HTPC questions/spec me one please!

Stripe

Stripe

Stripe

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28 Aug 2005
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221
hello!

so i've pretty much decided I'm gonna build myself a (hopefully) silent HTPC. Thing is, I have little idea as to what sort of specs I would need it to be. so if someone could suggest or point me in the direction of a suitable resource then that would be great. my main concerns are:

processor speed (im gonna go with intel on this one i think - sorry!)
graphics card - (im not going to be using this PC for gaming at all but a card that has DVI out would be a must)
amount of ram
PSU wattage

would getting a mobo with AGP and an older socket type disadvantage me in performance/noise/cooling or benefit me on the cost front in any way?

I pretty much just want the coolest and quietest components I can get but don't want high specs im not going to use (unless it's for noise/cooling reasons)

cheers.
 
I would say a Athlon 1.6ghz is more than enough, 512MB is enough but for the price would go for 1GB just to reduce any lagging, go for MATX, and with a passive videocard with mpeg II and mpeg IV accelleration. You'll need a mobo or soundcard with digital out (DD/DTS) if sending bitstream to a AV amp/processor.

Try to keep everything passive if possible, especially mobo and videocard. PSU and CPU can allow slower rotation air cooled (ie 1800rpm stock CPU HSF is silent) Enermax Liberty are near silent, just audible at 1' in a silent room (not like those loud PSU's with 8cm fan)..certainly won't hear it over background music. If buying a replacement HSF get one with 12cm fan as they offer lower noise (ie Ninja if a big tower, Zalman 7700 or SP-120)

As for boot drive, can use 2.5" for silence, use a 2.5" to 3.5" adaptor (about £3) if you don't need a lot of data on the drive, basically just boot and reading from DVD-Videos.

If you're going into high definition playback need something better, not sure if it relies on pure CPU speed and/or GFX speed/acceleration

Gonna build a HTPC up sometime also.
 
You could try some of the B-Grade and clearance stuff and fill in with normal stuff....Like this:

CL-011-IN **B Grade** Intel Pentium 4 830 Dual Core "LGA775 Smithfield" 3.0GHz (800FSB) - Retail (CL-011-IN)
£90.00 £90.00
BG-070-AB **B Grade** Abit IG-80 Intel 915G Micro ATX (LGA775) Motherboard (BG-070-AB)
£20.00 £20.00
GX-054-PC PowerColor ATI Radeon X800 GTO 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-054-PC)
£64.95 £64.95
HD-025-SE Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 300GB ST3300831A ATA-100 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-025-SE)
£46.95 £46.95
MY-034-GL GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB5300DC) (MY-034-GL)
£129.95 £129.95
CA-013-SV Silverstone Sugo SG01 Aluminium Mini PC - Black (No PSU) (CA-013-SV)
£79.95 £79.95
CD-033-NE NEC ND4571 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer LabelFlash ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-033-NE)
£24.95 £24.95
CA-006-SK FSP Sparkle ATX-400PNF 400W ATX2.0 PSU (CA-006-SK)
£25.95 £25.95
Subtotal £482.70
Shipping (City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)) £10.95
VAT £86.39
Total £580.04
 
Way OTT for HTPC, unless HD needs that. I'm no AMD fanboy (always bought Intel until the one in my sig, generally despised K7 and Durons) but I would go for Athlon 64 3000+ due to being cooler running therefore less air shifting requirement, 1GB RAM, 60GB 2.5", Sapphire ATI Radeon X1300 256MB DDR2 AVIVO TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-108-SP)
 
Why not use a motherboard with onboard graphics instead?

i.e. Asus A8N-VM CSM Micro ATX (Socket 939) PCI Express Motherboard (MB-119-AS) £49.95 + VAT

with an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice 90nm (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-130-AM) £69.95 + VAT

1 gig ram is more than enough IMHO

You can always upgrade later if you need more powerful graphics but for HTPC use this is more than adequate as it uses the NVIDIA GeForce 6150 + nForce 430 chipsets. I use a 3000+ Winnie in my HTPc and temps rarely rise above 40C using a Zalman CNPS 7000B AlCu cooler (turned down low)
 
cool, thanks for the ideas everyone.

I already have a samsung spinpoint lying around that I'm probably going to use.

I didn't realise I would need a processor like a 3000+ or 3.0Ghz P4 in there but I guess I'd be pushed to find a mobo that could take anything else. I would take the 3200+ out of my current rig and use that with my current mobo as well but I just figured it runs too hot to keep silent easily.

Onboard graphics sounds like it would be a good option if the quality was adequate as I wouldn't need 3D from this PC at all. I figure I might need a 7.1 soundcard too though.

I wouldn't plan on ever upgrading this system so I'd just like something that will be able to play DVD, music and video files.

monstermunch, do you know what sort of noise that PSU outputs? PSU sound is the thing that annoys me the most (HDD sound doesn't bother me at all really). That's why I was thinking of going with a seasonic. Would I really need 400w as well? a lot of HTPC cases come with 200/300w psus?

thanks again.
 
If the spec you go for is quite low and youre avoiding too many fans for cooling then a 200/300W PSU should be fine. As you say you wont be doing any 3D gaming or anything so the GFX doesnt have to be top of the line which means you'll be cutting down the need for power by quite a bit.

