HTPC component advice

jaysus

jaysus

jaysus

Associate
Joined
25 Dec 2009
Posts
442
I'm slowly collecting the bits and pieces I need for my HTPC and hopefully I'll have it up and running next month. I'm planning two things with it - to watch films and to be able to do some internet browsing on my TV (Panasonic TXP42G10, 42" plasma.) The browsing is less important - it's just something nice to have. And it'll be sitting on display in my front room so the smaller the better.

So far I've got a Gigabyte M68M-S2P, AMD Athlon X2 5000, Samsung F4 2TB and a CX400 PSU.

All I need now are a case, GPU and TV card. Unfortunately on these points I'm not too sure which way to go and would appreciate some help.

On the GPU I'm veering towards a Nvidia card as software wise I'm planning to use Linux and XBMC, and I'd like one with HDMI to avoid messing about with phono cables etc. And passively cooled seems to make sense. Frankly I don't know where to begin to look, but the cheaper the better.

Case wise it just needs to be presentable and fit everything in.
TV card...I don't know where to begin. I'd just like to have a remote that will work with XBMC.

Anyone able to help?
 
If youre buying new from here then look at 440 for gfx, its not passively cooled but shouldnt be too loud anyway, or if youre picking things up off MM then a 220 would do and be a bit cheaper

Case wise, if you want a HTPC style case then you can either buy the OcUK value one for reasonable money or for a better quality one your epsending quite a bit and looking at Lian Li/Silverstone/Antec Fusion, alternatively you can just get a small tower case if youre happy for it to stand beside media set up, any small case should be reasonable as your components wont be producing much heat so should be fairly quiet
As smudge said its hard to give too specific advice without a budget though
 
its just such a shame that u have picked a MoBo with out HDMI on it already i built my HTPC for £400 (but had a few bits lieing around from old PCs)
 
No specific budget - if I need to spend more, I will, but the less the better.

Case wise it does need to be a small case (have just had a chat with the missus, and with the space we have it can't be much taller than 200mm) so I'm thinking that it's a toss up between the OCUK Aphrodite, the Silverstone Sugo SG01B-F or the Lian Li PC-Q09FB. The Lian Li is the most expensive but it wins hands down on aesthetics, so I'm thinking that's the best option right now.

GPU. It doesn't have to be a nVidia GPU but I was veering that way as I was planning on using Linux. Having just installed unified remote and seeing how well it works, I'm thinking about using XP instead. To me it seems like it's tied into the OS - if I go Linux I need nVidia, if I go XP I can get either. I'm not sure of the pro's and con's of that choice. I was hoping to spend no more than £40 on the card though. The only thing I care about on that front is noise.
 
Have a look at the "this week only" theres loads of ATI cards on there cheap as well

Case as always is personal choice mate wont even try and go there
 
Last edited:
Looks ideal.

Okay, think I've settled on the Lian Li mentioned above, going XP and getting that 5450. Where do I begin in the TV card front? My missus and I both have android phones so using Unified Remote is likely to work but I'd like to have a physical remote as well.
 
then u dont need a TV card (i think) so u can scrap that

that way ur sorted

I'm also with virgin and have the V+HD box and dont have a tv card just watch everything from there not the HTPC
 
So what can I use so that I have a physical remote for play/pausing films etc?

And a completely unrelated question: the HDD has just arrived. Using my desktop PC can I install XP on this HDD then start adding the DVD's? That would give me a bit of a head start, given I've got a lot of DVD's I want to put on there it will take some time.
 
erm well since its a PC then u will need a wireless mouse at least to use it so just use that (same as u do now on the desk top for movies)

I think u should be able to copy XP over to that not sure though and untill u have ur OS on there u dont want to put ur DVDs on there
 
smudge2126 said:
erm well since its a PC then u will need a wireless mouse at least to use it so just use that (same as u do now on the desk top for movies)

I think u should be able to copy XP over to that not sure though and untill u have ur OS on there u dont want to put ur DVDs on there
Click to expand...

Not worried about a mouse, will be using my phone to control movement like that. I was hoping to have some sort of a remote though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom