HTPC Build: Advice Required Please

[beatsntoons]

Hi everyone

I'm putting together a HTPC shortly. I've specced two machines, one "high end", one "mid-range" (and to be honest, the latter is more within my budget).

I was wondering if people could go over both options and tell me what you think? What is under/over-powered? What can I cut from the high end machine without skimping on quality?

For a bit of background, I'm ripping all my DVDs to disc, in the video_ts folder structure rather than in a single file configuration (reason being is I want to keep the menus intact).
I have no real intentions to play high end games on this machine. I'm finding myself playing more on the 360 these days anyway. A bit of a shame, but whatever.

Also, just to note, I'm not an overclocker, so I'd prefer stock equipment, not something to overclock.

So, without further ado:

1. High End
Processor: i7 930 £239.99
Mobo: Asus P6T Intel X58 £169.98
RAM: OCZ Gold Black 6GB PC3-12800 £169.99
Graphics: XFX GeForce GTX285 1GB £245.99
HDD 1: Intel X25-M Mainstream SSD 80GB £190.98 (for OS)
HDD 2: WD Caviar Green 2TB £109.99
Optical: LG CH08LS10 £67.99
PSU: Corsair TX 750W ATX SLI £92.99
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - £84.99
TOTAL: £1372.91


2. Mid Range
Processor: i3 530 £103.99
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-H55M-S2H Intel H55 - £67.99
RAM: OCZ Platinum 4GB PC3-10666C7 £109.99
Graphics: [integrated HD]
HDD 1: Intel X25-M Mainstream SSD 80GB £190.98 (for OS)
HDD 2: WD Caviar Green 2TB £109.99
Optical: LG CH08LS10 £67.99
PSU: Akasa PaxPower 400W Ultra Quiet Power Supply £43.99
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - £84.99
TOTAL: £779.91


The case I've already sorted. It's a Silverstone LC16B-MB

The bonus with using the second option, is more to spend on HDDs. I've estimated I need 6TB of storage for me DVDs.

Thanks in advance for your help

 

[hamehax]

Both those builds are overkill.
The Atom/Ion combination is adequate for Bluray streaming. I would advise one of the Zotac boards with built in Wifi. Almost all the boards have a spare PCI-E so get yourself a good sound card. This will reduce the stress on the CPU and obviously benefit your audio.
You should also check an ATX PSU will fit in that case.
As for the 6TBs of data you should look at a NAS server as you wont fit 3 drives inside a HTPC case.

 

[Grimley]

I'd swap the power supply for this. The case will take a ATX Power supply (former LC16 owner)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-017-CS&tool=3

There's room for 6 3.5" drives in there so fitting 3 2TB drives in there wont be a problem. Disc noise may be though as there no noise dampening in that case for HD's. The stock fans on that case are a bit noisy running at 12v so 7v mod them. The 2 3.5" bays will take a 92mm fan each if you want more cooling. Best 3rd party cpu cooler for that case is Scythe ninja mini.

 

[beatsntoons]

Both those builds are overkill.
The Atom/Ion combination is adequate for Bluray streaming. I would advise one of the Zotac boards with built in Wifi. Almost all the boards have a spare PCI-E so get yourself a good sound card. This will reduce the stress on the CPU and obviously benefit your audio.
You should also check an ATX PSU will fit in that case.
As for the 6TBs of data you should look at a NAS server as you wont fit 3 drives inside a HTPC case.

Hi hamehax

The more I think about it, the more I definitely think the first option is overkill, unless I was to use it as a secondary games machine.

I think the second option is not to bad though, because the i3s are getting some impressive reviews in the HTPC arena. Many people who have them are thrilled with the results.

Also, the case can easily fit in 6 HDDs, so storage space isn't an issue.

I'd swap the power supply for this. The case will take a ATX Power supply (former LC16 owner)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-017-CS&tool=3

There's room for 6 3.5" drives in there so fitting 3 2TB drives in there wont be a problem. Disc noise may be though as there no noise dampening in that case for HD's. The stock fans on that case are a bit noisy running at 12v so 7v mod them. The 2 3.5" bays will take a 92mm fan each if you want more cooling. Best 3rd party cpu cooler for that case is Scythe ninja mini.

Thanks Grimley, that PSU looks fantastic! Anything to bring the cost down and still maintain quality! I've a Corsair PSU in my current machine and rate them highly.

How do you 7v mod a case fan? Sorry for the noob question.

Cheers, and thanks for the tips.

 

[eddyc]

See here for the 7v trick.

You can also use one of these (although that only brings it down to 10v).

This is going to be one hell of a machine. If you wanted to save any more money I would suggest going for 2GB of RAM rather than 4 and also do you really need 80GB for your OS? I would have thought a 40GB SSD would be fine.

Just out of interest what do you plan to use to view your films? Are you just going to play the vob files? Another option would be to rip into .img format and then mount them using daemon tools or similar. You would preserve the complete dvd then...

I personally would go for encoding them all to h264 and forgetting about the menus but cudos for keeping everything

 

[beatsntoons]

Hi eddyc, thanks for the advice and explanation.

I think you could be onto something with reducing the SSD size. I had heard that you should give some SSDs free space to maintain performance, but I didn't think it through. 40-60GB would be very adequate. Win7 has a footprint of around 17GB or so if I'm not mistaken?

I'm planning on using Media Browser as a front end plugin for Media Centre, with MyMovies providing the metadata.
I do intend to just play the vob files, and I'm pretty particular about keeping those menus intact. My girlfriend thinks I'm an idiot for it, since encoding to h264 or WMV would save me loads of space, and therefore money!

 

[Cycrow]

if u want to build a proper HTPC, then u might want to consider the ASUS AT3IONT-I Deluxe.

All in one mini-itx motherboard, with atom 330 and nvidia ion. Will do HD play back, is silent, and uses very little power.

add some ram and an ssd and u can have a completly silent running htpc, depending on case/psu.

then just have a nas for ur storage.

obviously if you not too bothered about noise, or having it perfectly silent, then you could just put the drives in the htpc case instead.

the 40gb intel ssd would be fine for a media center, i have one in my main system, and im using about 30gb which includes windows 7 ultimate, all programs, office and visual studio, and the page file