SiriusB
 
Guys i dunno if you have ever thought about this but pinnacle do a box as an alternative to a htpc:

http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Products/Consumer+Products/Digital+Media+Adapters/Digital+Media+Player/ShowCenter+200

It connects to your main comp via wirless or wired network and then streams all the music, videos, pictures of it onto your tv via scart cable. I havent used the new one that they do but i did use the old one (no wireless on it) and it was really good. They cost about £200 in uk which is cheaper than a htpc as well as being silent. Only draw back i can think is it doesnt have a dvd drive but most people have dvd players anyway. I think it also has usb connectivity so you can plug a usb stick or camera into it and watch or view the files on them
 
I didn't realise fans used that much power that they would make any difference.

Do you think if i used my athlon 3200 and underclocked it then it could be cooled really easily and hence quietly?

i was thinking of going with intel for this coz i've heard that they run much cooler than AMD processors, is there any truth in that? I am teetering on being an AMD fanboy but if intel make the more suitable chip i'll just go with them.
 
alucks said:
I didn't realise fans used that much power that they would make any difference.

Do you think if i used my athlon 3200 and underclocked it then it could be cooled really easily and hence quietly?

i was thinking of going with intel for this coz i've heard that they run much cooler than AMD processors, is there any truth in that? I am teetering on being an AMD fanboy but if intel make the more suitable chip i'll just go with them.
Click to expand...


Prescott v Athlon. :) how's 26-30 idle, 40 HEAVY load sound on my rig? Compared to 41 idle, 52 load on a P4 Northwood 2.4ghz.

I'm no fanboy as I said earlier, as I have generally avoided Cyrix and AMD due to instability problems (should've seen mates AMD Duron basically reboots without warning and crashes in DOS!) But this rig has been just as stable as a Intel machine. I've had Intel XT, 286, 386, 486, Pentium MMX 200 desktop, P3 933 desktop, P4 1.6ghz laptop, brother has P4 2.4ghz...and this is my first AMD. Basically mates said once sorted out drivers/OS/PSU issues they're stable.

The Intel mobile chips are good, but for desktops I would now get AMD, especially in gaming and if you want lower heat emissions. Read some reviews on how much heat 3.2ghz+ Prescotts chuck out. If it were for a gaming rig basically less important, but for HTPC it'll be tiny case, as little air cooling as possible, so you want cool running components.
 
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To give you an idea of what can be achieved here's my current HTPC:

MSI K8NGM2-FID mobo with onboard 6150 gfx (yes it does have DVI output and HD 7.1 sound built in)
venice 3000+ (rated at 32.4W)
Samsung spinpoint 160gb
2 x Compro T200 Digital Tuner cards.

Cooled by one single 7volted 600rpm Nexus 120mm fan. You really don't get any quieter than that! CPU cooler is the scythe ninja

Idle power draw (measured at the wall so includes PSU losses) 68W
Full load 110W

I even have the possibility of undervolting the chip to just 1.0v but still run at stock speed cutting power and heat output from the chip to less than half. Currently there just isn't the need as it already runs so quietly.

The A64/sempron chips are in a different world when it comes to the heat they generate and therefore how quietly they can be cooled. They really are the htpc processor of choice.

Forget 2gb of ram - 512 is enough ... 1GB is more than comfortable.

If you need a case consider the new antec nsk2400 or else the p150. Both are designed with low noise cooling in mind. Check out silentpcreview.com for reviews.

If you aren't prepared to swap fans in your PSU then the quietest off the shelf ones are the Antec Neo HE or the Seasonic S12 range. The one you go will depends on your case layout. For example if you have a more traditional tower, the seasonics bottom mounted 120mm fan can be used to draw air through a tower heatsink like the scythe ninja allowing you to easily run the CPU passively. The Neo HE works well in cases where you already have a 120mm exhaust fan dealing with the case and CPU heat so the PSU draws fresh air from the front of the case, stopping the psu fan from ramping up.

Incidentally - you could still use your current XP3200+ as long as you have a motherboard that supports undervolting and use a passive low power video card like a radeon 9550. My outgoing HTPC was an XP2500+ barton, undervolted to 1.4v but still ran at stock speed. I used a thermalright slk900 cooler with a very very slow 92mm fan, but you might even be able to cool passively with a thermaltake sonic tower heatsink. It's not going to be as cool running as an A64 but you could save your money and build a quiet system with it if you were so inclined.

Marc
 
marc mercer said:
MSI K8NGM2-FID mobo with onboard 6150 gfx (yes it does have DVI output and HD 7.1 sound built in)

Marc
Click to expand...

snap!!....same board i'm using :) ...although they seem to be very difficult to find now :(

Also have Cool -n -Quiet enabled which throttles back my 3000+ Winnie when not doing much, reducing heat (and fan noise)
 
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does anyone know whether I'll be able to fit a Scythe Ninja heatsink in a (largeish) htpc case and run it in fanless mode?

would a 300w fanless psu be ok to use as well?

and finally, would a 6200 be enough on the graphics front or would a bit more do me favours?
 
Depends on the case! IIRC the ninja is 150mm high. It does stop it from fitting in some cases.

I wouldn't necessarily advise a fanless PSU, problem is that you'll still need a case fan at least anyway - the heat has to escape the case somehow. Since you are going to need at least one fan personally i'd save the money, buy a Seasonic S12 and use that to pull air through the ninja and exhaust from the case. Of course this does require you to build a ncie low power system in the first place.

6200 gfx would be fine. My HTPC runs on board 6150 (which are based on the 6200) and does everything just fine :)

Marc
 
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