HTPC shopping list - does it look okay?

Jed Shields

Jed Shields

Jed Shields

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Cardiff-ish, Wales
Hi guys,

I'm looking at setting up a HTPC to run BluRay / HD-DVDs, play ripped DVDs, as a PVR, show photo's etc ie general duties. I'm looking at the following:

Antec Fusion v2 silver
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H mobo
Athlon 64 4850E CPU
Kingston 2GB DDR2 memory
LG BluRay HD-DVD retail drive (already bought)
Seagate 500Gb HDD

Video and sound onboard the mobo. I'll be looking to get optical out into my Cyrus DAC-XP - only interested in 2 channels at the moment.

TV card - I've no idea what to look for. I can see myself going the Freesat route in a couple of years (assuming they release PC cards), but in the meantime I'd like to have the facility to record 2 freeview programs at once.

Cooling - I need some suggestions for quiet fans that will fit the Antec Fusion case for the CPU and 2x 120mm side fans. I've just bought a Noctua 120mm fan that's really quiet - anyone know what the supplied fans are like?

Software:

OS - Vista Home Premium
Media Portal
KMPlayer
PowerDVD - bundled with the Bluray HD-DVD player - is okay for my 2 channel needs?

Any thoughts / suggestions?

Cheers,

Jed.
 
Spec looks spot on, the motherboard I beleive has good reviews for HTPC use!
Can't think of anything else.
 
I have a very simliar spec, I went for the Hauppauge NovaT500 tv card which works well with vista media player.

One thing I'd recommend personally is get a 1TB drive, since there is only room for 2 drives inside the case.
 
the samsung 500gb F1 drive is less than the seagate one, and samsung drives are the business.
 
Hard Drive - I've got a 500Gb in my NAS with room for another up to 1TB, as soon as prices drop a bit more I'll add a 1TB as well. The HDD in the HTPC is really just for the OS and bits and pieces. In fact, it's probably worth just getting a cheap low capacity one for the time being.

It'll connect to the NAS through a 200MB homeplug, so the transfer rate should be fine for HD content.
 
Looks good to me. I've ordered pretty much the same thing (with the main difference being that I've opted for a cheaper CPU) due tomorrow. Was it the LG GGC-H20L you bought? Bought the Antec Fusion in black :cool:
 
Mul said:
Looks good to me. I've ordered pretty much the same thing (with the main difference being that I've opted for a cheaper CPU) due tomorrow. Was it the LG GGC-H20L you bought? Bought the Antec Fusion in black :cool:
Click to expand...

Yep, it's around £70 at the moment.

Fusion - I'm going silver to go with my Cyrus kit :)

CPU cooler - what do you guys recommend that's really quiet and will fit in the Fusion?

RAM - looking for some 2Gb 800MHz and relatively cheap. Kingston, Corsair? Any recommendations?
 
I was looking the Zalman 8700. To tell the truth these duals run pretty cool. Considering CPU usage is likely to be well under 50% most of the time, it's likely to be quiet even with the stock cooler. I'm just going to see how it goes anyway and if I feel it's loud or whiney, I'll bin it :)

Personally I bought 2GB Patriot PC2-6400 CL4 which can be had for £25. GeIL PC2-6400C5 at £25 from OcUK is also a very good option.
 
If you are in a freeview area, then Hauppauge Nova-T 500 is a good card. Dual freeview and works with MCE and Media Portal.

Freesat - I just got myself a Nova HD-S2 card. Though it isn't supported in MCE, unless you use a patch. I got it for a MythTV setup though, working on that.

There are cards out there now for freesat though.
 
Video processing?

Using the onboard graphics card wouldn't be has good has using say a ATI 4870 and running that to the LCD with a HDMI output, plus ATI video processing is better than NVidia's.
 
Last edited:
RJC said:
It's based on the HD 3200 graphics chipset:
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2758

4870 would be a bit overkill, unless he wants to use it for gaming, my media center runs MSI 7600GT which handles hi-def no problem.
Click to expand...

Yep, just for TV and DVD stuff at the moment. I might throw in a card in the future if I fancy a game of Fifa on my 42" downstairs. But until then, my Q6600, 8800GTS machine upstairs will do for my gaming needs :-)
 
MattU said:
One thing I'd recommend personally is get a 1TB drive, since there is only room for 2 drives inside the case.
Click to expand...

you can fit another drive behind the VFD.

just use the stock cooler with the CPU, its wont be that loud and you can tune it it spin slower.
 
I use a fanless Scythe Mini Ninja with the Antec Fusion v2 case. The 2 included fans provide sufficient air flow to keep the CPU cool. They're virtually silent on the low setting too.
 
My htpc has the GA-MA780GM-S2H and it eats up BBC HD with about 50% cpu usage tops. 1080p is no hassle. Thats why it such a good htpc board, no need for external video or audio.
I'm currently looking for a silent matx psu for my case, as its really bloody noisy.
 
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