Spec me .. 3D HTPC ..used and new parts

Caporegime
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Ill be brief as possible,

Having made a few threads dancing around the idea of making one i have decided to go for it after doing some research

Functions
Needs to play 3D blu ray rips via hdmi
Bitstream hd lossless audio via hdmi
Needs to handle freeview hd with WMC
No games what so ever
Silent as possible


Spec/requirements

Nice black case shapped like a av receiver, as sleek as possible to match the tv
Case needs to hold 4 hdds ideally
I think i need a gt 430 passive cooled as nothing else will work as good (apparently)
-oc uk do not sell the passive vatient
Looking for ssd for the OS.. Recommendations?
Already have a blu ray drive
Already have hard drives
All other hardware im not sure on, new and used considered

Help me out! .. Cheap as possible except for the gpu, but does need to do the job

Already have all the peripherals too
 
Have decided on an

asus gt 430 passive
Scythe shuriken cpu cooler

So far

Im sure a fair few people will be interested in 3D htpc
 
Try looking at the AMD Llano setup. The IGP is better than intels sandybridge offering and it doesnt consume a lot of juice either. You can easily get 4GB of RAM the CPU and mobo for £150.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/403?vs=406

That's the Llano vs the intel pentium 1155. Feel free to adjust the search criteria as you see fit.

The antec fusion case springs to mind although that is rather expensive. I don't think OC stock many HTPC cases. The biggest problem to be aware of is that many only take half height cards, could be an issue as you want to add a GPU for 3D.

On the SSD front the Crucial M4 is a spec'd favourite. Apparently it has few issues than other brands according to our resident experts here on the forum.

Hope that is of some help. Look forward to seeing what you put together.
 
Thanks for the suggestion of the amd bundles, i will look into that, have no clue on it.
The gpu comes in low profile so that isnt a problem, but i think the cases i have found so far are ok with full anyway.

Yes the m4 is what i have just ordered for my main pc, but i was hoping for a used cheaper ssd

On the subject of cases. I want one that matches my
Av receiver .. W431xH151mm..black
Or
Subwoofer .. W284xH310mm ..black

The two i most like are

Silverstone gd06
gd06-dimension.jpg


This one would work better as it could sit under the tv and is practically identicle to the receiver, i would probable want to fill the little lock with black paint, dont like that

This is my receiver
h022RXV371-F.jpg


Lian li v351b
16244946_300x300_1.jpg


Still looking for ideas guys :)
 
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yeah id take that off, not sure if i need the lcd panel tbh, looking for sub 100 for the case,

also, had a look at those amd cpus, im not sure if i would need a combined gpu/cpu if i have a dedicated gpu?

another thing, the passive cooled gpus are a lot more expensive than the active, are the active ones that much louder to make them a no go?
 
im not sure if i would need a combined gpu/cpu if i have a dedicated gpu

Reverse that, you don't need a dedicated GPU if you grab the AMD APU.

It will make it cheaper and you can get passively cooled versions so will keep the noise down as well. No CPU fan or GPU fan will mean the only source of noise will be the PSU.
Depending on your budget you can get passive PSUs aswell (Eg. Seasonic X-400)

OS should probably be windows, you'll need a program like powerDVD or ArcSoft TMT to play back the 3D ISOs.
 
i have 3d mkvs, the rubbish has been stripped out of the disc with only the HD audio left,

from what i had gathered MAD do not have anything that is compatible with my TV, i am not 100% sure but thought a dedicated card was required?

if not [and definitely not] a £150 bundle would definitely be better.

EDIT, i will have 3d blu rays when i actually have this working, no point buying any until it works
 
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Ok i might go for this, are there any glaring errors?

Case - Silverston GD06
CPU - i3 2100
Mobo - Asus P8H61-M LE USB3.0 REV3 B3
HDD - A 60-80GB SSD from the Members market
GFX - Nvidia GT 430 - brand undecided but active cooling would half the cost
Tuner - Black gold BGT3260 DVB-T2
PSU - Corsair 650W TX - meant to be 21dB under 300W and i have a 850 in my main and its quieter than my case fans
OS - Win 7 premium

EDT forgot the RAM - 2 sticks of 2GB of whatever is viable, looking like 2x2GB G.Skill ripjaws C8 1333MHz

Parts i already have
HDD - samsung F4 2TB
HDD - seagate 7200.11
BD - Samsung 4x drive
 
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To pass 3D content through to your tv all you need is a HDMI port & cable which support HDMI 1.4/1.4a.

All AMD 6000 series cards support this and the built in HD6310 in the M1 Hudson boards work fine. Unless your TV is actually a monitor supporting nVidia 3D?

You might want to have a look @ the 3D MKVs. Simply ripping the movie file from the Blueray disk won't work and will require the TVs built in 2D to 3D conversion.
This is why i mentioned ISO's and the media players. The only 3D MKV's you can get are side-by-side, which obviously aren't 1080p due to having 2 images on the screen.
 

might be trying a few GT 430s if the EVGA i ordered isnt quiet enough, otherwise i will have to go passive, im just hoping loads arent to high and that will help things

got the TX from the MM, just because of this graph. Loading shouldnt get to a point where the noise increases.

xyyKK.gif
 
To pass 3D content through to your tv all you need is a HDMI port & cable which support HDMI 1.4/1.4a.

All AMD 6000 series cards support this and the built in HD6310 in the M1 Hudson boards work fine. Unless your TV is actually a monitor supporting nVidia 3D?

You might want to have a look @ the 3D MKVs. Simply ripping the movie file from the Blueray disk won't work and will require the TVs built in 2D to 3D conversion.
This is why i mentioned ISO's and the media players. The only 3D MKV's you can get are side-by-side, which obviously aren't 1080p due to having 2 images on the screen.

yes i was aware that side by side will be required for MKV, and yes the HDTV is on nvidias supported list, thats why i went GT 430, AMDs HD3D only had very few TVs listed.

Some of the parts are already on order, i can and would change the gpu to an AMD [prefer them] but am unsure what i would loose. FYI, i will not be using Nvidia 3D vision
 
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For 3D, I have a problem...... just becareful ! Not sure if you will run into the same issues with your Yamaha - unless they are side by side rips.

With my 3D Capable HTPC, when I connect it directly to my TV via HDMI using Power DVD10 its great! but when I connect it to my Onkyo 609

HTPC ==> Onkyo ==> 3DTV

My HTPC shows the Onkyo as the TV, and Power DVD doesnt accept that this is a 3D device !!!

So I have to use my PS3 for my 3D movies =(

You might want to check it out
 
the first blu ray i will get is the avatar 3d that will be what i test it with, will be annoying if that is the case, but i think i will be mkv only.
 
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