Advice for budget HTPC

Alex53

Alex53

Alex53

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Joined
3 Jun 2003
Posts
1,776
Location
Gibraltar
I started looking at buying an Antec Fusion and building an HTPC myself, then saw the "Verso" AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200 Dual Core 2.2GHz DDR2 HTPC System - Black which I think is a bargain at £349 exVAT and uses precisely that case.

Now, for you 'stock gurus' out there what I simply dont have is knowledge of the alternatives and whether I might still be better off price-wise with a different combination of hardware to put into the Case, rather than the ready made OCuk option.

My main area of ignorance is how good/bad are the integrated graphics of the mobo are. My main function will not be gaming, but it would be welcome if theres a better graphics option at a similar price. Same goes for the memory included.

Any suggestions? Maybe I should go for a totally different case I am unaware of?
 
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As usual DIY is cheaper. I included this processor as a placeholder for the one I think you should get, the "Energy Efficient" X2 3800+. I have one in my HTPC system on an Asus M2NPV-VM and it's fantastic for HD content. The EE edition outputs just 35 W which means you can run fewer fans or run the fans you have at lower voltages for quieter operation. The mobo in the spec should be just fine if you need HDMI. If you don't the mobo I just mentioned would be my choice. 2 GiB RAM is a bit overkill but since it's so cheap I see little reason not to go for it.
 
Flipping hell :)

Ok, I can see you've compromised on a slightly slower CPU, and the memory, while 2gb instead of 1gb, is slower memory.

Taking into account that I dont need or want the wireless NIC because I will be using the 10/100 on the mobo and I have a handy 300gb IDE hard disk (and apparently the mobo has 1 IDE interface), am I missing anything out with the spec below? Is the memory 'compatible' with the mobo? I get lost with so many different memory speeds these days.

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Hmm I hear you (no pun intended :) ) but I'd rather do that after the fact if indeed it is too loud. With my previous gaming system I thought it would be very loud with 3 normal fans on the case plus the standard CPU HS of an Intel Core Duo and its really quiet. Maybe I'm deaf :)
 
What about a blu-ray / hd-dvd (depends on the films you want) drive?

Seems a waste to have a beefy HPTC with no way to watch proper hd content.
 
I take, edit and watch a lot of HD video through my involvement in the local music scene. (events, clips etc.)

There isnt a single HD disc in a video club near me yet, so for movies I'll wait till that LG blu-ray/HD-DVD combo is more affordable. I dont want to commit to one format when combo drives are going to be around and cheap soon enough.

The other reason for the spec is some gaming capability without breaking the bank. (the bank in this case being ~£400 back-pay I got a few days ago)
 
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Why spend £11.75 extra on RAM when you're never going to run it at its rated frequency anyway? You've no reason to overclock or to run a divider so get the cheap stuff.

Again, I recommend the EE version of the AM2 CPU. It'll put out less heat and can thus be quieter.
 
Obviously I'm missing stuff here :)

So the bus speed of the mobo is less than PC-6400C4, and more like PC-5300C5, whatever that may be in Mhz, right?

Also I thought the only difference between those 2 CPUs was 0.10Ghz. What's the EE version?
 
As above, it's the "Energy Efficient" version. It dissipates 35 W rather than 65 W. Since both CPUs will do the job just as well getting the cooler one seems like a good idea.

EDIT: The exact model name of my CPU is ADA3800CUBOX, an EE X2 3800+ retail package.
 
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I couldnt wait and look for that CPU elsewhere. If other stores delivered to Gibraltar I would have, but its hassle to buy from here, and OCuk already has shipping and exVAT prices sorted so its a breeze compared to the rubbish we get from other places.

Anyway, here's the final order I made:

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I could have done without the hard drive because of the older 300GB IDE spare drive I have, but since I'm within budget I thought I'd get it anyway and have both drives in.
 
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