
 
there's not a case i know of that would fit a tower like a ninja or a tuniq for example. if the zalman is too loud, the thermal Max Orb is an alternative. 120mm fan, spins at 600rpm, keeps my e2160 @ 2.7ghz more than cool enough and i cant here it at all:) you arent going to do much better in a htpc case really.
 
Well, as posted somewhat earlier I went the same route. A few minor spec differences but the key bits (case, CPU, mobo, HSF) are the same.

A friend did the HSF install. Both he and I are AS5 noobs but it's currently running 2x Orthos 'Small FFT' tests and the hottest core (slightly uneven application I guess) is stuck at 57C. I can't find any comparison temperatures with this cooler so I don't know if that's good, bad, or indifferent. It's certainly workable though (don't intend overclocking) and none of the fans are on their highest settings - just as well really as the CNPS8700 gets a little whiney at the top end (though still peaceful bliss compared to what it's replacing). Would certainly be interested in any comparative results.

Really impressed with the cooling design though - despite that heat mountain and the Radeon 3850 next door generating a fair bit of it's own heat, the hard disk (while formatting) is still under 30C. Word of caution though - I got the 3850 to avoid some of the heat issues of the 2900 series and I'm glad I did.

PS - You didn't say what OS you're using. I hope for your sanity it's Vista. Due to an incompatible TV card I'm stuck with XP for now, and I've really enjoyed a driver hell endurance test over the last 24 hours. I learned a whole lot about Slipstreaming XP installs and nLite in the process. :)
 
You really dont need the quad in there, a cooler G0 dual core (E6550@3GHz??) will run a lot cooler and so needs lower fan speeds and a smaller heatsink. I run a E6600@3GHz in my HTPC and it handles the 1080 HD stream from a DVB-S2 sat card easily. And thats on the retail HSF.
 
I tried one of those large zalman coolers in my htpc case and it seemed to restrict the air flow as it took up too much room, especially if your fitting a couple of large PCI cards. It's not that quiet either.

In the end I settled for one with a 92mm fan and heat pipes. The cpu and mobo both ran cooler and it was quieter as I was able to slow the fan right down.

That Antec case does have larger fans than my Silverstone though so I might work ok.

Still that's all old news now.......managed to squeeze in a custom water cooling set up now.........;)
 
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