Associate
- Joined
- 23 Apr 2007
- Posts
- 1,785
- Location
- Cardiff-ish, Wales
Hi guys,
I'm taking the plunge and building myself an HTPC. I've already got a thread about upgrading my gaming PC, but this one is just for entertainment downstairs. I'll be looking to use it for the following:
Watching HD-DVD's, replacing my Toshiba EP-30
I'd like to add BluRay to the mix
Watching films, TV shows, clips etc that I'll rip to hardrives both locally and on my network.
Not interested in music playback as I've got a Cyrus HiFi plus my Sonos system. However, I'll be looking at connecting the sound digitally to my Cyrus DAC-X. Also, not too worried about 5.1 etc yet as I've not got surround sound with my hifi yet.
TV - I've got a V+ box, but would like to add TV to the HTPC to give me the ability to stream recordings to different rooms. Also, is it possible to connect the Virgin signal to the PC?
Needs to be as quiet as possible.
It will be connected to my Panasonic 42PZ70 1080p plasma tv.
I've settled on an Omaura TF11 Home Theatre PC Enclosure as I think it looks great, and that's half the battle when getting approval from the wife This also gives me the option to use full size boards.
Motherboard & CPU. I might use my Athlon 4400 X2 939 CPU and Abit An8 SLI motherboard. Will this be okay for HD playback? I'm looking for some alternatives as well, as I'll probably end up installing the Athlon and MB in my wifes ageing PC.
RAM - is 2Gb plenty?
Graphics - looking at the Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT Ultimate Silent 256MB. My main PC will be used for games, so this rig will just be used for viewing and surfing.
Optical drive - looking at the LG GGW-H20L Blu-Ray Rewriter & HD-DVD ROM
Sound - I'll be looking for a good digital output. Sound quality is important, so I don't mind investing in this rather than just using an onboard solution.
PSU. I'm currently using a Hyper 580 but it seems a little loud. Any really quiet alternatives?
Cooling - general advice needed on silent solutions.
As always, budget is fairly tight, so not looking for an all singing, all dancing solution ...
Cheers,
Jed.
Oh, Happy New Year!
I'm taking the plunge and building myself an HTPC. I've already got a thread about upgrading my gaming PC, but this one is just for entertainment downstairs. I'll be looking to use it for the following:
Watching HD-DVD's, replacing my Toshiba EP-30
I'd like to add BluRay to the mix
Watching films, TV shows, clips etc that I'll rip to hardrives both locally and on my network.
Not interested in music playback as I've got a Cyrus HiFi plus my Sonos system. However, I'll be looking at connecting the sound digitally to my Cyrus DAC-X. Also, not too worried about 5.1 etc yet as I've not got surround sound with my hifi yet.
TV - I've got a V+ box, but would like to add TV to the HTPC to give me the ability to stream recordings to different rooms. Also, is it possible to connect the Virgin signal to the PC?
Needs to be as quiet as possible.
It will be connected to my Panasonic 42PZ70 1080p plasma tv.
I've settled on an Omaura TF11 Home Theatre PC Enclosure as I think it looks great, and that's half the battle when getting approval from the wife This also gives me the option to use full size boards.
Motherboard & CPU. I might use my Athlon 4400 X2 939 CPU and Abit An8 SLI motherboard. Will this be okay for HD playback? I'm looking for some alternatives as well, as I'll probably end up installing the Athlon and MB in my wifes ageing PC.
RAM - is 2Gb plenty?
Graphics - looking at the Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT Ultimate Silent 256MB. My main PC will be used for games, so this rig will just be used for viewing and surfing.
Optical drive - looking at the LG GGW-H20L Blu-Ray Rewriter & HD-DVD ROM
Sound - I'll be looking for a good digital output. Sound quality is important, so I don't mind investing in this rather than just using an onboard solution.
PSU. I'm currently using a Hyper 580 but it seems a little loud. Any really quiet alternatives?
Cooling - general advice needed on silent solutions.
As always, budget is fairly tight, so not looking for an all singing, all dancing solution ...
Cheers,
Jed.
Oh, Happy New Year!