HTPC pre-build (with pics)

md99

md99

md99

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Pre-build as in I haven't even removed the hardware from the packaging.

Never done one of these before so it may get interesting :D

I'll start tomorrow and post pics of my progress.

Anyway, onto the ingredients...

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Asus P5E-VM HDMI Intel G35 Micro-ATX (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
LG GGC-H20L Blu-Ray Reader & HD-DVD ROM Serial ATA Drive
HIS ATI Radeon HD 4670 IceQ Turbo 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express)
Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 2.66GHz (1066FSB)
Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB SATA-II 16MB Cache
Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2-5400C4 TwinX
Scythe Mini Ninja CPU Cooler

And home shall be this...

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My budget wouldn't stretch to a Corsair PSU so I'm going along with the 500w unit that came with the case.

XP shall be my operating system of choice as I have too many old games I want to install to the hard drive and they have point blank refused to work on my Vista U64 desktop.

Oh yeah, I have a scrumdiddlyumptous Sony Bravia 40" W4000 on the way too.

Monitors? Pah!
 
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Just a quick peek. Its very solid and really heavy. More space inside than I imagined too.

The only thing I'm not keen on is the front panel, picks up fingerprints terribly but doesn't seem to attract dust.
 
Can I ask why you went for the older G35 chipset board, rather than the newer G45 (or even G43 as you have bought a dedicated graphics card).
 
Yes you may, I know bugger all about mainboards.

As long as there are enough expansion slots and is cpu/ram upgradeable to a reasonable extent I'm happy. As for the integrated graphics, well, they're all crap aren't they? Hence the graphic card.
 
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Atom said:
Didn't you fancy the AMD 780G chipset?
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780g the best chipset for a media center, plus why buy a graphics card and a heat sink no point overclocking a media center. send the goods back and get the 780g chipset gigabyte board the one with the ati intergrated graphics card. you'll save 50% and have a good media center.
plus why buy a hdmi board if you plan to keep the graphics card which also had hdmi? you didnt think this thru.
 
md99 said:
Yes you may, I know bugger all about mainboards.

As long as there are enough expansion slots and is cpu/ram upgradeable to a reasonable extent I'm happy. As for the integrated graphics, well, they're all crap aren't they? Hence the graphic card.
Click to expand...

Not for media centers, intergrated card is enough for a stand alone media center, you spend more that you needed to, on the wrong parts, plus you need to think about extra hard drive of 1t for a media center and the extra bits like wirelles streaming to other rooms.
even the keyboard isnt good for a media center you need one with a built in mouse. plus you need a board with hdmi out and optical out for a media center the gigabyteboard i mentioned in another post was the top, and its only £60 last time i checked.
 
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He did say he wanted to play some older games on it, but with the CPU and GPU he can still play new games too. All I meant was he could have saved £20 if he went for the G43 motherboard instead.

If he was just going to use it for 1080p then yeah, the 780G and perhaps a AMD 64 X2 4*50e CPU would be ideal.
 
Bloody hell fellas,I created this thread as I only wanted to share a few pics with you, not be told what a bad purchase I made.
 
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You should expect that on here tbh. People don't hold back since they're protected by the internet! Quite often though they're correct, but there are so many combinations of what you could buy, it's only someone elses opinion, you bought what you thought was right for you, there's no problem there. As long as you're happy with it mate.

Would like to see your build together if you get the time to upload some pics.
 
Right here we go...

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Bigger than I though to be honest

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Micro ATX - quite petite

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Scythe mini ninja cooler and cpu fitted

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In it goes (oo-er missus)

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Optical (BR/HD-DVD combo) drive fits into the removable enclosure

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Hard drive case is really nice. Fitted on their side, resting against silicone padding and held in place with big mushroom type screws.

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Non modular 500w PSU (supplied with case). Not too pretty is it? And an absolute BUGGER to fit into place.

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Temporary. That's the LCD display being powered via USB but it can also be fitted to the USB pin connectors on the mainboard. Which it will. Actually I don't know why I've fitted it to the external USB. Egads!

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In goes the graphic card and cooler to play my games (hence the reason I bought it folks, I wouldn't have if I planned on only playing HD movies). Tight fit and prevents me from using the three remaining PCIE x1 slots. Bye bye sound card :(

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RAM - DDR2 5400 675mhz 2gb - all I need.

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Now I know why the PSU was such a tight fit. That 2 pin molex connector is squished as hard as possible underneath it :eek:

Fortunately it was okay.

Unfortunately however I've just come to a sudden halt. The 4 pin 12v cable won't reach the connector on the mainboard. Its about 1.5 inches too short :mad:

I'll get an extension tomorrow.
 
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Nice one :) I'm looking at building one of these soon and have no idea what parts I need :D but hey worth trying right!
As it is going to be showing Blu-Ray movies (I presume in your case) does it matter what type of graphics card you get - i.e can you just buy the cheapest one? - what outputs does it need?
And one other question :) what about a sound card - would it be best getting some proper sound card with decent outputs so it can be put straight into an A/V receiver for 7.1 output?
If these questions are complete wtf I apologize.
 
Nice one! Is that the Antec Fusion case by any chance? I been looking at it here at OcUK, but theirs don't have a supplied PSU, that's why I'm wondering!

You might want to edit out that name and instead maybe just put PS retailer.. no competitor names allowed I'm afraid!
 
Nice. Before you buy an extra cable, could you not turn the PSU upside down to give you a couple of inch's more length? Actually its already in the position I was thinking of, nevermind :(
 
TheSwede said:
Nice one! Is that the Antec Fusion case by any chance? I been looking at it here at OcUK, but theirs don't have a supplied PSU, that's why I'm wondering!
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It is. And I ordered mine without a PSU too. But when I opened it however....

I was planning on buying a Corsair early December but it looks like I don't need one now. Doubtless however I wouldn't have experienced the short cable problem if I did have one.
 
Ah yes the black Antec Fusion case ... it's not bad, I have one for my second HTPC, (the first is in a Silverstone LC16 which is a really nice case which has the edge over the Antec in build quality, a lot better display and seems a bit smaller).

Mine's a pure media box so is running a 4450e on a 780g chipset running Vista and does it's job nicely.

The only real issues I've got with the Antec case are:
- The provided PSU, which is different from yours, has a slight hum which is annoying in a quiet room ... I'll probably look at replacing it (with something quiet and modlar) eventually).
- Power button the front doesn't work. Appears to be a hardware issue wth the switch, the light ring lights up when the system is on but it will not turn the system on and off. Currently I have the reset switch wired to the power header on the motherboard to act as a switch. I'll disassemble it and sort it out eventually.

Currently min is chugging along imaging its 200GB system drive onto a 500GB drive to go with the other 500GB drive which is already used in there.

:)
 
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