HTPC Hell - Don'tcha just love it???? :)

squidgey

squidgey

squidgey

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22 Mar 2004
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Hola!

K, so I ordered my case last week. Couldn't resist, and as I got it at cost from a work supplier I was more than happy to shell out the reddies! :D

Opted for the Zalman HD160XT+ in silver. Not to everyone's taste I know but it'll look nice next to my Denon stereo next to the tv, and I was a complete sucker for the touch screen.:o

Anyway, the missus owes me about 3 Xmas and birthday presents so I've decided she's paying for the rest!

Don't want to go overboard. I've spent the last few days umming and ahhhing over what mobo, what proc, etc and now I think I've made up my mind. I'd really like you guys to cast you're collective peepers over it to make sure I'm not doing anything too stoopid.

It's going to be used to as a complete mediacenter, to replace the ageing CD player and give me some space back from my several hundred CDs.
Playing DVD/blueray/DivX (1080P a must)
Possibly some gaming, but not much (figure I'll see how it goes and if I want to start playing more then I can always add in a beefier gfx card at a later date).
General office stuff/internet browsing occassionally.
Possibly running some VMware/Virtualisation software on an occassional basis.

Spec I've gone for is this:


Zalman ZM500-HP Heatpipe Cooled 500W Modular PSU £55.99
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H AMD 780G Micro-ATX (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £52.99
Samsung SpinPoint F1 750GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD753LJ) £66.99
LG GGC-H20L Blu-Ray Reader & HD-DVD ROM Serial ATA Drive - Retail £69.99
OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 (OCZ2P800R22GK) £26.99
Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B CPU Cooler (Socket 478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA775) £25.99
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4800+ 2.50GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail £43.99
Compro VideoMate DVB-E700 Digital TV Internal PCI-E - Retail £47.99

Got a spare 120gig sas drive I can use for the os.


I really want the system to be nice a quiet. I'm sick of watching dvds on the XBox and having the crank the volume right up.

Will I need to run the fan on the Ninja with that CPU?

Should I be waiting a for the 4850e instead (eta)?

I've never bought AMD before and for some reason it makes me feel really uncomfortable...weiird. I also know the 8200 is pretty good low voltage low heat cpu, but it's mostlikely overkill for my requirements. A little guidance/words of encouragement/slap upside the head would be appreciated! :D
 
I have doubts about the ninja fitting in that case.
4800 should be fine, I've read people using a 2350BE with that board.
I'd also think about some kind of backup for the stored CD tracks too.
I'm not certain just how quiet the 80mm fans are on the case as well.
 
are you going to store dvd's on it? if so you'll want 2x1tb drives.


Have you got a rig to encode music/dvd's? As if your encoding large amounts a quad core intel is well worth it.
 
How much did the case cost you then??

AcidHell2 said:
are you going to store dvd's on it? if so you'll want 2x1tb drives.
Click to expand...

I would think 3 drives in raid 5, with 750 or 1TB drives, not a backup but gives you some redundancy. the need for a back up with CD's and DVD's is low as you should have the originals if the worst did happen, a future project could be a back up server, so if the worst did happen you could just copy the data off backup.
 
Grimley said:
I have doubts about the ninja fitting in that case......I'm not certain just how quiet the 80mm fans are on the case as well.
Click to expand...

james.miller said:
the ninja will definitely not fit in that case. it'll be about an inch and a half too high.
Click to expand...

Good spot. I mixed up the height (150mm) and Length (110mm). Brain was fried after looking at mobos all day. ta! :)

Realised I've got a spare Zalman CNPS7500 when I got home. It's deemed ok for the cpu, and have been nice and quiet when I've used them before. Might stick with that if it's ok with the mobo.

Had heard mixes reviews regarding the case fans. Some peeps seem very happy, others not so. Figured I'd wait and see then they can always be changed over.


AcidHell2 said:
are you going to store dvd's on it? if so you'll want 2x1tb drives.


Have you got a rig to encode music/dvd's? As if your encoding large amounts a quad core intel is well worth it.
Click to expand...


Was concerned that loading it with more power would increase heat/cooling required and therefore noise.

I've really been struggling with the Mobo/CPU choice. Tempted to got Core Due e8400 or even a Q6600 with a suitable board but really worried about heat and really just going overboard.

Can you recommend a good intel based mobo that supports HDMI that also works handles blueray disks without killing cpu (back to the heat issue)



crazyDAJT said:
How much did the case cost you then??



I would think 3 drives in raid 5, with 750 or 1TB drives, not a backup but gives you some redundancy. the need for a back up with CD's and DVD's is low as you should have the originals if the worst did happen, a future project could be a back up server, so if the worst did happen you could just copy the data off backup.
Click to expand...


Yeah I'd thought about maybe with another drive so they could be mirrored, but figure I have an external drive where I've got the rest of my music collection backed up. Really trying to fight the urge of just throwing money at it. It's soooo hard! :)

But then, I suppose if I'm recording TV I might want a bit more space....soooo...... :)

Cost of the case was 280+vat, so 329 inclusive which I was happy with. Everywhere else seemed to be upwards 60 quid more.
 
zalman xt spec

hi,
i bought a 160xtplus about 2 weeks ago and i am still fiddling...
mobo asus p5ev hdmi
ram 2gb ballistix 1066
cpu e2200 seems to cope with everything and minimise power and heat
mini ninja cooler with coolonk 92mm fan added with hadwire at the back to turn it down, easily, it is pretty quiet at 1200rpm
i havent had to turn on the 4 case fans yet,
i only have 500gb single disc, last time i had too much storage i just kept junk i was never going to watch again. 1 hdd seems to give the case lots of air circulation
asus 2600xt wasnt quiet enough, i broke it fitting a thermalright vga cooler which is hit the fan switch, so now need a silent hid2600.
nesteq silent psu has only put its fan on once, rest of the time silent, but as it isnt modular the cables look untidy
having issues with the compro 750 tv card at the moment, maybe should have bought a blackgold
havent made ay use of the touchscreen yet either
but it keeps me busy !
oh and a silent northbridge norkua
 
lots of typos in that post... thats what happens when you use a pc when u should be working...
i have always used intel . it is so tempting to over spec just in case, but the 2 screen set up
very happy with the mobo but it didnt have optical sound out, but good enough for my amp, havent tried it hd yet
main issue is tv recording i reckon it is better to have 2 decoders to watch one channel and record another. the compro is the only card i have seen that will power the pc on and off, but it only seems to work in its own recording program, not through MCE. I think I will swap the compro for a Blackgold BGT 3450

i went down the ati graphics route, 2600xt runs games fine at medium settings, anyone any better ideas than a HIS silent 2600xt before i replace the ASUS silent 2600xt which wasnt silent ?
I just have 1 hdd with external back up to minimise noise
 
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